The Williams Six

1. The beach 2. The diversity of people 3. Reuniting with long-time friends 4. Brutal honesty 5. Winter (at least that's what I hear) 6. Cops are too busy to pull you over for pointless things 7. Palm trees 8. The architecture style 9. Lots of lots of swimming pools 10. Cuban food 11. Lots of sunshine 12. Publix subs 13. The ministry opportunities 14. Everything is so green (grass, trees, etc) 15. Quaint, locally owned restaurants

1. My friends (and all that encompasses) 2. Parking in the garage 3. Fall (even though it is not here yet) 4. Cactus Grill 5. Living within driving distance of my parents 6. My neighborhood parties (and my neighbors) 7. Uncrowded stores 8. Neighbors who don't know you but wave anyway 9. $1 McDonald's Diet Cokes 10. Target being 5 minutes away 11. My basement 12. My MOPS group 13. Community Bible Study 14. Ministry at Avila 15. Hobby Lobby

I think these Random Dozens from The Lid are so fun! 1. What is your favorite Mexican dish? There is a cheesy steak dish I love from Cactus Grill (which I now live 1500 miles from), but I cannot remember the name. Oh, it is so delish! I also LOVE chips and salsa! 2. When you were a kid, did you get started on your homework right away after school, or did you procrastinate? This is my nerdiness: school came easy to me, so I actually would do my work while the teacher was teaching. Sometimes I would do the wrong math problems or something, but typically I could guess the assignment. In high school, I did my homework during my blow off classes. So I rarely had homework. BUT, if I did, I would have never procrastinated. I am a "get the hard stuff out of the way" type of girl. 3. What is your favorite store for home furnishings? Hmmm, probably a local place in my hometown called Wheeler's. For decor, I typically shop at Home Goods, though only because its within my b...

Though my house is nowhere near where I want it to be, I wanted to capture it on film (or whatever term we use now that film is outdated). Here is a photographic tour of my new abode: This is the entrance to the house (a little dark, sorry): I am not a fan of the door. The huge window is a bit creepy at night. View of living room from the stairs: You can see our house is long and narrow. The living room, up closer: Our bedroom armoire would not fit up the stairs, so we put it in the "kids room" (at the back of the picture). They now have their own little room to watch cartoons in the morning. Their toys are in there, too. Another view of the living room: If you are looking at the living room, the dining room is to the right. I do not like the wallpaper, but fortunately, it does match our furniture. In the corner are things that were hanging in our basement that I have not found a home for. I do not want them to get messed up in the garage, so for now, they're an...

I'm on a role today. Lots of blogging. I've had an all around productive day, which is always quite satisfying. Tonight, as I was tucking Caleb in, I asked him what his favorite things are about our family members. He replied... Chloe: "she is my best friend" Luke: "I love him" Daddy: "he takes me to lots of cool places" Mommy: "you give me lots of sugary treats" And on another note, Chloe has slept in Caleb's room while we have had company. Though no one is here tonight, she is still sleeping with him. We may have to break that soon, but for now, it's quite endearing. Plus, it's storming really bad right now, and the thunder hurts her ears (she is really sensitive to loud noises...except for her own screaming!). Weird as this is: I was terrified of storms as a kid and always had to sleep with someone. So tonight is definitely not the night to make her sleep alone!!

In the previous post, I had to write about something I love. Instantly, I could think of so many things. So, here are things I love (besides the obvious--Jesus, Brett, my kids, family, friends, etc. That is a given.): 1. My two older kids pronounce "-ed" on the end of words as its own syllable . "I brush-ed my teeth"...or..."Mommy, I ate-ed my sandwich." Oh, and they add "-ed" to most verbs: "I woke-ed up." I do not correct them, because I find it too cute. 2. To eat. I have decided that I will probably never be an uber-healthy eater, and I am fine with that. I enjoy good food. And I really like desserts (which I actually did not like until I got pregnant with Caleb, and now I can't stop eating it). 3. Tucking my kids in at night. We spent a significant amount of time on tuck-ins, and I love talking with my children. Chloe brushes my hair a lot, and recently, we "watch" a movie. We set up our pillows agai...

I have not done one of these in awhile, and though I have plenty of things to catch up on, I'd rather not utilize my brain right now. So I stole this from Alison , who stole it from someone else. Maybe I should....start exercising. I really need to get back in shape. I love....the sound of my children's laughter. There is nothing sweeter in the world. People would say....I talk too much. I am trying to work on it, but I just really enjoy talking. In fairness, I also love to listen to others talk! I don't understand....how people can be so rude. Like, are you really so unhappy that you have to vomit on everyone around you?! When I wake up in the morning...I pray that my kids will sleep just a few more minutes. No kidding, I pray that every morning. I also do not function properly before 9:30 am. I lost...my two front bottom teeth on Easter Sunday when I was one. I fell on the crib at church and knocked them out. They did not grow back for 6 years. Life is full...

This past weekend, some of my most favorite people in the world came to visit. Lovingly referred to as Megily (Meg + Emily), these sweet girls are students at Avila. They're great friends of mine and babysat my kids a lot....so to say my kids adore them is an understatement. We had so much fun. Ate lots of desserts and did very girlie things! I laughed so hard the whole time they were here. Not only are they so fun to hang out with, they're also so helpful to me. My dishwasher was magically unloaded every morning. Emily cooked dinner every night. They helped a ton with my kids. I was truly sad to see them leave :(. Jaxon's Ice Cream....home of the most delicious banana split.. I miss my sweet friends so much!! It was so wonderful to have them visit.

My kids just get cuter by the day. I absolutely love their personalities, and I am so proud to be their mama. I would give anything to freeze time. Each of my kids is in such a fun stage right now, and I could just have them this little forever! Luke is growing, growing, growing!! He was 18 pounds at his 6 month check up. My other kids were 19 pounds at their 1 year check up, so he is definitely my biggest baby yet! He sits up all by himself now. I imagine he'll be crawling fairly soon, because he already gets up on all fours and rocks. My world will be very different when he crawls, so I am not speeding that process along at all! But, he gets around quite well with just scooting on his belly. Luke laughs all the time. Caleb makes him laugh more than anyone. Caleb is so sweet: when Luke wakes up, Caleb climbs into his crib with him. They just laugh and laugh!! My boys sharing a room is absolutely precious. They probably sleep less than they used to, but they definit...