.flowers from my boys.

The other day at a friends house CJ and Connor picked me these beautiful "lilacs" (they are not lilacs but that is what they thought they were). They were SO excited to give them to me and even put them in this beautiful vase for me! LOL! It is one of those huge plastic "beer bottle" banks that was once filled with popcorn. They actually smell amazing! CJ was all upset this morning because they were dying already. They are such good boys and they love me so much....even when I yell at them. :)

Anyway, I forgot to tell you all about our trip to RG&E this weekend! As you know Chris was selected to cross the picket lines if one of the unions went on strike. So Saturday, CJ's birthday, he had to go into work and pick up all of his "stuff" to get ready. We thought it was going to be a quick trip in and out, so being that it was CJ's birthday we decided to take a family drive to West Ave. :) Those familiar with Rochester know this is not the best part of town.

We drove into the totally fenced in office park complete with security guard stationed in the "watch house". What a joke. Anyway, we park and Chris goes in to get what he needs.

We stopped at Wendy's on the way there to get lunch so the boys had their food and drinks in the back seat.

We sat.

And sat.

And sat.

Then we started fighting.

Punching each other.

Mommy tells them to stop.

They tell Mommy that the other is "enjoying" it so they keep doing it.

I tell them don't cry when someone gets hurt, because it is going to happen. Beating each other up in the back seat can only possibly be enjoyable for so long.

We sit longer.

Laughing turns to crying because exactly what Mommy said was going to happen is.

CJ gets thirsty from all of the beating he is taking and takes a sip of his soda and chokes.

All of you know what is going to happen next.

I knew.

I get out of my seat, open his door, and.....

PUKE.

I was right.

There right in the middle of the RG&E parking lot sat a huge pile of puke.

Everywhere.

Nice.

I bet we gave the security guard some entertainment for a while.

He recovers quickly...but we wait.

Daddy and a guy FINALLY come out and the kids start yelling out the windows at him. Nice.

I panic. What if they walk over to the car and step in the puke?

I move the car so that they don't come over where we were. They walk to a meter reader truck and sit in it....forever.

We sit more.

Finally they are done. I have to pee so bad I want to cry. The boys are telling me to go in the bushes. I can't do that. I can't leave either. There is no place to go potty in this part of town that I can bring the kids into and go.

I pray Chris comes to the car.

No.

He goes back into the building...and walks within FEET of this big pile of puke. Can you imagine if he had stepped in it?

I have no choice other then to try to get into the building.

Locked. You need an employee badge to get in (remember, bad part of town?)

I just want to cry.

Finally Chris comes out and lets me in the building before I pee my pants.

I made it though another exciting adventure of the Williams family alive.

Never, ever a dull moment!

Continental Annouces Layoffs...

Continental Airlines today announced that they would lay off 3000 workers and cut flights by 11% in September. As many of you know, my brother just took the leap from Continental Express to Continental and has expected this for a few weeks now. Because of the structure of the two companies as totally different companies, Brian is now is at the bottom of the seniority list and I think expects to be included in this 3000.

I am so impressed with my brothers attitude with this whole thing...he is ready for it. He already has resumes out there at the NTSB, FBI and other places where he can use his pilot skills in fields other then the airlines which he really thinks are in some serious trouble due to the cost of gas, etc.

Anyway, keep my brother and his family in your thoughts...and if anyone has any connections or needs a amazing well trained 737 pilot let me know. :) Brian would do well in any industry but has his bachelors in Aeronautical Science and is very close to his masters in Flight Safety Investigation from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

.the longest blog post ever.

I hear you...I know, I know...I am so behind on my blogging. Let me tell you...I am it is so fun to watch your kids enjoy their birthday festivities every year, but man...does it seem like they never end? I feel like ALL I have been doing is running around with me head cut off for 2 weeks straight! Thank GOD I didn't have photo shoots on top of all of it.

Anyway, as many of you know, my Grandma, Aunt Sue and Uncle Russ were in town Memorial Day weekend from Kansas City - my hometown! Auhhh...I bet you didn't know I was born in Kansas City. :) Anyway, they DROVE here...nuts...my Grandma is in her mid 80's and I can't imagine driving for 16 hours at 33, let alone at 83. They made it though and it was GREAT to see all of them. I had not seen my Uncle Russ since high school and I had not seen my Aunt Sue and Grandma for a few years either. The boys always think it is cool that they have a Great Grandma. She is doing great! I really wanted to get some better pictures of the boys with her, but I waited until the last night she was in town and she wasn't feeling well, so all I got is this one.



Anyway, CJ had a great party...there were over 50 people here! Tons of kids, ton's of fun. Thank you to all of those who came and brought some awesome food. I swear...Chris and I have the best friends in the world. Really. All of you mean so much to us!



Anyway, on Sunday morning Chris and I made sure we were still in the running for "Parents of the Year" because we finally broke down and bought CJ a trampoline for his birthday. I know, I know...."don't tell the insurance company", "I hope you have rules", "those things are so dangerous". Believe me, in the last week Chris and I have heard 100's of stories from people who have had kids lose legs on these things (just kidding, but it feels like it). So why did we do it? Because CJ has wanted one FOREVER...well, that is not the only reason. Our neighbors have one and that is where the kids have been all spring long. The problem is that this house is about 10 houses from our house and their backyard is in the woods and for some reason this year I can't stop thinking about all of the bees. They are EVERYWHERE. If the boys love the trampoline that much I would rather have them jumping in my backyard where I am right there in case Connor gets stung. And...well...another reason is that I have a LONG 2 months a head of me when school gets out. The boys will be home with me for 2 months and honestly, I hope they spend a couple hours a day jumping on this thing burning calories while I sit on the deck hooked up to my wireless network/VPN working. Time will tell, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. For all of you worried about our "rules", don't worry. Because of their weight only CJ and Connor are allowed on at once so that pretty much scares the neighborhood kids away. We have only had a few kids try to get on and I told them to go home and ask their parents and have them call me if it is okay. The kids are too lazy to do that so they just find something else to do. :) Anyway...I am enjoying trying to take pictures of the kids jumping. As you can see, it isn't easy!



On Sunday we went on the Canandaigua Lady which is a little tour boat that goes around Canandaigua Lake with Grandma and the rest of the KC gang. It really was an awesome ride, the boys had a blast and CJ left saying "this was the best day ever" so that is good! It was a beautiful day and it seemed like Grandma really enjoyed it!





Monday we had the Memorial Day parade for baseball/softball. As you know, Chris coaches the boys and I help coach a little girls softball team. I just love these girls. Really, they are so much fun. Here I am with Shannon's little girl T.



Then there was a crazy short week at work, followed by a crazy Friday with CJ's 7 year well child visit. I walk in and they hand me a form on the 7th year and what does it say at the bottom? Keep your kids off of trampolines. Yes, again, Mother of the Year. By the way, he is 4 foot 4 inches tall and 96 lbs. So, Connor is 1 lb. heavier and 2 inches shorter. Dr. Murphy was really impressed with CJ's healthy choices over the last year and she was really pleased with his "slow down" in the weight gain. Of course....what does he say back to her? "Well, my belly is getting smaller because I have been jumping on my new trampoline!" I guess it is time to start coaching what to say to who. :) Nice.

So we left the Dr. after CJ freaked out about getting a shot and headed back to drop off CJ in time for some "bird assembly" that was going on at school. I had to walk him down to it and ended up staying for a minute and then walking him back to his classroom. Off to go get Connor at Shannons, bring him home, feed him, run to Wegman's, bring him back to school, and then go back to CJ's school with his birthday snack. Is his birthday over with?

No. It hasn't even really BEEN his birthday yet.

Finally, the actual birthday has finally arrived. The boys had a game in the morning, then we went to this pottery place in the village to paint pottery, and we went to RG&E for an adventure (more details on this later, this blog post is already too long). We stopped to get the cake and last minute stuff on the way home and made it back JUST in time for his kids party and Auburn Creek Driving Range and Mini Golf Course. Anyway, other then a thunderstorm in the middle of the party it went great. CJ had a blast and it seemed like all of his friends did too.

CJ was so sad when it was all over with. I remember feeling this way as a kid. As for Chris and I? We were so glad. It was a 2 week party and as much as we don't want to wish time away, it was exhausting!

Yesterday I had a photo shoot in the morning with my friend Michelle's boys. She has twins and a Freshman in high school. We went down to the village of Victor and hung out and really had a great time!





I was thrilled with the pictures I got with them!

Then it was off to the Red Wings game for Victor Baseball and Softball day. :) We marched around the field with our teams and them watched a few innings of the game before we had to leave to CJ's travel game in Sweden. We got home around 6:30 and I just wanted to crash.

Anyway....there are so many more details to all of this, but you get the picture. I have more pictures of all of these events too! Maybe I will get a minute this week to download them.

I will get on tomorrow and blog about the RG&E trip...that was an experience. Oh...and they have not gone on strike yet, but Chris is ready to go this week if they do! Keep your fingers cross that he doesn't have to.

Anyway...I missed all of you! If you made it this far....wow.

Holy long run on post.