Spring Break Fun

We went to mom and dad's house, of course, for our rather not so much fun, kids are sick, people are puking and pooping spring break. We did have some fun moments, though. I must look on the bright side and post the "fun" pics!

Cita had the wonderful idea of getting some bubble blowing guns that were battery operated. A gallon full of bubbles and we were all set. They used every last drop of suds.

It was actually hot enough to get out the slipnslide and enjoy the warm, well hot, sunburning my face, weather. The best part was seeing Campbell enjoy herself in the water. This was her first official date with a slipnslide.

Slade really got into the kite flying. He ran all over the place with that darn thing and really got it to fly. Mom bought some really tough canvas kites this past weekend at Academy and we will try them out next time we go home.

This is the face of pure fun! He learned the "run and slide" maneuver - which worked well for him. I once ran from the top of the cement stairs onto our slipnslide in the very yard in this photo. I slipped on the stairs on the way down and busted my head open. One Emergency room visit, deadening shots, and a blood soaked towel later, I was stitched up and sent home to see the blood stained slipnslide. I still vaguely remember my mother holding a towel to my head and me screaming my head off. I don't recommend the "stair running" maneuver. Do it at your own risk!

Happy 61st Birthday, Big Dad! The cake was dry-again. I am sticking to my KP Creations lady for now on. I hate a dry cake, but love a good pic of some kiddos and their grandad. Please look at Campbell's face-cheeseball!

The most wonderful sight-my children aren't arguing!

Working diligently on the kite string.

And yes, babies can fly kites-especially chunky monkeys!!!

Soccer Sis

It's too late to write much and I'm tired, but I had to put up these too cute pics from Saturday. Slade had a soccer game and Finley sported her new outfit, made especially for brother's soccer game days! It turned out too cute. Just so you know, the Panthers are red and black-so we had to have team spirit!!!
I'm not sure soccer ball material would be cute on very many things, but this one was a hit! How cute is she?!?

Sweet little monogram-Slade liked that her shirt said this.

And of course, the matching soccer ball ribbon bow! Precious. BTW-the game ended in a 3-3 tie and was miserably cold and windy! Slade did really well and got in some great kicks, no thanks to the wind.

Llama or Goat?

Set the scene: Dad, Brandi, Campbell, and Finley in Dad's truck at the ranch. They are feeding the goats corn. Most of the goats are black and white. Amidst all of the goats is a large brown llama-they evidently are very protective over the goats and keep away hunting animals, aka.bobcats.

Brandi - "Look at all these goats, Finley"

Finley - "I see the goats."

Brandi - "Finley, what is that big brown animal (referring to the llama)?"

Finley - "A REALLY big goat!"

Brandi(laughing hysterically) - "No, that's a llama."

A few minutes pass.

There are some sweet brand new baby goats, but they are brown. Finley has the memory of an elephant and remembers the brown llama.

Finley - "Look at those little baby llamas!"

Brandi (laughing again) - "No, those are brown, but they are baby goats.

Poor Finley, just can't win for losing!!!

Just thought you might need a laugh today. I know I do!

I'm THAT Parent!

I have come to a scary conclusion. I have become the parent that I hated when I taught school. I am pathetically so happy that my child is going back to school tomorrow-I know, it's awful. I feel really bad to say that, being that I am a fellow teacher myself. When I taught school, I dreamed of the 3:42 bell to ring, the Christmas holidays, Spring Break, and the most wonderful week of the year - the last of May. But my children have puked, fought, hit, wrestled, cried, whined, screamed, and bickered for the past week and I cannot wait for the structure to come back into our lives. It's not that I want them to leave, we just need our schedule again instead of craziness. I am aware that I need to do some clever activity planning for the upcoming summer to keep my children "engaged" instead of at each others throats. There are a few things I've learned from Spring Break 2009.

1. I hate scraping barf off of clothing.
2. A petite, 28 lb. two-year-old can get in some damaging blows to her six year old nemesis.
3. Slade can eat a bag of Goldfish all by himself, in one sitting.
4. The person that scheduled a soccer game for the weekend of spring break is an idiot or terribly uninformed.
5. A glass of wine makes the sound of your kids screaming go down a few octaves.
6. A Nintendo DS can actually save the sanity of the car's driver.
7. You can actually get the slip-n-slide out in March in West Texas.
8. You can actually sunburn your face outdoors in March in West Texas.
9. Coco Pebbles will dry up and stick like concrete to plastic if left outdoors.
10. Rats travel well in the car.
11. Augmentin can wreak havoc on a household and run up your Tide bill.
12. Only buy "well made" kites-the plastic ones don't cut it.
13. They actually make diet Mountain Dew.
14. You don't have to spend money to have an eventful spring break-I didn't say if it was fun or not.
15. When you buy Junior Mints from Duckwalls in Iraan, Texas-expect them to be stale.
16. And last but for sure not least, there should a "Million Teacher March" held in Washington, D.C. to protest teacher salaries. Something I've always known, but was refreshed upon my mind this past week. Pure Saints, those people are-they should have their own holiday dedicated to them-like a month long one.

Hope you had a nice week-and give all the teachers in your life a big fat hug! Did I mention I hate scraping barf off of clothing?

Good Times, As My Friend, Beth, Would Say...

It just wouldn't be my blog if I didn't speak about the bodily fluids of my children-at least once per week. I just have to blow off some steam, so exit now if you'd like. I have to say that I am so sick of cleaning up barf and bad diapers, that I'm about to loose my mind. I'm mean, seriously, I'm in a foul mood. I cannot fathom why my kids are bulimic-prone. I am about to scream. Let me just say that SINCE the whole Smart family came down with the stomach bug three weeks ago, Slade has been sick and puked, ran fever, and had croup. Kyle got sick with a nasty stomach bug AGAIN last Sunday. I went nuts and cleaned everything with bleach-as if a horrible CSI episode crime had been committed in our house and I was the cleaning crew. Then Campbell gets the stomach bug on Tuesday. Ok, so she was never around Kyle at all, so those bugs weren't related. So then Nana feels terrible (you know I'm in Iraan this week for spring break) all day yesterday with her stomach grumbling and Brandi goes to bed with hers hurting. At this point, put me in a bubble! I cannot bare to have another stomach bug. Oh, but the fun hasn't let up with Finley's Augmentin poops. I mean serious diapers and spillage AT LEAST 4-5 times per day. It ran into her shoes yesterday-she had three baths. Then today we go into Iraan. She wore 4 different outfits today if that tells you anything. The kicker of the day is that she barfed at the table in the one of two restaurants in the whole town. You know the little red baskets they they put a tissue paper lining in? Well, that was the barf catcher along with some of it on the table, her clothes, floor, salt shaker, and my purse. Then she continues to eat her watermelon after we get her cleaned up-she never misses a beat. If you've never been in a restaurant and had a child barf, you are really missing out. I mean, it's soooo appetizing to the other patrons, and the embarrassment is just unmistakable. I was figuring up the places that my children have puked and it's quite amazing really. Let's see......Isabella's(Iraan Restaurant), the Iraan Public Library, Cattle Baron, The Polar Express, IHOP(that one was particularly lovely), Logan's(let's not forget it was for my birthday lunch-yipee), Covenant Medical Group Offices(the projectile vomit actually scared the nurse that time), Smith Elementary School Cafeteria, Monterey Church of Christ, and too many car seats to even begin to count. Oh, and the real gold medal incident was when we were invited as "GUESTS" to the Hillcrest Country Club swimming pool. Slade barfed in the pool and everyone had to get out. That was particularly embarrassing-and no, we were never asked back. That's only the public areas that I can count tonight in my delirium, off the top of my head. Let's just say that if you've ever eaten at a popular restaurant chain, there's a really good chance one of my children has barfed there. Please invite us over to your home so we can add to our puke list. I think there may be something wrong with them! Do you see why I'm about to snap! GEEEEZZZZ. So no, Crystal, I am seriously disappointed that I will not be able to come by and see the twins this week. Even if we stand outside, we'd probably puke on your glass door! Good times!

By Golly, It Worked!

Ok, so I have a handy dandy new trick for all mom's out there who have babies or toddlers with diaper rash. You won't believe it when I tell you, though. Yep, it's flour, but let's start from the beginning. An old friend from high school had told me during a phone conversation that her baby had terrible diaper rash when he was sick. She had tried everything-Butt Paste, A&D ointment, Desitin, etc. Mentioning the problem to her grandmother one day, Nana told her a tried-and-true old remedy for diaper rash. Now listen closely - you pour flour in a skillet and cook it on medium heat until yellowy-brown, stirring continuously. Then put into a salt shaker and go to town on those red bums!!! My friend of course thought this was craziness talking and went on about her business. Once again, the baby had diaper rash and her grandmother scolded her because she had not cooked up any flour! So she did it and it worked like a charm for baby Braxton! So the story continues. Finley had her monthly sinus infection and was given Augmentin on Saturday. Works wonderfully, but tears up her little belly. She has terrible "loose stool". Ok, so aka: diarrhea, but I was trying to be proper at the moment. Her hiney is beet red and she screams when I try to wipe it. (Quick side note-rinse out your baby wipes when using them on red skin-the alcohol is terrible and burns the fire out of their diaper rashed hineys. Just wet them with water, wring out, and place back into the wipe container) So I placed a quick call to my friend, making sure I had all the directions correct, and I cooked up some yellow flour last night. I put it in a shaker and Viola-it's is so working. Her hiney has gone from bright, almost blistery red, to pink, to a hint of pink here and there-all in about 12 hours. I mean who would have ever thought it really worked! And sooooo cheap. You know how much diaper rash ointments cost. Girls, I'm thinking it's worth your 15 minutes of stir time and a salt shaker to try this! And if you have no kiddos yet, store it up in your future mom memory-it might come in handy one day when you have a baby that has a mean case of blistery diaper rash!

I can't finish this blog without mentioning my other fabulous diaper rash remedy. You place Aquaphor on the area followed by a good thick coat of Corona. This was told to me by the nurse at Slade's pediatrician's office. It works quite well, but you must use it together or you won't get the same healing effect. Aquaphor is made by Eucerin and Corona is in the pharmacy department in a yellow container with a red lid. Both will last you forever. First time mothers beware-Corona says it's for horses. Don't be scared, I've used it and my child and he is still alive and still has a rear, nevertheless. Corona is also wonderful for dry skin problems, scratchy rough feet, and much more. I love this remedy but just decided to try the flour technique out of curiosity. The flour is by far the cheapest.

How Tired Are You?

Sometimes I feel this tired!!!! Hope everyone gets some good Spring Break REST!

Random Thoughts Friday

Yeah-It's Friday! And the 13th, which means that it's officially four months till Finley's birthday. We have decided to do away with the "Friday the 13th" superstition and make the 13th our Lucky 13! After all, look at the sweet baby girl that arrived in our family on the 13th!!! Crazy week here. Well, aren't they all. But the time change and being the week before spring break has made all week chaotic. You seriously may not want to read the goings on in my life, but whatever. Let's see...................

Monday-Slade ran fever all Sunday night and stayed up half the night. So he couldn't go to school on Monday and rested all day. I took Finley to music and Kyle had to come home bc Slade slept till 10:55 that morning. I guess he was just exhausted. Kept Miss Campbell and they all three fought all day. Campbell would irritate Slade by turning of the television and running away. Slade told me he was sick of Campbell! Such love around here, haha!

Tuesday-Got everyone off to school and started to run the weekly errands. Then I get a call at 11:30 telling me Slade puked at school. Nice! So I run to pick him up from school, go get Gatorade and crackers, and purchase Beverly Hills Chihuahua(sick boy talked me into that-one of my weaker moments). I had never been called by the school nurse before-it was kinda funny to me-I don't know why! Basically he was chipper all afternoon so I'm thinking he could have stayed at school, oh well. Then I pick up Finley, made a desert for a trunk show I was helping with, made a few more necklaces to take to the show, pack up dinner for the kids, drop them off at Brandi's, and off to the trunk show till 8pm.

Wednesday-Gymnastics class for Finley-Campbell acted terrible, ran around like a crazy woman, and made a little boy cry by screaming at him. She pulled him to the ground by his sweater, but I truly think she was wanting him to play with her but it scared him. Then she figured out that she could go to other side of the gym and run into all the equipment. I think I should have sat in the car-and will next time. It wasn't pleasant. Also I took our little neighbor with us to class because her brother was sick. She acted the nicest, BTW! Made stew. Had a playgroup at the house with EIGHT kids-yes, that is alot. They left at 2:30 and I put the girls in the car and they were out cold. I sat in the parking lot and waited for Slade and let them sleep. When I got back, I started working on my friend's baby shower invitations. They took a long time and I still have 6 left to do, but man are they cute. Took those to my friends at 9pm and got back to the house at 9:45. Went twice to the gas station and didn't have my purse to get gas either time. Yes, twice. Kyle filled me up late that night.

Thursday-Got my hair cut and colored. It was soooo nice to sit! Tandy showed me how to curl my hair in big spiral curls. It was so cute! I don't know if I can replicate it, though. I'll have to practice. Worked on some bills, picked up both kids. Kyle was working late, so the kids and I went over to Angela's to have pizza for dinner with them. They played for a while. We got home at 7:45 and Finley was asleep. Put her to bed, and I did my new Jillian Michael's workout DVD as Slade watched. More about that later. Did Slade's homework and read his library book and sent him to bed. Then I tried to recover from the DVD and I laid on the couch and watched my DVR'd Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

Friday-Whhheeeewwwww, I'm tired. And I didn't even get paid! haha! I'm a Professional Mom! Jack of All Trades, Master of None. Finley slept till 8:50 this morning, which was 13 hours! Lucky 13 again! I've got the sore throat. Mom and Nana are coming today and I must finish those last invitations and get them in the mail. I cannot post pics for awhile bc my laptop has a virus(actually many viruses) and is going to have to go with the computer guy. It went crazy the other night and keeps shutting down. I'm typing on Slade's computer and have no photos on here, so no Flashback Friday. It's really cold and rainy today. Did I mention the time change has really got to us this week?????

Happy Friday, Ya'll.......And May Your 13th Be LUCKY!!!

Should I or Shouldn't I???

Ok, Jerilyn, and anyone else that would like to give me their input - I'm thinking about starting to read the first book of the Twilight series. Will I like it? I'm usually a Mary Higgins Clark mystery kinda girl and Janet Evanovich fan, so I have a hard time venturing away from my usual authors. Tell me what ya'll think.

Go Mats, Go!!!

Slade had his friend, Jackson, spend the night yesterday and we went to the Boys Regional Playoff games at the Tech Spirit Area last night. We caught the end of the Seminole/Liberty Hill game and watched Estacado play Burkburnett. I was a great game and Estacado ended up winning and will play Seminole at 7pm tonight. The funniest thing was that the boys were cheering at one point. Jackson was yelling, "Dribble It, Pass It, We want a Basket!" Slade(having not seen many basketball games in his short life although he did go to the State BBall Tournament in Austin when he was a baby) was yelling, "Make the Shoot!", instead of "shot". Kyle and I were getting tickled. And Miss Finley, never missing a thing, was yelling, "Go Mats!" (as in Estacado Matadors) as she ate her fruit roll ups.

After last night, I have come to the conclusion that Jackson's parents have a much calmer child and have done a better job of making their children behave in public. Maybe we still have time for some correction of our parenting skills in that area. Also, the five dollar Cokes at the Spirit Arena a such a rip-off. I mean, were we at the movies????

The boys stayed up really late last night, so I was excited that we were going to get to sleep in this morning. WRONG! I woke up to voices in our kitchen- they were eating breakfast with Kyle at ten till eight this morning. Nice boys! I forgot how excited you are when friends come sleep over and sleep isn't on the agenda! Well, at least they'll sleep good tonight! They are having a ball-I love it!!!

Happy Saturday to all!

Flashback Friday

Molly, Kyle, Margaret - October 1998. We were going to a wedding in Lubbock and stopped here at a cousins house to have Kyle's tie tied! Kyle looked at this picture and thought that the pager may not have been necessary for a wedding, haha!!!

Hairs to You!

Ok, so I can say now that I think my daughter may actually have some hair! It has been a slow process the past 2 1/2 years, but it does look fuller to me. People have been encouraging me for awhile now, telling me that she will have hair. Some days I had my doubts. But I do think I can agree with them-I see the light or the hair shall I say. Tandy has been trimming it and said it will thicken up. I think it's doing the trick!

It's actually a really cute little cut-kinda bobish in the back. It looks thicker, right?!?

And here's the new "Do" of the week. I normally do piggie tails but we changed this week. On Monday, I had purchased a small curling iron and was curling my hair outwards.I decided to try the "curl out" on Finley's. Viola! I looks really cute I think. Our friends have been commenting on it all week. I love it. Sadly, though, I do think she looks older with her new style.
But they do grow and whatcha gonna do about it? Cutie Pie!

SandMan

I asked if she had eaten sand............ She shook her head "no".

I think she lied.

It was in her eyes, too.

I wiped it out of her tear ducts. Welcome to the sandpile, Campbell! Next time, I bet you throw it!

Just Stumbled Across.....

this yummy new drink. Well, new to me anyways! If you know me, you know I loooovvvveee Ginger Ale. I found a love for it while pregnant with Slade and sick at my stomach. It really does settle an upset tummy and just taste good on any other day. Although I love it, I don't normally drink anything with sugar, so it has been just a rare treat. But that has all changed! On a quick trip to United, I was buying Gatorade and ginger ale for all of our stomach bug mess this past week. And low and behold, I found DIET White Rock ginger ale. Which means no sugar, sweetened with Splenda! White Rock is the best brand, my favorite brand. It is soooo good and now will be a staple on my shelf. I wish I could find it in a can like this photo, but I've only seen it in a small liter bottle-but it will do for now! Cheers!