Thursday, December 31, 2009

December

Sidney:

Sidney went home with my parents on Dec 13th. She got to play with Ava at the office and "help" Nana work. I am really glad she got to spend this time with them even though she came back with a few habits that I am still debating on. One is that she will not only roll her eyes like a pro (she had mastered this already) but will cross her arms and say "good grief" along with it. Cute but I predict it will come back to haunt me later.... She also has this fascination with Charlie Brown the great pumpkin. She asks to watch it about 4 times a day. Everyone loves Charlie Brown, however this one in particular uses a few words (aka stupid, fool, block head) many times and I have heard it repeated in the house already by a few members of the family. He may have to disappear until we are older. Her favorite phrase right now is "I not scared." which usually means that she is. Cute.

Linlee and Conner:


We all had a fabulous time in West Virginia once we finally got there. The road conditions got worse and worse the closer we got to Snowshoe.

We saw many a car buried in snow in the ditch. Luckily, we did not wind up joining them. The picture of half the road with a mound of snow is a good representative of the snow buried car. Kind of dangerous. The snow plows just went right around them.

The Inn where we stayed was in a beautiful location. Many mornings we would see deer outside. I think one evening we counted 14 on our 5 minute drive back from the slopes. The first day we signed the kids up for ski lessons. Ben also got to ski a little with his cousin Jimmy. I, however opted not to try it that day due to the fact that you couldn't seed 3 feet in front of you clearly. I would have hit every person on the slopes. It was miserable!!


To make up for the blizzard like conditions the day before, the next day was absolutely perfect!!

Ben and I took Linlee out skiing that morning which was a blast.
She went with Ben down the green slope and loved it.
That afternoon, the whole clan went tubing.

My camera died right before this so I got no pics but will get copies from aunt Sandy. Ben and I went back skiing that night and it was cold but fabulous!!! I hated to be leaving the next day! Uncle Bobby and Aunt Angie arrived that evening and we had presents round 1 with them. I hate that we didn't get to see them more!

All the kids got along so great! The ages were perfect however, Robbie and Linlee seemed inseperable at times.
We also inherited another little 4 year old named Colton whom Conner related well to so that was great to.:)

We drove from 11:00 am until 2:40 am the next day to get back to Aquilla for Christmas Eve. That is a LONG time to be in the car (we put 2100 miles on our rented minivan this trip) but the kids did GREAT! We were sooo glad to be there.

On the 24th, we went to Papa John's for early appetizers and gifts followed by service at First Baptist.
We then finished with dinner at Grandma Giles house with more gifts.
Delicious. The kids had a blast.



On Christmas morning we opened gifts with the kids and then got ready for the whole Smith clan to arrive.
I am not sure how many showed up this year but we are going to have to start renting out a bigger building for this crew. We were even missing about 8 or 9 people this year and it was still crazy! I don't see how Nana keeps her sanity having all those people in her house. She does it like a pro though.



We stayed a few more days with Nana and Papa. My best friend from high school came and brought her girls for a visit. It was good to see them.

We then made our way back to Collierville.
We had a very full van and still didn't make it back with everything. We were very blessed this year. Man it is good to be home!

We celebrated Linlee's 6th birthday at home with birthday doughnuts that morning, and then she helped design her cake for that afternoon. She also requested bbq nachos as her birthday dinner. That is a true memphis girl!


Her actual party will be at build-a-bear this year on Jan 8th so more pics from that to come. I just can't believe that she is now 6!!!
She is pretty proud of her split so here is a pic! I sure can't do that anymore....ouch!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Still Here

Yes, we are still on the planet. Haven't really had much time to post things lately (imagine that!). Sidney went home with my parents last Sunday so we have been a family of 4 this week. I have missed her to death, but it was a busy week so it was for the best. She has definitely had fun. WE have been planning and packing for our trip to Snowshoe West Virginia. Of course the night before we leave, the snowstorm of the century is moving through that area. WE are on the road right now and are just going to see how it goes. As of 1 hr ago, Snowshoe has had 24 inches of snow since last night!!!! If all else fails, we will detour to Gatlinburg for a few days. More to come. (I don't have my cord to transfer pics so that will have to come later.)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Ashleigh Peak photos

I have had access to these for a while but got my cd today so I can post some for the rest of you to see! I absolutely love these portraits! Ashleigh Peak is a genious! If you ever need professional pics made, contact her at www.ashleighpeak.com.


There is something perfect about how this picture represents the photo shoot. Linlee was happy and cooperative, Conner was wild but cute and happy, Sidney just wasn't either of those things. Seriously, for Ashleigh to be able to get any decent ones of Sid is a miracle!






There is also a really great family shot that I am using for the Christmas card so you will just have to wait for that one...

Monday, November 16, 2009

Preschool and super cool Party

Conner's preschool had their annual Fall Program last week. He sang really LOUD during some parts, participated well in most parts and sat out on a few parts. All in all it was very enjoyable.

Linlee had her first classmate birthday party on Friday. It was at a really cool place where they got to jump into a pit of foam blocks, jump really high with cables on a trampoline and zipline across the room. I have to admit, I was jealous!!!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Fate

Well, let's see. It has been a few weeks so I need to catch up.

Linlee's class had a field trip to a real live farm and the kids and I got to join in on the fun. I felt horrible due to the fact that I had a horrendus cold and didn't really feel like being around 20ish kids, but all in all it was fun. They got to examine and pick many crops, see cows and horses and goats, ride in a hayride, see giant pumpkins, etc. Very cool.



We then took a much needed trip down to Alabama to visit my parents and family. Sidney and Ava got to see a little bit of each other. They are about 2 months apart in age so in a few years, watch out! They look like they are thinking, "Wow, we made a mess. Do you think they see it? Maybe if we just keep looking down, they won't notice."


We had lots of fun spending time outside, roasting hotdogs and marshmellows. Sidney learned the meaning of the word hot first hand when she touched the grill. OUCH! She was fine after a while though. The trip was way too short!




For as long as she has been doing it, I have loved Ashleigh Peak Photography and have really wanted to have her take pictures of our family. I also wanted to wait until Sid was old enough to somewhat cooperate and smile on command. Well, Ashleigh is doing holiday mini session this weekend and we are doing it! Yay. (if you have never seen her work, check it out here: http://www.ashleighpeak.com/
Anyway, I have been obsessing over these pics, picking the right outfits, nervous that we won't all perform well, etc. Well this week has been full of life lessons and I learned yet another one last night. Sidney fell out of a chair and whacked her cheek on the wooden part of our futon.


Oh yeah, nice big shiner on her cheek just in time for pics. I am assured that photoshop can take car of it. Don't worry about small things in life, there are much bigger problems out there that people deal with than worrying that my pics won't turn out well...:)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Annual Fall Square pics (and catch up)

I am a little behind on things but was way too excited about how these pics turned out to wait and share them later. I will come back and make updates as I have time about:
1. Sidney potty training. So all on her own, Sidney mentioned going potty while we were upstairs in the playroom. I grabbed her up and ran downstairs to her potty which has been sitting in the bathroom just to peak her interest. I in no way have been even attempting this because I learned my lesson about starting too early with Linlee. So just for fun, I sat Sid down on it and started talking to her about it. In mid conversation, she began to go in the potty! I think it suprised her as much as it did me! I chalked it up to being a fluke and went on after we made a super huge deal about it of course! Well, since then, she has gone at least once a day sometimes twice (without any coaching or pushing from me). We by no means have it mastered, but I am beginning to think it is more than a fluke and may actually start trying to get this thing done. I am sooo looking forward to that last diaper purchase (just didn't expect it this soon!)

2. D&D 3rd birthday bash. Our friend's twins turned 3 this past week and had an awesome trian party at their house. They rented a "train" for the kids to ride around the block in. All the kids thought this was the greatest thing ever (it really was!). Crazy madness but loads of fun as always!




3. Tom's farm part 2. We had so much fun the last time we went that we decided to take our Sunday School class back to Tom's farm. The number of people that decided to brave the very cold weather was few but we had a great time!!




4. Fall break activities. Linlee and Conner were on fall break this past week. Ben decided to take off work too so we could all spend time together. Friday night we "camped" out in the playroom (since it was too cold outside) after a quick run to DQ (yum). We played card games and slept on pallets on the floor (never do that the day before a very busy day..). The next day was birthday party, college football, and tom's farm. On Monday we had the below photo shoot and just played outside. Not many outings but great family time.

 
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Random Pics

 

Sidney still loves to swing. This is a daily request and lately it has been raining so once the sun comes back out, we have some catching up to do.
Sid creating fun on the kitchen floor...
 


Linlee got to bring home the class "pet" this past weekend. His name is Brownie and he is a webkin. She had to document activities, write a report with pictures and present it to her class on Monday. I think this is great!! We didn't realize that we have had a webkin for over 2 years now and so when we discovered it on Tues, we have played alot! It is really cool.
 

We are probably going to miss out on dressing up this halloween so Sid decided to try out her costume. This is a costume that Annelise wore when she was 2. It fits Sid's personality to a T! She loves it.
 
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Sid and Conner being sweet.

Sidney said "I love."