Celine's Song!

Little Miss has been quite the little extravert today!  First hijacking the blog and now this!  She and I were goofing off while cleaning up the kitchen after lunch today, and we were singing (which isn't all that unusual for the two of us!).  OK!  We were bored out of our minds! So we made up this little ditty and thought we'd share it with y'all!  Enjoy!  (OH! And the lyrics are below,  just incase you didn't catch them all!)

Without further Ado... Celine's Song:

I... want...a house in the Hills,

A car with the frills,

A maid to clean up the spills!

I want to sleep until noon,

Howl at the moon,

Michael Buble to Croon (*swoon*)

This all may sound so sappy,

But it would make me awful happy!

If only for a short while-

I would SMILE!! (*with a GRIN!*)

Celine and Her New T-Shirt!

So I have a new shirt, and I want to tell you what it says!  Well, okay, here it goes: "Friends are forever,  Boys are Whatever".  Ha ha ha! Isn't that funny?  Actually, my mom got it for me, but isn't it cute?  My brother JP, he said it was "cold", and then I said, "I know!  Thats probably why Mom got it for me!"  That's it... back to Shanny.

I had planned to blog about this today,  but the little Princess beat me to it!  I had the laptop open and ready to go, and the next thing I know, I hear little typing sounds!  She's over there typing my blog!  Well, I guess somebody's gotta do it!  I know I've been less than regular, lately.  It just seems like there's so much to do!  But, I am here now and blogging away!

I really like this T-shirt!  I think every little girl should be wearing these instead of "Hannaha Blondtanna" or "HSM" t-shirts!  Don't know what HSM is?  Well, you are SOO out of the loop, my friend!  It's none other than the High School Musical CRAZE!!!  I love that's she's wearing a shirt that is age appropriate, and OH! the wisdom!  

I think I needed to be reminded of this very wise advice today!  Thanks, Celine!  It may be "cold", but it is SOOO true!  Love, ya, little one!  

Swine Flu-ACHOO!

With all the panic over the recent outbreak of the Swine flu, I decided to pose a few questions about the Piggy Pandemic to the munchkins- just to see what they think of all this mayhem.

What happens when you get the Swine Flu?:   

Celine: Your stomach feels weird/bad, your nose starts running, your eyes might start tearing, you have a cough, and you sneeze, you may get a headache.

Brian: ... and your head might even explode! And you sneeze A LOT!

How do you get the Swine Flu?:  

Celine: You eat a pig and you get the flu.  

Brian: You go swimming and then you get the swine flu. 

Shannon: Um, does that mean you have it now, because you went swimming yesterday?

Brian: Uh-huh.

Shannon: You know I said SWINE FLU, not Swimming Flu...

Brian: OHHHHHHHH!

Shannon: So how do you catch the SWINE FLU?

Brian: You hug a swine- or a pig.

Shannon: You catch it by hugging a pig?

Brian: *Nods his head yes*

Shannon: So, all of these people who are sick got that way by hugging PIGS?

Brian: *still nodding head yes*

Shannon: In other words, they are "Pig Huggers"?

Brian: Yep.

I am suddenly reminded of THIS picture...

Am I to be the next victim?

This post is in no way meant to make fun of those who are sick with this sickness... I am aware that a small boy in Texas has died because of this flu, and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is suffering through this right now.  We are pretty isolated in our little "home schooled" world, and for this to reach their antennas is pretty big stuff.  I was wondering how much they were picking up on all of the reports.  Apparently, so are listening more than others... Makes for an interesting blog, though.

Another Case of Miscommunication...

It always amazes me how kids can mix up things that grownups say.  I'm equally amazed by how much they catch onto and understand.  I thought we'd review a few instances illustrating both of these situations... why? Because they are FUN-NY!!!

I love lists... a friend of mine described it as a love so deep that I have lists for my lists!  This is very true!  List help me keep my tangled, jumbled thoughts in order.  My thoughts are rarely ordered, heck, to be honest, not much in my life is ordered, but lists help keep me straight- somewhat.  It was one of these lists that Celine overheard me making the other day.  I was jotting down that I needed to organize some things... she looks back at me with a weird look on her face and says, "Did you just say sanitize?"  That might not be such a strange thing except that I was talking about organizing my sewing room... not a place I would ordinarily sanitize.  It SO needed to be organized, though!  (This misunderstanding  could have been due to the fact that I had just given her her own bottle of hand sanitizer, which she was very impressed with...)

A few weeks ago my sister and  BIL (brother-in-law) took my nieces and nephew to Sea World for a day trip to see the animals.  My oldest niece has been there more in her short 7 years than I have in all my 33!  (yes, I DID just admit my age on the INTERNET for ALL TO SEE!  What am I thinking?!!) Her favorite part is watching the divers as they retrieve the oysters that contain the pearls.  She begs for one each time she goes, and it doesn't take long for her to lose her "Pearl of Great Price", (Note: she has already lost her most recent pearl by letting a young friend hold it in the car.  We think it may have been eaten by said friend... ) I think she could have had a lovely string of pearls for all ones she has lost.  Cora first went when she was a tiny baby.  I have the cutest pictures of her sleeping on my Mom and I.  She was such a little peanut!  She passionately argues with me that she has NOT been there before, but it's hard to argue when there is photographic proof.  Katie and Chris decided to not tell the kiddos that they were going until after they were on the road.  They explained what Sea World had to offer; namely a giant Orca Whale, named Shamu, who splashes you when he jumps!  After the whoops and cheers has subsided, Cora squeals at the top of her lungs: "We're gonna see SHAMPOO!!!!  Um... I think that's an entirely different show, sweet niece of mine.  An entirely different show...

Brian has a great talent.   He can take something he has heard someone else say and use it in a real life setting and it be completely appropriate.  His main source for new sayings is the boob tube.  He LOVES himself some TV!   I'm talking mostly junk TV here, like cartoons and Disney Channel sitcoms... these all have quirky saying and smart aleck remarks wedged within them.  Most of these go right past me; I never really pay much attention to them and it SEEMS like he doesn't pay any attention to them either.   Yeah, right!  As it turns out he's paying VERY close attention.  He will blurt the craziest things at just the right moment.  FOR INSTANCE:

We were working on catching up on a few assignments we were behind in Reading.  I asked him if he could please do 2 chapters rather than the one that was assigned.  That way we'd be back on track!  Fully expecting him to eagerly agree (HEY!  A girl can dream, can't she?) OR, the more likely scenario would be to hear whining, and wailing, and the gnashing of teeth- but I didn't expect him to calmly reply:

"I don't know... Let me check my schedule and get back to you.  Yep.  I'm free."

As you can see, he's quite the little one liner.  This is my life- and I love it!

Until next time...

Here Comes the Rain!!!!!

The weather looks rather ominous today at the Williemas household!  The sky is dark and crammed with thick, grey clouds.  They're so full of rain that they seem to be sagging low enough to rub against the tops of the swaying trees!  The wind is definitely picking up, and is gugusting like a northeaster... this should be quite a day.

Today all signs pointed to rain: the wind was steady, the clouds were dark and thick, and the munchkins were WILD!  I should become a meteorologist.  Seriously!!!  More times than not I can predict the weather for the day.  You're probably wondering "How does she do that?"  OK, I doubt that you were asking yourself that, but I'll tell you the answer anyway (because I'm just that nice of a person!)  Most weather dudes use a barometer, that measure- umm, I guess it measures barometric pressure?  Makes sense to me!  But exactly HOW that predicts the day's weather is foreign to me... my tool of measurement is much easier to understand how it works, AND it's easy to read!  I can pretty much tell you what type of day it will be just by the munchkins behavior.  Let me explain...

If they are quiet and laid back then is going to be a beautiful, sunny Florida day.  How do I KNOW this?  Because this will be a day that I have to force them to play outside.  It will be a day of epic battles just trying to keep them out in the beautiful sun!  Lazy munchkins = gorgeous weather!

If they are grumpy and whiney then it will be uncharacteristically cold that day.  They wake up on the wrong side of the bed and I get to spend the rest of the day wishing I could send them back there!  Cool, brisk attitudes= cool, brisk air!

Then there's my least favorite weather indicating behavior: WILD munchkins!!!  This is probably the most challenging.  You know it's going to be a stormy day (both inside and out) when you walk into a house of wild indian kiddos all hooting and hollering at the top of their lungs, and running around inside the house like it's a racetrack.  Brace yourself, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!  Today was one of these days!  They were so hopped up on candy left over from Easter and I just knew that it was going to be a rotten day for the weather.  And vise-versa!!  If the weather is bad them I know the to expect similar attitudes from the munchkins !

It's like they can sense what the weather is going to be that day, and adjust their moods to fit it.  Now, when predicting the weather, this method of prediction doesn't work if it's only one or two kids that are behaving this way; it has to be the majority of the bunch or it doesn't work.  It somehow ties into the "pack mentality"... you know like a shark feeding frenzy, or wolves hunting.  This is equally dangerous and life threatening!  Take today's weather as an example...  when I awoke this morning to dark skies, gusty winds, and rain threatening to fall in a deluge at any moment... when I arrived at work this morning I was faced with the same "weather" from the kids: dark moods, gusty tempers, and all out Armageddon threatening to breakout at any moment!  It's days like these that I fear the most... well, not fear, but dread... the best thing for sour moods is time in the sun, running and playing, but that won't be an option today.  Why?  Haven't you been reading this post??!!!  The weather is muy mal!!!  (That's Spanish for,

 "VERY BAD!!!")  We are experiencing wind gusts of up to 65 miles an hour!  Trees are toppling over all around us, and branches are hurling through the air like projectiles!  My little munchkins would be blown away if I sent them out in this!  Can you imagine them flying through the air like some crazy kind of birds?  This just means that I must keep them and their bad moods inside with me.  Yeah.  Resulting in noise levels of deafening proportions, arguments galore, and aggravation abounds.  Again, I say: yeah.  If I survive today I will be wiling to humbly accept the Nobel Peace Prize.  Seriously.  

I wanted to include a picture to illustrate the mood of the house today.  And as luck would have it, the weather cooperated, (thanks goodness somebody did!)  I took this on my iPhone because my CoolPix was drained from Easter.  I was standing on the back porch and not about to brave the elements to get this shot.  That being said this is a picture of the lake out back.  It was so windy that there were actual whitecaps on the water!  At one point there were foot high waves!!!   Look at the wind battering those trees!!  Now that's what I call weather!  I just hope to walk into a house with sleepy, lazy kids tomorrow... at least that way I can be SURE of good weather!

UPDATE:  

When I came to work today half the kiddos were still asleep and I had to drag them out of bed!  BTW- the weather here is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Just incase you were wondering!

Alleluia! He is RISEN!!!

Happy Easter, Everyone!   

Hope you have had a blessed day!  Hold your family tight, and enjoy the end to the LONG DARK NIGHT!!  

Praise God!

Our Legacy...

Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

My mom and dad celebrated their Silver Anniversary this past weekend!  I am so blessed to call these two people "Mom" &  "Dad"!  My sister and I have been working very diligently to assure that this milestone didn't go unrecognized.  We planned a fun brunch with family and friends, we all went to Mass together that morning, and we even threw in a few surprises!  There was the "Wedding Cake" that I made for them, the M&M's with "Happy 25th" and Charlie & Sue Ann" printed on them, the amazing chocolate ganache groom's cake (Dad's a chocaholic!), and lastly the Movie we gave them that we did of their past 25 years together.  This was my favorite!  I'm such a sap!  I tried posting it at the bottom of the post, but it's LONG!  27 minutes long!  I think that may just be too long for blogger.  I'll try again soon...

I also made a little slide show of the pictures we took that day.  Mom and Dad look sooo happy!  

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My parents have been an amazing example of how to "work thing through no matter what".  I am so proud to call them Mom & Dad.  Here's t0 the next 25, you two!!

Thanks for teaching me the most important things in life:

God First, Family Second, & Love Always!

WICKED!

I wanna see WICKED!!!  Wahhhahahahahahaaaa!!  

No, seriously!  I really would love to see this musical.  I guess miracles can happen?  Nothing says "SPRING" like a woman with green skin!   Now I just need tickets!

Happy Sweet 16, Monica!!

Well, it was an AMAZING party, just like I knew it would be!  There was a was a black, white, & PINK theme.   The guests were all asked to dress in black and white while MONICA had a beautiful pink dress.   THe cake was made by a local bakery, Cenotti's, and was very yummy!  Monica and I sewed the table runners and table squares.  

Fun was had by all!  While I LOVE teenagers, (Crazy, I know!  I think that I have a chemical imbalance that forces me to actually LIKE teens!) these teens were all new to me, and not as adorable as my youth group kiddos, but I enjoyed them.  Mostly.  There was the requisite LOUD MUSIC, flashing lights, crazy dancing, and food.  There must ALWAYS be food when teens are involved, or things could get ugly!Meg was the photographer, and I was the... um, well... I'm not sure what I was.  I guess I was the decorator/chaperone/helper to the photographer/keeper of the candy bar(I made sure the Swedish Fish, Skittles, M&M's, and PB Cups stayed fully stocked!)  

Monica loved the party!  Here's a few pics to prove it!

The cake table.
Chris, Donna, Warren, Monica, & Colette
Colette

Meg the photographer/friend.

:)

One of the two styles of table runners we made.

The most AWESOME Sweet 16 cake EVER!!!

Candy Bar.

The other style of table runner...

Putt-Putt- Phun (pronounced FUN!)

Ever had the feeling that you may just lose you mind?  Well, I've had that feeling ALL week!  It's Spring Break around these parts, and I need a break from my break!!!  While the kids are so very happy to be free from school duties this means that I'm responsible for coming up with exciting things for them to do to keep them from burning down the house, er... I mean keep them entertained.  Thankfully they are getting to the age where they can make suggestions as to what they would like to do.  John Paul mentioned that he'd like to go play Putt-Putt Golf.  Easy enough, right?  Not quite.  There is only ONE putt-putt around here, and we weren't sure how good it would be.  So we packed up the munchkins and headed to Adventure Landing.  Surprisingly we had a great day!  We played unlimited golf, (for these kids their limit is TWO- short attention spans?)  They also had unlimited Laser Tag!!!! (again their max was two... what can I say, they aren't greedy!)  Then there were the endless arcade games and noisy things that require you to spend their college fund on tokens to play them.  Oh, and AL has an added feature or two, neither of which we partook of:  the alligator pond where you could FEED the Alligators from poles you rented (WHAT!??!?!?!?!?!) and the water park that actually looked pretty awesome.  We may have to do the second during the summer!  

Back to the golf... they did really well, considering.  Brian really doesn't have the patience for Golf, but he had fun.  JP is a natural at ANY sport he plays so he excelled as usual (he had the most HOLES IN ONE!)  Grant did well, also and had a few HIO himself, and Celine was pretty amazing.  She had a number of HIO to brag about as well.  I have never seen a group of kids get this many holes in one EVER!  Just a last note... Brian did FINALLY get a HIO, (I had been pulling for him SOOO hard!!) and it was on the LAST hole of the LAST game we played- and they had just announced that the 1st person to get a HIO with a blue or green ball would receive a PRIZE PACK.  Well, guess what?  HE was the 1st person!!  So he was doubly thrilled, and it was a great ending to the day!

Here is a little smile box I put together of the few pics I took on my AWESOME iPhone.  (Incase you were wondering: I had lost my charger to my little Coolpix and had no way to charge it.  I ALWAYS keep that camera with me because it's so easy to use and fits into any pocket.  I've been a little lost without it to say the least!  Never fear!  I have bought a new charger and it stays with the camera, now!  Me loosing the charger had a little something to do with my most recent bout with blogger's block!  It's just not as much fun to read my LOOOONNNG posts without pics!!) Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Without further ado:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Blessings...

I have been so overwhelmed with all the things going on these past few weeks.  All wonderful things, mind you, but they still make life hectic.   I "complain" about how I have sooo much to do, and absolutely no time for myself, but right now I'd give anything to have that hectic feeling right now.  Maybe then I'd have less time to have thoughts like the ones I've been having the past few days...

I am so blessed.  I have so many wonderful people in my life.  Between my family and friends, most of who are more like family, I couldn't ask for more.  I have been given so much... yet I want more.  Sometimes I feel guilty that there are times when I look at my sister's sweet children I wonder why I have no children of my own.  Or when I hear that another of my friends are expecting a precious little one, my heart cries out for the family I don't have yet, and while I'm ashamed to admit it, I fear I may never have.  I will be the first person to admit that I am perfectly suited for my profession as a nanny, and not just because it happens to be my last name, but loving these children allows me to pacify my own "mother's heart" as well.  I look at these crazy, frustrating, entirely lovable munchkins and can almost see myself with my own children... someday.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not a very patient soul, at least not when it comes to waiting for BIG things.  OK, maybe not with the little things either, (Like waiting at a stop light- that KILLS me!!) but I do try.  This waiting, though, is killing me.  

My sister has the most amazing family.  Her kids heal and break my heart at the same time.  I can't wait to see them each week, and I'm so very sad to see them go.  We are a very close family, and I am blessed that I usually get the opportunity to spend Sunday playing with them and I cherish that time.  I don't know what I would do if they lived far from us, I can't even imagine it.  Katie's three kiddos are my heart.  I love hearing about them, I love laughing with them, I love watching them grow into the little people they will become.  But as much as I love this it makes me ache for my own.  

I never really felt this way with the Williemas kids.  I love them terribly, but it's different.  In many ways I am a mom to them.  That's what this blog is all about; bringing them from diapers to drivers' licenses and beyond... Being with them has made me realize what a wonderful mother I'd be, or would like to be.  They have given me the opportunity to learn how to be a great mom, and all along I've viewed this time with them as the chance to become the super mom I've always wanted to be...  Now I'm beginning to wonder if this time with them is the only time I'll have to be a mother...

Most of you don't know that for many years I strongly considered becoming a nun.  In fact I had decided that it was what God wanted for me.  But after much prayer and many tears I realized that it was more what I thought God wanted from me.  I can't imagine not having been here for my nieces and nephew, not to mention that I would have missed out on all these years with Brian and Celine.  The fact that I would never have children of my own was one of reasons that helped me realize that the life of a religious sister was not my calling, though there are times when I second guess that decision if only because I have yet to find "Mr. Right" and start our family.  If motherhood is my vocation, wouldn't I be one by now?  Being with the Williemas Family has helped me realize that I would LOVE a large family!  If only...

I'm sorry this is such a downer of a post.  I started thinking about how I live a blessed life, and I really believe this!  I've been reading some of my friends' blogs, friends who are going through some very trying times, and I know how very blessed I am.  I just don't know why I've been overwhelmed by these feelings of sadness lately; crying at the drop of a hat, feeling lonely, wondering if I'll ever get the chance to be the ONE thing I really want to be...  A mom.

Maybe I'm ovulating...  (that's for you, Katie!)  This too shall pass...

Have a blessed journey to the Cross this Holy Week!

Another One Drives Off into the Sunset...

So this week is Monica's Sweet 16th Birthday!!!!  Holy cow!  Where does the time go???  Just yesterday she was six, and oh-so cute, and today she's a beautiful young woman relishing in her soon to be freedom!  This driving thing is killing me!  She can't wait to get her license and be able to go where ever she wants.  News flash:  that's not quite how it works... but she refuses to see that.  She's positive that she's getting a car, she isn't; and she has endless tips and critiques on my driving!  All this just solidifies that wisdom comes with age, maybe she'll wise up in the next few days... but I doubt it.    What she is getting is an AWESOME Sweet 16 party for all of her friends.  I have never seen the likes this party for a 16th Birthday... it's more like a "Homecoming" or "prom"!  This little "get together" has us all very busy, but it will be wonderful!!  I'm very excited for her!

I'll let you know how her BIG BASH went!

What am I going to do when all these munchkins can drive themselves everywhere??  *sigh!*