Starting the Christmas cheer...

We had a cousin party with the Williams cousins that were in town on the 22nd. The kids got to make cookies, decorate them, eat pizza, open presents and PLAY! It was so much fun. Santa was more than happy to get cookies that were frosted by the kids!



What a fun way to start Christmas! More posts to come....

YAHOO...another annoucement!

Since I had such a great response to my last announcement...I thought i'd try and see if people are even reading my blog.

YAHOO!!!

Jake is a PE!!! Professional Engineer! He passed his test! What a great christmas present to know that he passed and can be a Professional Engineer! He is such a hard worker and an amazing husband!

Great job Jake!!
This is where the PEs of Idaho are listed...here is Jake's name :)....http://www.ipels.idaho.gov/rostersearchbyname.cfm

Sugar cookies and Graham Cracker houses...

We have had some creative, fun times these last few weeks. We meet together for a 'dinner' group with a bunch of our friends once a month and this month we decided to do graham cracker houses with the kids. I think the parents had as much fun as the kids doing them! Anthony LOVED putting the candy on his house and watching his dad build it up!

A couple of Mondays ago, we decided to make and decorate sugar cookies for FHE. It turned out to be a really fun activity for all. Jenna has to be as big as her brother and wants a chair right next to mom to help cut them out, wants a knife and her own bowl of icing to decorate her cookies with. I wish we would have gotten a picture of the cookies Anthony decorated because he did a really great job. We took the cookies to Grandma and Grandpa Williams and Grandpa Loyd and Grandma Nay. We had a lot of fun and will make it into a tradition to do next year!

Finding a tree!

I love going and finding a Christmas tree in the mountains...and so do the kids. As soon as we got up in the mountains, they couldn't stop smiling. We went up to Pine Basin on Saturday and only had to hike up a 'little' mountain to find our own little Christmas tree lot. The kids and I had fun playing in the snow while Jake walked around to see which way we should go to find the perfect tree. Anthony and Jenna both loved to eat the snow. Once we found our tree, Jake and Anthony cut it down. After that Jenna just had to help her dad pull the tree down the hill to the truck. She was so proud that she was 'helping'. She keep making sure we knew where she was by letting out her own little words. It was very cute. Anthony and I had to play like penguins and slide down the mountain because it was too steep and slick to just go down...Anthony couldn't stop laughing while we were sliding down! I love finding our Christmas tree from our own personal lot!!

Messy, messy, but cute!!

I needed about 2 extra minutes to get dinner ready while Anthony and Jake were raking leaves outside. Jenna had had enough and wanted out of her highchair until I showed her an Oreo Cookie. I think the pictures tell the rest of the story!! She LOVED it. She did pretty good to not get it on her shirt either! What a cutie!

It's Time...

Okay, I have had a feeling it is time to go private. I'm not sure who reads my blog, but the few out there that do lately...thanks for the comments. I want to make sure my kids and my family are as protected as they can be in the world we live in these days.

That being said, I know some people that read my blog don't have a blogger ID...it is really easy to get one. If you want to keep up on my blog and need some help, email me or call! I want you to be able to still see my children grow and our family's doings :).

Leave me a comment (with your email address if you think I don't have it) or email me. I will be going private at the beginning of next week!!

Spotlight-JennaMarie

JennaMarie's turn....so many things I want to remember about my kids at the different stages in life.

• Jenna LOVES to smile. At anyone. She has to make sure everyone is looking at her and will flash her cute little smile.
• She loves to sit on laps. If you are on the floor, doesn't matter what you are doing, she will come to you, turn around and back herself right into your lap. She will make herself comfortable too.
• She loves to squat down to do things. My mom thinks it is like a little china woman picking rice. Jenna doesn't sit, she squats.
• She loves to be in the bath, but without Anthony. She will sit and play in the water forever if she is in there by herself!
• Jenna LOVES our dog Chiga. If we give her something to eat, she will try to take it over to feed Chiga and loves to pet him.
• If she finds a necklace around the house, she has to put it on. She loves shoes and always wants chapstick on when I put it on. How can she already be such a girl when she is only 15 months old?
• We love when her hair whisps out to the side. She has a ton of hair in the back, but not a lot on top. The stuff in the back is curly, so it often makes her look like she has wings coming out from behind her ears. Cute stuff!!
• JennaMarie loves to eat apples, bananas, any fruit, granola, yogurt and just about anything we put in front of her. She is a great eater!
• She has to have her blanket with her when she is sleepy. She has two that she really enjoys, but one is her favorite for sure.
• She enjoys turturing her brother. Sometimes it doesn't work out so good for her, but she loves to make him squeal.
• Jenna loves when her dad comes home. She will run from anywhere in the house if she thinks she hears the door shut. She hardly leaves his side when he is around.

We are so glad you are in our home JennaMarie! We love you!!

Spotlight--Anthony

Some fun and random things about Anthony. . .I want to remember some of the things he does right now.

• He LOVES to jump off things, especially the couch.
• He likes to play with his motorcyle and 'jump' it in the air.
• He enjoys saying the prayer "all by myself"
• He is always wearing shorts and a white t-shirt if he can help it. I have limited that attire to the house, but if he is home, that is what he is wearing.
• If he has socks on, big IF, he has to have them pulled up as FAR as they will reach.
• His cowboy boots are his shoe of choice right now.
• He can 'read' Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? all by himself.
• He loves to eat Ramen Noodles, fish, peanut butter and jam sandwiches and chocolate milk.
• When he goes to bed, he has to have his blue blanket, slippers, bear, sippy cup and WAY too many other things.
• He loves to play the Wii with his dad. In fact, he loves to do just about anything with his dad.
• He enjoys going to wrestling matches and watching the middle schoolers wrestle.
• He loves to sing songs and read books.

We love you Anthony!

My Little Drummer Boy/Girl

This was our Saturday morning activity while Dad made homemade pancakes! Anthony was having so much fun, Jenna wouldn't hold still to get her clothes on... hence the half on onesie. My kids sat and entertained themselves for so long, I might let them get the pots, pans and spoons out every day. They even played nice with each other!! Gotta Love the toys that aren't really toys at all!

Links

I added some more fun links to visit on my side bar. I have been inspired by many blogs, but I LOVE what I learn to make from http://everydayfoodstorage.net. Check it out! You can get so many recipes and actually use and rotate your food storage from this site.

I also added my sister-in-laws creative blog. She has great ideas and I love looking at them and drawing inspiration from them, so I thought you might too! You can find it here: http://jag-favorites.blogspot.com/.

I hope you enjoy these fun blogs as much as I do!!

Happy Halloween (finally)

I've noticed my blogging days happen on Thursdays a lot. It must be the day I get to play on the computer :).

We had a great Halloween. Anthony and Jenna got dressed up to go to our friend Carter's 1st birthday party on Thursday night and after that, they wanted to be dressed up all day Friday. We had to convince Jenna to dress up on Thursday, but she loved it on Friday! Anthony got to dress up to go to preschool on Friday morning and had his costume on and off all day. He LOVED being a cowboy with the whole get-up. I think he looked pretty dang cute! Thanks Grandma Williams! He loved it when he could carry around his gun like Dad. He has spent countless hours hunting all the wild game in our backyard. He has gotten an elk, deer, bear, wolf, and a panther (as seen on dad's wrestling jacket). He even brings in the meat, cuts it up, prepares it and puts it in the freezer! What a great helper I have!

Friday was a fun filled day. After preschool, I had Anthony help me gut the pumpkin that I would be making dinner in. He thought it was gross, but got used to it by the end. He also helped me cut out the rolls in Halloween shapes. We did cats, pumpkins, moons, and bats. We also made yummy pudding cups complete with ghost shaped cool whip on top! It was a fun dinner. After dinner, we went over to our stake house and did a "trunk-or-treat". The kids go from car to car in the parking lot and it was great. It was a wonderful night and we got finished before the rain came. Jenna got to be two different outfits because the monkey suit was a little small and we didn't want to cram her in it too long! I think she is adorable either way...monkey or lady bug!

Anthony wanted Dad to dress up as a hunter, so Jake put on his NASTY Levi coat and Cal Ranch hat! Gotta LOVE Dads that will dress up!! Holidays are WAY more fun with kids to celebrate with!

My creative genes are back....

Okay, I think i've neglected my Katie's Kreations blog for long enough. I finally got done with my canning, my housework is as caught up as it gets and now I can be creative again! If you are interested head on over to....http://kwilliamskreations.blogspot.com/ and see bigger pictures of the crafts I've done lately. I'll try to take pictures of the scrapbook pages i've done too and post them soon too!

my turn...

Okay, i've been tagged enough times, I need to do it :).

7 random things about me...

--I don't like to look in a mirror when it is dark. I will avoid it at all costs when I go into the bathroom at night....washing hands while closing your eyes is an adventure!

--I load my dishwasher all in the same order. I take all the cups out of the sink, then all the utensils, then all the plates and bowls.

--I have to have a pillow between my legs to sleep. I hate when my knees touch each other. This all started when I was pregnant with Jenna and hasn't gone away. I'd rather have a pillow between my legs than under my head.

--I have a HUGE aversion to many textures in my mouth. I could eat a lot healthier if it would go away. I can't stand yogurt, soggy anything and can barely eat pudding.

--When i'm sitting on a chair, I like to have my feet up underneath me. I don't like to be hanging down trying to touch the ground. (my legs are short)

--I type 150+ words per minute. It is amazing how money is a factor in making you type faster!

--I really wish they would bring back the Peanut Butter Twix without the chocolate cookie. If they did though, I might weight a few more pounds.

Sorry that took so long guys...I had to come up with 7 things that were random about me :).

Before and After...

I was SOOO tired of my hair. It was long, boring and I always pulled it back into a pony tail. When my mom told me I needed a 'hairdo' because I wasn't in high-school anymore, I thought, why not? I'll try it and if I don't like it, my hair grows fast. No harm done. So, I did it. Yesterday, I cut my hair. I'm still in the stage of not sure if I like it, but I think I will. From the bottom of my long hair to my now top layer, I got 9 inches cut off. I couldn't believe my hair was that long!

I seriously HATE self portraits of myself because I don't have long enough arms and have to stretch back so far that I look so different, but here it is. People say they like to see pictures of me on my blog and not just my kids so here it goes.... Don't laugh too hard!!

I had the brainiac idea to have my webcam take the second one! I should have thought that on the first! Ignore my messy corner of crafting :). I need a whole room for that and will eventually when the basement gets finished. Where is my dad and his photoshop when I need it!!

So, what do you think??

More Guymon Photography...

Okay, we didn't have the best photo shoot ever, but my dad is so amazing at what he does that we were able to salvage a few good ones of each kid. No WAY were we getting one with both kids at the same time, but that will have to come another day. Jenna was having a rough day and anytime that Anthony even came close to her, she would scream. Check out the picture on my side bar :). They did LOVE their apples though. My kids LOVE apples so they were in paradise when Grandpa wanted to take their picture in the apple tree! I cannot believe how big their smiles were! Even my grumpy little Jenna! Thanks Dad for being so patient with my little ones! I love all the pictures we got!! This is Anthony's staple outfit. Come over any day, any time and you will find him in shorts and his basketball shirt :)...oh and his slippers!!

Jenna thought this box was the most fun she had all day! She would climb in and fall out and just giggle!
And, this is Anthony trying to blow up a balloon! He sure gave it his best shot!

Oh the energy!!

My Kids seem to have endless amounts of energy. We as mothers need to find a way to tap into their energy, even half of it would be wonderful!! When Jake came home from coaching wrestling, he had his stopwatch out and Anthony wanted to see how fast he could run down the hall and back. I have no idea how many times he did it, but he was laughing all the way. Jenna got in on the fun too and was so busy going back and forth, I couldn't get a picture without her being blurry. They would both take off down the hall when Jake would say "On your marks, get set, GO." Jenna would giggle all the way down and Anthony would do all he could to stay serious! It made for a fun night.

I was going to post a video with them giggling and Anthony laughing, but blogger won't let me. Sorry!

I've been humbled...

Okay, I posted pictures of my weekend snow fall this morning and now I found these pictures....
So now I'm glad we didn't get quite that much snow this weekend!!! HAHA...does that make it better that I still got snow in October??

Anyone want a girl and her 2 kids??

I give up. I can't handle snow on October 11th. Come back in a month when Halloween is over...two months just in time for Christmas, but not in October. We had quite the weekend of weather this past weekend. If anyone is accepting semi-perminant visitors until the snow melts in Idaho, let me know! I'd love to find somewhere I could let my kids swim for 8 months straight (Jenny), actually enjoy a fall day (Janelle) or just get out of the snow :). At least Anthony was excited. It makes it a little easier when the kids get excited, but NOT in October!

Breast Cancer awareness month

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today!

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' -- for free (pink window in the middle). This does not cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate a mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Please pass it along to people you know. http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

AGAIN... PLEASE ASK 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10 FRIENDS. Thanks.

Our first piggies...

Jenna's hair is really quite long in the back and i've been sick of her 'wings' out the sides. So against her screaming and Jake laughing at me, I put them in pigtails on Sunday. Boy, you would have thought I was beating my child, but they turned out REALLY cute. Not worth going through the battle everyday, but some days, you bet!! Here are some pictures...

Canning season must end SOON!!

Okay, i've been missing in action for a while now on my blog, hopefully someone has noticed ;). Every spare minute has been consumed with canning these last two weeks...oh and putting on a super saturday for our ward!! Busy, busy!

I have never canned before...only the few times I watched my mom do it from a distance. But this year, I got the bug. I'm not sure where I got it..but I did. It must be in the air.

Here is the list of things i've canned so far...
--Green beans
--Applesauce
--Freezer corn
--Peaches (canned, frozen, syrup, ate..you name it 80 lbs of peaches when through my house)
--Pizza sauce
--Choke Cherry syrup and jelly
--Apricot jam
--and I have 50 lbs of pears coming my way and WAY more tomatoes on my plant outside.

I have really enjoyed putting in my store downstairs and I'm sure will enjoy the fresh produce throught the winter! I also LOVE the sound of the 'popping' the lids make as they seal! But my mom even said I have a canning floor right now, it is sticky and dirty and I'd like to get it clean sometime soon!!

Preschool

Anthony started preschool. I cannot believe he is old enough to go to 'school'. He LOVES it. The first day he was so excited he woke up at 7:30 and wanted to go right then. He walked right into school and didn't even look back for me. He goes from 9-11 in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I cannot believe how easy it is to only have one child :). I sure miss him when he is gone, but get a lot done too. Everyday when he wakes up he asks if today is a school day and as soon as I pick him up, he asks if he can call his dad to tell him he went to school and is a big boy :)! I hope his enthusiasm for school continues forever!!!

What a wonderful weekend...

I love labor day weekend. Not only is it so fun to have my husband home for an extra day, it usually falls right around my birthday so we try to do something fun. The last few years, haven't been anything spectacular, but this year made up for it. We had a WONDERFUL weekend of camping, bike riding, geocaching, fishing, relaxing, eating, etcetera. My parents, aunt, uncle and cousin with her boy came and met us at Riverside Campground close to Island Park. We got there Friday night and came home on Monday afternoon.

Friday, we just made dinner and enjoyed the company. Saturday, we went to Big Springs and saw the biggest fish we have ever seen. People feed these fish ALL day long, so they are seriously obese. HUGE! We also started our geocaching experience. If you have never heard of that, it is like a HUGE treasure hunt (or pirate treasure hunt as Anthony calls it). You use your GPS and punch in coordinates you have found on the geocache website and follow them to a box someone has hid and stashed with treasures. You take something out of the box and put something back in for the next person! So much fun for little kids!! Anthony had almost as much fun as me doing it ;). The rest of Saturday was spent hanging out, catching frogs and getting dirty.

Sunday, we went for a bike ride in Harriman National Park and enjoyed the beautiful outdoors. We also enjoyed some time in the hammock and then it got so cold we had to eat inside. Still a fun day though. Monday, we went geocaching in the morning and then went to Mesa Falls. I have never seen this waterfall and it was amazing!

It was such a great weekend and I hope for many more wonderful Labor Day weekends and I suppose more birthdays to go with them.