Through the eyes of our children...

If I could just view life through the eyes of my children, I would be able to stay attuned to the Spirit so fully and with such ease.  I can't put a number on how many times this week I have heard gasps of breathtaking excitement from the backseat of the van when the words "Christmas, Jesus, reindeer, snowman or Santa" have escaped the mouths of the famous carolers 96.7 plays 24/7 during the holidays.

Abby, Noah and Mommy were en route to swimming lessons on Saturday during what Noah described as "the first time it ever snowed" and excitement was at its peak.  The snow was minimally falling here in Paris (I heard they got a bit more in Cambridge) but there was no shortage of wind so it gave the illusion that we were really in the middle of a great snowfall.  Abby and Noah were listing off things they could do when they got outside.  Amidst the loud and oftentimes indiscriminate words being shouted I was able to pick out a few.

"Snow Angels!!"  Noah screeched.  Abby then responded "There's not enough snow yet, you will have to make grass angels still!!"  Then Abby would shout "Eating snow" and Noah would scream "YAH and licking ice". Skating, butt-boganning (a form a tobogganing where you only use a small toboggan which cups your butt, thanks again aunt Kirsten for the name!), snowman, igloo (which I thought was a very worldly substitute for the commonly used 'snow fort'), jumping in snow, smashing snow and snow pants were all heard from the backseat at one time or another.  Needless to say, once we arrived at our destination they did all of none of their list, running and whining all the way inside about how wind was blowing too much and the snow hurt their cheeks.  Nevertheless I thought about how fortunate I am to be able to relive the small joys I so often pass by now that I have children.

When we raise children, its almost as though we are given a second chance at childhood in an even more rewarding way; through the eyes of our offspring.  Daily I am brought back to special memories of my childhood happiness, silliness, joy and spontaneous carelessness through my children's stories, activities and uninhibited love.  I know that I am truly blessed to have had a childhood ripe with so many wonderful memories.  This is not the case for many, and to those of you who may exist in that category, as a mother I am deeply sorrowed for that loss.

As I sat and listened to the joy and anticipation in that conversation between my children, I made a conscious choice in that moment.  I am pledging to my children, current and future, to always try my hardest to protect their childhood.  To try our best to control what Mike and I allow into our home by ways of media, friends and other revolving doors of influence.  To give them the chance to remain innocent long enough to build those memories that are looked back upon and remembered not for the specific details, but for the overwhelming feeling of happiness and joy.  I pledge to my children to be a firm but guiding hand to the best of my ability, in leading them through the horrors children face today.

I pledge to Abigail, to any future daughters, to help her become a woman who understands her worth.  To always tell her how she is never merely pretty, but always pretty amazing.  I pledge to Noah and Elias, to any future sons, to help them become men.  Not to 'be the man' but to be a man who knows the value and power that manhood holds.  I pledge to Mike to be a mother to his children.  To be a key holder to his most precious box of treasures.  To always give precedence to my job as a mother and wife, and to be entrusted to work beside him to help bring our children safely through this life.

I felt so deeply touched by the Spirit as I sat and listened to the carefree banter of my children in our dirty old car on Saturday morning.  I know that life touches us in moments that may seem otherwise unimpressive, so that we might be most receptive to the message therein.  It is in the most mundane of moments that we will bring about the most miraculous of changes.  Everyday I am grateful for my life, my loves and my Lord and I am so thankful for the clarity of purpose I have gained as I have learnt the gospel.

I know that this may seem an odd thing to blog about, but I have recently gained a firm belief that when you believe something, you should make it known.  I believe in the sanctity and purpose of motherhood and fatherhood and I am so grateful for the chance I have been entrusted with to raise and protect my three sweet children.

We have had a wonderfully joyous beginning to a truly magical season and it is with great hope that I wish you all happiness throughout the holidays!

Love and Joy... and possibly a few tears!!

Love from the Willmotts!

Baloon Fairies, Fish Restaurants and Birthday Parties!

The Balloon Fairy

Well our little Abigoo turned 5 this past week!  She was born on Sunday November 19th, 2005 at 7:09 pm and in a matter of hours (she was the 'good' labour) we went from the promise of parenthood to immediate realization of the immensity of our new life.  We have had 5 glorious years with this little lady and although we've been tried and tested at times (yes we know we 'ain't seen nothing yet') we have had the absolute time of our lives!

Two years ago when Abby turned 3, we started a little tradition in our home.  Once our birthday girl or boy hits the sack for the night, and it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that they are in fact actually sleeping (not just faking, as I admit we have fallen victim to), the BALLOON FAIRY makes a special birthday visit to the birthday child's room.  She brings with her many, many, many balloons of various colours, sizes, and shapes and fills the floor surrounding the bed!  When our kids wake in the morning they are greeted with a rainbow of balloons to kick and bat their way through when running to wake us up.  They have really started to expect this little visit from the fairy (who by the way is pretty cute) and get quite excited for the days of fun 700 balloons provide until they either pop or shrivel up into nasty little 'elderly' balloons. 



Balloon Madness

This picture really does not do justice to how many balloons were actually in her room (the majority had made it out into the hall from all the kicking) but you get the gist of it.  This year Abby was having a few girls over for an 'un-sleepover' party.  She wanted to set up sleeping bags and pillows in our unfinished basement (cuz it's spooky down there she says) and watch Barbie Fashion Fairytale.  So not only did the Balloon Fairy (yes I totally feel her name should be capitalized) balloonerize her room, she also got busy in the spooky basement too. 



Abby with her new baseball bat and ball from Daddy!

So ends the tale of 'The Balloon Fairy Visits the Willmotts'.  Although she may experience a dull ache in her jawline for a full two days after her visit, she really feels it's worth it!  How quickly we can forget the simple childhood joy balloons bring.  Maybe you too should wish for a visit from the Balloon Fairy??! 


The Fish Restaurant

When Noah turned 3 we asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he replied "happy meals" so it was off to McDonald's for a gourmet dinner we went.  So when we asked Abby what she wanted, she defaulted to "happy meals" also.  We were preparing for another night out at the Paris McDonald's when a few days before her birthday as I tucked Abby in, she made a new request.

She said to me "Mama I don't want to have a crabby patty (aka cheeseburger from mcd's) for my birthday.  I REALLY want to go to like a fancy place".  To which I replied "ok where is this fancy place".  Abby then said "I want to go to you know, that restaurant where all the fish live, and you get to go up and get YOUR OWN food?".  It took me only a second to realize what she meant was the Mandarin.  Haha fancy pants for sure!  So we quickly agreed since a lunch at the Mandarin is actually less expensive than a family meal at the world renowned McDonald's. 

They get so excited about these festive airbags!!


We met Mike on the Wednesday before her birthday for lunch at "the fish restaurant" and had a fun little birthday meal with our kids.  Abby had a great time because Mike let her pick her own food, Noah loved that his water never "got empty", giggling each time our poor server topped him up, and Elias ate Cheerios!!

The kids at our table... so happy about the view ahah

We sang happy birthday to Abby and she got to blow out a candle.  The kids laughed and giggled as the fish in the ponds swam close to their boots, and Elias tried so hard to grab the fish that were swimming in the tank behind our table.  We had such a great lunch and were totally thankful to Abby for going all fancy on us! 

Abby's little cake <3

Abby's PARTAY!

Abby was fortunate enough to have her party on her actual birthday this year (which she thought was 'sweet').  She invited three girls, her cousin Lexi, her friend from church Sariah, and her friend from school Victoria, and as I mentioned had an 'un-sleepover'.  If you were thinking 'what is that' I will explain.  Abby has been talking about sleepovers lately and we aren't very comfortable with the idea of our children sleeping over anywhere, so we decided to have a half-sleepover.  We had the girls bring their pjs, they watched a late movie, until the wee hour of 10 pm (plenty late for 5-6 yr olds) and then I drove the girls home.  Abby loved setting up sleeping bags and pillows.  We ate dinner, painted nails, had cupcakes, played 'Fashion Barbies', coloured pictures and watched a Barbie movie.



Noah, Abby, Sariah, Lexi and Victoria

Abby asked for Barbies and 'girl toys' this year which was pretty cute because up until now she's been pretty neutral when it comes to gender specific toys.  Although she is enjoying her newly discovered inner princess, she still keeps it real with a healthy love for playing basketball, baseball, football and the occasional game of 'Don't you Dare Mess With Me' (she describes it as a "game where we TUSSLE daddy!!") haha!

I made Abby a sign for her birthday this year and we had a great time picking out gift purses for her friends.  Abby has such cute ideas and she's really developing a little flair for fashion!! lol



The happy birthday sign



Abby with her gift purses













All in all Abby had a wonderful 5th birthday!  She reports that she was sung happy birthday a total of seven times, and got so many beautiful presents.  She now has a new pair of 'sparkle' shoes from Grandma and Grandpa, has been drawing train tracks and roads 'to Walmart' on our driveway with 3D sidewalk chalk from Nanny and Grandpa, plays Zhu Zhu pets tirelessly with Noah, and has more Barbies and makeup from her friends and Aunts than I have ever owned in my life!!  Thank you to all our wonderful families and friends for making a special girl's special day so extremely SPECIAL!!!  Happy 5th birthday to our Abigail, we love you more than any blog post could possibly ever express.

Love from the Willmotts

Do we live with the Grinch??!

Now I will first start by apologizing for not posting last week!  I have heard from a few people that our posts have been missed.  Yay!  Good to know I'm not just writing to myself here. 

But now I have some serious business to conduct.  We are in the middle of a Willmott war here, and the catalyst was a display of Christmas snowglobes.  I personally feel that it is none too soon to start decorating the house for Christmas on the exact day I take down the Halloween decorations (which is always Nov 1st).  Mike on the other hand, feels that any decorating in November is just ridiculous and all our poor little snowmen and santas should stay boxed away until, absolute earliest, Dec 1st.  Every other year I have been able to squeeze out the Christmas decorations by mid-November simply stating that Abby wants them up for her family birthday party (her bday is on Nov. 19).  This year however, we aren't having a big family gathering for Abby since she is having a real friend birthday party on Friday, so I'm looking to all of you for convincing HELP!!



Mike Willmott


Last week I subtly started (or so I thought) to break out the decorations with a few gorgeous snowglobes.  My mom gets the kids a new snowglobe each year and they are all stunningly beautiful.  Silver and black with sparkling snow and a different carol to be heard from each.  They are the EXACT depiction of Christmas through the eyes of a child.  We spend so much time taking "gentle snow turns" on the couch, shaking, winding, and singing to the music box tunes of the carols.  To our kids they are simple treasures of extraordinary joy.  So I brought them out of safe storage last week, displayed them discretely and assumed that Mike would overlook them (since he has been known to not even offer a nod of acknowledgement when I paint his dressers, night tables, a wall, CUT MY HAIR grrr etc).  But he walked in the door, gave hugs and kisses to the army of flailing bodies at his waist and promptly faced the snowglobes exclaiming with finger sternly pointed, "WHAT ARE THOSE?"

My response was a lousy "THAAAAT you notice??"  To which he responded "December first Meghan!" Then something along the lines of "blah blah bleeeeeehhhhh blahdiddy bleb blahb bloooobbb we gotta BOTH agree blahaab blah".  So it is now November 14th, and we are FAST approaching the exact middle of November.  I have 6 snowglobes displayed, one wreath leaning weakly against the wall, waiting patiently for his moment to hang proudly, a string of outdoor lights lining the roof of our house aching to be plugged in, and a whole crap load of boxed decorations in the basement crying and weeping so loudly to be let out that they sometimes keep me up at night!!!  Mike just doesn't understand.  So I am pleading with you ALL to help!  Please oh please wont you weigh in on this "decorating in November debacle".  Comment on this post, tell us what you think.  If you don't want to create a username thing to comment then comment on the link on my facebook page!!!  I know that together we can convince Mike that Santa really does exist and he most certainly brings better presents if you decorate your house NOW!!  The spirit of Christmas is expecting exactly 40 days of decorated homes to dwell in.  And that there is NOTHING wrong with being that house on the street that turns their lights on in November!! I know you all believe this, and if you don't agree, well comment anyway because Mike needs a few pity votes!

They err who thinks Santa Claus comes down through the chimney; he really enters through the heart."
~ Mrs. Paul M. Ell.

It truly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Love from the Willmotts