FATHERS DAY 2011

This was craigs FIRST official fathers day as a DAD and not a step dad.
he Earned it too!
glad you managed to survive most of these tough teen years, honey! i know ill be glad when they are over with. lol

i enjoy holidays. most of them, anyway.
and i enjoy when i can share something creative with someone on one of them. it gives me the excuse to shower them with creativity.
this year, because i had found a white tie and told craig id tie-dye it for him for a gift, i decided to have daniel get a tad creative, cause hes as good an artists as i am (runs in the family, my mom drew pretty well as well), i ask (then demanded at the last minute, lol) to have him create a one of a kind tie for craig hed like and enjoy.


so, daniel put his mind to work
came up with something of a collage of craig likes.
put them on the tie.

came out pretty good.

Penfold (from Danger Mouse Cartoons) and The Tick (from The Tick, Cartoons)

Craigs a PC guy, who likes Linux over windows, so daniel drew  windows logo and crossed it out with a red bar, lol, also added CTRL, ALT, DELETE buttons for a keyboard since it is mainly the device craig uses for his PC work, job, and fun

A turtle, the LINUX name, and its logo, the penguin. 

i really like this tie. i wish daniel made me one.
craig actually wore this tie to church that day. what a great dad!

we went out to eat, of course, lol
we will always go where craig can have HIS dinner on those days set aside for him.
happens to be LOGANS ROADHOUSE (because the kid doesnt enjoy mexican)

we all usually get the exact same dinner every time. and because im restrivted on what i can have, i always try for the highest in protein, lowest in fat and carbs.

i had a salad
with a vinegrette dressing

and also had a fish dinner. with a side of seasoned veggies on a skewer. i give craig the tomato, i cant stand them, yuck!

the guys get the same dinner each time,
craig gets a steak with a side of potato, with butter, and a side of apple something (baked im thinking)

daniel gets some BBQ burger with bacon.
side is fries.

i cant eat all my dinner anymore since my gastric surgery, so i always end up taking it home, for an additional meal the next day.

after some time to eat, came the fun part. GIFTS!
i so enjoy this part, i dont think ill ever get tired of seeing people open gifts around me, as well as myself ever opening them.
but this was craigs day...so HE got the honor of all those gifts. (including that awesome tie that was hand made)

CHEESEY POOFS! craigs a HUUUGE fan of cheesy puffs... when i saw this at walmart i HAD to get it.
wasnt a bad investment either. craig told me it took him about 6 weeks to put this all away at work!

a fake turtle. he collects them, cause he loves them, stems from the time he found that baby turtle in the woods and when he went off to college, his mom "did something to it" (im guessing let it free), but he has had a love ever since. so he collects them.

picture of that turtle he got.

along with the love of turltes comes a love for lizards. so, you can never go wrong when you get anything turtle or lizard.

and the tie....AHHH! save the best for last! i really think this was the best gift, besides the person who made it, himself.
HAPPY FATHERS DAY CRAIG!


oh yes, i was there too, but i dont get as many photo op, because im ususally taking them, i do however request that a pic or 2 be taken of me.

MICHELLE

DANIEL PAINTBALL PICS

daniel is extreemly proud of his hobby/sport.
and because of such pride, requested i take some pics of him in his apintball gear.

ENJOY!
MICHELLE

the church we attend (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints aka: MORMON) had a second session for the picnic social they had 2 weeks before.

craig took the day off, and we attended.
this time, Daniel went for the hot dogs, and hamburgers.

there wernt as many ppl there THIS time as last, but it was still fun.

i, of course took pictures.

this is our bishop (or the "preacher") in our church. hes a great guy! one of my favorites. BISHOP RAY

table of food:
the view from my seat at my table: form left to tight: Brett Conner, Adrian Richards, her Husband, and Dean Woolen

the table to my right: from left to right: LDS Missionaries, Sister RAY (Bishops wife), Bother Williamson (dee), YES there was a SET of Williamsons at one time in our church, unknown lady, possibly Sister Bartold, not sure, Sister Williamson (Janet), Larry Cardenas is in the background standing out in the hallway

daniel snuck and took a picture of me...at least im happy in it.lol

he even took a video of "FINGER MAN" (no, not THAT finger..lol). im not sure where that video is at this time (7/28/2011) if i find it i shall add it to the blog.

Lawn got Mowed

Post from: Craig

Posted: Jul 07, 2007

Lawn got mowed · 7/5/2007

I came home knowing I needed to mow the lawn. It had rained for like 20 days in a row and now that that has slowed down the lawn took off growing. Since I had to worry about the 'yard-police' next I figured it was time to mow the lawn and scheduled to spend the evening mowing.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found that Daniel had mowed half the back yard. That was a great help and meant I didn't have to do it all. It took him a while to do it all and I had didn't even finish it in one day. I wanted to get the front done first so the back wouldn't be as noticeable.

One of the reasons he did it is because in his rank advancement for Boy Scouts he was told he had to wear his rank patch upside down until he did 2 unsolicited good deeds. This one definitely counts as one.

Craig

DINNER AT RIB CRIB AND A PLEADING TO JOURNAL WRITE

tonight daniel went to spend the night aqt a new friends house, justin. and that ment craig and myself had time to spend with eachother....doesnt happen frequently, and we take advantage of it when it does.

he came home and offered to take me out to a nicer estauraunt than we would normally go to. i left the deciding on which one up to him...

he chose: RIB CRIB

we had been there once before (there should be a post about it in here somewhere). so it wasnt a NEW place to go and eat, but unfamilair enough we both couldnt remember WHAT we had to eat when we were there.

he and i both got a starter of: POTATO SLICES covered in cheese and bacon bits and for .50 cents more it was covered in chopped brisquet. and came with a side of sour cream.

in the picture above its the one lowest in the shot...our plate had alot more brisquet than this picture displays! :-)

we then both orderd th same combo meal, with different sides:
the CHOPPED BRISQUET COMBO MEAL
i had a side of CHICKEN CHOWDER and POTATO SALAD
craig had: ONION RINGS and POTATO CHIPS

we both couldnt eat the whole thing, asked for to-go boxes for the leftovers.

i then had for desert: HOT FUDGE SUNDAY

we both enjoyed our meal. it was very good.

i have tried in the past to express to craig the sheer dsire i feel its almost a MUST to record events that occur in ones life.
i realize not everyone has, or even wants to express stuff in a written format, b ut i feel it a tremendous disadvantage that my mother left me and daniel with out writing ANY of her life out for us to kn ow about her more in depth...

i keep a blog for daniel, for craig, and for anyone who cares to kn ow me and what i thought, felt, and experienced. it may be nothing to anyone else, but the events i write about and post pictures of mean the world to me...it happened to me, its part of my life. it may be boring...but its part of my life, and not everything i write will end up in a book about me, most of it most likely wont, but those events that i felt worthy of the time to write about WILL...
i want my son to know me...know what my feelings were when he was born, what they were when he said his first word, what life with his father (dan) was like, comapred to life with his dad (craig)...and how much the difference effecte dme and him. i want craig to know why i felt certain ways about certain things..i want the memories to be enough that in our old ages we can fondly read about the events that we felt impacted our lives enough to take those few precious momensts to express them.
when were old and feeble and lost all memories, well rely on these stories to help us remember....
i want my life to be meaningful...to mean something, to someone, if ONLY my son, and husband....

i tried to express those same thought to craig over the dinner tonight. emploring him to concider the life hes lead and can recall and tell....

perhaps i have left an impression..i hope so.

MICHELLE

Posted: Jun 30, 2007

DANIELS BEEN UNDER THE WEATHER

**NOTE: this was originally posted on BLOGGER.com**

Saturday, February 3, 2007

DANIELS BEEN UNDER THE WEATHER

yesterday after school, daniel came home and told me he didnt feel well.
i asked about any symptoms and all he could say was his head hurt.

i suggested he may be dehydrated and he needed fluid if that was the case.
he drank some water and went to bed.

he did wake up in the morning with a fairly harsh cough, which in turn may have caused his head
to hurt because of the force of each cough.

well, the kids been pretty much sleeping for a day and a half.

today, he STILL didnt feel any better, still complaining of a headache.
by this time, i assumed it was due to NOT HAVING ANYTHING IN HIS BODY TO SUSTAIN IT.
so, i sugested he eat.
he had some cereal, went back to sleep.

missionaries dropped by unannounced. i dont mind, i really enjoy them.
we talked a bit.
they shared some scriptures with us.
i asked if they could give daniel a blessing. they said yes, and proceeded to do so.

after that, they dedicated (blessed) our new home.

so, we should be covered and protected and have the healing powers covering us all now.

i sure hope daniel gets better.

MICHELLE 

Posted by MICHELLE WILLIAMSON at 8:19 PM

WE ARE OFFICIALLY MOVED !!! And A Bit BEFORE Schedule As Well!

**NOTE: this was originally posted on: BLOGGER.com**

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
WE ARE OFFICIALLY MOVED!!! and a bit BEFORE schedule as well!

PHEW!!! we did it, most of it all by ourselves, or better yet...craig himself in out tiny little compact car. hard to belive but all we have left is to clean and dismantle a shelf and were done! turn in the key and were OUTA THERE and in here (where i am currently) in a slightly LARGER home, with a 2 car garage for all the OVERFLOW stuff we feel we cant live without, but barely ever look at.

we have moved for 3 weekends straight and this past weekend, we had some church assistance helping with the larger items. 2 loads in a 14 footer U-haul and most of it was here. each weekend we had either FREEZING CONDITIONS (really bad weather here) OR SNOW the entire time we were moving.

somewhere along the way we lost a red bag and my car keys to the MITSUBITCHI MIRAGE i owned. and took the better part of last night to attempt to locate.
i got up this morning, moved a few boxes in the garage and there was the bag, craig had already found the key to my car.

i have , just about non-stop unpacked and shuffled boxes about the house as i come to them. and i am completely tired now. but still have to make some more progress as the living room is STILL a room full of boxes. all-be-it has alot more space to move about in, its not a living room i feel comfortable allowing guests to come and visit right now.

theres still the adjustment period of tweeking and fine tuning the home, one of the things i think well need to do is get a plumber out here to figure out why the hot water heater isnt pushing as much hot water out when the things cranked up as high as it will go. i get about a 10 minute shower and the water gets really cold. as well as HALF the water still comes from the faucet, not completely out of the shower head...i hate that!(were still in winter weather here, so the pipes are very cold too.)
another thing i noticed is the main bathrooms so far from the hot water heater. it may have something to do with that flux in temp. but i really have a very hard time belieiving that a 30 foot length in pipe can make the water get that cold..that quick.

the DISHWASHER works great! i couldnt have asked for a better dishwasher, it also has a slight issue. its not set in the hole right..i think its too small for the hole, to be honest, and when you load it, it tipps forward. inconvienence, nothing more.

theres less cabinet space here. well have to figure something out for that. right now we have craigs table set between the oven and the fridge to act as additional counter space as well as storeage underneath. well have to get counter and cabinets with some formika top for that area at some-point.

the DOGS are loving the sidding glass door, where they can be outside and still watch us. i like it because shadow doesnt make as much noise with the glass as she did with the back door of the other house.
they also have a chain-link fence with other "doggie" friends they can actually see, we had a very old privacy fence at the other home...they had alot of holes to poke thu and watch the world, or the neighbor with. now they have a backyard looking into 5 other back yards and a way to see the traffic as it passes the house on this residential road.

daniel had his first NEW BUSTOP issue yesterday. he didnt know WHERE it was, and it came really late...but he managed to get there anyway. came home with paris about an hour late. and then PARIS spent the night.
so, we had our first OVER-NIGHT guest last night.

first visitors were: THE MISSIONARIES. i had scheduled them to eat, and they came by earlier in the day to say they wouldnt be able to make it for the dinner appointment. i was glad, too. cause the house was STILL in disaray, and i was too tired too cook fo anyone, even myself.

later that evening we had a visit from the CHOATES. they helped us move. (church ppl) and they came by to tell us they didnt know where the red bag was that craig was so desperatly looking for. spent a few minutes chatting about that.

third visitor was late in the evening..brother MANDOLIN,(church ppl--my sons teacher) he helped craig tow his truck to the driveway. and tonight will most likely be towing my mitsubitchi to the driveway as well.

we had issues with the internet and phone transfer. and had just gotten it on yesterday afternoon sometime. i was actually enjoying the silence for a change.

this house has great light. so during the day theres NO NEED to run much electric. its very well insulated too, so it retains alot of the heater right now..unless the front door is open or your in and out of the sliding glass door, or in and out of tha garage.
ceiling fans help distribute the air in here as well.

daniels room is just about done. everything (for right now) is where hed like it to be.
i still need to paint it tho. and it needs a ceiling fan as well.

may main objective is the living room. trying to manage all the boxes and figure out furniture arrangements and such. its been a task!

im hoping i do NOT have to move again any time soon. since we have cart blanch on this home to do as we see fit, as if we own it, i want to make it OURS. to me, this is the FINAL MOVE! im too friggin old for all this mess anymore.

LOL

MICHELLE

Posted by MICHELLE WILLIAMSON at 7:39 AM

SNOW IS FINALLY MELTING !!!!

**NOTE: this was originally posted on BLOGGER.com**

Wednesday, January 24, 2007
SNOW IS FINALLY MELTING !!!!

its been a hard 2 weeks for this state of oklahoma.

first an ice storm comes in, then a week later a slight, almost impossible to see, snow storm (it was more rain than anything) came and re-froze alot of what was trying to melt at the time.

my son was out of school for a week...im was tired of him being home and very excited when he finally got to go back to school monday. of course, he wasnt. but thats life.

4 days off from school, means hell have to make it up later at the end of the year. not to excited about that either.

we are about 8/10ths done with moving. most rooms have just basic stuff to move. computer rooms almost a skeleton, empty shelves, some packed boxes, and the residual drawers basicly to move.

living room has a book case i need to pack. and some minor stuff to move.

kitchen has the left-over cabinetry items (enough dishes, cups plates and silverware for us)
basic cooking supplies, a shelf and the turtles. they need to go-ahead and move to the other home.

bathrooms still has stuff.

back room is nothing but misc items.

and our bedroom with minimal stuff to move.

and then..theres daniels room. which i have started to pack.

his room has a closet with an organizer in it already. i cant wait to get him moved into that room so i can finally hang his clothes up again. hes been living out of plastic boxes as well. and he has NO ORGANIZATIONAL skills what-so-ever!

so, after we fianlly get alot of it moved, it will be my job to..UNPACK and set up home.

MICHELLE

Posted by MICHELLE WILLIAMSON at 1:11 AM

CLOCKS A TICKIN...Back Bedroom is STILL Needing To Be Cleared Out

**NOTE: this was previously posted on BLOGGER.com** 

CLOCKS A TICKIN...back bedroom is STILL needing to be cleared out

well, i had to put it bluntly today to craig.

we have..10 days until we have the church help move the larger items.
storm or no storm, this stuff HAS to be moved. landlord wont be forgiving, why should we assume?!?!

so, i told him..10 days, thats ALL we have to get this stuff moved.
2 loads a night, wont cut it.

youll either move like your doing, extending the time at night to..say 11pm or well have to rent a u-haul to move it..ALL.

hes been doing great most nights...and tonight hes been in high-gear. might help him tonight in the fact daniel is actually helping with the process.
we have just a few loads of boxes left and thats including OUR bedroom as well...then alot of misc. stuff

well then..work our way forward...bathroom (most likely one or 2 boxes)
daniels bedroom....4 boxes, maybe 6 (thats a load)
kitchen, about 5 loads tops. (30 boxes)
utility room, everything can go except the dog food and washing powder.
living room....2 loads maybe (12 boxes)
and last but not least..the computer room...about 5 loads tops. (30 boxes)

then its just all heavy stuff and last minute stuff well move when were mostly over there, or the bigger items end up over there....

monday, tuesday, and wednesday will be CLEANING the house day...sweep, scrub all surfaces, vacuum, etc.

and were done!

thats the hope anyway.
i never imagined it would take 6 days to get that back bedroom emptied out....but with craig working till 6 and not making it home till about 7pm..it makes it hard.

plus we have limited size availability to move with...the car is just so big...

well get it done, i have no doubt.

tonight with the event of allot of OUR bedrooms boxes being moved, i can see that theres a HUGE dent in the houses holdings.

Posted by MICHELLE WILLIAMSON at 9:00 PM

`WERE MOVING!!!!...I Cant Wait Either!!

WERE MOVING!!!!..i cant wait either!!

yes, WERE MOVING!

im so ready to do it too! been an entire year long..TOO long for my tastes.

how this all came about is by chance too. i happened to go with craig to the rental office to renew the lease were on contract for, and they have a listing of homes available outside their door all the time. so, i being in the mind set that my homes really too small for ALL the items we have (were literally face-to-face and living out of boxes) thought id look the list over for a potential home that may be suited for our needs a bit more.

there was a couple of homes in the area were in, about the same size and to move would be pointless if we didnt gain any space in the effort.

at the bottom of the list was: RENT TO OWN, a 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath, living room, kitchen, dining area, 2 CAR GARAGE, FENCED BACK YARD,and its 25 dollars LESS than what were paying now for rent!
to be on contract would require a 17 year lease with the option in half the term to buy or at the end of the lease to purchase the home.
were responsible for all maintinence on the home.

and..its only like about 4 streets away from where we are now, allowing daniel to continue the rest of the year in the SAME school.

as well as..were within the bounderies for the church we go to as well.

craig went and paid the left over rent (35 bucks) to the landords so he could get the key and we could start to move in! when we got home from the train meeting we were at tonight, i wanted to swing back over there...and then back here to the rental were in, and move a few boxes WHILE we still had time (at 10pm).

i was ecstatic to be able to move the boxes from the hallway to the garage. feels so good to be able to have some room, for a change.

i have plans for daniels room too.

since we have run of this place like we own it, i want to paint daniels room.
he and i talked it over and hes very much into a music band called ICP (insane clown posse) and they have a running theme the use on several of thier CDs. its called the DARK CARNIVAL. and on their website..the headers have a tattered-torn carnival tent look in various colors depending on the area your looking in.

so, my idea is this:

to paint his ceiling and walls in a tent-look feel. his favorite colors are: baby blue and white, so, painting this wont be too difficult. 2 colors is very easy.
ill also eventually do some artwork of the covers of 6 Cds ICP has out called: the joker cards. and have each one framed in a poster frame.
his ceiling does posses a slight issue, its got that popcorn mess on it. makes it hard to paint even lines and a hard challenge because the ceiling has that texture to it.
craig suggested maybe we do a fabric ceiling that wed center just over the light (which will become a fan with a light) and when the fans blowing the fabric will move making it look real.
another idea i had was where the stripes are connected, to run a running rope light (either blue or white or both) or have white Christmas lights strung about every other set of stripes along the ceiling.
the lights would be on a separate switch that when the main light is off daniel could turn on these select lights and enjoy the effect of the "carnival tent" feel in his bedroom.
i also suggested a black light to enhance all the neon colors and whites as well...those are always fun.

the living room i want to do in a palm-tree effect. i collect monkeys and i have a picture i have NEVER had on display that i painted. i feel its time, now that im in a home i can do stuff too, to allow this piece of artwork to be viewd.
as well as display several of my monkeys i have collected over the years.

the kitchen opens up into the living room, so im considering attaching the palm-tree theme to the kitchen as well and having all flow together.

i cant wait to completely out of this place and into that one....im ready to feel like im finally home somewhere im supposed to belong!

MICHELLE

Posted by MICHELLE WILLIAMSON at 12:28 AM

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

**NOTE: this was originally posted on BLOGGER.com**

Monday, January 8, 2007
FIRST SUNDAY OF THE NEW YEAR

well, as par for the course, daniel is still struggling with his desire to go to church.

we remind him on saturdays he has to go. while still a minor and under my roof, if i go, he goes. hes not on that plan yet.

i understand his lack of enthusiasm. i have been a lazy christian with him thru his life and now, all of a sudden, im in high gear. hes gotten lazy too. and has little to no desires to attend church.

this distresses me, because hes still so young to make the choice to NOT belive in God, or His son Jesus Christ. and its my duty, to help foster his spirit to realize that God DOES in fact exist. in the end, it is really up to daniel to choose the truth...but my obligation and responsibility to
at least give him the footing to do so in that area.

shy of some miracle at this point i see my son lingering on the edge of a relationship with God. alot of it, i feel may have to do with the loss of his NANNA, my mother. at the tender age of 8, my mother passed away and daniel really didnt have any coping skills for such a tragic event in his life, and it reflected in his school work.
were in the pre-teen stage of life now. one of the most crucial times to get grounded with a sense of a HIGHER-POWER (God) so that the universe at least makes some kind of sense to you, and your placement in it.
he knows i believe in God, and perhaps this phase is simply pushing the bounderies he knows im familiar with.

whatever it is, he'll be attending more than hed like.
hopefully to instill in him a truth of God and in His son, our savior Jesus Christ.

when we were there a member of the congregation invited the ward (congregational name based on number of members in an area) to come to his apartments clubhouse to watch the bowl game on tv tomarrow. hes our HOME TEACHER. ( a male member of the church assigned to a family that visits the family each month, to deliver a message, and assist in any manner needed.) and i had expressed to him, to try to get to know daniel better. hes too young to expect that he can swim about alone in the tossing and turnings of the world and what life has to offer.
daniel needs to know hes not UNIMPORTANT, and hes been getting a sense of that for 10 of his 12 years.
craigs made excellent strides in making a bonds with daniel, but daniel still lacks the esteem to know hes loved not only by his family, but by Gods family as well as God and His son too.

this is the time to get the learning curve done. with enough male INTEREST in him, perhaps daniels heart could see that God is in fact alive and well, and DOES exist...we can see it in the hearts and eyes of those around us.
this will also, help daniel as he becomes a grown man, to know how to share the light he has within him, with others, either by serving a mission or simply being an example to others also struggling with the truth.

they say family prayer is a great tool to help these young ones along. we dont have a family prayer. perhaps we need to start.

THE WILLIAMSON/CARMICHAEL FAMILY

Posted by MICHELLE WILLIAMSON at 7:36 AM

Posted: Apr 30, 2007

NO SCOUTS HWEN THERES A HOLIDAY

**NOTE: this was previously posted on BLOGGER.com**

Wednesday, January 3, 2007
NO SCOUTS WHEN THERES A HOLIDAY

today is wednesday , and that means at 7pm, daniel and craig share time together without me doing allot of guy stuff.

craig has been called as an assistant scout leader for my church, and daniel is a newbie in the world of green colored scouts. hes been in cubs before (and they wear blue).

i genuinely appreciate the fact craig is willing to do this calling and as well, share in the events with daniel some of the landmark memories hell make as he gets into it more and more.

daniel has a friend just up the street that also often goes with him to scouts, altho paris (the friend) is NOT a member of the troop like daniel is. were working on that.

well, they went off, and about a half hour..they were home again.

there wasnt any scouts. im assuming, because of the holiday and the fact some families just wernt home...means the population for scouts would be compromised by lack of attendance, no need to have it if no ones going to be there.

oh well. next week.

THE WILLIAMSON/CARMICHAEL FAMILY

Posted by MICHELLE WILLIAMSON at 7:21 AM