Smith Family Olympics

We have gotten really into the Olympics around here. On the day of opening ceremonies... I decorated the dining room with red, white and blue streamers, a red table cloth, red/white/blue plates napkins and cups. (The kids wanted to know what kind of cake we were having since they associate streamers and cake with one another... oops no cake... didn't know this association... will know next time). Anyway... I printed off some pictures of Olympics type things... The Olympic Rings, The Olympic Torch, The American Flag, The 2008 Olympics Logo, and The Olympic Medals and I set each picture at a place setting. Then, we headed outdoors for some family olympics... we ran relay races in the drive-way (which sent our neighbors streaming out of their houses to see what in the world we were doing... racing up and down the driveway... handing off wooden spoons to one another...), we kicked soccer goals, we ran sprints (and broke the tape at the end of the driveway that was tied between the fence post and the mailbox...) this was a hit! We rode bikes in circles (like the bike racers), we did some gymnastics (which they call 'nastics'). Anyway... lots and lots of fun games. Then we ordered Chinese Food (yes, of course we did!). We ate chinese food and talked about the pictures. So, now when they see the rings on t.v.- they say- "The rings... The rings..." And, they say the same thing about the medals, the torch, the little red logo/sport people drawings, etc. We really learned a lot! We have watched the Olympics everyday... they know who Michael Phelps is. I decided not to show them discus throwing- thought that might not work out well in our living room.... We do a lot of 'nastics' and have loved every minute of the olympics. When they see volleyball- they ask for Kelsey. We wear our medals from The Little Gym- which are brilliantly red/white/blue this semester with a gold medallion. They want to go there... meaning Beijing. Ha! Who knows maybe one day one of them will work at the Olympics like their dad did in Atlanta. Needless to say it has been very fun cheering for Team USA.
Then, today, I read the Sunday comics (yes, it is Tuesday... but we get to things when we can around here...). Thought this was particulary funny! Seems to sum up our house!

Anyway... go Team USA! and Team Smith!

Hilton Head

In July, my whole family gathered in Hilton Head Island to celebrate by grandmother's 80th birthday. It was so much fun! Our family has celebrated many special occasions in Hilton Head (25th and 55th Wedding Anniversaries for Mamaw and Papaw; not to mention summer vacations for my High School and College Years).

This week had so much fun packed into it... I think we all need a vacation from vacation...

1. Saturday night- arrived- dinner in Mamaw's condo- Uncle Steve/Aunt Barbie/ Kyle and Kelsey arrive with T-Shirts for everyone. Yes, we are officially one of those families. It was awesome! "One family... One beach... ENDLESS Drama" Oh so true!

2. Sunday- family photo on the beach. Khaki and White. Everyone together- beautiful pictures! Plus, we baptized Carson on the beach (video to come soon).

3. Monday- went to see pictures- took forever- just too many cute ones to pick from!

4. Tuesday- grandchild night out with Mamaw. At a lovely restaurant- gave her a photo book with lovely letters in it to her for her birthday. (left all the 'great grandkids- with grandparents- oh chaos...)

5. Wednesday
Guys golfed.

6. Thursday
Waverunners. Lori and I got the fastest one... all the guys were jealous. I got off the thing and felt like I had ridden a horse and then it had kicked me. :)
Pontoon Boat- kids went with grandparents- saw dolphins- almost rammed a very large, beautiful yacht in Harbor Town... oops.

7. Friday
last day on beach... beautiful

Everyday, we hit the beach for a couple of hours in the morning... followed by cooling off in the pool- where J.D. and Natalie used their swimmies to swim in the pool. J.D. was jumping off the side/ going under/ putting his face in the water/ etc. His swim teach from swim ministry would have fallen over in disbelief! Natalie eventually jumped off the side and got her face wet. She really loved the swimmies- they kept her afloat- and she could just drift from one person to the next. They were amazing! At the beach- they loved the wide open spaces- playing with their cousins- riding in the boat- it was a great time! Carson mostly ate sand!

It was a GREAT week.

Hilton Head

Hilton Head

Haffy Birthday, J.D.! 3 1/2 Today!

Today is the day we celebrate J.D.'s birthday! Like all birthdays, today started with cupcakes and eggs! Yum-oh!

I can't believe that he is 3 1/2 years old. The time has really passed too quickly. I tell him he is my 'biggest boy'. He thinks he is BIG and can do anything that mommy, daddy or the kids in the youth group can do.

Things about J.D. at 3 1/2:
He is a great problem solver... the other day we said we couldn't go the park because it was going to rain- he said we could take an umbrella...

He is a sales man... we had a long conversation the other day about pets. He wanted to know why we couldn't have a lion, tiger, whale or dolphin as pets. After much discussion, and a big NO from mommy- he said, 'then can we just have a dog and a cat?' (Like- isn't it easy to say yes to those... instead of the animals that live in the zoo!)

He is an encourager- he is constantly telling people that they look nice, or thank you for dinner, or 'i like that' kind of statements.

He is super athletic! He can really hit a baseball hard and far, can dribble a basketball, can kick a soccer ball into the goal, can hit a golf ball, throw a frisbee with some bit of accuracy, loves to play catch.

He is all boy... he is starting into gross out stuff... burps, gas of other sorts, dirt, puddles, mud, are all fascinating and funny.

He loves planes, trucks, big rigs, police cars, dump trucks, trash trucks, boats, scooters, etc.

His favorite foods: diet coke, peanut butter and cotton (apricot) jelly sandwiches, chicken nuggets, cake, bananas, gummies (fruit snacks)

I just love this kid to pieces!


Haffy Birthday face! He wanted strawberry cupcakes this year... so we had pink cupcakes on his birthday this year.

Cool Mom! Presents!

Chick from CARS. Now he has 4 of the characters! Can you tell he was excited. Right now, he is downstairs watching CARS with all 4 of his cars lined up on the chair next to him.

Mommy and J.D. on his Haffy Birthday!

More CARS!

This is my heart...

The best babysitter

I can officially say we have been blessed with the best babysitters ever!

Miriam was the first... and always will be close to our heart... though far across the ocean...

Then came Cosette and Tavi.
Cosette and Tavi are sisters... Cosette is J.D.'s true love (when we were journaling around Valentine's Day, I asked him whom he loved- I thought Mommy or Daddy or Natalie, etc. Nope. He said Cosette- very enthusiastically!) Cosette introduced Hide and Seek and Red Light/Green Light into our house!
Tavi is Cosette's younger sister. She loves children and it shows! Let me explain how...

Today, Tavi was here to watch the kiddos for 8 hours while I worked. This is an amazing amount of time for a babysitter. (And after a chaotic time last week... she brainstormed with her mother and showed up with the following schedule for today).

Titled: J.D. and Natalie's Schedule

8:30am Breakfast
8:50am Soap Surprise (that means was the dishes together, use lots of bubbles!)
9:00am Outside Play
10:00am Snack
10:15am Hide & Seek
10:30am Sugar letters in a bowl (J.D. and N)
10:45am Letters in sand box (practice to draw them on the driveway for daddy!!!)
11:15am Jump rope (over the snake)
11:45am Lunch preparation (kids set table on mat, then without mat) [this means they drew a placemat together, and she showed the kids how to match up fork, plate, and spoon- WOW]
12:00pm Lunch and Soap Surprise (if you want to)
12:30pm Snuggle and Read Time (pick one book apiece)
12:45pm Nap time
2:30pm Play Dough (make J.D. and N)
2:45pm Outside (ready for chalk JD and N so daddy can see what they learned!)
3:00pm Super Hero Race to make rooms the cleanest!!!
3:15pm Candyland
4:00pm Frisbee and fun thing in a bag [ a flute]
4:30pm Show Mommy what you've learned today!!! !. How to wash dishes, how to set the table, how to write your own name!

Wow you say... yes, WOW! The kids had the best day! Tavi would tell them what they were going to do... then once they did it... they put a sticker on the paper next to the thing they had just accomplished. She built up the 'fun thing in a bag' all day... they were beside themselves with anticipation. And, they loved it... I could hear them playing flutes... what fun! There is no greater feeling than the feeling of your kids discovering something new, of them being happy, of them enjoying themselves.

When I asked J.D. what his favorite part of the day was... he said 'the jumping rope!'
When I asked Natalie what her favorite part of the day was... she said 'the stickers!'

It was an amazing day... one where I am thankful that I can work from home... see how my kids do with babysitters and see how God has blessed us with people who love our kids enough to really think and plan for them.

Bless you Tavi! You made today a blast for all of us!

Carson Crawling!

Today is Memorial Day... and Carson crawled for the first time. Watch out world! And, we caught it on video- I am so excited! He keeps reaching milestones on dates that will be easy to remember- he is so accommodating.

Right now he is sitting in my lap while I am writing this... and he is slobbering like a puppy all over me... ahh, teething....

anyway, enjoy the video

Let Them Eat Cake! (our first entry with video!)

Over the last couple of weeks, people from our church have been bringing us dinner (a helpful thing as Jason has been recuperating!). On this particular night, a family brought cake for dessert. Yummy!

We don't get cake around here very often... thus, the children think that it is someone's birthday when there is cake around... This particular week, we had an angel food cake and about 12 cupcakes brought to us. We sang Happy Birthday everyday for a week! Why not?!

What fun we had! We went through about 5 candles and it provided much happiness!

(Oh, and as you noticed, we have a new toy around here... a very nice video camera! A great Christmas gift from our parents. Now that we have one, I really wish we had splurged when J.D. was little... we have missed capturing so much since J.D. and Natalie were born. Well, I guess J.D. and Natalie will have photos and Carson will have video... at least Carson will have something.)

The Wiggles Concert

We have been waiting to go to the Wiggly Concert for over a month now. J.D. would ask every couple of days if the Wiggles were here yet... we would say, not yet, they have to travel a long way from Australia! Natalie would say... 'Natalie dance. Mommy dance. Daddy dance. J.D. dance.' This is what she was looking forward to at the concert.

So, today was the day! And, they were so excited! J.D. wanted to wear yellow like his favorite Wiggle, Greg. I dressed Natalie in a pretty velvet red dress (which she insisted on wearing striped pants underneath). And, Carson was in blue. Three of the four Wiggles' colors. It was going to be a perfect day.

We left the house around 12:30pm to drive to north Denver and to get there about an hour before the show started. I wanted to have time to find our seats, feed a baby, take children to the potty and buy a t-shirt or two.

We arrived in plenty of time... got the t-shirt, a feather sword and a big red car light up wand. Wow--- there is a lot of stuff. I really wanted a poster for their wall... but no posters this year. Oh, well.

We went to our seats (with cotton candy in hand) and anxiously awaited the Wiggles big debut!

(Natalie and Mommy waiting for the concert to start).

And, then the concert began. They had a little pre-show... and J.D. said, "No Mommy, I want the real Wiggles..." Then, here they came... look at Carson's reaction below! (Carson 4.5 months, first concert.)

And, Natalie proceeded to DANCE and DANCE and DANCE and DANCE. She couldn't keep still. I don't think I watched much of the actual concert, I was having such a fun time watching her dance and sing and smile and clap! This was the PERFECT outing for her. She LOVED it. And, I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to see her have so much fun!

Our little performer, Natalie. J.D. was much more serious during the whole thing...

More dancing for Natalie.

Carson was excited, too!

And, then it was over. The kids couldn't understand why they couldn't talk to, give a hug or high five to the Wiggles. This was the hardest part to explain. But, Natalie went on an on in her pixie voice about what a fun time she had... dancing, clapping, singing, dancing... and then 'all done'.

This is Natalie in the car after the concert... she wanted MORE!

Carson- after the concert- LOVED IT... great day MOMMY! (by the way, we got home... and he was so inspired by the Wiggles that he rolled over from back to belly... for the first time... over and over and over again...)

J.D.'s response to his first concert... cool dude! (J.D. had such a BIG DAY of FUN that he ended up with 'yuckies' as we call them... way too much fun in one day for a little boy's tummy.)

So, what did I learn from this experience...

J.D. has a great memory and loves to anticipate things... maybe next time I won't tell him almost 2 months before the event that it is happening.

Natalie- has happy feet! And, tears are a sign of a GREAT DAY! And, this was the perfect day for her because it was just at the right age. Too many times in her life the day is going to be right for J.D. or right for Carson. What a joy to know that today was just right for her (oh, my middle child.)

Carson- going to love to go and do!

And, again, tears and 'yuckies' are going to be the sign of a fun day had by all... oh joy!

Tomorrow, is Jason's second surgery. So, today was the BIG DAY of FUN. And, BIG it was... FUN definitely... I LOVE MY CHILDREN... and I love being able to do fun things with them. It was a joyous day all around.

Pictures from the last month

We took the kids to the zoo on Saturday. We do all the extras! Feed the giraffes, ride the train, feed the birds, ride the carousel. It was a big day of fun! Plus, it was beautiful weather.

Feeding the giraffes.

Easter Sunday. Yes, it was cold (snowed the night before). So, cute Easter outfits with long sleeve shirts on underneath. I love putting them in matching outfits. Doesn't Carson look like a little J.D.?! The boys matched all the way down to their socks!

I think our kids really enjoyed Easter this year. The new clothes, the great songs in church, the Easter eggs, the cake, the relaxed day of fun with just our family... And, we can tell because at the end of a really good day around here they tell us goodnight by saying... "Happy Easter Day!" Today is April ... weeks after Easter and they are still saying "Happy Easter Day!" at the end of the day. They are too cute for words!

Hunting Easter eggs in our winter coats! (See that adorable coat that Natalie has on... her Granny Jill made it for her!)

We enjoyed an at home day on Easter. We got take out for dinner, took LONG naps in the afternoon, baked a cake and decorated it for dessert. I think more sprinkles made it on the floor and in their bellys than on the cake! Then, the kids thought it was someone's birthday because we were having cake. So, they decided it was Mommy's birthday and sang to me. Okay, why not!

We don't take a piece of the bunny off with our fingers... we just dive right in and eat it! Isn't it fun to be a kid. Natalie is referring to the chocolate treat as eating "bunny ears."

J.D. can take more bites faster than I expected. I took my eyes off of him for one minute and the bunny was almost gone...

Look at this big guy! He loves sitting up and being a part of the action around here.

This picture was taken the week of the endless fevers and snot... doesn't she look adorable anyway. Granny Jill made this coat for her. We wear it all the time.

Traveled in March to attend my sister's baby shower. Isn't she adorable. We took this picture to show that she was the pregnant one... guess I shouldn't have stood sideways.

She loves her little brother!

Can't get enough of this girl. She is precious... love her more and more everyday.