Cheap Skate Mama

I will admit it any day that I am a cheap skate. I have issues with school sponsored door to door sales of really expensive cookie dough and anything else that is a "fundraiser". I'd rather just write a check to the school, but I never have done that either. I also have issues with school pictures! They are so expensive and I don't know enough people to use all 113 wallet size pictures, or 25, 8x10's to be willing to spend $157.99 on pictures. If my kids take after me, they will not even look good in those pictures. My hair was never right and my smile was off.

So, when picture day came this year-I had my girls do a mini photo shoot here at home. They were so very cute as they were posing for my mum.

Ki-my Brown eyed girl

El-my blue eyed girl

I hope that they will always get along

I am not holding my breath-I'll turn blue

Ki is a fun loving 3rd grader

El is a loving Kindergartner

I feel pretty lucky to have such great girls. They are very helpful with brother and they are both hard working students. Ki loves to read and is doing great with piano she is learning to play the hymn "Do What is Right"-and that is just what she does.

El is just loving school and comes home pretty tired. She is starting to read and it is very fun to see her making progress.

First Bath

Brian has so much hair-It's fun to comb and brush, ask El

I love it when my head gets rubbed, can you see me almost smile?

I just love my little man!

September, one to Remember

Well the cat is out of the bag-seems appropriate- On 9-10-11 at 6:11 am we welcomed Brian Antone Smith to our family. Weighting in at 8 lbs 13 ounces, and measuring 21 inches long. I think there is a lot of Stott in this Smith child. Ki was 6'10 and El was 6'11. So I feel like I tried to deliver the most giant child ever. We ended up having to C-section and after 2 hours of pushing, I didn't care what it took to get him here. He has a full head of black hair-that so explains the heart burn. I feel very fortunate to have Brian in our house. He is so loved by his big sisters and I have to say Steve and I are both a little sweet on him. We couldn't have asked for more of an angel.  You will notice that I am in none of the pictures-there is reason for that. I was giving snow white a run for her money in the pail department. I lost a lot of blood and looked like HELL-mom-I said it, but that is how I felt. I didn't have to get a blood transfusion, but was close to needing one. So, excuse me for not appearing in the below photos:

Proud big sister Ki

And El, no longer the baby-she's pretty happy about that!

The wee little man-even at 8'9 when we left the hospital on Monday

The Proud Papa and son.

Steve was so awesome! He stayed with me and had to do everything for me! They don't use a nursery where I delivered so you have your baby with you all the time-awesome if you can actually walk on your own and don't have to pass gas before you are allowed to eat solid food. Not only was I drugged up, but I was hungry!!! Thanks Steve! I couldn't have done this one without you!!!



August = Back to School

My mom thinks we are crazy in this town, starting school in August. We also get out in May, so I am all good with it. This year Ki entered 3rd grade and has Mrs. Smith as her teacher. She felt very comfortable going to school this year. El on the other hand...entered Kindergarten-say what? Oh, that's right my baby-still true in August-went to school. It was so much fun to see her excitement melt into fear as she actually walked into her classroom. She has Mrs. Campbell-who Ki had also. When she got home she said that she LOVED school! I knew she'd come around.

 She was happy before we left

So at ease

 She can totally handle this

 Oh no, we got a crier, what will she do now?

This is when Fear really showed up



This is right before her teacher told them to blow mom and dad kisses and head into the classroom

What a day!!!

In the month of July, and maybe some June too

You know how it takes me a while to catch up on things. So in June we celebrated Father's Day, Steve's half birthday, and other things-I am sure. Then came July. The month we get to go to Idaho, celebrate Ki's half and my half birthday, and get ready to go back to school. This year was our 5th summer in Surprsie, and we actually stayed here for the 4th of July-there is a first time for everything.

A trip to Idaho isn't complete without the annual trip to Roaring Springs water park. Grandma Kay, Uncle Jordo, Aunty Hailey, and Princess E joined us.

El, Ki and Aunt Hailey rode El's fav-the mat ride

She's just so darn cute!

Steve and Jordo had a little race-depending on who you ask, he won.

El got Grandma to rdie with her-if anyone won it was Grandma!

Ki, Jordo and Hailey were waiting in line with smiles of course

El was tall enough to do one of the big tub rides. She is looking forward to next year when she can ride all the rides-she only has to grwo 2 inches to do that.

Can you tell who the chicken was in this tube?

Love ya Mum

A Smith Family Photo

El Turned 5 and 1/2

June 8th was El's half birthday. She was very proud to turn 5 1/2. She had to wake up at 7 am so that I could see her open her present. She really wanted this cake set from Target. She told her daddy and he actually bought it for her. She was very happy. We are glad to have El in our family!

April

I'm having flashbacks...Oh wait I just haven't updated my blog in 3 months. So April is the month that Steve and I were married. This was the big 10 year. We wanted to do something special, like San Diego, or Las Vegas. But we also wanted to get a bigger table. Not saying that a cozy dinner isn't nice but we had a "newly wed" table for 10 years and it was time to get more than 4 people around the table.
So that meant that we called in a favor to a friend who owns a great little gem of an A frame cabin in Strawberry, AZ. It was an awesome little get a way and it was nice and chilly up in Strawberry. We wanted to hike a bit up on the Rim, but there was still snow and downed trees on the road so we couldn't get our car any further back into the woods.
Then on the way home we stopped and picked up our dream table we found on Craig's list. We feel like grown ups now (kind of).
I can't believe that 10 years has passed but at the same time it feels much longer than that. I am grateful for my family and especially for my Steve! Love you dude.

A trip to the Zoo

Who doesn't love feeding the Giraffe, with it's long, black, gross tongue?

A white tiger

Steve has a thing for ostrich

El is looking for a new friend-are you available?

She Loves the baby goats!!!

For her mother's sake, petting the turtle

El's pre-school class went on a field trip to the Wildlife World Zoo. We are so lucky that it's on this side of town. Steve was happy to tag along with El. They had a great time. El loves the petting zoo where they house baby animals.

Now for March

The most important thing in March was Ki's Baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. She got baptized on the 5th. It was a big day for her and for our family. She is such a good girl and she is a great example to her sister. I know that she is working hard everyday to make good choices. We are grateful to be able to be her parents because she is so wonderful!