Learning Life's Hardest Lessons...

...like--Not every birthday party is MY birthday party.

It's sad but true...and it was a lesson our little Clinton had to learn a couple of weeks ago.

This party was Jack's.



When we celebrated Clinton's birthday back in February, he still hadn't been to enough parties to really grasp what was going on. All he knew (or cared about) was that a choo-choo cake had sat on the table taunting him for 5 whole hours before the guests arrived. After a while he figured out the gifts were for him, but once he found one he loved he was done opening the rest.

NOW Clinton knows what a gift is and he knows he wants to open it. Because hidden beneath the beautiful, colorful paper begging to be ripped to shreds is a surprise toy. And lately Clinton is convinced someone is going to show up and give him a robot truck!? (Dang those Nickelodian commercials!)

He also knows when I tell him we're going to a party he is going to get cake. Since SWEETS is Clinton's favorite food group, he LOVES a party!

I made the mistake of thinking it would be really cute if Clinton decorated our gift for Jack. Actually, it may have been for the best. Clinton was able to learn before the party that it was JACK'S gift.

I wrapped the gift in brown craft paper. I then called Clinton inside to come and color it. He took his markers and carefully colored every side of the paper. As soon as I heard the last marker lid snap back on I also heard paper ripping. "Clinton, no!" A surprised look followed by a I'm-doing-it-anyway smile and then more ripping. "No, Clinton! This is for Jack, not Clinton." "Shack?" "Yes, Jack." This brought out the pitiful pouty lip and a few tears. I taped the paper back together, and then put the gift on top of the China cabinet. Tears, screaming, sobbing...he left nothing out and continued to cut his eyes back and forth between me and the floor as he checked to see the progress his fit was making.

I kid you not for 15 minutes this went on and on. He would follow me from room to room to let me know just how disgruntled he was. BUT as soon as Rodney walked in the door, Clinton ran to him SMILING, grabbed his hand, led him to the dining room, pointed to the gift and said, "Dad! Dat's Shack's!! Not Kenton's. I go Shack's poddy!"

So, lesson learned before we ever got there...but did it stick?

Clinton made sure to show everyone his handy work. And he even let Jack open most of his presents...


...but he couldn't help himself now and again. This face kept me on the edge of my seat wondering when the lesson we had learned was going to wear off. Luckily, Jack got enough toys that he was willing to share.


And truth be told, Jack wasn't nearly as interested in his gifts as he was little Hot Momma Heidi. They were having to force Jack back to the gifts because all he wanted to do was visit with his girl.


One part of the party Jack thoroughly enjoyed was the cake. And did I mention how much Clinton loves cake?


Only Clinton doesn't like to BE the mess! He ate his very carefully.


And while Jack and Clinton were each attacking their cake in very different ways, Heidi was on the prowl with another hunky baby (Michael). They "talked" and looked at each other sharing grins and occasionally reaching out to hold hands. So sweet...but it made Jack a little jealous that cousin Michael was going after his girl....on his Birthday!


I'm proud to say Clinton attended another birthday party this weekend and remembered the protocol. Whew!

Teaching the tough ones,

Rain, Rain, Come and Play

...We're so glad you came our way.


I think when you grow up in Texas, you always have a great appreciation for rain. Rodney thinks it's funny that I think your grass should be brown during the summer...but isn't that how it always was? It just got to a point where it was ridiculous to even try to water your yard. The heat always won.

As long as there's no lightning, we here at the Williams' house are big believers in playing in the rain. The other day Clinton got the party started and after getting a few shots of him enjoying God's sweet gift, I joined in on the fun.

I didn't think we were ever going to get him back in the house. Thanks to Ratatouille, he knew we had to go in when the lightning appeared.

"Sked me!" (Telling mommy, "Scared me!" about the thunder.) He ALWAYS does this with his hands when he talks about being scared.


Loving the rain!



It seems we've been really busy lately...busy enough I haven't been able to blog!

Clinton is keeping me very busy. He's into everything, asking about everything and wanting me to play with him all the time. We've been racing matchbox cars, building train tracks, tickling Heidi Sage, cooking, and anything else that pops into his little head.

He now helps me make his eggs. I've never been able to get him to eat eggs, but Bebe did when she let him help make them...so, now he helps me make them. He insists on breaking them himself....he does a great job...for a 2 year old...which is still a mess. He likes to scramble them and does it well enough I usually don't have to help. He likes to pour them into the pan, which I do have to help with because he hasn't quite figure out to get the bowl over the pan FIRST, then dump it over. And he pushes the eggs around in the pan while they cook. Then he eats them...some of them. For as big as he is, he eats surprisingly little.

He also likes to help me clean, and does a pretty good job with this as well.



With help like this, who needs a maid? Well...I do. I'd still love one. :-)

I have lots of pictures to share, so I'll try to get those posted soon. But for now, I'm going to head to bed for some much needed rest and enjoy Texas' big win tonight over Tech. Hook 'em!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Dancing in the rain,

What He Does Know

I'm a comparative person by nature. I don't make impulsive decisions, I sit in the aisle at Target and compare price to quantity to versatility to brand name to blah blah blah. That's just who I am...I wish I could help myself, but I can't. So, I'm learning to accept this about myself.

I am finding this comparative nature to be a bit troublesome when it comes to my kids, though. I find myself comparing them to other kids their age. SUCH A MISTAKE! I was starting to worry about Clinton because he wasn't counting to 10 like Ethan Steece or talking clearly like Conley or playing pretend like Dalby. And while I was watching his every move to see if he was headed in the direction of these other kiddos, I found my child has his own skill set. And while it's not your typical show-off skills, it's still quite impressive.

Clinton can't count past three. And he often won't do that. Even if he counts to three, he often just says "Tree, tree, TREEEEE!" with the voice inflection mimicking that of "One, two, THREE!". I've gotten over this as I have discovered that even though he won't say the words, he actually understands the concept....but only as it relates to matchbox cars and monster trucks...and only up to three. "Clinton, can you bring me three monster trucks?" Three will appears. "Clinton, can you pick up those two cars?" Two get picked up.

And also as it relates to cars, trucks and heavy machinery, Clinton is well versed in his colors. He's not a big fan of talking about colors, unless we're talking about some type of motorized vehicle...but don't let him fool you, he knows his colors. Wed, Arnch, Geent, Bue, Ite, Back, Poople and Oh-oh.

And he doesn't appear to talk that clearly either, and in some cases he just doesn't, but a lot of the words he's trying to say are really hard words. Giant Excavator, Ambulance, Tractor, Skid Steer, Harvester, Bulldozer, Car Transporter. I kid you not, the kid knows every type of heavy machinery by it's name. And if you get it wrong, he will scream "No" at you until you say the right one. You can imagine how pleasant some of our conversations are in the car as we pass construction sites and I'm trying to drive and figure out exactly which piece of machinery he's talking about. When we went to meet his teacher last week, they had Clinton's favorite book...something about working trucks, I forget the name. I had to tell the teacher, "He can't count. He doesn't know his letters. But he can identify every piece of heavy equipment in this book. And he likes to do it over and over and over."

And I've been watching for some time as our sweet friend Dalby plays pretend so daintily. She likes to mimic the things she see's....cooking, getting the mail, taking care of babies. At first I thought, "Oh no, Clinton doesn't pretend play." And then I realized he does...he's just not copying me. He lines up his matchbox cars and runs over them with his monster trucks. He takes his dinosaur around the house and let's it "eat" Heidi's bows, his matchbox cars, Heidi's leg...whatever it's hungry for. He rams his ride-on dump truck into the walls and yells, "Trash-Trash" like in his book..."Smash! Crash!".



So, to sum up...he's not behind....he's just different. And I love every little different thing about him!

Trying to take a "First Day of School" picture and he refuses to look at me....typical Clinton.


And while it doesn't appear so in this picture, Clinton was really excited to go back to school! And so was MOMMY!


Loving 2 Blue Monster Trucks and 3 Red Race Cars,

Need a Makeover??

On your blog, that is... Obviously I do, seeing as I have two children and only one of them is in the header. The current blog design I have was done by Blogs for a Cause. Nikki is a college student who does blog design as a way to raise money for her many amazing mission trips. She will be graduating soon and will be moving to the Dominican Republic. So, she is now trying to raise as much money as possible so that she can stay as long as possible!

For the month of September she'll be doing blog makeovers for only $20 if you will also post on your blog about this deal! Check her out at madebynikki.blogspot.com. And be looking for my new blog design!

Spreadin' the word,

Welcome, Little Luke!

My dear friend Kelly delivered her second son today--Luke Walker. We are so excited for them and can't wait for future playdates!




No baby fever here (yet),

Texas Summer '09 - Picture Wrap Up

Clinton and Conley quickly became friends. In this pic you can see they even swapped their fave stuffed animals. Maybe Clinton is learning to share! ...or flirt!


Clinton was also big buds with Turtle. They spent more time chasing each other and playing with each other than anyone else. Chelsea said once they returned home, Turtle slept for two days. We failed to have such luck with Clinton.


This is the face I get when I tell him to do something he doesn't want to....or to stop doing something he does!


A sweet little girl who LOVES visiting with her Pop!


Everyone enjoyed Bebe's homemade ice cream...


...even Turtle. (The dog who is not allowed to have table food....oops!)


Missing Texas (but not the heat),

Texas Summer '09 - 5 Month Photo Shoot

While we were in Texas, Heidi Sage turned 5 months old! It's hard to believe...for me, anyway. I'm always amazed at how much personality exudes from these itty bitty people.

She is such a content baby, UNLESS....unless you leave her alone in a room, put her in her crib before she's ready to sleep, or don't feed her quickly enough. Then she is fierce! And to be honest, it scares me a little.

She is VERY active. Her legs never stop moving. In her exersaucer, on my hip or on the floor, her legs are just always going. And she's not much of a cuddle bug anymore. She really likes to be on the floor where she practices her crawling with great determination. I love her determination, but her activity level is making me nervous. :-) I'm afraid my one wild child will soon be joined by another....and I will be outnumbered when Rodney's out of town. Could make for some interesting blog posts though.

She still very much LOVES her brother. A lot of times when her legs are moving a mile a minute she is staring at Clinton with a huge grin as he is running around or running is mouth. I imagine she has big dreams of being right on his tail at any given moment of any given day.

She is really enjoying her big girl food, too. This week I made her a banana puree, an apple puree and an apple-nectarine puree. She didn't love the bananas, but sailed right through the apples and nectarines. And she's such a neat eater she doesn't even have to wear a bib. I, on the other hand, could use a bib at most meals.

Below are a few pictures of our little darling. Mother and Chelsea snapped these for me while I played "car wace" with Clinton.









Loving toboggans in August!?!?,

Texas Summer '09 - You Might Be a Redneck If...

Not everyone gets to enjoy the luxuries of the West Texas ranch life...but we did.




Redneck or not, Clinton had the BEST time! The city pool had already been drained, so we only got to swim this one day since it was out on a friend's ranch outside of town. If we could have done this everyday, Clinton would have been in heaven!

Yee-haw,