Ethan plays soccer

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

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

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!

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"

Happy Easter! And Justin is Home!!!!

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...

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

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...

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...

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!