VeggieTales Live - "Sing Yourself Silly"

Yes, we saw Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber live and in (ahem) person!!!!  The new church we've been going to hosted this event and we went back and forth on whether to buy tickets or not.  Dave Ramsey and our Total Money Makeover said "no".  Then, my friend Lindsey came to the rescue.  She forwarded an email about volunteer opportunities.  I volunteered to help break down the set and load the truck that night, so we got two free tickets to the 2:00pm show. 



Here we are waiting to go in and find our seats.

So, I picked Thomas up from preschool, grabbed a quick lunch and headed for the auditorium.  We sat with Maria, who is in my bible study small group, and her son, Angelo.  Maria was kind enough to purchase both boys these cool lights.  Thomas really did enjoy his light, and still is enjoying it around the house, even though he looks a little questionable here.

Thomas enjoyed the show and so did I!  It was a countdown of the top 10 silly songs, with a few lesson songs thrown in.  They even threw in a few 80's songs for the adults.  Don't ask me how they worked 80's music into a kids show, but they made it work!  We got to sing along to I'm Walking On Sunshine and Gourds Just Want To Have Fun.  The characters are HUGE!  The feet of the "actors" are covered up by the costume so it appears as though these gigantic vegetables with smiling faces are floating around the stage.  There are even costume changes!!  At one point, there was a close call.... Larry's pupil fell off.  Crisis averted - he apparently knew what had happened so he sang part of the song with his back to the audience until the friendly host rescued his pupil from the front of the stage and reapplied it, at which point the parents chuckled and he turned around to finish his number.

I was actually pretty nervous about behavior, especially considering the time of day, and making sure that Thomas stayed with me in the crowd, knowing that he would want to be up and running around the entire time.  So, after getting all of his misbehaving done during lunch, he behaved for the most part and started really slowing down towards the end.  He spent the last two songs in my lap and started to fade during the last song.  When the lights came up, he didn't move and Maria said that he was out.  Poor guy.  It was his nap time, after all.  I woke him up and we headed on our way.


Here is Thomas being an attentive audience member

Because we had so much fun (and we had some time to kill before picking Daddy up from work) we went to get a treat at Marmalade Skies.  It's one of those make-your-own frozen yogurt places.  They are apparently very popular and they're popping up everywhere.  You pick up your cup, pick your own frozen yogurt, as many flavors as you want.  Mommy chose a swirl of Pumpkin Pie and Marshmallow.  Then you move down the line and pick your toppings.  I let Thomas pick whatever he wanted, so we ended up with gummy bears, peanut butter cups (an ode to Daddy), chocolate sauce & M&M's.  It was pretty good, enough to satisfy both of us and only $3.50!  My kind of place....


Yummmm!!!

So, all in all, we had a great time and Thomas enjoyed it!!!  .........I think.

Hyco Lake Trip

While Daddy was away on business, Thomas and I were able to take a quick weekend trip to Hyco Lake with Papa & Oopsy.  What a great little getaway it was.  It was cool in the morning, but progressively got warmer as the day went on.  Papa & Oopsy bought Thomas this sweatshirt when they were at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.  Now, it also reminds us to think of my cousin Keyes!

The house was right at the lake and had a little boat house with a canoe and dock.  Here is the crew going down to check it out.

Even though I was a bit nervous about having a 2 year old in a canoe, I bit the bullet and did it!  He was in a life jacket and my death grip on the straps of the jacket eventually loosened as I got more confident that he wouldn't stand up, throw a tantrum, try to jump out, or all three. :)  We had fun being chauffeured around that part of the lake by Papa.  I would have helped paddle....but the death grip on the life jacket kind of made that difficult.

We went to a local restaurant to have supper and got a great picture of three generations.  Papa, we sure do love you and Oopsy!  Thanks for taking us with you!

September Notes

I've been keeping little notes about things I wanted to include in our blog.  They are random, but so sweet.  Enjoy!

• Thomas really loves the Disney movie "Cars".  He now has MANY of the toy cars and we watch the movie pretty often.  A month or so ago, I was in the kitchen and I heard Thomas playing with his cars in the living room.  He whispered, "Come on Doc, Drive!" while acting out the scene in the movie with Lightning McQueen and Doc Hudson. Didn't know he was paying that much attention.....He is.
• Thomas has been saying the blessing before all of our meals.  It goes a little something like this: "Dear Dod, thank you food, aaaaaaamen!"
• When Thomas hears me or Shawn ask each other "you ok?", he immediately responds "I'm o-tay, Mama" or "I'm o-tay, Daddy"  Well we weren't asking you, son, but we're glad to hear it!
• We've been watching a lot of football lately.  Haven't made it to an actual game yet, but hopefully sometime this season we will.  Thomas loves to "ta-tle" Daddy.  We're working on discerning who, where and when to tackle.  i.e. - not at school, please. :)
• Big news! Thomas is now in a toddler bed.  For those of you unfamiliar with this, it is essentially his crib, just with the front rail taken off and replaced by a short half-rail so that he is able to get in (& out) by himself.  One Sunday night at 6:00pm (1.5 hours before bedtime), Shawn said "let's go ahead and change over his bed" and, as freaked out as I was, I said "okie dokie".  We're all about just ripping the band aid off instead of taking it slow. :)
• Lately, if I suggest something to Thomas he responds with "that be fine, mama."  Like, ok, that'll work Ma.  Just sounds so grown up coming out of that little mouth.
• If you ask what Thomas wants for lunch, you will usually hear "peanut butter and jellybeans, please."  If that's not the cutest thing in the world, I don't know what is....

Things are well in the Williams' household.  Lots of new things going on.  Shawn has started with a men's group at church that meets 6-7:30 on Wednesday MORNINGS!  Thomas is doing really well in preschool.  No more tears for the most part.  In fact, he actually had quite the tantrum the other day because he didn't want to leave!  Wow, what a change.  I've joined a women's bible study at church once a week while Thomas is in preschool.  What a blessing that has been so far! ...and it's only been a few weeks!!!  It is definitely where God wants me to be right now.  I'm sure of that.

I almost wrote a post the other day titled "I love my son, but I don't like him right now."  That is what the last week or so have been like around here.  We are in the throws of the terrible two's (I hope) and I am frantically trying to figure out what in the world I'm supposed to do in those really uncomfortable but really important teaching moments.  I'm also trying to lower my volume.  I've learned, since becoming a mom, that I'm a yeller.  I don't like that about myself, but I'm working on it.  Any other yellers out there have advice for me??  Whew.... nobody said this would be easy. :)

Here's a cute pic of Thomas coloring before supper the other night.

As an aside, my cousin Keyes became an officer in the Navy this morning.  He graduated from Navy OCS today!!  Way to go Keyes!!  We couldn't be more proud of you. :)

First Day of Preschool

That was my big boy this morning on his first day of preschool.

He is attending two days a week at a church down the road from our house.  We had an open house last week where all three of us were able to meet the teachers, other children and some of the other parents as well.  That went well as soon as Thomas realized that we were staying to play with him.

I cleaned out his book bag, which has served as our diaper bag for many months now, last night and left in there only the things that he needed for school - a change of clothes in a Ziploc bag with his name on it, extra diapers and his sippy cup, well labeled, of course.  I decided to try to do this without E or Blankie.  Seemed mighty empty to me, but he's a big boy and doesn't need a ton of stuff anymore, especially when he's going somewhere that has toys and people to play with!

We talked about school some last night and a lot this morning and he was looking forward to it, but peppered the conversation with "mommy leaving" in the most pitiful pouty voice you've ever heard.  Here is a short video - "Preschool Day 1 - Before":

After our experience at VBS a few months ago, I was a little nervous but confident that both of us could handle this.  So, we left right on time and arrived at school right on time.  We walked to his classroom and the tears started.  It was a quick drop-off, which seems to work best for everyone involved, but I stood in the hallway to take care of some paperwork at the front desk.  I heard him cry a little but not NEAR as bad as VBS.  He seemed to be okay, so off I went.

When I returned, he was doing fine and waiting at the door with all the other children.  When he saw me he cried a little, but that's the usual, even at church.  Mrs. Amanda said that he did great, especially considering it was the first day.  I'm so proud of my big boy and I can't believe he's big enough to be doing this already.  I feel like real school will be here in the blink of an eye.

Here is another video "Preschool Day 1 - After":

Vacation 2010

So, it's October and I'm finally getting back to finishing my post about our beach vacation back in August!  So, I'm post-dating it.  Here we go....


Enjoying breakfast on the back porch



Some Memories of Ocean Isle Beach in August 2010:

• Thomas playing Wii bowling with a very patient Taylor and Mary
• Speaking of Mary... Thomas' girlfriend, "that one", last year's girlfriend went and got married
• The family getting to talk to Keyes over speaker phone and tell him how much we love him and are supporting him while at OCS. Also, everyone writing a stack of OIB postcards to send to him.
• Balderdash - If you've never played you should.  One of the best parts is going back and looking at previous entries.  An example from my crazy family: The word was "Morgay", the made up answer was "less straight". (Sorry if that offends you, but that is funny).  Also can't forget Shawn and his retarded lemurs.
• Floating in the ocean
• Don't know what it is about mean birds at OIB, but the mean girl seagull met her match in Carly. Carly chased her down and kicked her off of our beach. :)
• Shrimp boil and lots of other good food.
• Celebrating Lauren (30), Whitney & Taylor's (26) birthdays.
• Thomas taking 4 hour naps after playing in the sand with his dump truck.
• Gaga walking down to the beach and getting in the water, falling in the water and then sitting in the water...in her clothes. (One of the happiest memories of this trip!)
• Taking a fixed wing plane for a spin on my 30th birthday with my uncle in the pilot seat and my aunt in the passenger seat with me.
• Last day - sitting in the quiet living room while my family plays on the beach and my son naps thinking about all the ways that we have been blessed and what a wonderful vacation this has been.

  

Can't wait for next year!

The Big 3-0!

I just turned 30 two days ago.  I'm currently at the beach with family so it's been a great week to celebrate.  (More about the beach trip and pictures to come soon)  Just sitting here thinking about the ways that I've been blessed.  I have a child whom I cherish, a husband whom I adore, a family who I am lucky to have and friends who feel like family.

Thirty is a big milestone and one that I wasn't sure about.  I've heard some say it's great and I've heard some lament and say it's really a tough birthday.  I didn't think it would be a big deal, but you never know how things can creep up on you.  Turns out, it's not a big deal....yet.  Maybe I'll have some breakdown in a month when I have to, for the first time, tell someone I'm 30 or fill out a form that places me in the 30-39 category instead of the 20-29 category (although, if you know me, you know I love filling out forms) :)  For right now, I'm happy.  I love my life and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and my family!

Maybe it's the salty air and the loud ocean and all the relaxation going on, but I feel like I'm ready to tackle my thirties and remind myself of my priorities and the things that are most important.  I want to honor God, take care of my husband and my child, or children should God bless us with more, spend time with and continue to get to know my family, especially those that I don't see as often, and enjoy time with friends.  I'm hoping to have lots of wonderful memories (and, I'm sure, some struggles) to record on this blog in the coming years.  (I hope blogs don't become obsolete anytime soon, since I'm just now figuring this out!)

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I've always loved hearing stories from other Mama's about their children when they were growing up, whether that was a couple of years ago or a couple of decades ago.  I, unfortunately, do not have a great memory and I've always worried that I would have no such stories to tell because I wouldn't remember them.  This blog is a good thing, for that reason.  I love the stories about things that children do and especially things they say.  When hearing one of those stories from another Mom, you can usually just hear that sweet little, high-pitched voice saying something that makes us laugh and laugh.

Thomas is now really talking a lot and is putting long sentences together.  He gets stuck, like a broken record, sometimes while he is thinking of what he wants to say and he repeats things A LOT.  He repeats what he says and he repeats what others say.  In fact, there are times that I am attempting to discipline him and speaking very seriously to him.  Imagine trying to be serious (and patient), while a two-year old is quietly whispering every word that comes out of your mouth.

Some of the very fun and noteworthy things he has said recently:

"Mama, are you?" - translation: "Mama, where are you?"  He even says it with a sing-song tone.


"Weee oooo weee oooo weee oooo" - translation: the sound a fire truck makes. He does this sometimes when he sees a fire truck and most of the time at home when one of his toy fire trucks has its siren going.  I've seen him, on a couple of occasions, do this for a full few minutes.

"Cinnamon band aid" - translation: "spiderman band aid".  When we get a boo boo, we need not just any band aid, we need a spiderman band aid!

"Mama, pincess" - translation: "Mama, princess".  A couple of weeks ago Thomas was playing in our bedroom.  There is a picture of Shawn and I on our wedding day with Pastor Ray.  Thomas noticed this picture, seemingly for the first time, and looked at it for a minute.  He then turned to me with a big smile on his face and said "Mama, pincess".  Melt my heart.

And the latest funny....

"Mmmmm, delicious!" - No translation needed, he said it just like it sounds.  I gave him a banana for snack and he ate most of it.  Before one of his last bites, he said "mmm, delicious!"

This kid cracks me up and makes me smile. :)