April

Blueberries!

We were invited to go blueberry picking with our friends, the Bolins.  So we loaded up all 5 kids in our van and headed to Ashley's grandmother's house in Tampa.  It was fun and oh so yummy!!!

Blueberry Picking!

 When we got back from blueberry picking, it was late so our guy joined us and we had dinner at the Bolins.  While Bella was waiting for dinner I found her like this...

And our conversation went like this..

Me: What are you doing Bella?

Bella: Watching Duck.

Me: Why?

Bella: Because... shhh!

She is so funny!

Christian Campus House
Josh was asked to speak at University of Florida's Christian  Campus House.  The kids and I came along.  Arabella and Landon were really excited to be able to go.  We packed up some quiet things to do while we were there in their super cool backpacks from Aunt Sally.  They were so good! Yay!!  We had several people come over and tell them how impressed they were with how they behaved.  Landon was pretty happy with all the compliments he received.  Josh did a great job speaking too :)

Firehouse Day
We went with our MOPS group to a firehouse tour.  The kids were excited.  It was kind of a bummer, because about 10 minutes after we got there, the firemen were called out to help someone.  Thankfully the kids didn't mind.  They thought it was cool.  Rosemary, brought a Curious George book about Firehouses. She read that in hopes the fire truck would return.  No such luck.  So we  decided to head over to the near by play ground.  We hadn't ever gone to the playground.  It was a great day even thought it didn't go as planned.

Firehouse Tour

Playground and Crooked Houses

 Corks and Colors
I am changing our kitchen decor.  So I thought I would add personalized salt and pepper shakers and a butter dish.  I didn't do many painting classes in April, just lots of pottery.  These ladies were here for a bachelorette party and were delightful to teach!

Pottery and painting

Stop Cancer Gala with Corks and Colors

A bit of everyday

Silly boy

Silly Girl

Arabella's first french braid

Silly Family!

A boy and his dog

Landon napping is a rare sight

Cuties and their backsides.  

Florida's Spring Barbershop Competition

We were able to join Mom and Dad Williams again this year for Dad's Barbershop competition.  It was held in Orlando this year.  Jamiie, Jeremiah and Sally were also able to join us.  We enjoyed it as always.  I love how much our little loves enjoy it, especially Landon.  Check out Landon in the college below, the bottom right hand picture.  He was intently listening, and singing although very quiet.  He is such a great kid to take.  Kids are really fondly welcomed.  Everyone has to be seated during the performances of each group, NO getting up even if you have to go to the bathroom.  You also have to be extremely quiet!  No filming or recording of any kind.  They are kind of okay with pictures, if they don't have a flash.  It is pretty serious business.  My kids are pros now though.  They both have been coming since they were around 4-6 months old.  Arabella took at nap during part of the performance.  She cuddled up on Daddy.  So sweet :)

Dad's group did awesome, as I always think they do.  I believe they placed 4th.  I can't wait until next year.  Yay for amazing singing!!!!

The hotel had a pool, which we all enjoyed despite it being on the cold side.  

Photo op with my little lady bug :)

And my sweet and silly boy

 I think I might just have a little obsession with my children and picture taking. ;)

Our beautiful girlie :)

Jessica's Wedding

Jessica and her groom, Cody were married on Sunday April 14th.  We were there Friday to Monday.

It was a whirlwind trip.  Merry and Owen flew in a couple of days before we got there.Josh's parents, Jamiie, Jeremiah, Sally, and our family caravanned up to Missouri in 2 days.  We got there late Friday afternoon.  We basically went to work right away.  Picking up the wedding dress, running errands, and very late night craft projects.  I think we went to bed between Friday and Saturday night.  Sunday night was a little better but it was still about 1am because there was so much to clean up and pack.  

We all had lots of projects to do.  My main projects were #1 making Jessica a Chief's garter.  I think I spent less than $10 on supplies.  It had 2 little charms on it too ;)

Late night crafts and projects

And #2 making a cake topper.  They had a cheesecake and cookies for their "cake" instead of the traditional cake.  Since it was a cheese cake the topper had to be supper light.  Jessica had a garden/bird-ish theme to her wedding.

Cake topper

AmberDee and I made appointments for all the bridesmaids, mother of the bride, and AmberDee (the super helper) to get manicures per Jessica's request (although we didn't mind).  AmberDee wasn't able to get a mani because she is in school for nursing.  AmberDee and Jessica got Pedis.  Getting appointments on Friday for Saturday was no easy task.  It was homecoming weekend and we had to call over 10 places I think to find one that could take all of us.  And even when we found a place, 2 girls had to go else where because we ran out of time.  The rehearsal and dinner was that evening.  I still think we were 30-45 minutes late.  Ops! Well we were with the bride and nothing happens until she gets there anyways.  Lol!

Mani and Pedi time!! 

 Sunday was not different then every other day we were there. Super busy!  A lovely bride/bridesmaid breakfast at a local breakfast place.  Then Jessica was off with Jamiie to the hair dresser.  We all headed back to the house we were staying at to get us ready.  Hair products, bobby pins and make-up were flying everywhere!!  It was quite the girly morning :)

Getting ready for the BIG DAY!

 The beautiful bride getting her dress, veil and shoes on.  Jessica's veil was her mothers.  Plus it has the same ribbon border as my veil.  I love that we seem to love the same things :)

Bride getting ready

 It was a very, very windy cold day.  It was a little wet at times too.  But we all survived, the lake looked like an ocean (just Jessica was very happy about since it reminder her of home), and Jessica and Cody got Hitched!!!  Despite the weather, the pictures turned out great.  The photographer did a great job making our windy hair look good.

Waiting for it to be our turn to walk down the aisle

 Party time!!  After lots of pictures with the bridal party, we headed over to the reception site.  We eat, watch Jessica and Cody paint a unity cross picture and danced.  During the reception the sister snuck off to decorate the honeymoon hotel suite with flowers and candles.  It was a lot of fun :)

Reception Party Time!

Mother Son Date Knight

Chic-Fli-A had an event recently.  Mother Son Date Knight.  It was really a great experience.  Landon helped me pick out my outfit and his.  We both wore orange-his favorite color.  I painted my nails and prettied my self up for my handsome date.  We joined the Bolins so the Daddies could care for the little ones while Ashley and I took our little men out on a date.  Matt and Josh took the boys to get us flowers while Ashley and I finished getting ready. 
Once there we let the boys play on the indoor playground while we waited for our reservations.  We were able to see our friends Julie and Ben, who had reservations before us.  Landon and Ben were very excited to see each other. 
Chic-Fli-A did a tremendous job of making a fast food place feel fancy.  They decorated a corner of the restaurant and put table clothes down.  We were even served our food at the table with fancy plastic plates.  They had a hostess who greeted you at the area reserved for the date night.  She had the boys pick out flowers for their mommies and also were give a sword and surcoat with a Chil-fli-a coat of arms on it.  It was really nice.
We were served our food.  It was yummy, as always, but I do love Chil-fli-a.  The Cow came around to all the tables to knight the boys.  Landon said "Hi cow!  You are not a real cow.  You are just someone dressed up as a cow."  That sent our whole table laughing and the cow "crying."  Since we were the last group, the boys were able to spend some time with the cow.  The camera guy was really great.  He was so patient with the boys there plus took great pictures.  He also had a sword fight with Landon and Noah.  They loved it!
We had a fantastic time!  I am looking forward to more date nights with my sweet boy!

 

April Roundup

April was a busy month...well it seems like life is just really busy these days.  Lots of good family and friend time.  We have the most amazing family and friends and are so thankful for those in our lives.




Some of the more excited and fun events that I also happened to capture with a snapshot are below. 

Date Night with the love of my life, a man who I see growing in God every day and am truly blessed to be married too. P.S. I even painted my long finger nails.  If you don't know me you may not realize I never have long nails and they haven't been painted since maybe 11th grade in High school (with the one exception of the manicure for my wedding).

Thank you Grandpa Williams and Aunt Jamiie for coming down for the weekend and watching our children for a night ;) 

Some fun around the house and outside.  Picking strawberries, playing dress up, and being silly. 

 

Said good-bye to our friend and future sister in law, as she moved to Tallahassee.

Butterfly day at the Downtown Library with the Bolins

A visit home for a visit and needed relaxation.