An Instagram Journal of the February Freezer Experiment

I have a dream that one day that healthy dinners will cook themselves, set the table and light a candle.

Until then, I'll keep trying ways to make dinnertime for our family easier! Making decisions when I'm hungry is not my strong suit, so I usually plan ahead. In January and February, we planned WAY ahead and prepped 20+ dinners at one time each month. I was inspired by a Dump Chicken pin I saw on Pinterest. So last month, we made four batches of five different recipes. Most of the meals were good, but even I was groaning about having that again by the fourth time. Williams like variety!

I'm Late Late Late Late Late Late Late!

I know.  It's been ages and ages since I've posted!

As of late, my time has been filled up with full-time mama duties (it's summer, after all!) plus full-time entrepreneur endeavors.  And since I have no capacity for reason, I encouraged Justus to get involved in a production of Alice in Wonderland with the Queen Theatre.

All kidding aside, it's been a wonderful experience!

He earned the solo dance for Footloose in the fifth grade program at his school.  From there, his teachers said, "You HAVE TO put him in something!"  Not long after that, I spotted a call for a dance crew from the Queen Theatre on Facebook.  When I asked Justus if he was interested, he said,

"Yes!"

We didn't waste any time, practice started the very next day!

Justus is the farthest bee to the right, dancing with Alexis.

Easter Egg Hunt

The Williams Fam, at home and all ready for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt.

What a gorgeous morning for a party!

After some bouncing in the bounce house, the kids headed over to the rock climbing wall.

 Lexi was not a fan.  About five feet off of the ground was all her little heart could take.

Her friend, Payton, however, was loving it!  I think she climbed the wall three times in a row!

Justus and Ben are assessing the routes and waiting for their turn.  They planned to race up the wall.

On your mark.  Get set.  Go!

And they're off!  I think Ben won.

The descent.

My Jeremy

Lexi loves her some cotton candy!

And pony rides!

Time for the egg hunt!  Lexi, Bryce, and Macy waiting at the starting line...

And we're off!

Pretty sure he's plotting some confetti action against his daddy....

Well, that went well.

Did I mention that Lexi loves her some cotton candy?

We finished out the party with a train ride down the street.

Thanks, Carlisles!  We had a blast!

Paintball Party

 Justus will be eleven (!) on Tuesday, but his birthday party is already in the books.  He really wanted a paintball party, so we invited a few friends and mini-road tripped it up to Tanks in Katy.

The crew all geared up and ready for some paintball action!

The birthday boy listening closely to the rules.  (He's a handsome kid.)

And one silly little sister...

Ben sported his Easter bunny ears for the occasion, cause... you know... "why not?"

 Tough guys

Justin in action

We headed back to our house for pizza and cake.

Paintball can make a guy pretty hungry.  See Exhibit A-Justus. 

Exhibit B-Travis

 Exhibit C-Taylor

Exhibit D-Justin

Exhibit E-Lexi (Okay.  Not a guy.  And technically she didn't play paintball, but she managed to splash paint all over Grandpa, Jacob, and me in the staging area by stomping wayward paintballs!)

Seriously, these are not staged.

Okay.  You're right. That one was staged, Ben.

Jacob

Justus' birthday "cake" was Paintball Cakeballs

Happy birthday, dear Justus!  Happy birthday to YOU!

... and some presents, too!

One of the gifts was an Aerobie and a Boomerang, so the boys hit the street to test it out.  I walked out front to find AJ trying to get it out of the tree.

They did get it down and they had a blast!

But if we want to play with them again, well, I guess we'll need to knock on our neighbors' door and bring a ladder to retrieve the boomerang from their roof and knock the Aerobie out of the tree.  Again.

All the guys went home with these seriously incredible cookies made by my friend, Ambre, owner of Jolie Delights.  Not only are they perfectly decorated, they taste amazing, too!

Williams Family Camping Trip {The Instagram Chronicles}

We just got home from a two-night family camping trip.  It was great to get away and a not-so-subtle reminder of how high maintenance I happen to be!

We hiked, fished, kayaked, freaked out about bugs (ok~that was just Lexi.  constantly!)  I slept.  A lot.  That was awesome because, as much as I love sleep, I don't do enough of it.   I read.  Yep, two books.  One for business (Selling 101, by Zig Ziglar) and on for pleasure (The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins).

We saw an incredibly long leaf-cutter ant trail and marveled at how much they work, the wonder of the system of bringing leaves down the line back to the nest and going back for more, and the fact that they can carry object so much larger than themselves.

And now for the Instagram chronicle of the trip!  (You can follow me on Instagram~htowndaners.)

Added this reminder to our weekly menu board.  It made us smile all week!

Happy Campers on the way to Somerville!

Cutest hikers

Best daddy ever

He also happens to be a master fire-starter.

Ready to roast some marshmallows for s'mores

Lexi was my snuggle bug ALL weekend

The bluebonnets were in bloom.  This is a sure sign of spring in Texas!

What I Jeremy, Justus and I all read on our Kindle Apps

The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Other Christmas Traditions

Lexi and I have a standing date to see The Nutcracker every Christmas, starting last year.  Here are some photos of our girls' night out...  This year we invited our friends, Elaine and Sami to join us.

L