I'm Not a Slacker, Just Busy!

When I looked at the blog today, I realized that I hadn't posted an update since Tuesday. At first, I titled this blog post, "Slacker". But, I haven't been a slacker. I have just been busy, busy!

Wednesday night~I had bible study with a group of girls from church. I absolutely love this group. There have been so many things weighing on my heart over recent months and I've been in constant prayer about them. Each week, things that are discussed in our bible study group speak to me about what's been weighing on my heart. God is so good like that. I pray to Him to reveal His plan for my family. Little did I realize that he would always use my bible study group to do this. Thank you to the girls in this group for being you!

Thursday night~Another great night with friends while playing Bunco! It seems unbelievable that we're in our 6th year!

Friday & Saturday~Our family made a little getaway to Auburn to visit some friends. Our sweet friends always open their home to us and we love them!! Friday night, we ate at my fave place...Amsterdam Cafe. Yummo! Saturday morning, Ami, Brooke, and I had some fun craft time! Brooke definitely showed up on coming up with a cute craft for us!

Today~We had a great morning at church and Sunday School. Then, we enjoyed Panera with Dovie and came home to take some much needed naps. I'm embarrassed to say that I napped as long as Will (over 2 hours)! This afternoon, we went to school. While I worked in my classroom, Bill & Will played on the playground at school. Have I mentioned before that Will loves slides? Yes, I know I have.

So, it's already Sunday evening and I haven't made any progress on my sewing efforts. Yikes. I'm committing to myself to cut out two pairs of shorts and iron my last applique tonight. I can do it! T minus 13 days until Disney! So much to do between now and then!

No Progress, But Having Fun!

Sewing Update: No progress made today. I'm ok with it.

Instead of sewing, our family got to enjoy a fun night with new friends! Will's new church friend and his parents (in our SS class) came for dinner and the boys had a wonderful time playing. It was great getting to spend time with our new friends and get to know them more. I am so thankful for us getting involved in a Sunday School class at church. So many couples have little ones in our class and I love having an immediate connection with such a big group of people. Will and his new friend played and played. They pulled out almost every toy in our family room (and if you've been here, you know that's A LOT!). They got along so well, which made the visit even better! I can't wait for us to do it again!

Here are some pictures of Will and his new friend. Don't you just love the beautiful red hair!

Progress

Still feeling overwhelmed about what all I need to do before our Disney trip. However, BIG PROGRESS was made today because 4 shirts have the applique attached! Yea!! I still have to sew them, but at least the applique is finished and on the shirt.

So, for those keeping track of my "to do" list (ahem...I guess just me), I still have to:

~create one more applique for a shirt

~hand sew 2 of the 5 shirts

~sewing machine sew the other 3 shirts

~cut out 2 more pairs of shorts (already have cut out 2 pairs)

~sew all 4 pairs of shorts

I must say that this is the biggest sewing project I've taken on. And I would still be at Step 1 of deciding what to put on the shirts if it wasn't for a talented friend at work! Thank you Kip for your help!

The rest of this week is super busy, so I doubt I'll be sewing any. I'll feel good about everything as long as I can get the last applique on a shirt and cut out the other two pairs of shorts by the end of this week. Then, I'll have two more weeks to do the sewing. Yea!

**As a side note, I know that most people read the blog to see how Will is doing. Sorry, but right now the blog is an outlet for me and a way to document my "to do" list.

And if you really want to know how Will is, he's great (and already asleep)!

Feelin' the Stress

We leave for Disney in less than 3 weeks. How have I let it slip up on me? There is so much to do to get Will ready for the trip. So much to do and he doesn't even know it.

The biggest "to do" for the trip is get all of Will's clothing purchased or made. I like to sew whenever I feel the creative juices flowing, but when I'm under pressure to make a week's worth of outfits, I just feel completely overwhelmed.

On top of making outfits for Will, I've got to purchase a new swim suit for him. It's TOO early in the year to think about buying a swim suit and I'm just disappointed at what I've found so far. I am looking for a cute, reasonably priced, seersucker or gingham suit. If you know of a good place to find some, please let me know.

I love Disney. I really do. But the prep work for a week-long trip is stressing me out. I know it will be so much fun once we're there and that Will is going to look cute in all of his outfits, but right now, I'm just stressed. I suppose mine and Will's afternoons are going to be filled with swim suit shopping. I'm sure he'll be thrilled! Then my nights are going to be filled with sewing. I'm thrilled too.

I just might have a few less hairs on my head by the time we get to the most magical place on Earth.

Big Machines

Check out our pictures from Big Machines Day at McWane! Will had a great time, but you can't tell by the pictures (not many smiles). He was so mesmerized by everything that he just looked in awe. He was too focused on the big machines to pose for pictures! :(

Will was able to sit in several different kinds of machines and even in a fire truck!

Isn't Will's yellow construction hat too cute! They gave it to him and he didn't want to take it off. He's usually not a hat guy, but he was all about the construction hat.

What a fun day!

I Like To Eat Apples & Bananas, Part 1

Will loves him some apples and bananas. He even loves to ate them, eat them, ite them, ote them, and ute them.

Thus, this post is titled "I Like To Eat Apples & Bananas, Part 1".

Do you know where the closet is?

It is amazing to me how much Will seems to learn each day. He tries to carry on conversations with us and wants to always be a helper. Yesterday, in general Will fashion, he picked up one of my dress shoes and acted like he wanted to put it away for me. When I told him to put it in my closet, off he ran. As I listened to the pitter-patter of his feet, I was already so proud of him for knowing exactly where to go.

Bill & I quietly waited in our family room so that we could hear each of Will's moves in our bedroom and closet. We heard something close, but it did NOT sound like the closet door. Hum...I thought that maybe it was a fluke and I just was hearing things. Will ran out of our bedroom with a smile on his face. I gave him my other shoe and asked him to show me where the closet was and put it away. Proudly, Will took me directly to our TOILET! I was scared to open the lid, but knew I had to do it. Sure enough, when I opened the lid, I saw my dress shoe lodged in the toilet. I wish I had gotten a picture, but I was ready to get my shoe out of there!

Moral of the story ~ Make sure you've directly taught your 19 month old where the closet is! Do not assume anything!!

A Boy and His Train

Will's love of his train table seems to grow each day. He loves "Choo-Choos" and can spot the sound of a real "Choo-Choo" from miles away!

He spent some time this afternoon with his train table and his new battery-powered Thomas the Train engine (Thanks Dovie & PopPop!). Now all of his Thomas cars can tour the track without being abused (oops - I mean assisted.) by a little 20 month old!

*Notice the shiner above Will's right eye. Story of our lives...

Will encouraging his mega-train to keep chugging along.

He's even telling it to keep "choo-choo"ing

Tonight, Bill & I celebrated Valentine's Day & his birthday (yes, a day late) with dinner at Fleming's. THANK YOU to a precious student of mine for the gift card & Dovie & PopPop for treating us. We'd never been there before and we were super impressed! It was delicious! We were in for a bigger treat when we exited the restaurant because IT WAS SNOWING! Ignore the quality, but I had to take a couple of pics with my phone. I can't believe that we're having another snow event. It was so unexpected and just beautiful! Wonder if it will still be here in the morning?

Happy Birthday To My Wonderful Husband!

We've had a wonderful day celebrating Bill's birthday! In honor of this special day, I tracked down some pictures of us through the years. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed looking back through old pictures!

Happy Birthday Bill! I love you!

Central Park ~ April 2002

Sea World San Diego ~ May 2003

Santa Monica ~ May 2003 (right after we got engaged)

New Year's Eve ~ 2004 (AU vs. Wisconsin Bowl Game in Nashville)

Epcot ~ January 2004

Mike & Mandy's Wedding ~ July 2004

1st Married Christmas ~ December 2004

Yikes! Can't remember the occasion! Early 2005

Rome, Italy ~ May 2006

Beach ~ July 2007

June 20, 2008 ~ Day we came home from the hospital with Will

Beach ~ June 2009

Bill's Birthday & Valentine's Day ~ February 2010

Happy Valentine's Day

Will & Bill received lots of Valentine's Day goodies! Check out some of their stash.

**You can enlarge the collage to see it in more detail.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

After church this morning, we enjoyed a family brunch at O'Charley's. Now, the two boys are napping and I'm blogging. We're planning to head to the zoo after naptime. Can't wait to visit some of our animal friends!

More Fun in the Snow!

We nixed our trip to Chattanooga this weekend because of the yucky weather for traveling. Since we weren't on the road this morning, we were able to have some more fun in the snow. Thank goodness that we played in it fairly early because it was almost completely gone by noon!

This morning, Dovie & PopPop's yard still had a perfect white blanket over it, so we wanted it mess it up too. All of our fun today happened over there. Check out the pics.

So excited about tomorrow! We'll be celebrating Bill's birthday and Will's 2nd Valentine's Day!

Let It Snow!

It happened! It really happened! We have snow!

Although, it didn't begin until about 10 a.m. We did go to school this morning and closed at noon. (The process of dismissing kindergarteners under extremely quick circumstances is a whole post by itself.) At least we didn't lose our next inclement weather day!

Bill's work closed early too, so the three of us were able to have some fun in the snow already. Yea!

It's just beautiful outside. Simply beautiful! It's still snowing, so I can't wait to see how much there is when we go outside to play again.