Soren turns 4!

Happy Birthday beautiful boy! Soren asked for a Mickey birthday with a Mickey cake. He received: new jammies, a piggy bank, a learn the alphabet dinosaur match game, and the game headbanz from our family. Grandma Lynda and Grabdpa Rob sent him a cool playdough squishing tool and Grabdma Lady and Grandpa Hal sent him a camper and truck Lego set. He loves everything and loved the Mickey Mouse details. We love this little boy and know he has a special gift for sharing joy. 

Birthday Interview: 

What if your favorite____:

Color: orange and blue and black and grey and light blue ab white and green.

TV show: the letters one (leap frog) 

Movie: Superwire (super Y)

Song: a Sunbeam!

Food: chicken nuggets

Toy: rockets 

Fruit: bananas, grapes and apples

Vegetable: salad

Letter: S cuz I start with a S

Thing to do with Daddy: play blocks

Thing to do with Mommy: cook together

Restaurant: Chick-fil-A

Season: snow!

Place to go: to get donuts! 

What makes you feel happy? 

Jumping on trampolines and making my bed 

What do you like best about yourself? 

When I am funny

What are you good at? 

Doing the work. I work hard and it takes one hour. Willardsons are hard workers.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A dad

What do you hope to do now that you are four? Use the potty. Tomorrow.

Who are your best friends? Reese and Quincy and my best brother is Corbin. 

Be a light

Our annual Willy Back To School Feast consisted of assorted cheeses and crackers, salami, caprese stacks, a veggie platter, fruit platter, edemame, pickles, hummus, and pretzels. 

This year, I chose a lighthouse theme to go with our family motto: Be a Light. Each child received s tiny lighthouse figurine to remind them to be a beacon of Christlike light and love, a welcoming safe place for friendship, and a shining example of kindness and good character.  

We are a few weeks into the school year and I can already see how they are applying this message. 

Corbin receives green or blue every day at school. Corbin, you are a light! 

Quincy is making a daily conscious effort to be a peacemaker in our home. This is a challenge for her, and I recognize the ways she is changing her attitude for positive, letting little things go, and being more helpful at home and in the car. It has a positive effect on everyone! Quincy, you are a light! 

Reese had someone teasing her relentlessly the first week of school and chose to stand above and return punitive behavior with simple kindness. She also stood up for her beliefs to a friend who told her "all Mormons are going to hell" and daily comments and tries to prove that we "aren't Christian."  Reese has really taken a stand for herself and the right this year in both words and deeds. She has befriended our neighbor's neice with some physical and social delays and sits with her in classes and makes sure she has someone to play with. Reese, you are a light! 

I tripped over a set of scriptures on the stairs this afternoon and fell forward down the stairs and landed flat on my face. Soren ran to me and put his entire body on mine and held me tighter than I knew he could. He had tears of empathy and when I sat up, he kissed my crying face with his crying face and asked if I was better. Yes. Soren, you are a light. 

Sloane let me rock her for almost an hour this morning. I'm slowly weaning her and I know I will probably only nurse her a handful more times. She put one hand on my cheek and together we mourned the beginning of end of this special time together. We rocked and rocked and then read her books and she made me laugh and I felt the Saviors love as I nurtured my baby. Sloane, you are a light.

Aaron put on a white shirt and tie and with the priesthood, gave each family member a father's blessing. This is a sacred and special tradition for our family.  

Fun details: Katie Gulbransen made these amazing lighthouse cookies, and we ordered lighthouse keychains for each of our kids. 

During the lesson, I showed pictures of lighthouses and I talked about their purposes.  Then we had a discussion about what troubled waters and stormy seas feel like for each of us. I passed out gummy sharks and each of us named ways Satan tries to prey on us personally when we already feel like we're drowning.  The ocean will swell, and we often get swept up in rough tides or shark infested waters. 

I promised that if they will remember to look to the light, they will be navigated through difficult times. Heavenly Father will never leave us stranded in the dark. He wants to help us. And he wants us to help each other. He loves us and he wants us to love each other. 

First Week

Reese started 6th grade (and at a new middle school to boot). 

Quincy started 4th grade and is already enjoying the rank of top dog with her fellow class mates in the highest grade at Cooper. 

Corbin started 2nd grade and is finally in the "upstairs" classes. He continues his perfect behavior at school "green" streak and has even already earned "blue" for excellent behavior, twice. 

Soren and Sloane were schooled in donuts. True to tradition, after drop off on the first day, the littles go out with mom for donuts. Laura and Sawyer joined us, this year, and when asked if he was sad that the big kids were gone, Soren replied, "naw that's ok, they'll come home." He was not sad in the least to have his kingdom back! 

 

I sure missed them, though. It was way too quiet around here. I spent the day playing Legos with the little ones, doing housework, laundry, and cooking up and bagging/freezing 15 lbs of ground beef, making and freezing 6 quarts of tomato soup. The day flew by as it always does when the kids are at school. Everyone likes their school and teachers and is adjusting well to being back on a schedule.  

Aaron was in Denver all week, for work. I really missed him, and so did the kids. He went to dinner with my brother, Scott, one night. I was a bit jealous when I got this text...until I realized he was eating an octopus tentacle. Barf. 

I replied with this pic of Sloane. I call it, "party all night, sleep all day". Baby has a good thing going for herself! I'm kind of in the beyond exhausted haven't slept in 2 years state. Sloane doesn't seem to mind.

We also had a little excitement in the front yard when we discovered something alive and growling stuck inside our out door trash can! Ahh! Thankful for good neighbor's who came over to exterminate! 

We survived and found ways to enjoy the first week of school. This week we add music lessons, hosting a work people dinner, activity days, homework, and soccer practice back into the routine. I'm glad we have a slow ease back into reality after summer break. 

I do kind of already miss summer. 

10 Years

We are celebrating 10 years with Walmart, this month. Thanks for all you to to provide for our family, Aaron. We appreciate your daily hard work, dedication, and sacrifices. 10 years is a huge accomplishment in today's transient work force. Your loyalty is an unique, admirable, and honorable characteristic.   We love you more for it. Congratulations!

Big Girls at the Theatre

I took Reese and Quincy out for a big girls date, on Friday night. I grew up on community theatre, my whole family participated in the South Valley Civic Theatre productions, the first time I used power tools was during set construction with my dad, my sisters filled the living room with show tunes, and I even transferred to a different elementary school for grades 3-6 for their GATE and theatre arts programs, which followed me through high school and the early yeas of Odyssey Theatre Company. It all started around first grade for me, so I was pretty darn excited to take my big girls to the Arkansas Public Theater for Mary Poppins.  I bought the tickets, and they planned the details of the evening from dinner to their hairstyles. 

Dinner at Red Robin (their choice). Desserts first (my choice)!  

I loved their glee and fascination when we got into the balcony to find our seats. They immediately went to the edge to watch the musicians rehearsing in the pit, then turned around to find the light production crew and spotlight girls. 

The show was cute. They nailed Step in Time so I was pleased. Reese noticed every costume change and thought the live toy dream sequence was super creepy. Q went home with stars in her eyes and is scheming how to get herself on a stage. Reese said the stage would be her worst nightmare, but she would love to work behind the scenes doing costumes or something backstage. 

I cherished sharing this evening with my girls. It's true, their reactions were as entertaining as anything on stage. Being a parent is really great.  

Summer in Arkansas got us like:

Catching butterflies, eating ice cream and playing on the square, taking a redneck dip on the front lawn, swinging in hammocks, watching too much tv or none at all, swimming at Metfield pool, bonfires on the Island, snowcones on the front porch, countless rounds of Clue, Reese learning to babysit, Quincy going to a ton of birthday parties, bottom braces for Reese, Soren learning to pee in the potty, Sloane learning to walk, Quincy and Corbin learning to swim, our kitchen torn into pieces for 2 months , Aaron celebrating 10 years at Walmart, Meg trying to keep running twice a week in extreme heat and humidity, dozens of dozens of eggs sold to neighbors, hundreds of green beans and tomatoes processed and put up, Sugar Creek Ward moving to the Bella Vista chapel, Boys Sunday Breakfast with the Rybergs, painting Grandma Lady's house, a successful Camp Wild II, Meg chopped off 8 inches of hair, Barbie's and Star Wars, museums, walks, bikes, puzzles, markers, tape, scriptures, lots of things breaking, lots of siblings fighting, dentist appointments, wheat thins and laughing cow Swiss cheese, cherries, peaches, sonic slushies, donuts, movies, dates, sunscreen, bug spray, no bedtimes, and the same clothes for 3 days.  

And so much more!  

I'm so tired, but so not ready to give this season up.  Fall is my favorite season. I love the weather, the order, schedules, serenity, and wild beauty of change. 

And yet it will arrive with me kicking and screaming in defiance and denial, this year. Can we just go off the grid for a couple of years? I'm not ready for change, just yet. Not even close, actually. 

Monkey See Monkey Do

This little monkey... 

Is such a climber! She's always on top of something! The counter, the table, the piano, the sofa... She's like a baby chick trying to roost. It's both funny and nerve rattling. Today, she made it to the top bunk. With markers. 

I think she may have had some help.  ;)