Double Play...

Kendall had his last T-Ball Game of the year on Tuesday evening to make up for a rainout earlier in the year. He had a great game in front of the biggest Fan Club any T-Baller could ask for. Along with Mom and Dad, he had Grandma and Grandpa Harrison, Grandma Crooks, Susan, Taylor and Jordan Crooks, Kennedy Early, Johnny, Kim, Josh and Jacob Dodge and Mason Eaton that all came out to see him play.

He made the only Double Play of the T-Ball Season to end the year. You can only imagine how proud he made Mommy and Daddy with that play... You can view the video of the season-ending double play with the following link.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6182896554749166777

We finished up the T-Ball Season last night with a Pizza Party at CiCi's Pizza in Independence as we all had Pizza, Cake and then Coach James handed out Medals to all the players. Thank You to everyone that came out to see him play and we look forward to many more years on the baseball diamond.

Kids new pet...

Daddy - can we keep it?

Our poor dog was going nuts in the corner of the yard for two days and I could not figure out why she kept going to the same spot and barking. I finally noticed this small box turtle on the outside of the fence behind the evergreen bush, so I pulled it out and took it down to the pond in our sub-division to let it go. The kids wanted to keep it as a pet, but what are you going to do with a turtle, and it drove the dog absolutely crazy already. It was the fastest turtle I have ever seen, every time I put it down - it just took off faster than you could believe; I guess we could have kept it for the next turtle races that came to the neighborhood...?

Bye, Bye Speedy!

Training Wheels

After a few weeks of Kendall riding his bike with the training wheels barely touching, he pulled into the driveway tonight and the neighbor said "Kendall, I think you're ready to take those training wheels off aren't you?" He looked at me and shook his head as a yes, so I immediately hopped up and we took them off. I ran along side him the first two times up and back in the cul-de-sac and he hasn't looked back since....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8619930605726078992&hl=en

He spent the next thirty minutes riding up and back in the cul-de-sac with the bigger kids with the biggest smile you could ever imagine.

Another busy weekend

First of all we had a great 4th of July, we didn't do anything too spectacular - just stayed around here and spent some time with friends. Tuesday we had our annual gathering in the cul-de-sac, and Wednesday we spent the evening with the Isaacks Family and some of their friends.

Then the kids spent a few days at Grandma Betty's house while some of the cousins were in from Indiana. Fonda and I were lost without kids for two nights in a row, then we went down to pick Kendall up Saturday afternoon to go to a Demolition Derby in Clinton that night. After the Derby, we stopped back by Grandma's House to pick up Lizzy and we came on home.

After sleeping in a little on Sunday morning, John and Mona called to see if we could go out on the boat for a little while. I already had plans to photograph a few baseball games for some of the neighbor boys, but Fonda and the kids got to enjoy some time on Lake Jacomo with John, Mona and Kaiya. They went for a nice boat ride and got to swim in the lake too. Lizzy had to stop early due to Cheer Practice, but it sounds like they all had a blast.

Lizzy is attending Vacation Bible School this week and Kendall has another T-Ball game tonight, so it just keeps on going... before you know it Summer will be over!

Summer Update...

Well, I have my last Youth Ball League to photograph for the season tonight at Whiteman Air Force Base and then I will have almost a month off of work. It is nice to have some time at home to get things done, but it makes it tough on the finances for a few weeks. I will go back to work taking Senior Pictures in late July and then spend the first two weeks of August making the rounds taking staff group pictures. Then by the middle of August we will be taking Fall School Portraits every day and doing sports teams after school and on the weekends. We added two large school districts (Warrensburg and Clinton) to our territory this year so we are going to be stretched on our schedule even more than in the past. I am looking forward to the new challenges and experiences that we will encounter with the extra work load.

Kendall has just three more T-Ball games. He is really enjoying the season and asks every day "do I get to play T-Ball tonight?" I think most of the team is getting a little more tired though, I am seeing a lot more playing in the dirt and rolling around in the grass than I saw earlier in the season.
Lizzy has Stunt Camp at Cheerleading this week, so she is missing a few hours of Summer School on Tuesday and Thursday morning. I'm starting to think that as much time as she spends at Cheerleading that she might as well just move her bed up there... Oh well, she is really enjoying the whole learning experience and meeting lots of new friends. I can't wait until the competitions start.

Fonda is enjoying her new job although she is meeting new challenges every day. She is gearing up for a Grand Opening towards the end of July, so she is trying to get the store layout how she likes it and more inventory ordered to fill the store before school starts. If you are in the Blue Springs area stop by to see her at The Little Teachers Store at 1006 West Main Street.

Day 5...

Friday we had the chance to spend the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Crooks to see Grandpa use his Racing Experience Gift Certificate at the Kansas Speedway. As much as he enjoys racing, the kids all went together and bought him a Gift Certificate for a 6 lap ride to see what it is like to go 160 mph in a NASCAR Race Car. We all enjoyed getting to see him do this, and it was neat to be down in the Pit Area of a Major Speedway.

The Grandkids cheered as Papa made his racing debut!

Day 3...

Another day of Fun for the boys...
We started the day by hitting a few (ok, quite a few) Garage Sales in the area, and Kendall is such a sport by walking with me and looking through any toys that he might find and is pretty good about realizing what is good and what is Junk!

Then we picked up Kaiya and headed to Mom's work to help her out for a little bit before lunch. Kaiya and Kendall came back to our house to play for a while before we had to pick up Lizzy from school. We stopped for Ice Cream on our way home from school and then came back to get ready for Cheerleading and T-Ball Practice. After practices we had a nice dinner as a family and then Lizzy went back to Cheerleading practice from 9-10 (Wow- she practices alot, no wonder they are so good). Kendall practices that great form at T-ball Practice...

Day 2 of Daddy Daycare...

Well, we decided to go to the James Lewis Elementary playground today, but due to some construction work at the school they had the school property closed. We then headed just down the street to the Pink Hill Park to spend some time on the playground equipment for a while.
After 45 minutes of playing at the park we decided it was time to drop by and see if Mom needed any help at the store, but on the way Kendall spotted a large helicopter coming in for a landing and it actually landed at the James Lewis Elementary where we originally wanted to play so we stopped to see what was going on. The school was replacing some Air Conditioning units on the roof and the helicopter was removing the old ones and lifting the new ones into place on the top of the school. The helicopter company from St. Louis was very nice and brought Kendall over a sticker while they were hooking up the chains to the first piece and another guy brought Kendall some Safety Glasses to wear to keep the dust and dirt out of his eyes when the helicopter was down so low. It was very cool to see the helicopter lift them up and hoover over the school to put them on the roof.
Well, Kendall's T-Ball game was rained out last night so we hope to get his game in tonight. Lizzy has Cheerleading Practice during the game and I have to work in Knob Noster so we will miss the game, but I am sure he will do as well as he did the first game. Good Luck Buddy!

Daddy Daycare...

Well, its that time of year again when Daddy gets to keep his little one at home while Miss Ami is on vacation. We plan to do something fun and exciting every day while still helping Mom out at her new store when we can. We will also be dropping and picking Lizzy up from Summer School and taking her to Cheerleading Practices and getting Kendall to and from his T-Ball Games and Practice, since that does not leave us much time to do anything too demanding - we will be spending our time at local parks again this year and doing some fishing when we can.

Today we spent about an hour fishing at the little pond in our subdivision and we caught about 10 Bass and one big Perch. Kendall really likes to go fishing with Dad, but does not like to put them back in the pond because they are too "Sluggy" (which I think means that they are too slimmy). We have a T-Ball Game tonight if it does not rain anymore, so we are going to take it somewhat easy the rest of the day...

Ball Season...

The summer is in full swing!

Lizzy is attending Summer School through the day and has Cheerleading Practice three days a week at GAGE. She has made a Competition Cheerleading Squad that will practice throughout the year and Competes throughout the midwest in the Fall and Winter. We are looking forward to seeing her compete in something she really enjoys.

Kendall has started T-Ball this year and is quite the little athlete. He has one game and one practice a week unless they have a rainout to make up the next week. The first game his coach put him on third base and he had numerous balls hit to him and decided that if the first baseman would not catch the ball, that he would just run it over to first and get the batter out (he did this three times in one inning). He hustles to the ball, in fact he was the first one to the ball from third base when the ball was hit to right field....? It is great fun watching them play and he is learning the fundamentals of where to throw when and how to run the bases - we have a new nickname for him and it is "The Defense."

We have a Name...

Puppy has a name!

"Princess Isabella"

But we call her Bella...

She has come a long way the first week of being in
her new home. Last week she had never done stairs,
and now she handles them like a pro. She likes Kendall's
Hot Wheels collection - she picks one up and carries

it around the house with her. She likes taking long walks

around the neighborhood and chasing Kendall all around

the house. If he stops or gets down on the floor they end up

rolling all over the place together and she likes to give him kisses.

All in all, we are all really enjoying her - we just have to get

used to puppy proofing the house because she chews on anything.

Family Addition

After lots and lots of consideration,
we've decided to grow our family again!

Lizzy and Kendall have been wanting someone
to play with for a long time, and the fish last year

did the trick for a while, but we finally broke down

and added another warm body to the household.

She is cute, playful and Black...

She is a 12 week old Yorkie-Poo that is a ball of joy.
The kids have not given her a name yet, but will
decide on a name in the next day or two.

More Snowy Fun!!!

Well, another substantial snow...

We had tickets to see the MonsterJam Tour
at Kemper Arena Saturday night and we were
afraid we were going to get snowed in while we
were there, but by the time we came out we had
about 4-6 inches of snow on the ground and it just
made for a slow trip home. Kendall had a great time
and liked the Black Stallion and Grave Digger

trucks but liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

truck the best.

We received about 6-8 inches of snow total
and it was lots of fun playing in it this morning.
Kendall has been sick lately so we didn't get to go
sledding or anything this time, but I did take the
time to build a snowman and let the kids decorate
her while I shoveled the driveway (that doesn't
seem to be a fair trade) and they had a good time.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from
The Williams Family

The kids are ready for Christmas, they had a
chance to visit with Santa to tell him everything
they wanted this year. Kendall wants everything from
a Monster Truck to Dinosaurs and anything in between.

Lizzy really wants a puppy, but I don't think Mom and Dad
are quite ready for another pet right now... so, she has
decided that CD's, Clothes and Games would be better.

I am done with work for 2006 and I am looking forward
to a change of pace when I return in January. My job will
change from taking School Portraits to more groups and
sports for a while, then towards the beginning of March
we will start taking spring portraits until the end of the
school year when we will start Proms, Graduations and
Summer Sports Leagues until the end of June...

Happy Holidays!!!
Tim, Fonda, Lizzy and Kendall

Sledding Fun...

Our little daredevils talked me into taking them sledding
this morning while we had some good snow on the ground.
So we bundled them up and headed to the local sledding hill
at the Middle school where they both had a great time.

Kendall was like the Energizer Bunny...
He just kept going and going and going!

He was such a sport and kept climbing the hill for
more even when he would tumble down the hill.

Lizzy liked spinning around and around all the way
down the hill (she's a little dizzy most of the time anyway),
and going down head first until she took on a face full of snow.