2 Tutus and 1 Pocket Full of Frogs

The Color Run

2012-01-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

Today was... Epic. :) It was the first Arizona Color Run 5K, and I'm happy to say I did it! Last night I found out that I would be running with 6 THOUSAND of my "closest friends" and, because agoraphobic, I FREAKED! 6 Thousand? The biggest race I have previously been involved in had 3000 and I had major anxiety. And that race was a half marathon, so there was room to spread out. But, I decided I was going to wo-man up and do this thing. I'm so glad I did. It was so much fun.

Here are some pictures from the event. Here we are getting ready to walk to the started line.

Before pictures:

(I love my girlies) I didn't take a before with my little man, but here is one with my love of my life:

And my friend, MaKell, ran too! Here we are before:

Ready for some after?

The race was fun. It wasn't timed, so there wasn't any pressure to go fast. They chucked color chalk at you every K, which was fun. The cloud of chalk was so think running through the color stations, that it was hard to see and breathe. I have to say, it tasted AWFUL. But, even with the awful taste and large crowd, which didn't feel too bad (perhaps because I started up front with MaKell, or because there really weren't too many on lookers), I will definitely do it again. And next time, I'll register Melanie to do it with me.

Fun Kids

2012-01-26T12:13:00.000-08:00

I love being mom. There are times when it is really hard. Times when I think being an engineer would be much much easier. (For example, my co-workers may have whined, but I could usually shut the office door and it would go away... you can't always do that as mom and not feel guilty.) As an engineer, at the end of the day, people acknowledge my decisions as being intelligent. I am a smart person... But as mom, sometimes it doesn't feel that way.

But, as a mom, I get to experience things like these:

(Melanie and Noelle sporting their robes and shaking some booty)(Melanie and Noelle sharing a room for the first time)

(Noelle and Oliver snuggling in Noelle's bed following Noelle's nap time)

These are so many other fun experiences are way, at the end of all the craziness of our days, I LOVE being mom.

Stained Glass Hearts

2012-01-24T14:05:00.001-08:00

It's time to re-decorate again!. We started with heart garland over the front window, and fun hearts in the kitchen... but after taking down the Christmas decorations from the back windows, they were looking a little bare. We decided it was time to change things.

To make the stained glass, you need crayon shavings of whatever color you choose. I grated a red and pink crayon. I gave both girls a plain piece of white paper and allowed them to put the shavings on their paper however they would like. Then we laid a piece of wax paper on top of the paper/crayon. Then you set your iron to low. I put a towel under the paper so I could iron the paper at the table. I then put a small towel over the wax paper, just to be safe.

Because it was on low... I let the girls do the ironing.

After the wax is melted and cooled, you can pull away the wax paper. Then I let the girls paint over the entire paper with water colors. The water colors won't stick to the wax from the crayon, so it gives it a really fun look.

After everything was dry, I cut out hearts and let the girls hang them on the window.

When the light came through the hearts for the first time, the girls were so excited! I like them.

(Ignore the dirty window. I cleaned the inside of the window before taping the hearts on, but didn't clean the outside before taking the picture).

FHE: We Are Thankful

2012-01-24T13:28:00.001-08:00

Yesterday's Family Home Evening was on being Thankful. We read from the scriptures the story about the 10 Lepers that Jesus healed. In the story, found in Luke 17, verses 11-19, only 1 of the healed returned to thank Him. We talked about how important it is to say "thank you". Then we wrote down things that we are thankful for on paper. I helped Melanie and Brandon helped Noelle. Between the two girls, they came up with 77 things. We turn the papers into a thankful chain. It was fun (and pretty).

After the lesson, I caught Noelle planning the next FHE. (I taught the lesson while feeding a very hungry Oliver. Apparently Noelle thought it looked fun).

This is what Oliver was doing during the activity. :) I believe both girls listed him as something they were Thankful for. I would have to agree. I sure love this little man.

2 Months Old!

2012-01-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

Oliver has been part of our family for a full 2 months now! It's crazy how fast time just flies by! And it is also funny to think that 2 months ago he wasn't here, but now I can't imagine life without him in it. He is just such a wonderful little man.

Oliver is a generious smile giver. He prefers to be held, but can also "chill out" on the floor or in his bouncy seat. He is a cuddler. And sometimes he is even a giggler. He sleeps really good at night, only waking once to eat, and then goes right back to sleep. Overall, he is one really really good baby. I can't seem to get him to take a bottle yet, and he seems hungry every 2 hours (which is much more often than my girls) so I can't get away from him for long periods of time without him protesting... but with his smile, who'd want to?

I took him to the doctor on his 2 month birthday. He weight 12 pounds, 1 ounce (this is 50%), he was 24 inches tall (this is 90%) and his hat size was 15-1/2 inches (this is slightly less than 50%).

The following day he had several bloody diapers, so he went back to the doctor. The doctor on call tested the stool to ensure that the red was blood and not something else. Sure enough, it was. So... I am now diary free and soy free until I stop nursing or am told otherwise from the doctor. So... for about 10 months. If anyone has any good breakfast and lunch ideas for this diet, I'd love to hear them. This is really hard for me, because I'm not really a dieter. I'm a runner... and then I just eat whatever I want (within reason). And speaking of running, all my favorite high carb meals for my long runs have cheese... so I may need help there too. I have a marathon I'm training for and I'm currently out of ideas for the pre-race and post-race meals. Anyhow, let me hear them, I'd appreciate it! :)

FHE: Heavenly Father has a Body

2012-01-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Monday, and that means Family Home Evening. We learned that Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and bones, just like ours... and that he created us in his image.

We drew pictures of our selves and saw a picture of the first vision.
And then, because we were so thankful for our bodies, we made Snowmen bodies out of donuts, chocolate chips, pretzels, and reese peanut butter cups.

Melanie's:

Mommy's:

Daddy's:

Noelle ate hers up too fast to get on camera... but I'm sure there is a happy snowman in her tummy!

Someday they will laugh...

2012-01-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

Someday the girls will see these pictures and laugh, I'm sure of it. Last week the girls were playing "baby". They took turns being the baby in Oliver's carseat... and then they took turns "nursing" eachother. Can I just say how grateful I am that they don't actually KNOW how I nurse Oliver. I actually heard Melanie say "Noelle... you forgot to feed me. You have to put your hand on my mouth!"

Perhaps I should tell her... but, then again... this is just too funny. And innocent!

The Plane! The Plane!

2012-01-17T11:17:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was just a "plane" ole fun day. (okay, that was my sorry attempt at using the work "plane" as a pun... just smile). We first went to the Arizona Wings of CAF Museum next to the Falcon Field Airport. At the museum, we got to check out a variety of fun airplanes, tour a bomber, and see some airplane mechanics at work. It was a lot of fun!

We met up with friends Jennifer, Aidan, Trae, and Chloe for the aeronautical excitement.
Here is a picture of Noelle and Melanie right below the cockpit of the bomber. I didn't realize that the pilot sits up above and the nose of the plane is actually where gun men sit. That hand you see above Melanie's head belongs to one of the owners of the plane. He was working on something.

In the next picture, we are in the tail in of the plane. I've seen this type of things in movies... it was crazy to actually see it in "real life".

Beware! It's a Smithson with a weapon... and they seem to know how to use it!

Seriously! It was really neat!

This is a picture of the plane we were touring from the outside.

After we explored the entire museum, Jennifer took Melanie and Aidan back up into the bomber. The next two pictures are ones she took.

After the tour of the museum, we head over to what we affectionately refer to as the "airplane park". We had a picnic and then played until it was nap time. One of the airplanes we witnessed get ready to take off while we were at the museum flew over head while we were at the park. It was loud and fun! We had a lot of fun! Thank you Jennifer, Aidan, Trae and Chloe for joining us on this adventure!

Mad Science

2012-01-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Mad Scientist at the Smithson House decided to do a crazy experiment today. The experiment involved red cabbage juice. A little factual background: Red Cabbage is a natural pH indicator. It will change colors when it come into contact with acid or a base. Don't believe me... then check it out!

Above is one of my mad scientist waiting for the action. Below are 6 cups of red cabbage, also waiting for action. Here they are checking it out while we decide what to put into the cups first.

Naturally, we decided on vinegar and baking soda. We use them in all our other experiments, why not this one? We started with the vinegar. What happens when you pour a clear liquid into a purple one? It turns hot pink! of course!

Noelle says she wants one to turn blue. Well... add the baking soda to a fresh cup of the indicator juice, and guess what you get... Blue!

Now let's get creative... how about adding other things? Like soda?

Or laundry detergent?

We all got in on the action.

From left to right you have: Vinegar, Juice from a fresh orange, Sprite, Laundry Detergent, Baking Soda, and a cup of Red Cabbage Juice with nothing added. If you can tell, if the pH is acidic, the indicator will turn a shade of pink (the shade depends on the acidity). If it is basic, the indicator will turn blue/green (the shade depends on the pH). Cool, right?

Then we got really crazy and decided to see if we could get the pH back to neutral (or in Laman's terms, we wanted the solution to be purple again.) We added vinegar (an acid) to the basic solutions. Instant volcanic action! The detergent never returned to purple, but the baking soda did.

Then we added ant-acids to the acidic mixtures (starting with the vinegar)

Cool, right?

I did a similar experiment with my Grandma George when I was a little girl. I always remembered it. We didn't try to get the solutions purple again, but we did check out the color changes that occur with acids and bases. Anyhow, we had fun. If anyone wants to know how to make the red cabbage juice, just email me. :)

FHE: Tower of Babel

2012-01-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had a fun Family Home Evening. I taught a lesson on following Heavenly Father's commandments. It is important to do so to return to live with Him again. I told the story about the people building a tower to get to heaven, and how that was not choosing the right. The story was complete with mom drawing stick people and a tower on a large construction document. Then we discussed ways we can follow Heavenly Father's commandments. It was a good, short lesson.

Then, to have a little fun, we decided to build an edible "tower of Babel". Obviously, we didn't want to reach heaven, but it was fun to see how high we could "climb".
5 cake bricks later, the tower fell.

It may have come tumbling down, but it still tasted pretty good.

It was a lot of fun. I can't wait for next Monday.

Resolved....

2012-01-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

It's a whole new year, and a time to make new goals. So... here they are.. our 2012 resolutions (starting with some fun 2012 pictures that were taken at the Airplane Museum in Mesa)

Obviously, Oliver's Resolutions were written by mom, and he will accomplish them and so much more over this year... but I still wanted him to be involved.

Noelle will have a big year of learning and growing. Here are a few things we will be focusing on this year.

Melanie got a little fancy with decorating her resolutions...

My resolutions encompass goals I didn't do so well last year and some things I'd just like to do better at or accomplish this year.

And Brandon's goals... I'm not going to lie... I wrote the 3rd one for him. :)

It will be fun to see how we did when this year is over. Hopefully we have a good report.

Science Experiment: Volcanoes with a Twist

2012-01-04T10:49:00.001-08:00

Melanie and Noelle have both told me that their favorite thing to do with me is Science Experiments. Well, I love to do them too. I love to see them get all excited when something bubbles, or changes colors, or they learn something new. It is just too neat.

Well, here is a twist on the volcano experiment. It uses vinegar, food coloring, and baking soda. Melanie saw me get these things out and was instantly excited. Then she saw me start pouring the baking soda on a cookie sheet, and she became confused. I love catching her off guard. Here are some pictures from our experiment:

Add a little colored vinegar, and you get little volcanoes. It's pretty neat. The kid really liked adding the vinegar themselves. They got to pick the color and the location and then giggled quite a bit after they "applied" it.

And the aftermath... if you ask me, it looks like Yellowstone.

Happy Experimenting!

The Last Day...

2012-01-02T12:24:00.001-08:00

Another year has flown by. All I can say is "wow"! We have learned a lot, grown quite a bit, and added a special member to the family. Overall, 2011 was a good year. So, we had to celebrate. Or course, that meant party hats! Here are the handsome men in our family sporting their hats:

Apparently it was hard for both of them :)
Here are all the party animals. I can say that, because I didn't do a lot of partying Saturday night. I spent most of the time trying to calm down a screaming baby, who uncharacteristically continued to scream for quite some time (usually I can get him to sleep at night by 7:30/8:00 and he is out for the rest of the night... but not THAT night. He must have known something was going on.) So... alas, no party for mom.

But dad and the girls had a good time partying. They played games, finished puzzles, had yummy food, and lit off fireworks. They even got to stay up until 9 pm, which is really really late for them.

I eventually got Oliver to sleep around 9:30 or 10:00. By then, my head and back hurt so bad, that the second I sat on the couch I was out! I woke up at 2:00 am and went to my bed. sigh. Not the best way to start the year. But I guess you could say it can only get better, right?

We haven't finished writing all our resolutions for 2012, but I have reviewed our progress from the goals we made in 2011.

Noelle:

Learn her body parts - Done!

Learn animal sounds - Done!

Learn to talk - Done!

Learn her colors - still needs a little work

Melanie:

Say prayers at least twice a day - still needs a little work

Read scriptures daily - Done!

Spell her name - Done!

Ride her bike - Done!

Be a Good Friend - Done!

Listen Better - still needs a little work

Mom:

Run a marathon - Done!

Read the entire Book of Mormon - Done!

Try 1 new recipe a week - Done!

Attend Temple Monthly - About 1/2 done

Make Healthy Snacks - Done!

Dad: Well, frankly, mom wrote most of dad's resolutions, so he didn't complete... well, most of them. But I blame the fact that they are more or less resolutions I had written for him and not decided by himself. (He has truly accomplished a lot this year). So, this year I am having him pick his own resolutions. Actually, those are the ones that I'm waiting for before I post our 2012 goals.

I think overall, we did a great job. Bring on 2012! Happy New Years!

Joyous Noelle... Birthday

2011-12-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a very special day. Noelle turned 2!!! Grandma Traci and Papa Terry made the day extra special for her by throwing her a mini birthday party. There were party hats, balloons, and necklaces. It was really nice. I brought yummy cupcakes to go with it.

Here we are singing to the birthday girl.

She wasn't too sure about that candle, but eventually she blew it out.

And she LOVED the cupcake.

Happy 2nd Birthday Noelle! We love you so much!

Christmas

2011-12-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

The night before Christmas, the girls made Santa a special cookie. The recipe made exactly one Santa sized cookie. I let them make the cookie in the living room while watching a Christmas movie. Melanie kept thinking she heard Santa, so we also kept looking out the doors and windows to see if we could spy him. (just in case).

The girls also wrote letters for Santa. Melanie wrote hers all by herself (though I did spell the words out for her).

(I think she did a really good job) Early Christmas morning, Melanie got up and snuck out to the living room. I caught her checking out her stocking. I heard her get up and was waiting for her to come in excited and tell us it was Christmas. When this didn't happen, I figured I better check on her. It is a good thing I had. I told her she better wake up her dad and sister. Brandon (who was already wake) did a good job pretending to sleep so she could wake him. Here is a picture of them seeing the tree for the first time (or Melanie's second... but who is counting, right?)

Looks like Santa brought the girls bikes!

And toothbrushes in their stockings (along with other things). Have you ever seen two girls so excited about their toothbrushes? Noelle is actually hugging hers in the next picture.

The girls got quite a few books.

Dad got some clothes. This fun shirt is not only stylish, but ensures a back rub (it came complete with some cars for the girls to drive on his back with).

After church, the girls tried out their bikes in the back yard.

Then we headed to Grandpa and Grandma George's house to celebrate Christmas.

Finally we ended up at Grandma Traci and Papa Terry's house. This is where Brandon traded me in for a few plastic dolls to snuggle with. I'm not quite sure I understand this because I believe I'm softer. But, whatever. :)

Here is my mom (Grandma Traci) with my kiddos.

My Uncle Timmy, Aunt Connie, and Cousin Casey were at my mom's visiting from Texas. Here is a picture of me with my beautiful cousin, Casey. She is a Junior in high school.

And here I am with my Uncle and Aunt.

We have a very Merry Christmas! I hope everyone else did too!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas Eve...

2011-12-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

'Twas the night before Christmas Eve... and the Smithson family was having fun! It started with some pizza...

And then some giggling and goofing off while we cleaned the tables and got ourselves organized...

Finally, some service. The Smithson Family adopted 3 families for Christmas. I have adopted a child before (several times) but have never been involved in helping an entire family (let alone 3) for Christmas. It was truly a neat experience. Everyone was involved in some aspect. (Melanie and Noelle helped stuff stockings, Brandon helped supervise, and I helped organize the gifts into family piles (after I assisted my girls in the stuffing of stockings... and kept them for stealing all the candy canes) A side note. While at Grandma's house, I learned that Noelle really likes sticky notes... Really really really likes sticky notes. See what I mean: We had a great time at the Smithson Family Christmas Party. As a family, we have decided to make this a tradition, which I'm really excited about. It was fun, and truly brought the spirit of service. (And it got us our 6th Badge of Fun for our Family Fun Badges of Fun). Merry Christmas!

Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, we witnessed a production that was cute and clever all at the same time. Melanie's preschool teacher put the two classes together for a fun production. The kids were "camping" on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa, and they sang some good songs. Melanie's line was "Campin at Christmastime is so fun". Here she is:

She sang all the songs looking over and grinning with the biggest grin ever. It was too adorable.
After waiting and waiting... Santa finally came. Both the girls got to sit on his lap. Noelle wasn't too sure about this (this being the first time she has ever actually seen Santa and sat on his lap).

Both Noelle and Oliver were extremely well behaved during the show. Noelle was busy stringing beads onto a necklace (she did this laying on her tummy most of the show).

And Oliver was dreaming of sugar plums.

Melanie was a lucky lady and had Grandma Traci at the show...

Along with Grandma and Grandpa Smithson!

She has so many people that love and support her!

Good job Melanie!!!

Melanie's Birthday Interview

2011-12-18T07:53:00.000-08:00

Favorite Color: Pink

Favorite Movie: Sleeping Beauty

Favorite Book: Disney Story Book

Favorite Song: Ariel's Song

Favorite Animal: Giraffe

Favorite Thing to Play: Dolls

Favorite Thing to do with Daddy: Fishing

Favorite Thing to do with Mommy: Science Experiments

Favorite Thing to do with Noelle: Play Dress Up

Favorite Thing to do with Oliver: Lay with him

Favorite Thing to do with Grandma and Grandpa Smithson: Play with them

Favorite Thing to do with Grandma Traci: Show her my shows

Favorite Thing to do with Grandpa George: Tickle him

Favorite Book of Mormon Character: Nephi

Favorite Subject in School: Numbers

Favorite Food: Sausage

Favorite Snack: Fish

Best Friend: Noelle

What do you want to be when you grow up: Mom

What do you want to learn this year: How to sing

Four

2011-12-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Melanie! She is 4! I can't believe my little girls is already 4 years old. That is just crazy! For fun, Brandon and I surprised her with some birthday balloons (which are still up and are a huge hit with all three of our children.)
Melanie got to pick her favorite meal for dinner. She picked Breakfast! We made scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and toast. Melanie was in 7th heaven.

Then we had chocolate cream pie for dessert (mom didn't have the time or energy to make a cake. Plus, she rather play with the girls then spend all the limited free time in the kitchen).

Noelle was slightly jealous it wasn't her birthday. Don't worry Noelle, your day is coming. Funny Melanie quotes from her birthday day:

First thing in the morning: "Mom, am I 4 yet?"

To mom: "I'm 4 now... I'm almost old!"

To Noelle: "No, Noelle, it's my birthday. You are still 1. I am 4, but you are not 2 yet" (poor Noelle).

To da, via telephone: "Dad, aren't you going to sing me happy birthday? It is MY birthday, you know!"

To mom (about 5 minutes later): "I am the birthday girl, you need to sing me happy birthday"

To mom (about 5 minutes after that): "Mom, you still haven't sang me happy birthday" (FYI, I *had* in fact sang her happy birthday... several times... silly girl).

I will type up her 4 year old interview and post it later.

Happy Birthday My little Melanie. Mom and Dad love you so much. We are so proud of all the wonderful things you have accomplished this year. You make us smile and laugh, and you are such an important part of our family. Thank you for being wonderful.

Christmas Book and Craft

2011-12-13T12:17:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we did a little bit of reading/crafting fun. First we read this book: Then, because Fancy Nancy had a beautiful angel on top her tree (before she broke it, of course)... we decided to make some beautiful angels for our little trees. Here is Melanie's:
Noelle's:

And Mommy's:

Then we read this book:

In the book, Olivia cuts off the top of their Christmas tree to use as a table decoration for Christmas Eve Dinner. It cracked me up... so we had to make trees.

The great thing about these trees: you could stack them over and over again... as demonstrated below my Ms. Noelle:

Both books are great reads. I recommend them to anyone with kids. (Especially girls)

Mermaid Tails and Party Balloons

2011-12-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

December is here, and in our house, that means BIRTHDAYS! For Melanie and Noelle, that means mermaid birthday parties (because that is what they have been talking about since December of last year). Since I just had Mr. Oliver 3 weeks ago, I decided that I would give in and throw the birthday party, as long as it was low key and combined. But, of course, I was putting the girls to work.

Here they are making their own birthday cupcakes (mean mom, right?)

How mean can I be? I let them crack the eggs.
Then, once the cupcakes were made and sufficiently decorated (this was tricky because Melanie had magnificent ideas, and Mom had no energy or desire to fulfill such large requests, therefore compromises were in order), we headed to the Falcon Field Park to meet up with some friends and celebrate!
Melanie and Noelle are lucky little girls. They have so many friends that love them and that were able to come celebrate this happy day with them.

Eventually it was cupcake time. I think this picture says what words can not about how excited the girls were.

It was a little windy and we weren't able to light the candles. I'm sure we will try again ON their birthdays. In the meanwhile, they didn't mind. Their were mermaid tails on their cupcakes and that seemed to be the most important part anyhow. (And they were edible. Can't forget that part)

Yum! I didn't think about it until everyone was eating... but the blue frosting made everyone look like smurfs. :)

Love that face, Lacey!

Looking Good Noelle!

After cake, the kids washed up and played some more.

Then they opened gifts. The girls were spoiled with a lot of fun girlie things. They were (are) in seventh heaven.

I'll be honest, the opening of presents with two girls at the same time turned out to be extra chaotic and I didn't get to see who gave them what. I don't even know if they were able to thank everyone for what they got. (sigh). But I know that they love ALL of their gifts. THANK YOU for everyone that was able to come. I know they really appreciated having so many friends come and celebrate with them. They are still talking about their fun day. With the new baby, they haven't been out much, so it was that much MORE exciting and special to them.

Christmas Binoculars

2011-12-09T11:24:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I decided to do something silly. I decided to make some Christmas Binoculars for the girls. What would someone need Christmas Binoculars for? For looking at Christmas Lights, of course. And also, for scoping out Santa on the big night.

The girls enjoyed trying them out at the house...

Then they got all ready to try them out at night.

Yep, they definitely helped see the Christmas lights. And look how styling those girls are while they are light seeing.

It was a lot of fun. (And super cheap and easy considering they are made out of toilet paper rolls and Christmas paper scraps).

A bit of baby fun.

2011-12-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

People have asked... who does Oliver look like, Melanie or Noelle? I think he has Melanie's coloring but Noelle's features... but figured I'd post a comparison, just for fun.

Melanie at 3 weeks. Noelle at 6? weeks.
Oliver at 2 weeks. (I wish I had them all at the same age, but alas... I don't.)

Snowmen

2011-12-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. It's really cooled down lately! Melanie has been asking me if the leaves are going to fall off the trees and if it will snow because that is what is suppose to happen in the winter. I try to explain to her that we don't like in an area that has those signs of winter, but she knows that is what winter is... so I have decided to wait this one out and see what she learns. In the meanwhile, I also decided that... just because it doesn't snow here doesn't mean we can't build snowmen. And a bonus: ours won't melt if we take them inside.

Melanie was super excited to do a new type of craft... and that she could do it in her clothes instead of a "paint dress". I was super excited to do a craft with the girls that wasn't super messy, used different skills, and could help decorate our house. I love snowmen, and these ones are SUPER cute. :)

After playing with all that "snow", I'm thinking it may be time for some hot cocoa now. :)

And Such is Life...

2011-12-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Life lately has been... chaotic... but, isn't that just how life goes? So, here are a few random things that we have done lately.

On Saturday, Brandon took the girls with him to Home Depot to get some items that would help him hang the Christmas lights. Oliver and I were hanging out at home, and I was thinking "wow, it's taking them a long time. I hope they are behaving". Then they came home like this:

Apparently Home Depot was having a kids workshop (which was a free craft for them). I'm so happy they decided to check it out on their way out. The girls really haven't be able to go anywhere in the last 2 weeks, so this was nice break for them. And, they made some super cute snowmen napkin holders. A bonus, they also got Brandon covered in pink and orange paint.
Oliver has been a good little man for us, but there were a few late nights where he wasn't too happy. On Sunday, Brandon decided to hold him so I could take a nap... And apparently they decided to take one too. I couldn't resist a picture.

Ironically, Melanie and Oliver woke up at the same time. So they switched places and I got a cute picture of that too.

The girls enjoyed a fun movie on the ground after dinner. I swear they don't have their fingers in their noses... but it sure looks that way. ha ha!

Last night I came into the living room and saw this:

Moments like these make me smile.

I took Oliver for his 2 week check up yesterday. He is one very happy, very healthy man.

Weight: 9 pounds, 2 ounces

Height: 21.5 inches

Head: 14 inches.

The doctor told me we probably won't have to worry about the weight on this one after a growth like that. :) It's such a difference from the experience I had with Noelle.

Introducing... Twins!

2011-12-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Yep! I'm the proud grandmother of twin block children. Apparently Melanie and Noelle thought they had baby sisters in their tummies.... and when I turned the corner into Melanie's room yesterday, this is what I found:

I was told, by Melanie, that there were two babies in her tummy. I'm not quite sure how many where "in" Noelle's tummy. I never got to see them. All I know, is, according to Melanie, the baby in Noelle's tummy was black. The babies in Melanie's tummy turned out to be block babies, blue and green. The blue one was named "Alec", and the green one was named "Tommy".

Melanie even insisted on "feeding" them. Thank goodness this is all she sees when I feed Oliver. sigh!

Noelle made sure they stayed happy.

All in all, they were pretty good babies. I never heard them cry. :)

(Later that day, Melanie put on a "paint dress" and insisted it was her hospital dress. I guess my recent pregnancy and hospital visit really had an impact on her).

Low Key Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T09:35:00.000-08:00

This year's Thanksgiving was a low key, at home Thanksgiving... which, ironically, is starting to become a bit of a tradition (we did our own Thanksgiving last year too)! We started the celebration on Wednesday, making "I'm thankful shirts". I gave the girls both the camera and let them walk around the house and take pictures of things they are thankful for. We ended up with hundreds of pictures... so they had to narrow it down to 6 or 7. I'm happy to announce that every member of the family made it onto every one's shirt. This is a good sign that I'm doing something right, right?

Then we printed the pictures onto transfer paper and ironed them white shirts.

The shirts turned out really nice, but I have to admit, I had envisioned the transfer paper being a little easier to work with. I have used transfer paper to make gifts before and it wasn't as obnoxious as this time. Regardless, everyone was cute in their thankful shirts at dinner on Thursday.

In addition to the shirts, we all wore Indian Headdresses with fun names on them.

Dad was "Big Chief", Mom was "Little Mama", Melanie was "Red Feather", Noelle was "Stands with a Fist", and Oliver was "Silly Monkey".

We ate good food, which we made together as a family, and just had a lot of fun.

And our first family picture after bringing Oliver home.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Mommy's vs. Melanie's

2011-11-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

Ever since I have been home from the hospital, I have been fielding a TON of questions from my curious little red head. She mostly asks the same questions over and over... some about his belly button, some about the medicine I have to put on him when changing his diaper... but MOST are about mommy feeding the baby. I have been nursing Oliver, and thank goodness for the shield I have, I haven't had to explain certain things... but that doesn't keep her from being curious. She has asked where the bottle is... and what I feed him... and I have told her this:

Mommy feeds the baby with special mommy milk that she makes inside her body. She uses special mommy parts, but we don't show those parts off while we are feeding the baby.

So... this is the conversation we had last night:

Melanie: "I am going to feed Oliver ice cream, because I saw that he doesn't have teeth. You don't need teeth for ice cream"

Mommy: "Oliver's little tummy can only handle special milk".

Melanie: "It's okay mommy, I make the ice cream inside my body. It comes from my special Melanie parts."
Sorry Oliver... it sounds like you are missing a good deal. Mommy only makes milk... not ice cream.

Introducing...

2011-11-20T20:04:00.001-08:00

Oliver Bryce Smithson

Born November 19, 2011 at 1:17 am

8lbs, 4oz; 21.5" tall

He is already very loved by his family!

Here he is getting ready to come home from the hospital.

He has a very healthy set of lunges... and with his red hair, he is already quite feisty.

A proud Father/Son moment.

At home, he discovered he didn't just have 1 mommy, he has 3.

But no fear, Oliver, the one mommy will try to keep things under control (key word... try).

Thank you for joining our little family, Mr. Oliver. We all love you.

The Last Day... or Not?

2011-11-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

I thought that Wednesday was going to be the last day of "life as we knew it"... The last day of just 2 kids... a family of 4... and so we decided to have a special day. First, the girls and I met cousins Liz, Morgan, and Ethan at the zoo for a little wild fun.

I really like the picture of the 4 of the kiddos checking out Noelle's favorite animal, the Elephant! It was a lot of fun. I'd think pushing the girls and double stroller around the zoo would put me into labor, but not so. :) That's okay, we still had more things planned.

After dad got home from work, we went out for a fun "last dinner".

It was fun and funny. Just check out Melanie's cute eye wear.

And Noelle's :)

Then we headed home and had a "birthday party" for the baby brother. We made party hats and ate yummy chocolate pie.

Then we attempted to get one last family picture. (Melanie is currently in a phase where she insists on posing. Unfortunately, her favorite pose is with the tongue out).

A funny story about that night. The night before, I had a crazy dream that Brandon and I had had the baby, and were trying to name him. In my dream, Brandon insisted that we named the baby Computer, but with a 'K'... so Komputer. I told him about the dream in the morning. Well, Wednesday night, we were eating pie and celebrating baby brother's impending birthday... and I asked the girls what names they would name the baby. Melanie said "I don't know, I haven't met him yet.". Then I excused myself to use the facilities. When I came back... both girls had names for the baby. Melanie's name was "Printer"... Noelle's name was "Mouse". It was too funny. And for the record... we may not have a name for this little man, but it will NOT be Komputer! (I don't care how cool it looks with a "K").

Anyhow... alas... Wednesday was NOT our last day as a family of 4. It's Friday afternoon, and I'm currently 40 weeks pregnant, and still going. The last 2 days haven't been nearly as exciting as a "last day". Hopefully the girls remember the fun we had on Wednesday, as that was suppose to be a special all about them day before their brother joined the family.

Mesa's Veteran's Day Parade

2011-11-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

Today is Veteran's Day. Actually, I read this today, and really appreciated it.

"I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.

Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.

So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things."-Kurt Vonnegut

So, Happy Armistice Day. I actually don't think I'd throw Veterans' Day away... I just like the story of the minute of silence. I think that is very interesting and awe-inspiring.
Today, we ventured to downtown Mesa to enjoy the parade. This is a fun tradition that I enjoy keeping every year with my kids. I didn't get too many pictures because the majority of the parade I was holding Noelle up as high as I could while helping Melanie balance on the stroller. But I did get a few.

The parade began with this:

Isn't that a beautiful aircraft? While we were waiting for the parade to start, a fun clown walked up to Melanie. A nice man with a family next to ours offered to take this picture. Thank you very nice man!
We met up with Cousin Liz, Morgan, and Ethan at the parade. I had to get a picture of them, because, like me, Liz spent most of her time holding one in the air. But she is super woman, because she held Morgan up the entire time. I opt to hold Noelle the entire time. She needed more "boosting" to see, and weighs a good 16 pounds less than Ms. Morgan. Liz... you are amazing!
As a part of the parade, they honor all the Arizona Veteran's that have recently died in action. I was trying to explain this to Melanie, when I over heard another mother explain it to her son this way: "These are all the people we need to say thank you to". I liked that. And it is true.

While Morgan was watching the parade on her mom's shoulders, Ethan was exploring... I watched this happen in slow motion, and when I told him he was "busted", he grinned from ear to ear. So I had to get a picture for his mom.

The parade went about 15 minutes longer than my kid's attention spans (which, to tell you the truth, was pretty long, because they lasted about an hour and a half before getting bored). The next few pictures or of them walking around while the parade was still going on.

Okay, I'm loving this "posing" picture. Seriously, what is that face, Melanie?!? Love it!

And more posing in the next picture. Hilarious!

The last thing in the parade is always a fire truck. I was happy to get this picture of Melanie with the fire truck in the background.

It was a great parade. I appreciate that the City of Mesa puts it on every year so that I can feel a little more patriotic while explaining h0w special our country is to my children.

On a separate, humorous note: When we got back to the car, I threw both children in and told them to get in their seats while I put the stroller away. When I was done, I found that Noelle had decided she was driving! It definitely made me laugh.

Date with Mom and Grandma

2011-11-09T12:38:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, my mom treated Melanie and me to a special date. We got to go to the Hale Theater to see Beauty and the Beast! Melanie got all dressed up in her princess best. She was too cute.(Complete with princess hair, of course).
We picked up Grandma Traci and headed to the theater.
The play was a lot of fun. It wasn't the Beauty and the Beast that you think of when you think Disney, but the story was similar. In the play, Beauty had 2 sisters. This confused Melanie, who kept asking me if those were really Beauty's sisters. The Beast was pretty scary looking to me. The Beast had two "friends" that came out of pictures "hanging" on the walls. They were pretty entertaining. I think we all enjoyed ourselves.

After the show, we met Beauty and Beast. I wasn't too impressed by the line, considering we stood in the "front" of the line for about 15 minutes, within reaching distance of Beauty, and yet people kept coming in front of Melanie from the side to talk to Beauty and Beast and get their autographs. I finally just stopped everyone and put Melanie on their laps for a picture. Perhaps that was cranky of me... but it was really hard to explain to Melanie that she had to wait when she was truly in the front of the line. *sigh*. I think the actress that played Beauty wasn't helping anything because she just kept talking to all the kids (which is sweet, but was encouraging the problem instead of the solution).

After the show, we went out to lunch. It was cold outside, but with the heaters, we were able to enjoy the outdoors and be comfortable.

Thank you Grandma Traci for such a fun date. Melanie and I both had a ton of fun. Melanie is still talking about it. We love you!

Ms. Melanie.

2011-11-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

Melanie has been cracking me up lately. She is definitely full of personality and imagination. Lately, she has been really into beauty, princesses, and all things fancy. After Halloween, she has worn her crown daily. Sometimes with her Fancy Nancy costume... sometimes with other outfits.

Yesterday, she came into the living room holding her crown and a pink dress and asked "Does this dress match my crown?" This was very important to her.

We painted with watercolors a few days ago. I left the room to get some other paints and paper out, and when I came back, Melanie was all glamored up. She had painted her nails...
And her face.

Pucker up!

The irony to this is that I do not wear makeup. Where she gets this fascination is beyond me... but she is definitely into makeup. She likes to pretend to put it on all the time. But this would be the first time I left the room and came back to her painting her lips. :)

This afternoon, I went into Melanie's room to get her up from her nap, and I found her rocking horse... dressed up like a princess. I laughed so hard, I nearly forgot to get a picture. I'm glad I didn't.

Melanie's Favorites:

Color: Red!

Activity: playing dress up, and making up shows!

Question: Why!

Melanie Says:

Melanie has been asking a lot of questions lately about the baby. I think my favorite was this morning. She asked me where the baby brother was. I said "you know". And she says "He's in your tummy... did you eat him?" Silly Girl! She also asked me this morning if mommies can still jump when they have a baby in their tummy. I showed her it was still possible with a small bounce.

Melanie: "I'm taking care of my baby" (she points to Noelle who smiles up at me from a laundry basket) "She came out of my tummy, and now she is my baby". Noelle: "Wahh!"

Melanie: "Mom, when you were little... a really really little baby, you were in my tummy and I was the mommy" Pause. "And then you cried a lot because you were cold".

Melanie: "Noelle is a nice sister! Heavenly Father made her because we want nice sisters".

Me: "Melanie, what's the matter?" Melanie: "I want to wear shoes, but I don't have any that match this dress" (as she wears a purple dress up dress) Me: "Why don't you put on your white sparkling shoes". Melanie: "No, mom, they don't match, my dress is purple. I need purple shoes". It's rough being a princess.

I love my little Princess Melanie.

Noelle

2011-11-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Boy I have been behind with life lately. I have so many things we have done that I haven't blogged about. So... I decided maybe, instead of events, I'd just blog about my kiddos.

Noelle has been cracking me up lately. We have a few hours a few times a week that are all about Noelle and Mommy. Sometimes we go do our grocery shopping (Noelle sits in the car basket and drives me around the store while I get the groceries). Sometimes we play in the back yard. This is Noelle's favorite activity (besides painting).

The messier she gets, the bigger the smile on her face.

We went to the park last week. Noelle has always been afraid of the slide. She has always had to have me or dad go down the slide with her. Well, I was at the park, talking with Liz (a cousin who met me at the park), and I look over, and there was Noelle... going down the slide... all by herself! NO FEAR! I am so proud of her. After that, she was up the stairs and down the slide over and over again.

It's amazing how she just decided to face that fear and go for it!
Even the straight "throw you to your death" slide.

Noelle has her own sense of style. I haven't quite figured it out yet... but it definitely fits her personality. She has literally worn her pinkalicious dress every day since Halloween, but now she gets creative with what she wears it with.

I think this ensemble is my favorite. I call it my gnome-alicious. She is wearing the pants and boots that make me think of her as my garden gnome (just missing the hat), and then a "catholic school girl" skirt, and her pinkalicious dress over it... topped off with her wings and crown. I'm in love!

Noelle's favorites:

Color: Red!

Word: Mine!

Phrase: My Turn!

Activity: Painting!

Animal: Elephant!

Noelle says:

After Noelle is done eating, I always have her put her hands up in the air and say "I love you mommy". Then I take her down and wash her. But lately, instead, she has been saying "I love you, Daddy!" and then giggle... She thinks she is so funny.

Ever since carving the pumpkins on Sunday, Noelle has been walking around saying "Daddy cut cut cut pumpkin patch. and Noelle cry... wahhh!!!".

Noelle is a chatter bug and loves to be in the center of attention. When we had the missionaries over, she was the one that had to say the prayer... and she talked to them non-stop (though I'm not sure they understood her). Noelle now participates in family scripture study by repeating a verse back. She gets really excited about this. She likes to do everything by herself, if possible. Noelle is very independent.

I just love Ms. Noelle.

Letters to and from the Great Pumpkin

2011-11-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Letters To The Great Pumpkin:

Dear Great Pumpkin,

Happy Halloween! I have been good and silly. I play dress up with Melanie. I ride on my mommy's back. I sing for daddy.

I left you yummy candy. Please leave me a fun present.

Thank you,
Noelle.

Dear Great Pumpkin,

Happy Halloween! I have been a good girl. I always play and share with my sister. I went fishing with my daddy. I colored my mommy a picture.

Please bring me a good present.

Thank you,
Melanie

Letters From The Great Pumpkin:

Dear Pinkalicious Noelle,

Thank you for leaving all of my favorite candies for me. You must know what I like. You are the silliest little girl that I have ever seen. Remember to play nice with your big sister, Melanie. I left you a new movie with lots of new songs for you to sing. I hope that you enjoy it.

Thank you!
The Great Pumpkin

P.S. Remember to tickle your mommy.

Dear Fancy Nancy Melanie,

Thank you so very much for the candy that you left for me. They are all of my favorite ones. You are such a good big sister to Noelle. Keep being a good listener for your mommy and daddy and make good decisions. I hope you like the movie that I left you.

Thank you,
The Great Pumpkin

P.S. I really liked your pumpkin that you carved.

Halloween and Stuff

2011-11-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

The days leading up to Halloween were super fun and eventful.

Thursday, October 27th, the library had a fun craft and then a fun Halloween parade. All the kids got to dress up and "trick or treat" through the library. My girls had been looking forward to it for quite some time (every Thursday for a month it was announced, so Melanie was well aware). We met up with some library regulars and made friends. One of the little girls was costume-ess, so Noelle donated her wings for the day. Arie ended up making a beautiful fairy!

The library didn't give out candy or toys, but all crafts (which I really appreciated).

Friday, Melanie dressed up as a princess for pre-school. She had a preschool Halloween party and came home with lots of fun treats (which she was nice enough to share with her little sister.) After our naps, we decided to have a mini party at home, and made all the crafts we got from the library the day before. It was extra fun!
They made dancing mummies, which I hung from the fans... so they really DID dance. And they made moons with bats flying across them. The moons where a fun addition to the bats that were flying through our living room and kitchen. We were lucky to have two moons... one in the living... one in the kitchen. When Brandon got home, we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out some good pumpkins. It's a family tradition to do this together... of course, I forgot to get pictures. Go figure.
On Saturday we did a bunch of fun Halloween activities at the house while daddy was at a training meeting. The girls "carved" jack-o-lanterns (I made felt pumpkins and faces so they could make as many combinations as they wanted).

Then we made skeletons and ghosts... spooky fun!

Saturday night, we went to the church building and crashed a neighboring ward's trunk or treat (as our ward does not have trunk or treats). The girls had a lot of fun getting candy, though we need to work on "volume". They didn't ask anyone loud enough to actually hear them... Their "thank yous" where a little better.

On Sunday, after church, we played in the back yard. I love this picture of Noelle. I call her my garden gnome.

And Melanie, or rather, sleeping beauty, apparently slept in this dress... crown... and dress up shoes. Silly girl.

After everyone was wide awake from their naps, we decided to carve pumpkins. Noelle and Melanie were both very excited... until daddy cut the top of the pumpkin off... then Noelle looked like this:

And started screaming "pumpkin patch!!!" She did not like daddy hurting the pumpkin.

She didn't mind the gutting the pumpkin as much... though Melanie was a little grossed out by that.

Daddy cut a face... Noelle still screamed. (It was really hard not to laugh)

Eventually, she got brave and started playing with the guts.

When we carved the face on the second pumpkin, she didn't flinch... then daddy went to cut the top off (yes, he did that in reverse) and she started screaming "Pumpkin patch" again. So, he didn't get his top cut, or gutted. we cut a hole in the back while she slept to insert the flash light.

On Monday we dressed up in the morning and went to Grandma Traci's office to trick or treat and show off our costumes. My mom spoiled the girls by making sure everyone in the office had a piece of candy to give the girls. After showing off the adorable costumes (which, of course, I didn't take pictures of), we went to lunch with Grandma.

Noelle was quite attached to her candy bucket... it took a little convincing to get her to let go so we could have our lunch.

They played in costume all day. Then we went trick or treating... we hit 4 houses, and then went to Grandma and Grandpa Smithson's house.

Grandpa spoiled the girls with candy, and Grandma spoiled them with cookies. Melanie helped pass out candy.
And... yes, I forgot to take pictures... eventually, I had Brandon take a picture of my "costume". Enjoy:

We left all the candy out, and the Great Pumpkin traded it for a two fun movies: Mulan and Tarzan! Thank you Great Pumpkin (I will have to type up the letters the girls wrote to the Great Pumpkin and the letters we wrote back.) Happy Halloween!

Fizzy Sidewalk Paint

2011-10-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

This fun activity was an art project and science experiment in one. Check out the instructions here. I changed the recipe slightly to make less paint... in more colors. So, I did 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 Tblspn cornstarch, and 1/4 cup of water. I was guessing that was about 1/4th the original recipe. Then I added food coloring and paint, swept a spot off on the porch, and told the girls to get their paint shirts on. They was excited! (And to be honest, so was I!)

We had fun painting on the porch. Everyone (including daddy, who had stayed home from work sick and finally well enough to get out of bed) got involved.

Then we had to let the paint dry. This was perfect Popsicle time (especially because it was 100 degrees out there).

Then it was time for some fun... well, more fun, because really, painting the sidewalk was pretty fun. We sprayed vinegar on the dry paint and watched as it sizzled and fizzed. What a fun reaction. It's not the same effect as the volcano (which is the same reaction, just demonstrated differently), but it was still fun.

And the best part was that everyone got a chance at spraying.

Fun experiment! Fun times!

Pregnant Mama

2011-10-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Ms. Lybi, took some pictures of me nice and pregnant a few weeks ago. I just got them yesterday and thought I'd share them because she was mucho talented. I have to admit, having pictures taken of me... and me alone, is really weird. I feel awkward standing out there all by myself. But, this was a lot of fun. I think it's because Lybi is just so cool and we had fun chatting and joking.

So, Melanie askes me today: "Mom, where is my baby brother?" I tell her "He is still in my tummy, silly". And she responds "Well, I want him out!" Too Cute!

Every time we drive pass the Banner Gateway hospital, Melanie informs me that is where her baby brother will be born. And then she asks me what his name is...

Brandon says this one is his favorite.

I think this one may be mine. Look how cool and relaxed I am... not something you see everyday... ha ha!

After the pictures, I decided to put on my super woman cape and try the impossible. See, Lybi had some how got her car stuck on some rebar that was poking through the curb. She tried to back out, but it was just not happening for her. So, in crazy woman fashion, I tried to push her car off the rebar (while she was trying to reverse). It didn't work... but it sure makes for a good story. (Lybi, the slave driver). I'm joking, she is most definitely NOT a slave driver. Thank you Ms. Lybi, for the beautiful pictures (some not posted). I love them.

Halloween Preview

2011-10-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a little Halloween Preview. Last Saturday, I took the girls, in costume, to have their pictures taken by Ms. Ashley Nicoll (who is just amazing). She was doing a halloween mini photo session deal that was too good to pass up.

Here is Melanie getting ready:

She fell in love with her "poofy" hair... can you blame her?
Noelle got a little bit of makeup to go with her "pretties".

Here's a picture I took of them while they were waiting for their turn.

This is another one I took. It's Noelle the cutest little Pinkalicious ever?

And here are the "real things". Ashley is just amazing. Seriously. And I had to pick 5. It was so incredibly hard. All the pictures were amazing.

I love this next one, of my little Fancy Nancy reading a Fancy Nancy book.

Noelle was really into her Pinkalicious book.

I actually had to hold the book over Ashley's head to get her to look at the camera... but with this picture, it was worth it!

It was a fun Halloween preview. Melanie and Noelle are even more excited about their costumes now. Can't wait to put them on them again!

Happy Halloween!

Pinkalicious

2011-10-15T19:27:00.001-07:00

Today we did a little Pinkalicious reenactment. First, we read the book... great book, by the way. We LOVE pinkalicious. As we were reading the book, Noelle pretended to eat all the pink cupcakes off the pages. She was so funny. Her excitement over the cupcakes led us to making some of our own. They had to be pink... and we had to decorate them with pink frosting and pink things. (They got to decorate their own.)

Then... something happened. Everyone turned PINK!

Oh No!!! We tried to wash it off... but it just didn't work.

Eating our greens seemed to do the trick!

Well, in reality... we ate the greens first, to PREVENT us from turning pink... and it seemed to work... but it was funny to think of what could have been.

Mother Nature Farms

2011-10-15T12:35:00.001-07:00

It's a tradition I just can't pass up... Mother Nature Farms! This is the 3rd year in a row that I have gone with my girls (the first year Noelle came in tummy) and I just love this little tradition. It makes fall feel like fall... even if it is over 100 degrees outside. This particular trip was extra fun because we met some friends at the farm. Jennifer, Aidan, Trae and Chloe were able to make it to our side of town and join us for this fun adventure.
When we got there, we let the kiddos bounce off a little of their extra energy. They really enjoyed the bounce house (though I suspect that Noelle's favorite part was going in and out of the door).

Then we checked out the farm animals. Mother Nature Farms lets you feed their goats, sheep, and (every one's favorite) cow. The kids had a lot of fun feeding these animals. Noelle was little hesitant at first and I had to show her how it was done...

But in no time, she was completely fearless and feeding those animals like a pro. This was an interesting twist because she is usually a little more fearful of animals. Perhaps it was the fence that made her more comfortable. This is a good shot of all 5 of the kids feeding the animals (well... good being that they are all in it. There is no chance I was going to get them to all turn and smile at me.)Noelle liked showing Chloe the ropes. At some point, Melanie decided it was all too much for her, and she needed to lay down. (I think she is going throw a growth spurt or something because she has been laying around like this quite a bit lately.) Thanks, Ms. Jen, for bringing a wagon to let her lay in. :)

Here is a fun shot of the 4 "big kids" in the wagon. If I thought it through, I'd get Noelle in that picture too, but alas... I did not. But she was still cute "rockin'" her own ride.

All five animals, I mean children. Next, we decorated pumpkins. Noelle and Chloe enjoyed picking out pumpkins. They would pick them out, put them on the table, and run back to do it again... and again... and again... It made me laugh.

I finally caught them and convinced them to decorate the pumpkins the had first picked out.
It was a good team building exercise. :)
The pumpkins turned out great! Melanie's was definitely a princess pumpkin with that crown on top.
Trae was probably the most excited about his upon completion (and can you blame him?) Nice pumpkin, Aidan!

Noelle liked showing hers off too.
Then it was time for a maze. The boys ran ahead... leaving Noelle to be the girls fearless leader.
But... eventually Noelle lead us into a bit of a pickle (It's okay Noelle... you aren't quite tall enough to see all the options.) Finally, we found our way out!

Then it was lunch and off to the pumpkin patch for some fall pictures. (We didn't pick out any pumpkins because we have another tradition to pick out the pumpkins as a family. We will do this once it is a little closer to Halloween). I love pictures with pumpkins in them though. It gives off the illusion that it is nice and cool outside (when the reality is... it was really 100 degrees that day and I was a mean mom for putting everyone in pants. I was thinking "protect the legs from itchy straw" and not "it's too out, lets not over heat our kids". Next time, perhaps I'll pick shorts and bring towels to sit on? or maybe just pick a cooler day?) And my favorite... the pictures against the measuring pumpkin. I can't believe how big both my girls have grown in the last year. Can it slow down? Happy Fall!

Christopher Columbus Day

2011-10-10T20:38:00.001-07:00

It's Columbus Day, and also the first day of "Fall Break". When I was a kid, there was no such thing as "Fall Break", and we celebrated Columbus Day at school with a lot of fun activities (mostly in General Music). So, I decided we needed to have a fun "exploring" day to celebrate at home. To start, we had to make telescopes. (All explores have to have telescopes). I let the girls pick the color, and apparently they both have the same favorite color... RED!

Noelle got anxious and tried her telescope out early.

After they dried, we decorated them with stickers (not standard operation for explorers, but

definitely added to the fun factor).

Then it was time to go exploring. Since we have already determined that the world was round (thanks to Christopher Columbus)... and the Americas were already discovered (thanks to Christopher Columbus)... we decided to explore the back yard and look for treasure. (This took a little prep work)

Did you know that it is important for explores to where hats and boots? I didn't until today. Thank goodness I have smart girls to set me straight. Here they are, all ready to explore.

Marching around the Samurai...

Over the bridge and down the slide...

Through the tire...

And the tunnels...

And over in the "bear cave"... they found the treasure!

Time to see what's inside...

Snacks! Which are fun to enjoy outside in the beautiful weather.

Especially with an exploring buddy.

As a family, after dinner, we had some more Christopher Columbus fun. Since he traveled here by sea, I decided to make some ice boats and have boat races. It turned into "bumper boats", but was just as fun.

Then we had another treasure hunt, this time with Daddy (who, in my opinion, resembles Gilligan in his very important, necessary, exploration hat). They had their telescopes ready, hats on, boots on... and treasure map in hand. Time to find something good!

Do you see anything, Brandon?

The map took them all over the house, and into almost every room.

Even over mom and dad's bed!

Eventually it took them into Noelle's room... and it was so close.

oh Look!!! Treasure!!!

And what a yummy treasure it was!

In between all these adventures, I told Melanie a little about Christopher Columbus's adventure. She loved hearing the story and had me repeat it several times. I hope the day was memorable for both my girls.

Happy Christopher Columbus Day!

Badges of Fun: Badge 4, Family Fun Night

2011-10-08T08:05:00.001-07:00

Friday Night we got our 4th Badge of Fun! We had a family fun night that was definitely one for the books. First we had dinner, then we made some "spooky cookies" (Brandon bought some special cookie dough that had pictures in them. I had never seen them before, so it was different for us). I love this first picture because you can tell how excited Noelle was.... so excited her little foot made it onto the table.
While the cookies were baking, we started a family art project. Each member of the family got a picture to decorate and a lot of different decorating supplies (markers, google eyes, yarn, stickers, paper, etc.)

And here they are! Mom decorated a picture of Melanie and Noelle that turned out extra silly.

Melanie's self portrait was spooky. Just look at those eyes!

Noelle was proud of her family picture... we are a family of red monsters!

And... well, dad, all I can say about this one is "wow!"

After the art project, we ate cookies and played games. Then it was off to bed. Fun night for sure!

Flowers

2011-10-07T12:46:00.001-07:00

I was going through my pictures to print some out for a family activity tonight, and found these pictures, taken on Saturday. They were so cute, I couldn't believe I missed them before.

Saturday was General Conference... but between sessions, it was a family gardening day. This time, we planted flowers (something we haven't done in quite some time). The girls were so excited, and such great helpers.

It's nice to have something pretty growing in our backyard again (though I am sad that we had to get rid of a few of my favorite plants... but they were getting old and starting to die, so I understand).
I love this picture of Melanie and Noelle working as a team to water the flowers.

Eventually, daddy started watering the daughters.

It was definitely fun. In case you are wondering, I did help with this project... there is just a lack of proof. Actually, sometimes I think there is a lack of proof of my existence because there just isn't any pictures of me at any of these activities... I'm working on my husband with this. We'll see. :)

A Little Change...

2011-10-06T12:36:00.001-07:00

We've had a little change around here... Beautiful weather! And it's definitely a welcome change. I love when it finally cools down and we can go outside to play! The Smithson clan definitely knows how to have fun outside, so we have taken full advantage of it.

Yesterday we met cousins Liz, Morgan, and Ethan at the park. (Can you believe that? The park!!! We haven't been able to play at a park since Early May without burning ourselves. Can you tell I'm excited!?!) The park was beautiful... and ironically, very empty. I don't know why the whole world wasn't enjoying the park.

Noelle was in heaven exploring the park. I love the Falcon Field Park (aka the "airplane park") because it's away from the main road and any traffic, so the kids really can explore.
Melanie and Morgan enjoyed being the "big kids on the play ground" and doing all sorts of big kid things.

It was just the ideal park day. Perfect!

If yesterday wasn't perfect enough, this morning is was... RAINING!!! After breakfast, my girls put on some warmer clothing and headed out back! (Noelle doesn't have any long sleeve shirts or a jacket, so I put one of Melanie's long sleeved shirts on over her shirt to act as a jacket. I think it worked).

It didn't rain for long, but it was still perfectly wet enough for all Melanie and Noelle's playing needs.

I love this. Melanie was trying to make foot prints from the water puddles. She was so busy looking at the camera, she ended up walking into a chair (but no worries, she wasn't hurt). We had a good laugh.

Artistic Noelle was enjoying some water painting fun on daddy's gate.

And some sidewalk chalk art.

Noelle and Melanie together were torturing the poor garden gnome. He WAS clean, prior to the torturing... Melanie insisted that he needed a mud bath.

Eventually we decided it was a good time for an art project, but it was beautiful outback that we couldn't pull ourselves away. So we brought the craft outback.

Now there are monsters (and ironically, princesses) in our closets. Melanie is really looking forward to scaring daddy when he goes to get dressed for church on Sunday. She says he will say "AAH!!! there's a monster in my closet". But, since there is only princesses in her closet, she will say "oh, look, a Beautiful princess in my closet".

Unfortunately for Noelle, a monster did, however, sneak into her closet.

Look out dad!

But don't worry... there is a beautiful princess in dad's closet too.

It's so beautiful outside, I think I'm in love. I hope everyone else is enjoying the weather as much as we are.

Random bits of Pleasure

2011-10-05T10:38:00.001-07:00

I love just the little things that make our family so much fun. I found these random pictures in the things I recently uploaded and wanted to share them. This is a picture of Noelle getting ready for bed. Apparently putting on her pajamas, she thought she also needed to put on a tutu and a purse. :) So silly.

On Sunday, during conference, I wanted to try out rag curls in their hair. They looked so stinkin' cute with the rags tied in their hair, I couldn't resist a picture. (or two... or three).
It worked much better in Melanie's hair than Noelle's. But I still loved seeing Noelle with the rags in her hair. That was adorable.

The following pictures are a little harder to see, and take a little back ground story. My dad (Rodney) is a truck driver. He recently purchased a new truck that is (no joke) fuscha with a sparkling metallic finish. My dad was telling us at a family breakfast on Sunday that it's "Disney Pink". Brandon is my dad's mechanic and was asked to work on dad's truck Monday night. Well, we got the funny idea to "improve" the truck. Sunday night, I used my cricut to cut out "Princess Rodney" and "cupcake" out of black and pink vinyl. Monday night, Brandon added these to the truck (and took the following pictures).

Dad didn't notice this... which makes it funnier (he was actually there after Brandon did it on Monday, seriously had no clue). But when he showed up to the yard on Tuesday to get his truck... all the other men there were calling him "princess" and "cupcake". He said "yes, I know it's pink, get over it"... until he looked at the truck and saw it... I immediately received a phone call from him. He said something about not being able to carry his "man card" around the yard. I have to say, I thought it was pretty funny. :)

Night with the Stars

2011-10-01T17:50:00.001-07:00

Why does this girl look so happy you ask? Well, she is waiting for the special night at the Arizona Museum of Natural History (called "Night with the Stars") to start. But that isn't what has her giggling like a little school girl...
It's her daddy! He looks like a regular Hannah Montana, but really, he was more of an inspirational speaker. Saying things like "Noelle.... I'm going to tickle you". We got to the museum a little early, so daddy entertained us. Eventually the museum opened and we were able to tour the new Hubble exhibit at the museum and enjoy many different activities they had going on.
In the following picture, Melanie and Noelle are using play dough to make the 9 planets (because they were still considering Plato a planet) and compare the different sizes. It was definitely a fun activity.
At the Exploration Station we got to make solar systems using scratch paper, color solar systems and assemble a puzzle.

Eventually we made it to the new exhibit. It was really neat. There are a lot of amazing space pictures, just beautiful. ASU students were there to answer questions and help people learn more about space.

After checking out the new exhibit, we went to the top level of the next door parking structure to look at the moon and stars through some special telescopes. The moon was quite impressive. The stars... well, I was underwhelmed. The guy was so excited to tell me all about the star I was about to see... but looking through the scope, all I saw was a tiny dot.

At any rate, it was a really fun night at the museum. A side story... Brandon jokingly told Melanie that he was going to feed her to the dinosaurs when the sun goes down, because that's when everything comes to life. She worried about that literally the rest of the night (even after I told and re-told her that it was just a joke and that the dinosaurs wouldn't be coming to life.) oops!

Also... on the way home from the museum my husband got himself in a little trouble... I share this jokingly. He actually started a sentence with "The strangest people, besides engineers, are..." Now, it doesn't really matter WHAT he finished the sentence with. He could have said "carnies" for all it mattered... it's the "besides engineers" that got his goose cooked. It's a good thing I love that boy! :)

Family Fun

2011-09-29T20:18:00.001-07:00

I love having my (free) subscription to the Family Fun Magazine. There are so many fun ideas in those magazines. We got our new magazine a few days ago and together, the girls and I, went through the entire thing and "dog-eared" the crafts or activities we wanted to try (which was pretty much the entire magazine, minus the ads).
Well, this morning we were eating breakfast and Melanie was complaining because she wanted it to be Spring. Spring is her favorite season because everything is blooming and there are flowers everywhere (including in our tree). I told her that fall was my favorite season because we spend all summer waiting for the weather to cool down, and fall is when that happens. It's so nice to finally open the doors and windows, and to play outside. She still insisted that spring was better because of the flowers. So I told her that here in Arizona we could plant flowers in the fall too. Well, that started something. She wanted to plant... and she wanted to plant NOW! She literally followed me around the house this morning with her broken watering can insisting that we go to the store and get flowers right now... and that I fix her watering can... and pretty much didn't understand that I'd prefer to wait until we had daddy to help us.

Then I remembered there was a planting idea in the Family Fun magazine. A "Terrific Terrarium". This is a fun idea where you get pretty much plant an "Eco system" in a container. the kids can even put little toys, rocks, and/or moss in it to make it extra special. So, I show her the picture and ask if she wanted to make an indoor garden. Of course she did. And Of course we couldn't do all this until after we went to the store. We had to hit up 3 stores, Micheal's (for the container and creature), Petsmart for the gravel and activated carbon, and Home depot for the soil and plant. Luckily, I literally live right next to a shopping center that contains all three, right next to each other. We got everything but the plant first, and then headed to Home depot. The very nice employee tried to help me find a plant small enough, but there was literally nothing. So I showed him the magazine (yes, I brought it with me) and we discussed seeds. That's the route we finally decided on.

We got home and put the whole thing together.

Noelle is not pictured, but she helped put the soil in the terrarium as well!
So, right now, the giraffe is all alone, but eventually there will a something growing in there with him. (hopefully!)

Sigh. That made Melanie much happier. But, then she started playing princesses and I remembered this fun crown from Tangled that was in the magazine. So... Here you go.
Do you sense Noelle attitude in this picture? Wow! And people think only red heads are feisty.

Eventually I got a more pleasant face from her. :)

I can't wait to try out the other activities we have picked out.

Teddy Bear of the Week: All About Melanie

2011-09-26T14:59:00.001-07:00

Melanie is "Teddy Bear of the Week" at school this week. She got to make a poster all about her which she will take tomorrow, and on Friday she will get to share her favorite snack (she is still debating between chocolate chip cookies or "delectable cupcakes".) We just finished her posted and I think she did a WONDERFUL job (with a little assistance from her mom). Here it is:

You can tell she was very excited about it. (And after I took this picture, she asks "Can we play with it now?" Umm... ha ha.... no! I put it in a safe place until class tomorrow).

In coming up with the ideas for the poster, I asked Melanie a bunch of "favorite" questions. We couldn't fit everything on the poster, but I still want to share her favorites:

Favorite Color: Red (she says it's because her hair is red. She modified this while making the poster to be "red and pink")

Favorite Food: Tator Tot Casserole

Favorite Ice cream: Chocolate

Favorite Movie: Tarzan (This one still confuses Brandon and me, since we don't actually own Tarzan... but she HAS been asking the Great Pumpkin to bring her the movie for Halloween).

Favorite Song: Ariel's song in Little Mermaid

Favorite Family Activity: Playing Games

Favorite Thing to do with Dad: Catching Fish

Favorite Thing to do with Mom: Science Experiments and Listening to Music

Favorite Thing to do with Noelle: Play Dress Up

Favorite Princess: Cinderella

Favorite Books: The Little Mermaid (also caught me off guard. We borrowed this book from the library, and to be honest, the ending was disturbing. It's not the Disney Version)

Favorite Season: Spring (she is literally counting down for Spring again).

Favorite Holiday: Easter

Favorite Letter: M

Favorite Letter: 3

Favorite Animal: Elephant (I had a great idea of how to put this on the poster, making an elephant out of her hand print, but I didn't have room. We'll have to do that art project later).

Loves to Play with her Sister!

Loves to do Science Experiments

Favorite Experiment: Making a Volcano.

Welcome to the Circus!

2011-09-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

I am so spoiled. My sister in law, Amilee, threw me a beautiful baby shower this morning. I am seriously so lucky and so grateful. It was so much fun. She picked "Welcome to the Circus" for the theme, and it was very clever. All the Smithson's are so talented (and clever) when it comes to planning and decorating for parties. I'm hoping that it will rub off on me someday (well, it's almost been 8 years since I joined the family, and so far, I haven't gotten any better). On each of the tables, she had little gum ball machines, some animal crackers, and a fun cup full of little mustaches. It was super cute, and a huge hit with the kids (which you can see from these pictures)

Check out these cute decorations. It's that awesome? I love it! There is also a popcorn machine next to the table that I didn't get a picture of.

Everything was just perfect.

And I am so blessed to have so many friends and family that were able to come.

I have to admit, it was really fun to open all the boy stuff. There are a lot of really cute boy clothes out there... and my friends and family have great taste! I am so excited to finally have a collection started (as I haven't bought anything yet myself). Here are a few pictures of me opening my gifts.

This bib is hilarious. Susan said she had to get me it because I'm an engineer... It is literally called the "nerd" bib. hmm... I wonder what she is implying.

These booties are a special gift to Baby Smithson from Grandma Great, and they mean a lot. All the grand and great grand children get a pair.

And this fun basket was from my Aunt Tammie. I love the basket, and all the fun things in it!

There were a lot of kids at the party, and they all seemed to have a fun time. Here are a few of the wild animals they have at the circus. :)

If there was any questions as to whether or not the food was good, these pictures of Noelle will clarify... it was WONDERFUL!

So, thank you EVERYONE that was able to come. I really, truly, appreciate it. I feel guilty asking to get me things when it's my third child, but I also truly appreciate everything that I received. It is so nice to have a collection of blue and green things started. THANK YOU!

Thank you to Amilee for organizing the entire thing. Thank you to Kathe and Gary for letting us use their house and for all the cleaning and prep work I'm sure they did before hand. Thank you to Amilee and Amber for making the wonderful food. Thank you to Litisha and Erin for helping out with everything as well. Thank you to Jen for taking pictures while I opened the presents. Thank you to Brittany for recording all the gifts for me. And thank you to my kids for playing nicely and having fun so that mom could have fun too. :) (If I missed someone that was working behind the scenes, I apologize, and THANK YOU as well!)

Badges of Fun: Badge 3, Learn Something New

2011-09-22T06:56:00.001-07:00

We completed another of the Family Fun Badges. This one was entitled "Learn Something New". The irony of this badge is that it came literally right after I did a whole slue of science experiments with the girls. I decided not to just use one of those experiments as a "get out of jail free" card, and read all the suggestions they had for this badge.

One of the many options was called "Alphabet Fun". They suggested going into the "world" and finding the alphabet in interesting places, and taking pictures. This idea was the most exciting to me, but we just never got around to it. So, I modified the idea. We decided to use our blocks and build the letters in our names... then take pictures of those. I still plan to do the other activity, but when it's cooler out and I have a little more time. It would be neat to find the letters that spell "Smithson" and to frame them in our house.
Anyhow, here is "MELANIE"
(Melanie took most of these pictures. I took the picture of the "M" because she didn't really get the entire letter in the frame, but she did the rest. good job Melanie!
Here is our "NOELLE".

In case you are wondering, I ended up using a lot of Melanie's letters to make Noelle's name. This was because Noelle had decided that knocking down the letters before mom could take the picture was hilarious! funny girl.

So there you go. We had a lot of fun, and thanks to the Family Fun magazine, we earned our next badge!

Gone Fishin'

2011-09-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's hunting season... and Brandon was drawn for elk archery season. His hunt started last weekend and gos through this next Thursday. He went last weekend, and it rained (and hailed) on him almost the entire time. We had our own "interesting" adventures here at the house (the biggest one being locked out of the house for a few hours with no hide a key, phone, etc.) So, when he came home early (Saturday night as opposed to Sunday night) and decided to do something different (that included all of us) this weekend, I was Ecstatic! (Have I mentioned that my husband is just so wonderful!).

So, instead of hunting, we did some fishing.

First we went to the fish hatchery near Christopher Creek. The girls loved checking out the fish!

Noelle insisted on walking up the steep hills all by herself. She is such a strong little girl!

They have a lot of "tanks" with fish of different sizes (ages). It was really fun to see them flipping all over!

Then we went fishing at Tonto Rancho. (where you are pretty much guaranteed to catch something)

You don't have to bring a thing. You rent the pole, gear, and get as much food as you need, for a buck! Then you fish. It's 75 cents an inch, and for an extra 50 cents, they clean and ice the fish for you (totally worth the 50 cents, if you ask me!!!)

We learned very quick that you had to be FAST to catch these guys! They were tricky! Daddy caught the first one all by himself. It as an exciting moment.

The girls loved checking the fish out!

Then they started fishing together (we only rented one pool... that was plenty)

They enjoyed group fishing... all three of them!

And finally mom got a chance (with Melanie helping me).

All together, we caught 3 fish. 2 of them were 12" long, one was 10" long.

While we were fishing, I asked Melanie what she was going to do with the fish when she caught them, and she said "eat them" (note, when we did actually eat the fish, last night, she wasn't interested after all.)

While they were cleaning the fish for us, we enjoyed the outdoors. It was a neat place, very pretty.

After fishing, we ended up cutting our trip short because my cute little red head became really sick. I'm glad that she was able to enjoy some of the trip before she became so miserable.

Thank you, Brandon, for such a fun family day! We love you!

Dinner Time, Game Time, Bed Time

2011-09-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

So... dinner time/bed time has always been a little crazy. It seems like my house is always a whirl wind of a disaster by then... but we throw them into their booster seats to eat. Then they take FOREVER to eat. Then they take FOREVER to clean up, and by time it's all done, it's time to go to bed. Depending on whether or not Brandon is home for dinner, that also means, they really don't get quality time with him.

But this week I have changed something, and I think it may be my solution to this problem... at least, I hope so.

My new plan: Have the girls clean the house BEFORE dinner. (seems so silly and so easy... why didn't I think of this before). They clean faster because they are excited about eating dinner! Then we have dinner. After dinner, we wash up, put on our PJ's and then have family GAME TIME! Then, 15 minutes before bed time, we brush teeth, read scriptures, say prayers, read books and go to sleep!

We have done this 4 days in a row now, and WOW! what a difference. I'm not stressed trying to get everyone to help clean. The kids are happy because they just spent 30 minutes to an hour playing games or doing puzzles as a family. Seriously, it has been much more peaceful. I think everyone is much happier.

We Will Never Forget...

2011-09-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

I have had some time to contemplate September 11th, 2001, and what it means to me in my life, and thought I should write things down.

When I was in school, I remember learning about the assassination of President Kennedy and, as an assignment, we were told to ask our parents what they were doing when they found out that Kennedy had been shot. My teacher told us that everyone in the US remembers what they were doing at the exact moment. Unfortunately, for the purpose of that particular assignment, my mom hadn't been born yet, and therefore did NOT remember. But, the point of this, is that someday, I know my kids are going to be at school and they are going to cover the events of September 11th, 2001, and they are going to ask me exactly what I was doing when I heard the news. I will most likely remember it then as well as I remember it now, but I thought that it may be better for me to write it down, just in case.

September 11th, 2001 was a Tuesday. I woke up super early, like I always did, and was getting ready for my 7:00 am Spanish class at MCC. I was in my mom's room/bathroom, using her sink, and listening to the radio. At first I didn't understand what they were saying (as the morning show always just babbled on anyhow). I knew they were talking about smoke and the building being on fire, but I didn't know which building or where. Then I heard it "The second tower has been hit" They went on to describe how an airplane had just hit the second Twin tower and now they were both on fire. I think my heart stopped. I remember just staring at the radio. Being numb, I still got myself into my car and drove to school, the entire time, listening to the radio. They talked about the horrible events going on in New York, and then were talking about smoke behind the White House, the Pentagon being hit, and a possibly related airplane crash in Pennsylvania. Everything was so confusing. I was so scared. I didn't know what this meant, but knew that war would follow. I had learned in school that it was college aged people that usually started/fought in wars. This was something we discussed a lot in my history classes my senior year of high school... and here I was, in college, and I was freaked out. I went to my Spanish class, and apparently no one there knew a thing about it. I told them that the Twin Towers had been hit by airplanes and everything else I had learned from the radio about the smoke at the White House and the Pentagon. We turned on a little radio they had in the class room and everyone sat in silence as we listened. Eventually the teacher showed up and turned it off. Apparently Spanish couldn't wait. He did; however, let us out early. I walked to the Institute building, still scared and confused. When I got there, I realized that most of the LDS student population was there, and everyone was crowded around the huge television. This was the first time I saw the footage. They showed the smoke billowing out of the buildings, and people crying and walking around confused. Suddenly the unbelievable happened... the first tower started tumbling down. I felt so helpless. Here I am in Arizona watching my fellow Americans suffer in New York. We just kept watching in shock, most of the people in that room were crying. It wasn't long after that the second tower tumbled to the ground as well.

I think I was numb when I went to my English class a few hours later. The small television was on in there as well. My English teacher came in and just turned it off. Apparently English couldn't wait. I don't think anyone learned anything that day. I cried all the way home. I watched the Television in shock as I got ready for work. And then we all watched at work. I prayed a lot that day, for answers to questions I didn't even know how to ask.

I was reading an article, put out yesterday by President Thomas S. Monson, who was discussing how the destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild. Before discussing the article, I'd have to say, it helped us spiritually rebuild, but, for a brief moment, we were solidified as a nation in a way I haven't ever felt before. In the article, President Monson reminds us that our Heavenly Father's comment to us is unwavering. He softens our winters, and brightens our summers. He has promised us that He will never change. It is us, His children that are less faithful. We are vain, frail, and foolish, and sometimes we neglect our Heavenly Father. We sometimes forget to talk with Him through prayer, or to obey His commandments, which will make us happy. It seems that we, or maybe it's just me, have an easier time remembering Him and to pray to Him in times of disaster or calamity. And then we are quick to forget Him when things are well. Our Heavenly Father would rather us be consistent. As I remember September 11th, and what it means to me... I have thought about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. And I have made a personal commitment to be more Christlike, to pray more diligently, and to do that things that He would have me do.

Hall of Flame

2011-09-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day, our family decided to check out the Hall of Flame Museum in Phoenix (by the zoo). I didn't know about the museum until just recently, and was excited to take my kids somewhere new. They have tons of fire wagons and trucks in the museum, some of them extremely old. We had fun!

When you walk in, the first area is all very old fire wagons. Most of them are American, but they had some from other countries as well.

I love this picture of Noelle. She was running (which is not allowed or advised in the museum) and everything is blurry but her. :)
You are also suppose to keep your hands off the exhibits... which I was clearly strict about. Well, after this picture and the lecture I got from the museum worker, I was definitely more strict. This was a wagon that had manual pump, which Melanie is working... Very neat!

This is another wagon. I thought it was really pretty.

The girls really enjoyed the horse (even if it was fake). Melanie asked Dad, "Why does the horse have a blind fold on?". Too cute!

Eventually we got to the trucks! Dad really enjoyed this. He kept checking out the engines. You could say it was right up his alley.

We saw some really cute fire fighters there.

We saw some fire trucks that are typically in parades. If you ever wonder where they store the old fire trucks for parades at... wonder no more.

There was a kid area where the kids were welcome to touch without getting yelled at. I let them touch away! Here they are, driving to fight a fire.

Melanie took this picture of her daddy. I think she did a good job!

He's my hero!

Now that we have tried the museum out, I have to say, it was a lot of fun. It's a fairly cheap museum to get in to, and there is a lot of things to look at. Just remember... no touching! :)

Rainbows

2011-09-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

Boy is it HOT outside! I think mother nature forgot to turn off the heater this year, because it's just miserable outside. So... the girls and I decided to make a bunch of rainbows, with the desire to influence the weather a bit. It didn't work, but we still had fun. Here are the rainbows we made.

I thought this one was super cute and a fun idea... until I went to check on Melanie during a nap and found her with one of the ribbons tied around her neck. She was fine, but that's not that point. She apparently wanted a choker like Princess Cinderella. (Thank you yet again Disney!) To say it freaked me out would be an understatement. Needless to say, I will not be hanging anymore long ribbons in Melanie's room.
I love this rainbow collage. Both girls got to make one. This one just so happens to be Noelle's. I had Noelle help me rip all the paper and sort all the "stuff" while Melanie was at school. This was a ton of fun to make, and definitely lightens up their rooms.

Here is a closer view. Isn't that fun?

Since making rainbows didn't seem to work for us, we decided to EAT rainbows.

(Yes, those are blue fruit loops, but blueberries are just NOT in season).

Then we put the two together. We could color with rainbow colors on to a rainbow cake... surely this would inspire rain... right?

Well, it didn't work... but it was beautiful, and did taste good!

We also listened to the song "It's Raining" in the car, everywhere we went. Melanie was certain this would inspire the rain. It may have been counter productive though... screaming "Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day" while driving down the road probably didn't help our cause! But, it sure was fun!

We Are Family!

2011-09-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Smithson Family Reunion. The reunion actually ran the entire weekend; however, our family was only able to go for a Saturday day trip. The reunion was just north of Payson, and beautiful! Even though it was short, we had a ton of fun! When we got there, the rest of the family was heading out to Fossil Creek. I didn't pack bathing suites, or really, adequate clothing for getting wet, so we stayed behind and played with Grandpa and Grandma Smithson.

Melanie enjoyed riding all her cousins bikes in their absence.
And she loved showing her sister around as they wondered the forest. (supervised, of course)

I think Noelle's favorite part of the trip was all the random treats she was given.

Melanie got to wear Grandpa's "Sunshine" hat. She loves sun shines because I sing that song to her every day, so she was giddy to get to wear this hat.

When Grandpa and Grandma went to take a nap, Daddy took the girls for a ride in the Jeep... turns out they were ready for a nap as well!

Here is Noelle... sneaking more treats! This time is was Oreos, and she ate them "undercover!"

I love this picture of my family!

This little man is my nephew, Justin. He was wearing "war paint" (or rather, he crashed in the dirt, but it didn't phase him). Eventually all the cousins came back and Melanie and Noelle got to really have fun! Melanie LOVED playing with her cousins! Noelle loved following them around.

Daddy sure got a work out, pushing the kiddos back and forth in either this tractor, or on a bicycle. We love you daddy!

I think this is cute. Melanie decided to give Noelle a ride. It was funny, she couldn't turn it around, so after she did one pass, she just left Noelle in the tractor... waiting. Poor Noelle!

Noelle's favorite thing was to attempt riding this tricycle. I think she would have succeeded, if it were on concrete. The rocks and twigs just made it too hard for her. I think it may be time to look into getting a tricycle for my baby girl.

Here is Melanie with a few of her cousins... just "hanging out!"

And proof that I was there... (Not the most flattering proof. I had just handed the camera to Brandon and told him there better be at least one picture of me on this trip... and I'd preferred it if it were a decent one. And literally 2 seconds later, this picture was taken. Thanks honey!)

Daddy and Noelle had fun hanging out together. Note: At this point, Noelle was completely covered in dirt! There was no point in cleaning her, it would only last a brief moment.

Okay, this is my Super Woman picture. Look closely, NO ONE is holding Noelle up, except Noelle! She just hung there. This is just crazy! It does certainly beat the "pole dancing" pictures I could have gotten from her. She also enjoyed dancing and swinging around the canopy poles, silly girl. to my relief, she wasn't the only one.

And more proof that I was at the reunion. This one is more flattering. And yep, those two were the only pictures of me. This one was taken during dinner. We had some good food, thanks to my Sister in law, Amber, and her husband Tyler (Brandon's younger brother).

We had a ton of fun at the Smithson Reunion. Thank you Amilee (Brandon's younger sister), and Chad (her husband) for putting everything together! We really enjoyed ourselves!

Pow! Bam! Zap!

2011-09-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? no!!! It's SUPERMAN! Here is the man of steel, crashing through a building! Not just any building, the Scottsdale library... where he and his crime fighting friends were on display until Friday. We were lucky enough to find out just in time to check it out.

There were a few interactive things, and then a bunch of comic books on display. Melanie and Noelle had a lot of fun.
I think this was Melanie's favorite thing: The Kryptonite! It yelled "Hey, don't touch this, get away!" if you got near. It freaked her out, but she LOVED it! Goof Ball!

They also had costumes. Noelle liked the joker costume, and Melanie loved the superman cap.

And this is when the battery on my camera died completely... so imagine adorable pictures of my girls in a phone booth, where they could change from being typical girls to crime fighters... Imagine Noelle and Melanie both dressed up as the Green Lantern... and finally Noelle, driving the Batman Mobile! Seriously! How did I miss all this stuff!?!

It was a lot of fun. I had no idea the library had exhibits, but I'm really glad that I found this, and just in time! Thank you Scottsdale Library.

And if you are wondering, my kids have been walking around the house saying "BAM!" "POW!" "ZAP!" Ever since!

Happy Birthday Brandon

2011-09-02T10:31:00.001-07:00

Someone is getting older! And we had to celebrate! Daddy!!!

Melanie was too funny, and started the day by "wrapping" up random items in her white blanket and giving them to Brandon as he was getting ready for the day. Some of the items included my shoes, her toys, a tea pot, Cinderella, and dress up shoes. Here he is so excited about his "new gift".

Cinderella! It's what he always wanted.
Melanie is waiting with another present for Dad.

Princess Shoes! (Brandon, I think I have the perfect accessories to go with those... don't worry, I'll share!)

While daddy was at work, we had to decorate! We made signs, blew up balloons, and cleaned EVERYTHING.

This is the gift the girls gave their daddy! It was too fun. And of course, they wanted him to share!

Daddy was really excited when he got home and saw all the decorations (and gifts!)

We had also made party hats, and after dinner, we put them on and had DESSERT! (Daddy wanted strawberry shortcake. It was funny, because Melanie got all excited when she heard we were making strawberry shortcake. But while we were making it, she got really upset. Turns out, she thought we were making daddy a cake that looked LIKE Strawberry Shortcake, the character. Eventually she came around, but of course, that wasn't until she tried the dessert.)

I think we were a good looking group in our party hats!

And posing!

Yum! Noelle approves!

And so does Melanie!

Happy Birthday Daddy! We sure do love you!

Kid Talk

2011-08-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's that time again... for me to record some of the crazy and fun things that my girls have been saying or doing.

Melanie!

After trying her shoe on my foot the other day, Melanie says to me "You must be the ugly step sister!"

*****

One morning, at breakfast, Melanie says to me: "MOM! My room is a disaster!" (This was news to me because we had spent quite a bit of time cleaning it up the night before) and then she follows it by saying "I disastered it this morning"

*****

This is a conversation I had with Melanie while she was suppose to be sleeping, in her room, and I was in the living room on the couch. Melanie: "Mom, can I sleep with some socks on?" Me: "Sure!" Melanie: "Good, because my feet hurt. That helps my body, even if I don't have a baby in my tummy." Pause "Mom, you have a baby in your tummy, so your feet always hurt... you should put some socks on."

*****

This is a conversation I had with Melanie while she was eating breakfast and I was cleaning up the dishes one morning. Melanie: "Mom! Clean the Floors!" Me: "excuse me?" Melanie (in a much sweeter voice): "Can you clean the floors please?" Pause... Me: "Why don't you ask your father?" Melanie (no hesitation): "Because he isn't Cinderella" (Note, Brandon was home and laughing pretty hard in the other room)

*****

"Mom, Can we do an art project that is *NOT* messy today?"

*****

"My sister is getting so big, what happened???" Pause "Don't worry mommy, I'll get little after I grow slowly. I promise".

*****

Lunch a few days ago was extremely chaotic. Melanie was doing something that was making Noelle scream "No"... and then they would both giggle. I tell them "wow, you are the loudest kids on the planet". To which Melanie responds (without hesitation) "Well mom, you *did* get us from the crazy fish store".

*****

While I was tucking Melanie into bed for a nap yesterday, she says "Mom, I'm not a toy, but you can play with me!" I informed her that I would! Definitely! After her nap!

*****

Melanie is obsessed with getting married and sealed in the temple. She has informed me that she is going to marry me, so we can be sealed together. I told her we are already sealed, but she still insists.

Noelle!

I took her over to a friends house recently, and while playing, Noelle found a toy frying pan, and proceeded to beat me over the head with it. This is when I decided my kids have clearly watched Tangled TOO many time!
******
We had my nephew, CJ, over for a few days. CJ is 15 months old, and very noisy. At dinner on one of the nights he was over, we were feeding them missionaries. CJ was screaming, when Noelle looks over at them, and with a finger to him mouth, says "SHHHH!!!!" Then giggled.
*****
This is a conversation I overheard between Melanie and Noelle: Melanie (showing Noelle a picture): "This is the Temple!" Noelle: "Yeah!" Melanie: "Will you get married there?" Noelle: "YEAH!"
*****
On Melanie's first day of school, Poor Noelle cried "Melanie" the whole way home. It broke my heart, but is evident she truly loves her sister!
*****
I gave the girls peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cantaloupe for lunch the other day. After Noelle had eaten half her sandwich and 4 slices of cantaloupe, she says "cantaloupe please". I tell her she has to eat more of her sandwich first. She picks up her sandwich, licks it, puts it down, and says "More cantaloupe please!"
*****
Noelle is picky about her clothing... down to her DIAPER. She insists, she has to have a puppy on her diaper, and when I run out of those, it's not good!
*****
I LOVE my girls!

A Few Fun Holidays

2011-08-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

We have had some fun with some fun national food holidays lately. Wednesday was National Waffle Day. So... we had waffles for dinner. Yum!

And if you are going to do waffles... might as well add fresh strawberries and whipped cream, right? It was definitely a holiday worth savoring.
And yesterday was National Cherry Popsicle Day! (yes, there is a holiday for that). It's so incredibly hot outside lately, that a Popsicle is a great idea. And the girls agreed!

(We did Popsicles outside because of the mess they make. And if you are going to do Popsicles outside, you might as well add water and mud for extra fun! The girls were covered!)

We can't wait for the next fun food holiday! :) (P.S. It's not too late to get a Popsicle... you can celebrate belatedly!)

School!

2011-08-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Melanie started school! (Preschool!) I have been slacking on posting about her first day of school, because I was planning to throw her a back to school party. But then we ended up going to several birthday parties and family get togethers over that week, it just didn't happen. (And with Brandon's birthday next week, it seems weird to do it now. But, ironically, I have all the "stuff", so I'll have to do it sometime. It will just have to be a surprise of some sort). Anyhow, Melanie started school on August 16th! It's 2 days a week, right around the corner from my house, and she already had a friend in the class prior to the first day. She had NO problems going!

This year she has to have a backpack, so I got to take a cute "first day of school with my backpack" picture. Isn't she adorable?

She loved her first day. She learned the letter "T", sang songs, played games, and just have a fun time! Later in the day, we baked... and both of the girls did all their baking with their backpacks on. It was just too cute from the back side. :)

For the first 4 classes, they brought teddy bears to school with them. Yesterday, the bears graduated from preschool (with a little ceremony) and then the kids went on a bear hunt. She was an official bear hunter. Too fun!

She got to do show and tell this week. She brought a Fancy Nancy book, her tutu, and her Curious George monkey to class to show everyone. So far, Melanie has really enjoyed preschool. Noelle is sad when Melanie is gone, but I think she is getting use to the idea of having mom all to herself for a few hours twice a week.

A Little Redecorating

2011-08-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today I decided it was time to change the front room a little. It has been red, white, and blue since Flag Day (June 14th) and I just wanted a little change. But... it's too hot outside to put up Fall Decor. I just couldn't put up colorful leaves and pumpkins when I felt like I was dying of heat exhaustion loading people in the car. So... I decided to go with a "back to school" theme. I had the girls help me with a lot of the decorations. We made apples!

First we used an apple to stamp some beautiful pictures. Noelle especially liked this activity. I think she stamped twice as many apples on twice as many pieces of paper. Melanie's favorite colors are pink and red (because of her hair) so she made the red apples. Noelle's favorite colors are green and purple, so it was fitting that she made the green apples.

Aren't they fun?
Next, I had the kiddos marble paint (with shaving cream and paint) on some apples I cut out while they were napping. I think they both loved this activity. They were both given 18 apples to paint, and Noelle had hers done in about half the time as Melanie. Melanie enjoyed feeling the shaving cream in her hands.

We had apples EVERYWHERE! :)

This is what they looked like after they were done. I love this method of painting. I have great plans for fall leaves being painted this way (with more than one color!)

Once again, Melanie did my red apples, Noelle did the green apples!

After the girls were done with their art projects, Mom got to do a little crafting of her own. I decided to make a little something to hang over my window with all these fun apples.

I think it turned out pretty nice.

I made this fun wreathe last week, but it definitely goes with my "back to school" decor.

And, of course, I had some fun artwork to frame and hang up.

And a ton more apples to use.

I'm already loving the change, but I think I need to figure out a few more little crafts for the girls and I to do with this theme. It's just too much fun!

Birthday Fun

2011-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a special day... it was the day we were invited to 2 birthday parties!!! And both of them were swimming parties. So, I wasn't really good at taking pictures and determining which picture was from which party, so I am just posting a few that I liked!

We went to Ethan's 1st birthday in the afternoon and played with cousins from the Willis family! We were so excited to get invited to Ethan's big day! He is such a stud! We just love them.

Then we went to Grandpa Smithson's birthday party. He turned 65! We got to play with all the Smithson cousins. It was a crazy collection of kiddos in that pool! (for sure).

The picture above is of Grandma Great holding cousin Charlie (who is currently the youngest member of the family) and sitting by here is Aunt Carol.
The picture below is of my whole crazy family going down the water slide. Melanie first, followed by Brandon and Noelle! There is no fear in my family! (There is also no way you'll see me getting up there any time soon!)

And the following picture is of all (but one) of the Smithson Cousins. Poor Aubrey was in a wardrobe change and didn't make it back in time for the picture.

Happy Birthday Ethan and Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you both and hope that you had wonderful birthdays!

Science Experiment: Making Crystals

2011-08-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

We started this experiment on Monday, and I posted the start. I'm happy to report... we MADE CRYSTALS! Noelle absolutely LOVED this experiment. Everyday she'd beg for me to show her the experiment (several times during the day). And every time I showed them to her, she'd look in and say "wow!" It was so cute.

So, to recap, this is what it looks like on day 1:

This is day 3. Crystals were forming everywhere (the pipe cleaner, the pencil, the cup), but there was still quite a bit of water left.
And today (Day 5) we had LOTS of Crystals, and NO WATER!

Noelle just freaked. She loved it!

And so did her big sister, Melanie!

I cleaned the cup (which was also covered in salt crystals) and the pencil. Then I was able to take the pipe cleaner off. It is currently hanging up in Melanie's room (at least for a few days). What a fun science experiment. Melanie has been really curious about evaporation and the weather. I know this didn't teach her anything about the weather or rain, but it did teach her something about evaporation. We had a long talk about where the water went. It was fun.

Science Experiment: Walking Water

2011-08-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

I asked Melanie "Do you think water can walk?" Without hesitation, she tells me yes! Smart girl. Of course, she probably was saying yes because we talk about leaving the water "running" all the time. We decided to do a science experiment to see if water could walk from one cup to another... down "stairs" (and since I don't actually have stairs in my house, we settled for books).

What you need to pull this off is two cups, one full of water, one completely empty, and a paper towel. I colored my water to make it a little easier to see.

At first, the girls just wanted to sit and watch the water "walk", but I had to explain to them that it happens really slow. We decided to paint while we waited.
It was really fun to have the girls sitting their painting while the experiment was going on. Every once in a while, Melanie would look up and say "WOW! Mom! Look! It's almost all gone" And usually "take a picture!!!" (if you have any idea how many pictures I now have of two cups of water, you'd laugh... no seriously!) Noelle would get excited and shout "water" as well. They love their experiments!

At this point, Melanie tells me that it looks like a slide! I told her it was kind of like a slide. Like when she goes on a slide, she has to go up the stairs... the water does this through capillary action. Then she goes down the slide. This is gravity.

This revelation lead to lots of fun with the slide in the living room.

She was so funny. She would go up the stairs saying "I'm doing capillary action". And then go down the slide saying "and GRAVITY!"

There you have it, water does walk, thanks to capillary action. In the case that you are wondering, the cup that started out with the water in it was empty save a few drops when I cleaned everything up. It took about 2 hours in total.

The World, According to Melanie

2011-08-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Melanie asked me last night "Mom, can I play with your camera". Typically, my answer would be no, but yesterday I was feeling a little more.... adventurous. She took 94 pictures. These are a few of my favorite. So here you go.... the world according to Melanie.

I had a lot of fun going through all her pictures. Some where extremely close up shots of random toys, backpack, doors, art projects. There were a few of me in there, and it is fun to see how she sees me at her angle. Thanks Melanie, it was fun to get a different perspective on things.

Making Crystals, Day 1

2011-08-16T10:39:00.001-07:00

We started a science experiment yesterday. This is one that will take a few days, but we decided to try it anyhow. We are going to make crystals.

Ingredients: 1/2 cup hot! water, 1/3 cup salt, cup, pipe cleaner, and pencil

Method:

1. heat up water

2. dissolve as much of the 1/3 c salt as possible into the water. (I ended up putting the whole thing on the stove and dissolving more of the salt while the water boiled. The I poured it into a different cup than showed here).

3. wrap the pipe cleaner around the pencil and let it sit in the water. Leave it there until all the water is evaporated, and check out the salt crystals that have formed on your pipe cleaner.

The girls both got a chance at helping me dissolve the salt into the water (before I put it on the stove). Note: we also added green food coloring... not quite sure what it will do, but I thought we'd try it out.
Here it is all ready to go.

I checked the apparatus out before going to bed last night, and we already had crystals. I'm excited to see what this looks like after a few days.

Camping Day

2011-08-13T14:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Indoor Camping Day! We started by making bears! They painted them white with fluffy white paint (glue and shaving cream mixed)

Then they added a little bit of colorful fur (dyed rice).
Check out these beauties!

Then we put up a tent...

They got their "sleeping bags" ready and looked at books for about an hour.

Then we did a bear hunt. We hunted all over the house. It was fun. Eventually the girls decided they were nice bears and brought them back to their tent to snuggle.

After playing in the tent for some time, we had indoor 'smores. yum yum! Noelle approved!

Melanie did some camping worksheets. She really enjoyed them and did an awesome job (if you ask me!)

And we ended the fun with a memory game. This was fun. We'll have to play it again!

All in all, our indoor camping experience was a lot of fun. Melanie is already asking when we can go "camping" again.