Today I Feel Like Writing

I'm afraid to say that Pinterest replaced all my internet addictions the past little while and I haven't even missed the blogging world...until now.  Today, I feel like writing.

I've been hesitant to return to the ol' blog because I feel like I have to play catch up on all that's gone on in my life so far this year and that's way too overwhelming.  I think I can sum up the last 8 months in one word: wevisitedpittsburghandsaltlaketheboysdidgreatinschoolandgotawards-fortheirawesomenessandallthreeofthemarereadingbeyondtheirgrade-
levelandlotsoffamilyvisitedParkergotbaptizedIpickeduptheukulele-
SpencerstheyoungmenpresidentIwenttogirlscampagainandlovedit-theboysplayedsoccerandlearnedtoswimandParkerevenlovestojump-offthedivingboardinthedeependunassistedandlotsofotherthingsthat-
Ican'tthinkofrightnow.

School starts this week for all of my boys. Parker starts 3rd, Reid 1st, and Gray starts all day kindergarten this year. He doesn't turn five until the end of September. The kindergarten cut off is October 1st and his birthday is Septemeber 27th.  I was a little hesitant about him being the youngest kid in school, but he is already reading and his Preschool teachers strongly encouraged it. When it comes down to it, I really feel like he is ready.  So off he goes.

I'd like to say I was jumping for joy at all the free time.  I had big plans when all my kids were in school all day.  I was going to score five stars on every song on Just Dance on my Wii, hire a personal trainer to get the rest of my baby weight off (can I still call it baby weight if I haven't had a baby in 5 years?), catch up on all the TV I've missed the past eight years of my life, and even get a Masters degree.  But as it turns out, I think I'll do something lame like substitute teaching.  Bleh. 

Park and Reid start Wednesday and Gray starts Monday.  If you hear a little cheer on Monday morning, it's just me.  I'll try to keep my celebration under control. 

Year End Letter

I almost hate to say goodbye to 2011.  2011 was good to me (despite the fact that I turned 30).  I ended the year much, much happier (and twenty pounds lighter) than I began it. 

Some of the highlights for me:

• The previously mentioned weight loss.
• Plus the even greater weight of depression lifted. It feels good to be happy. 
• Spencer started teaching (as a grad student) at OSU. 
• We got rid of the last of our baby stuff. 
• The kids started at a new school this year. It's an improvement from the last school on so many levels.
• All three boys are in school.
• I made new friends.
• I surprised myself with how much I loved girls camp as an adult (I hated it as a youth).
• I re-claimed my love for motherhood. 
• Spence and I both had a brother get married.  We happily welcomed two great sister-in-laws and enjoyed the time visiting family.
• I fell in love with Chicago while Spencer was there speaking at a conference. I hope we can find an excuse to live there one day.  
• And all of the little things along the way made for a great 2011...so I'll include way too many pictures that I failed to post while I was too busy living the good life to update my blog.

Holiday baking with new friends

 Girls Camp

The Santa Maria

Summer Fun

80's Kareoke Night

Running around downtown

Soccer Season

The Zoo

Playing in the Mud

Lightsaber Duals Before Church

Taking Flat Stanley on a tour of OSU for our cousin

Columbus Museum of Art

Exploring Chicago

Christmas

Birthdays (I think I posted pictures of Reid and Parker's)

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

Winter Concert at School

An unplanned twin day

Playing in the Fountain

New Years Eve

We ended the year the same way we rang it in...in the company of good friends. Here's to 2012 bringing even more happiness and adventures!

Last Night

I asked my kids what they want to be when they grow up.

Parker: An architect.

Reid: A spy chef. (Whatever that is.)

Grayden: A mummy.  I'm gonna need a lot of toilet paper.  Or, a zombie.  A real, live zombie.  I'm gonna be so awesome when I grow up.

You better watch out.

As of today, my kids are officially, prematurely excited about Christmas. 

Carols were sung.

Elves were being hunted.

Speculations were being made about the jolly fat man himself. 


And only two days after I posted Halloween pictures. 

Breaking the Silence

...to bring you this years Halloween costumes.
(I have more interesting thing to write about, but this one is for you Carrie.)

I have to say, Halloween is one of those times I am so grateful for a houseful of boys.  It would make me sad to limit my costume making to variations of tutu's and fairy wings year after year.  Boys have the coolest costumes.  They're my favorite thing to make.  I get to be creative and use unique fabrics and materials.  Plus, because they're just for Halloween, I don't worry myself about linings or perfect seams.  It's just pure fun.   

Here they are (a little late):

Wolverine

Cyclops

Night Crawler

Can you even tell which one is my kid and which is from the X-Men movie?  Not hardly.

Overheard...

Parker (to Reid):  You don't know what a spa is?!  It's the place people go and put pickles on their eyes. 

Great Gatsby!

"Can't repeat the past?... Why of course you can!"
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Did I mention I threw myself a 30th birthday bash? 

It started with an invitation inviting all to celebrate the last weekend in my 'Roaring 20's.'

I have to say I was a little disappointed in the turn out.  I blame myself.  I should have known that most of my friends wouldn't buy in to a costume party.  But it's not like I would have kicked them out for showing up sans costume.  

Plus, it was Labor Day weekend.

All the more reason to thank my friends who did come to humor me...with or without costume.  Thanks friends.  It was a great night!

The Hosts

(I should really include these two as hosts, too.  It was at their house.  They braved the sweltering heat to help set up. And Autumn was full of great ideas.  Thanks you two.)

The Friends

The Family

The Food

The Girls

 The Men

(I love the progression of these pictures)

The Details

The Dancing

The Kids

The Croquet

The Movie

(Singing in the Rain with popcorn and sparklers)

 

I've been wanting an excuse to throw a 20's party for years.  

This was the perfect night for it (aside from the crazy humidity that day.)

Thanks again to my friends who made the night for me.

I have a problem with fall...

Problem being...I love it too much.

Fall isn't even officially here yet, but once labor day hits it's all fall clothes for me.  There's no turning back.  I've already worn tights, loafers, cardigans, scarves, tweed skirts, plaid shirts and today, I even busted out my swede boots from their summer hibernation.  Luckily, temperatures in Ohio have been conducive to this type of clothing.  And I'm loving every second of it.

Potato soup is stewing.

Welcome fall.  Stay as long as you like.

Making Eyes

Do you ever sneeze right after applying mascara and the still-fresh mascara from your lashes ends up all over your eyelids?

Oh you don't?

Yeah.  Me neither.

On Aging...

At library story time few weeks ago, someone said to me, "Are those your boys?  You don't look old enough to have kids that age."

At first I took it as a compliment.  But then I thought...does that ever get said to young people?  I'm now old enough to warrant that kind of comment.

Later that same week I walked into a clothing store.  A girl I would have considered in my same age category (actually, I would have guessed she was even a little older) called me "ma'am."  "Ma'am!"  Do  I look like a "ma'am?"  I hope not. 

My self esteem was redeemed when I walked into Madewell...my new favorite place to window shop.  A well dressed man complimented me on my style.  It's always a better compliment when it comes from someone well dressed.

I did in fact, turn THIRTY last week. Yikes.  I'm not sure how much I'm enjoying being 30, but the day itself was great.  My friends and family treated me well. And to top it off  I dropped Gray off at school and had a full three hours to spend my birthday money...all alone...in the middle of the day.  It was heaven.

Thanks all for making turning thirty a little easier.

...party pictures coming soon...

School Days

It's back to school time here...just like every where else in the blogosphere. I had been unhappy with the boys assigned school and transferred them to a new school this year.

Parker is already excelling in the second grade...Mr. Smarty Pants is being pulled out once a week for special reading work with 4th and 5th graders. I'm happy he is finally being challenged in this area.  Being the new kid was hard on him.  He's pushed himself and reached far beyond his comfort zone the past two weeks. He's loving school more than ever and I'm really proud of him. 

Reid entered the wonderful world of all day Kindergarten.  He comes home so animated and chats my ear off clear until bed time.  He loves everything kindergarten has to offer.  And to top it off, the principal wears a prosthetic leg, which Reid thinks is the bomb.  He's thriving at school...just as I suspected he would.

And as luck would have it, this new school has a special needs preschool.  Gray got chosen to be a peer model for the afternoon preschool class (which means FREE preschool).  I've heard it's nearly impossible to get your kids into this and the waiting list is crazy long.  We really lucked out.  We're a week into school and his excitement level is still super high.  He loves everything about it and made friends quickly.

The boys love being in the same building.  Their classes are all in the same hallway and they pass each other throughout the day...which they love.  I have become a mother of all school-aged kids...which I love.  The kids all have INCREDIBLE teachers.  The parents here are really involved and really friendly.  We're falling back into our school day schedule.

I'm happy.  The kids are happy.  Things are looking up.

While sitting down to dinner...

Reid (throwing his hands in the air): This is my lucky day!!!

Me: You really like everything we're having for dinner?

Reid: No. But there's nothing here that makes me barf.



And that is how to successfully cook a meal for a picky five year old.

This Is The Place

Thank goodness for in-laws...they take pictures when you accidentally forget to pack your camera on a trip to Utah. 

You know it's a good trip when all you do is over-eat and under-sleep.  Spencer's youngest brother got married down in St. George.  It's been a full three years since we've seen his family.  We were way past due for a visit.

I lucked out.  I married into a really great family. The more I spend time with them (which is not often enough) the more I love and appreciate them.  This visit was the best yet.  I loved every minute of it.  We had a fantastic trip.  I don't usually mind living so far away from family, but I came home this time wishing we lived close enough to get together more often.  

 

 

 

I really have nothing bad to say about this trip.  The wedding reception was a lot of fun.  Down time at the house and by the pool was perfect.  The trip included late nights, good talks, crazy games, the best ice cream, cousins galore, too many trampolines, not enough sleep, daily outings, delicious doughnuts and lots and lots of laughter. 

There's no way we can can make it another three years. The kids are still asking to move to Utah and are making plans to buys houses out there when they're grown.

I'm happy to be a Smith.  It's a great family to be a part of. 

Birthday Magic

Parker turned seven earlier this month.  As per usual, we packed our day with birthday fun. 

After opening presents and fulfilling a birthday breakfast request, we spent the rest of the morning putting together Lego sets and practicing magic tricks (Grandma Benson sent him a magic set for his birthday and I hate to brag, but I'm pretty sure I'm the best magician in the house).  

 

(Chief apparently wanted to be next...he must have known we missed his birthday.)

Then I whipped up some cow costumes (thanks to Autumn and her generous donation of a lifetime supply of felt) and we headed to Chik-fil-a for cow appreciation day. (I'm ticked I didn't take any pictures.) Then off to Target for more Star Wars Legos courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Smith. 

We hustled home to change for a trip to Zoombezi Bay. (No pictures again...who wants to worry about a camera at a water park?)  I've always been hesitant to take the kids to a water park so young, but it was a blast.  Parker was tall enough for every water slide.  And Reid could ride a few.  But they were mostly content to shuffle between the wave pool, the lazy river and the kid section.

We came home for some late night cake and sparklers left over from the 4th. 

 

(50 points to anyone who can tell me which location from Star Wars Parker requested for a birthday cake.)

Parker is everything you would hope for a seven year old to be.  He's a very bright kid and can apply his smarts to all parts of his life.  He's observant, inventive, and precise.  He's helpful at home...even when I don't ask it of him.  And I can always count on him for a job well done.  He's a responsible kid with all the traits of an oldest child. I love watching him grow up. 

Do you remember?

Y'r'member when I used to be a regular in the blogosphere?  That was awesome. (To be read like Chris Farley in this interview)

I've been trying to figure out why I used to blog so often and now I can't seem to make time for it, even though I still love it. I came up with a few things.

One, I'm busy.  Who isn't? And to top it off my kids are past napping age now.  Bummer.  Big time.

Two, my kids are growing up (hence the no naps).  Park turned seven last week and Gray is almost four.  That's right my friends, my baby is almost four.  Reid is sandwiched right in between at five and a half.  I realize that's not so old, but old enough that we go about our daily business without any blog-worthy catastrophes.  We can hop in the car and all three kids can buckle their own seats belts.  My purse is just a purse...no wipes, no sippie cups, no fruit snacks.  There have been a couple times this summer I've braved taking all three kids grocery shopping... an outing I would expect to generate a great story.  Nothing.  We went, we shopped, we left.  That doesn't make for a good blog post at all.  I used to turn to my kids for inspiration for writing.  Now I'm lacking that inspiration.

Three, I'm a happier person these days...which is a direct result of number two (not that number two, the other number two).  I can't tell you how happy I am not to have really little kids anymore.  I went through quite a dark phase.  It lasted about three years...and by dark I mean I really struggled to get out of bed.  I didn't want to face my days.  I spent too much of the past three years in tears.  I think I'm coming out of it.  I haven't had that kind of a breakdown in months and it feels good.  I'm glad my kids are growing up.  I think when I was depressed I needed blogging...it helped me focus on the good and the funny in my rough days.  Seriously, I think blogging really helped me make it through. I don't need it like I used to. I love it, but don't need it...making it fall lower on my priority list. (Also, I hate to admit this, but more time with my family and less time on the computer contributes to my happiness.)

Four, my camera is failing on me.  I'll try to catch up on summer fun at some point, but pictures will be limited.

One of these days I'm going to think up something great to write about (and find the time to write about it) and it's going to knock your socks off.