Smarty Pants

Five Things

2012-02-16T17:48:00.003-06:00

Five things about..............

Slade

1. He is an "expert" at geography. If you name a place, he probably knows where it is.

2. He loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Reads the entire book the afternoon he gets them(I think he gets this from me)

3. He still can't tie his shoes. Well he can't tie them very tight. He can locate Utrecht, Netherlands on a map but can't tie his shoes tight. Go figure.

4. He hates to buy shoes or clothes. He's would be fine with one pair of jeans or shoes-ever.

5. He takes at least a 20 minute shower every morning. And sometimes he walks out 20 minutes later and never put any shampoo in his hair.

Finley

1. She is great at puzzles. She can put together really hard ones!

2. She loves fashion. She tells Kyle what to wear to church every Sunday morning.

3. She loves anything chocolate.

4. She only weighs 34 pounds. Lightweight.

5. She loves to watch Cupcake Wars and Cake Boss.

Gunnar

1. His favorite item to hold is a broom or rag.

2. He loves to take anything out of any cabinet at any time.

3. When asked what the cow says, he replies......"boooooo". It so stinkin' cute.

4. Black beans are some of his favorite foods to eat.

5. He hardly ever spit up as an infant. Unbelievable in this family.

Chey-Anne

1. I don't consider peanut butter a dessert. And I really don't like it as a meal. It kinds gags me unless it's in a Reese's Pieces cup.

2. I hate shopping-especially at Wal-Mart.

3. I love to cook new recipes-I will try pretty much anything. Unless it has peanut butter.

4. My husband has bought me all the nice purses I've ever owned. I'm not into purses-very ungirly of me, right?!?

5. I secretly love to watch Good Luck, Charlie that comes on the Disney Channel with Finley.

Kyle

1. He doesn't like to hunt animals. Very unboyish of him, right?!?

2. He loves cherry coke, steak, and cookies & creme Hershey bars.

3. He hates the taste of beer.

4. One of his favorite movies is Coal Miner's Daughter. Isn't that a scream!!!

5. He shared a room with his brother his entire childhood.

Milk and Cookies Baby Shower

2012-02-11T07:15:00.041-06:00

Kristen, this blog's for you!

My dear friend, Beth, is having a baby girl in March! We are super excited!

Chey-Anne, Anndee, & Melissa-the Hostesses with the Mostesses. This is Beth's second baby so we decided to do something different than her first shower.

We threw her a Milk and Cookies Shower!

Baby Laney, we cannot wait to meet you!

The "L" is made from Cookie Crisp cereal.

Anndee made some yummy pink cupcakes!

We also had four different types of cookies.

Rylee & Melissa

Fin & myself

They wanted to eat the fortune cookies the night before while we were decorating!

Theresa & Melissa

The cups were dipped in white chocolate and Finley put the pink sprinkles on, then topped with a sugar cookie.

And of course, we had to have milk!

All the little girls kept hovering around the table-there were alot of cookies to choose from!

Some of Beth's work friends.

This is Beth opening a gift from here mom. Her mom handmade her some precious blankets and burp cloths. They were too cute!

Melissa made her this snazzy wreath-she can take it to the hospital to hang on her door, too!

The hostesses gave her diapers, a Diaper Champ, and a pair of monogrammed bloomers!

Melissa T. & Angela

More sneaky little girls!

Anndee & Theresa

The Loot!

We love this girl!!!

The sign-in table

Miss Eryn

Beth's work buddies

These are the take-home sacks so that the guests could take extra cookies home. I cut the top off of paper sacks with my fancy scissors and stamped baby Laney's initials on them.

Beth and her mom aka Regal Linda as I like to call her! : )

All the old Cooper bunch! We all taught together at school at one point or another.

I'd say she ready for baby to come!!! And the best part is that Beth gave all three hostesses an Our Best Bites cookbook! Love it!

Pajamas & Curls........

2012-02-01T16:18:00.003-06:00

I never want to forget these sweet baby curls that flip out on his head........

Or the way he looked in these jammies..........

Slade's 9th Birthday Party

2012-01-31T16:04:00.013-06:00

On the 20th, we celebrated Slade's birthday with six friends. Six, crazy, rowdy boys!!!

Kaleb, Isaac, Slade, Nyan, Peyton, Jackson, Bob-they met at our house after school on that Friday at 5:30. They ran all over the backyard and played a little while.

Our first stop was Pizza Hut. I was thinking it would be busy and loud, but we walked in and there were two quiet families with some small kids and an older couple. I started to sweat it and got worried that they were going to be too loud. The waiter came to take our order and acted like we were perfectly welcome and they were wonderful. I felt at ease after he was so nice and we ordered them cheese and pepperoni pizzas. They acted very well-we just had to shooosh them every few minutes because they were talking like they hadn't seen each other in years!!!

Next stop, Main Event (not my favorite place at all, but I gave in on this one). They got registered for laser tag. Kyle & I just sat and waited for them to finish, about 30 minutes.

After laser tag, we gave them each a game card and they ran all over the place playing different games.

After they all ran out of money, they redeemed their points for toys.

Then we went back to our house for cookie cake and presents. Gunnar was at home asleep with a sitter and Finley was gone to Iraan.

Slade wanted a Texas Tech cookie cake.

My boy is getting so old!!!

Oh, my!!! What was funny was that they could care less about the cake. They wanted to drink. I guess they were thirsty from the games. I had alot of cookie left over.

Slade insisted on lighting his own candles. Something about boys and fire.......

They were so loud and crazy! They were running everywhere. They were just like a bunch of girls throwing their gifts at Slade for him to open. It was hilarious!!! And would you believe me if I told you Gunnar never woke up once and it was so loud!!! They played basketball outside till all the parents came to pick them up at 10pm! We really had a blast-such a fun birthday!!! This was a great group of boys!!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas......

2012-01-28T21:51:00.014-06:00

It has been a very busy month. Between birthdays, showers, well checks, illnesses, parties, movies, basketball practices, and all the regular stuff we do daily, we've been busy little bees here!!! And seeing that it is almost the end of January, I thought I would get our family Christmas morning photos up, mostly for my memories!

Up, bright and early at the 5 o'clock am hour on Christmas morning. Of course the two older were excited. Gunnar wasn't sure why he was up and what was happening?!?

Thank you, Santa, for a Rapunzel house, telescope, and four wheeler, plus some really fun stocking stuffers.

All he was really concerned about was how to get into the chocolate candy.

This just makes me laugh!!!

Sister picked out some really nice jewelry for me!

A photo collage we made for Dad to put in his office.

And it snowed. How fitting for a fun Christmas morning!!!

Birthday Fun!

2012-01-18T21:07:00.018-06:00

We've done alot of celebrating and we haven't even had Slade's actual party!!!

This past weekend was Campbell's party, so mom & Nana came up to celebrate. She had a Pinkalicious party at Jump N Jungle.

That night, we had a family dinner at Brandi's house. Slade & Campbell opened up their gifts from Cita & Nana. Our sweet January 17th babies!

Slade's little cake from Nana!

I love this photo with all my heart. Nana is January bday, too. It's a popular month in our fam!

Tuesday morning, Slade woke up to this!

He was like "what the heck"!!! And then started smiling really big!

He loved it!

Gunnar & I took cookies up to his class at the end of the school day. We walked home and when he opened up the garage, Kyle & Finley were waiting with his new bike!

Then he opened up his presents from us.

That night we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and had cupcakes with Brandi, Shane, and Campbell. The restaurant sang to them and embarrassed the dog out of Slade!

My little Smarties!!! And we still have Slade's party on Friday-let the celebrations continue! It takes alot of celebrating when you have two cousins born on the same day!!!

Happy Birthday Slade!

2012-01-17T16:30:00.001-06:00

Happy 9th Birthday, my boy!!! What fun you have brought into my life! You are a blessing!

Gage Christmas Pics!!!

2012-01-16T22:26:00.017-06:00

A Man After My Own Heart

2012-01-14T13:03:00.001-06:00

So many books, so little time...........................

Sleepy Boy

2012-01-12T13:24:00.001-06:00

Needed to document this......it VERY RARELY happens.

Makes me want to take a nap myself!

Several Random Things........

2012-01-06T19:50:00.013-06:00

I sync'd my iphone so I thought I'd share.....

At first sight, you might think this is a photo of Slade and Gunnar. Well, if you look closely, you will realize that Slade is really young in this photo. Yep, this baby would be Finley. Uncanny isn't it?!?

Yummy low fat recipe I found on Gina's Skinny Recipes. If you like broccoli it is tasty!!!

Whole grain pasta

Fresh broccoli

garlic cloves

fresh Parmesan

! I think I might be making this it alot!

How does this happen? Last year around this time this was G..........

This year, he's wearing a sporty jacket, a crazy winter hat, and riding a four wheeler. It baffles me.

This would be my daughter in mid air, jumping onto my bed. Photo courtesy of Slade. Sure are safe around here at the Smart house........

Slade helped my dad skin a deer at the ranch. He thought it was very cool! Please excuse the slit throat and dripping blood. Where are the Cullen's when you need them?!?

This is my America shirt. Circa 2001.

It's worn, soft, cozy, holey, and even has some paint smears on it. So paper thin that it's like wearing air.

It's been a trusty friend for ten years. It has been with me the duration of my marriage. I'm attached to it.

See the frayed edges? It first appeared after 9-11. A teacher I taught with got them for some of us. Then it was just an every day shirt. Then it was a workout shirt. Then a painting shirt. The past few years it's been my cleaning shirt-like as in cleaning toilets, bathtub, mopping. So soft and familiar. But Kyle came home the other day and told me to go get another shirt on-it looked awful! I said it was my cleaning shirt. He told me that surely I could find a nicer shirt to clean in. That was brutal. I'm attached to it. But it's a new year and I did it. I threw it away today. I'm a little sad but it was time. I'm thinking I got my money's worth.

Excuse him. He's having a Dum Dum. Toodles!

Owens Christmas

2012-01-06T13:00:00.013-06:00

Here are a few pics from our Christmas with my mom's side of the family! This year they came to Lubbock and we had it the second week in December because my cousin was graduating from grad school the next weekend.

It was my aunt & uncle's 29th anniversary.

Poor Dawson!

Somehow I don't have a pic of Kyle-sorry babe.

School Christmas Parties

2012-01-02T11:45:00.013-06:00

Santa came and visited Finley's school the week before Christmas break. He gave everyone a wrapped book! I was very surprised she sat on Santa's lap because she is not a fan of life-sized characters. She has been traumatized her whole life by the Chick-Fil-A cow and the mouse at ChuckECheese! I think we might have turned a corner this year!

Slade's classroom party was the week before he got out for Christmas break. It was on a Friday, and I had signed up to help out. It was my first time having Gunnar with me at a party and basically I didn't get to help the other moms at all! I spent my time chasing Gunnar around the room, who was running out the door and into the hall or ripping things off the teacher's door. He ripped an arm off of someones artwork-oops! In this photo, they are playing a game with a cookie. The person who got the cookie from their forehead to their mouth without using their hands was the winner. It was a rather difficult challenge! Ha!

Once I got him contained he just ran around the room, holding this unopened Coke can, acting like he was drinking it!

Christmas cupcakes, fruit, and a Coke!

The photon(not sure if I'm spelling this correctly???) was a big hit with G, as well. He sat on it forever. The kids thought he was so funny!

Another cute game they played at his party was the Present Game. They all sat in a circle and passed a gift around, like a cake-walk game. Whoever had the gift when the music stopped, got to unwrap the gift. About four times, it was just another gift. On the fifth gift, they unwrapped it and it was a box full of candy canes for each student. They loved it!

The let Finley do the artwork at the party too! They made Christmas cards to send to the military.

Finley at her school party.

We decorated her stocking at home and took it to school. She did almost everything by herself!

She made a nativity and beaded stocking ornament.

She had cheese & crackers, fruit, and they decorated cupcake. Gunnar had a party but I didn't go because he would have gone nuts and wanted to leave with me. Gunnar had nuggets and fruit at his party. They sent a sweet ornament with his photo in it home to me.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:31:00.002-06:00

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Sending Christmas blessings to you!

Our Life In iPhone Photos.......

2011-12-22T14:28:00.015-06:00

Along with everyone else in America, we have been very busy the last few weeks. We had Christmas with my family on the 10th and I need to load those photos. But for now, here are my iPhone photos of what we've up to.....

Slade was so excited to make it to the school-wide Spelling Bee and he did a great job! More about that later. But for now, go ahead, click on the list. See if you can spell the words!!!

And here's G-man. I just had to send Beth a pic of him in Logan's old pj's. How stinkin' cute are babies in one-piece pajamas???

Somebody was being extra quiet. I found him in Finley's Christmas candy at 9 in the morning!

Kyle got asked to go to a Cowboy's game. He was able to be real fancy-shmancy and sit in a BOX, where they ate, drank, and were merry. Except the boys lost that night, but who cares. It was fun! I was so glad he was able to go because all he does is work. He deserved a day off!

Uuggg! The beginning of this week was a doozy! Poor G started running fever Sunday night and looked HORRIBLE on Monday! We ended up at the doctor's office where we found that he had sinus, a terrible sore throat, and a right ear infection! I could not believe it about the ear because none of my children have ever had ear infections! Isn't that crazy! Somehow we've dodged that bullet all these years. Hopefully this was a fluke and we will have no more ear infections!

My boy felt so bad. He ran 102 for two days and didn't leave my lap. Cried off and on for two nights, and hates to take his medicine! It wasn't pretty at the Smart house. Mama was about to snap! He is finally feeling better today!

I took on the challenge of making Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls. I've really never done much with yeast and letting it rise and all. I did it and made a variation in her icing and all I can say is OH DEAR GOODNESS! There aren't words for the sweet goodness. I gave away about 7 plates of them (mainly so I didn't eat them-it was a great strategy!) I had lots of people happy with the way these baby's turned out!!! And yes, I agree, the bottom of my oven could use a good cleaning but no, I don't want to mess with that.

G really is loving books. Brings them to me 12 times per day and gets really excited when I read them to him!

Would you look at this! Rob the Elf wrote "joy" in toothpaste on my bathroom counter.

This is how I found Slade one morning-still in clothes. He is a night owl after my own heart. I have no idea how long he stayed up. I hope he didn't go out on the town without me knowing about it.

My three Smarts.

Finley before church last Sunday.

Slade in red at the Spelling Bee. He ended up going out at the end of the fourth round. Out of a little over 50 kids, he made it all the way to #13, with #1 being the winner! I was so proud of him!!!

Lakeridge Christmas Program

2011-12-17T19:25:00.015-06:00

Finley and Gunnar had their Christmas program last week at school.

Finley had to wear her Sunday-best clothes, so we picked this cute black & white dress. We had sponge rolled her hair the night before and when she woke up, it was a bit crazy! We ended up putting it in a ponytail. There were lots of curls in the back and it looked cute, but you can't see all of our work in the photo.

Finley and her precious teacher, Mrs. Rankin.

Gunnar's program was at 9:15. He rode into the sanctuary in the red buggy! He never noticed us sitting right by the isle.

He didn't do much singing during his program. He just took in all his surroundings! He actually acted perfect! He had lots to watch!

Finley's program was at 10:00 and her class performed many sweet Christmas songs.

She also left mid-program and came out dressed as an angel!

She also had a speaking part in the program! She said, "Glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace to men. To whom his favor rests."

She did great-even with her silver halo tipping over is her eyes a bit!

We were very proud of our "angel" girl!

Allie & Finley-afterwards we had a punch and cookie reception! So cute!

Gunnar-13 Months

2011-12-14T22:04:00.003-06:00

I don't have much time to blog tonight, but I must write these things down before I forget! I don't know how much longer I will do a monthly play-by-play with Gunnar, but there are just so many new things he's still doing. He turned 13 months on November 27th and he really seems like a baby toddler instead of just a baby baby (you know what I mean). Anyways, here are a few things that I love............

1. He brings me his shoes when he wants to go outside (how darn cute is that!?!). And he wants to go outside ALL.THE.TIME. Winter is tough on this Little Dude and it has been way too cold to play in the yard. He basically cries and throws himself on the floor if anyone goes out the garage door without him. It's a sad sight.

2. I am amazed that he has pretty much left the Christmas tree alone. Maybe once per day I catch him pulling off an ornament or once maybe he will whack it with his broom. Other than that, nothing! And he has not so much as laid a finger on a gift. Isn't that crazy. He's very disciplined with the fake spruce.

3. I had been noticing him "popping" his lips and didn't know what he was doing. Come to find out, he starting doing it and patted his little leg a few times........He's calling Bella!!! Just like we call the dog!!! I love it!!!

4. Cleaning. I could speak about this all day. This child loves to clean. He loves his broom. He cries for my mop. He rides the vacuum. He runs his toy Dustbuster all over the house on his knees. And the new thing this week is a rag. He cries for me to give him a rag out of the drawer or when I wipe his hands. He will scrub just about every surface. And today, he wouldn't take the rag and was mad. I figured out, he wanted it damp!!! Honestly! What can I say. We are living with Mr. Clean himself!!! Is it safe to put some Pledge on his rag and set him loose???

5. I'm thinking that he might be really smart. Ok, he is smart. We give him a piece of paper and tell him to take it to the trash. And he does. Lifts the lid, puts in the trash, and shuts the lids, and then grins. Yep, he's smart. Although we now check the trash regularly to see what non-trash things he's thrown away!

What a fun month it has been!!!

Pesky Lil' Elf

2011-12-11T19:43:00.002-06:00

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2011-12-06T23:38:00.004-06:00

I'm talking REALLY cold! It stayed in the twenties all day today and the high is NINE tonight! Geez! I love cold weather but this is kinda hurts to breath kinda cold. The wind didn't blow so at least it was calm, cold. I got to bust out all my scarves and wear my favorite snow hat!

Gunnar and Finley were wanting to join Slade outside so bad, so it took about 20 minutes to bundle all up. We still didn't have gloves for them. And when we finally made it outdoors, they both started crying immediately.

Finley was furious because good'ole big brother hit her with a snowball, of course. Doesn't that sound just like an eight year old brother!!!

And this dude has never seen much rain, much less snow! He wants to touch it so bad, but it really hurts his little hands!!!

Gamers

2011-12-05T19:34:00.000-06:00

Give me a break!!! LOL!

Rob, the Elf

2011-12-04T16:49:00.002-06:00

Our Elf on a Shelf, Rob, has returned. I'm not sure what has happened since last Christmas, but he seems to be very mischievous this year!

The first night he appeared, he hung a pair of underware, a pair of panties, and a diaper to our Christmas tree! The next night he just moved to the mantle and sat there .

Last night he made his way to the entertainment center and knocked over my Merry Christmas wooden blocks. I'm not sure what has gotten into him!!! Can't wait to see what he might get into next! I'm starting to think he might be a teenage elf?!?

Real Men Play With Pink.....

2011-11-30T22:19:00.004-06:00

The poor third child gets all the leftover toys.

And sometimes they happen to be pink!

"Man, why can't I get some of my own manly bath toys?!?"

My Little Pilgrim

2011-11-29T22:16:00.005-06:00

Finley was a pilgrim at her Fall Festival the week before Thanksgiving.

How cute are they? The boy beside her is Sam. During the festival, the kids went to many different stations and worked on different projects. They also had a Thanksgiving feast.

And this is her kindergarten class. I wonder if any pilgrims ever wore pink leggins?

I was in charge of making the Thanksgiving treats for Gunnar's class. I found the idea on Pinterest. They had some turkey Cheerios! Ha! Gunnar thoroughly enjoyed tearing the feathers off his turkey! Finley helped me make them with our scrapbook paper scraps and extra baby food jars. They turned out pretty cute.

The Twilight Saga

2011-11-28T14:58:00.008-06:00

This shirt makes sense to some people. Mainly the people who would camp outside of theaters. Or just regular mom's that love vampires. Average folks.

Maybe you've heard of a little set of books called The Twilight Saga...........I may or may not be on the obsessive side of loving these books. And since I love the books, it's only natural that I go see all the movies. And I might or might not be a Rob stalker, but that's a whole other blog post. Or not. Maybe I will keep the stalking to myself.

So if you live on the planet, you know that Breaking Dawn Part 1 came out on November 18th!!! Yay! It's the 4th movie of 5, which means I have to wait one whole year to see the last one. Whatever will I do!?! Anyways, Brandi and myself went to the midnight showing of the movie.

I've had the tickets for about two months and they were burning a hole in my pocket! So when that Thursday night rolled around, we were ready. My Twilight partner in crime, Nat, was not able to make it to Lubbock to watch the movie with me, but we sent each other wonderful vampire goodies to take to the movies. One of mine being this cute feather/wood headband that I'm wearing over my hat. Nat made one for Brandi and me.

And just for good times, I had to take some pics with one of Nat's favorite photos of Rob and send it to her on my phone. We love Rob. We might stalk his house.....if he owned one, but he doesn't. He just lives out of hotels. Or stays with Kristen Stewart (Nat, close your ears and don't listen to me saying that. Nat is not a KS fan.)

And I sent Nat this shirt in white (see first photo of the blog). Like I said, it has special meaning to fools like us.

Basically Brandi and I went to the movies matching. Like twins with different colored hair. Like we were kids in elementary school except we are in our thirties. My other Twilight friends got tickets to the other theater, so it was was just the Gage girls.

And this is a horrible iphone photo of me in the dark outside the movie theater. I was really really cold and the line was wrapped around the side of the entire theater. Even though I had tickets, we still had to stand in line for a great seat. We went at 9pm and stood in line. They let us inside at 10 and we sat till midnight. Yes, that's three hours. A small price to pay in the eyes of a Twilight fan. We scored good seats.

This is us waiting in the theater sometime after 10pm. Brandi played her ipad and visited with the 19 year old college girls sitting beside us. We found it hilarious that we were competing for theater seats with people born in the 90's. A normal person might be embarrassed about this fact but not a Twilight fan. We are comfortable in our decisions.

The movie was great although I was very disgruntled with the ending. Disgruntled because I was left hanging for ONE WHOLE YEAR until part 2 comes out!!! Uuugggg! But on a positive note, Brandi made friends with the 19 year old college students and it just so happens that one of them is a sitter! We need good sitters. We might need a sitter for next year when the last Twilight movie comes out.

It's never too early to plan for Rob.

A Boy & His Broom

2011-11-27T23:10:00.006-06:00

This boy loves his broom. I love how his hair flips out in the back.

He takes it everywhere. He sometimes takes it in the car when we leave.

Or sometimes he takes it outside and sweeps leaves with it.

But usually, he just wags it around the house. Room to room. I sometimes find it in the bathroom. Or the hall. Or the pantry. I can tell exactly where Gunnar has been during the day.

An even better treat is when he gets to play with the REAL broom or REAL mop or REAL vacuum in the garage. Sometimes he sneaks the mop into the house and hits everything in his path as he drags it through the house.

What's really funny is that this weekend I had about 12 tubs of Christmas decorations, three mini tree boxes, villages, wreaths, & gift bags spread all out in garage. The entire weekend he only pulled out one box and one cord. The rest of the time, he begged (meaning that he stands and points and says DA. DA. DA. DA. over and over like he's asking you a question) for me to get out the REAL mop for him and he pushed it in the garage for hours. He never messed with any of the decorations except the two things he touched!!! This dude is serious about his cleaning supplies!

This week while the other two kids went to Cita's for several days, Gunnar had the privilege of being an "only child" for the first time in this life! He was the center of attention. It was so weird with just one here. And since he goes to bed early, it was really really quiet in our house at night. Kyle and I felt funny with all the calmness. We decided it was a little too boring for our liking. Although I will say that I got to sit and catch up on several television shows without interruption. But I still missed my little herd of Smarts all being together at night!!!

Old McDonald.........

2011-11-25T23:05:00.002-06:00

Had a farm.......E--I--E--I--O

Never Speak Too Soon.......

2011-11-21T12:23:00.002-06:00

Does anyone recall me writing in another blog that after I finally finished Finley's Christmas stocking, that I would not have anymore children because I didn't want to make another stocking??? Three words for ya...........FAMOUS LAST WORDS!!! I'm working on it, but I'm thinking it's not going to happen this year. Maybe he won't notice that his is a knock-off because mom couldn't finish his stocking.

Taylor Swift Concert

2011-11-16T16:14:00.009-06:00

Did I mention we went to Taylor Swift last month?

I ordered this iron-on bling thingy to put on a shirt-it turned out cute!!!

This girl has always loved Taylor!!! We sing her songs on the radio LOUD!

I've only been to a handful of concerts in my lifetime, but I can honestly say that this was the best concert ever! I could not believe what all she did! I've never seen so many costumes, sets, props, lights! There is a reason why this girl is Entertainer of the Year.

The very last song she went over the entire crowd singing from this moving balcony! So Cool! We loved it!

Funny

2011-11-13T22:56:00.002-06:00

I just thought this was too funny not to mention. Today we went to church and left Gunnar in the nursery-to his dismay I might add. When we arrived I went ahead and found us a seat and Kyle took Gunnar to check him in. They have you fill out an information sticker that has name, our names, what snacks he can eat, and the pager number. Then they stick it on his back.

Kyle picked him up from the nursery after church and was waiting for us in the foyer. He told me to look on the sticker on his back. Kyle had filled out all the correct info EXCEPT for the fact that he put his name as Slade Smart! I was like, are you serious!?! Kyle said that he was wondering why it took them a little while to bring him back to him!!!

So I guess Gunnar was really curious the whole hour why everyone was calling him Slade! Poor baby!!!

A Few New Things

2011-11-09T14:09:00.004-06:00

Mr. Gunnar seems to have grown up over night ever since he turned one almost two weeks ago!

My favorite new thing is that he says, "UH OH!" now. It's very funny-he intentionally throws something to the floor and innocently looks up and says, "UH OH" , like he's surprised he dropped it! He also tell everyone "bye-bye" and waves his fat hand backwards. He's pretty good at repeating words we tell him to say. He gets really close sometimes to the actual word. At lunch he said "baby" to Kyle and it was very clear.

Another new thing is that we are drinking whole milk now. Nope, we haven't given up the bottle. Nope, we haven't even dropped one feeding with the bottle. Yep, we just fill it with whole milk. The way I see it is this-I didn't get to sleep one whole night the entire first year of his life(ok, maybe four nights out of 365 days I got to sleep all night). So now that he is sleeping almost every night till 5 am(minus night before last when he was crying at 3am), I just can't rock the boat. It will take a long time for me to catch up on my last sleep deprived year. So, I might let him have a bottle till he's three. Nope, don't really care what anyone else thinks. And that's all I have to say about that.

I would now call him a "Professional" walker. He's pretty good at it! He also has gotten his seventh and eighth teeth. The eighth one is way in the back-which is crazy to me. His right eye looks a little puffy in this pic bc I think he hit in yesterday. He has a scratch and a little bruise-who knows these days!

And he's getting lots of shiny blond hair. Have I mentioned that he crawls onto the fireplace and stands up now to see if we are going to get onto him???

Perspective

2011-11-08T21:28:00.004-06:00

It's very apparent now that Halloween is over, that we are into full Christmas mode as of November 1st! There is Christmas candy, toys, decorations, food, everything in every store you walk into today. My neighbors even got excited and put up their lights for goodness sake! I have been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit lately. For one, I feel like its only about September and secondly, I guess because it's been hot most days still so it really doesn't even feel like fall to me.

Nonetheless, my side of the family is having Christmas together one month from Thursday since my cousin is graduating on the weekend we normally have it. So I've been having to think about what gifts I need to buy. One major concern is what do they get my kids. Well, I would say my biggest worry is what toys are they getting. What do I have room for in my small house. I don't want this toy because it's so much like this toy that we already have. And maybe they won't like this toy. Etc, etc, etc.

And then I read Kelly's Korner blog today and I have to say I'm a little ashamed. She's on a trip to Ecuador with an organization called Compassion International that helps get kids out of poverty. And here are two photos she posted today.

This is one child's room. It has a wooden board, not a mattress.

And this is one family's living room.

This week I've been looking at all the dark spots on my carpet, thinking that I need to call the carpet cleaners or deciding if my Scentsy wax is the right pumpkin spice scent. Kyle wants our couch to be re-stuffed because it's been slept on too many times.

I am frustrated every night that there's not enough room for all the toys and all the clothes that the kids have. I actually get angry about all the stuff in their rooms. It's so irritating that their pajamas hang out of their drawers and I have to walk over 50 toys to hang up clothes in their closets. I actually had to take all the summer clothes out of the closet to make room for winter clothes.

Man, life is tough.

And then I looked at the rooms in these photos. My perspective cleared right up.

When the hustle and bustle of Christmas starts to get the best of you, stop and think about that little cinder block bedroom with a board for a mattress. A little kid will sleep there tonight.

We just don't realize on a daily basis how blessed we really are!

Halloween 2010

2011-11-04T22:26:00.010-05:00

We decided to truck or treat at our church on Sunday night so we could do birthday dinner on Halloween night for Kyle.

Finley was a cute little witch. She wanted a $48 pink cheerleading costume but I refused to buy it. She was mad. I hope she will be able to go on. I think she looks pretty cute as a witch!

Basically, Gunnar didn't want to wear a costume. I first bought him a really cute tiger costume, but he wouldn't wear the hat. So I opted for a superman costume since it was the only thing that didn't require something to go on his head. I dressed him in the Superman costume a few weekends ago at Brandi's Halloween party. He wore it a total of fifteen minutes I think. He fell down in the floor crying, acting like had just put thorns on him. So I took it back to the store and got my money back. So the night of the trunk or treat-I dug Campbell's caterpillar costume out of the closet and put it on top of his clothes. I think it worked because he thought he had on a coat. For someone who has a birthday so close to Halloween, he sure didn't take to well to dressing up!
Slade isn't in the photos because he didn't want to trunk or treat this year. He planned on hiding in our yard and scaring trick or treaters. Hmmmm, I wonder where that idea came from?

Witch and Cupcake

Emily and G. Russ and Emily went with us to trunk or treat.

Brandi took Campbell to her offices to pass out Halloween treats. She was the baker and C was her cupcake!

Next up are the photos of Brandi's Halloween party!!! We've spent the last two weeks celebrating Halloween and Brandi, Gunnar, and Kyle's birthdays! Man, it's exhausting!!!

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday!

2011-11-02T12:56:00.070-05:00

Warning-I loaded about 500 pics on this post. Just saying......

This past Saturday we celebrated little man turning ONE!!! This is my favorite pic of the whole day. I have the exact same photo of myself on this exact swing, my cake in this exact pan, when I was one. I have the same pic of Finley, too. I didn't have the swing at the time of Slade's bday, but I have a professional pic of him on it when he was three. This swing always sat on Nana & Ambo's porch. I'm very sentimental towards this swing.

You are invited to Gunnar's first birthday..........

Fin and I made the caterpillars out of pom pom's, wrote all the party info on cardstock leaves, and we put everything inside baby food jars. My friend Stephanie saved all her tall baby food jars for me and I spray painted the tops!

We glued floral wire on the head for the antenna and painted on the eyes.

I love my boy!

We took some fam pics before the party started.......

Cita bought G some new kicks for his bday! They squeak!

Posing with his caterpillar cupcake cake!

Gunnar's cake that Nana made him in his great-great grandmother's pan. We all get a cake in this pan every birthday!

I bought paper hats at Target and decorated it to match. I really didn't think he would wear the hat, but he did!

Chocolate dipped marshmallows. Do you notice the stand-it's Ramma's Fiestaware. I glued one of the tumblers to an extra plate and made cake plates! I actually made three of them. On one plate, I used a smaller tumbler, so I can stack it on top of this plate. They are pretty cute and I know I will use them more often since they were just sitting in the pantry as extras.

On the mantle I made zero through twelve photo banner-a pic for every month of Gunnar's first year!

Party favors! I used all of my baby food jars and spray painted the tops and put ribbon around the center. My friend, Jessica, a graphic designer who owns/operates Funky Finds blog, kindly made me the labels. I printed, cut out, and glued them on top! Goldfish were perfect for our "caterpillar food".

On Saturday, he ate a lollipop! I just stuck dum dums in this pot I already had.

I loved his cupcake caterpillar. We had red velvet, chocolate, and white cupcakes.

Fruit cups.

The ice cream cones were cotton candy with M&M's in the bottom to keep the cones from tipping over.

Banner I made out of $1 plates.

Man, he's sweet! He had the best day! He loved being outside the whole party!

Angela & G

Brandi & Campbell

Eating marshmallows.

He thought he was really cool walking around with his choc dipped marshmallow. I think he even ate some that were covered in grass.

Violet is 10 weeks older than G

Miles

Kyle and Russ

Travis, Logan, Beth & Baby Girl Wells due March '12

It's cake time!!!

I seriously cannot believe he kept the hat on!

My three Smart's. Yes, he loved Nana's cake.

Gracie & G

C & G

Brandi helping Allie & C at one of our craft table. They painted caterpillars that were egg cartons. They also made fingerprint caterpillar book marks, colored caterpillar sheets, and made caterpillars out of circles of scrapbook paper.

Daren and Violet

Miles & G

Ralna & Landri

Slade was tossing the ball to Miles-it was so sweet. I had to snap a pic!

He loves his Cita.

And before everyone left, they signed The Very Hungry Caterpillar book and left Gunnar a birthday note!

Russ, London, and the Smarts. I guess Russ needs to have some more kids to catch up. : )

Kyle's Birthday!

2011-10-31T21:27:00.003-05:00

Today is Kyle's 34th birthday! Brandi's family came over to eat birthday dinner with us!

I made all of his favorites-chicken strips, mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas!

And then I made Pioneer Woman's pecan pie and we had Bluebell ice cream-both his favorites, too! It was yummo and I don't even care for pecan pie! We wrapped up the night with me washing all the dishes by hand because my dishwasher is not draining and Slade & Finley fought everytime the doorbell rang over who would get to hand out candy! Normal night in the Smart house!!!

Happy Halloween birthday, Daddy!!!

One

2011-10-28T23:11:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Baby Gunnar!

2011-10-27T20:49:00.002-05:00

Today my special man turned ONE! And since Blogger is not letting me load any photos tonight, this words-only post will have to do tonight! Happy Bday, G! We love you and cannot wait to celebrate your first year on Saturday!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-25T22:20:00.011-05:00

We made our annual trip to the local pumpkin patch.

Something was really funny. I don't know what? But it was funny.

And so much for a good pic because this is what Gunnar did each time I tried to get a group shot. Plus it was really windy. And the pumpkins have seen better days-the drought did a number on them.

But nonetheless, something still seemed really funny.

Maybe it was the scarecrow head?

Yes, she seemed to think it was funny!

The wind didn't bother her.

Gunnar didn't think much was funny. He just couldn't get over the fact that orange balls were everywhere! I guess that's why he kept getting away as fast as he could.

And just because life is amusing.......Here we are last year. Same time, same place. 9 months pregnant with a big pumpkin.

And here's that little pumpkin. One year later.....walking with a baby pumpkin on his rear! Seriously, he wasn't even here last year. Well, visible anyways. So weird. Now that's funny!!!

Yep, life's pretty funny that way. It keeps moving. You better jump on the bus or you'll get left behind! : )

PS - We want to wish our bestest aunt in the whole world a very happy birthday!!! Hope you had a great day, Brandi!

I'm Telling You.....

2011-10-21T20:42:00.002-05:00

He really really really
likes the vacuum!

My Crazy Train

2011-10-18T20:47:00.009-05:00

As my baby's first birthday creeps upon me, I've been finding myself being in denial. Denial that one year has gone by since I sat in that hospital bed and looked at that sweet baby face. Denial that I will never buy baby bottles or newborn diapers again. Denial that in six years I will turn forty(ouch! I totally still feel 23). Denial that my oldest child is about to be one birthday away from turning double digits. Denial that my daughter will no longer wear little girl clothes-she wants bling and cool stuff now.

People told me how much I would love seeing my children grow up. But nobody told me how much it would make my heart hurt! I wanted every milestone to hurry up and happen with my first child so we could celebrate. For my second, I just took it as it came, no rush. With the third, I find myself digging my feet into the ground, grabbing anything I can hold onto, kicking & screaming so that it will not come! It's almost painful to me that G is turning one. Even with the miserable sleepless nights, reflux, sore boobs, sore body, extra fat around my stomach, crying, puking, messes.....there's just not many things in life that can top the euphoria of a newborn baby. I find them intoxicating. I love Baby Magic hair and milk breath. I could smell it every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

The last year has been a really hard year. I don't know how people with more children do it. Kudos to you that have more because it's difficult. Three kids really threw us for a loop! I do think that the non-sleeping and reflux screaming baby did add to the madness that might otherwise could have gone smoother but it is what it is. And I wouldn't trade him for another baby in the world. I feel like a maniac most days. I never have enough time now. I don't have time for me. I'm sick of my mom outfit (tshirt and athletic pants) but don't see any reason for dressing up to pick up the house, wash clothes, make beds, go to the grocery store-I'm not comfortable dressed up at home. I look at other moms and long to look as fashionable and put together as them. But maybe that's not me. I will stay up too long at night and sacrifice being tired the next day just so that I can grab one hour uninterrupted time by. my. self. Kyle doesn't understand my need for self-absorbed silence. It's totally rational and most necessary to my sanity!

I am a different person now than when I taught school. This stay-at-home mothering thing will take you down to the depths of your soul. And then some. No, it's not rocket science, I realize. But it's unlike anything else I have experienced. It's an endurance race for your body, mind, and soul. It's hardcore. It's exhausting. It's humbling to say the least. And there's no money but you work your everlasting rear off. The reward is simple, though. You get to watch your kids grow up right before your eyes. I somedays wonder if I would be a better mom if I worked. Maybe I would be more patient, more understanding. Maybe I wouldn't mind the house being a wreck if I weren't here to look at it all day. I told my mother that I feel like the movie Groundhog Day. I clean, wash, cook, etc. and then I wake up and do it all again and it looks as if I didn't clean or wash a single thing the day before. But on the other hand, isn't having a paying job kinda like Groundhog Day? Get up, get ready, drive to work, work, lunch, work, drive home. Ok, so life is like Groundhog Day unless you travel the world or climb Mt. Everest. I'm finding that the repetition of each day is actually comforting.

I do struggle with the should of, could of, would of, but I am pretty content. On the days that I've cleaned puke up three times(yesterday), changed two diarrhea diapers(yesterday), wiped the kitchen counter for the bazillionth time(yesterday), unloaded the baby out of the carseat 12 times(yesterday), and feel like I'm going to explode from....well, I don't know, but explode from something, then inexplicably G walks four steps towards me, not holding on, or Fin brings me a drawing that she is so proud of. And I think, I'm so glad I'm here with them. I know I will go back to work and it has been a struggle to make ends meet some months(winter), but we will just keep keeping on. That's what Kyle always tells me. On the days that I know I was not a good mom, I just try to wake up the next morning and be blessed that I have another day, a clean slate, and I can try to do a better job today. I've been trying to work on attitude.

And all my feet dragging this past year is because I know that this is just a moment in time. A small fragment of my life. They just don't stay little no matter how much you want to freeze time-believe me, I've tried. They will grow up. And it is gonna happen soon because I was just in Mrs. Blackwell's third grade class about a minute ago. Slade was just a toddler with cotton white hair, Finley had sprigs that stuck straight up that I called piggy tails, and G was dressed in a white, red, & green alligator outfit, barely big enough to sit in the infant carrier on the way home the day before Halloween. Yesterday, I tell you. So please let me apologize in advance of my sentimental, sniffling, crazy mom train I'm about to board next week when my baby turns one.

I look at this little bunch and realize I'm right where I need to be. I am the most blessed person on the planet. I won the lottery. I have all the excitement I can stand. And at the moment, I'm thinking that Mt. Everest is totally overrated.

Dustapalooza

2011-10-18T09:59:00.005-05:00

Just in case you weren't in Lubbock yesterday..............

This is what you were missing out on! An 8,000 ft wall of dust as a cold front blew into town!

It tipped over planes at the airport, ripped off roofs, caused power outages, and there was zero visibility for several minutes. Wind gusts hit 74 mph. We seriously need some rain here.

I felt like we were in the Middle East in one of those sand storms.

The street lights came on at 5pm! It was really creepy!

Cover Girl Called........

2011-10-17T19:11:00.005-05:00

and they want this boy's lashes!!!

Wouldn't all girls just kill for this set!!!

On another note.....can I please just say that today is the 17th, which means that it is 10 days till my baby's first birthday and three months till my big baby's 9th birthday. Yes, I said NINE! Someone commit me now. I just can't take it.....

Halloween Central

2011-10-11T13:03:00.014-05:00

You are now entering the house of Halloween decorations gone WILD!

This is my sister's house and it's crazy.

And out of control!

And very neat and festive.

Kids love it.

Adults love it.

Can you tell my sister has a birthday very close to Halloween?

My husband's birthday is on Halloween, but we don't do this.

We just go over to Aunt B's house to get our spooky fix!

BOO!

Witch on a broom!

I know, it's crazy isn't it!

Grab you partner.......

Candy, please?

You might leave with a sweet tooth.

Remember.......

2011-10-10T23:04:00.001-05:00

Just like a butterfly, she too will spread her wings and fly some day. Enjoy her caterpillar years.

Sleeping Girls

2011-10-10T21:18:00.002-05:00

Our neighbors across the street have kids the same ages as my oldest two. Their son has the same birthday as me actually, and he had an all boys sleepover for his birthday two weekends ago. Slade went over to their house after school and in return, we kept the little sister, Emma!

This was Finley's first "friend" sleepover. They were so cute, and I barely heard a peep out of them. Emma is one of my favorite friends-she's so well behaved and sweet! The cutest part of the night was the two girls in bed with their pillow pets!!! We also enjoyed Emma's mom-she kept bringing us snacks over from the party! We had pizza, cookies, and s'mores!

Finley Funny

2011-10-05T11:25:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was in the floor, attempting to do sit-ups. Finley sat down beside me and started doing her own sit-ups(much better & quicker than me). She said, "Look, Mom, I'm doing head-ups, too!"

I love her!

Gunnar is 11 Months!

2011-10-02T22:59:00.004-05:00

Not only was my birthday on Tuesday, but it was someone elses special day, too!

My boy turned 11 months! That means I have one more month of him officially being a baby. I guess he's technically still a baby at 13 months, but I feel the time getting away from me really quickly. Too quickly. I am savoring every single minute. From his fat little fingers to his blond fuzzy hair to his stubby little toes. I just cannot believe that this is my last baby. Ok, I'll pull it together and talk about all the things G has been up to!

Weight - 22 lbs Height - 28 1/2 in (those are approximate)

Clothes - some 12 mo, but mostly 18 months

Diapers - size 4

Teeth - 2 new ones on top, on each side of his top front teeth, which makes 6 total.

Eyes - grey-blue

Food - we are done with baby food! Some new things he has tried and liked are salmon, tilapia, cranberries, wheat English muffins, ice cream(dad gave him this), and graham crackers! He eats alot of black beans, fruit, broccoli, chicken, yogurt, wheat toast. He wants anything we drink and cries if he doesn't get it. He does not like bananas or eggs-which I think is weird. He just spits it out.

Sleeping - well, after 11 LONG months, and I stress LONG, I think we've turned a corner. The last two weeks, he mostly is taking a two hour nap at some point each day, which is GLORIOUS!!!(today he actually slept three hours!) And since we've moved him into Finley's room and let him cry out the midnight feeding, he has been sleeping 5-6-7 hours some nights. Do you understand what I'm saying......I am sleeping more than three hours at a time now. I.am.so.happy. All it took was about 335 days, but who's counting? I'm counting, that's who! I'm still so sleepy, but I think it takes some time to catch up on 335 days straight of interrupted sleep!

Words - Da, MaMa, Bel(the dog), hi, dawdaw-he says this about everything, and he will repeat sounds you say. He also waves bye and points his finger at people and smiles. That his best trick this month.

Favs - taking baths, outdoors, keys, drinking out of a straw, Bella, singing, going with daddy.

G is standing by himself and will walk all around the furniture, holding on. I won't be surprised if he walks this month. He is getting better about not putting everything in his mouth-he takes is out if we say no to him. He is big on trying to escape outside and now starts crying if anyone goes out the door without him. I've been letting his crawl like crazy out in the backyard and he loves it! He loves to grab the plant sprinkler and of course, play in the dog's water. I've been seeing some fit throwing lately-he hates me changing his diaper now and rolls and gets so mad when I'm trying to change his clothes.

Although G has been really healthy, we've battled several weeks of the croup this month that he just couldn't seem to shake. And I discovered that he does not like to take medicine. At all.

He loves getting my car keys, so Kyle brought him a bunch of extra keys from the shop so he has his own set! He loves to push the keys on my computer, play in the toilet, get into Slade's toys, play with the hand-vac, broom, vacuum, remote, phone, or anything else not a toy. He eats crayons and chalk, plays in the pantry, & empties any drawers he can get his hands on! When I stand him up in his highchair to get all the food off of him, he stomps his feet really fast and tries to mash all the food pieces in the chair-little toot! He also turbo crawls away from the kids when they are trying to pick him up-he thinks it's a cat and mouse game, I think! It's so funny! He adores Finley and Slade and smiles so big when they walk in the door. I let him wake them up in the morning and he gets right in their face and says, "Da" to them and then whacks them in the head with his chubby little hands.

I could go on and on about all the neat things G is doing. It's just amazing how far babies come in 11 months. He is a happy little guy, but I'm starting to detect a little personality all his own-and he's beginning to let us know about it! Oh, G, you are too much! I sure am enjoying you!!!

SMART #71

2011-10-01T22:26:00.004-05:00

My favorite Patriot football player.

Mr. Clean

2011-09-29T18:56:00.005-05:00

Finally....................
A man who will clean..................

Even if it's in his birthday suit!!!

They Say It's Your Birthday..........

2011-09-27T22:02:00.003-05:00

I had a great birthday today with my sweeties! They brought me a red velvet cupcake, a new Fossil watch, and some really yummy smelling perfume!

But honestly, these are the three best gifts I ever received!

Goodbye Summer & Hello Fall Birthdays!

2011-09-20T21:10:00.004-05:00

Today is a very special lady's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you.

I snapped this photo outside yesterday and it made me think. Summer. It's coming to a close. I feel fall sneaking in. Pumpkin spice candles and coffee creamer. Football and Fall birthdays. And please, let there be some rain and cool weather. I have high hopes! Yay!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

2011-09-19T18:34:00.004-05:00

Really Yummy!

1/2 c. butter

2 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp red food coloring

2/3 c. flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, room temp

1/3 c. sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

parchment paper

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 in metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting it extend up the sides and overhang slightly (this will make it easier to remove the brownies after they are baked. Butter the parchment(I sprayed with butter flavored Pam). FYI-I doubled the recipe and put it in a regular casserole sized metal baking pan.

2. In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together in microwave. Stir till smooth and let cool a few minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add chocolate mixture slowly, so not to cook the eggs(I believe this is called tempering the eggs maybe?) and stir until smooth. Add flour and salt and stir well.

4. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

5. To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Distribute the cheesecake mixture in dollops over batter in the pan. Swirl with a knife or spatula (don't over swirl-I did and I wanted to see more white/red instead of mixed on the top)

6. Bake for 35-40 min, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted should come out clean and edges lightly browned.

7. Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper. Cut into squares.

My Week-In Review

2011-09-18T16:43:00.028-05:00

(Warning-long post & crazy mom babbling) Man, what a week it was. Not that anything earth shattering happened, but it did poop me out. I'm just tired thinking about it. Actually, let's backtrack to last Friday.

So Friday, Cita calls and blesses us with a last minute, surprise visit. We were jazzed! I was keeping Campbell for B anyways, so I had more hands to help. Even better. I cooked dinner and the kids played. Gunnar had been up the last two nights with croup and the nurse called him in some steroids Friday morning.

The kids played, but shortly after this pic, the green fairy would start to run fever. She continued to run it all night, whereas Gunnar decided he would wake up fifty times, just for the heck of it. Ok, he's had croup all week, but seriously. Saturday morning, we were moving pretty slow. Campbell would go to the dr later that morning only to find out she had strep. Don't worry-I sanitized that microphone.

But we couldn't move slow bc Slade had a football game across town at 10 am! Look at Gunnar-this is what we all looked like trying to make it to the game on time! It was cold and rainy and I didn't dress Finley warm enough.

And then Cita taught him how to drive. He might have to drive us to Slade's game one day.

Then Sunday I was deliriously tired and it was the 10th anniversary of 9-11. This was a memorial at one of the parks-a flag for every life lost on that day. I was really stunning in person. Flags everywhere. I had just been married less than two months. So I watched all the footage and Sunday night I went to bed being disturbed and saddened by all the memories of that terrible day.

Monday this dude had to go to the dr and I begged for some antibiotics. I hate to give him antibiotics, but he really needed something. It was getting ridiculous. And since Dr. Steve took off on us and the new pediatrician is suuuuuupppppeeerrr busy with his patients, his wife's who's on maternity leave patients, and all of Dr. Steve's old patients, it was too hard to get in. We ran to my drs clinic after we got brother and sister to school. Dr. Rozeen hooked us up. And can I just tell you that I have discovered that the new pediatrician is TWO years younger than me. Yes, disturbing, I know. I think of my guy friends I grew up with that are two years younger than me, and wonder if I would let them work on my sick child. Hmmmm. Yes, that's a post for another day.

Tuesday brought us to school day for everyone, errands out the wazoo, and Supper Club. Gunnar had a terrible day at school. Cried all day, along with the entire wing of the school. I think it was a cry day. That made me sad to leave him unhappy. That night I left all three kids with Kyle, who had to take them all to football practice, where it was cold and raining, and I snuck off to Supper Club. I made the dessert for the night-red velvet cheesecake brownies. And Yum is what I can say.

This made Supper Club even better.

And as Wednesday and Thursday rolled by, we didn't stop. Within those two days, we did homework, fund raised, kept Allie-bug, picked up that rugrat in the above photo from school, cooked, cleaned, cleaned, washed,

did sports day, washed more clothes, gave medicine, ran more errands,

braided hair, washed, took Tylenol, packed lunch, bottles, food, washed, picked up, changed diapers,
took pics of all three kids, picked up, cleaned the kitchen. Did I mention I washed???

In the midst of everything else, I decided to move Gunnar in Finley's room with her. Yes, this deserves a post all to itself. Here are the highlights. I painted till midnight Monday, after what seemed like 50 different paint colors, painted three hours on Tuesday, went through two entire closets, and 8 million toys.

The room was red, now it looks like this. Like I said, this will be another post.

And then this dude just looked cute in footed pjs and pushed his toy around the living room all week.
And then my friend from California sent me this where I came to the immediate conclusion that I am not the #1 Twilight Fan. This person apparently is. Which reminds me I also began reading Breaking Dawn again because it's only 8 weeks away from the first movie!!!! I have to be up to speed, you know, seeing that I won't be getting this tatoo-ed on my torso. I really have no words for this work of art......

And Gunnar did alot of chihuahua watching out the patio door this week, as well.

And eating. Actually he didn't eat as much this week bc he was puny, but it evidently didn't stop him from spitting medicine in my face. Hates it.

And after what seems like 12 football practices, football pics, a dance lesson, a niece's soccer game, and Gunnar being drug around and woken up from at least 10 naps, that brings up to the weekend. Our AC went out in the house on Friday night. My husband has acted distraught, my kids are grumpy. We've kept the doors open all weekend, where we've heard dogs barking, birds chirping, and we even had a stray dog walk into our living room and look at me. Fun times. But at least it's not 105 degrees. I took S & F to church this morning while Kyle and G stayed at home calling AC repairmen. I wonder how much this will cost? Please just be the freon. Please just be the freon. Please just be the freon. Repeat after me.

And we concluded non-air-conditioned weekend with Slade's second football game.

The pros: Slade got to play on turf for the first time

The cons: Slade's team lost, we were there over two hours-with a 10 month old, it was hot, and the stands had no backs.

Finley was mad that I didn't let her push the stroller after she ran the stroller into a telephone pole walking up to the game. Gunnar was mad Slade woke him up looking for his football uniform.

The game wasn't the best of times. And that's all I have to say about that.

So that sums up this week and then some. I will conclude with this.......

Hamburger meat that rotted one day after the sell by date(and made me really mad) - $6.75

6 cans of sample paint to find the right shade of khaki - $18

A prescription of steroids and antibiotics - $30

The feeling you get when your AC goes out and you leave the front door open long enough for a bird to crap inside your entryway - PRICELESS!

Note to Self.......

2011-09-12T23:01:00.002-05:00

Take more pics of all of my three kids together. I realized this weekend that I don't have hardly any pics of them all together. And I might try to focus a little better the ones I do take........

Thirsty

2011-09-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

Finley's First Day of Kinder!

2011-09-07T22:38:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was Fin's first day of half-day kinder at Lakeridge. She was excited and looked super cute on her first day!

Since she just turned five less then six weeks before school started, we decided that she would do a private kindergarten this school year. We thought she needed another year to grow. I have worried many nights about what to do with a July birthday. After I toured the school and thought about things, I knew this was the place for her this year. This school is an "accredited" kinder so next year in public school we have the option to do kinder again or go on to first grade. Right now I plan on sending her to kindergarten. I know that we will not be sorry we kept her another year and I feel great about my decision.

New backpack that she picked out.

She goes every day of the week, so this is very new to her to have to get up. She goes till noon on M,W,F and till 2:45 on T, Th. It's new for me to get three kids to their designated places!!!

And brother started his Children's Day Out at her school, too. He just goes T, Th. It's pretty crazy on those mornings around here! By 10am, I feel as though I've worked a whole day shuffling kids, clothes, food, bottles! As you can tell, G didn't want to stay still for the photo!

Finley finally caught him long enough to snap a photo! He had a good day, too! If I can get all my paperwork turned in, my plan is to sub at Slade's school on those days. It is going to take some strategic planning to do so, but I'm going to give it a good try anyways.

My girl! Love her!

Gunnar is Ten Months!!!

2011-09-06T20:52:00.015-05:00

I have no idea where last week went, but it came and went and it's already Tuesday. Don't ask me. But what I can tell you is that a certain someone turned ten months last week! I really have no words. I have less than two months to enjoy Gunnar's first year and then I will never get it back. The rate at which these babies grow and change is truly amazing. And sad. And makes me want to stop the clock and kiss his fat little neck and touch the little blond chick fuzz hair on the back of his very large head. I love this baby!

This is what he does for the better part of his day. Pulls up to a stand, and then gets into whatever he can get his hands on. He even started to try to get away from me this afternoon by crawling down the hall in turbo mode! It was so funny and he chuckled when I caught him!

Ten Month Stats:

Size: 21 lbs. 10 oz. & 28 inches

Teeth: 4-two top, two bottom

Diapers: Size 4

Clothes: 12-18 mo, 18 mo

Tricks: says "Duck" and moves his hands to the song

Hair: blond and is getting a bit longer in the back

Eyes: Now I'm not sure they are going to stay blue-they are looking a little grey like his Nana's eyes.

Sleeping: Goes to bed around 7:30. Has a bottle at midnight. Usually sleeps till 5 or 6. Short nap in the morning, and hopefully a longer nap at 3pm. He is slowly getting better but I don't think he will ever be a master sleeper!!! Ha!

Highlights: Pushes while walking his standing toy around the living room, shakes his head "no" and uses his hand to push something away he doesn't want, sucks out of a straw.

If we ask him where Finley is, he will look at her-does this with all of us, including the dog! Puts balls into his toy all by himself. Cita showed him how to turn the light switch off. Pulls all the lids out of the kitchen drawer!

He says some word that starts with a "B" when he sees the dog, so I think he's trying to say something that sounds like Bella to him. Yes, he might be a genius.

He loves to play in Finley and Slade's rooms-so many things to put in his mouth!!!

"Mom, what exactly am I doing here? I don't get it?"

"Oh, you are wanting to take my photo for the tenth time with that piece of paper! I get it!"

Nope, he's outta here!

But wait a minute, he might just want to grab that paper. He loves him some good old-fashioned notebook paper!

He rips.

He bites.

He eats. And luckily he now spits out the paper pieces he eats.

"Hmmmmm. Not as good as I once thought it was. It's a little dry."

Some new things Gunnar learned this month:

1.)He has mastered drinking out of a straw! I bought him two sippy cups that have straws. Works great for him!

2.) Loves to try to turn on the water and pull out the stopper in the bath tub, which leads to him slipping and sliding and practically diving in the tub. It's basically like a whale splashing all over the tub real crazy-like. I am usually drenched too.

We have now moved on to big boy jammies. I am very sad about this. Not many one pieces come in his size any more so I had to buy the two piece ones. I am not accepting this fact very well, although he does look precious in them!

Four teeth total these days. Could he be any cuter?!? I cannot forget to tell that the last month or so, Kyle has been taking him when he wakes up at 6am on Saturday mornings and lets me sleep. They have been going to Cracker Barrel to eat before 8 and I hear that G likes pancakes quite well!

And as of today, I think we are officially done with baby food. He just refuses to eat it anymore. He wants to pick up everything now and feed himself. I can't say I'm too sad about this. It does take more time cutting all foods up into squares, but he can now eat what we do minus the salt and sugar (unless he's with Kyle and then he let's him eat anything-including a peanut).

New Foods he's tried: salmon, beef, weenies, still loves black beans, pineapple, mushrooms, tomato sauce, chick peas, loves canned peas-who knew?, loves whole wheat toast, spaghetti noodles, fig Greek yogurt, eggs, bacon. He eats pretty much anything. Not a fan of bananas or couscous though, to my dismay! I love bananas. I love couscous.

But I will say I have created a monster with the homemade food-he will not eat any packaged meals now. I went out of town this past weekend and he wouldn't eat any of the Gerber meals I bought to leave for him to eat. I had baked chicken with olive oil and spices, cut it into cubes, and froze it. I had to get that out and warm it and he shoveled it in! I guess he's a healthy eater! Yeah!

Hello Pinterest

2011-08-29T22:28:00.002-05:00

I got two great ideas off of Pinterest and made these crafts a few weekends ago.

BOO candy jars for Brandi-the Halloween Diva. Each stand is made from 4 pieces of wood, spray painted black & glued together, glass jars, ribbon, and painted wooden letters.

And this frame for a birthday gift for baby Miles-who sadly isn't a baby any longer! He turned two! He has a sock monkey room so I thought I would make this for him after finding a cute piece of scrapbook paper. Made from a frame spray painted, scrapbook paper, metal clip spray painted & glued to the glass.

Baby Parker Shower

2011-08-28T19:42:00.016-05:00

We had a busy weekend including running errands, cleaning house, a baby shower here at the house, a birthday party in the afternoon, not including another birthday party and Thirty-One party that we had to turn down because they were the same time as the shower on Saturday, and up and ready for church on Sunday! Phewww-I'm pooped! But we had fun!

Two of my friends and myself hosted a baby shower for our sweet friend, Melissa. She is one of the sweetest people in the world, so kind and so nice. Love her. Baby Parker will be arriving October 5th. Here's a few pics from the party.

We had a brunch that included cornflake potatoes, breakfast casserole, baked oatmeal, pigs in a blanket, homemade blueberry muffins, sausage balls, and fruit cups.

Beth made this adorable balloon wreath for the front door that she can also use at the hospital when baby P arrives.

We also had petit fors and punch outside.

I got this really yummy punch recipe from my friend, Jerilynn. I'm not a fan of ice cream or sherbert punch or punch that is really sweet. This is the perfect punch. It has jello (I used peach, but Jerilynn says you can do any flavor, sugar, pineapple juice. You freeze and mix with ginger ale when you serve it. It is VERY good punch!!! My kids loved it, too. Jerilynn keeps it in the freezer for her kiddos.

Rylee, Melissa, and her mom.

Onezies with Parker spelled out on paper.

All the loot!

Someone gave her this precious burp cloth.

Finley was so excited for the shower. She helped me get all the decorations together!

I put out my huge chalkboard for everyone to guess what the baby's weight will be! A certain little two year old boy, decided to write on the board. His name might be Logan, but I'm not certain.
The hostesses and Melissa

We had lots of fun and my house got extra clean for the weekend! You wouldn't know it now, though!

Third Grade or Bust!

2011-08-25T22:43:00.007-05:00

I seriously cannot believe that my boy is a third grader. He seems officially grown up. He might as well order his cap and gown.

Before long, he will be as tall as me. Well, taller, according to Dr. Steve. I'm still mad he left.

Our neighbors always stop by for photos in the yard. It's been our tradition.

And of course, Gunnar had been up a few hours. He doesn't want to miss ANYTHING by sleeping in.

Yep, he's practically an adult.

Let's just hope that he changes his underware when he's off at college.

Eat at Your Own Risk.

2011-08-25T22:35:00.002-05:00

Just a warning to any guests we may have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.................

There's a very good chance....................

Gunnar had his dirty little paws on something used to cook your meal.

Consider yourself warned.

Flag Football Shots

2011-08-20T22:35:00.003-05:00

Slade played flag football in a church league this summer. They ended up winning in the tournament and took home second place!

He had fun but he is definitely ready for "real" football, as he and his dad call it.

And it was REALLY, REALLY hot playing this summer. We hope Fall brings cooler weather. Snow would even be welcome this point.

Girl's Day Out

2011-08-18T21:48:00.013-05:00

I'm trying to catch up on some things I have not blogged about. So here's to Girl's Day Out!

Back during the first part of May, yes I'm behind, Finley was due for a day with mom. No Boys Allowed!

We took big brother to school and dropped baby brother at church school and then we hit the town! Finley skipped out on her class!

First we stopped at The Mud Room for some painting.

She loved this place! She is very artsy fartsy so it was right down her alley. She will paint, draw, color, mark, glue, cut, and stamp just about anything.

These were some of her masterpieces. We left them to be fired.

It took deep concentration. She is a serious painter. Then we left and went to lunch at her favorite place, yes, On the Border. I guess I forgot to take a photo there. She had cheese dip, chips, and quesadillas. After lunch we ran by Barnes & Noble. We used a gift card I had and she picked out a book.

Our next stop was Sweet and Sassy. Every little girl's dream. It's kind of like a spa for little girls with a few added attractions like dressing up.

Finley had her fingernails and toenails painted.

She got silver hair glitter.

And a cool pink tattoo.

She really thought the stage was too cool. This girl loves to sing and dance. That's all she does most days. Have I mentioned that we have Taylor Swift tickets for October?!?!

Before we had to be back at church to get Gunnar, we went across the street to Cup A Yo. This has become one of our family favorites this summer. If you haven't been to one of these neat yogurt places, you have got to visit. You get to pick your flavor and then add just about any topping you could possibly ever think of. You pay by weight-the smaller amount, the cheaper your frozen yogurt, the heavier the amount, you get the gist.

This was her treat. She really likes cherry flavored yogurt with some kind of chocolate, a fruit, and gummies. I think I had coconut yogurt. It was a really fun day for Finley and me. We will always remember the day she "skipped preschool"! Ha!

Hoot Hoot

2011-08-18T21:40:00.001-05:00

I had to show these precious owl jammies that Cita bought for G at the beginning of summer. I love them so much!

The Help!

2011-08-12T23:07:00.004-05:00

If you do nothing else this summer, make a point to read this book and see this movie. I cannot tell you just how good BOTH the book and the movie are! Take some Kleenex and enjoy! You will not be sorry. It might just change the way you see people-and that's a good thing.

Favorites

2011-08-11T23:12:00.008-05:00

It's time for a few of my summer favs!

Ok, so this is, without a doubt, the best thing since sliced bread! Seriously. If you eat fresh cherries, you MUST get this. It's from OXO and it is a cherry pitter! And it works like a charm. We love to eat fresh cherries but it's such a pain to take the seed out. No problem! You pick off the stem and place the cherry in the empty space and it will pop the seed right out in no time! It works every time and you can even put cherries in your fruit salad now! I can give Gunnar fresh cherries now without messing with the darn seed! I ordered it off of Amazon.com and it was under 10 bucks. You.must.get.this.

I found these in search of something to dip in hummus. I love pita chips but they aren't figure friendly if you eat thirty of them. So I tried these Wasa fiber crispbread crackers and they did the job. They are also good with tuna. They also have Bob Greene's Best Life seal so they must be healthier than pita chips. You probably shouldn't eat thirty of these either, but you are getting some low cal fiber in your diet and they are only 35 cals per cracker!

My friend gave Finley this for her bday. She took one of the portable Crayola art kits and she blinged it all out with ribbon, rhinestones, and her name. What a cute idea for a gift!

This is my favorite brand of tea, but I've only ever seen it in the gallon jugs at United. This summer I found it in tea bags so I could make it myself at home and for cheaper! I haven't seen it in decaffeinated yet, but this is a start! Nothing like a cold glass of Red Diamond tea! Yes, please!

Pioneer Woman used the adobo sauce in these chipotle peppers in a pasta recipe I made for Finley's bday party. I had never bought or even seen them in the grocery store, but they are there. The juice around these peppers is hot and spicy. Perfect to add into recipes for dips, sauces, etc. I put it in the yogurt mixture for my fish tacos for some spice. There's a bunch left over when I just use a tablespoon or two, so I just freeze small amounts in ziplocs. Try it!

And last but not least, my friend, Angela, gave me four of these Tervis brand glasses. They are the best glasses EVER!!! They have this snap on lid you can order with them that is perfect for taking in the car or giving to the kids instead of sippy cups. Plus, how neat is it that they have a Fiestaware line! They match my dishes! I love these glasses and they have tons of styles. You can also put hot liquids in them and put them in the dishwasher! LOVE!

Sometimes........

2011-08-11T23:03:00.001-05:00

a girl just needs to sit alone. In a hammock. Wearing Uggs.

Still Wondering.......

2011-08-09T22:00:00.002-05:00

Many days I look at them and think to myself, "Where did you little people come from???" It still amazes me every day that they live with me. Gosh, darn it, I love'em, though.

Do Other People Sleep?

2011-08-06T07:43:00.002-05:00

As I've said many times before, my baby doesn't sleep. Naps are a challenge. And nighttime is absolutely miserable at my house. MISERABLE. G wakes up 2 or 3 or sometimes 4 times during the night. He cannot go back to sleep himself at all. He pukes when I let him cry. I've had enough. I have got to sleep. This is not normal. It's starting to make me a not very nice person during the day. I am the result of a person that hasn't slept since October. Please help. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Greatly, greatly appreciated. Email me if you don't want to write it on the comment section. I'm desperate. cheyannesmart@yahoo.com

Gunnar is 9 Months!

2011-08-04T22:35:00.009-05:00

I have a little baby boy here that turned nine months old last week! Gunnar, you are now a baby-on-the-move! Weight: 20.5 lbs. Height: 27.25 in. Head: 88%

Biggest Highlight: CRAWLING!!!!!!!! You took off and haven't looked back. You also pulled up into a stance the day you turned nine months. You like to move!

Loves: swimming, rolling balls, toys that light up, gravel, tearing up magazines, pulling things off of shelves, being held, being entertained constantly!

I never in my life want to forget these precious, precious fat hands. I wish I could keep them in my pocket forever! Pudgy little fingers and wrists that are stuck on top of an arm. Love it!

First bruise-poor sweet boy. Finley somehow dumped you on your head and then you fell on the tile in the kitchen when you were crawling and bumped the exact same place. : (

Food: I love those red little lips! Some of the new things that have crossed those lips are: black beans, chicken pieces, roast pieces (I refuse to feed you meat baby food out of the jar-gag!), couscous, plain yogurt, cottage cheese, chunks of apples, pears, plums, blueberries, cheese, and pretty much whatever else we will feed you! You also love ice and pieces of popsicles-you cry for ours! We are trying to drink out of the sippy cup, but you still just pour it all over yourself.

I just had to take this picture of the back of your cute little body. That is my sweet 88% big baby head! I love little fat heads on my babies!

Clothes: Size 4 diapers, 12 mo., 12-18 mo clothing

Sleep: You just really don't prefer to sleep. I guess I can catch up on my sleep when you leave for college?!?

Teeth: You got your 2nd bottom tooth and 3rd top right tooth! I'm thinking you may be cutting another one because you were running a little fever today.

Funny Things: you are starting to shake your head "no" when you don't want something. It's so cute. You will shake no and push the bottle or whatever away. I guess you have a mind of your own!

Can and Cannot

2011-08-03T21:14:00.008-05:00

I just got back from four days in Ruidoso at Ramma's cabins. There are a few things I can tell you. And some things I cannot.......

I can tell you that this water felt glorious and it was about 60 degrees every morning when I walked out of the cabin.

I cannot tell you that I missed the drought, heat, 100+temps, dead grass, wilted plants one little bit.

I can tell you that this girl learned to hula-hoop and is now a hula-hooping fool!

I cannot tell you why this girl picked the winning horse 4 out of 5 races and now can be classified as a child gambler.

But I can tell you that it might be a good idea to sneak her into your suitcase if you ever go to Vegas.

I can tell you that this bunch went on an extra long hike. So long that I got worried that a bear ate them.

I cannot tell you why I had a run in during a jigsaw puzzle putting together session with my niece (who's in purple in this photo) because she was hoarding the last puzzle piece.

I might or might not have pinned her to the ground and pried the last piece out of her hand?!?

I can tell you that next time we go to the races, we will listen to Finley.

I cannot tell you that I was ever as small as this jockey.

I can tell you that Slade was easy to spot while wearing his VBS tie-dyed shirt.

I cannot tell you whether or not he hit the deer (not pictured) he was looking at with his sling shot from the Thunderbird.

I can tell you that this kid will wake up every two hours at night, screaming for a bottle, so that his parents feel like zombies during the day while on vacation at the cabins.

I cannot tell you the number of rocks or river water he might have consumed while on this trip.

Purely Distraught

2011-07-27T21:50:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of May, I heard some not-so-happy news through the grapevine. And after a short search for the truth, my greatest fear was confirmed. For reasons I will never be able to understand, my favorite Pediatrician in the whole wide world decided he was going to move to SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!!! What the &*%$!!! I can tell you that I had to get off the phone when this news was told to me and bawled. Just bawled. Therefore, I have cried off and on about this for the past two months.

Dr. Stripling (aka Dr. Steve) is one of the sweetest, kindest men I've ever met in my life. He was there the day Slade was born, Finley was born, and Gunnar was born, and we have seen him for the last 8 1/2 years. His only son was born two months before Slade, so we've compared notes all these years. Our sons even played basketball against each other this past spring, which is where I saw Dr. Steve in Nikes for the first time ever! He always wears dress pants at work.

I've trusted him with the most precious things in my life. I just feel sick about him leaving and I know that no doctor can ever take his place. And some of you probably think I'm acting crazy about this, but I cannot tell you how patient this man was when I was a brand new, paranoid mother with a new infant that puked all the time. He made me feel confident and I had such a piece of mind knowing that he was caring for my baby. There's no way to count the questions I've asked this man and I do think he is one of the smartest, best doctors in Lubbock.

So today was Gunnar's 9 month well check and I had to say goodbye for the last time. His last day in the office is Friday. He hugged me and I had to suck it up and not cry in his presence. He predicted today that I would have a son that was 6ft. and one 6'3. So I'm going to hold him to it and see if he's right! And then my eyes got all teared up when I was walking to the elevator. And yes, I cried a bit in the car. And look at the picture-Gunnar's even crying about him leaving!

So here's to you, Dr. Steve! Thanks for all the years you gave us! You are irreplaceable! Excuse me now-I have a good ol' cry to go take care of..........

My Three Smarts

2011-07-25T11:45:00.002-05:00

I found a deal on LivingSocial.com (sorta like Groupon), so last week I ordered this on a 16 x 20 canvas for my living room mantle. I cannot wait to see what it looks like!

Minor Mishap & A Recipe

2011-07-19T20:41:00.009-05:00

Gunnar did not have a good morning. The following photo is pitiful. Gunnar had a run-in with a blow dryer. The blow dryer won. Don't be alarmed. He's alright. You are looking at his inner thigh.

I feel so bad. His first real injury. I was trying to get ready this morning. I have a system. I sit on my bed, putting a big pillow on my knees, then putting a flat frame on top of the photo, and then my mirror so I can see what I'm doing. I do this so I can put on my makeup & blow dry/round brush my hair. I do this because 1.)my back always hurt when I was pregnant, so I like to sit down 2.)it's boring blow drying my hair in the bathroom and 3.)Gunnar screams if he's not sitting there beside me with toys. So the whole time I was working on my hair he was grabbing the mirror, my brush, the pillow, and climbing all over me trying to get on my lap. So I turned the blow dryer off and put it down to the side of my lap and I picked him up and sat him on me and you know the rest. He scream-cried and I knew something was wrong. I instantly thought my gosh-that must have burned him! I ran to the sink and put his leg and foot under the water, but I couldn't tell where it was burned. About twenty minutes later, the beauty in the pic appeared! UUUHHHGGGG! I feel terrible. Poor baby! I put some aloe vera on it. And he was mad but considering it was a burn, he did exceptionally well. He didn't really fuss any more about it. And you know how horrible a burn feels. I was thinking he's pretty tough! He hasn't complained about it any more really (complained as in, not fussing).

So there you have it. Bad morning. First injury. Sad Momma. Poor Dude. On the bright side, he's holding his bottle sometimes! Yay!!!

On another, brighter note, I made some delicious tilapia tacos tonight! So good and low calorie. I've been trying to incorporate more fish into my diet. These, I could eat at least three times per week. I will post the recipes at the bottom-you really should try them. Slade ate the meat and asked if it was chicken.

And I made some mango pico to go on the side. It was really yummy too. I think it could go with any fish, chicken, or chips, or I could just eat it plain.

Angela came over to eat with me and we finished off the whole bowl. Zero weight watchers points, btw!

And last but not least......You guess-which plate was Slade's and which was Finley's??? Gotta love boys that eat you out of house & home! And I have two of them now! Yikes! Here are the recipes.....

Tilapia Fish Tacos

2 tilapia fillets (I used fresh from the deli bc they were on sale)

cumin

season salt

chili powder

lemon or lime juice

olive oil

1 1/2 cups cole slaw (I bought broccoli-slaw and it was great)

corn tortillas (I wet these with water, wrapped them in a paper towel, and warmed them as opposed to dipping them in grease. It worked fine)

In your skillet, pour a little olive oil and squeeze some lemon or lime juice in and let it heat up. Rub your fillets with the cumin, season salt, and chili powder-however much you want to season it. Cut the fillet into chunks and pour into the skillet. Cook till fish looks flaky-this won't take long. Fill your tacos! I bet you love them!!!

Sauce for top of tacos

1/2 cup light sour cream

1/2 cup fat free or low fat Greek yogurt

1 to 3 tbls of chipolte sauce from a can of adobo chilies

cumin-a few shakes

Mix all this together. Put as much chipotle sauce according to how hot you want it. This is so good!!! This made about 4-5 tacos, depending on how much fish you put in each. Sorry I don't have exact measurements, but I made these up, taking bits and pieces from different recipes that I liked.

Mango Pico

1 tomato

1 mango

1/8 of a purple onion

1/4 of a seeded jalapeno

2 tbls cilantro

lime juice

Dice it all up and squeeze in some lime. This made a cereal bowl full of pico. I think it's better eaten immediately-it seems to get soggy if you store it. Enjoy!

Back Problems!

2011-07-18T20:59:00.003-05:00

We had a rough week last week. Slade somehow hurt his back or irritated an old injury and was basically bed ridden. We went to the chiropractor once and the doctor three times. He spent a lot of his week on a heating pad. He was up five nights out of the week crying with his back. They gave him some Naproxen (aka Aleve) but they will not give children much else to help with pain. To make a long story short, it's finally better so we are going to just really monitor his activities (tricks on the trampoline, hanging backwards over the couch, diving into the pool, getting thrown of his scooter, etc.) He hasn't gone to any of his football practices and missed his games on Saturday. Poor Dude, but things are looking up. I think he might start back to football practice on Thursday and we will see how that goes.

Birthday Lunch

2011-07-17T21:08:00.008-05:00

The party continued for Finley this week. She actually turned five on Wednesday and we took her to where else, On the Border, for lunch. Brandi picked her up from VBS and met us there. I brought some cupcakes and we had a nice little lunch with the bday girl. Pics are from my iphone so they aren't great.

Her apron that we gave her for her bday. She always wants to help in the kitchen.

Random pic of Finley pointing to a puddle-it rained for about ten minutes at Kyle's shop last week and we just sat outside and smelled the rain. Then we drove home and it was bone dry.

Birthday Girl eating tortillas and cheese.

P.S. Finley really really had fun at Vacation Bible School this week. She loved to sing all the songs they learned!

Birthday Part #2

2011-07-14T22:56:00.023-05:00

Pre-Party photo opt with the fam!

Hudson, Shana, & G

Fruit Kabobs!

I dipped marshmallows in white chocolate and crystal sprinkles and stuck lollipop sticks in them. I just found this cake plate at Kirklands-you can change the ribbon out. I love that!

This is one of my favorite birthday cakes ever! It was perfect. I painted the F and put it on top. I was so good, too!

Ang and baby G!

I made this tree and was really proud of it. I spent 99 cents on the paper stuffing stuff and bought a can of spray paint for the branches. Everything else I recycled or already had in my art stash, so it bascially cost me under 2 bucks to make!

I have saved Scrabble letters from an old game. I looked cute on the flower pot I thought.

On the branches, I hot glued horses, stars, and horseshoes that I printed out from my friend Beth's Cricut, old rhinestones, pink rhinestones from last year's party, Scrabble tiles that I stuck "5" stickers on, and tied different colored ribbons to the branches.

I found 87 cent bandanas at Hobby Lobby. And these frames were $5. The pretzels I dipped in chocolate and Finley sprinkled them with the little ball spinkles.

This was an old garage sale cowboy hat that I sprayed with the paint from the tree and then I glued a ribbon around the brim.

And I made three banners from scrapbook paper and tied them together with ribbon.

They said Happy, Birthday, and 5Finley5

And then I got a rope ribbon and painted some mini clothes pins. I dug out old and new photos of Finley and hung them in two places in the house.

We all loved looking at her baby pics-Gunnar looks a whole lot like her in baby pics!

Brandi & Camille

Happy Birthday, Fin!

2011-07-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

Happy 5th Birthday, my Finney Girl!!!

Cowgirl Birthday Part 1

2011-07-10T21:09:00.019-05:00

We celebrated Finley's 5th Birthday yesterday in the backyard. My cowgirl is really turning five, even though I think I just brought her home from the hospital about a month ago. We were going to do an ice cream party, but since she wants to either be a singer or a cowgirl, she made a change on her party request a few weeks ago. Cowgirl it was!

We had different games. Here are the stick horse races. This was funny because the kids didn't really know how to "race" each other. They kept waiting for each other so they could run together. Evidently kids don't do races at school anymore!

We played "Pin the star on Jesse".

We had an art table with western/cowgirl coloring sheets.

Some kids played in Finley's teepee.

Finley loves to color-she is quite the artist!

We also did "panning for gold".

Kennedi manned this station handed out the gold coins. The kids traded their "gold nuggets" for gold coins.

Aunt B manned the goodie bag decorating station. The kids decorated their bags with western stamps and stickers.

This chick was too cute with her shades! Sweet Hana!

We even had babies come to help celebrate-Baby Camille even snuck in a few zzzz's!

After all the games, they sat down for a picnic of hot dogs, chips, and fruit kabobs!

My sweet cowgirl. All the kids got a handkerchief when they arrived. Finley wore hers till it was dark! I guess it made her feel really cowgirlish. I ordered her cute cowgirl dress off of etsy-it had brown fringe on the bottom-so cute!

We also had a horse pinata. Or "binada" as Campbell called it the whole weekend.

Finley using the pink bat on the pinata. She got really mad and cried when Kyle pulled the horse up while she was trying to hit it. She has no patience for that kind of horseplay.

Smart Fam. And just for the record, I looked like a moonface in all the pics because I didn't get to fix my hair because I ran out of time and was sweating so bad. I resorted to a ponytail and I hated the pics of me all day. Bahumbug.

And the candles begin blown out!

And gifts, gifts, and more gifts. We are going to wait and give her our gifts on Wednesday, which is her actual birthday. More pics tomorrow!

Fishy Fishy

2011-07-04T23:48:00.007-05:00

Logan

Fish #3

Fish #2 and Campbell

Fish #1 and Fish #2

We were able to swim Friday and Sunday for many hours during this long holiday weekend. Sweet Ralna let us use her pool while they were out of town. Any water in a ten mile radius-you will find the Smart kids there. All three of them are half fish!!! Happy Birthday, America! And most of all, thank you to all those who gave ALL for us. Freedom is never free.

Gunnar is 8 Months!

2011-07-02T09:05:00.012-05:00

My baby boy turned eight months old on Monday! Time please stop, time please stop, time please stop...........

The refluxing, non-sleeping, crying all day infant has turned into the sweetest, happiest, smiliest baby! Gunnar is such a sweet, sweet baby. He still doesn't like to be left alone for any amount of time, but he will sit and watch people if something is going on around him-and at our house, something is always going on! He loves to sit outside in his walker and watch everything.

Weight: 20.2 lbs (according to my scales at home)

Clothes: 12 months-I'm so sad to be putting away so many outfits that are just not long enough anymore.

Diapers: Size 3

Teeth: 2 bottom front teeth

Sleeping: I think we might have turned a corner this last week (fingers crossed). We moved him into his big crib and he seems to be sleeping better. The past five or six days, he goes to bed between 8-9 and only wakes up once about 3 or 4 and twice at most. He actually sleeps till about 6am and then will take a bottle and sleep an hour or two more sometimes. I hope this is a pattern that continues around here. Sleep does wonders for tired mommas......

Naps: a short morning one around 10 and usually a pretty long afternoon one about 3. Sometimes, though, it' just one right in the middle of the day. Depends on his mood and how he slept the night before.

Food: apples, blueberries, mango's, prunes, plums, pears, peaches, avocados, green beans, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, plain yogurt, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower, pumpkin, butternut squash, carrots, boiled egg yolks(hated them). He really is into taking bites of things lately instead of actual baby food. He is doing a pretty good job of picking things up and putting them up to his mouth! Some things I have cut up for him to pick up are: baked potato, strawberry, watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, broccoli, cheese, grilled cheese, bread, brown rice, Cheerio halves, puffs, bananas, crackers. One funny thing is that he hasn't been a big fan of bananas, although I keep giving them to him. Yesterday morning I cut them into chunks and he chowed down on them! I would say he really loves zucchini, pears, avocados, & mango still the best.

New chompers! He likes to put my chin in his mouth and bite it! He thinks that is funny. He really loves using his sippy cup and dumps water all over himself. He is also starting to notice Sonic drinks and wants to drink out of people's straws, but he doesn't know how to suck the liquid out. Nana gives him little pieces of ice and he LOVES that!

Favorites: He is starting to love to play with balls. We have this cheap, little bitty blow-up beach ball from church and he just holds onto it! Loves to swim and play in water. Likes toys that play music & light up. He also likes this little squeaky monkey toy. He loves to pick up gravel. Every morning he watches Jake & the Neverland Pirates and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when we get ready. He loves his brother and sister-they make his day!

Here's proof that he does have hair-you just cannot see it in photos! Ha!!! It's actually more blond that dark, but not as light as Slade's was.

And this dude is about the take off crawling! He gets up onto all fours, thinks about it, and sit back down. I expect any day now, our world is about to change. I'm in no hurry to pick up EVERYTHING in sight so he doesn't eat things off the floor!!!!

Other things: He says Mamamamama. He's very ticklish. He loves any toys in the kid's rooms. He attempts to hold his bottle, but we still need some work. Loves to be carried around everywhere. Will try to mimic you if you clap, mouth words, or click your lips. And he loves my car keys and cries when I take them from him when I have to start the car!

Ten Years

2011-06-29T17:41:00.004-05:00

Ten years ago today, I married a handsome young man!

Our wedding was really fun! I loved it! I wish I could have the exact same day again.

And ten years, three kids later.......

I think I might like him more than the day we married. Yep, I'm sure of it! A lot has changed these last ten years. Some things have not-one being that I still am not technically advanced or I could have hooked up my printer and scanned my wedding photos instead of taking pictures of the photos in frames that hang on my wall...............Some things never change.

Shades!

2011-06-28T17:55:00.001-05:00

Anyone up for a swim???