The Smith Family Life

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

2008-12-22T16:50:00.003-07:00

I'm guessing it is going to be a white Christmas this year since I've already shoveled my walks three times today. The storms are suppose to keep coming until Christmas Day. I had to help our neighbors push their cars into driveways because the snow was so deep on the main road and we have yet to see a snow plow. It's times like these that I am so glad I finished all of my Christmas shopping weeks ago and don't HAVE to go anywhere if I don't want to.

Snow Day

2008-11-09T21:01:00.008-07:00

Mason gets so excited every time it snows. He didn't even care that there wasn't very much he still went out and made snow angels and jumped on the trampoline. I sometimes wish I could have the excitement of a child again. He doesn't care if it's cold, or if he gets wet, or what his hair looks like, he just loves playing.

Milo is getting too big, too fast. This post is mostly for the benefit of my parents, but everyone can enjoy his laugh. He is either smiling or crying for mom. I think he might be bipolar, but the verdict is still out on that one. Mostly he is a really good baby.

Halloween Festivities

2008-11-09T19:44:00.008-07:00

This Halloween Mason decided to be a "good guy" venom, Nikki was Hannah Montana, Milo was a little bear, and Gouch was a "Manbug". Halloween also reminds me what an awesome neighborhood we live in. It's so nice to go trick-or-treating and know 90% of my neighbors in a 10 block radius. I love to see everyone out on their porches greeting the kids and although the weather could have been better (it rained all night), at least it wasn't freezing.

This are all pictures of are annual trip to Thanksgiving Point. They have a great Fall Festival each year with tons of fun stuff. Are personal favorite is the cow tractor pull. And in case you are wondering want the kids are laying in on the bottom picture it is corn kernels. They had a whole barn filled with corn kernels, who would have ever guessed that corn could be so much fun.

My Hero Rosa Parks

2008-11-09T19:14:00.006-07:00

Every time Nikki is assigned a history project about a person she always picks Rosa Parks. She learned about Mrs. Parks when she was in preschool. Mrs. Donna (her preschool teacher) must have made quite an impact because since then Nikki has been enamored with her. She has bought books on her and really, really wants to visit her museum in Alabama someday (Gouch keeps telling her that the museum is probably not all it's cracked up to be). This year her second grade class dressed up like their favorite person from history. Nikki was so excited and she even had a dress just like one of Rosa Parks pictures. She did a great job and wrote three pages of information all by herself on this wonderful lady.

Karate Kid

2008-11-09T19:07:00.006-07:00

Nikki has been doing Karate for about two months now and absolutely loves it. Nikki is a very timid, shy, but sweet kid so Karate seemed a little bit of a weird choice to me, but she insisted. After two months I am sold!! During her belt test everyone has to perform their maneuvers by them self and I was amazed at how well she did. For any parents out there debating on extra curricular activites I highly recommend this one. Hyper kids, shy kids, mean kids, submissive and aggressive kids can all benefit.

Beautiful Kids!!

2008-11-09T19:03:00.001-07:00

I've got great kids and an amazing husband. Today my husband told me (after my nap, of course) that I was "uncharacteristically grumpy". So after he made dinner he had the kids drag me to bed for a movie or nap by myself, and they cleaned up the front room while Gouch cleaned up dinner. What a family!!

Family pictures

2008-10-21T11:31:00.008-06:00

Well, I know I'm a slacker and horrible at keeping a blog, but I promise that I will in the future continue to be consistently inconsistent with my updates.

We have had a lot going on this past month and I really need to post the pictures of Nikki getting her Gold belt in karate. That will be the next update, promise mom.

This weekend my neighbor called and said "it's a beautiful weekend and you wanted to get pictures of your kids so lets do it in a few hours". My first thought was that I was really enjoying my lazy no plans Saturday, but then I decided to say yes and capture my beautiful children on film (or computer I guess). Here are some of the pictures my neighbor took. She did a really good job and considering that Milo is only three months old and totally uncooperative, Mason thought it was more fun to be goofy and clown around than smile, and Nikki decided to play bashful and coy, I think she got a lot of great shots. Thank you Marianne, your amazing!!

These two pictures of Mason in the blue shirt are his preschool pictures that Marianne took a few weeks ago.

If I were born in another era...

2008-10-14T15:42:00.002-06:00

So the story behind these pictures is that I got stuck on hold with Delta Airlines for about an hour trying to switch our airline tickets around for our Disney trip in December. I was playing around with Facebook and one of my friends (Staci Johnson) had a new picture that she made at www.yearbookyourself.com so since I was bored I tried it out and got hooked. Ridiculous, and time wasting I know, but it was so fun!! Beware if you try it out. You might waste precious time in your day as well. This is me in the 1950's.
In the 1960's my glasses were a little lopsided, but I was definitely stylin.
I think I could pull off my 1968 do, if I just tamed the big curls at the end?????
1976 wasn't as kind but it could be worse...
This is their idea of 1994 and I have to say I looked a lot better in 1994 than this!!! This looks much more like the 80's to me.

Hope you enjoyed and laughed, and hopefully you aren't off to waste your time now.

Mason's first day of School and more...

2008-09-04T14:27:00.005-06:00

Isn't that a Good Looking Kid!! Mason started preschool on Tuesday and absolutely loved it. His teachers our Mrs. Anna and Mrs. Terie (no, it is not me or his grandma) and they are really great with kids. He wore his "fast pants" and "cool guy hunk" hair. His words not mine.
He is really into super heroes right now and was so excited when we found a backpack with FOUR super heroes.
After school he brought home his first piece of artwork for the refrigerator.
But no matter how much schooling we give our little cool guy hunk, he will still be our monkeyboy.

Another Outing at Thanksgiving Point

Since Taj and Sage have moved away (Nikki and Mason's best friends) we try to get them together at least 2-3 times a month. This last Friday we met them at Thanksgiving Point and did the Dinosaur Museum.
Nikki was so excited to take this picture and persuaded everyone else to act scared as well.

Then we had a little extra time left and went to Farm Country where we fed the goats and rode the ponies (yes, I realize this is not a pony it is a cow, but they did ride ponies).

If this doesn't make you smile NOTHING will

2008-09-04T14:03:00.004-06:00

Milo is quite the talker these days and since we discovered he is allergic to milk he has been a much happier baby. We went through a few rough weeks that he seemed to always be fussy and have a rash on his face, but since I have given up dairy (which is no small sacrifice, between the four of us that drink milk we go through 6 gallons a week) he has become pleasant and mellow again. He coos and talks all the time now and is quick to give a smile.

I just like this picture because he looks like such a contemplative little dude.
He even smiles when Mason holds him.

He make look cute, but his projectile vomit is deadly

2008-08-27T11:17:00.005-06:00

So here is a picture I took of Milo smiling. It is not the best quality because I was only able to take it with my cell phone, but he sure does look cute. Do not be deceived. Last night we were attending Nikki's Back to school event at Lakeview Academy, and we were standing in front of the school talking to some neighbors, when Milo decided to puke all over me, and I mean all over me. Anna was excited that I got the puke this time and not her.

I was a champ and still went in to meet the teacher. After about 10 minutes, when the smell of semi-digested baby Dinner was too much to bare, I took the boys to the car while Anna and Nikki finished up in the school. As punishment for Anna laughing at me I hid the vomit covered shirt in her pillow case so she could smell it all night. (Insert Evil laugh here.)

Schools Back in Session! Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-08-21T11:37:00.018-06:00

MONDAY

This week started with a bang and has just kept going!! Nikki started 2nd Grade on Monday. She loves starting school and even though her best friend Sage moved this summer she was lucky enough to have her other two best friends (twins Joseph and Eliza) in her class. Of course this only happened after she tearfully asked her father to call the school and see if she could switch into their class. He's a very persuasive man and told them "My daughter is in tears, can you switch her into Ms. Duke's class?", and abracadabra, she's in Ms. Duke's class.

Her first day of school went really well and how could it not when she was outfitted with this kind of school supplies.

Do we see a trend here??? I bet no one can guess who Nikki loves right now? This has to be one of the girliest girls in the world.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was Milo's 2 month checkup (he's not quite 2 months but we went with the available appointments). WOW has this boy grown. He is now 12lbs 4 oz (75%) and 22 1/2 in (50%). He is starting to smile a ton and loves to "talk" to us.

He also thoroughly loves his baths and totally chills out when we put him in. This is one happy Buddha boy!!

I also never posted any pictures of him in his blessing outfit so here's two of my favorites. The blessing outfit was made from my mom's wedding dress.

Wednesday

Wednesday we had Mason's 6-month dental checkup. Last time we went to the dentist was a little of a nightmare. Mason did NOT cooperate and I was one of those parents that was pretty much begging my child to just stop crying, screaming, kicking, moving, etc. I was a little apprehensive this time so I bribed him before we went with a trip to McDonald's IF he could be good.

The kid was absolutely wonderful and almost fell asleep during the cleaning. Now he has beautiful, clean teeth again.

So let's bring on the candy again!!

School time is almost here!!

2008-08-13T12:58:00.010-06:00

So Nikki really wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese's before the end of summer with her BFF Sage. My wonderful husband refuses to go to Chuck E Cheese's and hates it with a passion. I'm not as tough as some of my friends (Andi) so I didn't think I could handle it on my own, so we went to Jungle Jim's instead. I have to admit that Jungle Jim's is pretty cool. It's not very nice and it's a little run down, but it has unlimited carnival type rides that the kids LOVE!! All in all I think it was a very pleasant day and Mason and Taj could hardly be seperated.

They rode the teacup saucers too many times to count!!

Even though everyone could have had their own airplane they couldn't bear to be seperated, so they rode together and shared the responsibility of making the plane go up and down.

Since there was hardly any other kids at the place the workers let them ride as long as they wanted on each ride. Unfortunately, we met a very lonely person on the jeeps that was more interested in talking to me than paying attention to the poor kids and they went around the track about 20 times before I made a reference to other rides that they might want to try (IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS!!).

Old favorites the carousel and the swing ride.

This was by far the all-time favorite of the day. The Elephant Roller Coaster. It goes around in a circle really fast and then goes backwards in a circle really fast. I am so glad I don't have to ride this with Nikki any more.

Bumper Cars.

Milo chilling out in his stroller. He was great all day until the bumper cars started and he exploded all over his clothes. Fun parenting moments to be cherished for sure.

Life with 3 kids!!

2008-08-07T12:00:00.003-06:00

Well we have been very busy the last 6 weeks adapting to life with a new baby. Our first outing with Mom and all three children alone was when Milo turned 3 weeks old. We decided to meet Nikki and Mason's BFF's at the Children's Museum in Downtown. All in all I would say that it went very well once we got into the van. The morning was quite rocky trying to get everyone dressed and meet someone at a specific time but we made it and mom only had to yell a few times. My cameras batteries were dead so this is this best picture I could get.

Nikki has definitely stepped into her role as the BIG sister. She loves holding Milo every chance she gets and he seems to enjoy it as well. Of course it has become increasingly convenient for her to hold him while we are trying to clean, because he is just toooooo upset to sit in his swing.

Poor Mason has been thrown out of his room to make way for Milo and he is finally adjusting. Again Nikki has been great about being the BIG sister and welcoming him into her room. We haven't painted the pink walls but we did put in bunk beds and covered his part of the walls with his favorite people Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man. He still wants a Spiderman poster and Hulk. We caught them laying in bed the other night and Nikki was reading to him and they were just laughing their heads off. These are the moments that make you proud as a mom!!

I wanted to post a few pictures of Milo since everyone keeps getting on to me. He has grown so much. He is five weeks old in these pictures and he already weighs 10.5 lbs. He still rarely cries but the grunting is a bit out of control. He has also learned that he does not like to be alone or set down when he is awake. He has no problem sleeping in his crib in his room at night and during his naps, but if the boy is awake he lets out these small little whines every few seconds until someone picks him up. I know doctors say babies can't manipulate at this age but if that is the case then my babies are GENIUSES because they know exactly how to get what they want.

Life Goes On

2008-07-15T12:49:00.003-06:00

Now that all the visitors are gone we are trying to return to our normal life.

We miss papa & lita everyday, and I miss the cousins that occupied Nikki and Mason. Nikki and Mason are constantly asking to hold "baby Milo" and I actually feel a little bad for the poor guy being passed around so much.

This is Nikki's favorite position.

And, Mason loves to hold him about 20 times a day, but for only 20 seconds at a time. Just enough time for him to say "Mom, take a picture of me" and then "I'm done, you take him."

Nikki starts school in a month and so I decided we probably needed to venture out on our own and buy some school uniforms before they were all gone. I couldn't help but laugh at my son's outfit yesterday though. Mason definitely has a mind of his own when it comes to style. He doesn't like anything pink or girly, but he has no problem wearing Minnie Mouse sunglasses and cowboy boots with shorts. We are going to Disney World at Christmas and I think we "need" to pick him up his very own Mickey Mouse sunglasses. As we walked through the mall everyone kept pointing at him and saying "oh, how cute!", but I know in their minds they were looking at me thinking "does she let her poor son dress himself????" and the answer is yes, it just isn't worth the fight anymore, and just look at him, He's definitely happy with himself!!!

I also thought I would post these last two pictures. Mason was a few days younger than Milo, but you can see the resemblance.

Mason, four days old.

Milo, 11 days old.

2008-07-07T19:09:00.003-06:00

Milo is here!!!!

Since I'm apparently awful at the whole blogger thing I thought I would at least put a picture of our newest member. Milo was born on June 26th and was 19 inches long and 7 lbs 14 oz. So far he is a great baby. He sleeps and eats like a champ and hardly ever cries (he is more of a grunter when he's hungry or needs a new diaper). He is 11 days old now and is finally starting to wake up a little more often. Nikki and Mason absolutely adore him and for some odd reason can't wait until we will let them change his diapers.

2007-10-05T15:32:00.001-06:00

2007-10-05T15:29:00.001-06:00

2007-10-05T15:22:00.000-06:00

2007-04-25T10:32:00.000-06:00

NIKKI'S SPIRIT WEEK

This week was Lakeview Academy's Spirit Week.

Nikki and Sage (Nikki's BFF) loved participating. Monday was dress up as your favorite book character (which these days means movie). Nikki dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Sage was Cinderella (in case you couldn't tell).

Tuesday was TWIN day, and Nikki and Sage were not happy with just matching T-shirts they insisted that even their shoes needed to match. I asked Nikki when she came home if anyone else dressed up as twins and she said "yeah other people tried but it didn't work out so well". Good thing they had EVERYTHING matching.

Wednesday was our favorite day, Crazy Hair Day. Nikki actually came up with this idea. I tried to get her to do the Sanjaya mohawk but I think her idea was better.

Thursday is crazy shoe and sock day, and Friday is Spirit Day and you dress in school colors (navy blue and silver) but I posted pictures before this happened. Besides I think the last two days are a little lame when you have to still stay in uniform. I'm trying to be a good parent and not tell my daughter how lame I really think it is. I figure she has plenty of time to form her own opinions about lameness.

2007-04-09T20:27:00.000-06:00

Easter Sunday

I was told by Andi that I needed to add text to my post. I'm just happy if I can get a picture up, but here you go Andi.

Easter Sunday was great my mom (I would just put her first name but since both of our moms are Teri and Terie I'll specify by last name), Lita Anguiano, made these dresses for Nikki and Mikelle. They absolutely loved their dresses and Mikelle's mom told her that every time she wears this dress it's like Lita is hugging her. Awwwww, how sweet.

We always have an easter egg hunt with my brothers family (Tony) and I will try to post some pictures of that later. Then we had dinner with Gouch's brothers (Eric and Michelle and their 7 kids, Tim and Annaliese, Don a family friend, and Tony and Sarah and their 2 kids). It was a full house!!! We also did cascarones (confetti eggs) and although all the adults except my accomodating husband and brother (who will do anything for homemade cookies) and me were party poopers and wimps (excuse the harsh language) the nieces and nephews absolutely LOVE cracking the eggs.

It was a really fun day visiting with family and I always love a good excuse to dress my beautiful kids up and take a few pictures. Notice Mason's cheese face is relaxing a little.

2007-03-27T14:32:00.000-06:00

Well, We are real loosers, we have not added anything to our Blog is a very long time, so I am going to try to be better at this. There is not a ton going on right now. We are planning on spending the next few weekends getting the yard all pretty for the summer. We are going to sand down the deck and repaint it. Then, we are going to get some concrete curbing around the play area and the flower beds.

Here is a picture of the kids, Nikki is wearing some Hand me down Jami's from her cousin Jeffrey, and Mason is wear one of his Halloween costumes. Notice that is cheese face is a little less aggressive than it has been in the past.

2006-12-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Happy 6th Birthday Nikki!!!

Nikki's Birthday party was on Saturday the 16th of December (Her Birthday is Dec. 19th).
She had a great time. We went to a smaller party this year and only seven guests (opposed to the 16 guests she has had in the past). It was fabulous. They were all so well behaved, and I think having a party at 10:30 a.m. is the way to go, half of them didn't even seem to be awake all the way.

Nikki wanted a 12 Dancing Princess Party this year and so we had crowns instead of party hats. Mason wanted to participate and even though we had a dragon hat for him he insisted on wearing the same head wear as the others.

I do wonder where the years of violent bashing of pinatas has gone, we bought a pinata this year for her and you each take turns pulling a ribbon until the candy falls out. Where is the fun in that? No wonder youth are so aggressive these days, they have no outlets :o)

And her one wish for her birthday was an Easy Bake Oven. What are mom and dad thinking??? We are having fun making teeny tiny little cakes and eating them off of her teeny tiny tea set.

2006-12-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

And They Danced and They Danced and They Danced and They Danced:

This is a picture of Nikki at her recital for her dance class. I know that I am biased, but she is without a doubt the prettiest Little girl in the World. Other Dad's may think that their daughters are the prettiest, but there are wrong.

Shown in the Picture are Nikki's Friends, Abby (Back Left), Eliza (Back Right), and her Teach Matika. Nikki is the one in the middle.

This is Nikki in Here Recital outfit in front of our Christmas tree at Home. We tried to get Mason in the picture as well, but he would not have it. I am telling you it was the best Dance recital ever. We showed up at the teachers house, sat down, watched just Nikki's class dance, and then we were out of there. 20 minutes instead of the usual crowded school gymnasium were you spend two hours watching other peoples kids just so that you can see yours dance for three minutes. It really was great.

Nikki loves to dance and she is very good at it. She really is the best little girl I know. She does not have a mean bone in her body and she loves her little brother so much. We could not have asked for a better daughter.

2006-12-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

It's a Small World: But It is really Pricey

We have been back from our trip to Disney with Eric, Michelle, and My Parents for over a month now, and I decided that it is time to post some more pictures. Anna posted some great picturs, but I wanted to add a few.
This is Nikki with Chip N Dale. I just think that this is a cute picture

Here is a picture of us with Pluto. He had just had an accident on the carpert hence my." It's Stinky" face.

2006-11-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

THIS IS HALLOWEEN!!!

I'm so bummed!! My camera had major issues (thanks to a little technical handling by two-year-old Mason) and all of my pictures turned out blurry.

This first picture shows are beautiful children. Tony is holding Superman Austin, next is Sir Knight Mason, Cinderella Nikki, Christmas Belle Mikelle, and Dr. Jeslyn. Austin bowed out for this next picture.

Next, Sir Knight Mason, Sir Knight Gouch, Fat Bat Tony, and Super-Sized Hero Michael pose for a quick picture.

Snow White Anna, Framer Nikki, Mom Sarah pose with their kids.

And last but not least look at these happy brothers and sister. Aren't we a sight.

2006-10-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is our Disney World trip. We went to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and dressed up as princesses and knights. It was AWESOME!!! There were hardly any lines and the parade was amazing.

This picture of Mason is his new "Cheese" Face. Anytime we pull the camera out he would say cheese and close one eye.