HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA JOAN!

It was fun being able to celebrate my mom's birthday with her this year! She and my dad flew back from Arizona for a few days just as we were moving into their house. I think she loved having the kids around to party with her, too.  Her cake was from our favorite little bakery in town and so, so yummy!

My mom is great. She is such a good friend and means well in everything she does. And she is a crack-up. My siblings and I love the "phrases" she comes up with during conversation.  We have had an ongoing list of these phrases for a couple of years because we never want to forget them! Thankfully, we have all caught ourselves using these "mom phrases" from time to time so they aren't going to be forgotten anytime soon!  Here is the most current list:

"Geez-Louisa"
"Not a pot to pee in"
"...and call it lunch"
"Fuddy-duddy"
"Rouped"
"Eeh, gads"
"Not in a month of Sundays"
"Get your goat"
"Worthless as tits on a boar"
"Old as Methusela"
"Tough titty said the kitty"
"Yuckin' it up"
"Almost strained my milk"
 And her latest one, which she adopted from Dad but now uses more frequently than he, "Holy Macral!"

Love you, Mom! Happy Happy Birthday!! XO

HELLO

So here it is- our new, unemployed pad:

Let me just say that being unemployed does have its perks. Think seven bathrooms, theatre room, sport court and a hot tub surrounded by beautiful pine trees. My parents have agreed to let us live in their summer home for the next few months and for that, we could not be anymore thankful!! But what they don't know is that Chris may never get a job, and they may never get rid of us.... But in all seriousness, I could not be more grateful for their generosity. They didn't hesitate, even for a second, before they offered their home to us and the muddy boots, dog prints, and carpet spills that accompany us where ever we go. They have always been loving and supportive parents, but the last few months they have really outdone themselves. Someday, I hope we will to be able to do the same for our children. Maybe not in terms of the house pictured above, but with the same love and devotion and encouragement that they have shown Chris and I. I love you, Mom and Dad.

GOOD-BYE

After three long weeks full of work, exhaustion and sickness, we are officially moved out of our house. I can't believe it's finally over! Chris and friends hauled boxes out of our house and into my parents garage while my girlfriends and I had a little cleaning party. The neighbors stopped by over the weekend, bearing good-bye treats, gift cards and even a delicious "moving day" breakfast. One of our favorite families three doors down created a beautiful photo album for us documenting our time on St. Charles Street...it brought me to tears instantly! I will miss our tree-lined neighborhood, full of kids and popsickles and bikes and dogs. Does every neighborhood have an annual block party and an average of three lemonade stands up and running on any given weekend? Emotions ran high, making it a hard day, but also one full of relief. Despite what Nick thinks, nurses do NOT make alot of money and and saying good-bye to our mortgage payment was a very happy moment. I know this is what we are supposed to be doing right now so that alone made saying good-bye to St. Charles Street a little bit easier to do.

PACKING

I think the look on Ben's face in this picture pretty much describes what I think of packing. (I haven't, however, wrapped myself in packing tape and jumped into a box. Yet.) This week has been a crazy one as we prepare for moving day next weekend. The past several moves have spoiled us- packers, movers, car shippers, plane tickets to our new destination, etc. This move reminds me of our student days-collecting boxes from anyone who has extras, packing them ourselves and then asking friends and church members to help us load the U-haul! Actually, things are going quite smoothly and we are just about ready to go. We have amazing friends and neighbors here that have helped out tremendously in every way imaginable- from watching the kids while we pack to loaning equipment, storage space and helping hands, we have had such great support. Next week at this time it will all be done and I will be wondering what to do.....

MESSY

We do something like this just about every day.....

lotion

bbq sauce

This child is a total mess magnet.....

FACES

Ben has so many cute expressions. This kid wears it all on his face....the good, the bad and everything in between. Thankfully he is a really happy little guy. I love it that he is so easy to read...and so unbelievably cute to watch. 

His "studious" look

HIs "oooh I like that" look

His "this is mine, now back away slowly" look

SOLD

It is no secret that the Smiths have been going through a little bit of a "transition" period for the last little while. Chris was laid off from G.E. in mid-July,and, since we weren't sure where we would end up, we put our house on the market in August. This was our very first house- the one where we built a swingset for the kids and put Christmas lights on the roof- and we were heartbroken to think we would be leaving after only 18 months. I cried with my neighbors in the yard the day the sign went up and could hardly talk to the realtor when he came over to make it official. Ever since then, we have been praying that Chris would land a job in Rapid City so we could take that stinkin' sign out of the yard and just stay here.

Now, fast forward five months- five long months of praying and worrying and planning and budgeting- to Christmas 2008. We watched some Christmas show with the kids about Christmas miracles and later that night, Chris and I were talking about how badly we needed a Christmas miracle. His severence package and health benefits were running out the end of the month, no one had looked at the house in weeks, and no real job opportunities had surfaced. We needed a miracle badly. Christmas came and went with all the excitement of the season and we throughly enjoyed ourselves. Still, the stress of real life weighed heavily on us. We had decided to go to Idaho for a few days, to get away and visit Chris' family for a bit before school started back up. Neither of us were all too sure about our plan, and, at the last minute, decided not to go. Chris told me he really felt like we needed to stay home so that is just what we did.

The morning of December 30th came, Chris was hunting and the kids and I were at home. A realtor had scheduled an appointment to show the house so I was cleaning up the after-Christmas mess like a crazy woman. The showing was held but there was no phone call or anything immediately following so I didn't think much of it. Chris came home from hunting and the first thing he said was, "Well, we got an offer!" I was shocked and stunned and couldn't believe it! The realtor had called him and IT WAS TRUE! The guy had literally shown up out of nowhere, bank papers in hand, ready to buy our house. We spent the evening talking over details and, although hard, it was such a relief to know that our biggest burden was about to be lifted. I have come to realize that this house, although we have loved it, is still just a house. It is our family that makes it a home and where ever we are, we will be happy because we are together. So now we are packing and planning and excited for whatever lies ahead of us. We are certain that the sale of our house,finalized on New Year's Eve, was just in time to still be called a Christmas miracle.

MEET THE SMITHS

Chris is "THE MAN" around the house. He works hard but plays even harder. He is a cowboy at heart, a master gardener in the yard and needs ice cream and Dr. Pepper to be happy. He is not a morning person, unless it's hunting season. In that case, "If it flies, it dies," and he's out the door.

This is "Momma"... she cooks and cleans and reads and cheers and drives and scolds, all in the name of love. She enjoys the quiet of early mornings, exercises to keep herself sane, and can't be trusted in Target or TJ Maxx. She doesn't let her kids eat refined sugar and throughly enjoys laundry. She frequently rewards herself with Diet Coke for good behavior.

Liv is a brilliant child, loves school, her friends and being in charge. She rocks on the piano and can out swim most fish. She adores her brothers, even though she'll never admit it. Someday she hopes to be magical.

Nick is hilariously funny and the super star athlete of the family. Most days he pretends to be someone other than himself. He plans to be Indiana Jones when he grows up. He can talk his way out of anything so be warned. And don't ever try to serve him mashed potatoes.

At 2 years old, this fella is bigger than most four year olds. His curly hair accounts for a good portion of his weight and he can out eat both Nick and Livi in minutes. He is a cuddly, sweet, happy little guy who loves to tease and play chase. He is not, however, one to be pushed around and has been known to take shots at others and kick walls when provoked.

THIS IS OUR LIFE

After many many months..... The Smiths have a blog! Talk about a work in progress...I have been coached,long distance,by several good friends who probably thought this thing would never happen. (Thanks, Sarah and Cher!) I will admit to being a secret blog reader for probably a year now and thought it was a fantastic way for me to keep up on all of you. So I told myself last August that I would get all the scrapbooks for the kids caught up by January, then toss the glue sticks and start a blog. January has officially arrived, not a thing has been done with those scrapbooks since August, but the blog is up and running and I am psyched! (I can cross off one New Year's resolution and it's barely 3pm on the 1st...)

I hope that this blog will be not only be a darling scrapbook for my kids, but also a journal of our day-to-day life. We have so many precious moments that I never want to forget and this will be a good way for us to save and remember them. I hope that, through the things I write and the pictures I post, my family will know how crazy in love with them I really am. The funny things they say and the crazy things we do together make life so special. We have fabulous days and good days and even some not so great days, but that is what makes us a family. This is our life.