Fun and Friends

In the past week or so, we have had so much fun with our friends. This is the Fowler's Annual Memorial Day BBQ crowd. So fun!

And then, we had an afternoon party at Wayne's house. Amber, one of my very sweet friends, has a dad who throws great parties! We had fun hanging out by the pool and getting sun-burned!:) This is us with Amber and her hubby, Matt.

And then, here is Karson with his ladies. :) hehe


Me, Amber, and Crystal...Please excuse the fact that I look like a beached whale.


We had some friends over for dinner. I think this picture is out of order. I'm not sure what day this was...Oh, well! Fun times!

...and the Chamblee twins stole the show, as always! You really need to click on this one to enlarge the picture in order to really see how cute this is! Too cute!





And then, we babysat Carley, our neighbor. She asked Karson to "cuddle" with her on the couch and then she made his hair pretty. Precious...

And then, we had Molly's goodbye party at Mattito's. This really deserves a blog entry all to itself. Molly is one of my best friends at school and she is moving to Pennsylvania. So sad! Molly, if you are reading this, just know how much you are loved and you are one of the best friends that I have ever had. Much love to you!

Kinder Conversations #2

Kid #1: Why do your friends give you a shower when you have a baby in your tummy? (We were getting ready for a baby shower for a girl on our team at school.)
Kid #2: BECAUSE....when you have a baby inside you, you get fat. And when you get fat, you start to stink. And when you start to stink, your friends make you take a shower. (Now this kid has it ALL figured out!)

Kid: I ran out of gas...(walking into the classroom with a big smile on his face)
Me: Oh, I'm sorry. Are you tired?
Kid: And the hallway smells...(ewwwww....)

Kid: That one is the mommy tadpole. (Looking at our tadpole aquarium)
Me: How do you know?
Kid: Because she has a big mouth and a big bottom... (Oh, of course! How did I miss that one!)

Me: Who threw up all over the pocket chart and the carpet back here?
Kids: Silence...more silence...
Me: OK, I really need to know who threw up so I can help you...
Kids: More silence...
Me: OK, I'm going to go back to my table to pull reading groups. If it was you, please come quietly tell me. You are not in trouble. I just need to know.
Kid: Ummmm......
Me: Did you throw up all over the back of the room?
Kid: Maybe?
Me: Maybe? Why didn't you tell me?
Kid: I forgot??? (Hmmmm...)

Kid: I'm worried about you Mrs. Williams.
Me: Oh, that is not your job. Why are you worried about me?
Kid: Because you drink a lot of beer... (Huh what?...How does he know? J/K)
Me: Sweetie, what makes you think I drink a lot of beer?
Kid: You know those green bottles that you always drink...that's beer...
Me: Oh, sweetie, that is not beer. It is water called Perrier. (Good thing we cleared that one up!)

Our Office, Easter and the Other Woman

A few weeks ago, I succeeded in talking Karson into remodeling our office. We currently have two offices; one that is supposed to be an office and another that isn't:)... yes, we have way too much stuff:) So....my bright idea was that if we had wall-to-wall cabinets put in, we could move it all to one office. Maybe it says something about me that I am THIS excited about an office, but I am having fun:) Here is Karson painting...

My parents came into town for Easter weekend (Yippee!) and we put them to work:)

Looking so thrilled...
My mom and I spent lots of time in the kitchen cooking. We look pretty rough in this picture, but I had to include our cooking fun:)
We have a Williams' family tradition that Blair Francis from church spends Easter with us. This is the 3rd year that we have done this and we so love our time together. This year, we also invited over Ron and Bonnie Black, a very sweet couple that we have gotten to know through the Greeting Ministry at church. Blair entertained us with his piano skills:)



Our Easter bunch...please excuse the fact that Karson doesn't seem to know where the camera is:) hehe:) Love you honey!

And here is Karson with his other woman:) This is our neighbor Carley and these two absolutely adore each other! She comes over often to help Karson in the yard and she always ends up taking home more flowers than she plants:) So precious!

Happy Spring to everybody!

I left my heart in NYC...

What is the first thing that you do when you get to New York? You guessed it...EAT PIZZA!!! My sweet friend Molly told us to go to this place called Patsy's. It was definitely the best pizza that I have ever had!

We then headed over to Central Park. We hired a Pedicab to take us around, which was actually a whole lot of fun. He told us about all of the movies that had been filmed at each spot in Central Park as well as who lived in all of the nearby buildings.

We then visited the NY Library, Chrysler Building, Radio City Music Hall, and the Rockefeller Center. And then...Karson and I were talking about how funny it would be to see someone that we know in NYC, and within minutes, Karson spotted Vicki, one of our friends from church. How crazy!

We continued to walk through the city and found where film crews were filming a scene for a new action movie called Salt. We were in one of the crowd scenes. Who knows??? Maybe you can see us when the movie comes out!We then headed to the Met. We didn't get very many good pictures of this BEAUTIFUL museum, but this was one of my favorite rooms. We also got to attend a concert by Ren Zhang. He was performing some pieces by Haydn and Chopin on the piano. He was so talented and I do love the piano:)
And then to Wicked, which was so fun! At the end of the show, the actors came out and said that the girl who played the Wicked Witch had her debut that night. She was pretty emotional and that was pretty cool to be there for her debut;)
On Sunday, we went to church with our friends, Ron and Wendy, in Princeton. We visited the campus and it was beautiful.

And then, onto the MOMA!

Recognize these?

And now, finally a picture with both of us. Since Karson is the "camera man", that leaves me as the "poser" in all of the pictures;)

We visited the Statue of Liberty on Monday. I have loved her ever since I was little:)

When we were getting onto the boat, we saw my friend Bethany. She was in club with me at ACU. What are the chances of seeing 2 people that you know in a place like NYC?

We then quickly visited the Financial District, and then went to the Late Show. We took an unintended side trip to Brooklyn and Queens and almost missed it, but we made it just in time. When we got there, they pulled us aside from everyone else and told us that because of our smiles, they were giving us front row seats. I'm sure it was just a ploy, but I'll happily take a compliment and first row seats any day!

I'd like to introduce you to our new friends Mary and Wayne. They are from Alabama. We met them while waiting in line for the Late Show and ended up spending the evening with them. They were so fun! They took us to this great little Italian place called Inoteca. It was one of those places where you can't read anything on the menu (I love places like that!) and the food was amazing!

On Tuesday, we began our morning with the St. Patty's Parade. I've never seen so many plastered people this early in the morning! The parade was fun too. I love anything with bagpipes:)
We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is probably the prettiest church I have seen in the States.Then, we went shopping... SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, West Village, 5th Avenue....so fun! It was Karson's favorite day!:) I'd like to introduce you to my new friends (from left to right:)) Dolce, Louis, and Gucci:)

The Empire State Building...
We saw Phantom of the Opera that night. It was my favorite! The Phantom's voice gave me chills it was so good! We went to Sardi's for a little "after-show" dessert...Yum!
On Wednesday morning, I wanted to eat Breakfast at Tiffanys...

And then to the Plaza Hotel..."Playing" the Big Piano at FAO Schwartz. I couldn't get Karson to make a fool out of himself with me:)
Grand Central Station...



And then to the Museum of Natural History... I have never seen so many fossils in one place. 85% of the fossils at this museum are authentic. How impressive!

And then, it was time to go home:( We had so much fun. The best part was to be able to spend time with Karson:) Thanks Molly, Jenny, and Wendy for helping us plan our trip!

Baby Got Back...

Karson's back! Yippeeeeeeeee! As many of you know, Karson has been in Santa Barbara working the past month....yes, a whole month...to the day.... I missed him just a little:) We celebrated his first night back with a very formal Valentine's Day dinner:) Can you tell?

While he was gone, I was very fortunate that Karson's company flew me out to Cali to visit him. I have been wanting to post pictures of our little weekend getaway, but I couldn't find the camera cord:) I know you have been anxiously awaiting these photos:)

This is the precious Hotel Oceana that we stayed in. I would highly recommend it. It wasn't anything amazingly fancy, but it was quaint and cute. My favorite thing was that you could walk outside and be on the beach:)

On the first day that I was there, Karson had to work all day, so my dad drove in to see me. I took him out to lunch for his birthday. It was extra special because I can't remember the last time we have been together for his birthday:) We ate lunch on the pier. Yummy:)My mom dropped by for a quick lunch later in the weekend:)
OK...back to Karson. He is, afterall, the reason for the trip:) Karson and I really enjoyed the beach. The weather was beautiful and the beach wasn't too crowded.
We also ate lunch at the pier. A bird joined us:)

Then, Karson decided to memorialize me by making a sand sculpture of me:) j/k:)

Oh, I almost forgot the last minute trip to Sam's that we had to do for his work on Sunday. I mean, who would want to keep their sailing reservations when they could go to Sam's???

And what super romantic thing did we do on our last night together??? You guessed it!!! We spent the night in the E.R with one of Karson's coworkers! We really were happy to do it. We can make pretty much anything fun!

I know that it is cheesy (that's me:)), but this post wouldn't be complete without thanking all of my amazing friends who entertained me while Karson was gone. Thank you Steph, Jay and Carley for the numerous meals and Wii fit sessions. Molly, thanks for taking me to dinner and making me go to the gym:) Hattie, thanks for the date night...Karson's jealous:) Courtney and Jen, thanks for cooking with me:) Amber, Jill, Rae, Andrea, Kenny, and Colby, thanks for the meals! You guys are awesome!

Have a blessed week!

Conversations in Kindergarten

Conversation 1:

Kid: Mrs. We-Wums! (crying hysterically)
Me: What's the matter sweetie? (giving a hug, of course...)
Kid: Bobby* made fun of my girfwend!
Me: Ohhhh.....how did that make you feel?
Kid: I'm not vewy happy.
Me: I'm sorry you're sad. What did he say?
Kid: He said she is not my girfwend!
Me: Well, I am sorry that you are sad, but I bet what he meant was that in kindergarten we don't really have boyfriends and girlfriends. We just have friends that are girl and boys. We are all friends. Isn't that special that we can do that?
Kid: No, but fo' weal..she is MY GIRFWEND!
Me: What is your friend's name? (trying to change the subject)
Kid: Pawina (Paulina...I'm guessing???)
Me: What do you and Paulina do together?
Kid: Go out dwinking togeder. (Who is the DD...I'm wondering?)
Me: Go out drinking together? What do you drink? (I've been teaching kinder long enough to know to never assume and always ask questions)
Kid: You know...like at cool.
Me: It's cool?
Kid: Nooooowwwwaaaahhhhhhh.....like at COOL!
Me: Like at school?
Kid: Yep.
Me: You mean like milk from the cafe'?
Kid: Yeah. Sometimes chocolate, sometimes stwawbeweeeeeeee, and sometimes, you know...the ugly kind.
Me: The white kind?
Kid: Yep.
Me: Where do you drink?
Kid: At the pawk.
Me: At the park? Was anyone with you?
Kid: Nope. Well maybe my mom. I was fouw and she was six.
Me: Oh, so she is 2 years older.
Kid: No, I six now too!
Me: OK. Sounds like she is a pretty neat friend. Go back to your station. Thank you.

Conversation 2:
Another Kid: Mrs. Williams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (crying hysterically...real tears)
Me: What's the matter sweetie?
Kid: MY. PENCIL. IS. NOT. LISTENING. TO. ME!!!!!! (Hmmmmmmm.....)
Me: What are you telling your pencil?
Kid: I'm telling it to do its work and it's not listening!
Me: Oh, I'm so sorry. You must be frustrated. Sweetie, does your pencil have ears?
Kid: (defeated) No....
Me: Could you hear without your ears?
Kid: (defeated yet again) No...
Me: Well, since your pencil doesn't have ears, you might just want to make it do what you want it to do. It probably won't listen very well. And you'll be sad. Be the boss of that pencil. Go sit down.
Kid: Okeeeeeee......Dokeeeee! Mrs. Williams, you're a good teacher.
Me: Thanks. You are a good kid.