FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY FATHER"S DAY, CHRIS!! This is the first year that I haven't been able to wish him a Happy Father's Day in person! He and the kids left on Wednesday and are in Utah visiting family for a few weeks. Livi's suitcase was packed with the cards we'd made earlier in the week and the itunes gift card they bought him....the man can never have enough music! I hope he knows just how much we all appreciate and love him. He is such a loving man and a very hard worker, always concerned that his family has what they need and want. He is the dad every child deserves, one who will tease and wrestle and cheer the loudest at sporting events but then also wipe tears and lay down the law when it's needed. One of the cards he got had Napoleon Dynmite on the front and read, "To a Guy with Flippin' Sweet Skills" and then inside was the recorded voice of Napoleon listing his sweet skills "Ninja skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills." The kids finished the card with a list of Chris' sweet skills....special cereal-making skills, great daddy skills, hunting skills, batman skills, etc. I was so cute! Thanks honey, for being such a wonderful husband and daddy!!

The only dad in the world that would ride the teacups over and over and over....
Chris and his little baseball buddy, Nick
Baby Ben staring into his Daddy's eyes during his first bottle feeding
This year is also one of the few that I have been able to be with my own Dad on Father's Day. It was fun to get up and make him breakfast and watch as he opened cards and gifts from my siblings and I. He and I are so much alike, it is hard to believe that he is my step-dad. We are almost always in agreement on how things should be done, organized and changed. We have the same (very expensive) taste of which we are quite proud. It's kind of funny how we tend to side with each other on family issues and things and all my mom can say is, "Oh, you two!" I love it. And I love him. I was only five when he and my mom remarried. Sure, she needed a companion, but I really needed a dad. He took me under his protective wing and has treated me like his own ever since. I could not be more grateful for him than I am. He is quiet but sensitive and always so concerned about how his children are doing and what he can to do help them. I have always known, my entire life, that my dad is available when I need him. He is an intelligent man whose advice and counsel have been so important to both Chris and I during our married life. Many times, when we have been faced with a tough decision, Chris has asked " What does your dad think about this?" or just called my dad himself to find out. We have a special relationship and what a great day to celebrate it! Love you, Dad

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Today we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary! We always have fun on our anniversary, no matter what we do. This year my parents watched the kiddies for us and we went to dinner at a yummy little place just outside of town. Nothing huge and fancy, but it was so nice being out without the kids! After dinner we came home with the intention of sitting in the hot tub, but we were too tired...seriously, is this a sign of an old married couple or what?! We wrote our annual anniversary letters to each other which is probably the thing we love the most about the day. It's so fun to read the letters from the previous year and be able to answer all the burning questions we had at the time.

I know it's sounds so cliche, but I can hardly believe we've been married for 12 years and have 3 kiddies, and a dog to show for it. Sometimes the days are slow, but the years seem to fly by! I am glad I can say that I love Chris more now than I ever thought possible. We've been through so much together, the good and bad and everything in between, and there is no one I would rather have done it all with. A girl at work recently asked me, in confidentiality, if I had the chance to do it all over again from scratch, would I marry my husband? The question surprised me, I thought about it, and then answered. I would definitely, without hesitation, do it exactly the same. I can't imagine my world with Chris in it. He is my best friend, my partner in crime, and my life would not be complete with him!

LAST DAY OF 2ND GRADE

Finally, let the summer begin! Liv had a great year in second grade, learning alot and making tons of new friends. She loves everything about school, has ever since preschool! Now that it's the second week of June, though, she's ready for a break. Staying up late, sleeping in, no chores and lots of friends is her idea of the perfect summer. We'll see what her mother has to say about that!

CHEESEBALL

Nick accompanied me to Sam's Club today and was begging to pick something out. I told him he could pick one thing, whatever he wanted. Not five minutes later, I see a tub of cheeseballs with legs walking towards me. I should have known...this kid is all about quantity, not quality. Nevertheless, the cheeseballs were gone in 48 hours!

2009 GRADUATE

My little Nicky graduated from preschool today! This morning I told him it was a "big day" and his response was, "How come it's a big day for you? You're not the one graduating!" Oh, child, for the first part of the year I thought I was going to have to enroll myself in the class to get you to go! He started out the year not really sure about school, but by Christmas he had fallen in love. He would have gone every day but I couldn't stand to part with him! He made lots of friends and worked so hard and we were ready to celebrate big. He got a haircut and chose to wear his favorite duds, a blue blazer, kaki pants and a blue and green polka dot tie. (He is such a handsome little devil.... His teachers "ooohed" when he walked through the door.)

The graduation ceremony was cute. The kids marched in to the graduation song wearing red hats with yarn tassles. They sang all of their spring songs and then diplomas were handed out as each child's name was announced. My parents were there as well as Chris and Ben and I so we hooted when "Nicholas Smith" received his diploma. We had balloons for him after the ceremony and then we went to lunch at his new favorite place, Dairy Queen, so he could get a "huge" rootbeer float. He ordered the enormous 72-ouncer at first but then I eyed the guy taking the order and he quickly responded with a "Sorry kid, the biggest rootbeer float you can get is this size" and pointed to a very tall medium cup. Gotta love a waiter that can read the eyes of a mother!

Way to go, Nick! I am so proud of you!

PIANO

Today Olivia had her first ever piano recital! She started playing a little over a year ago and seems to really enjoy it. Her instructor is an amazingly talented friend of ours and Olivia loves going to her house for lessons. The last couple of months, she has been working hard to memorize her pieces, " Ode to Joy" and "Spoonful of Sugar." In the car on the way to the recital, I heard her say to Nick, "You can't blame me for being a little nervous about this." Her performance was flawless and I was the proudest mother in the room! I don't know how she does it, playing and singing in front of such big audiences like she does. I was just thinking the other day about how many times she has sung solos and duets in front of huge groups of people.... I would die at the thought so I know for sure this talent of hers had nothing to do with me! Keep up the good work, Livi! You have a beautiful voice and talented piano hands!

TOES

Tonight Livi and I treated ourselves to pedicures....it was absolute H.E.A.V.E.N. Seriously, there are few things on earth that make me as happy as a good pedicure! Liv was a little nervous at first but loved her pretty flowers toes in the end!

EARLY RISER

We're not real sure what has gotten into Ben lately....he still goes to bed at 7pm but for the last couple of weeks, he's been up and roaring before 5am! It is killing us. So much so that, and I am afraid to admit this, but the little bugger has kind of been on his own because I am either in the shower for work or Chris is passed out cold on the couch. He's generally pretty good and will just sit with his blankie and watch cartoons, but he's starting to make himself breakfast. And we're not talking a few dry Cheerios. He likes to scale the pantry shelves or get into freezer for ice cream. Yesterday a new half gallon of butter pecan melted on the table and in the picture below he had just polished off the rest of the chocolate chip mint! I think what this kid needs is a little parenting or, even better, a sleep-aid....