Catch Up

I haven't posted in forever. We have been so busy and honestly, I haven't had the time to post anything. But I wanted to get back into the blogging world and post some recent pictures. Hopefully I can make blogging a more regular event! Here are a few pictures from the summer. I hope everyone is doing well and that you all enjoy the pictures. They are from our summer trip to Charleston. The first one is of Jon with his brother Shane and their Dad. And of course the boys at the beach. They had a blast! And I had to put on here of Corey and his "Paw Paw". Corey totally loves this guy. And I have to say that Paw Paw loves him a lot too!

Not Me Monday!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Ok. So this week I certainly did not tell my husband that I was only going to stay "a few more minutes" at the hospital when I went to meet my new baby nephew and then end up staying until 10:00pm which was 5 hours later. I mean, it wasn't that he was just so cute that I couldn't leave. Nope, not me.

And of course when I took my kids to meet their cousin and it was lunch time, I didn't just buy my kids lunch in the hospital cafe because I was too lazy to make them lunch at home. I mean, I certainly wouldn't purchase over priced hospital food just to avoid having to make my kids something to eat...Not me!!

And it didn't take me 3 days to actually start acting like we weren't on vacation anymore after we got home. I mean, I always live in reality and I always take care of my responsibilities. Who would just sit around for 3 days after they got home from vacation and pretty much do nothing?! Certainly not me.

And it certainly isn't me who hasn't updated her blog in two weeks and has pictures and videos from vacation AND her new baby nephew...still on her video camera not loaded onto her computer. Who would do that? I am always prompt about posting pictures.

Ok, so now it's your turn to be brutally honest with yourself and of course the entire internet world. ;)

12 Years and Camping

So several months back I posted about my oldest who was almost 12. Well, he has turned 12. In fact he turned 12 on April 19th. For one of his gifts he got to go on a hiking and camping trip with just his Dad. He had been asking for awhile when the two of them could go by themselves. It took some time for them to actually go on the trip due to rain, illness, and a sprained ankle. But.....they finally got to go a couple of weeks ago! And he was so excited to go and I was excited for him. While they were gone, I sat back and reflected on how fast he is growing up. How it really does seem like yesterday that he was born and I held him in my arms. Even though so much has happened in the past 12 years, it has gone by so fast. I realize that in 6 short years he will be going off to college. And that time will go by even faster. I am trying my best to really cherish him. Cherish all the years that we have had together as mother and son. Cherish who he is and who he is becoming. I am very blessed to be his mother. As I am blessed to be the mother of all of my children. Time is passing so quickly, it is important to me to really take the time to take in each moment that I am given with my four boys. These moments are gifts. Gifts from the Lord in heaven who saw me fit to mother these four outstanding boys. How humbling that is for me and what an honor. Here are some pictures from their trip, hope you like them. Note the VERY long hair of my 12 year old boy. All my boys decided to grow their hair out....even though I really don't like it. BUT....I want to spend my time cherishing them, not worrying over what their hair looks like. Hence the long hair. :)
And besides, he is always handsome in my book. And I am so VERY proud of him.

Vacation Time.....Almost

Well the Willard's have been super busy lately. The 3 older boys were finishing up school, Ethan was finishing up baseball season, and Jon surprised me with a mini-vacation to Nashville....just the 2 of us!! It was wonderful and I will have pictures of Nashville and baseball up soon. I just wanted to step back into the blogging world to say hello. I also wanted to mention that we will be going on our annual trip to Charleston, SC. to visit family very soon! We are leaving either June 26th or July 3rd. We haven't decided yet, but we are super excited! We will be staying with Ron and Marilyn (Jon's Dad and step-mom) and they are THE BEST to stay with. I love it. It is always so relaxing and they make us feel so at home. I love spending time with them and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. I tried to find some pictures of them that were more recent, but all I could find were from our trip in 2007. And I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and REALLY hot and tired! Lol. But at least you get to see Ron and Marilyn. Very sweet people!! Well, I hope that all of you are doing well and more pictures will be coming soon!

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day was great! My son Ethan got up before me and made me eggs, sausage, and toast. So sweet! Caleb made me a black and white beaded bracelet and wrote me a very sweet poem. And Austin made me a wonderful card and gave me a much needed foot massage. And Corey gave me much smiles and hugs all day long! We went to my dad's house for lunch where he had prepared a wonderful Mother's Day meal. We had a great time hanging out and enjoying time with each other. I could SO get used to that kind of treatment!! Here are a few pictures from the day. I hope that you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

Easter 2009

Well, we had an awesome Easter! The boys had the best time outside....thank you God that it was sunny! We went to church that morning and then headed back to the house for lunch. My mom brought the best food! Most of it was already cooked, we just cooked a few more things and presto! Lunch for 8! We all had a great time eating, talking, and laughing. It was really nice to relax with my family. We reflected on how grateful we are that we have Jesus and that He died for us. I mean, seriously, He DIED for us. How incredible is that!? I talked with my boys about how we need to remember what Easter is all about and that they should always remember that. It's easy to get caught up in coloring eggs, candy, good food, etc. But reality is that this is a time to reflect on Jesus and how he came to SAVE us ALL. And that is a very powerful thing that should never be forgotten. Not to say that there is anything wrong with coloring eggs, candy, and good food. Because there isn't! We enjoy those things and I love to see my kids get excited about it. I just like to encourage the importance of what Easter really means. Balance is a good thing in life. Here are a few photos from the day....and I have to say that my kids are awfully cute! Ahem, pardon my bragging for a moment. Oh, and do you see our dog? Yeah, that's Riley and he is only 4 months old.....and weighs 40 pounds. Hmmmm, do you think that he is going to be rather large!? I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter!

Creativity and Scrap Wood

About 2 weeks ago, my older 3 boys came inside and said, "Hey mom, can we borrow Dad's hammer?" Ummm, my response, "And why do you need a hammer?" Of course I am thinking to myself that giving a 8, 10, and 11 year old boy a hammer without question would probably not be a good idea. They proceed to tell me that there is scrap wood in the very back of our yard in and amongst the trees and they want to build something with it. A bench, they say. And then I think to myself, well that is quite a creative thing to do, but still, do I want to hand over a hammer to them!? So I proceed to tell them to ask their Dad if it is ok and can he come help them with their little project. And he said yes! So off they went to gather wood and start the building. It turned into an awesome opportunity for Jon to teach them about building things. He got out his other tools and showed them how to properly use all of them. They had the BEST time with that big pile of scrap wood. They were so excited and ran in to tell me that they were almost finished and could I come out and see. Of course I grab the video camera and run out there. I took a video of them working and snapped this still shot. They were SO proud. This is the bench that is now turned into a table and is out on our back patio. They ate dinner sitting at this table that night......I love that they had such a good time. Amazing how something so simple can be so meaningful.