a dead vacuum

Well, my Kirby is done. Our dear Kirby met a terrible fate last Friday evening while the kids were home alone. Maddy was helping out by vacuuming and accidentally turned the corner too quickly without realizing the cord wasn't long enough to go any further. The metal prong broke right off. My brilliant children decided that they most certainly did not want to be electrocuted so they weren't about to touch it. Thinking it through they decided the best thing to do was to wrap Kaden's hand in paper towels like a glove so he could reach into the socket and pull the metal piece out. Hello? Anyone see a problem with that idea? Lucky for Kaden he was able to get it out of the wall without harming himself. I got the phone call during time out for women letting me know after all was said and done. Needless to say we have since had a discussion on what to do if a metal prong breaks in the outlet and mom is not home. Am I sad about it? Not really. It is a very heavy vacuum with no attachments. We could actually fix the vacuum but truthfully I was wanting a new vacuum anyway. So, goodbye my sweet Kirby. May you rest in peace.

what a week

What a week I had last week. Let me preface this by saying that Silas was out of town all week last week. My sweet husband lets me go on a girl trip every year and never asks to go on a guy trip. My weekend away each year has saved my family!!! I always go have an awesome time and rejuvenate myself while catching up with some wonderful friends. I am able to come home and face the daily grind with renewed energy (at least for a day or two!). Silas has rarely asked me for a guys trip. This year when our good friend, Brad, spoke so excitedly about the steel head fishing in Idaho, Silas got super excited and wanted to go. I of course, being the great wife that I am, said enthusiastically that he should do it! Its about the memories anyway, right? I have to admit that I felt a little jealous that he was going to go see our dear friends Brad and Katie. I haven't seen them in way too long. As the trip grew closer my excitement for him faded. By "closer" I mean starting about 3 days before he left. I got sick. I try not to do anything halfway so when I say I got sick, I mean I really got sick! I won't describe my symptoms because honestly, who really wants to read about that yucky stuff. I kept getting worse and then poor Maddy got it as well. Tuesday while Silas was flying to Idaho, Madison stayed home from school with me. Repeat that for Wed. but add the dog who was sympathy vomiting. (Thank goodness for great friends who rushed over to bathe the dog after I broke down bawling about not being able to do it) Thursday I had both Maddy and Kaden home. I actually called off work and mutual which I DONT do!! It was awful. I am apparently pretty stubborn and would not take myself to the dr until Thursday when I was dying!! 2 steroids and an antibiotic later I am finally starting to breathe better. I want to point out that Madison is usually my saving grace when I get sick. She is fantastic at taking care of everyone and everything while I am down. What do I do if Maddy gets sick at the same time as I do? Usually I beg my husband to baby me but this time I layed around while nothing got done.
DeNae, Andrea and Tia came to visit on Friday. It was a short visit but a monumental one. Almost 6 years ago, when DeNae and I met, we attended Time Out For Women together. We went with a huge group of women from our ward in Texas and our 2 sweet newborns! I was so excited when I found out that TOFW was coming to Indianapolis this year. I called DeNae and got a group together. The dynamic duo was at it again, this time baby free! I was sufficiently fed this weekend both spiritually and physically. I am grateful for the chance to stay up all night chatting with people I consider sisters, and then taking a nap the next day to recuperate. Thankfully Silas got home Sat. night and I was able to finally have his sympathy. I don't want to be a baby about it, it was just really that bad.
Now that I am getting back on track health wise, I am anxiously awaiting the ability to run again. I actually tried to run a mere half mile today and thought I was going to die! I couldn't breathe and then couldn't stop coughing! The worst part about it was that I was running alongside the 4th grade track team to encourage them when I fell flat on my face!!! I blame it on my pants falling down and the lack of oxygen. What am I going to do in a month when it is time to run the half marathon?? I don't know! Maybe with the right cheering section (ANDREA and SHEILA????) I will be able to make it.
On a very happy note.....We sold our van last night! It is no longer a dead vehicle in my driveway! I did love that van and it was a good car for us but I am happy to move on! I am off to bed now, yes I know it is only 7:15, I am exhausted.

Feeling Loved!!

Wow! 3 comments on my first day back! I absolutely did not expect to be posting again already. Nothing exciting has happened since yesterday. The weather is gorgeous outside. The kiddos are laying out in their bathing suits begging to play in water. Its nice but not that nice! I went to ward council early this morning and sat down in Sacrament meeting to find out I would be teaching the combined YW lesson along with Amanda. Talk about panic! I HATE public speaking. I have to say it is one of the hardest things for me. I am not an eloquent speaker at all!! When I have to speak in church, or anywhere else for that matter, I stress about it for as long as I know I will be doing it. Ask me to speak a week in advance, I will have a terrible week. Ask me 2 weeks in advance, I will be close to tears for 2 weeks. The day I'm supposed to speak (or teach) I always want to vomit. That's how I felt today, especially since I don't even have a manual. Lucky for me I think Amanda feels the same way about teaching so we decided to team teach. It went okay. Nothing monumental for anyone I am sure, but it is over. It was great to come home, enjoy some frozen pizza, and see that people still check on me even though I haven't blogged in a year. (Or more!!) Thanks for still loving me and believing in me!

Sheila

This special post is for my bestie Sheila! I just wanted her to know that there is more going on in my life than Madison's feet! And yes, all Sheila's encouraging comments have gotten me back on my blog! I just had a super fun visit with DeNae and Tia. We missed you the whole time!! But in an effort to keep you posted......we made letters for my living room spelling "family", washer necklaces, and scrabble piece necklaces. (No, I am not spelling out my name!!!) We enjoyed Qdoba, Chick-fil-a, and Indian food! My wonderful husband babysat all the kids by himself 2 nights in a row, happily. Shopping happened and even a kick boxing class! My little Kalia cried for almost an hour after her little Leah had to go home (I think she didn't want to have to clean the house!!). The lack of sleep this weekend has caused me to get sick, AGAIN!!! Spring break is now coming to an end and I am definitely not ready. I enjoy sleeping till 9am and playing all day! I enjoy having my sweet kids around and staying up late together! The count down to summer will start Monday. I hope it gets here quickly. My half marathon is in only 6 weeks. The next 6 weeks might kill me but I am going to run 13 miles none the less! One week after the race school will be out!!!!

My adorable new niece, Norah, was born yesterday!! I am so sad that I can't be there. Norah is sooooo cute and I am really excited for Carrie and Tyler! I hope to see them all this summer along with baby boy no name Knoebel who will also be born soon! So many fun things going on that I am actually excited to blog again. So, Sheila, here is the deal. I will have another post as soon as you leave me a comment letting me know that you actually check my blog as often as you say you do. And as far as pictures go, check Denae's blog to see our cute creations!! Love ya!

Chilblains

What is chilblains you might ask? Well, I'd say its just a fancy way to say "cold feet"! We got Madison's biopsy results today and I'm so relieved! She has what is called chilblains syndrome which from what I understand is a circulatory problem when cold feet warm up too fast. The doctor described it as sort of opposite frostbite but one that could possibly result in the loss of a toe if not taken care of. The treatment? Warm feet all the time!! It is time for the Smith family to invest in warm socks, boots, shoes, and tights for little Louella! I guess an electric blanket wouldn't be a bad idea either. I feel so relieved that it isn't something worse and that her toes didn't get worse than they are. I feel so excited that it is not contagious and I can venture out around my friends again without worrying what we would be passing on. So, from now on I will be an advocate of indoor exercise and warm shoes and socks! (By the way, I HATE SHOES AND SOCKS!! I have very claustrophobic feet myself!!) Why are we in Indiana? Oh, that's right, its an awesome place with wonderful people!!

Our Baby

Okay, so I don't want to be some crazy pet owner but I do want to share some pictures because we want to show everyone what Dexter looks like and what fun we are having. I also realize that he won't be little for very long and want to remember just what an adorable puppy he was. Thanks for bearing with me!!
Sweet Dexter falls asleep in any warm snuggly spot!

Madison wanted to check out the cage and Dexter followed her in there. I'm telling you, they are inseparable.This is the picture of the start of a walk around the house with Kalia.

This is the after picture of a walk around the house with Kalia.

These are the sweet buddies!

This next one is Dexter's first nap on Miss Jayne!

Kaden is actually excited even though you can't tell. I think it took some practice holding Dexter to get his confidence up. Kaden is just so tenderhearted that he never wants to hurt anyone (including puppies).

Little Dexter

This is 7 week old Dexter with 2 of his brothers (Puppy 2 and Puppy 3). We decided that Dexter was a better name than Puppy 1 even though he was first born in a litter of 7. Dexter is the cute one on the far left, or the first one in the picture. He has the sweetest disposition and only had one accident inside today! He and Madison are extremely attached already and he whines when she is not around. They took a nap together and his snoring didn't even bother her. Kaden is starting to learn that he is stronger than Dexter and therefore not let Dexter be the boss. Every time Kaden lays down to play with Dex he gets to wrestling and Dexter goes for the ears. I think it is so funny that he thinks Kadens ears are toys but it wasn't as funny once Dexter actually got one. Poor Kaden didn't know what to do but he knew it hurt. Little Dexter just kept biting and pulling. Kalia likes to push Dexter around the house in her baby doll stroller. I think Dexter likes it too because he always falls asleep. We are having so much fun with our baby. He loves to snuggle and he loves to play but he hates going outside when its cold. This afternoon he had fun playing in the backyard when it was warmer but as soon as it started cooling off he hated his little potty breaks. Dexter also had his first puppy play date today with Maxx. It started off all good and fun, smelling butts and chasing tails. After a short while of wrestling Dex actually started bullying Maxx so we had to separate them. Hopefully next time goes better. Maybe we can do it at Maxx's house so that Dexter isn't as territorial. More pics to come of the kids with him but again I am toooooo tired to do it tonight.

Goodbye Boo

A week and a half ago our little family had a terrible loss. Our sweet hamster Boo passed away and we were devastated. I know that this might sound funny because she was "just a hamster" but I felt extremely sad about it. When the kids and I got home after the bus route I went over to see Boo just like I do everyday when I get home and was surprised to see the cage door open. I started looking for Boo in her shavings (her favorite place to be) but had no luck. Starting to feel desperate to find her quickly I called the kids in (BIG MISTAKE) to help me start looking everywhere for our tiny little hamster. Before we even left the cage we had found her. Boo got out of her cage and fell behind it between the stand and the wall. It was a tragic death to say the least. I most definitely wasn't prepared for it.

I have never been a big pet person which is surprising considering how many pet loving people are in my family. When I was a kid I had a wonderful hamster named Stormy. I loved Stormy. I had saved up my own money and done quite a bit of convincing with my parents to get this sweet little one. I loved this hamster so much that when my sisters hamster took several chunks out of him and it looked like the end my parents actually paid a bit of money for the vet to do surgery on him. He lived a while longer but as all hamsters do, he passed away. Don't get me wrong. I have liked family pet since then, I even have a sentimental attachment to my moms dog, but I have never LOVED a pet that much until Boo. Boo was the very best pet ever. She didn't stink, she never bit, and she was practically trained. She would hear us standing near her (even from the kitchen) and she would climb up the side of the cage and hang there until we would get her out. She also knew when we were feeding her and was ready, same time every day. She would run around in her ball and follow me around the kitchen while I was making dinner. She would fall asleep in my hands. She was my baby! I was not ready for her to go.

It was a very sad evening and we even went to 2 pet stores looking at hamsters to see if we wanted another one right away. The kids warmed right up to the idea but I had a hard time. At the second store they had the same kind of winter white hamster as Boo was and I felt excited until I saw one in the corner that was almost identical to Boo. Then I felt like throwing up.

I want a baby. I always want babies. I have for my whole life, but especially since Kalia was born. I think I spoiled Boo all the time because she was my baby. My deepest want is of course an actual baby to join our family but I guess having a pet helped ease that pain just a little. This brings me to the next big event in our family. We got a baby today! No, its not exactly the kind that I dreamt all my life I would be having dozens of but instead it is a 7 week old beagle. Don't get me wrong. This new puppy in no way cures my need to have more children but he is really cute.

Silas and I got the puppy without telling the kids. We left early this morning to go on a "date" and were back a couple hours later. I had told the kids last night that if they helped me get the downstairs all vacuumed and swept and the toys picked up that mom and dad would bring back a surprise for everyone to play with. They immediately assumed it would be a wii game as that's something we all do together. The downstairs was cleaned and that's what I needed to be ready for the big day. When Silas and I got home we opened the door and let the puppy in to surprise them but nobody was even there. We found Kaden playing his computer game and just walked in talking to him. As he was talking the puppy climbed under his chair and right in between Kadens legs. Kaden looked down and had the initial jump reaction and then just had the most perfect look on his face when he realized exactly what was moving down there and an even better face when he realized it must be ours. Hugs went to both Mom and Dad and then he ran up to tell the girls that we were back with their surprise. As they walked in the both stopped on the stairs with questioning and excited looks on their faces and then the ran down to play! We are in love. This sweet little puppy is so cuddly and fun! His ears are so darling! and he has the cutest paws. We babied him all day and he went to bed in the crate really easily tonight. I wonder how much sleep we will get tonight? I'm gonna start trying now though. We took lots of cute picture of our new puppy but I am far to sleepy to put them on tonight. I will put some up after church tomorrow so check back!

Update

Today was a big day! We got our heat back and I am soooooooo happy that I got to come home this afternoon to a warm house! I guess it was another teaching opportunity for our family. Heavenly Father reminded us again how grateful we are for jobs (so we could pay to fix the furnace), a home ( that sheltered us from the frigid cold last night) and for that big ugly space heater Silas uses to heat "the workshop" (I have always hated when he brought it in the house, stretching its cord across the living room to save on the gas bill, but I didn't hate it last night!!!)

On another note, Madison had a biopsy done on one of her bumps today. She came home proudly sporting stitches on her toe and a bloody band aid. We now have to wait 2 weeks for them to decide what they are. 2 weeks????? My baby is in pain and we have to wait 2 more weeks. I feel bad for both of us! She is in physical pain and I have to baby her while she milks it for everything!!

Its been snowing all day and we are supposed to continue to get dumped on through the night. We are (I am) hoping for a snow day tomorrow! We could have some rocking sledding!

Chilly Night

Not a long post tonight but wanted to share the fun. Tonight we are having a family camp out in the living room. I know its a school night but that just goes to show what fun parents we are!! Actually, our furnace is broken. Shot, Kaput!! Silas has been working on it since he got home. The part we need is not in stock anywhere except one company who wants to charge us $750 for it. We can buy the part online for $100 so we are toughing it out tonight. It's gonna get cold. Right now at 8:30 its already 19 degrees. Lucky for us we have Silas' space heater and we are all camping out in the living room. Good times!

Maddy's feet

My poor sweet Maddy has been in pain for weeks. She started around New Years Day getting bumps on the top of her toes that looked like bug bites at first. They have continued to spread and are more painful. Last week I finally took her to the doctor who was slightly baffled. Its not very reassuring to hear the doctor say "I don't know for sure, but it could be....." I mean come on! I am paying a ton of money to find out what is wrong and I didn't even get an answer!! He said he thinks it might be just a viral infection but it has been going on for a long time for it to be that. He's getting us into a dermatologist this week to see if they can figure it out. The strange bumps on her toes have started to be a little less swollen this weekend but now they look more blistery. Hopefully we will get a diagnosis soon and her little monkey feet will be comfortable in shoes again.

A tear free hairdo!!!

I've finally had enough!! For years now I have spent a good chunk of time combing Kalia's long hair while she sobbed every day. We have used extra conditioner, leave-in conditioners, and all sorts of products to try to help ease the pain. My beautiful baby has the most grown up hair. It is thick and beautiful. People comment on what great hair she has all the time. I have actually been scared to take much length off for fear that without the weight of it she would look like a mushroom. I have finally given in! She has been begging to cut her hair for months, if not years. Yesterday morning after she got out of her bath I was trying to get the comb through her hair and caved! Right then I went and got the scissors and gave her a haircut myself. I don't know why I did it. I have absolutely no training in cutting hair and her hair is not like most 4 year olds hair. It is like cutting a full head of adult hair with a moving target. I started by just taking 4 inches off which turned into 5 and then 6. I guess moving targets are hard to get straight! I am super pleased with the result and so is she. She pranced around all day shaking her head, spinning around and posing for everyone! This morning we combed right through it and she didn't even twitch!! I doubt we will always be tangle free just because of a haircut but it seems so much easier to brush now! Hooray for being tear free for at least one day!!!!

I know its only 17 degrees outside but Kalia found her swimsuit that I had hidden away! I guess its an early spring at our house!!

Sister Ruggles

This past week we had a primary inservice meeting (I think it might have been an excuse for a bunch of silly teachers to get together and play games making fools of ourselves!). One of the things we did was share our favorite primary memory from either when we were in primary ourselves or as a teacher. I just thought I'd put mine on my blog so that I can remember always what an impact a primary teacher can make on someones life. The year I was 7 turning 8 was my favorite year in primary. I was in a class of all boys and Sister Ruggles (or Ruggle, or something like that) was our teacher. To this day I can still remember how I felt when I was around her. I always felt happy, loved and special. She just seemed to always know what to say to me and how to teach me so that I would always remember. Now, as an adult, I wonder if I was just this clingy little skinny girl that wouldn't leave her alone....but she never once gave me reason to ever doubt that I was special to her. I remember going to parties at her house and really fun Sunday lessons where we would act things out. I remember that she had a testimony of the gospel. I remember thinking as a small child that she had struggles in her life and worrying about her even though she never let on to any problems. My most fond memory is a lesson she taught me during her talk about the Holy Ghost at my baptism. She had an orange and talked about how the peel was protecting the precious fruit inside. She likened it the having the Holy Ghost to protect us. As we make bad decisions in our lives we lose the closeness to the Holy Ghost. As she was explaining this she was peeling the orange. At the end she showed how an orange with a peel (Us with the Holy Ghost) can float in water but an orange without the peel would sink. I remember Sister Ruggles giving me an orange after her talk and feeling like I couldn't eat it because I didn't want to take the peel off. This all happened 23 years ago and I can still remember lessons she taught and the way she made me feel. I know the impact that a primary teacher can have on a child and I am grateful for my new calling. I am grateful to Sister Ruggles for teaching me and loving me. I'm also grateful for the chance to think about these memories and share them with others.

Sunday night games

My family (my parents and siblings) loves to play games. When we lived in Utah we would get together almost every Sunday to have Sunday dinner and play board games. It is a real tradition to have roast, sunshine carrots, mashed potatoes with gravy, jello, and rolls. I love this dinner and it is real comfort food for me. We did not have the traditional Sunday dinner today but had Chili dogs instead. (Sounds fancy, I know) We did however do game night together tonight. My sister Mandy (the one in Boston) knows me very well and for Christmas she sent our family a new board game called Blokus. I absolutely love strategy games and most of the time I really kick butt! (We are all extremely competitive......or maybe just I am!) I really thought this new game was cool because our kids could play it with us but I learned tonight that this game causes fights in our family. I'm sure its my fault for taking it too seriously, I mean the game is called Block-us! I should have figured it out early on but I get super frustrated when people block me. This frustration in turn gets my kids frustrated and we all tend to blame it on Dad, who surprisingly creamed me the last time we played. I'm really wanting to teach my kids to be a good sport but I sure have a hard time losing! I think I'll practice before we play again so that I can win and not worry about any of this.

On a side note for my mom..... At dinner this evening we were talking with the kids about what they wanted their life to be like in 10-15 years and what we need to do to reach those goals. Madison and Kaden both want to go to college, serve missions, and get married. Madison wants 6 kids. Kaden wants 12 (which is great because he's going to be a rich gold prospector). Kalia on the other hand wants to go to BYU, serve a mission in Japan, and work at the BYU library with Grandma where she will "read stories to all the children and maybe give them snacks and let them color pictures". She said that when Grandma doesn't work anymore she could come to story time with her anyway because all the children will know her anyway. I just thought it was fun to hear that her dream job was to do what she assumes Grandma does. Doesn't everyone that works at the library do story time? I mean, what is acquisitions anyway? We sure love and miss our family as they are all far from us right now. I'm sure its only a matter of time before they all figure out how great Indiana is and move closer!!

How cold can it get?

A 2 hour delay is a wonderful thing because I get to wake up on my own. Waking up on my own, when my body is actually ready, is so much easier. I don't have to squint my eyes even in the dark or shower in a mostly dark bathroom just to wake up. I have NEVER been a morning person and I'll be the first to admit it. I loved the slow paced morning where I didn't have to leave until 8:00 until I walked outside. I grew up in Oklahoma where we were lucky to get cold enough weather to snow a couple times a year. I actually don't know if I have ever been in weather as cold as today. When I went out to my car at 8 it was -5 degrees. I had to scrape ice off the windshield (thank goodness we have a 3 car garage that we can't park in) and thought it would be easy until I realized that the majority of the ice was on the inside of the car. I never had thought about it but windshield scrapers are not made to scrape the inside of a curved windshield. Normally I would just turn the heat way up while I warmed up the engine but I have no heat! Not having heat in my van this winter has been a little pain but since I am not driving too many places and I live right next to the bus barn it has been okay. Anyway, I drove to work with slightly (really) icy windows but drove almost the whole way through neighborhoods with almost nobody on the road. Some nice maintenance person (or people) kindly started all the buses early this morning so it was already warm. The walk to the bus was a different story. I was completely bundled up and only my eyes were showing and it burned any skin that wasn't covered. I don't know how people survive in Alaska or even Minnesota! It was really nice to get on an already warm bus and I felt really blessed that my bus wasn't having problems like the many buses that did. My only problem was that the door wouldn't open or close. I could hear the air leaking and that door was trying soooo hard to do its job but I kept having to stop, secure the bus and climb down the stairs to open and close the door at each stop. After my 3rd stop I enlisted one of my 8th graders to do the job! We finally made it...safe and sound. The rest of my day was cold but productive. Some friends and I got together and made freezer meals. 80 total dinners- 20 for each of the 4 of us!! I'm all set for the next month! Freezer meals make me happy. Sounds weird, I know, but every school day when I pull an already made meal out of the freezer and know that I have "convenience food" that is healthy and I don't have to spend my short time with my kids cooking dinner, I feel happy. Madison stayed home from school today but she seems to be doing better tonight. When I got home this afternoon Madison had made all of us homemade hot cocoa from scratch and had our slippers out and ready for us. Isn't she such a doll. We are so lucky to have her. Now all we lack is my 2 week old migraine to go away and we are in for a fun 4 day weekend! Yes, I said 4 days!! School just got canceled for tomorrow because of the extreme temperatures and Monday is a holiday!! I hope that I'm not setting a precedence about how often I'm blogging but it is fun to be back!! Thanks to everyone who kept checking up on me and waiting patiently! I sure love you all!!

Winter Wonderland

I think snow is beautiul. I love when it covers the rooftops and all the dead grass in my yard. I love how excited my kids get about it! We haven't had any real snow yet this winter, until now! I was so excited to be finally getting snow because I thought it was just too cold to snow! My bus route started out just fine. I was on time to my first stop, I stayed toasty warm in my new fleece lined snow pants, the kids were all good, and I was feeling great about the gigantic snowflakes that were continually falling during my route. I was a little more tense during my second route because elementry kids and icy roads don't do good things to my nerves but I just kept feeling happy to finally be getting snow. I was thinking about how much fun it was going to be to build a snowman with the kids. And then the reminder came......I slid past a stop sign and into a busy intersection. The only sounds you could hear were my ABS brakes grinding and fifty little kids screaming. Luckily our light had just turned red and the other cars all saw me and my facial expression so we made it through unharmed but definately nerved!! Today was such a busy day. I feel like I didn't have time to breathe but I got a lot done so I guess overall it was a good day. The icing on the cake??? We already know about the 2 hour delay for schools in the morning!!! That means 2 more hours of sleep for the Smith clan and I think we need it. I've been feeling cruddy all day and Madison is not feeling well tonight. Tomorrows another day.

A new year already?

I guess 7 months is an ample break from blogging. Life somehow got extremely crazy and blogging felt far too overwhelming. A quick catch up from our summer -

1. we made oodles of strawberry freezer jam (by oodles I mean 27lbs worth of freshly picked strawberries turning into a freezer full or delicious jam)
2. We helped one of my favorite people (Denae) move into her new house in Minnesota and camped out at her house for 3weeks.
3. We drove home from Minnesota with Denae and kids following us for 2 more weeks of partying and not doing housework!
4. I shopped and shopped and shopped some more for a solid green dress only to end up dying a white dress green.
5. I drove across the country some more for Carrie's wedding shower, wedding, and the most fun little nieces ever!! Utah was a blast!
6. School started- we were a week late getting home from our trip and my kids actually got mad at me for making them miss 5 whole days!! What kids don't want to skip school to visit grandma??

After our jam packed summer of vacationing and partying we arrived home the day before another visit from Denae. Man I love that we are only 9 hours away!! (12 hours if you are Denae, she drives like a grandma!!) While Denae and her kids were here we got some awful news. Silas lost his job. I'm kinda ashamed to admit, but I never thought that would happen to us. I guess I live in la-la land quite a bit because its easier that way. This loss of employment came as a huge shock for us the day before our 11th anniversary. Needless to say, we didn't go on the gondola ride and picnic downtown that I had planned. Instead we opted for a much less expensive picnic at our neighborhood park. I have to say that this was probably my favorite anniversary celebration yet even though it was a stressful and depressing time. It was nice just to spend some time with Silas. The 3 months without work were so hard for both of us. I pretty much just fell off the planet and stayed in my cave (house) feeling down and stressed. Silas felt the same. Because we needed insurance and an income I started the month long of training to become a school bus driver. Silas continued to look for a job as well as started up a long awaited family company of rental properties. We are now the Pres. and VP of Moutaintop Investments, LLC. We purchased 8 rental homes (along with our investors, come on, we were unemployed!!) and started on renovations. Just after Sy got busy with all the properties he got a new job!! Yeah!!! He is now working at Roche at the manufacturing plant here in Fishers. We went from no jobs to 3 jobs when you include my new hobby (with benefits) driving bus 126. This has been quite the adjustment schedule wise but so far all of our jobs are going really well. We enjoyed a super fun visit from Mandy and her family for Thanksgiving. The arrived just hours after we got Silas' job offer. I just love my baby girls, Edie and Allison, and wish that we could see them more often. We also had a fun visit from my Aunt Linda and my cousin Heather with their kids over Thanksgiving. Christmas came and went very quickly this year. I felt so much more grateful this year and did far better with my budget then ever before! It's funny how hard things we go through can shape us as people so quickly!

So its already 2009! I was released from the Enrichment Committee at church and started teaching the 11 year old girls Sunday school class. This is the last class that the girls are in before they start young women's so I feel a little bit more in my comfort zone. My only problem with this class is that Madison is in it. Its not that I don't want to be her teacher, its just that I can't believe that she is already this old! She is just my baby!! I have a really fun group of girls and I'm excited to be with them. Maddy was saying something to me today about how I was in high school "like 20 years ago"! I DON'T THINK SO!! It has only been 13!! I'm old!! I can remember thinking people at age 31 were so OLD!!

So this pretty much wraps up the Smith house happenings for now. I have grand visions of going back and doing real entries about all the great stuff we did in the last 7 months but I have to start somewhere. All I can say is that it feels good to be back!

Schools Out Bash

Schools out today!!!!

This post will be mostly pictures but I figure that's okay! We had our end of the year party for the kids. Our turnout was 18 kids and a great (HOT) time!We started with the water balloon toss game. Kalia and Katie didn't quite understand but they had fun anyway.

Here are some of the boys, including Kaden in the bright blue swimsuit.

Maddy and our new friend from down the street, Kady. Don't get wet!!

Next we played musical squirt gun and surprisingly the kids were begging to be blasted!

What kind of a party would it be without the jello slurping contest? Take your pick...Strawberry, Lime, or Apricot!

Kaden slurping away

Kalia trying to get assistance from Mom...she ended up just using a spoon in the end!Even my friend Traci got in on the fun! She was really good at it and I don't think I will ever go up against her! Go Traci!

Time for balloon volleyball! Thanks for the badminton net Mandy! It sure has come in handy!

Jennette was Kalia's partner!

The rest of the party involved dropping clothespins into a jar from your mouth, a water balloon fight, a race to pick up the most water balloon pieces, and boiled hot dogs for dinner. Let me explain..... I planned to grill hot dogs, but at the last minute couldn't get the grill to work so we went with plan B. It was super windy while we ate and we lost tons of chips and popcorn to our yard. I think our baby bunny under the deck appreciated it but we cleaned it up for an hour afterward! My fingers ended up with blisters and bruises from filling all the water balloons. I hid the rest so the kids will give me a break for a couple weeks! It was super hot and windy but a great way to celebrate being out of school!

Blue and Gold Banquet

Kaden had his blue and gold banquet at the church tonight. Silas sadly couldn't make it but the rest of our troops proudly went to support him. This was our first time to do this and it was so much fun. Kaden got his bobcat badge and a ping pong belt loop. He also got to pin a cool pin on me. (We had a little trouble trying to get it to poke through my shirt but next time we will be prepared!) There were lots of boys getting all kinds of awards and then we all got to dine on some fine hot dogs and sloppy joes! It was actually delicious, or maybe I was starving. Our scout leaders are awesome. They put so much work into what they do and I really appreciate them. Kaden is so loving being in scouts. He and I have been going through his book and setting some goals to get more stuff done. So far we are done with the family fun one , or something like that. We have also started some other random ones that we haven't completed yet. This will give us lots of fun things to work on this summer. I am so proud of him.

The Great Outdoors

Well, Memorial Day weekend came and went! We thoroughly enjoyed our beautiful Indiana weather and spent most of it outside. We started with a day at Eagle Creek reservoir with the Norton's. What an awesome place! Check out the cute baby ducks!!

We got to go canoeing and hiking. I think the bigger kids loved being out on the water even though the thought of falling in the freezing cold water fully dressed freaked them out a little. Kalia was a different story. She was thrilled while we buckled up her life jacket but then she actually had to get into the wobbly, off balance canoe. Wow, did that freak her out. She sat in between my legs the whole time to scared to even turn her head until the end. Of course, she couldn't sit on the ground because the boat was filled with spiders. Kaden and Madison shared the middle seat and Silas took up the rear. It was great! Sy paddled the whole time and I got to sit and enjoy like I was on a gondola ride!! Thanks so much, honey, for being such a great sport and such a strong, manly man!! After canoeing we went off on our hike. Traci had a map of the park so we started by following the map. For some reason we got lost! We stayed on the path, it just wasn't the same path as it showed on the map! Lucky for us we had some boy scouts with us that could help keep us in the right direction! I felt like I was really lame company to be around because I had a bad migraine that day and had taken a muscle relaxant right before we left, but I actually did have fun! (And I got a little nap on the drive home.)

Sunday brought church and more headache but the weekend was not over yet! After church the kids played outside for hours. It was perfect weather! We decided to have a Memorial Day camp out the Smith family way (or Ana's way) and we set up the tent in the backyard for the kids to sleep in. The only problem with this idea is that I am an overprotective, overly nervous mother. There was no way that my babies were sleeping out there alone but I knew it wouldn't be good for me to do it. In the end, I slept on the couch just inside the door with only the screen door closed. This would have been fine except that Boo is a nocturnal pet! She stays awake in the living room. All night. Running in her squeaky wheel. I was too tired to fix this until 5 when I finally got up and locked her in my sewing room. My other problem was that I had to get up and check on my kids every sound I heard! Needless to say, I was extremely tired all day Monday! We got the tent taken down just before it started to rain on Monday and I didn't get a picture. I'm sure there will be a next time though!