The Smith's House of Chaos

Just a few pics

2011-09-23T17:06:00.002-04:00

Pretty Lilly

A visit with my Nanny

Long-arm self shot

Lilly's first soccer practice

My sweet sweet Kenneth, getting so big.

Too much studying makes my brain mushy

2011-09-15T14:53:00.003-04:00

I am only a month into this semester's classes. I was looking forward to my Anatomy and Physiology so much, but not so much looking forward to my Statistics. Well the order of those two has really turned around and bitten me in the butt. I had no idea that so much info could be shoved into 6 hours per week. After pages and pages of notes and lecture I go to the lab the next class. Lab should be easier right?! Well I thought it would be, but oh no. I've been up to my Zygomatic bone in work.(That's one of the 200 lovely terms that we have to memorize by next class.) Exam 1 is coming up and I am dreading it so so much. I have to keep getting A's in my classes. I don't want anything else. I wonder if I will get what I want with it. Probably not.
So tomorrow starts a long weekend for the kids. Chris will get home from yet another trip tomorrow too. So we will start our weekend of fun. Well I guess they will. I need to spend 2 days of the 3 day weekend in the library.
And speaking of Chris and his traveling. It's pretty sad when I forget where he is. Since he started September he has been in Indiana, Michigan, Colorado, and now Oklahoma. Next week it is Kansas and somewhere else I don't remember. He is certainly racking up some serious frequent flier miles and points for hotels. Maybe I'll get to take a vacation when it's all over.

The newest Smith

2011-09-13T15:21:00.002-04:00

This is Hank. He is the newest Smith, and by newest I mean since February. He is the sweetest big 'ole goof ball ever! I love this dang dog, and all of his slobbers and hair (geeze the hair is INSANE). He is super protective of the kids. He knows his kids, and he will follow them wherever they go. He loves them as much as they love him. We got him from the Human Society here in Memphis, and I can't believe that we got so lucky to find him. He completes our family.

It's been a year?!

2011-09-12T22:08:00.002-04:00

Wow, time sure flies when you're having fun doesn't it? I can't believe that we have been living in Tennesse for over a year now. Chris is about halfway through shore duty. Kenneth is a first grader. Adrianna started middle school. Lilly is a whopping 4 years old and in preschool, and me, well I've started school myself. I'm in my second semester of college and loving it. At 26, I'm starting school a little late in the game, but oh well. It is what it is. I've had 8 years at home taking care of one kid or another, and now I'm doing what I should have done a long time ago. It's tough going most of the time. Even with me only taking a couple classes per semester I am beyond busy! Who knew 3 kids, a husband that travels all the dang time, 2 soccer players, a cub scout, and a girl scout who is also in band could take up so much of someones time?! And then throw into that mix about 20 hours of school and school work. Whew, makes me tired just thinking about it. But we are chugging right along. I'm sure that whoever was reading isn't anymore, but that's okay. Here we are alive and well.

Labor Day weekend

2010-09-06T15:40:00.002-04:00

Chris is down in Pensacola for a school so he can learn how to do his new job. It's a really short 3 week school, but after him being deployed for about 4 months these 3 extra weeks really suck! He got 4 days off for Labor Day so he decided to come home. Great plan right?! Yea it is if everything goes smoothly and he can make the 7 hour drive without issue. He decided to leave Thursday after work and drive in that night to surprise the kids on Friday morning. He made it to about 65 miles from Memphis where he made one last stop at a rest area before finishing off. After returning to the car after the stop Chris finds a car that refuses to start. The battery isn't dead but something is not right. He tried to figure it out for an hour or so to no avail so he called me and asked me to come and bring a different car key, thinking maybe it was the chip in the key, at 11:30pm. So I loaded up myself and 3 kids and drove an hour and a half to the rest area where my hubby is waiting. After trying lots of different things we realize we aren't getting anywhere and I'm stupid tired so we called a tow truck to come and get the car. After waiting an hour or so and the hook up of the tow, then the drive all the way back to Memphis to the Volvo dealer, we drop the car off at 5:30am only to get the car to start as Chris brings it off the dang tow truck! I could scream I was so mad! We just paid $220 to have someone bring a car that does indeed start up to the dealer. We left it to get fixed and another $200 later we have a fixed sensor or some sort in the ignition of that darn car.
I was so tired!!
We went with some great friends to the lake for the weekend. They have a lake house and a boat and they are awesome enough to invite us to spend some time with them out there some weekends. We boated, ate, hung out and tried to knee board. I say tried because I tried to do it for the first time and I sucked at it really bad. I love anything that includes water and outdoor sports but this one was alot harder than I thought. I did eventually get up on the board but I didn't stay up there very long, and today I'm super sore from the workout my muscles got. :) The kids love being on the boat. And they love being in the woods at our friends house. It's like one big sleepover for the whole weekend.
After a rough start to the weekend, we ended up having a great time. I got to spend some time with my husband who I've missed so much and with some good friends. So it was a success I think.

I'm back!

2010-08-31T21:25:00.003-04:00

Chania, Crete Greece

The view from our room in Chania.

Our new house in Tennessee

I'm back I think. I'm alive and well! It's been a really super stupid long time since I've done an update, but I really do have a good excuse. Well I think it's a really good one. I've moved! I've traveled to Greece! I've made it through Chris' last deployment on the wonderful USS Georgia! Woo hoo!

Life has been moving in super speed this entire summer and has just now slowed down to a manageable pace. Honestly I'm downright bored as it is now. With everything going on I've forgotten how to just be. Chris is off the Georgia, but he's TDY to Pensacola right now for some schooling and he'll be back in just a couple of weeks. We are moved into a great house in Arlington TN. (that's just outside of Memphis) I'm so looking forward to shore duty. This past sea tour was a rough one so I'm ready to see my husband for a little while before we go and do it all again.

Kenneth is in Kindergarted! OMG I know! The last time we were in this area Kenneth was born, and now he's going to school. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Adrianna is in 5th grade. Again OMG! And ms. Lilly bug is in a local preschool 3 half days per week and she loves it. (so do I!)

Now that I'm back to the blogger world I'll hopefully update occasionally for anyone who possibly checks me out anymore. I've got some pictures to share and a few stories I'm sure will pop up. In the Smith house it's still crazy!

I so needed this...

2010-05-21T21:14:00.002-04:00

Tonight I had a few ladies over to the house for pizza and while the kids played. We put together a rocking chair. We got it together without any major incidents. Just one small misstep about arms or the chair. Those aren't important anyway right? I so needed this tonight. I forget how much I love having people over. I get so hung up on how my house isn't as nice as I would like or on how the kids have messed it up, or it's too small; and I don't get to enjoy having this house that really is a nice place and the kids always have a blast. I'm really especially thankful to these women who came over and gave me something to do and someone to talk to when I really needed a friend. Thanks girls!
Kenneth finished Pre K today so now school is officially out for summer! Yay! I get to sleep in in the morning. I'm so excited!

random ramblings

2010-05-20T20:40:00.004-04:00

I've gotten so far behind on here that I don't even know anymore what to say or post. So here are some random facts. Ready?!

Adrianna is now a 5th grader! Oh my, where did the time go?

Lilly will be 3 in 2 weeks! Again, time...where'd it go?

Kenneth has his last day of school tomorrow and then he's a kindergartner! Wow.

I am so so ready to be out of Georgia. There's too much drama here that I'm just so ready to be done with.

We still have no orders. Bummer.

Chris is still able to call us and he is miserable. I hate knowing he's missing us as much as we are him.

I can't wait to do some traveling this summer!

I need to rent out my house, but I can't do that until I know when I'm leaving here.

The kids miss people. They ask to go to certain places or see people and it hurts me to have to tell them we can't. They have to miss their daddy. It really isn't fair for them to have to miss family and friends as well. Especially people that are here!

Lilly and Kenneth have been acting up a bit since Chris has left. Kenneth's is totally ignoring me when I ask him to do something and Lilly just has an attitude.

Adrianna is a champ at this sort of thing. She handles it well.

I miss my dad!

I am so thankful for the group of women that I have in my life while the guys are away. They really are my family here. The USS Georgia wives are the best!

I have a neighbor take care of my lawn. For $20 a week he mows, trims, edges, and will spread grass seed or fertilizer. It's a great deal!

I have painting that I need to do and I HATE painting.

Kenneth's soccer is over. I'm kind of sad about that.

I need my husband home now.

Mean people suck!

Totally random nonsense from me today ladies and gentlemen! Here's a cute picture or 2! :)

Superstar Lilly

2010-05-18T09:36:00.002-04:00

My Lilly is a superstar in her own mind. :) She loves singing. This is the song that she was singing ALL day yesterday. It's really cute. I can't believe how big she has gotten.

Life goes on

2010-05-08T14:54:00.003-04:00

Chris left one week ago. It was horribly sad working up to that day, but since then everyone has been okay. There have been a few issues with attitudes and stuff but thankfully no one is crying for Daddy for hours. I am just amazed at how the kids just adjust. This is their norm and they are okay with it. We miss him terribly, but life does continue on.

So since he's left I've had a few moments of excitement. I found a rattlesnake on our back porch, I squished my finger so hard I still think I might lose the nail, and last night my ADT alarm went off just after 2am! We are all sound asleep and the alarm starts screaming. It's so loud that if someone had been in the house it would have made their ears ring for quite awhile. My front door was partially open but I think that I didn't make sure that it was closed all the way before bed and it blew open just enough to set it off. It was so scary. I had no idea if it was just an accident or if someone had tried to break into the house. I checked every closet and under every bed before feeling okay enough to set the alarm again. I still didn't make it back to sleep until after 4 sometime because I was so scared. So that's enough excitement for one deployment for me. Hopefully the rest of the summer will fly by without incident.

I've been working really hard to get the house ready to have someone rent it. I've been painting and doing yardwork like crazy. I even cleaned all the carpets. I almost don't want to leave it after we've done so much work to it. I'm lookin forward to the move. I wish it would just happen already! We still don't have orders because of all the flooding in TN. Hopefully things will get settled up in Millington and we'll get orders.

I've been horrible with pictures lately. I have tons, but I just haven't done anything with them. Here's some just to tide you over a bit.

Outta here!

2010-04-22T08:25:00.003-04:00

So the Navy has decided that it's time for us to move on. I'm really really excited. We found out we're going to Millington, TN. That's just outside of Memphis in case you didn't know. I've got great friends that still live there and so we are even more ready for the move because we know they're there! I've gotten Lilly in a preschool and I've been looking at many a house to find something for us there to live in. I've found quite a few that are "perfect" but I'm undecided on which perfect we want. Do I want to live in a house for just over 2 years that is smallish, like the one we have now, but it is cheaper and in the school area that I want. Or do I pay a bit more and get the house that I really want. I feel like I need more room than we have here, but I know it's not a need. It's a want so I need to decide what is really important. I would love to have a playroom and/or office as well as the 4 bedrooms. But that is a lot of space. Is it smarter to just stick with the 4 bedrooms and have the kids' toys all over their rooms? And what about guests? I would love to have a place for guests to stay. Too many decisions, and that's only about the house.
I'm going to go to school when we get there too. I've been wanting to go back to school for a long time now. Babies happened and I put my education on hold for a little while so that I could devote all of my time to the kids. Now the kids are getting older and everyone is in school a few days a week and I have a little bit of time. I'm going to do it! I want to have something outside of just being mommy. It's important to me and that's the only reason I'm doing it.
The next few months are going to bring lots of change for the Smith House. Chris will be gone, I'm moving (on my own!!), we'll be homeless for a little while, I'm leaving all of my really good friends behind. These women have kept me going these past 3 years when things were tough, I had them to turn to. Now I'm going to be kind of starting over, turning a page. I'm a strong woman, I know I can do this! But it scares the crap out of me honestly.

Wow, it's been awhile!

2010-04-08T19:58:00.003-04:00

So time has sped by quicker than I realized. I can't believe it's been so long since my last post.

Chris got home in early February. We've been spending as much time together as a family as we can. We've taken a trip to Tennessee and visited with some of our best friends. We had Easter at my dad's house too. It was so nice to have some help on the drive. My drive at Christmas was just me and kids and it was kind of stressful. Chris and I took turns driving and it was nice.
My Kenneth had a birthday! He's 5! I really can't believe that.
We attended a friggin awesome ship's party. I had too much to drink, but I think a good time was had by all.
And we've figured out that we're moving. Kind of soon too. Come June or July I will be saying goodbye to sunny southern Georgia and Hello to Memphis TN! We are really excited about the move. I'm really happy to be nearer to family and we'll be in the same town with some great friends too! I will be taking care of the move by myself since Chris will be deployed during the entire summer. I'm kind of freaking out about that fact. I consider myself pretty good with this whole Navy thing most times, but this is one thing I've not had to deal with on my own before. I can do it, I know I can, but I do get a bit stressed about these kinds of things. I've found some great houses so far so I'm really excited about this move.
Well I got a new computer so I hope to do better keeping things up to date. I have a million and 51 pictures that I would like to share so I'll try to upload some soon.

2010-03-02T11:15:00.002-05:00

These pictures are from Adrianna's birthday. I started this post but never got around to posting it. Oops! So Happy Birthday Adrianna. I know she had a great day. I can't believe she's 10 already!

Randoms because I'm lazy and am procrastinating

2010-01-14T09:17:00.003-05:00

Things that make me happy:

sweet children who just come and snuggle with me because they want to.
emails from a husband who I haven't seen in nearly 4 months.
good deals on awesome coffee pots, just when I need a pick me up
pizza fridays with the best boat wives EVER!
bowling with good friends just because we can.
straight A report cards, again, from my girl!
planning homecoming!!
phone calls with the best dad ever. He always makes me smile just to hear from him.
thoughts and plans on moving and starting new.
jobs on the slate that make me happy
snow!
coffee with friends or out of my new coffee maker.
a good night of sleep
baked goods!
friends

Things that make me unhappy:

grumpy children. Especially ones who stay up way too late then get up way too early and are mean just because they think they can!
a messy house that I just can't seem to find the time to clean.
bickering or fighting of any sort.
I hate drama!
people that do way under the speed limit when I'm late and make me want to go road ragey on them.
not being able to talk to Chris when I want to! It's hard.
being mom and dad for so long.
loneliness

Snow

2010-01-14T09:06:00.002-05:00

Oh how I love the snow and miss it already! Michigan never disappoints this time of year, and as always we saw snow! The kids and I had a blast visiting with everyone and I wish I was back there now.

We've had insanely cold temps for our area as of the past few weeks and I don't like it. If it's going to be below freezing then we'd better atleast get to see some snow with it. But no such luck in southern Georgia.

Strangest snow man ever, but hey he's ours so we don't care. :o) Kenneth says he's a crying snowman.

Snow baby

Kenneth and Adrianna didn't want to ever come in out of the snow. I think they would have been content to just stay outside and sled for days.

I had to put her to work cleaning off some of the ice that was covering the windows. She didn't mind.

Christmas in Tennessee

2010-01-09T15:11:00.001-05:00

Home

2010-01-09T14:47:00.004-05:00

We have been gone out of town for a little while. We had a great trip! It was so very long but well worth it. We went from GA to TN to MI back to TN then finally back home to GA. I drove about 3000 miles within 2 weeks with 3 children and I'm happy that I did. I realized while I was gone that I really miss home. I live in GA but it doesn't feel like home to me. We're up for a move in about 8 months (OMG that's not long)! And I really want to get closer to all of our family. There's a job in Indiana that I think would be awesome, but as always with the Navy it's not our choice and we have to go where they send us. I have a great group of friends here in GA that are here for me and the kids and I love that. But being on the boat has brought about a different issue with friendships and I'm just ready to move on.
So 2010 has already been filled with disappointment and change but I'm sure it will get better. I should get Chris home at some point, but as of right now I have no idea when that will be. He will leave again for another really long deployment, we'll get orders to somewhere great, hopefully, and we'll have a move later in the year. I have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to. So here's to a New Year!

Lots of random photos

2009-12-06T19:06:00.005-05:00

Sorry, this is all I can muster for now. We're doing great here. Just busy busy busy. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Because I'm a slacker...

2009-11-26T23:15:00.002-05:00

I just realized that even though it was a month ago, I forgot to post a picture of the kids for Halloween. I guess that shows how really behind I am. Adrianna was a Vampiress, Kenneth was a Lightning McQueen pit crew member, and Lilly was a pirate. They had a great Halloween with friends.

2009-11-26T22:58:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
Today, I was lucky enough to have 2 Thanksgiving feasts with great friends. The kids had a blast playing and running around with their buddies. Thank you ladies for having us over. We had a great time and all of the food was wonderful!

In honor of the holiday I thought I would share a few things that I am thankful for.

I'm thankful for:

My wonderful husband who is serving our country on the other side of the world.
My super sweet, albeit super crazy, children who keep me insanely busy, and just a bit insane too.
Great friends who put up with us during the holidays. This includes Lilly's many peeing on the floor incidents, and many messes.
Delicious turkey and green bean casserole. Yummy!
Chocolate
Christmas trees that are just so pretty that I want to curl up and sleep underneath them.
Family movie nights with popcorn, cookies, and cocoa.
Cooler weather! It's so nice to be below 80 during the day. It feels like the holidays almost.
My mom and dad who made sure to call and tell me Happy Thanksgiving.
My mom in law who calls and checks on me regularly just to make sure I'm okay.
Wine
Twilight, because what would I do everynight before bed if I didn't have the series to read over and over and over?
Flowers, letters, and emails from my wonderful husband.
LIFE

This is an unrelated photo, but I thought I would share because it was kind of cool.

USS Georgia gold crew

I'm trying. Really I am!

2009-11-19T13:07:00.002-05:00

I know it's been too too long yet again. But I just can't do anything about it. Chris has been gone for just over a month so I'm throroughly exhausted already. When I have a few minutes to just take a breather I rarely want to sit at the computer. But when I force myself to sit here it's not normally to blog. I've got a real update coming soon hopefully. We've got pictures and maybe a video or two. For the most part we are all doing good. We're hanging in here trying to stay busy, as if I have a choice in the matter. The kids and I have been spending lots of time together so that's good and bad all at the same time. And we really miss having Chris around. Only a few more months to go. I CAN do this!!

Fun

2009-10-27T21:06:00.004-04:00

Chris has been gone one week so far. One down and only like a million more to go. I really try to keep busy while he's away. It helps us pass the time if we have lots to do. So far we've had soccer, lunches out with friends, lots of park playing, picnics in the park, pumpkin painting, and lots of crafts! I'm having fun, and so are the kids. So here are a few pics of our adventures so far.

These next 5 are from our picnic we took to the park on Sunday. The weather was perfect and we spent a lot of time outside.

We were trying to do a craft I saw in a magazine with glue and yard to make a bowl of sorts. It didn't work out too well. But it was fun getting all gluey. (is that even a word?)

I love this one of Kenneth. We were in Walmart and he was riding on the side of the cart pretending he was skateboarding. He's wearing his safety glasses he got from Lowe's to use when we do their building workshops. Walmart is dangerous I guess. You need to protect your eyes! He's so cute!

Kenneth had his school's fall festival last week. The booth that I volunteered to work had the kids eating cupcakes with no hands involved. The picture proves it, Kenneth was a pro!

Soccer star in the making!

2009-10-27T20:53:00.002-04:00

I just have to brag a bit about my big boy. He had a soccer game this past Saturday, and I have to say that it was his VERY best game EVER!! He's usually pretty calm about the whole team sports thing. He'll take the ball down a bit if it comes to him, or he'll occasionally stick his foot in to try and get it. But on Saturday, he was a mad man! He was running all over that field. He was taking the ball from the other team and going all the way down the field with it! He even scored his first goal ever! And not just one goal either. He scored 2 goals that last game. He was so proud of himself and he kept turning around giving me his thumbs up, which is what he does when he knows he's doing great. :) I just wish that Chris had been here to see it. Chris had made it to every game that Kenneth had had this season, up until this one. It was a real bummer for Kenneth too, but he got to tell his Daddy later on Skype. But you all had better watch out for this one. He's a big soccer star on his way up!

2009-10-19T21:50:00.001-04:00

Here is one of our newest family photos. We have others too but this one is my favorite for some reason. I think it really shows our personality as a family...just kind of goofy. I will hopefully get them out to family soon.

Our last weekend

2009-10-19T21:32:00.003-04:00

Chris has left us again. But this time I don't have a photo of the boat leaving to post about it. This time we dropped him off to catch a bus to catch a plane to go and meet the boat. It was different than we've done before, and still just as hard. He's off doing what he has to do for us, and I'll be here holding down the fort until I can next see him. We got an unexpected extra weekend so we took advantage of it by going and getting our family photos done, having yummy dinners out, and just hanging out being a family. We will miss him so much while he's away. Here's to hoping that the time flies by.

We made homemade pumpkin pie play doh to play with. It smells so so yummy and is completely safe in case someone eats it. :) Not that my kids would do something so goofy as to eat play doh.

We took the time to pick out a pumpkin and carve it before he left. The kids loved it.

My boy

Lilly really liked doing the pumpkin this year. Last year she was just over a year old so she wasn't really into putting her hands into the pumpkin. But this year she dug right in and got dirty. What fun!

Holy guacamole...that's a lot of pictures!

2009-10-15T15:36:00.009-04:00

Okay, so I know it's been a really really long time. Again! And again, I have no excuse other than I was just busy with life.
We have had tons going on. So hang on tight!

Pretty self explanatory right? I had a birthday, and Kenneth, Lilly, and Chris made me a cake. It tasted wonderful! Adrianna was gone for a girl scout campout though.

We've been building...

...fire station visiting...
...Titans game going...

...Crazies!!

We went to a pumpkin patch. It had an awesome petting zoo for the kids. Lilly really took to the baby chicken.

We climbed some hay bales,

And put some kids in the stockades! This should should be punishment in our house.

We fed some cows,

and rode some cows.

Then they played in the corn. Because what visit to a farm is complete without laying in the corn? They loved this! I almost want to put a big ole trough of it in my backyard!

And of course, there was MORE soccer!

Grandpa came to town to visit! We had lots of yummy treats, like ice cream from Cold Stone. Mmmmm!

Kenneth's favorite...mini golf!

Oh and yummy Osaka for dinner!

Adrianna is keeping me crazy busy with girl scouts. She's had meetings, ceremonies, and campouts galore!

I went to my first dining out. It was so much fun! We went to a yummy Italian place called Maggiano's. It was a fantastic evening!

What a handsome group of men huh?

And a gorgeous group of ladies!

We went to Sea World and had a blast!

Kenneth and Adrianna rode their first big roller coasters. Kenneth went on the Journey to Atlantis with me. It's similar to the log rides, where you plunge down the big hill into the water at the bottom. He was pretty scared, but he really loved it! He even went on it a second time before we went home. And Adrianna also rode the new roller coaster there called Manta. It's a huge one that goes like 60MPH and does lots of loops. Oh, and you are laying facing the ground the whole time. It was AWESOME!!

We love Sea World and look forward to hopefully going back next year.

We are enjoying every last minute of the time that we have left with Chris before he goes. I will most likely be able to keep up better when all of this slows down a bit.

2009-09-17T09:26:00.003-04:00

We had a nice relaxing weekend this past weekend. Adrianna had a sleepover with a friend and Kenneth was bored. So to give him something to do he and Chris made a birdhouse. Random right? Kenneth had a lot of fun doing it and Chris seemed to also. Oh boys and their projects. Fun fun!

Lilly started school last week. I just now got around to getting the pictures uploaded because I'm lame but here they are. Better late than never right?! Lilly loves her school, and even on the first day she had no problem with us leaving her there. She is growing up so fast!

Kenneth's soccer season is in full swing already. He has been having practice 2 days a week and games are usually 2 days a week also. He is getting a lot better with every practice or game, and he seems to LOVE it! Chris has been working with him and giving him some pointers with being the goalie, that is Kenneth's favorite place to be. He seems to be receptive and knows what you are telling him to do.

So after talks and words or encouragement Chris steps off the field for Kenneth to show us his stuff. He's really into it. He's not letting anything into that goal!

But then at game time, this is how Kenneth spends a lot of his time. The shirt that the goalie wears over their uniform is just too much fun! He wraps his head in it, he takes it off and wears it around his waist, and he even managed to get his arms tangled in it, while a ball was coming at him! Oh my silly little boy! I love him so, but he is crazy!

Our Labor Day

2009-09-14T08:37:00.005-04:00

Our Labor Day weekend was pure bliss! We got to spend an entire 4 days with Chris and just do family stuff. It was an amazing weekend. We went and walked around Downtown Fernandina, a super cute area with lots of shops and yummy treat shops. We played at the park, and went to the beach too! We BBQ'd some yummy ribs and Chris had a friend from the boat over. I was sad when the weekend ended. It was filled with so much fun. Hopefully we will get a couple more weekends like that before he leaves us again.

We love the beach.

There was an awesome sweet shop in town called Fernandina's Fantastic Fudge, and let me tell you it was fantastic. And so was the ice cream. :o)

The kids said he looked like the pirate from Spongebob. Oh yeah, and we had dirt for dessert! Yummy!

Oh, and Adrianna got her Viola. That's been alot of fun too. Haha. Noisy fun!

The new look

2009-09-02T20:24:00.001-04:00

I was ready for a new look. What do you think? Can you tell I'm ready for fall? I'm over this summer heat. Bring on the cooler temps!

2009-09-02T20:10:00.003-04:00

It's raining...it's pouring...soon I'm going to be snoring!
It has been raining almost nonstop for about 48 hours. It hasn't been just a light drizzle either. It's been full out, sky opened up, down pours. My yard is flooded, the roads are all flooded, and I'm lucky we haven't floated away. I get really nervous when it rains this much, but the kids love it. The think its the coolest thing ever when you drive down our street and water is spraying up on both sides of the car and it feels like we might just float away at any second. Me...not so much.
In other news Chris is in Washington DC right now. He has been in a school for awhile now and he had to go to DC to do a final interview. Well he did it, and he passed his exams and the interview! This is a really big deal, and I'm so proud of him. I knew he could do it. We go and get him tomorrow from the airport and maybe we'll get sushi while we are down that way to celebrate. Mmmm....sushi!

Check out this handsome little devil!

2009-09-02T17:19:00.002-04:00

At Kenneth's school they had someone come in and take "pony pictures". I'm not sure why they chose a pony for the kids to sit on. Wouldn't it have been just as cute to have them just sitting in a chair? I mean come on! Look at that face! He would be cute no matter what he was sitting on. Haha I guess I'm letting my mommy bias take over but I think he is the most handsome little boy ever to ride a pony! :o)

I've given up!

2009-08-28T11:44:00.003-04:00

So I keep meaning to get on here and upload old photos and such from this past month that I've been absent. But I just can't find the time or the energy to do it. I've decided to just start fresh. I will slowly add in some of the old pics when I get time but I think it will be easiest for me to just move forward with new posts. I still want to keep this thing up and going for everyone so I'm going to make more of an effort. I promise! :o)

I'm not sure what I've covered in my last few posts and what I've left out but Kenneth is in school now. He loves loves his Pre K school! He goes every day Monday thru Friday all day. I really thought it would be a difficult adjustment for him but it's not. He just goes with the flow and enjoys whatever the day brings it seems.
He also started soccer practices last week too. He wanted to do it again so we signed him up. I hope the season goes well for him. He really seems to like soccer.

Adrianna is in full swing of school. She has been in nearly a month now and she is doing great. I'm amazed at how big she is getting and all the things she is doing in school. She had the first dance of the year yesterday after school. She got asked by some little boy and oh my goodness was she excited. She got all dolled up in her sparkly dress and high heels (compliments of her nana) and went and had a blast it seemed. She came home with blisters on her feet but a smile on her face!
And big news with her. She is starting the strings orchestra this year. Chris rented her a Viola yesterday and she will have classes every week. She is looking so forward to it. Pictures to come of that when I get them.

Lilly is the same old Lilly. Such a little diva, princess, sweetheart Monster. I love her fiesty little self to pieces. She starts school in just over a week. Yay! She and I have been getting so spend so much time together since Kenneth and Adrianna are in school and I just love it. I wouldn't trade our time alone for anything. She is an amazing little person and I can't believe how big she is.

Chris has been in a school for the past few months which has kept him super busy with lots of studying and lots of tests. But now thats over for now. He flies to Washington DC next week for some interviews and stuff. I'm nervous for him, because he is pretty nervous about it. I'm sure he will do just fine.

And me...well I'm just here, flying by the seat of my pants trying to hold on and enjoy the ride that is parenthood and being a Military spouse. There are a million and one things that need to be done everyday and I'm lucky if I get 1/4 of them done. There is always tomorrow to catch up on the housework and errands. There is only today to enjoy my babies the way that they are today! Tomorrow they will be different in some way.

Kenneth's first day of big boy school!

I'm here!

2009-08-10T15:21:00.002-04:00

I'm sure my loyal readers, all 3 of them haha, thought that I fell off the face of the planet. Well here I am still on the Earth!
Life has been moving in fast forward the past couple of weeks. I've had lots and lots of appointments. Some for me, and some for my little Lilly. School is back in session now, so we've had lots of preparing for that. Craziness is what that is. I hate all the back to school crowds and rush. Yuck!
Lilly met with a dietitian about her eating and an occupational therapist. Both of those things were huge gigantic wastes of time. She is little. That's all there is to it with Lilly. She will eat when she is good and ready and not a moment sooner. She's stubborn like her daddy!
We've been enjoying spending lots of time with Chris. Before I know it he will be gone again so I'm soaking up all this time.
We've got an anniversary coming up, and a boat camping trip. Fun stuff!
Today was Kenneth's first day of school. He is officially in preK. I'm amazed at how time has just flown by. My baby boy was just born it seems and now he is in school! Oh my!
He loved his school. I was really worried since it was a full day school and 5 days a week, but after today I think it will be okay. He came home so excited about school and his friends. He couldn't really tell me what they did other than play outside and eat fish sticks, but whatever. He loved it.
So now that things might possibly be calming down I will try to post more often and get caught up too.

I still have photos from my trip to TN to post, but its not happening today.

Trip to TN part 1

2009-07-26T17:26:00.005-04:00

We went to Tennessee for a long weekend, short visit. It was just the 3 crazies and me. We made the drive in 8.5 hours each way. Which is really good time for the drive. We left on Thursday and came home on Monday. We did lots of visiting in the short time and enjoyed ourselves so so much! There won't be much order to the photos. Sorry, I'm just too lazy for that.

This is just a random one of Adrianna eating ice cream. I wanted to prove that she was there. She was just strangely absent while I was taking most of the pictures. Most of the time she was just walking around listening to her Ipod and singing along.

My handsome little boy. He is getting so big!

Lindsay would just look at me. I tried to get her to smile, but it wasn't happening for the pictures.

So pretty...

but so goofy!

A cornfield!! Oh my goodness! That's awesome right?! No? Not so much? The kids thought the cornfields all over were the coolest thing ever! You know we have been living too close to cities for awhile when they get that super excited over corn.

Lilly and my handsome little nephew Cannon. They decided it was time for a drink break.

This is my niece Maddy. She is a sweetie too.

My big goofy brother thinks this is the appropriate way to use overalls. Cannon doesn't seem at all fazed.

Cannon and me waiting for popcorn. He didn't care anything for the crazy lady holding him. He just wanted food!

Niece Lindsay, Pa (my dad), and Lilly waiting to sit down to eat.

Great song

2009-07-09T15:12:00.001-04:00

I heard this song the other day and I instantly fell in love with it! Check it out here. It's called Lucky and parts of it are so us! I love it!

2 year well baby check up

2009-07-08T15:33:00.004-04:00

Today Lilly had her 2yr well baby appointment. She is right on track with language and development, but she is not as big as the doctor would like. She weighed in at 23.7 lbs. today. That is down a 1/2 pound from her last appt. That puts her in the 5th percentile for her weight, and the 41st for her height. She was 35.5 inches long. Since she isn't maintaining weight we are now scheduled to go see a dietician and an occupational therapist. I can understand seeing the dietician but I don't really think she needs to be seen by the OT. They think that maybe she has issues with the textures of the food so they want her checked out for any sensory things. blah blah blah I don't really get it. I'll keep everyone updated. Hopefully she will just put on weight and we will not have to worry about any of this. I think she is just petite. Just little and tiny and cute. There is nothing wrong with that. Right?!

2009-07-08T09:37:00.005-04:00

Welcome to Miami!

This is the sight that greeted us as we came into the Miami area. Lots and lots of cars and lots and lots of rain. Fantastic!

The weather cooperated though, and really turned out to be pretty nice. We had a great room with a view of the ocean. (It was a side view but heck who cares? A view is a view)

The water was BEAUTIFUL. I have never seen anything like it. It looks kind of dark in the pictures but it was clear blue/green water! Exactly what I wanted.

See! I can see my feet! All of our beaches you can't even see your feet a few inches into the water. This water was up to my knees and I could still see. I swam out a ways later and wasn't able to touch the bottom by a long way and I could still see the bottom! AMAZING!
Our room had a bidet! I'm so easily amused and I just thought this was the funniest thing. I've never actually seen one except on TV. Goofy huh?

I didn't get many of us together because there was no one to take the picture. This is one of the better ones though. All the others I cut off half a head or face or it was totally crooked. But it was a self taken picture so for the most part I think they came out pretty good.

We had a wonderful vacation to only have to worry about each other. It was so great to be able to catch up with the man that I married and just be us again. We tried some really yummy restaurants, including one Italian place where we were WAY underdressed, but the food was fantastic. We slept in and enjoyed each others company so very very much. We have decided to try to get away without the kids more often. Maybe once a year. The time passed way too quickly and before we knew it we were headed home. I missed my babies so so much but the time that I got with Chris was wonderful!

July 4th

2009-07-08T09:24:00.004-04:00

Chris was actually able to be home with us on the 4th which was pretty nice. We went to parade in the morning and then in the afternoon I put him to work putting together a new TV stand while I took a short nap...oops. Then we went to the fireworks later. It was a good day.

Hanging out in the back of the car eating a snack waiting on the parade. Looks like fun huh?

Kenneth took a picture for us.

Getting ready for the parade. Kenneth had his eyes closed in both of the pictures I took.

Lilly was getting candy and immediately wanted it opened.

This is how the kids watched the fireworks. This is the first year Kenneth wasn't scared of them. He and Adrianna kept their ears plugged the whole time but they seemed like they liked them.

Just playing at the park.

Silly Lilly.

So pretty.

Snow in July

2009-07-08T09:22:00.001-04:00

We had a pretty wicked storm the other day and it hailed ALOT. We lost power for awhile too. I love a good thunderstorm.

I'm still here...

2009-06-30T16:23:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post. I had just been putting it off for awhile then over the last few days I've wanted to update but my computer+blogger=pain in my booty! It just wouldn't work. My blog would come up then almost immediately I would get an error message!
Chris and I did it! We went away for the whole weekend. Just the two of us! It was the most amazing, wonderful, peaceful, fantabulous weekend I've had in a good long time. I have a few pictures from Miami and I will get those up soon. I promise!

Sleep tight

2009-06-18T11:15:00.002-04:00

Lilly got a really cute bedtime Dora for her birthday and she really loves that doll. She has gotten to the point that we have to do Dora's song every night before she will go to bed. She sings along and it's just so stinkin' cute.

Silly personality test

2009-06-18T10:29:00.001-04:00

I came across this silly little personality test. What does the shape of your lipstick say about you? I think it sounds kind of close to me. I'm a flat top. What about you?
Lipstick test

Random blah blah

2009-06-12T11:08:00.003-04:00

I've been going to the gym off and on regularly for about a year and half. But the last month I've been going very regularly. Like almost everday while Chris was gone, and I hope to keep up with it now that he is home. Our local Rec Center has a great gym, and organized group classes, and free childcare! What more could I ask for right? My going to the gym in the morning gets me out of the house and gives me something to do for awhile without the kids, I know bad mommy wanting to be without the kids. The kids get to socialize with other children for an hour or two, and I get to try to get my body back. I never really got back to where I was was before babies. Well I got nowhere near that body, but I'm working on it. I've got some great ladies who keep me motivated and I try to do the same for them. But I just have to say the class that I took this morning totally kicked my butt, and I'm loving it. I might not love it tomorrow, but for now it's great! Wish me luck everyone on keeping my butt in the gym to look and feel human again.
Lilly is super grumpy. She has 3 teeth coming in and boy is it hurting her. I don't really know what to do to make her feel better. I don't like to have her medicated all the time so I don't really want to give her tylenol or motrin everyday, but something has to happen because she is mean.
Next week is VBS for Kenneth and Adrianna. They are both very excited about it. It is being held at the school where Kenneth went last year and was free. They will go for 1 week from 9 til noon. It will be nice to have short break for a week.
Chris came home with the boat on Wednesday night but we really haven't gotten to spend any time with him. He had duty on Thursday and is still working today, Friday. I hope he gets home at a decent time tonight so we can go out to dinner or something. He hopefully will have this weekend off too, which will be wonderful! Maybe we'll get out to the beach or pool or something.
It is so stinkin' hot here right now. It has been in the mid to upper 90s and looks like it is going to stay that way. I like summer. It's great to get to go to the beach and pool, but I hate how the kids just can't go out and play without pretty much melting into a puddle. :)
Lilly still has one stitch in her little finger from the accident. I tried to make an appointment to have her go in to have it removed and I was told that they only do that walk-in. So that should be simple right? It should, but I just can't find the time to get her in to get it done. Today we were going to do it, but being Friday they close for training or some nonsense from 11 til 1. So at 1 I plan on going in to get it taken care of. It's been over 2 weeks since it happened so I'm sure the last stitch needs to come out.

Well I know it's lots of random nonsense, but oh well! Have a good weekend everyone! Maybe I'll have some good pictures to show on Monday from our fun fun weekend. fingers crossed

2009-06-11T15:49:00.002-04:00

We had a fun trip to the zoo a few days before Chris came home. It was a weird weather day, as if any weather here is normal. First it was fairly nice and sunny, then all of a sudden huge down pour, then just as quick as it happened it began to clear up. It continued to thunder and sprinkle for awhile but mostly it was done. Strange Georgia/Florida weather. :)

The kids loved playing in the rain. Misty and I took shelter but the kids, Oh no that was the fun part.

She looks like a monkey...and she smells like one too. haha

He's home again!

2009-06-11T15:43:00.002-04:00

Chris is home with us again! Yay! I am so excited to have him back. He will be with us awhile this time before leaving us again, the next time will be a LONG one. We are going to try and do all the things we want to have him home for in one summer. Wish us luck! The list is getting huge!

2 years ago

2009-06-04T14:42:00.003-04:00

This very minute 2 years ago Lilly joined us weighing in at 8lbs 9oz. She has grown so much during her 2 short years. She has become a big girl and she melts my heart everyday. I don't know what I would do without my sweet Lilly bug! She is mommy's girl for sure and she has my heart. I love you Lilly and I am so proud to be your mommy!

My first time holding my beautiful baby, minutes after she was born.

Lilly's first picture with her big sister and brother.

Her very first picture at home.

June 4th, 2008. Happy 1st birthday!

June 4th, 2009. Happy 2nd birthday beautiful girl!

Lilly had a party!

2009-06-01T19:26:00.005-04:00

My baby girl Lilly will be 2 on June 4th, but we had her party the weekend before so we could do it on a Saturday. The weekends in late May and June filled up fast.

I decided to do it at a Gym in Brunswick which is about 35 miles north of here. It was a bit farther than I thought, but we had lots of great friends make it out. The kids had a blast! They were running, jumping, swinging, and climbing all over that place. To me it was well worth the drive. I think Lilly had a good party with lots of good friends.

Coach helping Adrianna on the rings.

This is where Lilly spent most of her time. She just loved the foam block pit. She jumped in a few hundred times I think. :o)
This one was under the parachute.
The kids took turns putting these foam blocks between their feet and jumping all the way down the long trampoline and jumping into the pit. Lilly wasn't so sure.

Lilly blowing out her candles. There is another one on the other side of the picture but it's hidden.
Lilly loved all of her presents. Even if we did open them in the parking lot since we ran out of time in the gym and we pretty much got kicked to the curb.

This was our whole set up. I made cupcakes, sandwiches, and a fruit tray. There was also chips and drinks.

Lilly was just dancing and having a ball the whole time. Here they were throwing the foam blocks over a "wall" to the other team. Lilly just wanted to dance. This is one of her favorite songs. I don't know what it's called but it's the one from Madagascar. "I like to move it move it..." Lilly loves it!

Lilly's actually birthday is on Thursday so we will do another cake at home with a few presents. Sorry if the pics are a bit fuzzy. The kids were running nonstop the whole time so my poor camera couldn't quite hack it with all the movement. But it was all fun!

2009-05-28T21:06:00.002-04:00

I'm still here and still kicking!

Lilly is feeling 100% better and is bandage free! She looks to be healing wonderfully. We have a check up tomorrow to see how the docs say she is doing.
Chris came home!! But now he's gone again...bummer.
Lilly's birthday party is on Saturday so I spent today shopping for supplies and now baking cupcakes.
Tomorrow I'm taking Kenneth and Adrianna to see Up! with Misty and Jack.
Tomorrow is also Ladies Night and sushi night!
I went to the CDC (child development center) on base and got Kenneth signed up for PreK! Woo Hoo. But I had to get up at 3:45 to be able to do it. Yuck! But now he has a spot for school next year at a great school.
I really really miss family and wish that we could visit, or have some visitors here. It gets lonely here sometimes.
I can't wait for Chris to come home and to hopefully have a weekend vacation if we can make it work.
I'm back at the gym pretty regularly. I hope I can get back in the hang of going. It's good for me.
School is out and the Aquatic center is open. Too bad we haven't been able to go because it has been raining buckets for about 10 days now.

Ummm...I think that's all the randoms I can think of right now. I will update with some pictures soon.

My poor Lilly

2009-05-20T21:18:00.005-04:00

So I know I've said it before and I will say it again, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. Never a dull day in the Smith household. Today I spent a good part of the day with my little Lilly in the ER. Something is always bound to happen while Chris is away, and this underway is no exception to that rule. Lilly was following Kenneth around today and she was trying to follow him into the bathroom. He accidentally closed the door when her fingers where between the door frame and the door in the crack. It just about took off the end of her little finger. I was of course freaking out a bit only because I was totally worried about my baby. Lilly was way upset too until I got the towel around her finger nice and tight then she calmed down. We rushed to the ER where she had to get 3 stitches and lost her pinky nail. The doctor tells me it should grow back normally so that is good news. She is on lots of pain meds and sleeping peacefully now. Now my biggest challenge is to get the almost 2 year old to leave on a huge bulky irritating bandage for a whole week. I don't see it happening but here to hoping she cooperates.

While in the hospital Lilly was in very good spirits. She needed to be entertained so we got goofing around with the camera. Isn't she such a champ for being in such a good mood with the end of her finger still partially unattached?

WARNING! In the video there is a bit of blood on her bandaging. Don't watch it if you don't like it!

All bandaged up and ready to go.

End of 3 year old preschool

2009-05-20T20:56:00.002-04:00

Kenneth had his end of year program yesterday at school. They sang 3 little songs, mostly about alligators, and then they did their awards. That is what the video is of, the awards. Kenneth got the sharp as a tack award. I already knew that and I'm not really surprised. I loved their little program and of course I cried. I always get a little teary when my baby shows me how much a big boy he is becoming. Next year is PreK, oh my!

Brrr...

2009-05-19T21:46:00.002-04:00

Oh my word. I think it has to be some kind of record or something. It has been in the 50s and very low 60s all day today and yesterday! It's actually cold. 1 week ago it was mid 90s and now here we are. No wonder I have had a constant headache for the last couple of days. I can't take the weather change, but I sure love the cooler temps. I hope it sticks around for a little while. I know it won't but I can hope right?!

Gone again

2009-05-18T20:26:00.003-04:00

So this is the real reason I have been absent for a few days. The days building up to Chris leaving are always busy. We are trying to prepare everything for him to be gone. He was working horrible, awful, terrible, very bad hours for a long time before the boat left so that really just added to the pain of him leaving. Then the leave date kept getting changed so we really weren't sure when it was going to happen. Well he is gone for a little while now, again. I already miss him and want him home.

Lots of goings on

2009-05-18T20:04:00.004-04:00

In May comes the end to most things around our house. Adrianna is finishing up school this week, Girl Scouts are over now for the year, Kenneth is finishing up school, soccer is done, and our time with Chris being home and working insane hours has ended too. It has been one thing after another and then another here for awhile. Hopefully with the end of all these things it will be calmer and quieter around the house. I sure need a little break.

Adrianna is now a Junior Girl Scout instead of the Brownie she was before. Huge deal!

I just snap random photos wherever we are.

Kitty houses work well for Lillys too.

Last morning of snuggle time with daddy.

We have our passes now to the aquatic center so we'll be there alot.

Lilly painting her hands.

I know it's not really much of a post but really it's all I can do for now. I'm tired. Down to the bone exhausted. Maybe I'll be able to come up with something better another day.

2009-05-07T15:14:00.003-04:00

Chris and I are hoping to take a vacation for a weekend sometime this summer. I want to go to Miami or somewhere close to that so that I can see the beautiful turquoise water. I want it to be just him and me. We haven't gotten to do anything like that in a really long time. And the times that we ever had away are so few. We are celebrating our 5 year anniversary this year and he should actually be around for it. Sounds wonderful doesn't it? The only problem is we need to find a sitter for a whole weekend. Hmmm.... I wonder if there are any grandparents who would be willing to come and hang out for a weekend with the best grandkids ever?!

Looks like paradise doesn't it?

Daddy Daughter Dance

2009-05-07T15:08:00.004-04:00

Girl Scouts had a father daughter dance last week and Chris was actually able to make it. There was a Hawaiian theme so they had to wear their flowered clothes. Chris said he had a really good time with her and Adrianna seemed to love it. She got to get her hair done and I took all kinds of pictures, what's not to love right? Isn't she just beautiful?

Kenneth and Lilly had to get in on the flowered clothes as well.

Catch up pictures

2009-05-07T14:51:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it has been over a week since my last post. I apologize. There is always loads going on here. My calendar runneth over with events. :o) So here is the gist of what we have been doing...

Gigantic spiders! I found this one in my garage! Ewww...I hate the south just because of the nasty spiders, scorpions, hornets, wasps, and lots of other icks.

Trips to Chuck E. Cheese in the middle of the week. I know it's a hard life, but someone has to do it.

Half naked golf. Sounds like fun eh?

Swimming in the backyard pool, because gosh when it's over 90 degrees in May you have to do something to not melt.

And soccer and more soccer and more soccer!

And somewhere in between we have had several doctors appointments, dentists appointments, meetings, lots of soccer games, and a night out with the girls. All the while Chris has been working 12 or more hour days almost every day.

change

2009-04-27T15:53:00.004-04:00

This is Lilly at 4 months old.

I have set a goal for myself to try and get all of the pictures from my computer printed out and put into albums so I have been looking back at alot of old pictures of the kids. Lilly just floors me with how different she is. Look at how much she has changed in such a short amount of time. I just can't believe it!

This is Lilly at 22 months!

I've heard it before...

2009-04-27T15:42:00.002-04:00

I have heard how kids will eat you out of house and home, but I really thought I had a while til that was true for us. But I think Kenneth may just eat the whole house down. He has been snacking all day long. He had 2 bowls of oatmeal and 2 strawberry muffins for breakfast. Then he started snacking on graham crackers, carrots, cheeses, and a couple of chocolates. By then it was lunch time. For lunch her had 2 PB&J sandwiches, chips, more carrots and the chicken that Lilly didn't eat for lunch. Since then he has had more graham crackers 2 string cheeses, and an apple! Oh my goodness where is he putting it all?! He must be growing because he never eats like this. I guess he is making up for all those days when I couldn't get him to eat anything.

2009-04-24T16:21:00.002-04:00

OH MY GOODNESS Kenneth has a flesh eating rash or his arm is going to fall off or wait Oh my gosh I don't know. Oh wait he is just a goof ball and thinks he's so cool that he can put dots ALL over! Kenneth is doing better now. The Prednisone is out of his system and he is back to his only somewhat crazy, jumping off the couches, oh is that him swinging from the ceiling fan, self. He had is 4 year old well baby check up. But its now it is technically his well child appointment but I can't call it that because then I'm like old or something and I can't handle that but anyway. He is 41 1/2 inches tall and weighs in at a whopping 35.8 pounds! Wow where has the time gone. On a side note little Lilly truely is that, little. We weighed her out of curiousity and my little peanut is just over 22 pounds. Aww.. so tiny!

More to come soon...

2009-04-21T21:00:00.002-04:00

I just need to let everyone know how much I hate the medicine Prednisone. It's an oral steroid and Kenneth is taking it. He broke out into hives starting Saturday morning. We can't for the life of us figure out what is making my baby break out into hives so badly. I took him to an urgent care facility on Sunday to see what the dr. thought. The prescribed him the steroid to hopefully help take care of it. One of the little side effects is that it could cause restlessness and hyperactivity. OH MY GOODNESS! I was not quite prepared for the wrath that is Kenneth. He is not the same person the last couple of days. He is INSANE. Even more so than usual, which really is saying something. I don't know what I am going to do with him for 3 more days worth of this medication. We might just barricade ourselves inside the house until he is normal again. I have never seen a child act like he has been. Running, yelling, jumping, being defiant, and just plain mean. He gets up at 7AM and doesn't finally crash until almost 9pm and he is going full speed the whole time! Oye, everyone keep me in your thoughts. Better yet keep him in your thoughts. Hopefully I won't kill him!

The picture man

2009-04-14T11:31:00.004-04:00

Kenneth is my little photographer. I really need to get him his own camera to use because he really does love taking pictures. He is always begging me to use my camera and most times I let him, but I'm really afraid he will drop it and break it. He just loves doing it so much that I really feel like it is something I should let him do and not discourage him. Sometimes he gets some pretty funny things. It is funny to see what he thinks is important enough to take a picture of. I have learned that I better watch out or I might become one of his subjects. haha Check out his most recent photos.

2009-04-12T10:05:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter!!
Today is Easter. Chris has work, of course. :) And we have been invited over to my bestest friend's house for Easter lunch/dinner and an egg hunt! Thanks Misty this is 2 years in a row you have saved me from another lonely Easter.

Adrianna's spring break is this week. I am going to be trying to stay super busy so I don't go a bit crazy, as if I wasn't already. Stay tuned for tales of super fun adventures, hopefully!

2009-04-10T16:04:00.004-04:00

My laptop took a poo a couple of weeks ago and it has been a nonstop battle with the computer place and with USAA who we have our computer insurance through to get it taken care of. Hopefully by weeks end we will have come to a resolution, whether it be fixing the laptop, or replacing it. We have a desktop still, but it just doesnt cut it for blogging. It just takes too dang long to upload pictures. So I will try to keep up with some posting but probably won't be too many pictures for a bit. It took about an hour to upload these so you better enjoy them! haha

Gosh, he's handsome!

Easter party at Kenneth's school. Kenneth's teacher even made a pair of bunny ears for Lilly. How sweet.

We had a get together with our wardroom last weekend. We had a BBQ, easer egg hunt, and a baseball game. We had alot of fun.

Lilly's version of wearing a helmet. haha She got it from her daddy. :o)
Kenneth had his first ever field trip with school. We went to the zoo. I think he had a pretty good time other than a couple accidents with his shaved ice. He is getting so big.

So pretty!

I'm alive!

2009-03-30T20:18:00.005-04:00

Wow, so I do think that I have gotten over my little funk. I hope some of you have stuck it out and are still hanging on with me! We had our first whole weekend! I am so beyond thrilled that we got to see Chris for 2 whole days! We are all feeling much better and are so happy to have our Chris/daddy home.

So while I was away we went to 2 bowling birthday parties. My kids are going to be pro bowlers in no time. They really love going bowling, including Lilly. Kenneth and Adrianna don't even need help anymore. Kenneth can recognize his name on the screen and knows which ball to use and all. He is so big! Lilly tries her very best to push the ball down the lane too.

We have also been knee deep in soccer stuffs. With buying all the necessary equipment, which Chris insists has to be all matching Adidas stuff; going to 2 practices a week while fighting off the flesh eating sand gnats, and doing the first game this weekend; we have been really busy with it. I was a teensy bit worried that Kenneth was going to hate it when he refused to even go out onto the field with his team for the first practice, but he seems to be LOVING it! I hope it keeps up.

This weekend, since we had Chris home, we kept extra busy out of the house. We had Jack's 3rd birthday party. Woo Hoo for being 3! We also went fishing at a friends pond. Which the kids just absolutely loved! They had such a good time catching the fish and taking turns putting the fish into a bucket to watch. Then on Sunday we ventured down to Jacksonville and did a little looking at mall before going to a yummy restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. It was so good. Then we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese to run around and play some games. Boy was that fun! NOT! The kids really enjoy it, but it is kind of small and gets really really crowded. There are kids quite literally trying to crawl up you butt and trying to mooch some free tokens or tickets off of ya. I was pretty ready to go but the kids had fun so thats all that really mattered. Next stop was the beach. I love the beach. I would go everyday if I could. After the beach on the way home daddy stopped and got the kids some Dunkin Donuts. What a treat that was. We almost never have donuts and if we do get them they usually wait until we get home before the kids eat them. The kids got spoiled a bit. We were so happy to have Chris for the weekend with no duty days on Saturday or Sunday so we lived it up!

I do apologize for my long blog absence. I do solemnly swear to try to not do that again. I enjoy keeping everyone up to date with everything so it doesn't suit me to just say screw it, and not update for like 2 weeks! Chris' work schedule still really sucks, and will until the boat leaves with him on it again, but I feel better now.

My little soccer man.

He got so much ball time. I got tons of pics of him kicking it, and throwing it, and trying to stop it. Trying being the key word. haha

This is their good game line. You know where you smack hands with the other team and tell them good game over and over and over. This was just beyond all these little people. They all had 2 hands out and were just standing there looking confused! So cute!

Adrianna's catfish. This was as close to it as I could get her. She was so scared of any of the fish.

Lilly's fish. She too was scared to be too close. She loved looking at them, but didn't want them flopping around near her. Oh and notice the wet bottom of her pants. After about 5 min. Lilly managed to get too close and sink in to about her knees.

One of Kenneth's fish. He wasn't scared. He would pick them up and throw them in the water for us.

This is Kenneth's catfish.

Chris just had to have a pic of me with the catfish since I actually touched the thing and got the hook out and all. I'm a big wimp. I was so worried that I was hurting him. And these dang catfish are slippery little suckers! :)

This was the only pic from Chuck E Cheese. Lilly loves carousels.

There were some awesome tide pools at the beach. The water was a ton warmer here so the kids just had a blast swimming in these. We didn't intend to go swimming, but oh well, its all fun.

We are meant for the beach!

Another tide pool. Lilly fell into one right before this that was up to her shoulders.

Mmmm...donuts

2009-03-24T11:17:00.003-04:00

I have hit a rough patch with this blog. I have been moping a bit about not seeing Chris so I haven't wanted to update the blog. We have been just about as busy as always. We have gone bowling, and had dinners with friends. Kenneth has started soccer and is coming up on his first game already. Lilly is as sweet as always and growing so fast. Adrianna had a girl scout's campout over the whole weekend this past weekend. She had a blast.
The weather has been a bit cooler so we haven't been back to the beach but I hope to soon. We have been spending alot of time out though.
My poor Chris has had almost NO time off. He finally got one full day. He had off last Saturday and that is the only day in 2 weeks since he has been home. I hope for a weekend soon. His hours have been miserable. If he doesn't have duty, and happens to get home before the kids go to bed then its a miracle. If he manages to not fall asleep before the kids go to bed then it's almost an act of God. He is just so over worked and beat right now. I hate it for him.
I do have a few pictures to post and I will get to that soon. Today is another duty day so maybe I'll have time later.

me=slacker blogger

2009-03-16T16:05:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since my last post I see. Well my main reason is that Chris is home, technically. The boat brought him back atleast. I haven't seen him much though. He hasn't even gotten one day off so I haven't so much been busy with him. I've more been trying to stay busy to keep from going insane. It is so hard when someone you haven't seen for a month is FINALLY home and you still don't get to see them. Oh it's torture! I hope that things will be getting back to normal sometime soon. We sure do want to spend some time with Chris.

I have some pictures and stuff to share, but I don't have time for it all now so until then just enjoy these cute little kids!

Adrianna was here, but she wouldn't stop building sand castles to come and join us by the water! Wow early March and it is warm enough for the beach!

Lilly just loves the ocean. Everytime the wave would come in and touch her she would just laugh and scream. It was a beautiful day!

Dora

2009-03-10T13:33:00.002-04:00

Anyone who knows my Lilly knows that she has a minor Dora the Explorer obsession. Well I came across a few article about a new supposed to be improved Dora. here's one I personally hate this idea. She's not going to be for my Lilly's age anymore. Now she's trying to get my money for Adrianna. What was wrong with the pudgy little Dora with a backpack and a map? He cute little haircut was perfect too. Now she's going to look all big kid like. I hate it and I won't be buying the stuff anymore when she changes!
before:

after:

Kenneth's birthday

2009-03-08T21:44:00.002-04:00

I had just realized that I didn't post any pictures from Kenneth's birthday. So since I know everyone really really wanted to see them. Here they are. You know you wanted them. Really you did. :o)

The birthday boy with his money from Grandma and Great Grandma! He says thanks!
The extra, kinda last minute, cake. Just in case someone didn't want fondant.

Right before he blew out his candles.

Kenneth and mommy date

2009-03-08T21:23:00.004-04:00

Kenneth and I had a date the other day. He was so excited to get to go out with only mommy. We went to lunch wherever he wanted. He chose nachos from Taco Bell and a slushie from Sonic. So that's what he had. Then we went bowling. Just him and me. I really enjoyed being able to spend time with just him. He is a great little boy. I look forward to doing it again.

Check out his little dance. He is so funny!

My boy and me!

Neato Trick

2009-03-06T20:56:00.002-05:00

Adrianna has the worst cough EVER! The doctors claim it is just seasonal allergies and prescribed her some allergy meds. But until the meds kick in (in a couple of days) she has this persistant hacking, all day all night, almost makes her throw up cough. I was at my wits end. I had tried everything I knew of. There's cough medicine, honey, tea, cough drops, peppermints, vaporizers, and vicks on the chest! Nothing worked. She would be up until 10pm just coughing her little head off only to finally fall into a fitfull sleep. I was looking up stuff to help her and I came across someone suggesting vicks vapo rub on the soles of the kids feet. I used a warm cloth to open the pores on the soles of her feet. Then I slathered vicks all over them and covered them with socks. I really didn't think this would help, but I was willing to try almost anything (safe) to get her some relief. And OMG it actually worked. And in case it was a fluke, I did it again tonight and she stopped coughing in about 5 min. She has been coughing all day long and in 5 min she is calm enough for sleep!! Try it, it works!

Twilight

2009-03-04T22:21:00.002-05:00

I have read the Twilight series now 3 times and I've seen the movie 3 times as well. That should be enough shouldn't it?! Tell me why I am now going to start reading the series AGAIN? I'm always a little sad when I get to the end of book 4 and then I don't another to go on to. So I just start all over. I just love the whole story. True love above all else is the message I get out of it. If you haven't read it I highly suggest that you atleast give them a shot.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNETH!

2009-03-02T13:23:00.009-05:00

4 years ago today at 2:51 pm the most amazing thing happened to me. God gave me one of the most wonderful gifts ever! Kenneth graced us with his appearance 5 days late weighing in at 8lbs. 4oz. The time has flown by and I can't believe that it has been 4 years already. I love him more with every moment that passes and I can't imagine a world without him in it. He is a loving, carefree, rambunctious, sweet heart of a little boy and I am blessed to be able to call myself his mother.

I love you Kenneth! Happy birthday baby boy!

Just moments after he was born

Our first night.

His 1st birthday party!

His 2nd birthday party! Yummy cake!

His 3rd birthday party!

And here he is today on his 4th birthday. So big!

I will post some pictures of his party after we have one. We are going to wait for Chris to come come for the real party.

2009-02-28T22:03:00.003-05:00

I got chosen! Thanks Sheila for the award. I guess I can't stalk your blog in secret anymore. Surprise, I read it!

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find friends and be friends. they are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships will be propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."

Huls Happenings

Those Crazy Jacinto's

The Miller Family

The Brooks Page

Our Life As New Parents

Mackenzie's World

Hi, My name is Sunshine, and I am a blog addict.

2009-02-25T16:09:00.003-05:00

I am constantly browsing some blog or another and one inevitably leads to another. Well I came across one of the funniest ones yet. Check it out, and prepare to laugh and sometimes cringe. http://failblog.org/

What have we been up to? You wanna know?

2009-02-23T21:37:00.007-05:00

Well...

flower planting

zoo going (aren't they cute?)
giraffes with their tongues out

cute kids

awesome buys

half naked boys

monkeys for kids

choo choo tunnels

cheesy grins

pretty girls

happy family

bestest friends

lots of beads

funny cars

smiling boy

yummy granola and fruit (i just had to share)

painting fun

paint in hair

socks on arms

destruction

Wow what fun!!!

We try to keep busy while Chris is away, and let me tell you we have been doing that for sure! The Mardi Gras Parade was on Saturday and the kids had a blast. We went to the zoo on Sunday. We've had dinners with friends at their houses and at mine. We are having a ball, but I wish Chris was here to enjoy it too.

Facebook survey about Chris

2009-02-20T20:32:00.002-05:00

He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? football, basketball, tennis...heck any sport pretty much.
You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Honey Mustard
What's one food he doesn't like? green beans is just about it. He eats most everything.
You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? beer just about any kind
Where did he go to high school? Marcellus High School in Marcellus Michigan
What size shoe does he wear? 10 to 10 1/2
There isn't a 7 huh? Strange.
What is his favorite type of sandwich? Meatball sub I think
What would this person eat every day if he could? banana shakes (is that a food?) or chips
What is his favorite cereal? he's not really picky, but he really likes the ones that are marketed toward kids. :o)
What would he never wear? he's not fond of pink
What is his favorite sports team? Titans
Who did he vote for? he didn't get to vote this year, but he wanted to vote for McCain
Who is his best friend? definitely me
What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? I don't talk about what's bothering me.
What is his heritage? I heard German at some point, but really I dunno. American fits.
You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? He is really a pie kind of guy, but if he had to choose a cake it would be anything with a whipped topping.
Did he play sports in high school? Yes, just about all of them I think. But soccer seemed to be his favorite.
What could he spend hours doing? watching TV and playing video games
What is one unique talent he has? He is sooo handy. If something is broken, he knows what it could be. And he usually knows how to fix it.

Vent & random nonsense

2009-02-20T13:28:00.002-05:00

Sometimes things about this Navy life really irritate me. I have sick kids. Shouldn't it be an easy thing to just take them to the doctor and get it figured out. Yeah not around here it isn't. For us to get into the doctor I have to be up at the butt crack of dawn to call the appointment line and hope and pray (and do a hail mary according to the guy this morning) in order to get a sick appointment. Well holy crow, I actually got one today! I was so surprised. Oh, I only got one because it was with the duty doc so once I got there I had to wait 45min to be seen. How frustrating! Lilly and Kenneth are little tornadoes running all over the clinic and spilling raisins in the floor. The nurses kept giving me dirty looks, and the check in lady was a huge BIOTCH! It's not my fault that my kids lose their sanity after sitting for that long. Don't friggin tell me to get there 20min before my appointment only to be then made to wait longer!!! Oy, I'm mad about this stupid doctor business. Come to find out Lilly still has the sinus infection from over a week ago, and now she also has a double ear infection to go along with it. If that had given me a strong enough antibiotic last time I wouldn't have had to go back huh?!
I also really hate that I am so far away from family. I really want to be able to hop in the car and make a quick drive to see family. I really really miss all my family and we just don't get to make that huge trip often enough. I feel like I don't really know what goes on in everyone else's lives. I just feel out of the loop. Phone calls don't seem to cut it either. I need to go and see everyone and harrass them face-to-face.
On the bright side though I did finally get an email from Chris today!! Just that one short, very short, email brightened up my day. He told me he won a PSP in a raffle. How exciting for him. He seems like he is having a pretty good time. I can't wait to have him home.
Adrianna has her first ever campout tonight. It is with her girl scouts troop. And of course tonight it is supposed to get down to 27! My poor baby girl is gonna freeze her booty off. She won't budge about not going. She really wants to earn her patches. I will update soon to let you all know how it went. Keep your fingers crossed for her.

2009-02-19T23:17:00.002-05:00

I am up way later than I should be and I happened upon this video on Youtube. Right in the very beginning when they say dive dive you can see Chris right in the middle. Also towards the end he is there again! I am totally surprised to see this and I think it's really cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icxl0Y4nNbE&feature=related

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T16:08:00.004-05:00

And Happy Birthday to my honey! I hope he knows how much I love him and wish that I was able to celebrate his birthday with him. Today he turns 29! We've been together for 6 birthdays and Valentine's Days. I hope for atleast 80 more!

And even though it is his birthday and even though he is gone. He still remembered to set up some flowers to be delivered for me for Valentine's Day, and he kept them a secret. (that's the craziest part). I think he loves me too!

2009-02-10T21:02:00.002-05:00

From left: Ingrid, Abby, Maurika with Becky, Carrie with Maggie, Des, and myself. We had a really good time and I am so glad that I have such a great group of wardroom wives.

The kids were watching "the funny show", or America's funniest home videos to everyone else. They all just hung out and laughed their little butts off.

We went to the zoo a couple of days ago and Lilly just kept hugging the goats. She is so funny somtimes.

He hates it when I do this. I always do this to him. I take all kinds of pictures of him when he isn't looking. We were on our way to our party the other night. I just wanted to do it to show him off a bit. hehe

This was the beautiful sunset on the way to Jekyll Island. It was so beautiful!

I don't have any pictures from from the party with my camera. I left it in the car by accident, and we had to park about a billion miles away so I wasn't going to walk in my uncomfy shoes in the cold. I'm a whiner! We did pay for a picture with their photographer and it should be back soon and I will post it. I promise!

2009-02-10T20:40:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a day it has been today. I just have to say that I am extremely proud of myself for getting everything accomplished without freaking out once! Yay me! haha
So the day that Chris left while I was driving to Target a big truck drove by me and blew some rocks into my windshield. It never fails that something happens within 2 days of Chris leaving, and this is no exception. The rocks chipped my windshield in 2 places. I was so mad. But today I managed to find a place here in town that does repairs just for the chips. So as soon as I dropped Kenneth off at school I went to the glass place and had that done. Thing 1 done for the day...check.
Then I went to get the base stickers for the new car since we just got the plate switched over. Lilly was a pain in the butt at Pass and ID but it got done, and I got them put on the car along with the new license plate. Check, check and check.
I was headed to WalMart to get some pictures when I got a phone call from Misty. The school nurse at Adrianna's school was trying to reach me and they didn't have my cell number, but they had Misty's(hmm...wierd huh). So I call the school with visions of broken bones or vomit running through my head. The nurse informs me that Adrianna had decided to put a glob of dried up glitter glue into her ear and then proceeded to push it so far in her ear canal that it couldn't be reached with regular tweezers!! Huh?!?! She did what? I was laughing so hard when the nurse told me. She must have thought I was nuts. Anyhoo, I went and got her from school. Our base clinic informed me that they didn't know what to do about this and told me to take her to the ER.
I went and got Kenneth from school, picked up lunch, and rushed home to watch a friend's daughter while she went to the dr. I made lots of phone calls and baked 3 dozen cookies while she was gone.
After Elicia got back I took Adrianna to the ER and sat there for 2 1/2 hours for them to use a little scooper like thingy with a light on the end (i'm sure thats the medical term for it) and scoop this ball of gunk out of her ear. The doctor was telling her that he was going to have to blow air into her nose while he plugged the other ear and the ball would come flying out. She looked really concerned. It was a simple procedure that should have been handled at our clinic, but of course not.
Then we were off to a fun get together at our new WEPS house. We had pizza and yummy desserts and lots of chaotic fun.
Whew! I'm beat! It's been a long day and I know that I will be calling it quits in about umm...2 min. So goodnight! I hope tomorrow is alot slower!

A little catch up

2009-02-08T20:04:00.002-05:00

We have been quite busy here around The Smith house.
Last week mid week we got the news that Chris would be leaving on another boat for awhile. Surprise!! Damn Navy! Oh well Chris had some things to get done, and what better time than now. He gets to go out with some good friends so that is good too. So he's gone now, and we are here. We plan on keeping plenty busy with friends and different events and holidays.
Friday was our boat holiday party. I guess it was kind of a Valentine's party. It was a great excuse to get to buy a new dress and get my hair cut and go out with my hubby. We had a great time. We are so fortunate to have a handful of great friends here who helped us out with keeping the kids, and we were able to stay the night at the hotel where our party was held. Thanks so much Misty, Abby, and Elicia. You guys are great! It was my first time being away from Lilly over night and I think I did surprisingly well. Umm err I mean she did surprisingly well. Haha. I'm glad we did it and I would love to have the opportunity to do it again.
I don't have any pictures right now. I've been slacking in the picture department, but I will get some soon.

2009-02-04T15:20:00.002-05:00

OH MY GOODNESS WHY IN THE WORLD (or southern United States) IS IT 37 DEGREES AT 3PM HERE?!?! WE LIVE IN ALMOST FLORIDA! IT SHOULD NOT BE THIS COLD! BRRRRR....
Not to worry though. I'm sure it will be 70 or 80 by the weekend. That's just how we roll around here it seems. :o)

2009-01-31T17:40:00.001-05:00

Oh I am so tired of being in the bathroom! Lilly uses those Magic Words way too often. Every meal I am in the bathroom normally 3 times atleast. And during the shopping we were in there about 5 times. Potty training SUCKS!

2009-01-31T17:32:00.002-05:00

How can an activity that I normally love become such a chore? Chris and I went shopping today. We ventured down to St. John's Towncenter in Jax. I love that place. The stores are great, and there are a ton of really good restaurants in the area. We ate at PF Chang's. It was my first time, and I really liked it.
After lunch we went to do a little shopping. Oh God what a nightmare that turned out to be. Lilly and Kenneth were just crazy little monsters in Dillard's. We really needed to shop for some clothes for an upcoming boat party, and the kids were really having none of it. They were whining and running all over. Ugh...I am glad it's over with. I WILL NOT be going shopping with them anytime soon.
And to think I was so excited to finally get to do some clothes shopping.

Magic word

2009-01-30T08:24:00.002-05:00

I do believe that my beautiful little Lilly is just a teensy bit conniving. She knows that when I am trying to make her do something she doesn't really want to do or if she wants to get out of something, like say bedtime, then all she has to say is "Pee Potty". I know she knows this, because she will say it even when she just said it 5 min. before and I took her that time too. I wasn't really planning on potty training my baby just yet, but if she is ready then I am more than willing to give up diapers. I just wish that she didn't realize that I will try to take her everytime she says it. She's smart. She's got me figured out already. :o) Does anyone else hate getting shown who's the boss by a toddler? Kids!

More birthday fun

2009-01-25T19:06:00.002-05:00

Today is actually Adrianna's birthday. So as our tradition with birthdays go, Adrianna got to choose what we have for dinner. She could have chosen anything she wanted. Her favorite food is crab legs so we went to Red Lobster. Boy was it yummy!
After dinner we came home and did our cake and presents from mom and dad. She got a new bedding set and a couple of other small things. She seemed happy with that. Cake was good. I made it myself and I am pretty proud of it. You can definitely tell it is homemade, but it's my first and Adrianna loved it. So that's the most important. All in all I think she had a wonderful birthday.

Adrianna and her daddy at dinner.

Yummy Shirley Temple
Birthday cake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADRIANNA!

2009-01-25T15:00:00.008-05:00

Adrianna's party was a complete success. The kids all seemed like they had alot of fun and we all got to celebrate with Adrianna. To me that's all that matters. We had some fun bowling, ate some pizza and cake, then opened some presents. Simple but lots of fun!

Present time!

Too much fun...oh yeah and cake.Yummy

Cutting the first piece.

So excited!

Happy Birthday to you.

What a cheeseball!Her eyes are closed, but this shows most of the girls.

Cheese!

He is so strong.

Ronee NOT bowling.

Adrianna and her really good friend Rebecca.

Kenneth and Lilly beating Daddy at air hockey.

This is a totally unrelated video, I know, but I uploaded it before I started the other post and I don't want to have to do it again. Lilly was jumping off of the couch with Kenneth and singing. So cute!

BIG NEWS

2009-01-24T14:27:00.002-05:00

As if any of you really want to know...but I'm gonna share anyway...
I haven't had to change a poopy diaper in over a week! Lilly has been going in the potty everytime! She doesn't tell me everytime for pee but we'll get there.
My baby girl is getting so big!

2009-01-24T14:04:00.003-05:00

Can anyone explain to me why I have had 8 and 9 year old children calling my house to RSVP themselves for Adrianna's party? It bugs me so much when I answer to a little kid who I can barely understand asking where and when a party is. If they can't get themselves there then they shouldn't be calling to say that they will be there. Shouldn't that be a parent's responsibility? Adrianna WILL NOT be calling to RSVP for any party any time soon.
Okay I'm off my soapbox now.

fun stuff

2009-01-24T13:58:00.002-05:00

Last night was Bunko night with the girls and boy was it fun. Wine, games, and ladies...what's more fun than that? I really enjoy getting out of the house and getting to interact with other adults. It's great! I've already got another one I'm excited about for next week. Chocolate soup here we come!
Tomorrow is Adrianna's birthday so we are having her birthday party today. Bowling with 15 sugared up children really sounds like fun doesn't it? She is really excited and I know it won't be too bad. Pictures to come later.

2009-01-23T07:12:00.002-05:00

Dear Husband,
You know I love you, but you letting the alarm go off for an hour before you were ready to be up is absurd! Said alarm then woke up our 3 children to come and keep me company for an hour and half before school. Next time the alarm goes off for more than 20 minutes you may just find it's broken pieces out in our yard along with your pillow!
Your always loving, but extremely tired wife

2009-01-22T07:34:00.003-05:00

No one tagged me but I wanted to join anyway. :o)

I am: woman. Here me roar!
I want: happiness for my whole family.
I have: alot.
I dislike: mean people.
I miss: my dad.
I fear: losing the ones I love most.
I feel: a bit sad this morning.
I hear: blue's clues in the background.
I crave: attention.
I cry: all the time.
I usually: try to make the best of every situation.
I search: for shoes all the time. haha ditto misty
I wonder: what makes people do the things they do.
I regret: a few things.
I love: my family, near and far, so much.
I care: about a lot of people who may not even know.
I always: try to keep the dishes done.
I worry: ALL the time.
I am not: very good at girl drama.
I remember: the births of children as the best days of my life.
I believe: true love only happens once.
I dance: only with the children, because I'm not very good at it.
I sing: in the car alot.
I don't always: know everything. Surprise :)
I argue: not enough.
I write: blog post not often enough.
I win: the hearts of my children.
I wish: that people would keep their word.
I listen: to my kids talk all the time.
I don't understand: PEOPLE
I can usually be found: with friends, or family.
I need: coffee.
I forget: people aren't mind readers.
I am happy: all the way from my head to my toes.

Your turn Abby!

catch up

2009-01-20T14:28:00.005-05:00

House cleaned...Check
Baby sleeping...Check

Car issues over...Check

Chris working...Check

Now it's time for a post!

Enjoy the pictures. I'm sorry it is so long in coming, but life just doesn't slow down a bit.

They were so excited. I just wanted to sleep. But it's christmas morning. What can you do? (its still dark out)

So sleepy...

New nintendo DS. She is hooked.

Lilly loved unwrapping all the presents.

This was the hit of Christmas. We have since bought another one and lots of replacement darts. Boys and there toys.

Boredom in the car leads Lilly to try to give her doggy milk. It kept her busy though.

My dad and some of his grandbabies. The little red head is my neice. Adrianna was off playing with her art sets. She couldn't be bothered to join the picture. haha

Adrianna would have played in the snow all day had we let her.

Kenneth lovin' it!

Kenneth just HAD to do a snow angel. He loved the snow!

Chris's grandma, mom, and of course the kids and himself.

This is what we left. I hated leaving while it was snowing so much.

My dad, the kids, and me. Notice Kenneth's wonderful face. He has to make a goofy face anytime I want to take a picture. What a silly boy!

My new car! I love it!

2009-01-15T13:06:00.002-05:00

I'm here and I swear I am still alive. I just haven't had the time or energy to sit down and post long drawn out posts or pictures. I'll get to it soon. We have been so so busy these past few weeks. I need to get caught up on EVERYTHING in the house so I can relax.

I got a new car!! I don't have any pictures yet to post, but its a 2007 Chrysler Pacifica in a dark red, and I love it, I love it, I love it! I have been having some issues with getting the dealer to get the DVD system working properly so right now I don't even have my new car. I have a loaner. It's not too bad of a vehicle but I wouldn't want it. It's a Nissan Xterra. It is really small and just not what I really like, but oh well. Hopefully I will have mine back soon.

The kids are good. Everyone is healthy. Lilly is still potty training and is sleeping full time in her toddler bed. The crib is gone for good. Adrianna got her report card yesterday, and she had all A's and B's. Her grades have slipped a bit this quarter, but we are working to get her back to her old self. She struggles intensely with multiplication tables and that is really holding her back.

Chris is back to work. Not on the sub thankfully, but still back to work. No more vacation for him. :)

Well I'm off to do something with my mess of a house. Forgive me for the pictureless post yet again. I will catch up, I will. Later...

I'M HOME!

2009-01-11T19:35:00.002-05:00

Wow, what a busy 13 days we have had! We have driven over 2000 miles with 5 people in one car! I just have to say that I am glad its over. I have lots of unpacking to do and some major rearranging to do with schedules. I will update soon I promise.
***Oh, and Lilly is officially potty training.***

2008-12-29T22:12:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling so much better. I just have to say how much I love the meds the doctors gave me. So since I am on the mend we are off to visit with family for awhile. I'm not sure when we will be back but I will be sure to post again when we do. Happy New Year everyone!

Blah

2008-12-28T16:36:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids got lots of good loot. I'm a little slow on pictures because I came down with Strep Throat all of a sudden. It just hit me out of nowhere the day after Christmas. And then yesterday I went to the ER because I had a fever of just over 105 for most of the day that I couldn't get to come down. I hate going to the ER but it wasn't that bad for us to get in and out. I've got my meds now and I hope to be feeling better soon. We are supposed to leave to go out of town on Tuesday. We'll see if that happens. I won't leave until I am 100% better. I hope to post with pictures from Christmas soon.

THANK YOU VAIVA!!

2008-12-24T20:45:00.004-05:00

My friend Vaiva made Lilly the cutes shirt ever! I love it! I'm not sure how she made it but it is simply adorable.

Thank you so much Vaiva, this shirt is so special! Merry Christmas.

2008-12-24T20:27:00.004-05:00

Chris is home!! He got home on Monday. We are thrilled to have him back just in time for Christmas. He has been super busy though so we haven't gotten to see him very much. I would include a picture of the boat returning, but I missed it! They came in early and we got there an hour and a half before we were expecting to see it, and dang it, it was passing by as I pulled up! I was MAD! Oh well. He's home now though.

Chris's dad came for a short visit. He got to go for a ride on Chris's boat for an entire day, and he got to visit with us. The kids loved having him here and he had to go back much too soon.

We had a Christmas party at the XO's house. There was lots of yummy food and good friends. There was even a visit from Santa. He gave each of the kids a gift. Wow, they sure enjoyed that. Well except for Lilly. She wasn't so happy to have some strange man in a big smelly red suit hold her.