Pre-Orders Begin After Christmas

Many of y'all know that we jumped into the world of gardening this year. We have had an herb garden since we moved to Mississippi, and have planted a few tomatoes and peppers in the past, but this year we became more adventurous. We decided to just go ahead and jump into it, knowing that we really didn't have a clue (especially around here where a small garden is larger than our entire lot!) Vacuuming the stink bugs that consistently attacked our beautiful zucchini became a highlight activity of our summer. Who knew that Joshua's bug vacuum would come in so handy or that I would have a vengeance against these annoying little pests? Too bad I don't have pictures of that, but I am hoping that we won't have the opportunity in the future! Most of our crop was eaten as soon as it was ripe (or close to being ripe), and there were many delicious additions to our summer salads. What a fun and healthy reward!!

Next year we plan on doing things a little differently - a much larger herb garden by the kitchen window and possibly moving our tiny vegetable garden to the other side of the yard. We also plan on getting the seeds in the ground MUCH earlier. Our garden motto this year was "better late than never!" That proved true on most things and enabled us to learn a lot. One thing that we learned takes a much longer time to grow and produce, however, was our carrots. Considering the size of our "crop," we may need to plant them right now for next summer's harvest! However small they were, the kids enjoyed them immensely. Pre-orders for next year's fruit and vegetables will begin after Christmas. . . .

Double the Fun!

Well, the day has finally arrived! No, we are not expecting twins (yet!) - ha ha! Our sweet little Abigail Grace has doubled her birth weight. Yesterday she weighed in at 10 lbs. 4 oz.! What a big girl! She is filling our lives with sweetness and joy every day. Hannah loves to help out and take care of Abigail. She even picked out her clothes and got her dressed today! Joshua loves to hold her and love on her, and so does Sarah Elizabeth. Sarah often reminds me that she is a good big sister and that she loves her new baby :) She always makes sure that Abigail has her special little lambie and that she is covered with a blanket, nice and warm. I told her today that she is just like her Nana - always covering up the baby :) This little lady certainly gets lots of love around the Williams household - and we are so glad that she is here for us to love! God is so very good to us and we are reminded of his incredible blessings every time we look around :)

Fall Fun, Furry Animals and a Fabulous Birthday!

This year's Fall Fun Fest was super fun! Jason was not in charge of a church event for a change and we thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Here's the lowdown . . .

Abigail Grace: a clown (though one of our friends thought she was a jellybean!)

Sarah Elizabeth: a ladybug (minus the antennas most of the night)

Joshua Andrew: a hunter (due to his friend Austin wearing a similar costume)

Hannah Kathryn: a cheerleader (because she thinks Bailey is awesome)

Jason and Tammy: Mexican attire (in honor of our friends the Mulhollen's, who returned home to Mexico the day before)

Jason brought in the excitement by making a splash in the dunking booth. Each of us had an opportunity to dunk our Daddy. Quite fun! And yes, he did get sick being soaking wet in the super cold air for 45 minutes, but he is doing better!

Saturday was Hannah's birthday and we had a very FULL day! In our house, when it's your birthday you are treated even more special than usual! Lots of special requests are fulfilled and special treats are given. We made muffins for breakfast, per Hannah's request, and headed out the door as soon as they were finished baking. None of us had ever been to the amazing Buffalo Park of Tupelo, so this was a very special occasion! We were celebrating our friend Jacob Robinson's birthday and were able to celebrate Hannah's birthday, too! All of us were quite impressed with the exhibits! They had: birds, snakes, a lion, tiger, fox (smallest species - only weighed 3 lbs.), monkeys (one of which - Oliver - is world famous for escaping multiple times), alligator, giraffes, donkeys, zebras, zeedonk (combo of the two!), kangaroo, wallabies, bear, camels, emus, longhorn cattle, water buffalo, and - of course! - lots of buffalo! They even had a white buffalo - one of only 60 worldwide. And that was not all! There are many more animals that we either cannot remember or don't know exactly what they were :) I know - you are all very impressed and cannot believe the wide range of exotic animals available for your viewing and feeding here in Tupelo!! It's okay to go ahead and catch your breath before you continue reading :) My favorite area housed all the different exotic birds. Abigail and I hung out there for a while talking to them. 3 of them would say hello and two of them carried on all kinds of conversations, but I never could figure out exactly what they were saying! It was a hoot - ha ha ha!

We headed to Olive Garden for the big birthday dinner, but had to stop at Ryan Newman's car and check it out. They even had cake to help us celebrate the big #7 for Hannah, and Joshua got to use the air wrench to take the tire off and put it back on (a demo). I'm sure he won't be able to watch another NASCAR race without telling everyone about his pit crew experience!

When we got home we continued celebrating the big day with presents and fun time together. At bedtime, Hannah said that it was the best birthday ever and she wished it could be her birthday everyday! What a good way to end the day :)

Very Busy, But Having FUN!!

Last week was a whirlwind, but filled with great blessings! On Tuesday night, we drove to Nashville and stayed with some wonderful friends of ours, Rob and Holly Tims. (You know they are great friends when you don't get there until really late and they stay up even later to visit with you!) The kids had a blast getting to play with their two boys, Trey and Jonathan, the next morning before heading out for Virginia.

Trey, Hannah, Jonathan, Joshua and Sarah Elizabeth

We hit the road and headed East to Virginia to visit with Jason's family for the night. Everyone was able to meet our sweet little Abigail Grace for the first time, and the big kids got to play outside and explore around the old barn at Mamaw's house.

Mamaw (Great-Grandmother) holding Abigail Grace

We spent the next morning with Mamo and headed back East to Greenville, TN to spend the day with our good friends, Steve and Holly Mulhollen. It had been 3 years since we had seen them and they left for Mexico. We had both added two more children to our families during that time, so it was even more exciting than before! It was such a blessing and didn't seem like any time had passed since the last time we were together. We were able to visit with each other for hours and the kids spent the entire day playing. Holly's dad took all of us on a wagon ride around their property and we had a wonderful time walking by the river, exploring caves and being joined (unintentionally) by the neighbor's dog, Ginger. Thank you to the Callans for hosting us all day and sharing your family with us!!

After our fun and exciting day we headed back to Virginia and returned home the next morning. It was a whirlwind trip, but worth every minute! Thank you, Lord, for lower gas prices!!!

Getting Ready for the Hayride (Minus the Hay!)

Joshua's First Time Spelunking

Julia, Meredith and Hannah

Kristin and Sarah ElizabethSteve and Jason on the laptops (sharing pictures)The Williams and The Mulhollens All Together

Are we up and running?

Well, I had great plans of getting this up and running before the baby was born. . . Instead, we had a lot of fun and excitement around here earlier than expected and thus the blog was delayed a bit :) So, here we are now - on the worldwide web - ready to keep our friends and family up to date (at least better than before!) on the happenings of the ever growing Williams Family. I will begin with a disclaimer, however: I have great intentions and I plan to try to update at least weekly - hopefully more - but please be willing to give grace to a homeschooling, ministry-wife Mama of 4 children 6 and under! :)
After a busy day at home, Jason and the "big kids" went to the Saltillo Football game where they had lots of fun and enjoyed getting to spend time with their friends. They had a super time and got to stay up extra late to watch the Tigers win!!! Abigail Grace and I had some fun of our own and we were able to work on this new blog all evening.
I have quickly learned that it is not that difficult to blog, but it can be very addicting looking at all the cute backgrounds and fun additions! If you would like to subscribe and be notified whenever there is a new post, just fill in your email address in the box on the sidebar and you will get an email letting you know :) It is our prayer that this will be a way that we can be more connected to those that we love and are so thankful for!