splish splash

Splish Splash....the kids and I travelled to see Uncle B during the week this week, spend some quality time together and enjoy the warm, soothing waters of the indoor pool at the school where he works. Just the smell of that pool relaxed me as I walked in the doors...ahhh, chlorine, pool towels, and warm humid air. For 2 hours my body let all stress walk out the door and just enjoy being with my great friend and my kids' uncle. Hudson loved the diving well - and had a blast jumping off the diving board by himself to mommy or Uncle B. I think the majority of our time was spent there, and someone held Anna with her feet in the diving well so she could enjoy the warm water (it was warm in the well!), but she isn't big enough to take into there without a lifejacket...and we didn't have a small one for her.

Hudson is a fish - he loves the water and I think Anna is well on her way there! She didn't like not being in the water...and when she was in, she'd blow bubbles and kick and float on her belly. In some ways, I feel like we cheated her because Hudson got pool time ALL THE TIME when we lived in AZ, starting at 6 weeks old. She loves the water, but has only been in pools about a 1/3 as much as he was by that age. (Dear God, if you're reading my blog post, I'd love to have a house someday with a pool. Or a neighbor that loves us that has a pool. That's just a sidenote. :)

yippee! uh-oh! aw, man! I made it.

Wonderful hubby let me sleep in this morning. Yippee. He also washed the dishes. Yippee. Discuss the day. Wonder if I should try to go to the fun boot camp class at my gym that I really enjoy. Decide not to and take advantage of errand time while Hudson is playing with Caleb. Manage to leave the house with minimal fall-out toys on the floor. Yippee. Get to Becky's and chat. Leave Hudson happily playing with Caleb. Yippee. Get to Target and find some good clearance for next year's winter clothes for the kids. Pair of pants and a cute hoodie for Anna, and cute shirt for Hudson. Yippee. Get a new iron for the mission house because the other one is leaving marks on our clothes. Uh-oh. I'm taking this new one with me when I leave and will bring back our old one whenever we unpack. Yippee!

Target doesn't have olives or bread crumbs. Uh-oh. Gotta get breadcrumbs for my ground chicken meatballs for spagetti and meatballs. Gotta go to Wal-Mart. Aw, man! Wally-World not crowded. Yippee! Anna is a super helper and great shopper. Yippee! Find yummy Isaac's-like pickles/veggie mix. Yippee!

Get inspired for another dinner idea for later this week (cheap - yippeee!) and remember a friend that gave me the recipe a long time ago - yippee! (thanks Kevaleen!!!!!) Anna dumps eggs in cart. uh-oh. None break - yippee! Think about Lent and what I want to do. Decide on a goal. Call Becky - boys are having a blast. Bring her a sandwich to say thanks. Get to have lunch with a friend while kids play. Yippee. Becky gives Anna a heart balloon - yippee! Anna loves balloons!

Get home. Hudson full of tears. Aw, man! Anna lays down. Hudson lays down not long after - he's wiped from playing so hard. I made it - nap time. Rest my eyes for a bit - enjoy the quiet of the house - except the wind is so strong I think the roof is going to fly off. Uh-oh! Hudson wakes. Hard time waking up. Uh-oh. Enjoys Clifford and a snack to gently waken. Yippee! Kim calls - yippee! Anna wakes up. Kim gives me hints on good italian meatballs (cause she's one of those...italians, that is). Finish conversation. Think about changing to go run. Don't. Decide to mix meatballs. Begin. Hudson tries to help. Takes pots to bathroom. Hear water running. Uh-oh. Doggie in sink with the water. Aw, man. Make him clean it up. Hudson mad doggie is wet.

Chris calls. Someone from church is coming after we leave for gym to pick something up from basement. Gotta pick up toys - aw, man. Means it will be clean when get back from gym. Yippee. Think about starting to cook meatballs. Decide not to. Start cleaning. Hudson and Anna sitting at craft table coloring together. Yippee! Hear Anna whine and Hudson call me. Turn corner and see Hudson with scissors in hand with Anna's hair on the floor. AW MAN!!!! Put Hudson in permanent time out in his room. Assess the damage. Thank the Lord she wasn't hurt. Yippee! Notice cut from the back near the middle of the curls. No more pig tails for a while. Blends in (kinda) like layers. Thank God for Anna having mommy's curly hair genes. Yippee.

Decide to cook meatballs. Look at clock. Still think might go to the gym. Need a break in my own head to run and work things out. Preheat oven. Friend from church comes. Hudson and Mommy talk. Yippee, I think he understands. Wanted to cut hair like a barber and Grandmom. Scissors are a ask only treat now. Friend leaves. Smell burning. Open oven and see smoldering pan with leftover sweet potato juice from our baked sweet potatoes on Saturday night. House smoky. Aw, man! Put pan on back porch. Put meatballs in. Anna brings me shoes. She's too cute. Check the meatballs. Hear Anna scream. Uh-oh. She fell down the steps, the door was not shut all the way. Assess, don't know how far she fell. She is pretty good with steps. No injuries visible. Stops crying soon. Yippee.

Put Anna in highchair. Plays with playdough. Chop onions, red pepper and yellow pepper for sauce. Heat stainless pan. Put EVO in and onions. Too hot. SMOKE AND SPLATTER OIL!!! Aw, man! Take that pan outside too. Chop more onion. Try again. Saute onion and peppers. Meatballs done. Mix with sauce. Give Anna small snack. Call Kim to tell her what happened in the past 90 minutes. Tells me to put on a movie for Hudson so I don't go nuts. Good advice. Yippee! Cut fruit for our fruit salad.

Chris comes home. Plays with kids and sets table. Yippee! Eat dinner. Everyone loves it! Glad my kids like veggies. Make a new sticker chart with Hudson for wake up and listening.

Go to Alpha and greet everyone. Talk to a friend. Come home. Help finish up baths and bedtime routine. Read books. Sing. Pray. In bed. Yippee.

Listening to my husband play guitar and writing a cathartic post. I made it.

24 is on in 3 minutes. Yippee!

I made it. I made it. God, grant me strength for tomorrow....only You are sufficient for my weaknesses.

mmm....chocolate

Today our little SFG (spiritual friendship group) forayed into a world of chocolate with 8 kiddos - 3 of the older kids were in school, but our ones that are not yet as "learn-ed" did a little learning in the world of experience...through visual, olfactory, and taste stimulation ;) Oh how they loved Chocolate World. They wanted to keep riding the ride, I think they liked the heat tunnel (that simulated cocoa beans getting toasted) and the singing cows - yes, I said singing cows...not to mention when they got off the ride they were treated with chocolate to eat. Today's candy of choice was Hershey's Raspberry Bliss - not my favorite, but they were desperate to get rid of the surplus Valentine's Candy (that's my guess) as they gave us handfuls and handfuls as we exited the ride. Not only that, I got a four pound bag of caramel hershey kisses (pink and red wrapped) for 2.95 - and split it with most of our brave crew (Sorry Flamingo, you weren't around).

Unfortunately, the Flamingo got a call to come pick up the eldest of her flock from school - he had a bad earache and that meant that half of our troop flew the coop. (hehe). Marion, the twins, Caleb (Becky's son that's the same age as Hudson), and my little group stuck around to enjoy more chocolate and hit Pizza Hut for lunch. Ummm, we found out kids 3 and under eat free at the buffet!?!?! Can you say cheap lunch for 5 kids and 2 adults? Anywho - it was a ton of fun...plus, the snow made us in quite a delightfully festive mood as well.

P.S. If you want to know more about what an "SFG" is and how it functions, it is an amazing gift and group in growing to become more like Christ - I'd love to share with you if you wanna email me!

The kids I adore

Here's the third installment - Happy Valentine's to my favorite kiddos!

Things Hudson and Anna like

It's been a long day, and no time for lots of pictures like I had planned, but I do want to say

Things Hugs and Banana like....

1. Salsa and Guacamole
2. Doggie and Teddy
3. Thumb Sucking (Hugs)
4. Soothies (Anna)
5. Cuddling
6. Curious George
7. Legos (H-Duplos, Mega Blocks -A)
8. Swimming
9. Kisses and Hugs
10. Sledding
11. Shoes (Anna)
12. being naked
13. wrapping in warm blankets
14. drinking hot cocoa (H)
15. being with Daddy
16. Playing airplane
17. Painting (hudson)
18. Drawing (anna)
19. Puzzles
20. Singing
21. Loving on everyone!

Things I love

I've been thinking about this post for a while - it's actually gonna be a 3 parter if I can find enough time to sit and do this for the next couple of days. That'll keep ya comin' back, right? I love photography, if you've been around long enough, you know that - and if you're new, well, there ya go, I am a self-professed amateur photographer. So posts where I can tell the story in pictures rather than lots of words appeal to my visually creative side. Here's the first installment of "things I love"....

Windy Wordless Wednesday

market, madness, and mayhem

I love the farmer's market. Yes, I said love. If I don't get to the market on Fridays (that is the day it is open 'round these parts) I feel as though a part of my life is incomplete. Ok, maybe not that drastic, but I get really sad because then I have to buy non-superior fruit at premium prices in the produce section of the grocery store. I thought when we moved here that I was going to be up a creek because of not having my Supersitition Fruit Market around the corner in AZ...but, God is good to my fruit and veggie loving soul, and we soon discovered the Farmer's Market - one stand in particular is my favorite. And this is why...

For example, on a recent trip, we got:

~A big box of fresh green beans

~4 kiwi fruit

~1 quart blackberries

~1 quart blueberries

~1 quart strawberries

~1 pint raspberries

~bananas

~1 seedless watermelon

~grapes

~1 onion
$11.00....I know at the grocery store this would've come to = let me calculate here = conservatively about $23.00. And my budget, my upbringing, and my veggie lovin' soul would have a heart attack at the register. This particular week we were good to go on veggies, and I must admit, we are always well stocked on fruit, but my kids love fruits so much that I always go overboard on those purchases (it doesn't go to waste!) and better overboard on yummy for your body than yucky for you body (like Hudson's necessary donut hole from the donut stand right next to our fave fruit/veggie stand).

Hudson and Daddy are there right now while Mommy is here with a sleeping baby. Ah yes, she has not napped regularly in the morning for about 2 months now, but the poor papoose has an ear infection and a respiratory infection....she has not been sleeping well and the princess that sleeps until 8 usually, awoke at 5:45 this morning coughing for an hour. Yes, the pea must've been felt under her mattress. (Insert the madness....and this is why....)

We were at the ENT on Wednesday to have her tubes checked and I told him she'd had a fever and there had been drainage from her ear on her bed (read: ear infection, but the tubes doing what they are supposed to and getting rid of the fluid build-up). We'd been putting the antibiotic drops in her ears like we were instructed. The doc took a look and said her ears were fine, as well as her tubes. He told me to stop the drops and then said, "are you sure it was from her ear?" At this point, I was already frustrated because he was not in a friendly mood to begin with and wanted to respond that I must be stupid because it was drippping from her ear but obviously it must be from somewhere else, but I refrained and said, "It was on her sheet where she lays her head at night." (Score one for Beth for holding her tongue.)

The appt. ended very shortly there after and I left thinking I must not know when my kid is sick and there must be something else wrong with her. We got home, she felt warm, I took her temp and it was 103 still. Ok, so something is wrong and she's got drainage and she's coughing up a lung....am I missing something? That night I was up with her from 11:45 to 3:15. I called the ped. the next morning just to check with the nurse on call what to do about her continued fever (it had been a few days) and the cough....oh, btw, they didn't take her temp, listen to her lungs or any of the other stuff at the ENT. She had me make an appt. immediately and when the ped. saw her, I could tell she was baffled by how much her ear was draining and how it wasn't caught. I know ear infections can develop over night, but the fact is that it was there before....uh, well, 18 hours before and wasn't addressed. Can you tell why I was mad when I left?

And then, the pharmacy (the local CVS stinks; really, they aren't on the ball) that it was faxed to didn't have her script ready 6 hours later - 6 hours!!!! When I called to ask about it, the tech on teh phone said they were days behind on their faxed in orders. "Can I have it ready for you to pick up tomorrow or the day after?" You know that I almost reached through the phone and touched someone? (Score two coming up here for holding my tongue...) I replied, "The pediatrician would like her to have a dose as soon as possible because she is 16 months old and has an ear infection and a respiratory infection. " pause.... "Ok ma'am, I'll put that in as a wait and you can get here for it in about 90 minutes."

And, here's just general pictures of our regular Smith family mayhem.... :) Thanks for stickin' with me - this was a cathartic post.

What happens when Anna finds a marker at the table to color with....