Joseph vocab 101

I always thought Joseph would be an early talker because he was so communicative and verbal from the start. I was wrong however and his vocabulary is slow in coming. I really noticed it when he was being babysat by someone with a granddaughter his age who said: "Joseph, let's go outside!" I think Joseph would have meant the same thing by saying: "side, side."

However, as of late he has added a few phrases. The thing that made me smile is that there is a definite indication that he is child number two and is trying to keep up with his older sister. Some of his words/phrases include:
NO!
Wait! (He says this one VERY clearly)
I too.
O-me (this means open-yes, he was really into the Christmas spirit)
Wa-we (which means water and can be heard clearly by the whole congregation during the passing of the sacrament)
BAACKA (screamed at the top of his lungs. Yes, this means his sister.)
And one of our favorites: en garde (said with a deep, raspy animated voice and meaning a sword or any stick like object used as a sword)

"Wait" and "I too" are clear signs to me that although he is following in his sister's footsteps, he is certainly making his own footprints and holding his own. He has become quite the tease, tickling his sister, egging her on and doing whatever he can to make her laugh. My baby is gone. He is a full fledged kid now, big vocabulary or not.

"Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!" (Unless your name is Joseph! Joseph was totally enthralled by this Gingerbread man doll at his daddy's work.)

Christmas Letter 2008

Merry Christmas from the Williams 2008

10 year engagement anniversary Dec. 22 1998- 2008

Some people lament the lack of seasons in Southern California, but we are enjoying every season of life in the Williams household.

Spring: Joseph turned 1 and had a complete mouth full of teeth before he was even 18 months old, a trip to Kauai to fulfill Dorothea’s life long dream of going to Hawaii

Summer: Friday fun adventures all over LA county (Dorothea organized a group of ladies and their kids who toured parks, museums, etc), lots of beach days, camping in Yellowstone National Park and some time in Utah with the extended Williams family, meeting and playing tennis with Steffi Graf, swimming lessons, Hollywood Bowl concerts (our favorite was John Williams!!!)

Fall: Rebecca started Kindergarten, a sudden decision to buy a house and all the craziness that followed, beach days extended into November
Winter: a move into a new house three weeks before Christmas, family visiting from Boston and the Ukraine, a new school for Rebecca, boxes everywhere but joy in our hearts.

Our hearts are full as we reflect on the many miracles that have happened in our life and the lives of those we love during this past year.
We are grateful to celebrate the birth of the Savior and the peace and hope He brings to each of us. May the coming year fill your hearts homes with joy.

Love,
Warren, Dorothea, Rebecca and Joseph

Mommy needs a time out

Ever seen that commercial where the mom puts herself in time out to have a break from her kids before she goes crazy? I have been feeling like that a lot lately. The stress from the move has been huge, having everything in boxes, having company in town, and wanting some form of Christmas in our home, even if it is minimal.
Last night some old friends of my parents took me, my mom, my grandparents and my kids out to dinner to Sizzler to thank my mom for something. Before we went we had a short talk about remembering to use our restaurant manners. Maybe the place where I failed was assuming Rebecca knew what "restaurant manners" were. We had to wait awhile in the waiting area and my kids went crazy. They kept running into the restaurant with Joseph running laps around the salad bar. Suddenly I looked to find Rebecca, in crouch position with her arms as chicken wings strutting around the restaurant saying : "Bock, bock, bock..." I have to admit, I had to laugh at that one even though I was so frustrated at how crazy my kids were being.
Warren wasn't there to help and my mom was trying to visit with the friends who had invited us, so I felt rather overwhelmed. Needless to say, the waitress put us in the banquet room all by ourselves, even though the restaurant only had about 5 other families eating in it. They had seen enough of my kids before we even sat down.
My mom keeps reminding me that my kids are doing rather well considering how stressful everything has been. I don't know. My patience sure runs out quickly these days.

In other news, Rebecca started her new Kindergarten this week. She has a sweet teacher and is blending in nicely. Kindergarten is shorter here, which makes for a less hectic morning for me. I don't know why starting your kid in a new school was so emotional for me, but I did it and she's happy and so now I'm relieved. This week is laid back because it's the last week before winter break, so it was a good time to start. They're just doing lots of crafts and having fun.

And finally, we once again have a land line, internet and TV! It's been almost two weeks and it was okay, except I did miss having the internet and staying caught up with everyone and venting my own stress now and again. Bit by bit we're getting through the boxes. But it's going to take awhile. One more thing. I was so determined to return all my library books before moving. I counted them to make sure I had the right amount of books. The library is saying I still have a book and it's driving me crazy! Why do I have such a hard time letting stuff like that go? It's only money, right? But sometimes it feels like it all adds up. Other than that life is great and you're all in our thoughts. Rebecca misses her friends. Stay in touch!

Fish out of Water

I don't have internet access at home right now, so I'm not able to contact everyone the way I normally would want to. I'm at a friend's home right now in our new neighborhood. For anyone reading this, I just wanted to let you know that I miss all of you. I know we made the right decision to move at this time, but I'm completely out of my comfort zone and homesick for my friends and my routines and everything I knew and was used to. It will take some time to adjust. Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas season. Thank you to everyone who has been sending Christmas card. They are bringing me such joy. I don't know if we'll get one out this year or not. Keep in touch. More later....

I think I'm going to like it here...

That is the song that kept going through my mind the first day in our new house. YES, OUR NEW HOUSE! We are home owners (or should we say home borrowers from the bank???) but anyhow, we closed escrow on Friday and moved in Saturday in the craziest move ever. New years resolutions: we are going to downsize our stuff. Please hold me to it. I really mean it. After we took everything out to the front lawn of our apartment the whole lawn was covered. We should have just had a garage sale right there and then. We had rented one truck but had to go rent a second one. And we even filled that one. Were we living in a black hole? I know we were bursting at the seams, but seriously, where was all that stuff coming from? And the scariest part was that we had already taken a bunch of car loads over to the new house. But enough about that.
WE HAVE THE BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you... I can't say enough to all the people who came to help us. Friends and even a couple people who don't know us or don't know us well came from all over the stake to help load up the truck. Some of our closest friends even drove to the new house and spent hours unloading with Warren. My dearest friends even came over (voluntarily!) and cleaned and scrubbed and kept me company all day long so that we could get our sizable cleaning deposit back. Once again, I can not even say enough about how much that all meant to me, and the friends who watched my kids and brought me food Sat. night etc. I couldn't have done it without all of you. I LOVE YOU!!!
I finally gave up cleaning that night at 10 pm and drove to our new home. When I walked in the house and saw all my furniture inside I just started crying. We couldn't find anything, not even the toothbrushes I had so carefully set aside so that we would have them that night. Warren went to go buy more but I was asleep before he got back.
The next day we went back to SM II ward for some final goodbyes. Warren and I both bore our testimonies. I had lived longer in that ward than anywhere in my whole entire life. So it was an emotional good bye for me. But it is the right time for us to start a new chapter of life.
Sunday we didn't get much done. Rebecca told us she wanted to unpack everything the next day. It has been stressful on her not to know where her things are.
There are so many emotions going on in my heart. I'm so happy to be here. Excited for the future. But homesick for my comfort zone, and my dear friends and Rebecca's little rascals group. She really has such a sweet group of friends that she is very close to. But kids adapt well and we still hope to see everyone once in awhile. I needed to talk to someone Sunday night and so I had a nice chat with Lindy, since I didn't get a chance to see her last week. I have been so blessed to have wonderful women with whom to associate with these past years. I have learned so much from each of them. I would love to write about it sometime.
Anyway, today we kept moving furniture and unpacking. There is still a lot to do but luckily my mom shows up tomorrow!!! HURRAY for moms. That will help a ton. It is still so dangerous around here since it has been a construction site and the builders still have lots of tools etc lying around but hopefull that will get cleaned up soon. We're excited to have everyone come visit us. We already had 4 guests here our first night! We're super close to Disneyland and Knott's, so please, do come. Sorry this post is so long, but I just wanted to thank everyone and update you on the move. I know this isn't the story about how we found the house, but that will have to come another time...
I'll post a picture once we get our computer hooked up. I'm using someone elses, so I can't download anything yet. More later!

It's almost done...

Fence and sod almost complete...

Happy Thanksgiving from Rebecca

Trees, wonderful trees....

The man in my life...

HUBBY TAG...

What is your husband’s name? Warren

How long did you date? We knew each other a year, then we were "boyfriend/girlfriend" for 6 months, then we were engaged for 7 months.

How old is he? 35

Who eats sweets? We both do but different kinds.

Who said I love you first? Him but I waited a LONG time for him to say it. I was ready to say it but wanted him to say it first. For him saying I love you was saying "Will you marry me?" because he had never said it to anyone before.

Who is taller? Warren

Who can sing better? Warren

Who is smarter? I'd say we're both smarter in different areas.

Who does the laundry? Me but he will go get it for me from outside when I ask him to.

Who pays the bills? That has varied, but for a while now it has been Warren.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

Who mows the lawn? We haven't had a lawn yet, but hopefully we will in two weeks. And Warren has said he's actually excited to mow!

Who cooks dinner? Me, almost always. Unless I'm going to RS for the night and leave him with the kids.

Who drives? When we're in the car together he drives.

Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Warren is definitely better at that than I am.

Who kissed who first? Warren kissed me on the hand like a true gentleman when we very first started dating.

Who asked who out first? Warren asked me out during the busiest week of my whole semester. I laughed.

Who wears the pants? We're good at balancing life together.

Friends who should do this: I tag Charity, K Kid, Stephanie (unless you're sick of tags!), Natalie K, Lindy, Katie H, Becky D, Lauren J, Rozanne (ha got you back), Erin and Cindy. If you don't want to post it on your blog just send me an email. Or if you don't want to do it all, just send me a note to say hi!!!! :)

A mixed-up Thanksgiving Story

Rebecca (looking at a book about Noah's ark):

"It rained and rained and then the Mayflower finally came to shore and Moses said: let there be a rainbow in the land of Mosiah."

Hey, 4 in one. I don't think I could do any better than that!

Obama: President or Prophet?

Today I told Rebecca tonight was Family Night. She said: "My favorite days are Monday and Thursday. Monday because of Family Night and Thursday because it is my share day at school."
So at least family night is still in the good book in our house.

Then tonight came the much anticipated family night lesson. Warren was teaching.

W: "We have a new prophet!"
R: "I know, Prophet Obama!"
(An explanation of President of the United States versus Prophet and President of our church followed.)

Warren's lesson continues. He is in the middle of talking about faith and other important things. Rebecca raises her hand.

R: "I have a question."
W: "What's your question?"
R: "The boys are going to be boy pilgrims and the girls are going to be girl Indians and my teacher said that Pocahontas was a boy but turned out to be a girl after all."

Joseph climbs on top of a dining room table chair that happens to be in the front room, raises his arms up and shouts: "Ta da!!!"

Warren and I burst out laughing. Prophet Obama, pilgrims and Indians, tada-ing children... What more could you want out of Family Home Evening!

Beach, birds and music in the home

November at the beach.

The hot weather that is providing the perfect opportunity for fires to rage also provided us with one more swimsuit beach day last Friday.
Rebecca and her friends actually played in the water and had a great time. Joseph chased the birds and I got soaked trying to take pictures of the kids.

Pure joy



Joseph (look closely) and the parting of the birds



Keep parting, I'm coming through...



I did it!




One of my friends and some of our kids.

It gets dark so early now! In the summer we were used to staying this late and it was such a different feeling. But seeing the sunset has its own charm.

We were driving in the car on our way home from the beach in the traffic, in the dark, listening to classical music. Rebecca said: "I like music. I'm glad we have music. Without music, home just wouldn't feel like home."
Amen to that.

CONGRATULATIONS ARNOLD!!!

I found out today that my brother passed the New York bar. We are very happy for him and his family. It's nice to get some good news these days. I celebrated by buying 13 books for $13 and some craft supplies at Michaels. Isn't it nice to have a reason to splurge?

When I picked Rebecca up from school I had this conversation with her:

Me: "Guess what Rebecca, Uncle Arnold passed the bar!"
R: "Woo hoo! (pause) Does that mean he is going to be a missionary now?"
Me: "No, he is a lawyer."
R: "What's a lawyer?"
Me: "It's what daddy does. Work on the computer and stuff."
R: "Ohhh. I still don't understand."

Missionary, lawyer, it's all the same, isn't it?

Ba ba, baby and thumb

I found my kids on the couch like this. Here they are with their favorite things. Rebecca has sucked her thumb since she was three months old and keeps telling me things like: "I'm going to stop sucking my thumb when I wake up tomorrow morning." ...but it hasn't happened yet.

Joseph is very attached to his ba-ba (bottle) and his baby (his blanket). I'm a little worried about weaning him from his bottle. But we'll deal with that tomorrow morning.... :)

Rainbow colors

Yesterday I was fixing Rebecca's hair. She could see herself in the mirror and said: "Look at that color mom, it's brown! And look at that color (she was pointing to her natural highlights) it's..." I filled in the blank: "golden" Rebecca: "Yep, it's golden. Mom,...(and this next part was said in a very excited, high-pitched voice) I'm RAINBOW!!!!"
Life was never more exciting than when you were five and rainbow colored.

my organized son

A couple of days ago I asked Joseph to take his jacket to his room. I was curious where he would put it and assumed he would just drop it on the middle of the floor. I secretly followed him and observed. Lo and behold he actually put it in his sock drawer, which is the only drawer that belongs to him that he can actually reach and open. I was so amazed. I had never taught him that that drawer belonged to him, he just picked up on that by observation. And the fact that he knew to put his jacket in a place with other clothes, just too cute.

Tag- I'm it!

Okay Rozanne, this one's for YOU!!!

1. My kitchen sink (okay, I didn't even touch it from the time I read your post. I left it true to form. Please note the thermos wherein I lovingly prepare my daughter trader joe's shell pasta for her school lunch, the empty muffin holder wherein I baked trader joe's pumpkin muffins, the white bowl wherein I had served my husband trader joe's tomato soup, the trader joe's kitchen rag... I actually don't even go to trader joe's that often, but somehow it worked out that way...)

2. My favorite room (when it's clean and morning-time the sun makes it so nice in there.)

3. Me right now

4. My closet

... oh, did you want to see the INSIDE?

5. My fridge

6. The laundry room (please note the cockroach on the ground. Ironic since this is the first one I've seen in the six years I've done laundry here.)

7. My favorite shoes (on their deathbed-my other favorites just died. I need new shoes but don't like shoe shopping.)

8. What my kids are doing right now (well, actually by now they're sleeping).


9. My bathroom

10. My dream vacation

I don't think I have that many readers but I really don't know who reads this or who would even want to do this, so apart from tagging Kati O., Stephanie P., Karen P., and Edie A., I'd love to tag anyone who wants to participate. Just leave a comment on my post so I'll know to look at your post right away!!! (I know that's not conventional, but then again, I'm not conventional. And if I tagged you and you hate this kind of thing just don't do it. I still like you.)

Daddy's voice

Anyone that knows Warren at all knows he has a beautiful voice. He sings in the crooner style, like Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr. Today Joseph and I were at Trader Joe's. They were playing that kind of music in the store. As we were exiting the store a Frank Sinatra song came on and Joseph looked in the direction of the music and asked: "Daddy?" "Sorry, honey, no, it's not Daddy, but you're daddy is just as good."

Bows, beautiful bows

This summer my sister-in-law got me started on hand-making bows. It is so much fun, especially when you have a little girl who loves to wear them every day.
Here are a few photos of some of the bows I have made. My sister-in-law gave me brief instructions, but then I have just experimented and tried to figure out what works. I just wish they went a little faster.

Joseph's first Trick-or-treating experience

It's dark, but watch what happens when Joseph goes trick-or-treating for the first time!

Halloween Day

I helped out with the Halloween Activities at Rebecca's school today. Recess was still going on when we got there. Joseph was just hanging out with the crowd.








Rebecca leading the parade






Later we went trick-or-treating as a family. We went to a house that a friend had told me about where it was decorated like crazy. Pirate theme. It was amazing.

When we first started trick-or-treating Joseph kept walking into people's homes when we knocked on their doors. He soon learned and even had his own version of saying "trick-or-treat." Rebecca was super polite and always remembered to say thank you. Good girl. Happy Halloween Everyone!!! What a great day.

Have you ever...?

Have you ever...

....cooked a meal with all four burners going while holding a 29 pound kid in one arm?

....washed the kitchen floor with a kid sitting in your lap?

....told a kid massage oil is NOT a good toy?

....vacuumed and swept 6 times in a day?

....done 6 loads of laundry in a day for a household of only 4 people?

....breathed a sigh of relief when 8:00 o'clock came round, the kids were in bed, the house was still standing and you made it through another wonderful day?

I have.

VGI (Very Good Idea): Blueberries and a new snack

A month ago I made these blueberry muffins and forgot that I wanted to post the recipe. The topping is especially yummy.

I also really liked the blueberry cake recipe on the Trader Joe's Box of Multigrain baking and pancake mix:

1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (I substituted plain yogurt because that is what I had at home)
3 T oil
2 1/2 cups Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking Mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries.

Whisk egg, buttermilk and oil. Stir in multigrain baking mix and sugar just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.
8x8 greased pan
Bake 45-50 min. until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 min.

The new snack that my kids both loved yesterday was:

Trader Joe's Chives and cilantro yogurt dip with roasted gorgonzola crackers. Who would have thought? It was a big hit.

Jack-O-Lantern and Music Makers Halloween

More Halloween activities in the Williams household. Rebecca actually did a lot of the carving this year. I was a little worried but it all turned out okay (meaning, she didn't cut herself!)

Music Makers group. (Do you like the little kid who dressed up like me? J/K Joseph wouldn't let go of me that day.)



Let's get to work. (Note the little hand drawn face on the side- Rebecca did that.)



I thought her face was so funny. She wasn't upset, she was just concentrating really hard.



Mission accomplished!



A cutie in a pumpkin hat