Halloween Post

We had a fun Halloween Party with Bryce's family ... unfortunately his brother's family had the flu so ours were the only kids there old enough to have fun and be scared. They still had fun though. We ate dinner ... including skeleton jello with flies on it and drank red skeleton drink.

{Colts Cheerleader, Princess Leia, Robin, Luke Skywalker and Zombie Skeleton}

{Princess Peach (Aunt Julie), Link (Elijiah), Harley Riders (Uncle Nick and Aunt Nat) and our boys}

After dinner Uncle Jamie told the kids a scary story about a ghost who is looking for her bones and is always saying, "my bones ... my bones." Ty was funny because he was obviously a little nervous about the story but just kept saying ... "Its just pretend. Its just pretend." He has this ear piercing scream though and was doing a good job at scaring everyone else and himself a little bit. He would scream whenever he could tell Uncle Jamie was trying to be scary.

The story ended and we headed down to Grandma's basement where there were bones on the floor leading us to the garage. Pax was now a little scared as he headed down the stairs since Ty had let out his ear piercing scream at the bottom of the stairs and Pax couldn't see what was down there. In the garage we saw more bones, stepped on cockroaches (crumbled chips) and found a table full of grotesque things ... brains (jello), intestines (noodles), eyeballs (glow in the dark sticky eyes) and dried skin (dried apples). It was fun and the kids were scared though they'll never admit it. Nobody wanted to touch anything since it was dark and they weren't sure what would be there. But they all ended up touching something.

Zoe's Halloween

I know it has been AGES since I posted anything. Life just seems to get crazy busy and I need to make time to keep track of what we are up to!

{Zoe was a cheerleader for her tea party and trick or treating and Grandma's party}

Zoe had so much fun dressing up this year. She dressed up 5 times! Her Halloween started with a Tea Party with 3 of her frieznds. What a fun time she had. She wouldn't let me stay because it was only for "little girls." Tyler wasn't allowed to come in when she got dropped off since he is a boy .... much to his relief since he didn't want anything to do with tea party anyway. She had a fabulous time with her friends!

She had a school party and dressed up as Cinderella. She was so excited to see 2 of her friends come as princesses as well ... Taycie (Sleeping Beauty) and Haylie (Belle). What could be more fun!

On Friday, Zoe and I went to help in Paxton's class. Since the boys both had Halloween parties that day she wanted to dress up as well. So for this day ... yes, the entire day she was Pinkalicious! She looked adorable.

Zoe Turns 2

First of all I cannot even believe my baby is so big now! She has definitely taught us that girls are just different than boys ... just becuase that is how its supposed to be. Our little Zoe can be so sweet and cuddly and also the completely opposite ... she'll have the boys in tears because what she wants she is determined to get!

Zoe just learned how to say her name and it is now her favorite word. She says it before nearly everything ... Zoe's turn, Zoe's blankie, Zoe's drink, etc. She has started talking more lately but still doesn't say as much as I remember the boys saying at her age ... guess she doesn't have to since her brothers are always helping her out. She does love to read though ... she picks out a book, climbs in her rocking chair and jabbers away.

What a girly girl she is. She loves clothes, shoes, hair bows, babies, etc. She also loves to ride bikes, jump on the tramp and play cars with the boys. She was delighted to open up her new outfit first thing in the morning.

Zoe spent most of her birthday right by my side or in my arms since I had just got back from being gone at Girls Camp the week before. So she helped me and the boys get everything ready for her Fancy Nancy Party.

What is a Castillon party without a pinata! Zoe had so much fun putting the candy in and even more fun hitting the pinata to get it out.
Zoe was very overwhelmed with all the attention and pretty much wanted nothing to do with the present opening. Its always hard to keep their attention but she was getting mad because she just wanted to play with the presents and not see what was in the next present. So we recruited some cousins to help us speed things along.

Zoe got a pink kitchen for her birthday and has been in love ever since. Once she saw the kitchen I finally got to put her down for the day. She was ... and still is ... in heaven. (notice the full house we have! Thank you everyone for coming to share Zoe's special day with her ... we have a lot of family here and it is wonderful!)

Tiny O'Reily

What a fun St. Patrick's Day we had. This morning the kids had green eggs and green shamrock pancakes for breakfast. They were funny because they beg for green eggs all the time ... probably because they know I'll say no. So today I make them and they only took a few bites. Oh well, it was fun.

Paxton had a wonderful day at school. Yesterday his teacher chose him to help set a leprechan trap. He said he made a little slide with a box at the end to catch him. This morning the class checked and he had gone down the slide and ate through the box to get out! He said Tiny had walked through green paint and his little footsteps were across the chalkboard, on the tables, the walls, he had played on their leprechan ladders they made, etc. What a fun teacher he has! Then Tiny left them a note that said:

Dear Boys and Girls,
Please look on the other side of the paper. I left a magic recipe.
Tiny O'Reilly

He had also left some magic powder that they had to mix with milk and they got a magic green drink! He told me he could still feel the magic in his belly. :)

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight and Ty wanted something green for dinner too ... he actually thought we should only be eating green things today and got mad at lunch when he had orange Spagetti-Os ... so we had brownies and mint chip ice cream.

The other fun thing about today is that its my mom's birthday and this year Pax was all about it. We've been talking about it for a week and he told his teacher his grandma has a special birthday. This morning he said, "If its Grandma's birthday and St. Patrick's Day then does she get pinched twice?" I laughed and said, "Grandma always says since its her birthday nobody can pinch her even if she doesn't wear green and if you do pinch her she'll get to pinch you back!" He thought about it for a minute and said, "huh ... well she'll still have to get birthday spankings! ... and I forgot to give them to Uncle Leavitt for his birthday!" So watch out when we come to visit! Pax has plans!

Big Girl Bed

My most wonderful, wonderful sleeper had disappeared. I kept thinking she was getting up because she had a cold, then Bryce was gone so maybe she can't sleep so well but then he got home and she kept waking up. She used to be my one kid that I knew once she was down for the night I wouldn't hear a peep out of her until morning. So this was frustrating that at 18 months she is going to start waking up a couple of times a night.

I noticed when Bryce was gone that she was liking any other bed besides her own. She wanted to sleep with me ... weird since she has NEVER wanted to before. Then she wanted to lay in "Aunt Nat's" bed in the basement and was always trying to climb up on Ty's bed. Anyway, when she'd wake up she just wanted held and then would be up for while. I kept wondering if I should just get her a big bed and see if she would do better if she wasn't locked up in a crib but was scared that her nights would get even worse if she could actually get out of bed at her own will.

Finally, a couple of nights ago, she woke up at 5 a.m. and wanted me to hold her. I was rocking her and she was squirming all around and I was exhausted. So I just let her wiggle to the floor and figured if she wanted to play or something fine but I was done fighting her. So she got to the floor and just laid down and went to sleep. She slept on her floor for 3 hours. Pax and I went upstairs to brush his teeth before school and I thought I heard something in her room so I went to peek in and she was smiling and playing in her room. So I figured I'd better just switch things around.

{Zoe's cheese face}

So here's our big girl! She LOVES her toddler bed and doesn't even try to crawl out. She lays down and goes to sleep just like she used to and when she wakes up she just stays put until someone comes to get her! Hooray! We are sleeping again!

Movie Night

Friday night we had movie night. The boys wanted to watch a movie and have treats. Zoe is usually asleep already but had a late nap so she wasn't ready yet. She's not one to sit still but loves the red chair. So I pulled it out so she'd have a place to sit and not be bugging the boys. Give Zoe a blanket and she's always got the thumb and she's content.

Pax was the first to fall asleep. Zoe went down shortly after but Ty was in it for the long haul and wanted to watch the entire movie, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." Ty got really sad when the grinch takes all the presents. He didn't like the mean grinch and had to sit on my lap. I ended up fast forwarding it to when he is nice. We watched the end and he was asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

Our Little Helpers

{dusty and dirty Zoe adding to the mess by spiting on the floor}

{Zoe's favorite place ... the bathtub}

As usual we could be found working on our new home today. However, the kids were cooperative and very helpful today. Normally if Zoe is awake I can be of no help and head home. However, today I was able to clean the basement up while she helped throw things away, sweep and played with the doors.

Tyler is glued to Bryce's side on any days off he has. So he just wanted to help his dad all day and actually entertained himself most of the day. He watched the three cement trucks that came today to pour our sidewalk and driveway and loved when the guy would walk up the chute and slide down on his boots to get the last of the cement out. He also helped Bryce tile and neither of them could look at me for a picture because they were too busy working.

Paxton lucked out and got to play at a friends house this afternoon. By the sounds of it he had a GREAT time but he is also a big helper at the new house too.

Halloween

What a busy and fun day. Paxton wore his costume to school all day ... well he was supposed to. I knew he wouldn't want to stay in it the entire day so he wore his regular clothes underneath and sure enough when I arrived to help with his class party his costume was off. I helped him get back into it but he said took it off since he wanted to be able to run at recess and it was too hard to go potty in ... totally understand that! Ty came to the party with me and Pax held his hand and let him walk with him for the costume parade. What a nice brother.

{Optimus Prime, Bumblee Bee, Zoro, Boo from Monsters, Football Player & Flower}

We went to Grandma's for dinner. That was the best trick or treating for me since then I didn't have to worry about it. We ate with Grandma & Grandpa and cousins and then headed to the trunk or treat. Pax was excited to see his friends. We also visited the aunts and uncles of course. Everyone was so exhausted that as soon as we walked in the door we got jammies on and headed to bed.

Zoe's Birthday Party

What a lucky little girl to have so many people love her. She LOVED her day. She was the last to wake up on Sunday and when she and I walked into the kitchen the boys were hiding and jumped out yelling, "Happy Birthday!" They were almost as excited for her birthday as they would be for their own.The boys sang, "Happy, happy birthday! Its Zoe's special day!" every time they saw her that day. She was just eating up all the attention.

We had family over for dinner, cake and ice cream. It was a castle party ... the boys didn't want anything to do with all the pink so they dressed up as knights. The kids had fun playing together and hitting the pinata. Zoe opened presents and was delighted with all the new babies she got. She especially loved her stroller and has been pushing it all around the house. Bryce and I got her a cradle for her babies which she picks up, hugs and pats their backs. Pax picked out a green carebear for her and she gave him the perfect reaction. She tried to hug the bear through the packaging. He was so excited! Ty picked out an animal train which she also loves.

The funniest thing was that Zoe wanted nothing to do with her cake and ice cream. Weird! She usually begs for it when she's sitting with someone. Maybe she was just distracted and really wanted to get back to the new toys ... which by the way were abandoned by her brothers and cousins. They just aren't into girl toys!

It was a fun day for Zoe and our family. Some days I just wish I could freeze time and keep my kids little!

Camping

We headed from Logan to Granite, near Jackson Hole. We had lots of fun on the 4-wheeler, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs, fishing, swimming and relaxing. We did joke that we should have just parked the trailer in one of our yards and just let the boys play. They spent a lot of time in the 4-wheeler trailer pretending it was their pirate ship, submarine, etc. Zoe spent a lot of time playing there since she is just at that really difficult age to take camping. It was hard to just let her play on the ground since the grass and weeds were as tall as Ty but we managed and had fun.

On Monday we went to the hot springs and swam. The kids had a blast. On the way back to camp we stopped at the waterfall. It was so beautiful this year. The water is so high and fast. I even got a picture with our whole family ... doesn't happen often.

These cousins had a fun time playing together ... and fighting but what are cousins for? They all still had a great time!

Happy 4th of July!

I sure love my little girl! She has been hilarious lately. He scrunchy face means lots of different things. Here she is not liking that grass on her legs. She also does it to be funny when we're trying to get her to show her tooth. She make that face when she's happy too.

Here's our hill billy! She's got three teeth that all came in one week and then nothing. Her other front tooth is starting to come through but it sure needs to hurry up!

We were getting ready to go camping and Pax wanted to clean his 4-wheeler up for the trip! He worked on it for an hour and did a great job!

Fun Summer Day!

So we just needed a fun day! So I told the kids if they would run a few errands with me that morning when we got home we'd set up the slip and slide. Pax was the only one to actually slide through the sharks mouth. Tyler was the shark mouth holder. He would just run up the the mouth and then go around.

The shark sprays water out of his mouth and he had fun aiming it all around. Zoe is watching him and making her scrunchy face. She probably knows not to trust him and that the water will be coming her way shortly ... it did!

We decided to dry off and have some otter pops. Definitely a summer favorite around here. We even let Zoe have one since I didn't care if she made a huge mess.

Our other favorite thing this summer is jumping with the water spraying under the tramp. Ty turned the sharks mouth up and they had a great time getting wet!

Jackson Hole: On Our Own

On Friday we were on our own. Bryce was in class all day. So we headed to the park that Paxton always remembers and this time we tried out the maze across the street. It was a lot of fun. The boys had to fill their punch card with the M-A-Z-E punches. So we had to find those checkpoints in the maze.

Our ever patient Zoe ... just along for the ride.

We drove to Jackson Lake and Jenny Lake for Zoe and Ty's naps. Pax and I just talked and it was so fun to just focus my attention on him. We had some very fun conversations. We got out at Jenny Lake but never made it to the lake. First we stopped for drinks and a snack. After we were finished we started down the trail. Pax was wearing his Heely's and was pushing Zoe while he rode on his wheels. He got a little too confident and a little too fast. He fell and so did Zoe. She went straight back in the stroller and her landing was padded by the diaper bag and camera bag ... thank goodness she and the camera were fine. Pax on the other hand scrapped his knees all up. A nice man stopped to try and help since I had a crying Zoe, crying Paxton and Tyler who's "legs aren't working very well." Nobody would let him help so we wiped the tears and headed back to the the little store. We bought some bandaids and patched Pax up ... and Ty had a fake owie. I was still game for going to the lake but Pax's knees hurt, Ty's legs were still not working and I didn't want to push Pax and Ty in the stroller while I carried Zoe. So we headed back to the Yukon and back to our hotel. We did enjoy the scenery though! It was absolutely breathtaking!

Zoe: 10 months

What a lucky girl! Her big brother ADORES her! Pax is so patient with her even when he's totally frustrated that she is crying or wrecked something of his. He is always quick to help her and is always willing to play with her.

She is still learning to crawl. She is perfectly content with the way she gets around ... reaching really far then getting up on all fours and turning to sit down again. What a difficult way to move! She has been trying to reach crawl a little but mostly loves to walk around. She pulls herself up to the furniture and walks along it ... slowly but she can do it.

She still yells, "Maa-aaM!" and can say, "dadada." She definitely wants to know what's going on and be in the middle of it if she can. The days of falling asleep wherever are gone! No sleeping at church ... difficult since its right in the middle of nap time. She is flexible though ... maybe because she is the third child. She just has to go with the flow of things and she usually toughs it out but when she's done she will let us know. We love our little Zoe and can't imagine life without her. She is growing up way too quickly!

Graduation Day

It was a long graduation day. We had graduation, a picnic and then Royce's Eagle Court of Honor but it was so nice to be there for everything. Royce is such a great example to all of us and I'm glad my kids have him to look up to. What I admire most about Royce is that he is responsible, loyal, loves his family and friends and would do anything they need him to. I know he will be missed around the house as he leaves for college and his mission.

Hattie and Zoe playing after the Court of Honor. In all honesty the kids did great with all the running around and we even managed to squeeze in naps for Zoe and Ty.

Williams Family Photos

My whole family got together since my little brother Royce graduated from high school. Pax is always quick to remind me that his Uncle Royce was born after me but is bigger than me.


My three brothers and sister. We are like three separate families in one but it is fun. My boys LOVE their uncles ... and aunt but there's just something about having 10, 12 & 18 year old uncles that is so much fun!
Sarah and I are only 16 months apart and it is fun that our kids are all so close in age. Pax and Sam are 5 months apart and then Ty and Hattie are 5 months apart and Zoe is just over a year younger than Hattie. They all had way too much fun playing together!
It was so fun to see these two play together. I can't believe they'll both be starting kindergarten this year. It seems like yesterday when I flew to Oregon to meet Sammy and only had two months until Pax arrived!

9 Months

Our little Zoe also decided to get teeth over Paxton's birthday weekend. Wow! That was a crazy weekend. Anyway, she got her two bottom teeth that weekend. Her top right tooth came in later that week and now she is getting her other top tooth and I think another one on the bottom. Guess that's what happens when you wait to get your first tooth until you are nearly 9 months old.

Zoe is so much fun these days. She turned 9 months on the 10th and is still not officially crawling. She is on the move but just reaches really far and then scoots her bum. She is never where I leave her now. She is fast at moving around when I am not in the room but if I'm there then she screams or just comes over to me so that she can get where she wants to go quicker. She has lots to say and mostly likes to feed herself. She has turned into a mama's girl and cries when anyone else holds her and she can still see me. She definitely loves her big brothers. When they are gone she seems so bored and goes crazy when she sees them again. What a fun way to be greeted after being gone ... even if only for a few minutes!

She is 28 inches long (75%) and 16 pounds 14 ounces (10%). I always wonder if they are measuring right. She doesn't seem taller than average. In fact, she just looks really petite. I would think it would be the other way around because her bum and thighs are nearly as big as Ty's. We compared in the bath the other day!

We love spring!

The past few days have been really nice ... today is cold though. It has really reminded us that we love spring! Pax was mad that the snow melted ... especially since the ski trip because that made him love winter. Then it really warmed up outside and the boys were able to play. They have been loving it. I guess I should say Pax has been enjoying it and Tyler can't get enough.

Tyler woke up Monday morning and said he wanted to go out and play. It was actually warm enough so he was out playing at 7:30 a.m. We took Pax to school ran some errands and he had to play outside again until lunch and naptime. He woke up and headed back outside! Tuesday was much the same despite it starting to cool down and it was quite windy! He just kept saying, "its nice!" So I might as well pitch a tent out there for him since he has no desire to come in. Life this summer will be all about the sandbox, bike and running until he's out of energy.

Paxton has been glad to get out too but would much rather go play at the park and invite some friends. He is very much a homebody and would rather that his friends come play at his house rather than him go over to their houses but is definitely a social butterfly. He loves to play with his friends and is a very good friend to them.

Zoe is loving being outside too. She got a little sun but luckily she is like the boys and doesn't burn easily. Thank goodness! I try to be really good about keeping the sunblock on but its nice to have a little leeway for my forgetful self.

Zoe: 8 months

Our sweet little girl turned 8 months on the 10th. She is very much a girl ... amazing that at such a young age she can act girly. She has a little girly giggle, she is dramatic ... for example if someone accidentally bumps her she makes sure that everyone knows she didn't like that, and her voice is even girly as she laughs, babbles or screams.

She scoots around both when she's on her belly and when she is sitting ... mostly when she's sitting. She also rolls and reaches for whatever she desires. She is never in the same place as where I leave her though she doesn't go far. She isn't really getting up on all fours ... she just doesn't seem to be in a hurry to really get around.

Two days ago she learned to clap and its all she does now. She is so delighted with her new trick. She claps while I try to feed her which makes things very difficult since she keeps throwing food everywhere when she hits the spoon. She gets the biggest smile as she claps and babbles, as if to say, "yeah!"

She is still toothless! Unheard of in this house since both of the boys had teeth at 6 months! She needs some teeth since she's always wanting what we're eating but she's got nothing to chew it with.

Her thumb is going to be a problem when we need to break her of the habit. It used to just go in when she was tired but lately its always in unless she's very into what she's playing.

The Pirate Party

Last weekend Grandma Sue and Aunt Nat decided we should have a pirate party. The boys were all SO excited. Here are my mean pirate boys! We even had Ty saying, "Arrrrr!"

Our Pirate Zoe. She didn't mind the costume at all, she actually liked the belt since she could sit and play with it. She doesn't make a very mean looking pirate.

This picture is for Trav, Crystal and don't show Carson! ... wish you guys could have been here. The funniest part was Grandma Sue! At least we got a picture but it was hilarious in person. When we walked in Tyler started crying and saying, "not MaMa! not MaMa!" and Zoe cried too when she got too close. So until she washed her face Tyler kept an eye on Grandma and if she was coming anywhere near him he'd cling to someone and give her a mean look. What a scary pirate! She felt bad and ended up washing her face after Eric, Nicole and the boys got there.