Weekend Update

We had a really fun and busy weekend!

Thursday night, the boys BOTH slept through the night.  The fact that this is SO rare is extremely sad.  I know.  They have both become such terrible sleepers and I was at the end of my patience with them.  I bribed them Thursday night that if they BOTH slept through the night, they could have frozen yogurt for lunch on Friday.  

And they did it! So we had a special treat and had frozen yogurt for lunch.... whatever works, right?

After "lunch" we headed to Dick's Sporting Goods to get new gloves for the boys because tee ball was starting Saturday morning! Andy was adamant about wanting to play this time-- he begged me to sign him up.  I had signed Cal up originally, but when Andy begged, I added him too.... more on that later.  He sure was excited to practice with his new glove!

Friday night we had dinner at the club with some friends and the kids went to Kids Club...they love it and we love it: it's a WIN WIN!

The sleeping saga continues... they beg to sleep in the same room.  Eddie and I started having conversations about moving one into the other's room... could be the cure for bad sleeping.  Could be a huge, crazy mistake.  Not to mention that all of Cal's furniture is brown and all of Andy's is white... these rooms will be mismatched...but full of fun!

Saturday morning we had tee ball! This was the first practice of the season (that we were able to attend).  Brad and Owen are on the same team- Go Tornados!- which makes it a lot of fun!

What makes it not so fun? Dealing with Mr. Andy Williamson.  He begged to play. Begged.  After his showing in soccer, I wasn't about to let him play.  But he asked and asked and asked some more, so Eddie and I agreed to sign him up.  I called the Y, was able to have him be a late add on, and paid the money....

He was happy at the start of practice...

 and then it went downhill from there.  And when I say it went downhill, it was kinda like a massive landslide, taking out village after village on its way down.  He was screaming, he was crying, he was tantruming like you wouldn't believe.  I was embarrassed.  I was frustrated.  I wanted to cry.  I did cry.  It was just ugly.  We told him he didn't have to play-- we didn't care if he sat on the side picking daisies! But he wanted to stand next to me screaming the entire time.  He really wanted me to sit on the ground with him in my lap the whole time.  My parenting stye might suck, but I refuse to give in just because he is having a fit.  So I told him that I came here to watch tee ball and I wasn't going to sit on the ground-- that set him off all over again.  It was a difficult and miserable hour.  Cal loved it.  I am choosing to focus on Cal's love of it!

After practice we hit the pool for several hours and then headed home. 

Andy wore himself out at practice and swimming and came home and crashed.  Hank needed to rest too, apparently.  They snoozed together for a while on the couch- Andy's position cracks me up.

We headed over to a friend's house Saturday night for a cookout and swimming in their pool.  Eddie starting throwing kids in the pool and the pictures are hilarious...

Andy, who was swimming last year, and now is not, has a new found confidence with his floaties on.  He loves these things and he can swim all over with them on.  I am just happy he is happy in them! He jumped in a bunch of times...

And then started working on his dive...

We got home Saturday night and the kids were BEAT.  They went straight to bed-- you guessed it: on the floor in Cal's room! whatever.it.takes.

Sunday morning, the boys woke up late (praise!) and Andy sat in a chair reading some of our new books from the library this week.  He loves books!

We all went upstairs to get ready for church and the boys hopped on my back... I kinda loved it.  Until it went into full blown WWE Wrestle Mania....

We had a nice time at church and as we were walking out, both boys wanted to hold my hand... I am just soaking up the feeling of their sweet hands in mine.  I know it won't be long and they will refuse to hold my hand.  I think this right here-- holding both of their soft, sweet hands is, hands down (ha), one of my most favorite things in the whole world.  I hope I never forget how great it is....

And these two....as naughty and as wild as they are.... they have my heart.  I can't get enough of their craziness! They both have been giving me fits lately, and I am super hard on myself as a mom (been a real struggle lately....), but I know they are just BOYS! Fun-loving, energy-filled BOYS. 

They both need haircuts....but I thought they looked adorable after church....

After church, we came home and I did more laundry and picked up the house and then left for a baby shower for a sweet friend who is having a BOY (hope she doesn't read my blog... she might be scared of the boy! ha!). As I was backing out of the driveway, Hank came to the window with his baby to watch me leave.  My heart melted all over again....

Love ALL these boys in my life!!!!!!

 

Final (regular) swim meet

We have the championship meet next Saturday, but this past Wednesday, we had our last regular swim meet!

I was the 6 and under chaperone for the boys-- and I am SO glad I was not doing it alone! It was a little like herding cats....

We have THE sweetest head coach-- the kids all love him and he is so great working with them.  

These two have so much fun at meets together-- TROUBLE!

So, we got all the boys lined up an in their correct lane order (which takes a village) and had them all sitting in their chairs, about ready to swim when....

 Thunder. 

The pool was closed and then the skies opened up and downpour happened.  We took shelter under this tiny little area and watched as the coaches and parent reps discussed and debated canceling the meet or waiting it out.  

After a while, it was decided the storm was passing us, so we carried on with the meet and it ended up being a great night!

We were waiting it out... love his sweet face in this one.

The other coach the kids all love is Harrison! 

Once the meet was back on, Cal swam great! I was so proud of him! He beat his fastest time in 25 free and even agreed to swim back stroke-- which he did really well in! He also swam in a relay, which he did great, but he had a little girl get nervous and refuse to jump in- haha so that added some time, but I am still just so glad he did it!

I took a ton of videos, but don't think I need to post them ;) I am SO proud of my little Shark!

He collected his ribbons at practice on Thursday:

 Crazy to think there is just the championship meet left and then it's done!

 

#carriedaway: week 23

Week 23:

 Day 176: Besties

 Day 177: Andy has a new found love for Uncle Chris.  He asked me tonight for a playdate sometime.

Day 178: really no good caption for this. We had a super fun, super beach-filled day and I was trying hard to not lose a kid so I didn't take any pictures.  This picture from tonight is proof I did my job. And that I am a dork. 

 Day 179: I love my family!!!

 Day 180: this is what silence in the car looks like. Ahhhhh...

 Day 181: whatever it takes.

 Day 182: the Carrie Williamsons. I love you, Carrie Beth Williamson!!! xo


 

July 4th Week at the Beach

 We spent a fabulous family fourth week at the beach!

The Tuesday before the 4th, Eddie's mom and dad, both sisters and brother-in-law all flew in.  We headed to my parents house at the beach for the week! My mom and dad were there waiting for us, so it really was a family-filled week....and it was SO much fun!

We had 11 people under one roof and we all had the best time together!

I have no idea how to do this post-- I took close to 300 pics over the week...oh, and did I mention there was a hurricane? Yeah. We took a direct hit! Thankfully, there was no damage and all was fine. 

We had amazing weather-- even with a hurricane! We were able to go to the pool the whole morning of the day it was supposed to hit and the weather didn't turn cloudy/rainy until around 6 and then the storm hit in the middle of the night, so we didn't lose any time outside. 

We had a blast just being together! I told myself I could pick 10 pics to post.  Well.  I failed. 

Here is a peek at our week.....

We.....

played on the beach:

Mom broke everyone into teams and each team had to cook one night...we came up with themes (of course we did).  My team (Patty, Big Ed, Tommy and me) tackled A Taste of Texas.  Tommy and I were the "outlaws."

Uncle Ah-Ho got a full workout daily from toting around kids-- they LOVE him and he is too sweet to them. He  had a kid attached to him 99% of the day...starting early!

We went shopping to AB before the hurricane hit! CB and I had to play with hats...

We pretended to be scared of the fact that a hurricane was coming! CB was ready to fight the thing-- Trish and I were scared...

We had a dance party when the rain started...not really for any other reason than to shake booties...

Hurricane night was Mexican theme night! Ole!

These two cuties weren't scared at all!

We got matching shirts and had to do a pic outside pre-storm.

All the ladies in their AB shirts...

The night of the storm, I will admit, it was actually pretty scary.  The winds reached up to 100 mph, which made it a category 2 storm.... it was just scary listening to the winds whip around.  Andy was sleeping sort of near a window, so we moved him into our bed, and then we ended up moving Cal into CB's bed.... needless to say, not many people got much sleep that night!

But the next morning we woke up to the most beautiful weather!!!

We hit the beach early and spent the majority of the day there playing hard.

 Again, getting his workout...

We surfed some! (Eddie was in heaven with the waves after the storm-- he was a surfing machine for most of the day!)

Oh. We drank.... did I mention that part yet?? We drank!

All the girls!

The siblings....

Love these smiles...

The original fab 5

CB had to go home on Saturday.  :( booooooooooooooo

On Saturday afternoon, we took the boys over to meet the puppies....

 (and I melted inside!)

Saturday evening we cooked out and played outside and then went for a boat ride to watch the sun set. 

Andy is extremely fond of uncle ah-ho... these next pictures are so sweet!

And, I love love love this one of Cal on the boat!

Hank was allowed to come for the ride and he was thrilled to be included.  He sat right next to me the whole time...

 Andy managed to change some settings on Tricia's phone and took a selfie-- I kinda love it!

These two love birds are awesome....

 It was SUCH a great week at the beach. I feel so blessed that we have a family that even wants to get together...not to mention, we all actually get along-- ZERO drama! 11 people in one house and zero drama... tell me that's not unheard of.  I am thankful my parents opened up their house to the Williamsons and I am even MORE thankful that my parents get along with the whole Williamson crew so well! It was pretty fabulous to me to have everyone I love so much under one roof!

BLESSED.