Sailing....

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we will be doing this....


 

on this...

source

around these...

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Thankful for a hard working husband who earns these amazing trips.

Thankful for a company who believes in rewarding their employees.

Thankful for my mom who is willing/able to keep these boys this week....

I am soooooo going to miss these kids.  As always, I am emotional thinking about leaving them.  I can't kiss them enough or tell them I love them enough.  I just hope they know that they mean the world to us. 
(sappy, huh? I know, I know, I know)

This trip is MUCH anticipated and much needed.  Bring on the BRIGHT blue/green waters. And the painkillers (the drink, not drugs). And the white sands. And the caribe. 

And Mom, have fun with the boys... just know they like to do the worm every night before dinner. 

xoxo


ps- if you see my boys around, give 'em a BIG fat hug. 

 

Moms know best

My mom really is the best. I know I write about her all the time on here, but I really and truly, honest to goodness do not know what I would do without her. 

We are leaving to go on our trip to the BVIs this Saturday (wooohoooo!) and my mom is amazing enough to keep both of the boys while we are gone.  This is extremely kind and we are so so so appreciative. 

watching the super bowl half time show.  just a little sex ed for my buddy. 

he made it to the (almost) end of the 3rd quarter

I made it to the almost start of the 4th quarter...thanks to eddie for capturing this one

This week has just been one of those weeks so far...I mean, it's only Tuesday-- how can I say that, really?

This weekend, our garage door broke and our cable/internet went out.  Eddie lined up Time Warner Cable to come Monday morning at 7 and, after being up at 5 with Cal who was having trouble sleeping since he stayed up too late watching the super bowl, I was out of it.  They called Eddie's phone at 7am Monday morning and he didn't answer it because he didn't recognize the number.  They rang the doorbell, which got the dog barking something WILD, so once I saw it was them, I ran down the stairs, setting off our house alarm causing Cal to go into hysterics.  All of this by 7:05. We came upstairs to get ready for our day after having breakfast and I saw Eddie didn't squeegee the shower walls-- really no big deal, but since I spent ALL day Saturday cleaning the house, I didn't want to see water spots right away.  SO, I got in the shower-- fully clothed-- to squeegee the walls and accidentally hit the nozzle with my elbow, dousing myself--again, fully clothed--in water. 

In conclusion, yesterday was SUCH a Monday.  Since the garage door is broken, we have to load up in the driveway, which is TOTALLY not a big deal.  But for Andy, as soon as he hits the driveway, that's his cue to run run run run run and not stop.  So I was chasing him around the yard trying to get him in the car (without stepping in dog doo) and when I caught him, he literally beat the tar out of me-- he is a strong one, y'all! Basically, I was ready to throw the towel in on the day by 9:26am. 

A killer leg workout helped. 

Also, flowers from my mom helped.  A lot.  She knows I love tulips-- they just make me happy.  She saw some while she was out running errands and picked them up.  I mean-- how thoughtful is that?? She was right-- I DO love them and they make me so SO happy.  It's the little things in life!

And today, it was Andy's day to have special Grandma time with my mom.  She suggested I bring him over right after taking Cal to school so I could have the whole morning to tackle my to do list...WITHOUT CHILDREN! I am pretty sure she had tennis plans or a lunch with girlfriends or a fun something or other to do, but she heard the desperation in my voice and just knew-- Momma's know best!

 My amazing mom kept the above little rascal today and I got a ton done. 

Mom, if you are reading this: THANK YOU for being you. 

Here's to a FABULOUS rest of the week!

 

February 1st!

How in the WORLD can it be February 1st already?? Time is flying by, I swear-- and these boys of mine are growing like weeds. 

Part of the reason they are growing like weeds is because we eat all of the food we put in the cart while still in the grocery store.....

This little nugget just doesn't seem so little any more.  The terrible twos have hit HARD over here. When he is sweet, he is the sweetest thing EVER, but at the drop of a hat, things switch and he has thrown himself on the floor in a full out scream fit.  Wednesday, after being at school all morning, he did not nap.  DID.NOT.NAP.  He has never missed a nap.  He usually naps 3-4 hours.  Yes, HOURS.  So an afternoon sans nap was a rude awakening for me.  Yesterday, the fit he threw in the parking lot of the gym was flat out violent.  He flung himself backwards (on the asphalt) in a puddle.  I grabbed his arm about a millisecond before his head bashed the pavement.    The "fit" continued for about 5 minutes of screaming, thrashing, hitting, yelling, etc etc.  And then, next thing I know, he's smiling at me like this...

And this...

 He is a strong-willed little boy and when he doesn't get what he wants when he wants it, all hell breaks loose.  And, he is STRONG.  If he doesn't want to be put in his car seat, it is just about impossible for me to get him in there.  Wish that was an exaggeration.  It takes every bit of my strength to get him strapped in.  There will be more posts on this, I am sure.  Get exciiiiiited!

I let Andy sit at the kid table in the family room for lunch the other day as a special treat.  He loved it!

But then he really wanted to join Hank on the floor!

I think Andy's appetite has increased lately too.  I think that's why he didn't nap on Wednesday-- we went to dinner that night and he ate 3 full plates of food and icecream.  Today, he was not napping so I took some apple sauce to his room and he chowed down,  then passed out.  Guess it's time to up his intake!

Cal has not napped once this week.  In fact, his last nap was early last week.  He has quiet time for a little bit, but then he is up and at um and wanting some entertainment.  I found these awesome books at a store here, so we are working on letters.  He LOVES doing this! He was concentrating so hard on each page.  

Every night, the boys take a bath.  And every single night, Andy gets in the tub and pees.  We know it's coming, he knows it's coming, Cal REALLY knows now that it's coming.  So I brought down our old potty training potty.  We are NOT potty training this kid right now.  I repeat-- we are NOT even attempting to potty train him.  But we wanted to have him sit on it before bath each night to try to get the pee in there instead of the tub.  He hasn't gone yet, but he sat and thought it was pretty funny.  He also tries to go in the big potty by standing next to it, like Cal.  Andy is not tall enough to go in that potty, but refuses to stand on a stool.  He walks up to the potty, pushes his mid-section up to it, leans a little, and then turns around, swinging his arms, and looks to all of us to cheer for him- ha! This one is a character! 

He is such a character that we were not surprised when Cal came running into our bathroom the other day saying "Andy got in the bathtub and turned on the water and he is wet!" Sure enough-- Andy let himself in the tub in his pjs and turned on the water.  He thought it was hilarious.

Yesterday, after the meltdowns that occurred at the gym, we headed to the playground to run run run and have some release of energy.    Cal didn't have school because of parent conferences so both kids had a ball playing in the freeeezing cold. 

Last night, Eddie had dinner with a client, so I made super simple croissant roll ups with cheese, ham and some Dijon mustard.  I am just sayin'-- they were amazingly good.  Cal, my picky eater, at 2 and a half. Andy had a ton too, obviously....

Annnnd last night, bath time-- I mean, there are so many things to say about this picture....

This morning, the boys were having some fun...

 These are all out of order-- we went outside the other day to play at grandma's house.  Andy was running as fast as he could push this thing-- all the while holding his lovie in his hand. 

 Hope y'all have had a great week!!! We are leaving for the BVIs soon.... and I am kicking myself for eating that biscuit this morning....UGH. 

 

Football Fanatic

Cal Williamson is slightly obsessed with football.  That is nothing odd in this family, I guess, but he now knows wayyy more about the NFL than a lot of people.  My mom got him this book, 1st and 10, a top ten list of everything NFL related, and he loves it.  He has the entire book memorized, including names, teams, etc etc.

In honor of the Super Bowl this weekend, I thought I would share some of these videos.  I know some of you have seen these on facebook, but I better document them here as well...

(can't get this one to load! will try again later)

 

Bachelorette Weekend!

Eddie's youngest sister, Tricia, is getting married in March and her bachelorette party was this was this past weekend in Texas.  We had it in Fort Worth (where they are from) so we could knock out a bunch of things that weekend-- a shower for the bride to be, her wedding portraits, etc etc...

I have been SO excited for this weekend.  After our trip from hell flying to Arizona, I was more than a little excited to sit on an airplane BY MYSELF and walk through an airport without anyone else to hang on to/hold/watch over/wipe bottoms, etc.  It was starting to sleet/ice/snow outside, but I was sure I'd get out before the worst of it. 

peace out, boys! momma is outta here....

Eddie was going to super-dad it for the weekend.  I was flying out Friday at 12:45 and he was in charge until I got home Sunday around 5.  I have left the boys before, but this is the first time Eddie had them by himself for more than 24 hours.  He did GREAT! I knew he would, but after the first few phone calls on Friday afternoon (where is Andy's other shoe? what time do they eat lunch? what do they like to eat for lunch?), I was a little worried... but, again-- Eddie was a super-dad!

I got to the airport with time to spare on Friday.  I walked down and grabbed some lunch and then walked back to my gate-- funny story-- I love a big fat fountain diet coke, but when I am traveling with kids, I have to get my DC in a bottle to prevent spilling it everywhere.  I got a huge diet coke and was walking down through the terminal, dragging my carry on suit case, with my purse on my shoulder...then my phone rang.  I tried walking with the phone on my shoulder, but my coat was pretty big and it just wasn't happening.  I got three phone calls in a matter of 5 minutes.  I was in full on sweat mode when I got to my gate and I wasn't even traveling with children!!!! HA!

My first flight was through Charlotte and they announced that Charlotte had put a hold on all flights-- they couldn't get flights out, so no flights were allowed in.  If we had a tight connection in Charlotte, we were to get in the line so they could try to rebook us.  They also posted a 1-800 number we could call while we waited.  I called the number and got through right away and they found a direct flight that wasn't leaving for another 3 hours, and got me into DFW at 6:00-- roughly an hour after I was supposed to land.  I wanted to avoid Charlotte as much as possible since it sounded like that were having ALL kinds of issues, so I took that flight then promptly found a bar and propped myself at it to enjoy a few bloody marys!

My flight finally boarded at 3:45. I was in zone 5, so of course there was no room for my carry on bag in the overhead bins, so they took it and checked it to DFW.

  The weather continued to get worse, and our plane was frozen.  Once everyone got on board, they had to de-ice the plane, which took over an hour. 

ice everywhere

 Once we were finally clear of ice, we were ready to hit the runway.  We got the the end of the runway and the pilot hit the brakes instead.  There was some kind of malfunction with the plane and we had to go back to our gate to get it checked out.  However, when we returned to our gate, there was another plane there, getting de-iced, which we now know takes over an hour.  So we waited on the tarmac for over an hour for a gate to open.  We got the gate and everyone wanted OFF of that plane.  By that point, we had been on the airplane for over 3 hours.  We were told not to go far while the assessed the problem.  A friend I made on the flight was a platinum member and he was on the phone with the airline.  He pulled me aside and told me they were about to cancel the flight altogether.  They gave him warning before others so he would have time to get to ticketing before the others to try to rebook.  At this point, it was 7:30...I got the airport at 11:15.  

I got to ticketing and somehow got on a flight that was taking off immediately.  I sprinted back through security (much faster without my carry on bag-- which they would not pull off of that flight) and made it to the gate.  Once on board, we had to de-ice, of course, which took forever, of course. 

Longest story ever, I know.  Anyway, I made it to DFW at 1am (2am here time).  No bags came off.  Seriously, not one.  I called a shuttle to take me to the bachelorette party-- who were all in bed already after a fun night out to dinner and a lingerie shower! I missed the first shuttle because I was filling out the missing bag forms so I had to call again.  The second shuttle came and had to circle around the airport looking for other passengers to pick up.  Finally, I arrived at the hotel....I was BEAT and thrilled to get in a bed.

We woke up Saturday morning ready to go to the bridal shower! Having no bag made it super easy to get ready- ha! I got on the phone immediately tying to locate my bag.  It was picked up in DFW at 6am and should be delivered to me...well, we were switching hotels and checking out that morning.  I gave them the address of the first hotel, not the second.  Soooo, I tried discussing this predicament  with the company, but they must not have understood...

The shower was really nice and Tricia got some amazing gifts!  I felt like to tool bag wearing jeans to the shower, but hey, what's a girl to do?! At least I didn't wear nasty workout clothes traveling out there!

the bridelette and her MOH opening gifts

the bride with MOB and MOG

The bride with her bridesmaids and house party

the bridesmaids

 After the shower, we loaded up the cars and headed to the Gaylord Hotel in Dallas.  While in the car on the way there, I got on the phone again about my bag.  The new address was not entered into the computer so they were going to have to send my bag BACK to the warehouse to re-enter the address for the delivery.  Are you KIDDING me? I was given the number of the delivery company so I called them directly and all but propositioned him to skip the warehouse and just bring my bag.  Thankfully, he was a good sport about it. 

 We checked in and had some downtime and then it was time for DINNER! We had a ton of fun at dinner and the dinner was yummy! We went back up to the rooms to further pre-game and then we headed over to the Glass Cactus and bar/club place that was SO.MUCH.FUN! They had a band playing, Le Freak, that was a ton of fun.  They played all of my favorite songs like Dancing Queen and other really fun 60s songs.  We had a goal to get Tricia up on stage and we succeeded! She was adorable up there and looked sooooo happy!

I really don't even know. Just including here for humor. 

THE carrie elizabeth williamsons.  seriously. same name.  bffs.

longest arm ever

the pregame appears to be successful

i love my sister in laws.  how lucky am i?

the lead singer and i had a connection.  i think it was his wig.  or his tight pants.  either way- it was real.

that's my shoe he's holding.  see? connection.

It was way crowded in the club and getting really hot (and, um, I am really old).  When the band took their break, we got some fresh air and then grabbed the shuttle back to the hotel.  This old lady was spent!

Coming home on Sunday I did not have one hitch at all.  Every plane was on time, my bag stayed with me the entire way and my arrival gate in Charlotte was next to my departure gate-- could not have been easier!

Eddie and the boys were waiting for me when I landed and I was sooooo excited to see those sweet faces.  I held Andy's hand the whole way home. 

It was SUCH a fun weekend and I was honored to be a part of it all! Can't wait to hang with these ladies again in March!

PS- as I write this, it is 2:30 on Wednesday... NEITHER BOY IS NAPPING! Andy naps every single day for 3-4 hours and he is NOT NAPPING today.  omg.  this evening could get so so ugly.