One Year Older

Vince and Joseline’s birthdays are ten days apart, and Vincente’s birthday falls on or near General Conference every year, so birthday parties don’t happen all that often for them.

This year we partied while Papai was in Paris on a French immersion.

While we were taking these pictures

he was taking these pictures

Renae and her kids were down visiting for spring break so we had the entire family there for their birthday. The cake is always a highlight, although Joseline was a little worried about all those people singing happy birthday to her.

She perked right up when it was time for presents. Especially the gift from Jordan to “Joshasilin”. In some world, that spells “Joseline”. I really can’t fault them, though. It’s a hard name to spell, even if you go with the traditional “Jocelyn” spelling. Which to me is even harder than the way we spell it. At least our way makes a little bit of orthographical sense…

In true form, Jordan gifted several of his old toys.

The duct tape covered Nerf ax was a big hit (and still is).

And I am pretty sure Jordan’s gift doubled our stuffed animal collection.

Good thing I made that zoo.

They now have Nerf guns. I’m pretty sure every kid needs a Nerf gun.

The “big” Grandma/Grandpa gifts -

Bumblebee transformer for Vincente. He’s been begging for a “big transformer” since his cousin Sam got one last November for his 5th birthday. He originally asked for Optimus Prime, but I’m pretty sure when he saw Bumblebee all he could think about was how incredibly cool he was that he now had a real transformer. Whoa.

Joseline’s big gift was a bike. She was not incredibly thrilled about it and although we got her to ride around for a little bit she really didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Hopefully she’ll grow out of that.

Spring Bunny

After much discussion and a lack of Easter Bunny around our house for the past 5 years, we have decided that we really don’t like the idea of the Easter Bunny being associated with Easter. I don’t have a problem with Santa Clause, since he was an actual person (or is associated with an actual person) who did things that are related to Christ – gave to the poor.

But the Easter Bunny… brings you candy and presents… I really can’t see any connection between that and the Savior’s atonement, death, and resurrection.

And so, the “Spring Bunny”. We call him Vernal. Ha ha. Rather than celebrate the Easter Bunny on or near Easter, we have decided that we will have the “Spring Bunny” come on the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. While that date sometimes gets really close to Easter, more often than not it’s father away, at least a week or so, and by associating the bunny with spring rather than with Easter we can eat candy and not feel like we’re secularizing Easter. Best of both worlds, right?

This was our first year attempting the “Spring Bunny”. I think it turned out pretty great. Now we need to do some all-out Easter traditions to really make the distinction. Our family is young, so we’re still working out all our traditions.

We carried over a few from our families, with the Spring Bunny – including hiding baskets and eggs/candy all over the house. (this picture is Joseline finding her basket under the table)

Vince is getting old enough to make an egg hunt really fun.

We shared Easter this year with the Wilde’s who have been living with us for a few months while Dan was in China.

Some of my favorite memories from childhood are when we would find Easter candy hidden a few weeks/months/a year after Easter. Ha ha. Nothing better than a stale malt egg!

Families are Forever

We had a very merry Werner Christmas for 2011, with the presence of every member of my parents’ family – even Ross was there. Well, his picture was there, and we thought about him and talked about him a lot.

We took some family pictures (thanks, Victoria!) and when it was time for us to have the “mom and dad and offspring” picture, I kept looking around for Ross. There was someone missing. It was kind of hard. We really miss him.

 

As I was thinking about writing a post today, I remembered this oldy (but goody) from the LDS Church back in the 70s. The first time I heard it (when I was a kid) I cried my eyes out, and I still can’t get to the end without bawling.

It is a lot more poignant for me now. And I am so grateful for the testimony I have that families are forever.

“Dad, dad, it’s alright! Families are forever!”

“And he said, ‘Dad, dad, it’s alright! Families are forever!”

Haiku… no… Hiatus

I took a long break
There was no time for writing
But I am back now

We got sick.

Then we got better.

Then my family came for Christmas.

Then we got sick again.

And during all that we had a situation with a friend that we had to deal with.

Then Russ left for a Chinese course.

The situation is taken care of (well, it’s out of our hands now).

And we’re getting better. Hopefully. That or we’re just passing the “sicky bugs” back around again. Let’s hope it’s the former.

I’ve been drinking lots of garlic syrup (dice a few cloves of garlic, soak it in a cup of apple cider vinegar for 24 hours, strain, store in a – glass – container in the fridge. Take a few tablespoons each day. I’ve been taking 6-10 tablespoons a day. I WANT TO GET BETTER, DANG IT!)

I’ve been watching lots of Psych. The kids have been watching lots of Wonder Pets, Backyardigans, and Yo Gabba Gabba. Thank you, Netflix. I am sorry your stock has dropped drastically. You are a great service, but you made some really dumb business mistakes. Just sayin’.

I plan on doing a lot more blogging – I moved my computer to the basement/family room/play room, so I can blog while the kids play! Okay, I know, I should probably be playing with them… but I have been alone with the kids – mostly sick – for the past two weeks almost… and it is MAKING ME CRAZY.

I love my kids, really, I do – but… I need my husband. A lot.

I posted on some of the other blogs, too, so go check those out.

Flight of the Dragon

One of my goals as a mother is to provide my kids with high quality toys that encourage independent pretend play. (that is, the kids can have fun without me directing their play).

Vincente loves dress up, and when we lived with my parents in Arkansas for a summer his favorite dress up costume included fairy wings. I had mentioned that I wanted to make him some dragon wings, but I never really got around to it.

Well, my entire immediate family came to Utah for Christmas 2011, so my mom was here to help me put together some dragon wings. Due to all the festivities (and craziness!) of having 15 people and 5 dogs in our house almost all the time, the dragon wings got postponed until Christmas Eve. I was up until about 4am working on the dragon wings, and my mom was up with me working on a gift for my sister.

They are now one of the favorite costumes in the dress up box -

The kids’ favorite thing to do when they were dressing up was having Grandma Pam play “dragon music” and then Vince would chase them around. Then they would say “Play princess music!” Grandma would happily oblige, and the little girls (there were three of them!) would spin happily around the living room. Then there was “bunny music” and “pirate music”. They are so lucky to have such an amazingly talented grandma! Now she just needs to record a CD for them so they have have her “dragon music” and “princess music” even when she’s 2000 miles away.

A Rite of Passage

A few weeks before Christmas I was working on several Christmas projects downstairs in the basement. That means my sewing machine, countless buttons, spools of ribbons, yarn, rick rack and the like were laying out in the open on my sewing table.

I’m pretty sure we were getting ready for dinner (it was in the evening) and I thought “I should probably put away my sewing stuff downstairs.” But we were busy, so I didn’t. Later, it was awful quiet downstairs, so I headed down to check on the kids.

Bags of buttons had been opened and strewn about the room, balls of yarn had been cut into tiny pieces. The sewing machine was off, but there were pieces of felt and rick rack shoved in the foot under the needle. I took a deep breath, tried not to freak out, and sent the kids upstairs so that I could clean up.

As I was picking up pieces of yarn and moving sheets of felt off the ground I saw it.

Clumps of precious, blonde, wispy, Joseline baby hair.

“Nooooo!!!”

I grabbed the hair and ran upstairs to assess the damage (which I hadn’t noticed before – probably due to the panic I had been experiencing).

At first I only noticed her pony tail (she pretty much cut the pony tail right off). It was only later after brushing out her hair that I found that she had scalped herself in the front.

A friend of mine had a similar experience and said she took her daughter to one of those cheap cut places to fix it, and they made it worse. Not wanting to make things any worse (could they even get worse?) we went straight to Cookie Cutters in South Jordan the next morning and begged them to repair the damage as much as they could.

They couldn’t do a whole lot for the bangs (we just stuck with headbands for a while), but the stories they told of kids who had done worse made me feel worlds better.

Everyone who hears about her cutting her hair has the same things to tell me, “Every kid does it at least once.” “Now she’s officially a little girl.”

Or they tell me their horror stories.

Which really do make me feel better.

At least she didn’t take the clippers down the middle of her head.

Hair grows back, right?

That’s what I keep telling myself.

Bowl Heads

Joseline is a daddy’s girl. No doubt about it. Doc gets kind of jealous sometimes. But that doesn’t stop all of them from having a good time.

He’s such a great dad – seriously, who else would pose with a bowl on his head. Gotta love a dad who loves his kids. These guys are peas in a pod.

A Mother Heart

I love these guys. So much.

I got stranded in Wyoming last night,
and I didn’t see these precious faces until this evening.
I just couldn’t get enough of them!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There’s something really special about being a mother. Something that makes me love it.

You know what else I love?

Watching complete strangers being awesome parents.

Today at Kohls’ I walked by a young couple with a little one or two year old boy in the mother’s arms crying. The father got close to the little boy’s face, and in the sweetest voice said, “I know that’s really fun to play like that, but you can’t ___.”
(I think the blank was something about being in a crowded store and running away from mom and dad being dangerous – I was mostly out of earshot by the time he got to that part)

I just loved that the dad was so in tune with his kid – the kid did think that running around the busy store was fun! But he also needed to understand how dangerous it can be not to obey mom and dad, and not to stay near them. Overhearing that exchange in the store lit up my face. Seriously. I smiled for almost a minute afterwards. I see too many moms and dads dragging their kids around public places, snipping at them, saying mean things to their kids, or even spanking them in the middle of the store (sometimes I am guilty of this behavior – not so much the spanking part, but definitely being impatient with my kids in public places). The way this father spoke to his son was so sweet, so loving, so tender. I’m sure that little boy had no doubt in his mind that his daddy loves him and that all his daddy wanted was to keep his little boy safe.

What a great dad.

I’m married to a guy like that.

He’s a great dad.

Great dads make great kids.

That’s why my kids are fabulous.

Snakes and Snails

We have a little family of garden snakes that live in the flowerbed by our front door. This fall when we were cleaning up for the winter, I caught one to show to the kids. They weren’t scared at all!

I love that we get to experience this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for us. There is so much variety – it never gets boring! And there is so much to see and experience. I hope my kids get to experience more than I did – and I got to experience a lot.

(PS – see Doc’s nose there at the bottom of the picture?
He was scared to death of the snake. Ha ha)

Adding Pictures

So I got distracted while I was blogging the other day and instead of blogging current pictures I kind of went on an “add pictures to old blog posts” kick.

You see, when I first started blogging, I didn’t know you could add pictures to your blog. So I had to go back and add pictures.

You should go back and check them out. (seriously – there is a video of Vince learning to walk)

You’ll really like this post, too.

the quest for a tall loaf

After one miserably failed attempt at whole wheat bread today (I forgot to put all the flour in – so it was… less than desirable), I am trying again, but I think I miscounted and still put not-quite-enough flour in the dough. I think that I am overly cautious trying not to use too much flour that I use too little. And I am certain I don’t knead the bread enough.

If tomorrow weren’t Sunday (and if I had more milk) I would try again. Perhaps I will a try a recipe that just uses water – just to see if I can ever get the dang thing to be tall enough.

One of my concerns is that perhaps there isn’t enough dough to fill the pans (i.e., my pans are too big) But I use the same size pans my sister used, and she got hers to rise tall…

I also read that letting the bread rest between mixing it up and kneading it (autolyse?) can help it rise tall, so next time I am going to try that.

I’m feeling a little bit like a failure today… two ruined batches of bread (when I am making the bread in the first place to stretch our grocery budget this month), I lost my patience with the kiddos, it’s 7:36pm and they still aren’t in bed, I lost my patience with my sweet husband, I haven’t prepared my Relief Society lesson for tomorrow, and I didn’t get a load of laundry started this morning. In order to accomplish everything I would like to accomplish tonight, it will require me staying up too late (which I hate doing on Saturday night – I like to be well rested on Sunday! Plus, the choir is singing tomorrow, so that means choir practice before church…)

On a brighter note, we took back our cable box today (no more TV! Yay!) and set up our internet and home phone service with Qwest to start in a few weeks (saving us a LOT of money). So that’s good, right?

I also wanted to blog more, but my blogging marathon will have to wait until tomorrow (unless I decide to sleep tomorrow because I stay up too late tonight…)

 

Some days are just bad days. Today is a bad day.

Blogging Marathon

Okay – Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, and I am still a blogging slacker. But in a desperate attempt to get at least somewhat caught up before the holidays, I am going to spend the next 30 minutes while my bread is rising doing some intense blogging. Hopefully I’ll be able to type out some descriptions to go with my pictures, but I’m not promising any great spelling or punctuation, just to give you a heads up.
By the way, in an effort to keep our events in some kind of chronological order, I am back-dating the posts. However the front page will have links to the posts, so if you follow the front page you shouldn’t miss anything. So head on over there to get the links to the posts I will be posting today.
My goals for today (these will be links if I am successfull!)
-Puerto Rico
-Denver
-Ward Campout
-Park City
-a few random pictures here and here
-liberty park with the Wilde child and his mama
-a new restaurant we found
And I think that will be it for today. Then tomorrow I hope to get the rest of my pictures organized and then published.
Wish me luck!

Just Keep Swimming

One of our favorite things about living in Salt Lake County is the recreation facilities. Our local Rec center here in West Jordan has an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, an indoor track, basketball court, weight room, and a daycare (the kids absolute favorite). With our pass we can get into any county facility – ice skating rinks included, which is another favorite pastime.

The indoor pool is nice, especially in the winter when we’ve got a hankering for splashing around and the snow is falling outside.

The last time we went, however, was right after the outdoor pool closed (and it was still super warm outside, but oh well).

We went with our friends Gabe and Noah and their mama who were staying with us for a while. It was loads of fun, and we miss those cuties! 

And going to the pool is always more fun when Papai comes along!

All Hallows

Our ward does a Trunk or Treat every year on Halloween.

This year posed a problem.
Halloween was on Monday night.

Why is that such a problem? you ask.

Here’s why:

Monday nights are reserved for family home evening throughout the Church. No Church activities, meetings, baptismal services, games, or practices should be held after 6:00 p.m. on Mondays. Other interruptions to family home evening should be avoided. An exception may be made when New Year’s Eve is on a Monday.

That’s straight from the Church Handbook of Instructions. No ward activities on Monday nights.

However, somehow our ward got special permission (from the Stake Pres? From President Monson?) to do the Halloween chili cook-off and Trunk or Treat on a Monday night! I think it helped that the entire partay is in the parking lot. And the fact that it’s probably one of the biggest non-member/less actives drawing event. Everyone in the neighborhood comes (and brings chili) – even people who never come to Church on Sundays (or any other day of the week). I also think that a lot of neighborhood kids who are in other wards come and start their trick or treating out in our church parking lot. It’s safe, fun, and you get a warm bowl of chili! Plus, we usually start at 6pm and it’s not quite dark yet.

Keeping with tradition, we were about 30 minutes late (last minute costuming, last minute chili preparations… you know, the usual).

Last year we made the mistake of taking the kids on our street after the Trunk or Treat. Duh – all the people at the houses were the same folks at the Trunk or Treat. So this year we got smart and went to the neighborhood on the other side of the main road. The kids made it up one side and down half of the other side of one street (probably about 1/8 of a mile – which is pretty good for little ones!)

Toward the end, J’s bucket got so heavy she couldn’t carry it anymore! And by the last few houses, Papai was carrying her. But she really enjoyed everyone doting on her and gushing over her costume. J the paper doll. A costume that cost under $1. Score.

We also had one of those scary car-almost-running-over-small-trick-or-treater experiences with V. They had just scored some candy at a house with a very big, but gentle, Mast-weiler (Mastiff/Rottweiler mix – one of the most beautiful dogs I have seen!) and we were headed back down his walkway to cross his driveway to the sidewalk when a chick comes ripping into the driveway. V was already making his way to the sidewalk. I don’t think she saw him, but we yelled at him, and he took off toward their garage, away from the car. We were all freaking out, but there were no injuries, and after some great big hugs, we were all fine.

When we got home and started getting ready for bed, I was asking J if she had fun trick or treating. Of course she had fun. Here is the rest of our conversation:

  Me: What did you say when you went to the houses?
J: Trick or treat!
Me: And what did you get?
J: Candy!
Me: And then what did you say? (expecting her to say “Thank you” – my favorite part about trick or treating is getting to practice manners!)
J: Strawberries!

Me: …

Okay. Well, we’ll work on that.

The Hearts of the Children

Every few years, the descendents of my grandmother and grandfather (Joseph Theron Smith and Neva Almira Harper) get together for a huge family reunion. There are 10 living children of Joseph and Neva, all with spouses, and somewhere around 40 grandkids (with the number of great-grandkids skyrocketing).

This summer we had a little “mini” reunion (I put mini in quotes because even our “small” reunions are still big…) Because the weather was horribly hot this summer we went up to the little fountain pools at Nelson’s Grove park in Orem. We had actually had a potluck picnic behind my aunt’s stake center and the kids needed an escape from the heat, so we walked over to the park. The kids (and some of the older “kids”) got in the water and splashed around.

I always love being with my Smith family. I think every single one of my Smith relatives is a kind hearted, loving, decent person who wants to help each other in every way they possibly can. Sure, as with every family there are miscommunications, mix-ups, and disagreements, but I feel like everyone tries to handle them pretty civilly, and no one really holds any grudges.

One of the nights we had a “girl cousin’s sleepover” – we’ve really gotta come up with a better name! Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting to know my girl cousins better, especially the somewhat younger ones (like these two lovely ladies here). It’s really fun that we can all be so close and have so much fun together. I feel like I have instant friends in my cousins, even if we don’t see each other very frequently.

Some of the younger kiddos having a blast in the water.

   

We got everyone to run around the wading pool in a line. This is the beginning of it. The picture at the top is the middle. I wish I had a better camera so we could have got a better shot – but it was still fun.

No Pumpkins

Friday night was the military ball. After several (2-3?) hours of unsuccessful dress hunting that morning, I decided to go with a black stretchy skirt and a pretty comfortable top. Thankfully Jenna is staying with us and offered to do my hair and makeup, and added a flower to my outfit. And convinced me that I shouldn’t wear flats to a ball (although after all that dancing I was wishing I had stashed a pair of flip-flops in my purse).

The dinner was pretty good, the entertainment was John Schmidt(!!), and the dancing was a lot of fun. I think the band being named Article 15 made it ever more fun. They played good music, we had good friends to dance with, and they even gave away prizes (a few gift cards, some iPod shuffles and TWO Kindles! Unfortunately we didn’t win anything, boo – but the fact that they gave away such cool prizes was pretty awesome).

All in all, it was the best night out we’ve had in a while. (Thanks for watching the kiddos, Jenna!!) We got back just before midnight (so no turning into pumpkins!), and then Russ had to go to a 0700 formation the next morning for the parade. He made it, but just barely – and was super tired all day. But I like to think it was worth it!

Doesn’t my Lieber (my Love) look so handsome! Although I have to say I prefer dress blues. But that’s perfect, because if he gets promoted, he can get dress blues! Woohoo! And hopefully soon there will be SGT (sergeant) patches on his sleeves instead of those SPC (specialist) patches. Within the next year he will probably have warrant officer (or officer) ranks on his uniform. I am so proud of my hubby! He is such a good soldier and such a smart man, and I just adore him!

And just because Vincente is so cute: