The Griswold “Will-amini” Family Vacation: Day 3

September 22, 2009
da Beach!

Abby wiggling her toes in the sand for the very first time!

(click to enlarge)

Our day at the Beach.

I am refreshed!

The Griswold “Will-amini” Family Vacation: Day 2

September 21, 2009

No San Diego vacation would be complete without a visit to Sea World right? We arrived before Sea World opened and left after Sea World closed!

Bree at Polar Bear exhibit

Abby...worried the Polar Bear was going to eat her...at Polar Bear exhibit. It's OK Abs the Polar Bear just had sea lion for breakfast and is now taking a nap. You're safe!

This walrus was a hoot!

It would swim around the tank spitting out and sucking in this little fish it was munching on.

Then he would swoop up the glass and terrify any unsuspecting person.

Daddy and Bree at the Pet show

Jen and "E" at the pet show

Abby & me...at the pet show...

Eric taught the kids how to say 1-2-3 Shampoo instead of Shamu. It is now one of Aubrey's favorite lines. She thinks it's hilarious.

Matt & Bree on an Elmo fish.

Matt & Abby on the Elmo eel.

Bree and "E" on the Elmo spinning saucers.

Abby and I feeding the Bat Rays.

We had so much fun that I didn't take too many pictures. I was having such a great time with the girls making memories and enjoying the day. That and somehow my camera dial got switched to Shutter Priority instead of Aperture Priority so 80% of the pictures I DID take turned out way too dark. Note to self... check, check and double check your camera every time you pick it up again or you will kick yourself at the end of the day.

The Griswold “Will-amini” Family Vacation Day 1

September 20, 2009
Our sidekicks Eric, Jen, Ethan & JJ were crazy enough to go on vacation with us...or did we go with them?...We went with them to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Still, they're crazy enough to let us join them. We had a great time, as always.
On our first day of vacation we visited Balboa Park because we, Chinobillies, are oohhhh soooo cultural. Seriously though it is always on our must see list every time we visit San Diego. The park’s beauty certainly attracts us and there are so many things to do that won’t cost you an arm and a leg either!

Eric and Matt admiring the architecture.


Matt & the girls checking out the Koi pond in front of the Botanical Building (always beautiful and free too!)

My sweet girls in the Botanical Garden.

This little cutie is J.J. He's so sweet I could just eat him up!

Lovebirds?

Everyone’s favorite this time around was the Model Railroad Museum.


It features the world’s largest model railroad museum.

And features four layouts

which depict railroads of the Southwest.

Most of my photos from this day are really grainy due to horrible lighting in the museums. I'm pretty sure it is a conspiracy to ensure no one makes it out of their with decent photos. Don't worry I have my people checking into it...as soon as I get some people...oh never mind.



Bree and Abby holding hands over the wind machine that is making the beach ball float in the air. They loved it! My personal favorite is the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. We watched "BUGS" in the dome shaped IMAX Theater and experimented with hundreds of hands on type science exhibits. We also visited the Automotive Museum where we saw Louie Mattar’s Fabulous $75,000.00 car. Unfortunately I have no photos of this museum because I was, well, I was just plain lazy.


So there you have it folks.

Highlights from Day 1 of San Diego Vacation 2009 (Williams and Bergamini Families)

Let the children...Do chores!

I was raised by…homebodies…you thought I was gonna say wolves didn’t you? Well that is a whole ‘nother blog post folks once I block my mom from reading my blog. I kid…I kid…I wasn’t raised by wolves but by well meaning, over protective, loving parents...in the middle of nowhere. So naturally I tend to be a bit of a homebody too. Around our house, we’re here most of the day, most of the week, most of the year, and if I don’t really stay on top of things, this chinobilly house can quickly spiral downward into a pit of baby doll clothes, craft projects, empty Capri Sun containers, filth, and squalor. Oh and laundry I can’t forget laundry.


Now that Abby and Bree are old enough Matt and I decided they are perfectly capable of pulling their own weight around here. Actually we were just trying to come up with a solution to better manage those oh so lovely whining sessions while teaching a few character traits as well. My genius husband (see this post) came up with this idea and we all love it. Let me explain the concept.

Each child has a jar (we let them make their own)

Each child earns a ticket for good behavior or completing a chore, washing one’s hands after going to the potty, etc. Each child looses a ticket for whining, being asked several times to do something, fighting with one another, etc.

Mommy has a rewards basket filled with goodies from the dollar bins at various stores. Each reward has a value placed on it. Inside the basket are items ranging from pieces of gum to chocolate-covered granola bars to gummy bears to small bath toys to a set of sidewalk chalks to books to craft kits to princess figurines…all the way up to really sweet items, like a Dr Seuss DVD to the amazing voice magnifying soop-a-staaah -microphones to wind up fishing games. Everything is priced appropriately and remains in the box until someone buys it…or I eat it, which has been known to happen.

Each child has the choice of saving up the tickets or “cashing” them in for rewards (whenever mommy remembers usually once or twice a week).

What I love about it is, it’s totally flexible and can be used in different ways to achieve the objective you want. It also teaches the little hooligans valuable lessons about contributing to the machine of a household, the benefits of being a kind, caring, civilized human being, as well as the value of saving (vs. spending) money.

I think it has helped them to see that when everyone chips in, the house is a much more hospitable and harmonious place. Plus, it eliminates the mommy nagging All. Day. Long. AND it doesn’t take long for one of the kids to watch their sib buy things at the reward basket before they get with the program.

The idea is, each week when the reward basket is open, the kids have to decide whether they want to blow whatever tickets they’ve earned that week…or save it and let it accumulate over a period of weeks in order to buy one of the nicer items in the box. It’s always fun watching the minds of my three year olds churn each week as they internally evaluate whether to give in to the immediate temptation of the candy and gum, or save their shekels for something better.

We’ve been using this system for over a month now and I think the system is working beautifully. Or maybe I just have really great kids. Well, yeah, I do have really great kids. Now I have really great kids that pull their own stinkin’ weight around here. Just kidding. I love my kids very much and I’m quite proud of them.

Welcome To The Nuthouse

An old friend of ours happens to be one of Matt's customers.

An old friend of ours happens to be one of Matt's customers and her cat had kittens.

An old friend of ours happens to be one of Matt's customers and her cat had kittens so she convinced Matt that our girls life would not be complete without a kitten. (thanks Tara)

So on September 28th Abby & Bree became the proud owners/parents of a 6 week old kitten they have chosen to call Peanut. She is just the light of our little girls lives and they even argue over who gets to be the mommy and who gets to be the daddy for the day. So far each of the girls have been really good with the tiny little thing. The little rascal is already spoiled rotten and thinks she rules the roost.

But she is darn cute!

Apples on the brain

I fell in love with a very cute apple caramel apple kit idea at Jessica Sprague's website last week. You can view the idea here but I'm warnin' ya'll will fall in love too. The scary thing is I had all the supplies needed to complete this project minus the treat box. Can you say ADDICT?
After a search of every craft store in town for the gable style treat box I settled for a different kind of treat box but I wasn't completely satisfied. The following day I was mindlessly surfing the net while the kids napped when I discovered this idea here and angels wept tears of joy. I immediately called my friend Debby and demanded asked her to get me a Sonic drink holder. It's the raging hormones kicking in and I'm gonna milk it for all its worth by golly. Debby feared for her life is such a sweet friend and promptly brought me a drink container that very evening. All I can say is don't mess with this Chinobilly Mamma!

In order to redeem our friendship I made this little darling for Debby.

I also made one for our neighbor friends. It turned out completely different but still way cute. Unfortunately the girls and I were so excited to give the gift to Annie and her family that I completely forgot to take pictures of that one. Just trust me is was adorable too.

Today I am going to be making miniature caramel apples with my friend Stephanie. Our kiddos are going to "help". I'm thinking I will use the not-so-perfect treat boxes I bought for this project.

Right after I check myself into crafty-apple rehab. Wish me luck as my Applemania symptoms are very acute. Apple officials say the bug will likely remain in my system during the months of September, October and November. Right up until the Christmas lights go up.

Today Abby

(click image to enlarge)

Raided my cupboards and announced she was going to be me. Does that mean I get to take a nap this afternoon while she folds the laundry? One can only hope...

Give Me Words To Speak

Here I sit on my blog porch at 10:30 at night feeling the need to pour out my heart. I'm wondering where to start. It’s been a long time since we’ve visited hasn’t it? I’ve missed you all.
I guess I’ll start with a quick update to let you know that the surgery went super smoothly. I've been resting at home, I am healing and I am feeling better and better every day. I'm so blessed to have had such an outpouring of love and support. Thank you from the bottom of my ♥ for all of your thoughts, prayers, and kind words. You all mean so very, very much to me. The Lord has blessed us with THE. MOST. AMAZING. Family and supportive friends EVER. Everyone has been very compassionate and understanding. For that I am thankful.

As many of you know, we have struggled with infertility for most of our 13 years of marriage. And for the last 3 years I’ve been literally fighting the inevitable hysterectomy because I HATE feeling like a failure and a hysterectomy just seemed to have failure written all over it. No matter how irrational that may sound, even to me at times, I fought failure. Failure of not being able to do the job that I was created to do. Looking back through Genesis, Eve was created as a help mate for man and to have babies. I couldn’t do that. So, usually I felt like less of a woman because my parts didn't work right. Tonight was one of those bitter sweet moments when that word…failure…was heavy on our hearts (more on that in a minute…or two...or three…)

I compare the pain of infertility as similar to the grief over losing a loved one, yet it is unique because it is a recurring grief. We grieve the loss of the baby that we will never know. We grieve the loss of that baby who could have had mommy's freckled nose and daddy's green eyes. But, each month, there was the hope that maybe that baby would be conceived after all. No matter how hard we tried to prepare ourselves for bad news, there was still an unspoken hope that “this month” would be different. Then, the bad news came again, and the silent grief washed over us anew. This process happened month after month, year after year. It is like having a deep cut that keeps getting opened right when it starts to heal.

Tonight my family and I attended a benefit concert for our local Community Pregnancy Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers across the country are near and dear to our hearts. You see, our babies would have been another abortion statistic had it not been for the precious vessels God chose to use during our birthmother’s difficult journey. We praise God daily that she chose life.

During the concert Jamie Slocum shared a song with us about the joys of being a father to his son and how he realized how difficult it must have been for God to allow His Son to take our place and die on the cross for our sins. My sweet husband turned to me with tears in his eyes and said to me in astonishment. “We’re never going to have a son.” And we both wept as we cradled our sweet, oh so feminine, gifts from God in our arms. I felt that punched-in-the-gut feeling of failure to my husband once again.
Funny how certain thoughts hit each of us differently as it seems like Matt just realized this fact yet it feels like it’s all I have thought about since the doctor gave me the news.

These days my Bible remains closed more often than not. I feel so far from God. My mind is a cluttered mess of fears and worries and complaints, and when I try to pray, I can't even form a coherent thought. Most of the time I just sit with my head in my hands. Sometimes I implore, "What is WRONG with me!" which is not so much a prayer, but a cry of frustration. Have you ever been so wound up that you couldn't even pray?

I remember a message our pastor at Calvary Chapel taught about the soul being like a door. We can keep it firmly shut and not let the Holy Spirit in at all, or we can fling it open and allow Him to fill us completely. Or, we can open the inner door, but leave the screen door shut. This lets the Spirit filter in, but we can still keep a part of our soul closed to Him. Right now, it feels like I'm talking to God through a screen door. I can see Him, but His face is blurry. He's right there on the other side, and I want so much to talk to Him, but I just don't know what to say. I know that He is what I need, and all I have to do is open the door and let Him in, but I feel numb, and my hands are frozen at my sides.

During times of weakness, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit can guide, inspire, and strengthen us. If need be, he can even pray through us, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” Romans 8:26-27

Whenever I read this passage, I think of the Aaron Shust song, "Give Me Words to Speak"
I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will give me words to speak, because I can't think of anything worth saying.
I'm at a loss for words. Me. I bet you never thought that would happen!

Autumn

When the trees their summer splendor

Change to raiment red and gold,

When the summer moon turns mellow,

And the nights are getting cold;

(an owl visitor 10-2008)

When the squirrels hide their acorns,

And the woodchucks disappear;

(Bree 11-2008)

Then we know that it is autumn,

(Abby 11-2008)
Loveliest season of the year.

(Bree & Abby 10-2009)

Charlotte L. Riser