Calling all Book Club People!

I just returned from my very first book club. I know, it's crazy given how much I really love to read that I have never actually been involved in a book club! Anyway, our Relief Society started one at the first of the year and started out by reading The Peacegiver. What a great book! If you haven't read it I highly suggest that you do!

Well, I signed up to have the book club at my house in May and need to pick out a book. So, I am requesting from each of you some books that you could recommend. What are some that you have enjoyed in your various book clubs? and why? It doesn't necessarily need to be an LDS book, but it should be uplifting and clean.

Even if I don't choose your book to use for the book club, I am always looking for great books to read personally. Thanks for your input!

Did someone say projects?

So, as previously posted, I have been needing to kick myself in gear and get a few needed things done around our house. You know, my house turns 100 this year and I want it to feel special for it's 100th birthday (wouldn't a new porch be great? I wish. . .)

Here are a few things that I have been trying to do. First, look at the very cute wreath that my sister-in-law, Jen bought me for my birthday. It has a bit of Valentine's Day fun in it and I just love it! Eventually it will go by my fireplace. . . more on that later.

Quite a few months ago Bump surprised me with a large vinyl purchase. I was showing him some decorating sites and said that I thought this was really cool (I do this quite often as I dream of how great my house could look) and was shocked and amazed when he decided to purchase this very cool tree. Then we never got around to hanging it and it has been sitting in my basement. Saturday we got quite a few things accomplished and hanging the vinyl tree was one of them. Luckily we had a few extra hands when my friend, Amber, stopped by (they were very appreciated hands). We hung it in our bare walled upstairs family room right by the treadmill where you can feel like you are walking outside. :) What do you think? Pretty amazing huh?

Next on the list were these cute little iron people that I bought in August with my sisters-in-law at RodWorks and again, never got around to actually hanging them until now. I was waiting to find just the right saying to put by the front door. Bump and I couldn't agree on what to say. I wanted something welcoming and he wanted some kind of "theme" for our family. While checking out the little corner boutique in our neighborhood grocery store I came across this saying, "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." (Albert Einstein) We both agreed that this was great and I was finally able to complete our entryway.

So, these are a few of the actual accomplished things around my house. I still need to patch the hole in the wall at the bottom of the stairs from when I put my elbow through the wall. No, I haven't done that yet. I have had it hidden by a bookshelf while waiting patiently for me to get to it.

And. . .this is what my parlor looks like at this very moment. . .
Ahhhhh! I finally found some tile that will enhance the original funky tiles around my fireplace so I won't have a big hole of missing tiles on the hearth any more. I will show before and after photos in a later post when I finish this messy project. I have a bit more prep work to complete before I can actually lay the tile, but hopefully I can get it done soon!!!!!

Also, I had a really nice and fun surprise when my cute hubby tackled the basement without even being asked! He rearranged food storage and vacuumed up mouse poop (yes we have been killing mice like crazy lately. . .ewwww) and bleaching and cleaning and making our scary, unfinished, 100 year old basement. I would show pictures, but I didn't take any before so you really couldn't appreciate the wonder of all that he did! Thanks sweetie!!!

Birthday Presents

Yesterday at FHE we were discussing the things that would be going on during the week and Bump brought up the fact that my birthday is this week. We were talking about how fun birthdays are and I said to the kids, "the only thing that I want for my birthday this year is for each of you to clean your rooms and let our house be clean and nice on my birthday."

All the kids looked shocked, but Corb gave us a good laugh when he very seriously said, "Mom, you mean you don't want something from Walmart?"

You know, that is the only place to buy amazing birthday presents. :)

January Blues

Does anyone else get the January blues like I do? I mean I just got to spend some good quality time with my husband while he took a few extra days off work in December. We spent some time with family and were just able to relax and not think about anything but being together for Christmas and New Years. Then January hits, the kids are back in school, Bump is back at work and here I am.

I figured out a long time ago that I need things to look forward to. They don't have to be big things like vacations - although those are very nice things to look forward to. It can be little things like getting together on a Friday night with friends or going to a book club. Maybe it's just knowing that I will be having adult conversation and get to leave the house for something other than driving the kids to or from school. I guess right now I just look at a blank January calendar and wonder when I will have something to look forward to.

Part of it is just the period of life that I am in too. My kids are young. I have one in Kindergarten half day which makes your schedule just all revolve around hers. I have one in preschool 2 days a week and one that still (thankfully) takes naps. My days consist of making sure my kids get to school on time and are fed 3 meals a day plus enough snacks that you would think I was feeding 15 kids instead of just 3. Also, trying to keep my house from looking like 3 little kids live in it (a pretty impossible task, since they do live here), making sure enough laundry is done so that said kids and hubby have clothes to wear to school and work and all other things that any other stay-at-home mom does like helping with homework and remembering to just read and play with your kids (that one gets forgotten way too much, doesn't it?). Anyway, you all know what we do when we get to stay home, but with young kids it makes things difficult because of how much I am just tied to the house. It's hard to take 3 kids to the grocery store and pretty much impossible to do any other shopping with them.

I love projects! Well, at least I used to love projects. I say this because when I would get in moods like this in the past I would just start a project to keep my mind occupied until Spring. It used to be really fun to do projects before I had to deal with little fingers getting into my projects. I loved the idea of pulling out the paint and going to town on a room even if Bump wasn't around, but now when I think of re-painting a room (which I have a few that really need done) all I can think about is the mess that my kids will make and how much they will whine and cry because they want to help and I really don't want them to. The whole idea of doing a project has new meaning to me now that I have young kids.

A perfect example is that I still need to fix the tile around the fireplace, but every time I think about just getting it done, I can't seem to get to the tile store to even pick out the tile that I need for the project. I don't want to take the kids because I wouldn't be able to concentrate with them running around the store. And I have to drive into Salt Lake and that takes too much time to do while Gabby is at school and too much time before she goes to school, but the store is closed by the time Bump gets home from work. See the problem? So, what about Saturday? That is pretty much Bump's only day off and he doesn't love projects like I do so I have to pretty much pick out the most important things that need to get done around the house.

Okay, this is sounding like just one large complaint and I don't mean for it to be, really I don't. It's just interesting what life throws at you. For everything there is a season and a right time to do projects and another right time to just be a mom and a wife. So, I don't have anything big to look forward to right now, that's okay. Life is really good and I am just grateful for what I have and who I have in my life. I think I will just buck up and get some kind of project going. Maybe this Saturday I will head to the tile store with or without Bump. . . hmmmm we'll see.

Yes, we did have Christmas

I have been terrible at posting. . . sorry! Yes, we did have Christmas and it was wonderful!

Christmas Eve each year is spent in Tremonton at Bump's brother Darin's house because it is also his birthday on the 24th. So, we have a combined Williams Family Christmas party with Darin's birthday party. It's always such a great time and Sue is the most wonderful cook - the food is the BEST! Of course, I have been terrible at taking my camera anywhere, so there are no pictures, but it was fun and we had a great time!

Our kids are getting to be just the perfect ages for Christmas. We told the kids that when they got up in the morning that we had to wait until everyone was up before we went in to see what Santa brought. We told the kids that when they woke up to just come into our room and wake us up. Well, I have no idea what time Gabby got up, but she told us later that she just waited for everyone else. She would go out and check Corban's room to see if he was awake and then go back into her room, but didn't come down to wake us up. I don't know if she finally encouraged the other kids to wake up or if they just did (all 3 kids are naturally early risers, Christmas or not) but all of them came down very excited to check out their gifts.

Quincy got a baby doll with a stroller and playpen, some pretend make-up, chapstick and a microphone that plays music she can sing to (very annoying!).

Corban was thrilled that he got what he asked for, a Leapster with 3 games and 2 fighting swords. He also got a little FurReal puppy that barks and moves and some giant Lego-looking things.
Gabby also got what she asked for, a Leapster and 3 games. She also got a hula hoop, some nail polish and chapstick and a FurReal baby bear that makes baby bear noises and moves his face and arms (cute).
We had a very quiet morning that then loaded the kids into the car to head to Bump's brother Jeremy's house for Christmas dinner. The kids had a great time seeing their cousin's gifts and playing together. The food was yummy, the conversation was great and it was nice to hang out with family on Christmas. Grandpa Williams also came (Grandma was sick at home) and our niece, Cass that is down at BYU.

We were so blessed this Christmas from very generous people who helped to make this Christmas a wonderful one for our family. I don't know where we would be without good family and friends who know just what is needed at the right time. You know who you are and we just want to say, thank you for helping our holiday to be a happy and low-stress one! We had a very Merry Christmas!