A Father's Day Interview

Last year, I interviewed Will about his daddy. I thought it would be fun to see what Will thought about Mike. Some of the answers turned out funny, but some were right! We put it in a frame and Mike put it on his nightstand so that he would see it everyday. This year I decided to do it again. This is what Will had to say this time:

What I know about my daddy

Father’s Day 2012

By:Will Fessler, age 3

1. Who does Daddy Love? God, Mommy, Will, Luke & Gracie
2. Who is Daddy’s best friend? Stephen Parris & Tiger Woods
3. Where does Daddy like to eat? Zaxby’s
4. What does Daddy like to eat? chicken & fries
5. What does Daddy like to drink? coffee
6. Where does Daddy like to shop? Kohl’s
7. What is Daddy’s favorite color? black &  white
8. What is Daddy’s favorite game? baseball & golf
9. What does Daddy like to play? golf
10. Who is Daddy’s favorite golfer? Phil Mickelson
11. What does Daddy like to read? Will’s Bible
12. Why is Daddy a good daddy? He goes to work & plays with me

Happy Father's Day Mike! You are a great dad and your little boys look up to you everyday. Thank you for taking time to play with them. Thank you for showing them what it looks like to be a man who loves his family and God. Thank you for being you.

Sandbox Fun

When I was little, my dad built a treehouse in our backyard for my sister and I. It had a slide, swings, a porch and a sandbox underneath. We spent a lot of time out there. And I always thought it was awesome that my dad did that for us.

Fast forward to today, my little boys also have a play set with a fort in our backyard. Their Daddy and Poppy built it for them. They love it and play on it everyday. But today it got even better. Today, their Daddy added a sandbox. Honestly, it took 45 minutes to tweak the play set and make a frame and cost $15 for the sand. But to see their faces you would have thought he gave them a shopping spree at Toys R Us!

Tonight before they went to sleep I asked Will what was his favorite part of today. Without hesitating to think, he told me "Helping Daddy build our new sandbox." I love that one day my boys will look back and remember how cool their daddy is for building this for them.

Luke Update

This is Luke. He is sweet. He is cute. But don't be fooled. This guy is a handful! He is our daredevil who is without fear. He is our funny, goofy child who seems to sometimes not have a clue while he is wreaking havoc on our house. He climbs the fence outside and he is not even two. He loves basketball and has a decent shot. He is learning to swing a golf club, just like his brother, and makes pretty good contact. He loves to sit and read. He loves Mickey Mouse. He loves to eat and most days I can't keep him full. Everyday, I clean up multiple messes from this cutie pie. I stop him from torturing his brother and Gracie, our dog and I do my best to keep him from whacking something or someone with a plastic bat.

As Luke gets older, he is getting more independent and wanting to do more and more things for himself. That means climbing to get the things that he wants. If he is in the kitchen, he will use the dishwasher door or pull chairs over to the counter to reach whatever food/drink he thinks he needs. This usually results in something being spilled all over the floor. Just recently, he learned to open the pantry door. I'm am dreading the day that I come downstairs and find him climbing the shelves to reach the graham crackers. If we are upstairs he will use anything he can find as a stool, including ride-on toys and our rocking horse. It doesn't seem to bother him that he could fall and hurt himself at anytime!

Every day he is trying to say more and more. Today he brought a picture of himself to us and said baby for the first time. We got so excited for him! He has words that he is comfortable with like dog, ball and daddy, but it is fun to hear him say new words too. This past weekend Mike was reading him a book. He was having Luke repeat the words that he was reading. Luke was able to say them and we could understand him. He is getting so close! One day he is going to wake up and be talking up a storm!

This little guy might be a handful, but he is such a sweet, cuddly little boy. I love him and his messes!

A letter to Will

Dear Will,

      Oh, my sweet little boy! Where do I begin? Everyday you just get bigger and bigger. Everyday you can do more and more things on your own. Everyday you are gaining just a little more independence. And everyday I smile at you and tell you how much I love you. I am so proud of you!

    Let's see...right now you are 3 and 1/2. You can do so many things right now! You can ride your bike and play golf all by yourself! You have been doing both of those things for awhile, but they are still impressive!:) Just a couple of days ago you finally learned how to pump your legs while you swing. This is huge! You and I got so excited when we realized that you were doing it on your own. You still need me to get you going, but I don't mind. I hope you never stop needing me.

    You are learning your numbers and letters and you enjoy doing school with mommy at home. Next year you will be going to school two days a week to a 4 year old pre-k. Mommy and Daddy are a little sad about that, but you are excited and you have talked about it for days! I know you will love it! You are such a social butterfly, that I know you will have no trouble and will make lots of friends.

    You LOVE to sing. In fact, you love to take daddy's iPad around the house playing his music. Most of daddy's music is worship music. And that suits you just fine, because you love "church" music. Right now your favorite song is "10,000 reasons" by Matt Redman. Somedays when you sing that song, I sing with you. It absolutely melts my heart to hear your sweet voice and mine singing at the top of our lungs to God.

    You are a big eater. Most days I feel like I can't fill you up. You love to eat cereal, its probably one of your favorite foods, and somedays you are content to eat 3 bowls. You love to eat out. Nothing makes you happier then to eat in a restaurant. I think it goes back to your social personality. You also love to go out and do things. It doesn't matter what, just as long as we go somewhere. Every week you go to the store with me. I look forward to these outings, our mommy & Will time. I love to use this time to just talk to you and find out what you are thinking.

   I love you Will! I love the fact that you are all boy, yet still are very caring and loving.  You never stop and are busy all day, but I would not have it any other way. Thank you for being you. And thank you for loving me the way you do!

I love you always,
Mommy

25 rules for Mothers with Sons

     As a mother and wife I always feel torn between playing with my boys and doing all the things that need to be done around the house. Somebody has to do the laundry, cook dinner and clean the bathrooms, even though reading a book with 2 sweet little boys sounds so much more fun.

     Today, though, I read something that made me stop in my tracks. I was on pintrest and ran across a blog post called "25 rules for Mothers with Sons". As I read it it made me realize things that my boys would love to do, yet I am too busy doing other things. At one point, it even made me cry. Maybe it was the fact that I, just today, signed Will up for 4 year old pre-k. Maybe it is hitting me that these two are really growing up way too fast. I don't know, but it definitely struck a nerve.

      So, today I played with my boys. I went outside with Will and just followed him around as he showed me things (one of the rules). I build a fort with them (another of the rules) and we read books inside (yet another rule). Their little faces had an excited look that told me we should do it more often. Mike even told me that he could tell we were doing something fun and different when he walked through the door this evening.

      Please, don't get me wrong. I play with my kids and spend time with them everyday, and most days I do many of the things on the list. But, it reminded me that I still want a better balance. I want to enjoy every last minute with my boys, even if that means that laundry does not get done or the floors are not vacuumed. Because in 25 years, my little ones will be grown and my house will be clean and I will be wishing to be right back where I am now.

Curious about the rest of the rules? Please go here to read the complete list: http://studerteam.blogspot.com/2011/11/25-rules-for-mothers-of-sons.html?m=1

A Golf Family

Golf. It has become our life again. Before the boys were born, Mike worked at a golf course. He played often, for fun and in a few competitive tournaments. Golf channel was the only thing we watched and of course he loved playing Tiger Woods on play station. When we moved to Charleston, that lifestyle fell away. But, then Mike got a part-time job at Kiawah Island, a nice golf resort in the area. While working one day, Mike noticed a child's set of clubs had been left behind in a cart. Since a lot of people playing at Kiawah are on vacation, no one ever claimed the clubs and he was able to bring them home to Will.

That day changed our life! Will LOVES golf. He can't get enough. He literally wants to play in the backyard everyday. When he walks outside and sees his clubs he can't help but pick them up and swing them. If he doesn't have access to his clubs he does practice swings around the house or at Target or Publix or wherever. He loves to watch golf, in fact somedays he would rather watch the Golf Channel instead of Disney Channel! Mike has a couple of golf games on his iPad. One is Tiger Woods 2012. Will loves playing it! He loves talking about it. But the ultimate is when his daddy takes him out to play. His record is 12 holes. This kid is eat up! I love it!

Not to be outdone by his big brother, Luke has decided that he wants to try his hand at golf as well!

Trip to Tennessee

The boys and I got home about a week ago from a trip to see our Tennessee family. My nephew Tate just celebrated his 2nd birthday. (We like to try and get home often, and so our nephew's birthdays tend to be good excuses to make the trip.)

all the cousins on the Williams side

Tate and Luke

We spent a couple of days in Chattanooga with Marmie and Poppy and a couple of days in Nashville at Aunt Linny's house. Of course it is always nice to go home. I always love getting to see my mom & dad and this time I got the added bonus of getting to spend time with my sister and watch our boys play together.

Marmie and Will having fun!

Overall the birthday party was the highlight of the trip. I say that to mean that we really did nothing but hang out with family, and that was perfect! It was nice, relaxing and we got the chance to get caught up with everyone.The boys and I had fun, as we always do, and can't wait to go back!