The Wild Williams

After Easter Egg Project

2010-04-14T07:20:00.000-04:00

2009-11-23T07:05:00.000-05:00

Last night (most) of my family performed in Broadway Beware, a fundraiser for our church. It's a night of Broadway show tunes performed by our talented church members and some guests. We sang a 15 minute medley from Les Miserables, complete with costumes and choreography. I think the best part was the practicing we did for the performance- every Sunday for the last month or so we got together at my parent's house and sang, ate, and just hung together. It was like all of our favorite things put together!! Eating, singing and being together.

Hudson turned 10!

2009-10-24T11:39:00.002-04:00

For Hudson's 10th birthday we had a "reverse surprise" party. He knew it was his birthday party.... his friends did not. I just thought that since we invited kids over last minute (less than a week from invite to party) that it was rude to expect people to bring a gift. And also, he has so much stuff as it is.. and doesn't really play with most of it. He plays with legos, he plays outside with toy guns (yes, we allow him to play with toy guns!), he plays soccer and in his tree house, he draws and watches movies and reads and plays computer games.... but he doesn't really play with toys. So why put people through the extra expense and errand running of getting him a gift?? So to celebrate his 10th year we promised him a trip to Dick's Sporting Goods to let him pick out some camping/hiking supplies, and let him have some buddies over after their soccer game for pizza and a sleep over. Grandma and Papa, Grandma Chickie, Aunts Megan, Kristin and Dawn and some cousins (Dom, Frankie, Harrison, and baby Gianna) joined the fun too. Reilly came later on. It was a good day.

Orange Belt (edited)

2009-10-20T08:48:00.003-04:00

High block

side kick

bowing to the parents after his test

listening intently to his teacher after his test

Ethan tested for his orange belt in tae kwon do on Wednesday and received it yesterday at his class. We got to go watch his belt testing. It was pretty interesting. I don't know much about tae kwon do, but Ethan seems to really like it. He told Justin and I this morning that he wished he went three days a week instead of just two! We are so happy that he has found something he's excited about! I'll have to get a picture of him in his fancy new orange belt!

Ok- got a picture with my phone as we headed into the Y on Wednesday. (I forgot to tuck his drawstrings into his pants- whoops!)

Hudson Plays Soccer

2009-10-10T08:14:00.002-04:00

He loves this picture!

Saturdays are Hudson's busy day. He has dance from 9-10:30 and soccer practice 2-4. He's usually pretty tired by Saturday night. His 3rd game of the fall soccer season is tomorrow. Last week they had a double header, and they played on a smaller field so only 9 players could be on the field at a time. The coach decided to split the team into 2 teams for those two games. The first team lost their game, but Hudson's team won theirs. Hudson has been playing left wing pretty regularly and last week he scored and had a nice assist.

Tomorrow Hudson turns 10! I can hardly believe it. I always feel so lucky to have him knowing how close we were to not having him.... a long story if you don't know it. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow. He is a kind, fair, outgoing kid. He has tons of friends, does great in school, is loved by his teachers, is (for the most part) loving to his brother.... and tolerates his sister (we're working on that). He can be competitive, sometimes a little too competitive, but is a gracious loser too. Tomorrow for his birthday he invited a handful of boys to come over after the soccer game. Because we didn't invite them until late this week (because mom and dad are lame- sorry!) we didn't even tell the boys that it is Hudson's birthday. I didn't want anyone to have to scramble to get him a gift, and honestly the kid has so much already and doesn't even know what he wants! But when I told him that there would be no gifts from his friends he was totally ok with it! What 10 year kid would be ok with that??

other updates: Alex got a leading part in the musical. They are doing School house Rock Jr. and she is Dori. She has quite a few songs. Very exciting stuff!

Fall Update

2009-09-30T20:30:00.003-04:00

Sorry it's been so long between updates here.... I have to admit that I post most of these pictures (and more) over on my facebook page... so if you want to be kept more up to date, friend me!!

Anyway, school has been in session for about a month. Alex is in 7th grade. Hudson is in 5th and Ethan is in 2nd. The boys nearly missed the bus on the first day because it comes 10-15 earlier this year than last year! Ethan ran down the driveway with no shoes on yelling, "Hudson tell her to wait!!" Not the greatest way to start off the school year. So, as you can probably guess I didn't get any pictures of the boys before school, but this one is from when they got off the bus.

Ethan has started tae kwan do! He goes twice a week at the Y, and so far he really enjoys it. So add to Ethan's 2 lessons the 9 dance classes that Alex and Hudson take between them (well, Alex demonstrates for one of those- her first paying job!) we are in the car a lot!! Ethan has four more classes before he goes for his next belt (orange).

Alex has had her first dance at school already! The middle school has a dance every month. (Here are a few of her friends at our house on the way out the door to go to the dance.) This week is homecoming and she has dressed up for all the theme days... hillbilly, Disney and geek so far. Tomorrow is "Holiday"- she's going to dress like a funky witch. Friday is Spirit- blue and white. She also auditioned for the middle school musical today. Call backs are tomorrow. Wish her luck!I don't have a picture of it, but Hudson's team won their first fall soccer game of the season... 7 to 0 I think. Hudson scored! Its a good group of boys. I think they will do really well. He is also taking part in a new thing at our school, Lego League, where the kids build and program a lego robot to run an obstacle course. It has just started, so they've only been building so far.

We also have two new babies in the family!!! Cooper Rickart was born on September 15th and Gianna Pearl was born on September 29th!!

ADK Trip

2009-08-29T10:28:00.007-04:00

We had a wonderful week in the Adirondacks. We rented a small cottage in Inlet for the second year in a row (but this was our 5th annual trip to ADK) but drove to many new locations for hiking, letterboxing and such. I was telling my sister it may seem like Boot camp to some as opposed to a vacation- lots of hiking, swimming, kayaking, etc. We did a ropes course as well which was the highlight of the trip. (I know that many of you have seen these pictures on facebook, but I thought I should share some here as well.)

Our cottage at Sunset Beach Cottages Death Falls

Letterboxing at Death Falls On a giant rock on the hike to the top of Goodnow Mountain at Ferd's Bog Killing time in Bolton Landing waiting for our appointed time to go on the ropes course Ethan all by himself on the kids' rope course Alex on one of the zip lines Justin and Hudson on the ropes course Eating pizza and wings at the Screamen Eagle Climbing Black Bear Mountain

On top of Black Bear Mountain Alex at Chimney MountainSunset BeachOn top of Chimney Mountain

Funny things

2009-07-20T23:51:00.002-04:00

My dad told me I had better write these things down....

Hudson had outgrown his Yankee jersey. I tried to put it on Ethan one day and he said, all aghast, "I can't wear this!! I'm not a sport!"

******

The other morning Ethan crawled into bed next to me and asked. "Where is Hudson?"

Me: "In his bed sleeping."

Ethan: "I saw him not."

Me: "Oh, o-kay Yoda."

Our Summer so Far...

2009-07-20T13:06:00.007-04:00

We decided to brain storm some fun things to do this summer... between camps and soccer and hanging at the pool and dance classes. I asked each kid for a few ideas, and Justin and I came up with a few of our own. Ethan's big thing was to stay up till midnight watching movies and eating snacks. We finally did that Friday night (check!). We watched Harry Potter 3 and 5, and then went to see the new movie on Saturday at the theater (check!) Alex's were silly- like "eat watermelon out of the watermelon with a spoon like they did on iCarly" which she did (check!) Some things we had to "divide and conquer". For example, Justin took the boys to Grimes Glenn (check!) and I took Alex and Cate to Sonnenberg (check!)

We crossed off Geneseo Air Show (check!) even though we didn't pay to get in, but watched it from the campus grounds after a walk with Grandma Chickie. My sister said we were cheating- but o-well.

*******

Hudson has been doing really well in soccer this season. His skills and confidence have really improved. He was quite pleased with himself when he scored 3 goals in one game!

I'll leave you with some funny pictures of the boys. Ethan- you're so weird.....
And I don't think Hudson likes his lunch!!

Ethan plays soccer

2009-06-25T06:45:00.003-04:00

The picture below speaks volumes about his playing.... he doesn't really "get it" yet. Lots of standing and watching. Some kids at this age (U8) have such an instinct for the game. And some, like my guy, haven't developed it yet.

His "season" so far has been a rocky one.... first week he got a terrible headache and walked off the field in pain, so we left. Second week, I guess he played and did ok- I was at solofest with Alex, so I'm not really sure how he did. Third week he didn't go as we were in the midst of his icky illness. Last week it was pouring rain, but they played anyway and froze. So he really has only had 2 good nights of playing this year.... not a lot of time to get a feel for the game.

And it was hot last night, and I had to drag him out of Grandma and Papa's pool to go to his game, so he wasn't really happy with me. He has next week off for the 4th of July holiday, and a few weeks of games after that. We'll see how he does.

Ethan's Birthday

2009-06-07T13:28:00.004-04:00

Ethan's 7th birthday celebration stated on Friday, the day before his "big day".... when he had cupcakes at school ..... ...then (just like his brother Hudson did a few years ago) he ditched his car seat and went to the library to get his library card!

On Saturday he had some school friends, cousins, family and family friends over to Grandma and Papa's house for a pirate party. (Also, must be the theme in the Williams house when you turn 7!) Justin put together a treasure hunt that ended with the kids finding a pirate boat for the pool...which was a lot of fun...

...but didn't last very long.

Then Ethan blew out the candles on his pirate cake and opened his gifts. He said it was his "best birthday yet!"

Recouping From A Busy Week

2009-06-01T14:26:00.009-04:00

Wow... I started this post on Monday... and now it's Wednesday already and I'm finally getting these pictures from last week up!!
We had a very busy week last week.... parade on Monday (Hudson and Alex both marched with their bands) dance rehearsals on Tuesday, Wednesday and dress rehearsal on Thursday (that's Alex's little head in there during her gypsy dance), ...Alex had a concert on Thursday as well.

On Friday afternoon Ethan had his First Grade play, "A Year With Frog & Toad". It was very cute.Then on Friday night was the first night of the dance recital... which was fantastic! I'm so proud of Alex, Hudson, Gabby and Cate. They all did a wonderful job. I think it was Cathy's (our teacher's) best show ever!I didn't get very many pictures because I wanted to just enjoy the show. (This one is from backstage on Saturday night.) Saturday morning we had Mum's burial service. It was very lovely... a sunny day, and nice to see everyone, even though the circumstances were a sad occasion.

Saturday night was the second performance. (Hudson rocked the house as a Wolf once again.)

Sunday morning Hudson had to sing a solo in the church choir and then we had my cousin's bridal shower in the afternoon.
This week is a little less demanding- but we do have Ethan's party this Saturday. How can he be 7 already???

Happy Birthday Griffin!

2009-05-08T22:53:00.003-04:00

Grandma Chickie, Aunt Maura and Uncle Garry (well, Griffin's momy and daddy) had a nice little party for sweet baby Griffin today. He'll officially turn one next week!! We are so happy to have had a chance to celebrate with him.

The Von Hudson Family sings "Living Prayer"

2009-05-04T14:01:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter! And Justin is Home!!!!

2009-04-12T18:48:00.005-04:00

Justin spent most of his time in Padova, which is in northern Italy, but did get to be a "tourist" and visited Venice and Verona as well. These pictures are all from Venice (I believe). He brought home some neat stamps with all of the family's initials. Perfect for letterboxing! We are all so happy he is home safe and sound....especially after we learned about the earthquakes in Italy. But he was far from them, and I knew more about what was going with them on than he did!!

This morning Megan and I were in charge of the Easter Egg hunt at church....

...then we got the kids who were singing into their robes for their performance (I'll have it on youtube soon). We stopped back home to collect a jet-lagged Justin and meet Grandma Chickie who stopped by with goodies the bunny "accidentally" left at her house for the kids. Dinner was at Grandma and Papa's house. Here is the Kids' Table... they are singing Happy Easter because we lit the little egg candles that are at their place settings. The Trippis, Bonnie and Grandma Chickie joined us for dinner, and Todd showed up a bit later. We had a very nice day... with Hudson and Alex giving Grandma Chickie a Wii lesson (!) good food and great company.

Home Stretch...

2009-03-11T22:53:00.005-04:00

The musical starts on Friday. Alex has had lots of rehearsal this week. I have braided a lot of hair and brought in a lot of desserts for the kids... and did some emergency bed repairs. We can't wait for everyone to see the show! Thank you to Grandma Chickie, Grandma & Papa, Sue & Forrest, and Megan for helping us out this week with "boy-sitting" and "Cate" sitting and chauffeuring of kids. You have all been so wonderfully supportive!!! You guys are awesome!!

Our "Stay"cation

2009-03-08T21:22:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I surprised the kids by booking a room at the Hampton Inn for the night. I thought it would be fun to hang out, swim, eat junk and watch crappy tv... and just do something a little bit different. It was quite an interesting evening... from misunderstanding the front desk lady explain the pool times -she said the pool was open from 6 to 10pm, and seeing as it was already 3pm, I thought she meant 6PM until 10PM.. so we pushed our dinner back to 4PM (like old people) and went down to the pool at 6. It was crowded. Strange I thought- then I read the sign.. 6am till 10pm... whoops! o-well...

...to the vomiting that the boys partook in- too much candy and soda? Or did they take it to heart when I said we were going to "party like rock stars"?? Because, really, what self-respecting rock star doesn't end his evening with a nice episode of vomiting??

I contemplated going home, but after the incident, both boys seemed fine. I tucked them in with their books and we all hit the hay. After a lovely breakfast (where Ethan, not used to SO. MANY. CHOICES at breakfast had to sample everything- oatmeal, toast, danish, yogurt, apple, OJ and hot chocolate) we went back to the pool, because Hey! did you know it opens at 6am?? Yeah it does! They swam for about 2 hours until their eyes were going to burn out of their heads and then we packed up and came home.

One night was enough.

In case you didn't know...

2009-03-03T12:49:00.004-05:00

I just realized that some out-of-towners may not know about Alex's upcoming performance... she was cast as "Princess #12" in

This is from the Bloomfield School website:
It's that time of year again—time for the BCS Drama Club's spring musical! This year's production, Once Upon A Mattress, is a classic, Tony awarding winning show based on the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea". The characters are off-beat and funny. There's a princess named Fred, a King who doesn't speak, a jester, a minstrel and plenty of Knights and Ladies having fun in the castle. Mark your calendars now the the productions dates, Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. Performances begin at 7pm each evening and there is also a matinee on Saturday at 2pm in our beautiful Performing Arts Center. All seating is reserved.Tickets are available by calling the Box Office at: 585-657-6121 Ext. 1003 or stopping by the MS/HS during the school day

We are very proud of Alex and all of the hard work she has put in.... in addition to having 5 rehearsals a week, she also kept up with her 4 days a week of dance classes and just made the high honor roll as well! And she's had such a great time meeting new people (mostly upperclassmen as this is the high school's performance and only a handful of middle school kids are involved).

Justin, Maureen and I have been involved as well... we made the bed!! It is a little over 8 feet tall! These pictures were taken with Justin's phone, so they are not great, but you can see how we made it so things can be "stuffed" between the mattresses. I'll try to get some better pictures, and maybe a video or 2, next week during dress rehearsal.

Our News...

2009-02-26T19:29:00.003-05:00

No, we're not pregnant... or splitting up... or hunting alligator... but we did get new furniture!

I know, not super exciting, but it makes me happy! I told Justin, "I feel like a grown up!"

And I just have to share this cute picture... this is what happens every single night in the boys' room. Hudson is such a nice big brother!

All County chorus sings

2009-02-08T14:15:00.001-05:00

Alex took part in the Ontario County Elementary School All County concert this weekend. I videoed this song for Grandma and Papa who were not able to come see it.

Dog-Sitting

2009-01-29T08:36:00.000-05:00

Ethan is taking our job of dog-sitting Kipper a little too literally.

Ethan Learning to Blow a Bubble Gum Bubble

2009-01-28T12:50:00.002-05:00

They're Just Too White and Nerdy

2009-01-26T13:44:00.002-05:00

With pens in his pocket he must protect them.

(For the record, this is how they are dressed for Nerd Day.)

Realization (updated*)

2009-01-17T13:01:00.004-05:00

Today Alex and I had to kill an hour in Canandaigua before we picked up a friend of ours and then went to play practice. We ran a few errands and then started to drive in the direction of our friend's home. We were really too early to pick her up, so we went past her apartment and continued driving. "We'll just drive around for a little while," I told Alex. The friend's apartment is near the hospital and as we drove past the hospital Alex said, "Oh, I almost said 'Mom, lets go visit Mum.' but we can't now." It mad us both sad.

I forgot that I had this picture. I wish that I would have remembered it then I could have put it on one of the memory boards we had made. This is from May 2006 when Alex, Hudson and I did the Memory Walk in Mum's honor.

* Here is another picture I just found. I love this one. Everyone looks so genuinely happy!

Good Bye Grandma

2009-01-14T13:51:00.004-05:00

I feel like we've been slowly saying goodbye for a long time. You've been so "not you" for so many years that when I looked at the older pictures of it made me really sad. You were laughing. It was wonderful to see. Alzheimer's is a terrible disease. You were a tough lady... all throughout your life. I hope I am even half as strong.

Hello All! (And goodbye 2008)

2009-01-03T09:39:00.014-05:00

I just realized that there may be some new readers here at wildwilliams because we invited everyone to come take a look with our Christmas card. So if you are new here, hello!! And not to bore the people we are closest with, but let me do a little updating on our family: Alexandra is 11, in 6th grade and quite busy with dance, soccer, she just got a part in the musical at school, was selected for All County chorus, plays the flute and brings home awesome grades. Hudson is 9, in 4th grade and also is busy with dance, soccer, playing the trumpet, Student Council, drawing, building with Legos and also being an excellent student. Ethan is 6, in 1st grade, plays soccer in the summer, is working very hard on his reading, also loves to draw and play with Legos, and is our family clown. Justin is happy with his new job and I stay at home and watch 2 little girls (Cate and Celia- I talk about them sometimes so now you know who I am referring to.) If you are new here, why don't you leave me a comment just saying Hi! We love comments and it will be fun to see all the new "readers" we have.

Last year I re-capped 2007 with pictures from each month that didn't make the blog the first time around. I did it again for 2008... so here we go..

January:

I made Alex a quilt. It was the one New Year's resolution that I actually followed through with.

Hudson testing out the fabric food I made for Cate to play with. (He was sick that day so hung out in his jammies all day.)

I checked on Cate during her nap and found her sleeping like this!

February:

Gabby (my niece) and Ethan sharing the love.

Waiting for the train in Rockville Center when we went down to visit my sister and her family.

March:

The tree house takes shape.

Hudson running through the tundra, and throwing snowballs at his brother.
April:

We stopped at Stone Quarry Art Park on our way back from visiting Howes Cavern. It was pretty interesting, but it was so much hotter out that day than we expected and we were all dying!! (Keenan, my nephew and Grandma Chickie came along.)

Ethan being a goof in the car.

Its hard to take good pictures inside of Howes Cavern.

Hudson in the cavern.

May:

Hudson showing off the hat I made him to wear for the dance recital. The dance recital had a candy theme and Hudson's group danced to "Lollipop" by Mika.

I made the poster for Ethan's teacher for Teacher Appreciation Day.

Waiting for candy during the Memorial Day parade.

Alex and Cate met up in the park after the parade and shared some popcorn. (Alex marched with the elementary school band in the parade and played her flute.)

June:

I have no pictures from June as my camera was dead and I sent it off to be repaired. Sorry! (It was horrible timing because I missed Ethan's kindergarten graduation and the dance recital.)

July:

(I am making up for June's absence with far too many pictures for July)

Hudson took a comic drawing class with Mr. Reddout at the Mill Art Center.

Cate, Thomas, Hudson and Dominick hanging at my parent's lake house.

Hudson playing soccer.

Ethan "warming up".

Ethan had his 2 cousins Dominick and Gabby on his soccer team. Sometimes he and Gabby had trouble focusing.

Hud being a goof.

My sister Megan and I did a lot of things together with the kids this summer.... like painting ceramics...

and Strong Museum.Justin built our chickens a house. Alex and Celia at the family reunion.

My three visiting Grandma Chickie's house.

August:

In August we vacationed in Inlet NY for the 4th year in a row.

September:

The kids sang at Rally Day at our church. they even made their cool t-shirts!

October:

More t-shirt fun... getting a jump on Halloween.

Enjoying a beautiful fall day.

November:

Alex enjoys her Celia time before school.

I made shepherd beards for the church pageant.

Our chicken laid her first egg.

December:

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

The kids in front of the tree... why are the boys shirtless???

Well, that was a taste of 2008. You can also read the archives to see more pictures and catch up with what we've been doing. There are videos too.... click on the youtube link over there on the right. Have fun! And thanks for stopping!!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T16:02:00.004-05:00

Justin and I hosted a kid party at Grandma and Papa's house on New Year's Eve (thank G & P!). We had Caroline, Alex, Ethan, Dominick and Gabby as well as Joanna, Anthony and Cate over to celebrate. (Hudson spent the night with a friend.) We played Apples to Apples (seriously the best $25 buck we ever spent.... seriously!!) and lots of Wii.... and taking a page from the Sue Milton book of new Year's celebrations, we had a goody bag to open every hour with something for the kids... glow sticks, party hats, noise makers, candy... little stuff but it was fun and it really helped to make that clock move along quicker! (Thanks for the great idea Sue!) Cate was fading a couple hours before the ball dropped so Joanna and Anthony went home, but the rest of the gang stuck it out until midnight!! In fact Ethan and Dominick thought that they didn't have to go to bed then because it was already the next morning! They cheered in the New Year and made so much noise that Kipper (Papa and Grandma's dog) started howling. It was pretty funny.

Justin and I both think it was the best New Year's Eve we have had in a long time. And we are offering up our services for next year!!!

Holiday Time

2008-12-21T17:10:00.010-05:00

We had our Christmas Pageant today at church. I have to say that I am happy for it to be done. I get so nervous about this stuff and take it really personally. The kids did great, and Megan and I got a lot of compliments on the "production", so I guess it was a success.Here is the "cast"... Ethan, Hudson and Dom (front row) are the Wise Guys, I mean the Wise Men and Alex (holding the star) and Gabby (front row) are angels.

Alex had her Middle School Holiday Concert on Wednesday night, and once again the little stinker wanted to "surprise me" by not telling me she had a solo. (That's her little bit of Grandma Chickie coming out.) It was during a six minute song and a handful of kids sang solos in different parts. She did great and made her Grandmas Patty cry. (The video is on YouTube. Click on the YouTube link at the right to see it. And, like I said, it's a six minute song, so if you want to skip to Alex's part its near the end during the "Colors of the Wind" segment- the song from Pocahontas- at about 4:14)
I posted a picture and a video from Hudson's concert but never got a chance to write anything. His concert was the week before, and he did great. I am really happy with the elementary school's music teacher Maggie Warren. She does such a great job with the kids and picks great music. We are fortunate to have her.

And Happy Hanukkah! Ethan is our OCL (Official Candle Lighter) and since we are not Jewish and don't really know what to say when we light the candles I told Ethan to "say a little prayer or a wish." So he squeezed his eyes shut, folded his hands very seriously and then said, "I wish I were rich." I laughed and said, "That's not what I was talking about! You should wish for peace or something." He looked at me, smiled and said, "Yeah- that's what I meant."(And for my pagan husband, Happy Solstice.)

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-09T13:44:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hudson's Concert

2008-12-05T14:46:00.003-05:00

Observation Week

2008-12-03T17:44:00.008-05:00

At the kids' dance studio parents are not allowed to hang out in the studio to watch.. which is totally fine with me. I can just imagine how little would get done if there were parents there every class. But twice a year Cathy opens the studio to visitors. On Monday I watched Cate's and Gabby's classes (Alex is the demonstrator for both) and last night I watched Hudson's ballet class and Alex's tap class. Tonight is a night off from the studio! Thursday Hudson will miss his class because he has his first chorus and band concert, but I'll try to get back in time to watch Alex's jazz class. And on Saturday I'll watch her ballet class. All of the kids are doing great. It was fun to watch.

Mr. Vice President

2008-11-12T12:19:00.003-05:00

Hudson caught the political bug and ran for student counsel vice president. The candidates had to give a speech in front of the entire 4th grade last Tuesday and then the class voted. Pretty exciting because it was the real election day. On Wednesday Hudson came home from school and said, "Mom... I have some bad news..... for everyone who ran against me!!!" Stinker. Here is his campaign poster and speech.
You may know me as Hudson Williams, the boy who can eat an entire bologna sandwich in one bite. Oh, ok, half a sandwich in one bite. But in the very near future, I hope you will be calling me V.P! I will help my fourth grade class and my school in anyway that is needed. One way I will help the school is by coming up with great ideas for fundraisers. Voting for me, is a vote to put the “FUN” back into fundraising. I will also help the president of the student counsel in many ways. I will be the president’s right hand man. I will be there to give great suggestions and give great ideas.
Many of you know me already, though to the few out there who don’t know me, let me tell you some other traits of mine that will make me a successful vice president and just a great guy to vote for. I’m very hardworking. I work so hard sometimes that when writing out my answers to a real difficult test, my pencil lead just wears out. I try to go to school everyday, even when the main course for lunch is spinach topped with broccoli. I am able to stay focused under chaotic situations. How you may ask? Well having an older sister, some would call her a bossy sister, and a younger brother who never lets me watch my favorite TV shows, being sandwiched between these two and dealing with their craziness has given me the practice to be focused in any circumstance. I listen very well too. I will pay attention to all students and their suggestions to make our school the best that it can be and then make sure that these suggestions are taken seriously.
Lastly, when voting for me today, you are voting for a person who is kind, caring, respectful, trustworthy, and most importantly an excellent worker who is dedicated to all of you. These are just a few of the reasons why a vote for me is a vote not wasted. Thank you very much and get out and rock the vote!

Halloween

2008-11-05T07:29:00.005-05:00

First if all I need to say YAY OBAMA.... ok, now that I have gotten that out of my system...

here are some pictures from Halloween... Ethan the skeleton pirate
Hudson the beast

Alex the hooker... oh, I mean flapper and her grandma the clown

hanging with Aunt Dorothy, Kimmy and Margaret at trunk or treat

A Public Service Announcement from Ethan

2008-11-03T19:58:00.002-05:00

(That's a 1... followed by "Vote Obama". It is Ethan's countdown to Election day.)

Alex is 11 today...

2008-10-28T12:31:00.005-04:00

This is a picture of her from her last soccer game this past Sunday. Her team has one more game, but she'll be in DC for the Junior National Young Leaders Conference, so she'll miss it.

We don't have a party planned because we just couldn't find a good time to have one... yet. She's a busy kid, so finding a good night can be tough. This past Saturday she and Reilly & Caroline went to see Legally Blonde as part of their birthday presents. (Reilly's 11th b-day was yesterday! Happy birthday Reilly!! I still find it to be SO STRANGE that your mom and I had our babies so close.)

So Alex, how does it feel to be starting your second decade?? 10 was really good, wasn't it? I really liked 10. I bet 11 will be even better! Happy birthday baby girl!

Funny....

2008-10-21T11:44:00.002-04:00

The other night the boys were getting into the shower (Hudson showers Ethan for me, isn't that nice?) and I overheard this conversation:

Ethan: That must be Dad's... (talking about a razor)
Hudson: No, that's Mom's... Dad doesn't shave in the shower. He shaves at the sink.
Ethan: (incredulously) But Mom doesn't have a beard!!

Birthday Weekend

2008-10-14T07:22:00.013-04:00

Hudson celebrated his 9th birthday this weekend. Because Grandma Patty had cleaned out and decorated the barn for her own Barn Bash last weekend, we decided Hudson should have his party there too. The weather was great... almost too hot...for the hordes of boys that arrived...Here they are taking a water break after a game of soccer and just before hide and seek starts.

We discovered that Luke and Bryce look like twins separated at birth!

Dylan and Jared went topless into the apple bobbing bucket.

Ethan gives apple bobbing a try.

Hudson really wanted to play the "doughnut on a string" game. I was less than enthusiastic.... but all the kids had a really good time with this!

Ethan's apple bobbing pays off.... he was quite tenacious, not giving up or cheating (just grabbing the apple). It took him forever (20 minutes??) but he finally got his reward!

Dominick getting a bite of his doughnut.

Nick joined the fun too. I missed most of it but I guess he was the cutest doughnut eater around!!

Cake time!!

The girls enjoyed some post party spa treatments!

We ended the day with a bon fire (the party guests had gone home) and some spooky (?) stories. Dominck wasn't a huge fan of the stories...mom said he was hyper-ventilating!

Happy birthday Hud!!

Random Thoughts....

2008-09-25T11:34:00.006-04:00

Justin comes home today! Hooray! This has been his longest trip for CACI so far (11 days). Some good news... he'll be going to Italy in April!!
It is Homecoming Week and Alex has gone all out for the dress-up days. She won a free pass to the next dance with this get-up for "Stuck in a Decade" Day. (The funny thing is that she loves these glasses and wears them around the house all the time!)

And this is what she wore today for Tacky Day.
Celia has turned into monkey girl.... pulling herself up on everything. She gives me a heart attack everyday. This box of blocks is one of her favorite things to play with. She tries to climb right into it.

And finally, from the news... did Clay Aiken really have to announce to the world that he is gay? Really? Clay, buddy... let me let you in a little secret... we already knew.

Hudson got his tumpet...

2008-09-23T20:59:00.006-04:00

...and I will be investing in earplugs... just kidding!! It is loud though. Much louder than the flute. He can make a nice sound already, and is really looking forward to his lessons and band practices. He'll have to build up some muscle in his skinny arms to carry the thing!!

Last night was fun... Alex got out her flute. Hudson showed off his trumpet. And Ethan, not wanting to be left out, asked to borrow Alex's little recorder. He's very excited to some day play an instrument, and wanted to know if he could start with the trumpet next year. Not till fourth grade buddy!

And Jack and Griffin came over for a visit yesterday (with Maura and Grandma). I was all set to take a nice picture of Griffin's sweet little face when he dropped into a roll just as the shutter clicked. So this is officially an action shot.

Cousins!

2008-09-22T21:12:00.005-04:00

Maura and the boys, Jack and Griffin, are in New York for a visit. This is the first time we've met Griffin, and it's been a year since we've seen Jack. The kids were surprised at what a big boy Jack is... Alex said, "I didn't know he'd be talking so much!" I guess the image of Jack has frozen in their minds from last year.

We had a nice visit at Grandma Chickie's house...

Hudson read to Jack....

and Alex thought it was pretty funny that she is nearly the same size as Aunt Maura!

Classic

2008-09-21T19:55:00.002-04:00

Check out this video of the kids singing and signing at church. It's long- you don't have to watch the whole thing, but you'll understand after a few moments why I titled this "Classic".

Dance Baby

2008-09-08T19:37:00.003-04:00

Today we started back at dance.... when I say "we" I mean Alex... and Cate! Alex is the demonstrator in both Cate's class and Gabby's too (Gabby's class is right after Cate's). Hudson starts tomorrow. Their schedule will be a bit easier this year.... we have Monday (Alex demonstrates), Tuesday (Hudson ballet), Thursday (Alex and Hudson both tap & jazz) and Saturday morning (Alex ballet).

First Day

2008-09-02T19:36:00.007-04:00

It was the first day of school for the Williams kids today......a big day for Alex as she headed off to middle school... and no, she is not a bag lady, she was bringing in all of her "locker stuff" (shelving, essential mirror, you know... the cool, fun stuff) because we missed Locker Day while we were away. Hudson's not a bag-person either. He had to bring in 2 boxes of Kleenex and 2 rolls of paper towels. I find it funny that the schools cannot provide Kleenex for their students!

Ethan is a big first grader now!! And Hudson is enjoying 4th grade. All the kids said that their days seemed short. Ethan said, "It was like a half day... only with lunch."

I was kind of sad to not get a picture of the three of the kids together, like I have been doing... but Alex leaves for school an hour and 15 minutes before the boys do. I think they were still in their boxers when she left!!

We have Dylan and Jared joining us in the mornings this year! The four boys had a lot of fun playing with Legos, Playmobil and on the computer before the bus came for them.

Cannon Ball!

2008-09-01T09:09:00.003-04:00

Our Vacation

2008-08-29T21:18:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Thanks Grandma and Papa

2008-08-22T19:03:00.005-04:00

For your upcoming 40th anniversary, instead of going away on some exotic vacation you gave your kids a gift instead... and not that we need special stuff to keep us coming around and spending time with you, but this pool is awfully nice!!

I have had the best week just watching all of these kids enjoying themselves while I hang out and relax, chatting with my sisters, aunts, cousins, friends and of course you two....and watching this little guy go from water hater to mer-man in one day! It's wonderful... thank you...

and it will be even better when you hire that cabana boy!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jack!!

2008-08-12T21:58:00.004-04:00

Happy birthday wishes....we hope you had a great day!! (Ethan is enjoying his "Just-Because" cake from a few weeks ago... when we made a cake for no reason except that we wanted to, and sang "Happy Thursday".)

The end of an era...

2008-08-06T11:22:00.002-04:00

Alex, my independent, stubborn, vocal vegetarian has succumbed to the call of the burger... yep, she's a meat eater once again.

More from camp...

2008-08-05T21:19:00.001-04:00

I got a call from the nurse at camp this morning. Alex needed to be picked up because they suspected she had pink eye. I had to rearrange my morning (thanks Dawn and Megan for being "me" for me!) and take her to the doctor. She was bummed that she had to miss a whole day of camp, but she'll be back tomorrow. (In fact, her doctor said that he wouldn't mind sending her back immediately, but that he didn't want to step on the "camps rules".) She'll need to take her drops with her and administer them 4 times a day. This is proving to be an interesting week camp-wise!

M.F.U. (More Frequent Updates) - edited

2008-08-04T09:06:00.005-04:00

I have decided that with Justin traveling so much I should update this blog more frequently so he can see what we are up to while he is away.... so here we go!

8:30 am: Ethan calls me again from Aunt Megan's house. Again he is freaking out about the fact that he wants me to bring over a life jacket so that he can swim at camp. I tried to explain that they won't let him use it and that they will be teaching him how to swim, to no avail. He hangs up on me again. I called back and talked with Megan. She said that he is freaking a little but she thinks he'll be ok.

9:05 am: Report from Megan... the boys were delivered to camp just fine. Ethan spotted a friend, Logan, from nursery school whom he hasn't seen in a long time. (Logan goes to Canandaigua not Bloomfield, so we only occasionally run into him) He was so excited to see him he forgot all about being nervous about swimming. Cool! Thanks Logan! Logan lives just around the corner from Dom... we'll have to get the boys together to play outside of camp someday.

UPDATE: When I picked the boys up today Ethan said that it was a "bummer". "What's a bummer?" I asked. "That there are only 4 days of camp left. It's sad." So, I guess he likes camp!! And he even went swimming, and said that swimming was his favorite part. And guess what? They had a life jacket for him to wear!

Camp

2008-08-03T16:58:00.004-04:00

We took Alex off to 4H camp today. She's so funny because, just like last year she was all, "Ok mom, get out of here now." She can be so independent...which I love about her, but at the same time she's only 10 and I'm not quite ready to be kicked out of her life yet. She is sharing a cabin with Caroline and Tessa and I'm sure they will all have a blast. Oh, to be a kid going off to sleep-away camp. Doesn't it sound fun? Campfires... silly songs... swimming... being in charge of yourself for a whole week (well, sort of). Hudson goes next week with a group of his friends. Ethan will be going to day camp at the same location starting tomorrow. He was on the waiting list for camp (because I was reluctant to sign him up... I didn't think he really wanted to go) and we found out last Monday that he got a spot.... Gabby's spot!! Because of Gabby's arm injury she can't go to camp. It is sort of like that story telling devise we used to use in elementary school called "Fortunately/Unfortunately".... Fortunately Ethan can go to camp. Unfortunately it is because Gabby hurt her arm and can't go. Fortunately they will have swimming lessons at camp. Unfortunately Ethan will probably freak out. Fortunately I won't be there to witness him freak out. Unfortunately for some poor teenager, they will... get the idea?

** 8pm update: Ethan just called me from Aunt Megan's house... he is spending the night there because she is going to take him and Dom to day camp tomorrow. (Cate arrives at a time that I cannot get Ethan to camp in time.) E is already freaking out about swimming. He was so flustered on the phone that I couldn't understand him. All I heard was "Mom!" “swimming!” and a shrill “life jacket!” before he hung up on me. I called back and talked with Megan. She was trying to convince him that he can touch in the shallow end, and got the tape measure out to prove it. And yes, at this point I am going to be of those mothers... I told her to tell him that they can't make him swim... poor kid, he's so petrified.

Waterpark

2008-08-02T21:37:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday Grandma Chickie treated the kids to an afternoon at the water park. It was overcast and not a super hot that day, but that meant a less crowed park... which is ok by me! Ethan surprised us by going into the wave pool without any prompting... but he wouldn't go on any water slides. I have decided that Aunt Megan must have the magic touch with Ethan when it comes to water... she got him to "swim" at the lake earlier this year and he went on the water slides when Megan took him to the park. When Grandma and Papa's pool is done, Megan will have to have an installment of "Aunt Camp" and get Ethan to go in there too!

Thanks G.C!! We had a great day!

Tree Be Gone!

2008-07-29T17:44:00.002-04:00

Our house can't hide behind the tree anymore... time for some real landscaping! But first let's clean up the mess.

Phili Trip

2008-07-28T23:21:00.012-04:00

Last Tuesday we (Mom, Dad, Alex, Hudson and I) took a quick trip down to Philadelphia. It all came about when Dad would drive Alex into the city for her Broadway camp. They discussed musicals during the ride, and Dad was flabbergasted that Alex had never seen Les Mis. So he had it in his head that Alex needed to see it. It was playing in Phili until August 3rd, so he bought some tickets online and off we went! We met Kristin and Melissa there at our hotel and they joined us for the night. The play was fantastic! This was my 4th time seeing Les Mis and it was the best production of it that I have seen. The lead (pointing his finger in the air in the picture above) was the understudy, and he was great. I loved how they used the theater, which was small, so you were really invested in the characters. You could just about reach out and touch them! After the show some of the actors were at the doors with buckets to collect money for the educational outreach programs that the Walnut Street Theater supports, so we got to speak really quickly to Christina DeCicco, who played Eponine. Alex gushed to her, "You were AWESOME!" And she replied, "You're awesome too!" It was cool. (Then I found out the she also played Galinda in Wicked too. So cool!) It was such a great experience. Alex and Hudson loved it! Thanks Grandma and Papa! (I took the picture above after the final bows, without using a flash, so I wouldn't get in trouble!)

Before the show we walked from our hotel to an Irish Pub for dinner. It was crowed but cute and we had some very interesting conversations!

The next day we did a tiny bit of sight seeing. First we went to the historic district of Phili, where the Liberty Bell is and all that, and went to the US Mint. Thankfully it was free, because there wasn't much to see. We thought about seeing more sights, but we didn't have much time. I would like to go back someday with the kids.

We did go to Bartram Gardens. It was really beautiful...but oh so hot!! Here are a few pictures I took while we were there.

Franklinia Tree

Shark Boy and RBTL Girl (edited)

2008-07-21T22:07:00.006-04:00

We got to see Alex's performance for the Summer Stars camp this past Friday. It was really exciting to see her up on that stage (the Auditorium theater)! Alex was in 12 (singing and dancing) numbers out of about 30 that were staged. It was a very impressive show- knowing that these kids put this together in just two weeks. A lot was expected of them... the day of the show I said goodbye to her at 7:30am and didn't see her again until after the show (well, I saw her very briefly running past me when she was having her dinner break and I was there to volunteer, but we didn't even talk)...so she and her friends did each other's hair and makeup. (Papa thought her pony tails were fake hair!) These pictures are from the finale...the guy who ran the show, Adam Pelty, has the mic and was getting all teary talking about the kids. He was one of the Broadway professionals that teach the kids.

Alex had a really fantastic time and is already thinking about next year! Thank you to Grandma and Papa for supporting her... and transporting her! Papa took her in many mornings (Grandma drove once too) and talked about musicals, etc. It came out that Alex had never seen Les Mis and so Papa decided that she needed to see it...and so after searching for a production of it nearby, they found one in Philadelphia and we are going there tomorrow!! I know.... crazy.

And this I noticed last night...

Ethan's adult tooth is half way in and his baby tooth is still hanging in there. I know this picture is blurry, it was really hard to get him to keep his tongue out of the way of his teeth, but can you see it? Hopefully once the baby tooth comes out the other tooth will move forward into place... otherwise we will have to start saving for braces!!

Ethan says that he's is like a shark... with an extra row of teeth. (edited: new picture that shows it better)

When Butterflies Attack!

2008-07-14T18:10:00.003-04:00

Mohawk Man

2008-07-10T17:01:00.003-04:00

Ethan let his mom go a little crazy on his head yesterday... He loves his new cool 'do... enjoy it for now... it'll be gone when the summer is.

Big News

2008-07-08T21:12:00.008-04:00

Ethan SWAM today! Yes it was in a life jacket so no, it really doesn't count as actual swimming...but still... this is the kid would rather melt in the blazing sun than float in the water, or even put his feet in it, because he was so afraid of it. Just recently he would get into the water if we kayaked him over to Squaw Island. The bottom there is not mushy and the water is clearer than it is off the dock at Grandma and Papa's lake house. This was nice- except it got sort of tiring paddling him over there. So today imagine my shock when he was coming back from a kayak trip with Aunt Megan, Gabby, Nick and Frankie and they all bailed out of the kayak! (Well, except Aunt Megan.) I guess he had a panicked look for a second and said to Megan, "I can't touch." She told him, "I'm right here." And that's all it took! He floated and paddled his arms and twirled on the water and had a grand ole time for about an hour. Thank goodness we have 3 days left at the lake!

Some pictures of our "stay-cation " at the lake house... Boys of summer.

Reilly's new puppy Jamison.

Gratuitous cute baby pictures of Celia.

Recital at Last

2008-06-26T21:06:00.004-04:00

My camera was broken (and enjoying a trip to Connecticut to be repaired) when the dance recital happened, so I was not able to take any pictures for myself... but Megan got a few of the kids at dress rehearsal. Hudson tapping.

Alex in her super-hero banana costume..... oh I mean her jazz costume, and Gabby dressed for the Good Ship Lollipop.

Hud dressed for ballet (he earned a bike for having to wear that shirt).

WICKED!

2008-05-31T18:02:00.009-04:00

Alex and I went to see the opening night performance of Wicked at the Auditorium Theater on Wednesday night. And it was FANTASTIC! We had a really nice time. First we went to eat at Biaggi's.... Alex's choice. We got to the theater in what I thought was plenty of time (30 minutes till showtime) and already the parking lot we usually use was completely full. But, that's OK. After parking across the street we walked through the other parking lot, and past the trailers. It is a tradition of Alex's to touch the trailer of whatever show we are seeing. This time she posed too. After the show we were treated to invitations to the Private Cast Party!!! (Thanks Papa!!) There were not many "regular" people there...maybe 20. Maggie Brooks was there too. At first we were both nervous to approach the actors (and honestly it was hard to tell who was who without their costumes!) but we finally worked up the nerve to go talk to people....

This is Tom Flynn (Doctor Dillamond) and Lee Wilkof (The Wizard of Oz). The Wizard we could recognize, but Doctor Dillamond wears a goat mask, so it was hard to pick him out.

This is Deedee Magno Hall who plays Nessa, the Wicked Witch of the East (the one the house falls on). She was so sweet and told Alex that she had a "beautiful face". She is married to the actor who plays Fiyero and they travel around together with their 3 year old son. I asked who stays with their son when they are performing. Normally her sister, she told us, but right now it was her mom. That's a lot of support! What a different life style.

This is Clifton Hall, who plays Fiyero. I think Alex was pretty excited to meet him!! He was pretty impressed that Alex was only 10, (he looked at her, looked at his wife and said, "You're really only in 5th grade?") had read Wicked, and had seen as many Broadway shows as she has seen (we counted around 11).

This is Katie Rose Clarke who is Glinda the Good Witch. She was actually the first person we approached. She was very gracious and sweet...and short! It's so funny how short they all are (except Dr. Dillamond) because they all see so much larger than life when they are up on stage.

And finally, this is Donna Vivino who played Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. If you look closely you can see the green tinge of her makeup near her hairline and on her hand. She flipped her hair over to show us how it was still quite green back there... she was going home ("Well, back to the hotel") to take a nice long shower. We told her that it is Alex's dream to be Elphaba on stage someday, and she said, "Well, that was my dream too!" Donna is the standby actress for Carmen Cusack who is normally cast as Elphaba on this tour. I'm not sure why there was a change in the casting, but Donna did say that when we see it on June 14th Carmen will be there... it will be neat to see the difference in the two.

Everyone was so nice. It was quite the experience! And now Alex is chomping at the bit to go to the RBTL Summer Stars camp. We also got to meet, and speak to at length, Bob Sagan who runs the RBTL camp..... so that was really cool.

Curriculum Fair

2008-05-21T21:24:00.004-04:00

Tuesday night was the Curriculum Fair at school. It was nice to see all the cool projects and art work. Ethan's teacher is sick so she wasn't there, but we did go to the art room and see his self portrait.

I love this picture of Hudson. I can just hear him saying, "Oh God." This is just prior to the start of his recorder concert. I am happy to report that the concert was really good! I have to admit I was dreading it just a bit- squeaky, loud plastic instruments playing "Hot Cross Buns". But it was great. The music teacher had some great, original selections of music. The kids sang and danced too. I'll get a clip up on you tube soon. (I just put it up.)

New Look

2008-05-19T21:57:00.015-04:00

I kind of like this black background... what do you think? I think it makes the pictures pop. If it's too annoying let me know. But look how great this picture of Gabby looks!

Yes, we blow lots of dandelion seeds around here

I have added a link to our youtube videos as well. (Right over there on the right.) Stop in over there... Megan and Papa are singing too!

Justin is gone travelin' again.... to Colorado Springs this time. Unfortunately I don't think he has a window of time to go see Maura and "the fam". Speaking of Maura and "the fam", congratulations on new baby Griffin!!

When Justin was home this weekend he actually showed me what it is that he is doing now.... he is a Maintenance Specialist (I think... and no, that does not mean he is a janitor!). He will teach the yahoos how to maintain the fancy, expensive thermal imaging machine. I'm sure that there is a lot more to it than that, but at least now I have a rudimentary understanding of what exactly it is that he is doing!

Today, Alex's house project was due. The 5th grade had to study different architecture and then build a model house based on what they learned. Alex chose an Italianate and based her house sort of on the house Grandma Patty grew up in.Yes, I did help, but she did a lot of the work on it and has the hot glue gun burns and the exacto-knife cuts to prove it! Tomorrow is the Curriculum Fair at school... fancy name for Open House. Hudson also has his recorder concert!

This is a funny picture from this weekend.... it is Ethan watching golf. It was his choice to do this. Obviously he was switched at birth because he is clearly not my child.

And Alex won't eat a hamburger but she'll eat this!!!!! GROSS! This is a tofu dog after it has been microwaved. Yummy.

Almost There...

2008-05-15T07:07:00.004-04:00

We are starting Day 5 of Daddy's first week away with his new job. He comes home Friday afternoon. We're doing pretty good. I know, all of you who have Daddies that travel probably are thinking Geez Sarah, its not that big a deal! But this is new for us. Alex phrased it best when she said, "I miss Dad. I know it's not a whole lot different than when he was at Lowes.... but then I knew that if I needed him he could come right home."

Justin's first week is going well. (And for Hewie and everyone else who is wondering, here's a link to CACI because honestly I'm not really sure what it is that he is doing.) He was in the DC area for a few days and last night when he called he was in Detroit. He's getting along well with his new co-workers, figuring out what to pack next time around, playing with his new laptop, etc.

We are just doing our thing.... going to dance class mostly (as usual). Mom and the Miltons have helped out with this so I haven't had to bring Ethan there every night. He hates going there. Monday he literally cried for an hour while we were there because he ripped a Pokemon card. Between him and his brother we have about 400 stupid cards laying around, but I guess he reeeeaaallly like that particular card. Good grief! My guess is that he was just tired.... and emotional.

So that's what we're dealing with.... oh and things like this....

....mouse in the dog food. Fun stuff.

Wishes....

2008-05-12T22:28:00.004-04:00

Wishing you ALL a very Happy, albeit Be-Lated, Mother's Day! Isn't this a great "wishing" picture? Look at that one little seed floating away..... I hope that J & A are ok with me using a picture of their little cutie!

Alex's Performance

2008-05-11T19:57:00.001-04:00

Last Couple of Days...

2008-05-09T07:12:00.010-04:00

We start most days with some Celia lovin'.

I watched Hudson's tap and jazz class on Wednesday. They have really cute music for these two dances... Mika's "Lollipop" for jazz and "Sugar" for tap...as in sugar, uh uh uh uh uh uh, oh honey honey, you are my candy girl..... Mrs. Sciarratta gave Hudson a lot of solo parts - one of the perks of being the only boy in class! Hudson and Bethany do a really fun thing during the jazz dance, but maybe I'll let that be a surprise at the performance. Isn't that a cute picture of Hudson and his gaggle of lady friends watching the group before them??

I take Gabby to her dance class.... and so I stayed to watch her class this week too. Look at that goofy face!! She did a great job though and is front and center in her dance.

Last night was Alex's chorus and band concert. She's such a little stinker and doesn't tell me anything because she wants it to be a surprise (sound like Maureen to anyone?). Anyway, she conducted a piece for the band. She did a nice job. Mr. G said she had the most "natural movement" for it. Caroline did an awesome drum solo... it was so cool. They dimmed the lights and had colored lights flashing around the stage. Very rock and roll. I got a little teary watching her!

Here are Alex and Caroline about to start banging on the drums in one of the chorus numbers. They were so cute together! "Little natives," Patty said. And to top off the evening the Hudson girls swept the honors... Alex won Greatest Achievement in Chorus and Caroline was honored with it in band. Great job ladies!!

(Alex with her choral instructor Mrs. Warren and posing with Mr. G who is retiring this year.)

Hello there...

2008-05-07T13:47:00.005-04:00

it's been awhile, I know. I started a post a while back about our road trip to Howe Caverns but I only got as far as uploading one picture. Does that even count as starting a post? I think not. It's still there in my drafts file...one lonely picture. Maybe someday I'll get the rest of them up there for you to see.

As you all know Justin is through with Lowes and starting with CACI. He starts traveling on Sunday. I think he'll be gone until Saturday. It has been very nice having him around this week- not only to free me up a little with "kid duties" but so that I can actually have a conversation with him and the kids can get in some good Dad time. He's been in "project mode"- replacing the sink faucet, putting in the garden, installing the new washer. Yes, he spent his final day as a Lowes employee buying us a new washing machine. As Nancy said, the Lowes Gods must have know he was leaving and had our washer crap out just in time for him to get a new one with a discount. Although of course he wasn't able to get a super awesome deal like he did for Megan... o-well. Our home has become FedEx central (well, comparatively speaking)... they stopped by yesterday and today, and UPS dropped off a package today too. Most of it is work "stuff" for Justin.... thick packets of papers he takes to the FLCC library to read over in quiet...but I think the UPS package is his "uniform"- which is actually khaki pants and long sleeve button downs (no Mom, not a bullet-proof vest!).

It is observation week at the dance studio. Unfortunately Hudson had the dreaded stomach bug AGAIN and didn't go to class on Monday. I'll get a chance to watch his tap and jazz class tonight. I did see Alex's ballet and tap classes, but she'll have to miss her jazz class because of her 5th grade chorus and band concert. She's also taking a hip hop class on Fridays, and I'll be able to check that out this week too. And I'm going to take a peek at Gabby's class too!!

Other stuff...Broadway Beware is this weekend. Alex, Megan and Papa are all singing in it. I am a "prop" for Alex's number. Hudson proudly showed off the 7.5 out of 8 he got on his Italy project. Ethan is Student of the Week this week. I am knee deep in dance recital costuming... level 6 dresses, level 4 head bands and hats, making a tux jacket, etc. etc. Hope all is well with everyone! Have a good week!

Yesterday...and today

2008-04-17T20:13:00.014-04:00

He's getting so big he decided to become the king of his own land....

brotherly love? not so sure.... what I am sure of is dirty feet from barefoot play...

still being a little kid...

Yan Yan...these are fun. have you tried them? maybe not the tastiest of snacks (they're ok)...

...but they are good for a laugh!

Today

...letterboxing at Lollypop Farm

Ethan and Hudson find the clue box...

surfing in the woods...

a nice walk...

the emu freaked Hudson out (weird eyes he said)...

checking out the animals...

we found Mary Therese's memorial brick in the walk...

i felt like Grandpa Donald taking this picture- but I just couldn't resist! It was nearly 80 in the shade!

a sunburned neck and a nice bath at the end of the day. (wash those feet!)

Kipper Dawg

2008-04-06T19:18:00.001-04:00

Try JibJab Sendables!

Guess Who Will Making a Visit Tonight???

2008-04-02T22:25:00.002-04:00

What the?

2008-03-28T16:38:00.012-04:00

I hate it when my kids say that, but that's exactly what came out of my mouth when I woke up this morning and looked out to find this. Yuck.

Can you believe this??? I'm so tired of it. Sure, it was pretty, but come on already!!!!

Well, the kids liked it!

Cate and Ethan made a "fruity-face" snowman. (Those are grape eyes and a banana mouth, along with a traditional carrot nose.)

Hudson and Cate made snow angels.

Cate & Hudson played on the swings. (Ethan did too, but I didn't get a picture of him in action. Funny story: He asked me for an "under doggy". When I did it, he must not have been holding on tight enough because as soon as I ran under him I looked back to see him shoot off the back of the swing and land flat on his back under that oak tree!! Good thing there was 6 inches of snow to break his fall!)

* The kids had a half day today, which was nice that they got more time to play outside. Cate and I waited until the boys came home from school so we could all go out together. Alex, unfortunately, was confined to the couch still... she has the flu. Although, she must be on the mend as she found the energy to fight with Hudson this afternoon.

Future Ad Campaign?

2008-03-27T21:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter Everyone!!

2008-03-22T20:13:00.000-04:00

He Likes Gnomes Too

2008-03-11T21:21:00.004-04:00

We were thinking about Dawn today when I made this gnome for Ethan, because, you know, she likes gnomes....

...and he does too.

NYC in Pictures

2008-02-21T12:03:00.012-05:00

And the Oscar Goes to ......

2008-02-20T10:11:00.004-05:00

This picture is from our quickie trip into NYC on Monday. We took the train into the city, walked around a bit, saw Rockefellor Center and St. PAtrick's Cathedral, had lunch at the ESPN Zone and got lost on the subway. This is Alex practicing for someday when she receives a real Oscar. While Mom and Dad lingered over their lunch, Meredith had all the boys upstairs playing games at the ESPN Zone (bless her!) Alex and I ran down to the free Oscar display. There were 50 Oscars on display (I just read somewhere that they are not the Oscars that are being handed out on Sunday- those have been sent off for engraving- but these were "extras".) What Alex is holding is exactly like what will be presented to the Oscar winners. I didn't lift it, but she said it was heavy.

Kindergarteners

2008-02-09T20:16:00.000-05:00

Class of 2020

How cute is this???

2008-02-06T13:14:00.000-05:00

Can you tell what this is a drawing of???

Ethan drew it... it is of him in his winter hat.

See?

The Wacky Hair Day That Wasn't

2008-02-01T21:19:00.000-05:00

Mohawk Man

Cheerio Coiffure

Lavender Locks

The wacky hair we had....school we didn't. At first we were told there was a one hour delay for school starting, so we all thought "Cool! Extra time to do wacky hair!!" So I got 2 of the 3 hair-do's done. Then word came (at 7:56am) that school was cancelled, but I didn't want Ethan to feel left out, so we had our own wacky hair day!

"Snow Pants!"

2008-01-28T14:10:00.000-05:00

"Warm and snuggly SNOW PANTS! Waist to ankle SNOW PANTS! Warm and snuggly SNOW PANTS! MITTENS! Warm and snuggly MITTENS!...." You get the idea....

Ethan's kindergarten class had their Winter Celebration on Friday. It was cute...but it was like deja vu... they did the same 5 songs, ate the same snack and did the same project that Alex and Hudson also did back in the day. They sang about what to wear when it is cold oustide, and wore hats as their costume. Ethan was sweating in his.

So far, so good....

2008-01-17T07:22:00.000-05:00

Resolution #8 is done! I made a quilt for Alex. It's not fancy. It's not perfect. But she likes it and I had fun making it. We chose the fabrics together, greens and pinks mostly... and we will be painting her room green soon to match. We also made her a new (huge) bulletin board using some of the same pink fabric that is in the quilt. Can you believe it?? She finally likes pink!

2007 Year in Pictures...finally done!

2008-01-06T22:05:00.000-05:00

I took 2261 pictures in 2007!!!

I thought it would be fun to see a few of the ones I haven't shared with you already in a month by month format. I'm finally finished!! There are a few months that had so many pictures it was hard to choose... and a few months taht had so few it was alos hard to choose (like May- I have NO pictures of Hudson in May!!!!???)

Anyway- enjoy!!

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Resolutions

2008-01-03T22:13:00.000-05:00

I'm jumping ahead of finishing up my Christmas post, but I started thinking about these things and wanted to get them down before I forgot what I promised myself I would (try to) do this coming year. OK, here goes....

1. I know, everyone is rolling their eyes at this one, but #1 is to lose those last 10 lbs of baby weight- seeing as my baby is 5 ½ (pathetic, I know)
2. Keep a cleaner house- I'm thinking of setting up a schedule for myself like Sunday: clean bathrooms, Monday: vacuum the upstairs rooms, Tuesday: change sheets, etc. etc. Does anyone else do this? Does it work for you? Is cleaning your bathroom only once a week gross? Currently, I do wipe down the sink and toilet surfaces everyday, but I don't scrub the tub or scour the toilet everyday....I just don't want you to think we are drowning in toothpaste spit over here.
3. Be a better mom/wife/friend... I need to be a better listener.
4. Read more.
5. Spend less time just farting around.
6. Eat better and make my kids eat better- even if they aren't aware that is what I am up to :) I'd like to branch out and try new dinners. I feel like we are in a rut of foods they find acceptable.
7. This one goes along with #6- Plant more veggies and actually eat those veggies! Possibly make and store more foods, like tomato and apple sauce. (I did 2 big pots of tomato sauce this year and froze it in quart sized bags... but we are already all out!)
8. Make a quilt for Alex. She wants to re-do her room colors and I have some ideas brewing. I should update the boys room too... it is too babyish for an 8 year old.
9. Finally finish up those nagging little home projects I've started- like finishing the trim paint in the computer/craft room (formally the dining room) and replace my much needed shelf above the washer and dryer that came crashing off the wall one day.
10. Get outside more- get more exercise.

Well...that's a good start I think.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T13:17:00.000-05:00

It is 2008... can you believe it? But before I wish everyone a Happy New Year, I should really re-cap our Christmas (mostly so that someday I'll remember it). Our Christmas was great!! Lots of family togetherness, "tousins", silliness, good food and reminiscing... just what I wanted for Christmas.

Part 1:
We started the Sunday before Christmas with the kids' church pageant.... good thing they are all cute, because it was pretty bad. Hudson did a great job remembering his many, many lines, but besides that there was not much I could say about it. (I could barely even understand it.)
Later that day my good friend Sue came over and gave me the best gift... the Bend the Rules Sewing book! She's so awesome! I got busy that day and started making cute little purses and clutches, that I stuffed everyone's stocking with. The next day, Monday, was Christmas Eve. We went down to Cheap Charlies for the Sullivan's annual joint birthday party, then on to Grandma and Papa's house for the Norman family gathering. It is always so nice to see most of my cousins and aunts and uncles. The evening started off with a bang though- when I ended up with a spider in my mouth when I took a sip of my wine. Ick. After that it was home to wrap gifts with It's a Wonderful Life playing on TV in the background.

We must have the only kids around that don't wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas day. Alex and Hudson were up around 7:30.... we ate cinnamon rolls while we waited for Grandma Chickie to show up... and Ethan to wake up! At about 8am, Grandma arrived so we decided to wake Ethan up (unbelievable). The kids went right to work on their stockings... and were surprised to find an onion in each (Santa must have run out of coal or rotten potatoes).

Hudson discovers his onion.

Ethan was very pleased with his knuffle bunny, a stuffed version of the toy in one of his favorite books. Alex got mostly "practical things" (her words) like clothes, dance stuff, new sheets, a magazine subscription and books. She also got a pretty necklace from her Daddy. Hudson was thrilled with his Lego castle and Ethan's Lego dwarf mine. He also liked the squid shirt I made him, although his Papa said it looked like a p__is.

I was really proud of my kids this year. I told them that they had to either make or buy their siblings gifts this year. I wanted them to learn how to be gracious givers and how selecting a gift for someone else can be almost as fun as receiving presents. They paid attention to what their siblings might want, and made nice thoughtful choices. I helped Ethan out, but Hudson and Alex were pretty independent doing this. They also made some gifts for their grandma's this year- ice candles, where you layer melted wax and crushed ice. We had a lot of fun making them, although Ethan spilled the beans to Grandma Chickie when she babysat a few weeks ago.

Opening gifts at Grandma Chickie's house.

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Grandma Chickie's house- her squash recipe was amazing. I'll have to get it from her. Mom and Dad joined us and we all had a nice time chatting and watching the kids be goofy. Then the "boys" packed up and headed home while Alex, Grandma Patty, Papa and I went to see the Smiths. Megan and the family joined us and we all had a very good time... playing guitar, singing, drinking wine, hanging out...figuring out how to make money off of our kids (he, he). It was a perfect ending to a very nice day.

It's A Wonderful Life!

2007-12-30T13:16:00.000-05:00

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Silent Night

2007-12-26T12:12:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas from Reilly, Dawn and Alex.

Look what I discovered today!!

2007-12-19T12:32:00.000-05:00

I'm am so excited.... I just discovered that you can hear Alex flute performance online!!!! (She is the "trilly" one.)

Also Caroline's drumming.... Here are all the selections.

Celia update

2007-12-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

Gabby, Mom and I went up to see Celia and Peach today. Celia looked good- very alert and looking around at us. I got to hold her for a long time- even while 2 different nurses came in to examine her. She's so sweet and snuggly! Elizabeth said that they are 99% sure that her "episodes" (not breathing) are caused by reflux and they have put her on 2 different medicines to help with that. If she doesn't have another episode they may send her home tomorrow. Her due date was this coming Thursday, so it would be fitting for her to come home then!

Say goodbye to the dancer....

2007-12-17T23:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm glad you all got a chance to see Ethan dance at least once, because today he quit. It has been getting difficult the last few classes to get him there, but I made him promise to stick with it until the winter recital was over with....

He got a little teary when he was telling Mrs. Sciarratta that he was all done, but she said, "I'll still be your friend, and maybe you can try again next year." We'll see. Now he wants to try karate... yeah.

Run Run Rudolph

2007-12-17T14:25:00.001-05:00

Watch Gabby RUN!!

Candy Cane Dance

2007-12-17T07:46:00.001-05:00

snow angel

2007-12-16T20:33:00.001-05:00

Ethan's first recital!!

Frosty the Snowman Tap Dance Finger Lakes Ballet Academy

2007-12-16T20:31:00.001-05:00

Feeling Crafty...

2007-12-15T08:10:00.000-05:00

Look what I whipped up while Cate was napping yesterday.... No, they are not little gnome hats, although Dawn would like that (she likes gnomes)...

they are candy cones. I saw the idea here and thought they were really cute. Of course mine did not turn out as cute, but o-well. I am the Class Mom for Ethan's class, so I am going to fill them with candy and little treats and pass them out to his classmates.All I have to buy is more candy, everything else I had on had. The green sparkly felt was left over from Hudson's elf costume.

Warning: I have been feeling quite crafty lately, so you all should beware this gift giving season!

And on a more serious note.... say a prayer for baby Celia. She is up at Strong Hospital after she stopped breathing yesterday. Thankfully she was at the doctor's office for an appointment when the incident occurred, so she has been under professional supervision the entire time. She is having all sorts of tests done to see what caused this. I can only imagine what Elizabeth and Marc are going through to see their sweet tiny baby being poked and prodded.

Here is Celia with her great Aunt Karen and next to her Great Grandma at Mum's 95th birthday party.

2007-12-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

Make a free ecard!

Happy Birthday Mum!

2007-12-07T07:38:00.001-05:00

Mum is 95 today! Happy Birthday!

And happy birthday to you too Grandpa Donald... we all miss you very much. You would have been very proud of your granddaughter and great granddaughter last night.

5th Grade Concert

2007-12-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

Alex had her 5th grade chorus and band concert this evening. They had a "trial run" this morning, and bussed all the kids from the elementary school up to the high school "performing arts center" to see it. Mom and Justin (and Gabby!) went to the morning show because they couldn't make the evening event. When I picked Gabby up from Mom's house afterward (I had a dance meeting to go to) she told me how good it was, and that Alex's duet was great. Her what??? She had a duet? OK, so now I ma feeling like the crappiest Mom on the planet. I knew that Mr. G had given her and another flutist some "special music", but I thought it was just for lessons or for fun.. I had no idea she was doing a duet. Then I thought- gosh- maybe she told me and I was like, "Uh huh" without really listening. I felt really bad. SO I go tonight and watch her and be awed and amazed and blown over. It was really good. We get home and I asked her about the duet and she says, "Mom, I wanted to keep it a secret so you'd be so surprised!" Well, I was....

(It was actually a trio because Mr. G played guitar)

Playing in the band...

Here is Alex in the chorus...

Caroline was part of a special group- five kids played a holiday song. It reminded me of a jazz gig... sorry Caroline, I couldn't avoid the microphone across your face! What talented kids we have!

Happy Hanukkah

2007-12-04T19:37:00.000-05:00

Ethan expressed an interest in celebrating Hanukkah (Alex did the same thing when she was little too). So, due to the fact that Hanukkah starts tonight and we were short a menorah, we improvised with birthday candles and an egg carton. We lit one candle, Alex and Hudson said a little prayer about thankfullness, we shared some chocolate cake and enjoyed being together.

Welcome Baby Celia!

2007-11-30T11:23:00.001-05:00

Peachy and Marc welcomed Celia Louise last night around 8:30pm. We were able to sneak in today for a really quick peek at her. She's all warm and fuzzy and sweet. We were ushered out because it time to nurse.

Happy birthday to Dominick! Ethan didn't want to get out of bed this morning because it is Dom's birthday so he didn't think he had to go to school...like Dom's a dead president or something! Actually he thought he was going to Dominick's party today.

Even More Elfin' Fun!!

2007-11-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

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