The Williams Family

Family Night

2009-02-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

We decided to take the kids to dinner tonight and have family night since our weekend will be so crazy with Sterling and I both working. We took them to El Chico...which seems to be our place lately, I'm not sure why? Well, tonight the "balloon" guy was there. He comes around the tables and makes things out of balloons for the kids. Luke and McKenzie could hardly contain theirselves. Infact, the guy didn't make it to our table until our check came. But, luckily for the kids he came. They were SO excited. McKenzie wanted a fish so bad and Luke got a fishing pole with a fish attached...I've never seen him so excited. He kept trying to fish over the table next to us. What a great time with the kids...we laughed alot!

Muffin's for Moms!

2009-02-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

This morning I went with McKenzie to Muffins for Moms at her school. They have lots of muffins, drinks and reading time with your child! It is great to be able to spend time with her. Lately, we have had a busy month with Luke and it was nice to have one on one attention with her. I'm not sure we finished a book though. I think we had more fun visiting with each other and laughing at her chocolate mouth from her muffin!! And of course seeing all her friends in another setting other than the classroom is somehow fun for her! She is defiantly my social butterfly!!! I hope to have many more memories like this with my daughter! Love you, McKenzie!!

Luke's First Day of Preschool!!

2009-02-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

Daddy got doughnuts for my first day!
this is my backpack...mom, please hold it!
My teacher, Mrs. Gass!
Already ready to play....BYE MOM!

On Tuesday, February 17, Luke started preschool!! He is actually at Leisure Park Elementary where McKenzie goes to school. Since he has been with Soonerstart the last year with speech and occupational therapy he automatically qualified for Broken Arrow School system's program. His class is just like a regular preschool but most kids there have some sort of a delay. He will also get extra help with speech!! Although, it is hard to explain to people, has a crummy name (Developmental Delay) that I can't seem to get over and very emotional...I know that he is exactly where he needs to be! I know that he has been blessed to have had all this help!! It has been overwhelming to see God's hand in all of this the last year!!

His first day was a little shaky...for mom!!! Luke decided not to sleep the night before but he did great on his first day!! He was so excited to see the bird (the class pet) and to play with friends! I'm excited to look back at this in a year and see how far he's come!

THE DAY OF LOVE!

2009-02-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's Day we took it pretty low key...we have for the last three years! Since Luke's birthday is the day before it really seems to outshine any Valentine's Day talk. But..we decided that we did want to teach our children about how important it is to love our family and friends and about Jesus' love for us. We took the kids to El Chico for dinner and had some good family fun! Daddy got us their chocolate cake for dessert!! YUM! Strangely, it's my favorite cake!!!

Luke Turns 3!!!!

2009-02-18T11:21:00.001-08:00

On Friday February 13th Luke turned three years old! I can't believe he is so big!! Luke has been a true gift from God!! He is so sweet and makes us all smile. He still loves cars...but only the ones from the movie Cars otherwise forget it. His new obsession is Wall-E. Not only does he want to watch it every day...sometimes twice he loves his Wall-E and Eve toys! He loves chocolate milk and lemonade, elephants, tackling his dad, Ella and listening to Hannah Montana...something I can't wait to show him when he's older!!

We celebrated his party at of course, Party Time! He had a Wall-E birthday party with lots of friends and family! He couldn't wait to eat his cake! This is the first year he blew out his candles by himself...which he did after singing Happy Birthday to himself and didn't wait for the song to be finished! Such a great memory I hope I never forget!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

Cousins

2009-02-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

It's always a trying experience to photograph the cousins together. All my mom wants is a picture of all four of her grandchildren smiling in a photo...well, we try! Unfortunately it's always Luke who isn't in the mood. He HATES to have his picture taken!!!!! Oh..well, here's an attempt!

McKenzie's Valentine's Day Party (At School)

2009-02-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

McKenzie and her best friend Hannah
McKenzie and her teacher, Mrs. Moore
McKenzie at her desk

On Friday McKenzie had her class Valentine's Day party. They played bingo, conversation hearts Olympics, had goodies and read their valentines. As always I snapped some photos!

McKenzie's Valentine's Box

2009-02-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

Focused!
Using up every space

The finished product!

McKenzie started to decorate her Valentine's Day box tonight for school. She is very excited to send her Valentine's to school for her friends. I wrapped her box for her and cut the hole for the cards to slide in but everything else was all McKenzie! She was very intense tonight and focused. It was so cute to see her care so much about the presentation of her box. I couldn't help but take a couple of photos of her very stickered box! I am enjoying her so much these days. I never thought I could learn so much from a 7 year old!!

Hat Day, Nat'l Wear Red Day and theTwinkie Carnival!Contest at the

2009-02-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

me and mckenzie
McKenzie wearing her red
McKenzie in her "Heart" hat
McKenzie and Hannah eating at the carnival
Hannah, Jordan and Kenzie
McKenzie beside her twinkie's...2nd place!
Macy and McKenzie with their winning twinkies!

Friday was a busy day! Every year McKenzie's school has a carnival to raise money for the PTA. Its is crazy, fun and LOUD!! But..the kids enjoy it and we always have a fun time. McKenzie entered the twinkie contest that was themed Leisure Park 500, Race to the Carnival. Rules are simple. You have to at least use one twinkie and everything you use has to be edible..oh, and it has to fit on a paper plate. This year McKenzie won 2nd place for the second graders!! She was very excited to win! Her title was Kenzie and Hannah racing.

Also, to kick off reading month the students have a Hat day...Hat's off to Reading. You are supposed to pick a word and make a hat using that word you pick. McKenzie's word was Heart. Friday was National Wear Red Day..supporting Heart Disease. We have had many friends and family affected by this disease and support it dearly! Since Kenzie was already planning her red shirt (with a heart on it) she picked the word Heart for her hat!

I enclosed all the pictures from our crazy Friday!!!

Sick On Super Bowl

2009-02-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

Luke with his "B" and drink
Luke watching T.V. on our bed

Every year for Super Bowl we spend it with our friends, Kenny and Jana. We started this after Sterling and I got married...before kids! Through nine years we have added four kids who also love the tradition. We usually have a big meal, visit, watch the game and of course figure out the best commercials! And although since getting together we have never seen our Packers play we always wear our green and yellow and the Day's always wear their Cowboys apparel. This year was no different. We were all planning to get together until our little boy got sick! So...Sterling and McKenzie went ahead and celebrated Super Bowl Sunday with the Days and Luke and I stayed home! Here are some pics of our Luke sick in our bed. (best place to be when your sick is your mom's bed!!)

Party Time!!

2009-02-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

McKenzie getting ready to slide
Hannah giving her best smile
COUSINS!!
Hannah...always flipping around
McKenzie and her best friend, Hannah
Little Miss Hope
My sister and brother in law opened a new business, Party Time. Party Time is a fun place where you can have your child's birthday party or come for a mommy and me playtime. There is even a little store attached with cute children's toys, bags, picture frames, bows and lots of fun things! On Saturday they invited some of their friends for an open house. All the kids had lots of energy and tons of fun!!! Here are a few pictures from the open house. (Luke didn't get to go because he was sick!! :( )

National Championship Game

2009-01-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

Luke pre-game
The Williams
Kenny and Sterling BFF since middle school
Mom and McKenzie
My boys...Daddy and Luke
Luke and Tyler singing for us at halftime
McKenzie, Brenna, and Emily
Ok...so the OU/Flordia game didn't go the way we hoped. Actually, it was plain disappointing how many times we handed them the game. But, despite getting to the goal line twice and not even getting a field goal out of it....I'd still rather be a SOONER any day!!!

We went to our good friends, Kenny and Jana's house to celebrate. We ate hamburgers, hotdogs, chips-n-dip and of course GATOR!!!! (which is actually really good) We had OU cupcakes for dessert. We were all in our crimson and cream screaming and yelling like we were in Flordia! Despite the outcome we had fun getting together with our friends and celebrating our SOONERS making it to the National Championship!!! Here are some photos of the night!

BOOMER SOONER!!!!!!

OOOOO.......U!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

We are already getting ready for some SOONER MAGIC! We are all dressed in our crimson and cream and have listen to the fight song about 5 times!!! McKenzie went to school in her OU earrings and OU shirt!! She was very excited to show her teacher who is an OSU fan!...We still love you Mrs. Moore!! I didn't have time to snap a photo of her before school but here is Luke saying OU....notice he knows how to do his arms!!!! I'm sure I will be posting pics tomorrow of the big game!!! GO SOONERS!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

2009-01-08T08:49:00.001-08:00

I turned 31 on December 28! The kids went to nana and papa's and Sterling and I went out to lunch to Logan's Steakhouse and saw a movie afterwards! Then we picked up the kids went back home and had a quiet night in with the kids!! Sterling and the kids got me a spa day!!!! By far the best gift I've ever got!!!! I didn't think he could beat last year's birthday but I think he did!! Just being able to talk to Sterling at lunch without the kids and then watching a movie other then G Rated was heaven. Then spending the evening with McKenzie and Luke on my lap watching a movie was all the present I needed....but I'll take the spa day!! Thanks to all that remembered me on my birthday and sent me birthday wishes!!!!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Heather!

2009-01-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

When people hear the date of my birthday they always feel sorry for me that it's so close to Christmas...but I think mine is fine compared to my sister's! Heather turned 33 on December 26! She loves to get up early and go shopping with the rest of the world on her birthday and find great deals but she likes to be home by noon. I always feel bad for her that she has to fight the crowds on her birthday but I'm sure she feels like me...it's really all we know! Happy Birthday Heather!!

Christmas Day!!

2009-01-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

This year on Christmas day we got up and opened presents with the kids! This is the first year we have been able to sleep in...well, not really the kids were up before 8 a.m....and enjoyed Christmas morning and hung around the house. It was nice not having to rush around!!! We went to Sterling's sister's house for Christmas dinner. Steph made a great big dinner and then we opened gifts. We played some games with the kids and then the adults went and played Rock Band. I finally had to learn!!! Sterling and Steph get competitive with their scores and I am just happy if I make it through a song...:)!!

Kenzie had fun playing with the girls and Luke had a blast playing with light savers with Timmy!

Christmas Eve

2009-01-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Christmas with my family...The McKays...on Christmas Eve. Mom cooked a big dinner and then we opened presents! It was nice to relax and watch the kids play. McKenzie and Hannah now have to share some of the spotlight with Luke and Harlee. In alot of ways they are more like sisters than cousins so we have to be sure their gifts are similar if not the same!! This year Luke really got into opening the gifts...even if they weren't his...thanks Harlee for letting him help you!!! Here are just a few pics of the fun!

Christmas Eve Eve....

2009-01-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve Eve our good friends John, Johanna and their new baby girl, Lucy, came over. We had fun catching up and exchanging gifts! Lucy was born October 20 of 2008 and we love getting to see her when we can. McKenzie loves having a baby girl around. She guessed from the beginning that Johanna was having a girl...I think she hoped more than anything!!! Johanna is always so gracious to let McKenzie hold Lucy. In fact...she's held her more than me!!

Neglect

2009-01-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

Ok..so I've neglected our blog for a couple of weeks. We have been crazy busy and it hasn't helped that our server has been down. Everything is calming down and our server is back up so I'm going to try and recreate the last two weeks in a nutshell!!

Mrs. Moore's Christmas Party!

2008-12-21T17:36:00.000-08:00

McKenzie and her teacher, Mrs Moore.
McKenzie at her desk.
Even Luke had fun. He played cars the whole time with Brayden.
Hannah, McKenzie and Isabel...her two good friends!

McKenzie had her class Christmas party on Thursday. She was very excited to get back to school to see all her friends and to have a little fun! They played Christmas bingo and had cupcakes, cookies, fruit, veggies and juice! Kenzie was very excited to be chosen by her friend Justin to call out the bingo game!! Here are a few snap shots!

Cousin Day

2008-12-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

So, it's our third day home from school because of the ice storm. We all have cabin fever!!!! My sister decided to bring the girls over and have a cousin play date. McKenzie and Hannah were so excited to see each other and locked themselves in McKenzie's room and played. Luke and Harlee were so tired but played "Toy Story" with Buzz Light Year and Woody while watching a movie. Here are some pictures of our day!

NAME THAT TUNE....

2008-12-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

Luke is starting to sing songs that we can understand. This one he sang to Daddy yesterday! He will have lots of practice this month with this one because there are many December birthdays in our family!! It was so cute I had to post it! See if you can name that tune...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

2008-12-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

Sterling turned 32 yesterday! Part of having a December birthday is that you never know what the weather is going to be like. Unfortunately, there was ice on the roads which made it difficult to enjoy his birthday...but we tried to make the best of it. McKenzie was out of school, thanks to the ice storm, so we baked cupcakes and she decorated them with Luke's help. We usually go out to dinner with the family and enjoy a nice dinner but we didn't feel it was worth it to be on the roads. So, McKenzie suggested hotdogs! Not a typical birthday dinner but Sterling was game. So, we enjoyed a quiet evening in cooking hotdogs and eating cupcakes for dessert!! The kids think it was the best birthday! Happy Birthday, Sterling!! We love you and appreciate all you do for our family!

Christmas Cards

2008-12-08T07:50:00.000-08:00

After finally getting our Christmas tree up and all our decorations...(we're a little behind because we all were sick last week with the stomach virus...) that then led to the Christmas card photo! Unfortunately for our neighbor Doug and his daughter Kaley we've made it sort of a tradition for him to come snap our photo! Thanks to him for his patience!!!

Luke really wasn't in the mood to have his photo taken...not that he ever is!! I'm hoping that is just because he's two and not something I'm going to have to fight for years to come!! But of course McKenzie was ready to smile!! She is always so good about doing as she's told when it comes to family photo time. Her only request this year was, "Mommy, please no bow!"

I decided to share some of the pictures that didn't make the cut! The date on the camera, which is wrong, decided to all the sudden appear in the photos. So, this made it difficult as well to pick a photo because it was tattooed on Sterling's shirt and was impossible in some to crop! Nothing's ever easy!!! Enjoy the photos :) You'll have to check your mailbox for the one that made the cut!

BOOMER SOONER!!!!!

2008-12-07T17:41:00.001-08:00

We were all excited to see the SOONERS get to the Big 12 Championship (and win!) but Luke loves it because he gets to wear his helmet! Every time he sees the SOONERS play he grabs his helmet and starts tackling Sterling!! What a great game!! BOOMER!!!

Luke Counts to Ten!

2008-11-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

I not only had to post this story because I was so excited but I didn't want to forget it so I'm writing it down so I'll always remember how it happened.

Friday night McKenzie was at the computer, Luke was on my bed watching cartoons as I was folding laundry. McKenzie had instructed me to look at her project on the computer and when I walked by Luke said...one, two, thee...I looked at him and said, "four" and he said, "fi" and I held my breath after I said, "six" and he said "even" and then McKenzie and I looked at each other and I said, "eight" and Luke said, "nine" and then McKenzie, Luke and I screamed "TEN"!!! He then said by himself one through ten!

For those of you who will actually read this blog are probably the ones who know how trying and emotional the last year has been. From the first gut feeling to the first time I heard the doctor's say autism to the unknown. We now know that Luke is not autistic but continues to have many autistic behaviors. He is still in speech and occupational therapy and he has done beautifully! I'm so grateful for every new word! Counting to ten has never sounded so beautiful!!

Ready...Set...Blog!!

2008-11-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

So, I've always read other peoples blogs and finally said enough was enough and decided to make my own blog! Here is a little of how the Williams began...

Sterling and I met at First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow as teenagers. We were in the same youth group and although came from rival schools we were always good friends. We started dating after high school and continued for 3 years before marrying in April of 2000. After only 6 months of bliss we got the biggest surprise....we were pregnant! McKenzie came that June and has been surprising us ever since. She is independent and full of personality! She loves to cheer, be with her friends, science and buttered popcorn at the movies. In February 2006 Luke joined our family. After seeing only pink for four years I was shocked and excited to see a little blue! Luke is our tenderhearted, lovable and feisty little boy! He loves the movie Cars, to wrestle...or tackle, zebras and lemonade! Sterling and I have been so blessed with these two amazing children! They bring so much joy in our lives!

I hope you have fun getting a peak into our crazy, fun and trying lives! happy blogging!