Farewell to Carly

I feel like enough time has passed that I can blog about Carly moving without crying. It's not every day you meet someone that you feel totally comfortable around. Carly and I met just a couple years ago and I'm still in disbelief that she doesn't live here any more. The friendship we formed in a short time is a true gift. I talked to her on the phone a coupe days ago and we just pick up where we left off and I have a feeling it will always be this way for us, no matter how much time passes between contact. Carly's cousin put together a fun memory book as a farewell gift for her. It was super fun to reminisce on some of the good, sad, and crazy adventures we had together. Here are some of the pages I submitted and other fun memories with this wonderful friend of mine:

"I met Catly when Sugar Creek ward formed and I was assigned to be her visiting teacher. It was friendship at first sight, but the act that sealed the deal forever was in early 2014 when she showed up on my porch with this lovely craft she had made. I had just miscarried and was a weepy pile of self pity and sweatpants on my sofa when she arrived.  Her gesture not only helped me see beyond my grief and become aware of joyful things again, but it also confirmed that I would always be able to trust her with real feelings. Carly is a loyal friend who I never feel a need to put up a front for. I never worry that something I say makes her feel uncomfortable. She accepts me how I am, and our friendship continues in spite of my imperfections and sweatpants. I'm so thankful for her." 

Once we headed out for a magical peach picking adventure...and ended up

Damsels in Distress with a flat tire in the middle of nowhere! It was a memorable day from start to finish! 

Remember that time both our husbands were out of town, so we ignored all the traditional responsibilities, got the kids together to play, and spent an entire Saturday playing in the kitchen. We canned peaches and homemade salsa, talked about baby chicks (another fun adventure!) and baked the most incredible pizzas from scratch. It was a day of deliciousness. 

We spent like 6 months making these together, and when they were finally finished, I was too pregnant to climb a ladder and hang them. Carly came over and stood on a 20ft ladder that was precariously placed on top of another ladder (we're smart), which was also precariously balanced on a steep flight of stairs. Then she scaled the wall to hang these for me! I'm never taking them down. 

The Willy children loved Miss Carly's piano studio. She was also their primary president for a year and they felt her love for them. A mother can never have too many allies in her villiage. Thanks for loving my children, Carly! 

Our last hurrah was a day in eureka springs. We basically drive there, wandered around, are delicious white pizzas, and came home, but the time together was priceless. 

Time spent with Carly is time spent being creative. Whether we were creating art, laughter, stronger testimonies, beautiful music, adventure, therapeutic distraction for an aching mother heart, acts of service, or lasting memories for our children, they were always beautiful creations. Carly shares her talents willingly and generously. Each of the above photos reminds me of a time in my life that was made so much better because Catly was there. 

When we realized our only pic together was a chuck e cheese selfie. ;) 

Saying goodbye over cheap dates at Table Mesa. 

I'll probably talk to you tomorrow or something, but I miss you nonetheless, and STILL find myself circling your cul de sac when I randomly have an hour to kill in Bentonville and am in your neighborhood. Thanks for being a fun spontaneous person who's always up for an hour of chatting, shopping, doing projects, or basically anything. 

Carly, your presence is sorely missed by many, but especially one Meg Willardson.  

Bakers dozen

1) weather always tops my happy list when temps reach the 70s! I wore shorts and a tee for my long run Saturday morning and still got hot. It was awesome. 

2) good reports. I've never had a bad report from the school about Corbin. I find it hard to believe he is so well behaved, that I giggle to myself with joy every time I receive a notification in the class dojo app. Always thumbs up and gold stars.  This also causes me to wonder what I am doing wrong at home to create a polar opposite environment so much of the time. Since I have no answer for that question at this time, I think, for now, I will bask in the descriptions: "On task", "quietly", "following directions", and "helping others"  being used to describe my boy. I'm so pleased these behaviors are exhibited at school. 

3) 44 candles. Or 4 and 4 candles :) 

 "oh somebody's had a birthday, our little Kasey dear..." Thursday we celebrated Miss Sunshine with a couple other gals I visit with not often enough. Bonus? Best bacon cheeseburger I've had in a looonnnnng time. Perfecto. So is this girl. A true and perfect example of everything a good friend should be. 

4) move over Princess Leia buns. Quincy ran outside sporting this look and shouted, "I'll be Rey!" 

5) I know the photo is a bit contraband, but I couldn't resist snapping a silent shot of our peaceful pew on Sunday. Maybe all of the reverence practice FHE lessons are helping. Or maybe it's because we were seated next to the stake president ;) but a reverent spell fell over the Willy kids and lasted almost the entire meeting. 

6) naptime circus. Soren reminds me of the pharoahs of ancient Egypt, stuffing his tomb with all the essentials for the afterlife. When he settles down for nap, he packs his circus tent with all sorts of odd and fun treasures:  giant playground balls stacked precariously overhead, a fuzzy pink unicorn, his Spider-Man beat, the rocket pillow, and today he dragged his scooter indoors and down the stairs and added it to his little slumber tomb. Rest well, tiny King. 

7) she shall climb mountains. 

8) Q's library book choices always include a cookbook. 

9) my nephews Parker and Zachary scored the only two (and winning!) goals in their high school lacrosse game, yesterday. I wish I'd been there to cheer them on, and also to join the chatter in the bleachers. I watched the video my brother in law posted about 5 times, because the conversations and background voices of my family were so happily familiar. 

10) one of "my beehives" just returned from her mission in Chile, this week. I love updates on how those lovely ladies are doing, 8ish years later :) 

Speaking of updates, our old neighbor received her YW medallion on Sunday. It seems like yesterday when Jenny would send 5 year old Kirsi down to play with Reese after Quincy was born.  Way to go, Kirsi!

11) Gringo Fiesta is upon us! 

12) Rhea lanas. Since I missed the last one, the work was mostly done this time.   

13) preschool goodness. We mailed adorable letters this week off to family members all over the country. 

Monday Funday

No school Monday means the Willies set out to play. 

Adventure 1: Shortstop Cafe in Garfield, Ar. 

This place was legit gas station fried excellence, but is known for their 12 inch talk ice cream cones. We had both. Lunch was a smorgasbord of chicken, pizza, a delicious cheeseburger, tots, curly fries, and a fried cherry pie. Yum! 

We ordered the peewee (smallest) size ice cream on the menu and they were still tall enough that the boys fought with them like lightsabres. I warned them not to, and sure enough, Corbin's ice cream flew off the cone and splattered on the floor. The employees just laughed and said it happens daily. Corbin was handed a replacement ice cream cone and the floor was mopped up before I had even finished paying the cashier. What a great place! Sloane loved finishing what remained of Corbins first ice cream cone. 

Adventure 2: Spring Valley Road

I've heard about this place before but never found it. Yesterday we took a drive and found it in a car graveyard in Bentonville. Check out this tree growing out of an old car!

There were also baby goats, pigs, and horses galore to look at. 

Last night, we party crashed and joined up with the Shaws and Messicks for FHE at the local roller rink. Allreds and Sandersons were there, too. So much fun. I haven't been on roller blades in a decade and it was like riding a bike. You never forget! 8th grade Meg came out and I joined the "speed skaters" on the rink! Hahaha. After 2 hours on skates, I met Kasey for a 4 mile night run and I can hardly walk today! So sore!! Worth it. The kids loved it. 

I just had to include this pic of Quincy hula dancing as we left. She's always dancing and is quite animated. I love her. 

Love Weekend

The weekend started out beautifully with these lovelies from Aaron. He totally gets me. I love you, Aaron. And thank you for not buying roses.  These 

Our traditional Valentine's Day dinner out with the children was on Saturday this year. The kids were angels. It doesn't happen often (and we don't go out terribly often anyway) but it was one of those dinners out where everyone was truly delightful, everyone ate peacefully and happily and in their own chair. I think we might be getting somewhere with this fantastic brood of ours. Don't be fooled by Soren's grumpy face. (I don't even remember what he was upset about) dinner was awesome! I'm so happy we have this little tradition of taking our lives out for a fun dinner. AQ chicken for the win. It was just a really really great evening. 

Thanks to a sweet $2 old navy sale, I gave each of the kids a new shirt to wear, and Aaron added the fun of assorted chocolates. 

Assorted chocolate box= always a game of total roulette unless it's See's. I let them go nuts on the box (Sunday lunch of champions!) and there were some great moments of disgust when orange creme and pretty much anything but caramel filled candies were bitten into. 

The kids set/decorated the table for dinner (eggs and heart shaped pancakes) and added a special touch: Valentine cards for Aaron and I. Notice the personalized touch. Nailed it! Hahaha

Finally, Aaron opened his gift from us: new socks for work...including this awesome pair with planets on them that Soren flat out insisted we buy for Dad. Well done, Soren. Daddy loves all the socks! 

Valentine 8K

Today was a bright and brisk race day. The training group registration includes the (earrrrrly!) Saturday morning training group run sessions, the bentonville half marathon registration, an amazing swag bag of running merchandise, and registration for two other races: a Valentine race and a St. Patrick's  Day race. 

It was a freezing 21 degrees, I was up 3 times during the night with Sloane, and I didn't realize until I was at the starting line that my iPod shuffle was not attached to the end of my earbuds! No music? Wah! At that pint I just took off with a "just get this done so you can go home and take a hot shower" mentality, and had a pretty great race. I finished 5 miles in 53 minutes, so about a 10:40 pace. I came in 200th place overall out of 460 finishers and 63rd in my age group. I never had that "this is amazing!" moment but felt ok the whole time so I just kept going. 

After finishing, we squeezed in one more mile to stay on track with the training schedule for the half.  Summary: good time, felt alright, definitely missed having running music, I love my running girl sole sistahs. 

Caps for Chemo: Special Delivery

The children were out of school yesterday, so we made our delivery and closed the books on our Caps for Chemo service project. 

Our final count was 85 hats!  

Great work, little Willies. And a giant thank you goes out to everyone who donated supplies and/or helped us make hats!  

Babies Having Babies

I took this picture of Sloane "drinking" from a toy baby doll bottle and ur reminded me of this photo of me when I was 8 months old. 

Valentine Boxes