Smith Summaries

12/25/10

2010-12-25T23:04:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to all and to all a GOOD NIGHT!!!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-12-20T13:58:00.000-06:00

Fixed It!!

2010-11-09T15:50:00.000-06:00

Yea, I finally got around to fixing the background of the blog. Maybe now I can actually stand to look at it long enough to post something new! :-) In fact, stay tuned because I'm already working on a new post that should include some photos of what's been going on in our lives lately.

Blog Messed Up

2010-09-30T08:47:00.000-05:00

I messed up the blog a month or two ago and just haven't come back to fix it. To be perfectly honest, I should know better than to try and update it at midnight!!! I'm working on it but in the meantime please enjoy a blog that I enjoy following. She has amazing photography AND she is having a book giveaway. Check it out at http://moseyphotography.blogspot.com/ .

Be back soon!

We have Kittens

2010-07-11T23:02:00.000-05:00

Born sometime on Friday.

July Photo Shoot

2010-07-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting some family photos and our friend, Louvain Guiomard, met our whole family out at the park Monday morning in order to take photos. Jonah wasn't feeling the best (stuffy nose & sore throat) and then he slipped on the muddy bank and scratched himself on the way down so he wasn't the best candidate for smiles but here are a few of the photos we took.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

More Wedding Photos

2010-06-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

John with friends from our church.

The new couple: Mr. & Mrs. James Breed

Trying to Get Away

Micah

Jonah

E's Men: #1

Mom's Men: #2

Mom's Little Man :-)

Journeys

2010-06-13T22:03:00.000-05:00

Look Who's Reading!!!!

2010-05-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

Thank you Mrs. Tennent!!!!!

Even using his finger!

Animal Life

2010-05-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

When I pulled up at home this afternoon this guy was waiting just outside of where I parked the car. Not surprisingly my first instinct was to grab the camera. I got a couple of decent shots before he decided I was way to close and scampered away.

Inside the house, the cat sat sunning herself in the basket of socks. I guess you could title this picture "Socks in Socks"!! :-)

ACE Showcase

2010-05-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T21:57:00.001-05:00

Cinco De Mayo Program

2010-05-08T21:38:00.000-05:00

Jonah was chosen to perform in his school's Cinco de Mayo program on Wednesday this week. I was able to work my schedule out to attend. All of the children did a great job but of course I was a tad partial to one blond haired 2nd grader that did a FABULOUS job on his Mexican hat dance. :-)

Easter Photos

2010-04-24T18:28:00.000-05:00

We had a busy but fun Easter. Here are a FEW of my many favorites. :-)

MY Easter Bunny

My OTHER Easter Bunny

Easter wouldn't be complete without formal "After Church" photos....Here's Jonah

Micah's Formal Easter Photo

Jonah with his Easter Basket from Mrs. Mayberry (2nd grade teacher)

Micah's new t-shirt

Mark has a Gift Card for Chinese from the Easter Bunny.

SOCKS hiding!

My Younger Bunnies!

Happy Easter Mom!

Inside Easter Egg Hunt

Socks

Catching Up

2010-04-12T12:08:00.000-05:00

It seems like lately I've been neglecting the blog. I take the photos and eventually I even get them uploaded but I never seem to sit down and actually post them so today I decided to "catch up". These photos are all from March. Hope you enjoy! :-)

Random Sunset

Are you ready yet?

Aint Nothin Like a Good Swim!

Way to Go, Micah!

Future Einstein!

Bird

"Engagement Photo" session in College Station

Congratulations James & Kim!

TV time but I just thought the lighting on his face was fun.

Working on reading....A family affair!!

Passover Seder Centerpiece

A Rabbi reading Isaiah from a scroll.

Welcome to the Family!

2010-03-16T19:04:00.000-05:00

Meet Socks - The newest addition to our house!

Happy 13th Birthday, Micah!

2010-03-02T21:44:00.000-06:00

Feb.Snow

2010-02-20T21:36:00.000-06:00

As the last remnants of snow disappear from our yard, it's hard to believe that just a week ago we were literally knee deep in 12-14 in. of snow. Crazy Texas weather! Jonah & I ended up with a day and a half off from school and Micah had Thurs. & Friday off as well. I was so amazed and delighted with the beauty of it all and thoroughly enjoyed playing with the kids in it.

More San Antonio Photos

2010-02-02T20:41:00.001-06:00

San Antonio Trip

2010-01-24T22:25:00.005-06:00

We took a little side trip to San Antonio during the "long weekend" we had available for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was a relaxing trip that we mostly spent hanging out walking up and down the river walk. While we were there, we also took the opportunity to visit the Alamo and to take the kids to see the Imax film on the same topic. (You know me...always trying to take advantage of those potential educational moments!!) Here are just a few of my fav. photos from the weekend.

(More will be posted soon.)

Cannon near the Alamo.

Waterfall on the River Walk

Photo By: Micah Smith

Christmas "Days"2009

2009-12-29T10:01:00.006-06:00

The last few days have been busy around the Smith house & I got a brand new camera for Christmas so I've been all to happy to try it out. The boys have for the most part been extremely patient with me & all the photo taking. I know no one wants to see the 6 or 7 HUNDRED (not joking) photos so I have tried to narrow it down to a few of my favorites since Christmas Eve. :-)

Impromptu Photo Shoot While the Kids Raked Leaves - Micah wearing his new Christmas Shirt from the Guiomard Family.

Dinner with just the four of us on Monday @ Jason's Deli

Christmas Morning Excitement

Christmas Morning

Christas Eve

My Love

Christmas Eve

Smith/Breed Family minus John

Grandma/Nana & Dad/Papa Ron

Since I'm "off" from school this week I've been able to do a little bit of scrapbooking and playing with my Adobe Photoshop. This is a layout I made last night (Monday) while the guys watched T.V. (Having a working laptop and access to the network drive is EXTREMELY helpful & convienent for those times that I don't want to or can't be tied down to a specific location like the table!) :-)

White Christmas :-)

2009-12-28T00:20:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe but we actually had a white Christmas Eve & Christmas. I can't remember the last time that happened here at home. It was exciting and esp. when I walked on it and realized it was actual powdery snow and didn't crunch under my feet like the "ice snow" we typically get. These are a few photos I took (mostly from the front porch because I didn't want to take the time to put my coat on and it was too cold for my taste. :-)

Advent

2009-12-22T11:43:00.002-06:00

The Blessing of Family

2009-12-19T15:02:00.001-06:00

Today I've been reflecting a lot on the subject of family and I realized that this will be our 5th Christmas together as the Smith Family. When did that happen? Anyway, I digi scrapped this layout from our first Christmas a few weeks ago so in honor of the upcoming Holidays......

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Tree Farm Visit

2009-12-13T22:46:00.003-06:00

Jonah's 2nd Grade Program

2009-12-13T22:09:00.002-06:00

Wild Thing You Make My Heart Smile! :-)

2009-10-30T22:35:00.005-05:00

Max (from the book, Where The Wild Things Are) aka Jonah showed up at RY today for the 2nd grade book character project. He did a great job and impressed his teacher. Mom got a recap version this evening but it was still an awesome job!

Busy Fall Week

2009-10-30T21:57:00.004-05:00

It has certainly been busy around the Smith household lately. In addition to the normal busyness of life we got in a quick visit with John, celebrated Sue & Mark's birthdays, and took our annual trek to the State Fair of Texas. Here are a few of my fav. photos.

2009 Jack O Lanterns

2009-10-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

Recent Photos

2009-09-26T21:22:00.001-05:00

I haven't taken as many photos this month as I typically do. I guess it's just been a busy time filled with routine life that I haven't felt was photo worthy.

Last weekend Jonah went to the Forest Festival in East Texas with my parents, brother, & his fiancee. They bought him this cowboy outfit. It sounded like everyone involved had a fun filled weekend. :-)

This morning Jonah participated in the ACE program at his school. (That is our district's new after school enrichment program.) Today they focused on cooking. It included making eggs, sausage, and biscuits for breakfast and spaghetti to take home for lunch. He also got some time to play educational games on the computers.

Micah has been enjoying school. They've gone on several field trips. I'm not sure he appreciated the Butterfly House but I have it on good authority that he and the Staalson boys were impressed by the Bass Performance Hall in Ft. Worth.

Today I took the three boys to the Winston School north of Dallas. They made rockets and had a competition to see which one flew the farthest. One of the Staalson boys brought home the first place trophy and Micah brought home the third place ribbon.

Labor Day, Sparklers & Worms

2009-09-07T21:59:00.001-05:00

Tonight we had dinner with Papa Ron & Grandma. Papa brought out a giant sparkler for each of the boys. Jonah and Grandma also discovered a small green worm on her shoe. It crawled around on Jonah's arm for awhile before (much to Jonah's dismay) we put it in the garbage sack with the weeds. Fun evening!

Statue of Liberty & Pledge Rolled into One

It looks like he's trying to light the plant hanger on fire!
Taking a break after his sparkler died.

"Look Mom!"

Worm Closeup Shot

Happy Anniversary!

2009-09-03T22:08:00.002-05:00

We are going to celebrate tomorrow evening but Mark brought these beautiful roses home tonight.

Happy 4th Anniversary Sweetheart!!

Micah Goes Back To School

2009-09-02T21:00:00.005-05:00

Micah officially had his first day of school on Tues. 1st. Then he came home and got sick so he missed day number two and will be missing day number 3 tomorrow as well as the first day of co-op classes. Hopefully, he'll be better soon though!

Back To School

2009-08-25T22:11:00.006-05:00

Jonah & I started back to school this past Monday. Here are a few of our "traditional" back to school photos.

Photo Shoot

2009-06-25T22:51:00.004-05:00

A few years ago I had a friend take photos of the boys and I for Mark for Father's Day. This year it was just to hectic to have someone else do it or to go anywhere special so I just had an "almost" impromptu photo shoot in the front yard. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

A Few More Tenn. Photos

2009-06-24T11:17:00.005-05:00

Opening Presents

Marlayne listens to Carolina play.

Carolina plays Happy Birthday on her violin.
Katherine & John Farris

Nancy & Emma

Marlayne, Jordan & Carolina

Army PT Time with John

Jonah getting ready to "Fly"
Look Mom "No Hands"

(Experiment in Space Walking)

The Human Brain Specimen

Specimen Room

Future Doctors?

Tenn. Trip

2009-06-23T15:19:00.005-05:00

Jonah and I are finally home again from our 5 day trip to Tenn. It was an enjoyable time visiting and hanging out with family that we haven't seen in quite awhile. Below are just a few of the over 300 photos that were taken on my camera! (With 8 kids it got borrowed a few times!)

Electrifying Fun!

Happy Emma

Savannah & Jonah Launching RocketsDr. Jonah & Dr. Sean examine their patient.

Sarah, Carolina & Jordan

Elizabeth & Dad on Father's Day

Jonah, Aunt Jane, & Sean launch rockets.

Jonah & Sean wait for a "space" activity.

Teenage Girls.....Need I say more?

Will the ball stay in the air stream if you tilt it to another angle?

Storm Damage

2009-06-15T20:53:00.000-05:00

We had quite a storm this past Wednesday night. Not only did it cause major headaches with the sound, lights, and power at church during VBS parent night but it created a sleepless night for many people across the metroplex. Mark was awake most of the night and I was awakened around 3 am with a huge clap of thunder that sounded as though it was just outside our bedroom. Apparently it was....We discovered the next afternoon that this tree not far outside our bedroom window was struck by lightening.

Scenes from VBS 2009

2009-06-15T20:34:00.001-05:00

Last week we had VBS. It was an "Australian" theme called "Boomerang Express".

Micah was to old to participate this year so he helped out in the crafts/missions areas. They had crafts MWF and missions on Tues/Thurs. He particularly enjoyed helping with the missions because he got to go in the "sound booth" and run the projection/sound equipment.

Jonah was in the 2nd grade class this year. I think his fav. part was the snack time and his fav. snack was the blue jello with gummy fish and a pretzel stick. (The story that day talked about Jesus calling us to be Fishers of Men.)

I (Elizabeth) helped out as a Kindergarten leader. (Always my favorite grade!) We had between 18 and 25 kindergarteners every day. They were officially split into two classes but we were on the same schedule and in the same room so there were many times that we just merged into one giant class. Crazy but fun! :-)

Enjoy the photos!

Jonah during story time.

One of the many signs decorating the halls.

An Authentic Australian Instrument

Mark visits with Peter on "parent night" on Wednesday.

Micah in his VBS shirt on Monday after VBS.

Random Photos

2009-06-15T20:22:00.005-05:00

Relay for Life - 2009

2009-05-19T22:03:00.003-05:00

Mother's Day

2009-05-16T22:41:00.003-05:00

Photos from Mother's Day

Farmer Jonah?

2009-05-09T14:32:00.003-05:00

This week Jonah got to go to the Breed family farm with his Grandma for a few days. They left Wednesday and are due to return either tonight or tomorrow morning.

This particular photo was sent to me in an email today via "Uncle James". (Thanks.) It's a bit nostalgic because Jonah is sitting on the tractor that orginally belonged to Mark's Dad. The summer before we married Mark told my Dad that he could have the tractor and we proceeded to haul it all the way from Indiana to the farm in East Texas. Just recently Dad was able to get it running and I've heard that it purrs like a kitten! :-)

Awana Bible Quizzing

2009-04-29T22:45:00.002-05:00

On Saturday April 18, 2009 Micah competed in Awana Bible Quizzing. He was the 4th member for his book to go from Faith so he joined kids from another church to complete their team. His composite team took 2nd place.

Congratulations!!

Birthday Party

2009-04-29T22:12:00.003-05:00

Jonah had his birthday party at ASI gymnastics on the 18th. I was amazed because they literally did EVERYTHING for me and all I had to do was sit....well, everything except take photos. As a result I totally didn't take the 40 million photos that I usually do and the ones I did take are not the best. I managed to get one photo of the Lego cake that I made for him....please bear in mind that I'm not a chef nor have I ever claimed that I even cook. The kids ate it though so it must not have tasted too terrible!

Green Lego Cake

Waiting for Cake & Ice Cream

At Home with Birthday Medal

Swinging

At Home with Birthday Balloons and Sack of Presents

Family Birthday Dinner

2009-04-15T18:44:00.002-05:00

Easter

2009-04-15T17:48:00.008-05:00

The Smith Guys @ Nana's House

Micah

Jonah inspects his Easter Basket.

"Works of Art"

"Brotherly Love"
Being an "artiste" is serious business for Jonah. He was overheard saying, "An artiste is never done."

Photos

2009-04-15T14:17:00.001-05:00

WOW! I've taken a TON of photos the last week or so....

I'm still working on going through them, screening out the really bad ones and editing the ones that need some work before they can be presented to anyone. Here are a couple though from earlier.....

Micah @ Jonah's PTA program

Mark on the way to Jonah's Program

Jonah after the program.

A very excited Jonah after the arrival of his "Birthday in a Box" (The paper goods in a lego theme that I ordered for his party this coming Saturday.)

From the Creative Desk of Elizabeth

2009-04-15T14:13:00.001-05:00

Here's a quick page I did the other night with my Memory Mixer software. I was following a sketch for a challenge. I don't normally do that and so I went back to using Memory Mixer since I am still not quite comfortable with Photoshop. The photos are obviously "older" too since they were taken just before our wedding in 2005. Good memories though! :-)

Happy Birthday Jonah!

2009-04-14T07:48:00.002-05:00

After a full day of celebration Jonah is now officially 7 years old! He was/is so excited! His general rule of thumb was that if you didn't say Happy Birthday as soon as you saw him then you must not know what an important day it was and needed to be told! :-p I took cupcakes and Teddy Grams to his class for an afternoon snack. Then he joined the book club that I help run for the conclusion of the movie "The City of Ember". We had chips & dip, popcorn & juice boxes. For family dinner he chose CiCi's pizza and Grandma & Papa, & Nana all met us there.

All in all I think it was a great day for him and he truely felt celebrated! :-)

*Due to the lateness of my getting home I didn't download Birthday or Easter photos yet....they'll be posted soon!

Jonah's PTA Song

2009-04-12T17:16:00.004-05:00

Jonah performed Thursday night with the 1st grade during his school's PTA meeting. Dad videoed the whole thing but this is a clip of one of my favorite songs. :-)

(Before you hit play first turn off the music on the right hand side!)

ENJOY!!

Spring Break

2009-03-23T18:24:00.005-05:00

We had a pretty calm and uneventful Spring Break this past week. Jonah lost a tooth. Micah played at a friend's house one day and I accomplished absolutely nothing except for buying the boys some new clothes in a feeble attempt to keep clothes on their rapidly growing bodies. :-) I did however, enjoy getting to sleep in a bit longer than usual each morning!

Check out that cute grin!! (No, I'm not partial AT ALL!)

Jonah thought it would be fun to take some photos of me with my camera. I think he did a pretty good job once he understood that he had to see my WHOLE face & head in the "box" before he snapped the photo. :-)

Serious/Thoughtful Mom by Jonah

"Smile Mom" (Photo of amused but tired Mom because he was coming up with some goofy things for me to say instead of taking the photo.)

1st Grade Door

2009-03-11T21:08:00.002-05:00

I offered to help out Jonah's teacher with her door decorating for "Education Go Get It Week". This year's theme is "Grow a Graduate". I didn't add the bear or the small flower & graduate stickers but the rest of it is my handiwork. I thought it was pretty creative since I forgot my Friday afternoon promise until Monday morning! I had to use whatever I could come up with using Walmart & Dollar General during my lunch & planning period. (Not bad if I say so myself !)

A closeup of the lower half of the door.

A Closeup of the top half of the door. Each of the seed packets has a label with a school subject on it.

The whole thing.

Mom by Jonah age 6 yrs. and 11 months

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

I got the questions in a "forward" thing from a friend and I thought some of the answers were pretty interesting.....Jonah wanted to watch tv so I can't say how serious or thoughtful his answers were! I tried to quote him word for word as much as possible.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Hello in the morning?

2. What makes mom happy?
Funny stuff

3. What makes mom sad?
disobeying you

4. How does mom make you laugh?
tickling my armpit

5. What was mom like as a child?
a little girl

6. How old is your mom?
100

7. How tall is your mom?
44 feet

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
scrapbook

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
J: talk
Me: to who?
J: People
Me: What kind of people?
J: The whole entire class.

10. If your mom became famous what would it be for?
money

11. What is your mom really good at?
scrapbooking

12. What is your mom not very good at?
hmmmmm…..thinking….i don’t know…nothing. You’re good at everything.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
teach

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
J: Hmmm. (tapping his chin) What’s your favorite food?
Me: Shrimp
J: SHRIMP! And that’s my favorite too and I was about to say Brussel sprouts (I have no idea because I don’t like sprouts AT ALL!)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Nothing

16. If your mom was a cartoon character which one would she be?
Tom (from Tom & Jerry)…I don’t know the cat or mouse.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
scrapbook

18. How are you and mom the same?
We have the same colors of our skin.

19. How are you and your mom different?
we have different hair and we talk differently and we have different names.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Uh we just do.

21. What is your mom's favorite place to go?
Hobby Lobby & chicken Nugget place (I think he meant Chick Fil A.)

Relay for Life Walk

2009-02-24T18:17:00.001-06:00

Micah & I have just signed up to walk in the Relay for Life walk. It won't be until May but it inspired me to dig out the few photos that we have from last year's walk.

Happy 12th Birthday Micah!

2009-02-16T19:22:00.002-06:00

Micah has already had several birthday celebrations to honor his 12th birthday on Valentine's Day. We celebrated with Jerry & Elaine a week early when they came through town on their way back home from California. Then Friday night we had dinner with Ron & Nancy at Ton's Mongolian Grill (Chinese food). On Saturday we had cheesecake for dessert and he opened his presents from Mom & Dad. We still have a sleep over with friends this coming weekend and then I think we will be officially finished with the celebrating for another year.

No Internet

2009-01-31T22:29:00.005-06:00

Ahhhhh......after several weeks, the internet connection at our home was finally restored today. Mark also fixed the problem with access to our network. I don't understand what it was that Mark did but I wasn't able to access anything (read my PHOTOS) for the last few days. Now I'm good to go except for printing. Yea!

In recent weeks Jonah was awarded the Student of the Month award for his class and he got AB honor roll for the 3rd six weeks/semester. Here he is on the day he brought his sign home. :-) Notice the purple ribbon on his sweatshirt? After we took photos and were headed back inside he wanted to know, "Mommy can you scrapbook it?" Yes, my kids are fully indoctrinated now! LOL! I told him I could certainly "scrapbook it" and he promptly left it on my scrapping table. :-)

BTW, Micah also came home with a straight A report card for the 3rd six weeks/semester but is currently camera shy except for when Mom requires it for major holidays & birthdays.

Prayer Time & Children's Faith

2009-01-16T13:12:00.003-06:00

This past week my Bible Study group started up again. This "semester" we are going to be studying "prayer". We watched a video of a message by Jim Cymbala and I've been thinking about it most of the week. Then last night Jonah's supper prayer was quite interesting....

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for this food. Please give us a baby sister. (pause) And God please (pause) say Hi to all the people there with you.

Amen

I'm not sure that's the whole thing word for word but it's pretty close to what he said. He has been praying for a baby sister for awhile so that's not a surprise but the "saying hi" part was! :-) After the prayer his response to us was, "Well, he IS God!" It seemed as though he was surprised by our surprise...as though it was a perfectly normal thing to pray for. I suppose if we really embrace that "prayer" is just conversation with God...it IS a normal thing in a way. I'm amazed yet again at the simple faith of a child...esp. mine.

Last night and today I can't help but think about the boy's mom, Stephanie, and all the other "people" we know and miss in heaven. My faith may be small and I'm not sure that I believe the occurences on earth are of great significance when we are in the presence of the Lord but I can't help whispering my own prayer of agreement. "Please say hi to everyone."

Crazy Texas Weather

2009-01-10T23:34:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's already the end of the first full week of January! Wow!

The weather here in Texas has been absolutely crazy already this month. Last Saturday the kids were wearing SHORTS to jump on the trampoline. By Monday, however, it was icy & cold. Despite my hopes it wasn't quite enough to get school cancelled but was enough to make me extremely cold and wet. (It was raining pretty hard when I traveled between schools and then again when I went to get some lunch.) The end of this week was warm again but I think we are supposed to expect colder weather again this coming week.

Here are a couple of trampoline shots from today. The boys have been on it quite a bit lately.

Jonah's flip caught in mid flip.

Look how high he jumps!

I figured I could delay getting warm for a couple of minutes to get some shots of the ice on the trees. This was one of my favorite photos.

Goodbye 2008 and Hello 2009!

2009-01-01T00:17:00.003-06:00

2008 was a good year for the Smith family. We had many adventures together and many celebrations throughout the year. Here's a quick summary of the year in photos as we say goodbye and welcome in a fresh new year full of God's blessings.

Happy New Year One and All!!!!

Christmas Greetings

2008-12-25T23:44:00.005-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS one and all!!

As I write it is now almost "the day after" Christmas but I couldn't help but pause for just a brief moment and reflect that it is still "Christmas" for a few more minutes. :-) Today we had a lovely day of just hanging out at home with family. (Jerry & Elaine are in town visiting us.) The children enjoyed opening presents. Then we had a lovely breakfast/brunch cooked by Jerry. Some of us took naps and we all spent time sharing and playing with our new "toys". I won the award for longest nap taker and so I didn't actually get to "play" with my new Photoshop Elements. It is installed, however, and I'm sure I will be eagerly getting into it tomorrow and in the coming days before I have to head back to school.

Before I head off to bed here are a couple of Christmas Eve photos....

Christmas Decorations

2008-12-10T19:14:00.004-06:00

As we prepared to decorate the Christmas tree & house last night, God decided to do some winter decorating of his own! Jonah was the one who discovered it was snowing and made the official proclamation. He was thrilled. (To be honest so was Mom!) We put on coats and went out in the front yard to investigate. Huge white snowflakes were coming down as well as some sleet so we only stayed out a few minutes. Now those of you that live in more "northern" climates will probably have a good laugh to know we got so excited over such a small sprinkle that didn't even stick! Just remember as you are laughing that Texas isn't exactly known for it's snowfall. In fact, we usually just get a small amount of "ice" and everyone goes crazy.

Below are a couple photos I took. Micah wasn't willing to stand outside long enough for a photo but Jonah was all to happy to oblige!

Future Scrapbook Artist

2008-12-02T23:06:00.004-06:00

Jonah set down his ninja sword long enough to play with Mommy's new craft supplies and to create a thank you card to thank the fabulous giver of the new craft supplies. I had as much fun watching him and taking photos as I have scrapping myself. I'm so glad he wasn't worried about what he looked like or if he was doing something "girly" or not! I just might have to get him some of his own supplies to work with now! (At least some stickers if I don't want to lose ALL of mine!)

Choosing the materials.

Adding some stickers.....

More Stickers....

Writing the message. "Happy Holidays. Jesus loves you. Love, Jonah Smith"

The finished card.

Dramatic Play

2008-12-02T22:31:00.002-06:00

Jonah was so excited over the gift I recieved today from a co-worker. He thought it was all neat but the best part of the gift had to be the green ribbon that was part of the packaging. Here he is as an "inja" (ninja) wearing his "vandanna" (bandanna). Bad guys better beware!!!

God's Age

2008-12-01T16:41:00.002-06:00

This afternoon on the way home from school.....

Jonah: "Mommy it's Jesus birthday coming up."
Elizabeth: "mmmm hmmmm"
Jonah: "How old he is?"
Elizabeth: "ummmm God doesn't have an age"
Jonah: (to himself) "20"
Elizabeth: "How old do you think God is?"
Jonah: "I don't know. (pause) 21?"
Elizabeth: "Even older. Mommy is 30 and God's older than that."
Jonah: "100?"
Elizabeth: "God is older than the earth."
Jonah: "Wow. I think ....6 zillion and 7?"
Elizabeth: "Even older than that."
Jonah: (Muttering to himself) "60 zillion and 7 because I've been on the earth 100."

Ok....so I let the conversation die a natural death right there because I decided that he didn't quite have a grasp on time and he at least was getting the point that God has been around a LONG time....like forever! :-) I wasn't to certain I was ready to tackle trying to explain to a six year old why we have a "birthday party" for someone who was "born" and yet has lived forever with no beginning.

Thanksgiving Feast & Colonial Days

2008-11-22T08:48:00.002-06:00

Mom & Jonah both had Thanksgiving activities at school. Jonah had a "bring your parents to lunch" Thanksgiving feast and Mom's school had "Colonial Days" which included making wax candles, butter, and colonial type games.
I helped with Kindergarten butter making and then drove over to have lunch with Jonah. Then I was supposed to be helping with 4th grade candle making but I ended up helping out with their butter making instead. The kids seem to be having fun and hopefully had some postive memories from this as well as some learning!

Waiting in line for our lunch.

Jonah's teacher took a photo of us after lunch.

Jonah shows off his placemat.

Our Northside Counselor demonstrating buttermaking for the kids.

2 Elizabeth's

It's Friday!

2008-11-14T21:11:00.002-06:00

Fridays just have a way of making you smile. Sure there's always the realization that soon it'll be Monday again but Fridays just are nice and usually have such a sense of accomplishment to them. :-)

Today not long after I got to Ruby Young I passed Jonah's class walking down the hallway. It's not unusual for me to see him in the afternoons but it was a bit unusual to see him that early. He smiled and we waved at each other. Then you could see a light in his eyes as in a split second he remembered the spelling test that he was carrying in his hand. He waved it and I saw the "100" written on the top. I gave him a thumb's up, he grinned and we were both continued on our seperate paths in opposite directions. It all took only a matter of seconds but my heart still smiles at the image in my mind. (Sometimes I wonder if that isn't something of what Mary must have felt in scripture when it says "she treasured all these things in her heart".)

I love it when I have the chance to see Jonah during the school days!

Trunk or Treat & Micah

2008-11-09T11:24:00.002-06:00

It wasn't intentional but I realized I didn't have any photos of Micah on the blog in his Halloween costume. This is for a couple of reasons but the main one is that Micah currently doesn't like having his picture taken. (But he does like taking other people's photos!!)

This year Jonah was a dinosaur & Micah was Peter Parker. For those of you who may not be current on all your superheroes that's the "normal" identity for Spider Man.

Photojournalism is apparently a serious job!

Hard at work....taking Trunk or Treat photos!

The results of his photography. Not bad if I say so myself! This is the famous Sparky from Awana. Notice Jonah peeking from behind because he wasn't so certain about seeing Sparky in real life! Mom, however, grew up knowing Sparky (& the guy in the suit) & had a great chat with him.

Notice the crowd behind us in the above picture? Tentative reports say that Faith had 2000 plus people in attendance at our annual Trunk or Treat. It was very crowded to say the least!

End of October Revisited

2008-11-06T21:53:00.009-06:00

My "new" set-up at Northside. I have been using a borrowed laptop since August due to the fact that my CPU mysteriously vanished. :-( The same day my new CPU arrived I also inherited a the long narrow table from our school secretary. It may not seem like such a huge deal but after what I'd been working with the previous 9 weeks...I was thrilled!

Jonah near the pumpkin he carved at Grandma & Papa's House.

I don't know what was going through his mind when I took this photo but his facial expression makes me laugh.

Our new fridge

Did you know that our ice maker says "I Love You"?

Little Things That Make You Smile

2008-10-30T22:32:00.005-05:00

It has been quite a week around here. Not only is Halloween tomorrow but this week is "Red Ribbon week" for Texas schools. Every day this week Jonah & I have had different "themes" ranging from "Elect to be Drug Free" to "Crazy Sock Day". I've enjoyed Jonah's enthusiasm all week. This morning when I told him it was crazy sock day he came up with some purple Halloween socks with spiders & spider webs on them. Def. not "normal"! LOL! It made me smile every time I looked at him or even thought about him. :-)

As you can probably tell from the carnival photos I took this afternoon, he had a great time.

Pony Rides

Photos

Showing off the Dino Head!

Photo shoot anyone?

First Book Award

2008-10-21T21:57:00.001-05:00

A proud Jonah shows off his first book award!

Jonah & Sparks

2008-10-19T23:46:00.002-05:00

Jonah was thrilled beyond words tonight because he got his 1st Sparks Book award/ribbon! I took a couple of photos but I will have to come back and edit the post with them after I download them to the computer.

On the way home from church we both noticed the glorious sunset at almost the same time. He responded, "I could just praise God!" I wasn't sure if he meant because of the sunset or the award or both but I had to smile at his comment. "Out of the mouths of babes" right? We did talk about how it wonderful it is that we can praise God ANYTIME and that it's important to "hide God's word in our hearts" not just for the ribbons or shares or rewards.

Ok so I think it's all pretty awesome for the following reasons....
1. It seems to be pretty hard for him to memorize scripture & he finally got to see some reward for his efforts.
2. He is so excited to get a new book that I think it's going to really encourage him to learn more scripture now.
3. It's encouraging to a mom's heart to see the Lord working in the lives of her kids.

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Check back later in the week and I'll hopefully get some photos posted!

Random Photos

2008-10-13T19:21:00.002-05:00

The other day I stepped out of the shower and found this toothbrush at the top of the bathroom mirror. (Thanks to Micah!)

The firetruck Mom & Jonah built a few weeks ago on our Saturday together.

The moon through the trees in our front yard. Just thought it was a cool shot.....

Church Directory Photos

2008-10-13T19:19:00.001-05:00

Some professional photos we had taken when we had our church directory photo taken.

Barber Shop

2008-10-05T19:24:00.002-05:00

This is the barber shop that my brothers & Dad have been going to for years. I find it pretty cute that Jonah now tells me that he needs to see "Red". (That's the barber.) The lighting isn't great for photos but I took a couple just for the nostalgia of it all!

My new little man!!!

Simply Saturday - Jonah & Mommy's Day!

2008-10-04T20:28:00.003-05:00

Simply a lovely day....

This morning Jonah & I dropped Micah off at the church so that he could go to Pine Cove. This will be his last year so hopefully he got a chance to have a great time and make some memories. Since Jonah & I had the day to ourselves we stopped by Signature Donuts for breakfast. Then we were off to get Jonah's hair cut at the Barber shop. We still had some time to waste before the 10:00 kids building workshop at Home Depot so we stopped at the Post Office & JoAnn's. After the workshop we had lunch at Chick Fil A before heading home. Quite a busy morning required a nap when we got home.

Of course, we weren't really tired but decided to close our eyes and then not open them again until Daddy got home!!!!

Fun Jonah Photos

2008-09-23T00:24:00.000-05:00

Some photos I happen to like.......

Night Time Randomness...

2008-09-22T23:59:00.003-05:00

Tired but still wired tonight and it occured to me that I really haven't updated the blog in awhile....I should do that but I really don't have anything new or interesting to say. Tonight was Jonah's school picnic at Ruby Young. I think it's kind of a cool thing that they have that BUT it's tiring too just because it makes for a long day. I enjoyed getting to visit with so many people though....I guess it made me feel more a part of the RYE community and not just the outsider that travels in between two schools.

Here I am with Jonah's 1st grade teacher. One of the Kindergarten teachers took a photo of Mark & the boys & I with her camera. Hopefully it wil turn out and I will be able to post it later. (Yeah, that's a snowcone I'm holding! In September!)

I'm helping Cindy Johnson with her book club at RY too. I think it's a bit ironic that this is the first time in my entire life that I've even participated in a book club. It's fun. The kids had some really good insights and things to say today in the midst of some of their silliness. I think it's neat that they are getting a chance to just be themselves although we might have to seperate some of the girls so they can focus on the topic! LOL! If things go well, I'm contemplating starting one at Northside next semester or maybe next fall. Secretly, I'd kind of like to start a young author's club like the one I participated in at Amber Terrace in 5th & 6th grade but I'm not sure if I'll do that or not. That would be quite an undertaking to do by myself and I'm not really sure that there is an interest for that kind of thing. (Although, the NS counselor seemed to think I'd get some interest esp. if I had it during school hours.) My schedule is still somewhat up in the air though so I think it'll have to simmer as an idea in the back of my head for awhile.

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Something (literally) just occured to me....I actually WANT to be a part of these schools now. It may not seem like a huge thing but it really is. I think going back to the same job position for the 2nd year was such a dream that the reality of it is still sinking in. Now I have a reason to be involved. It's almost as if I'm finally beginning to "unpack" emotionally. I'm beginning to dare to believe that I can "settle in" and put down some roots. That's such a cool feeling. I no longer go to work every day wondering if it'll be my last or if I'll need to go home and start working on my resume again. Maybe that's why I"m even considering book clubs, or enjoying myself and getting to know people at a school event.....

Birthday/Anniversary Weekend

2008-09-01T10:24:00.003-05:00

Thank goodness today is Labor Day as we needed today to recover from last week and the rest of the weekend!

Last week the kids went back to school and Mom began her 2nd week back. Here's a summary of the week....

Monday - First Day Back for the Boys (Everyone!)

Tuesday - Meet the Teacher @ Northside (Mom)

Wednesday - Faculty Meeting & Baby Shower @ Northside (Mom)

Thursday - Meet the Teacher @ Ruby Young (Mom & Jonah)

Friday - Birthday Dinner for Mom at Don Pablo's (Everyone!)

Saturday - Lunch with Grandma, Papa, & Uncle James (Mom, Micah & Jonah)

-To the Magnolia Hotel in downtown (Mom & Dad)

Sunday - Home from the hotel (Mom & Dad)

- Family Birthday Dinner @ Breed House (Everyone!)

Monday - Day of Rest!!!! (I hope!)

Back To School Report

2008-08-25T22:09:00.003-05:00

Micah, Jonah & I all had our first official "Back To School" Day today. Micah is a 6th grader now and Jonah is in First! They are both getting so old! :-)

Micah wasn't very talkative about school. He did tell his Dad that he didn't care for his new teachers. However, Dad & I suspect that might change as he becomes more comfortable with the "changes" in his life. I'll post more school details as they become available from him!

On the other hand & not surprisingly, Jonah was much more expressive today. He described his teacher as "cool", "awesome", and "nice". He enjoyed having music today and doing his "cool dance moves." (His words!) During recess they had a rule that "the girls had to play with the girls and the boys only with the boys". I asked him if that was going to be the rule all year and he was quick to say, "I hope not!" :-)

My day back was pretty quiet because I won't begin picking up my students until Sept. 8th. After dropping Jonah off in his classroom and taking a few photos, I spent the rest of the day laminating, cutting things out, answering emails, working on schedules and other little tasks to occupy the rest of my day. (I'll actually be REALLY glad when it's time to pick my kids up and get down to the actual job of teaching!)

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*The top photo is of Jonah and his new teacher, Ms. Allen. I took it this morning in the classroom before school started.

** The other two photos of Micah & Jonah were taken this evening after dinner.

Overheard Today

2008-08-12T11:42:00.000-05:00

The kids are outside playing right now and I just overheard this conversation between the boys.

J: (whining) No. Don't spray me. Stop it.
M: Ok. I won't spray you. (Drops his water gun on the grass.)

Jonah begins filling his wagon with the waterhose.
M: Hey Jonah, Mom won't let us inside if we aren't playing so come on and squirt me.
J: Ok. (Giggles and turns the hose on his brother.)

Micah runs and yells "Ahhhhh.....dont' spray me!"

Building with Papa

2008-08-09T21:37:00.002-05:00

Today the boys went to build at Lowe's with their Papa and I went along to photograph what has become a fun Grandfather & Grandsons activity. They have spent many Saturdays having donuts and then working on various building projects. Today's project was a mini locker perfect for holding all their treasures.

Self Photography

2008-08-06T21:36:00.007-05:00

I've taken interest in playing with my camera settings recently. Usually the boys aren't willing to let me take their photo the hundreds of times it takes to play with all the possible setting combinations. As a result, I've resorted to "self" photography. This week Jonah actually had some fun participating with me! I have to admit that some of the photos turned out pretty cute!

Yes, that is Jonah's hand covering my eyes!

Awwww, I Love You too!

How to Make Lunch in 3 Easy Steps?

2008-07-30T12:57:00.001-05:00

Jonah: (stretching and standing up from his Legos) I'm going to eat lunch.

Mom: You are?

Jonah: Yep

Mom: Can you make it on your own?

Jonah: Yep, that's what I'm gonna do. (pause) But I can't reach the plates.

Mom: If you get your step stool you can.

Jonah: Oh yeah. (Goes into the bathroom to look for it, then checks his room, then checks the dining room) I can't find it.

Mom: Did you look by the toilet or maybe under the sink?

Jonah: (running off) Oh, there it is!

A few minutes later.....I hear banging in the kitchen....

Mom: What are you doing?

Jonah: There are ants! And I've got to kill them!

A minute or two later....Jonah comes into the living room shaking the almost empty orange juice carton.

Jonah: Do you hear any juice?

Mom : No, I don't think so.

Jonah: It's all gone. (Goes back into the kitchen and yells from in front of the fridge...)

There's no milk. It's all gone. (Talking to himself....) We have to tell Dad no milk.

Jonah returns to the living room with an empty glass.

Jonah: There's no milk or juice.

Mom: You can drink water.

Jonah returns to the kitchen, checks the fridge again and comes back to the living room.

Jonah: We do have soda!

Mom: You can drink water.

Jonah returns to the kitchen and I wait a few minutes before asking if he's made his sandwich. "Not yet" is his reply. Finally about 15 minutes after he started he has a jelly sandwich!

*Editorial Note - The photo was taken a few days ago in the kitchen when he made himself a peanutbutter & jelly sandwich after playing outside with the water hose.

Mini Vacation

2008-07-28T23:10:00.001-05:00

We headed off to the Houston area this weekend. All four of us enjoyed our visit to the Space Station. Both the boys were impressed by the seriousness and potential dangers in space travel. I was again reminded that I wouldn't last to long in space travel since I'm much to comfortable with the current effects of gravity here on earth! (Not to mention that I'm not very fond of the idea of the "close" quarters on current spacecrafts!)

Tuesday Talking Tales

2008-07-23T02:03:00.000-05:00

Jonah keeps me smiling most of the time with the things that he says. (There is a LOT of chatter that comes out of his mouth on any given day!) Tuesday I was standing at the kitchen table working on a scrapbook page. He came up to me and said, "Mommy I can sit in your chair for you if you aren't when you scrapbook." Roughly translated he meant that if I wasn't going to sit down in my scrapbooking chair that he would be happy to sit there for me! LOL! He sat there for just a minute or two before offering that he could also help me if I "needed to glue something"!

Home Again

2008-07-23T01:45:00.002-05:00

We're home again! We picked the boys up in Missouri this weekend. Jerry & Elaine met us near Ft. Leonard Wood and so we were also able to spend some time with John Farris. He took Jerry to see the army base and the boys got in some extra swim time before dinner. Although it is good to be back, the kids def. miss their grandparents and cousins!

On Monday I went to the Arlington convention center for a classroom management workshop led by Dr. Harry Wong (author of The First Days of School). My friend, Pat, met me there and I certainly enjoyed having someone to sit with and eat lunch with! Most of the conf. stuff wasn't new since I own and have read Dr. Wong's book but I did pick up a few tips and pointers of some things I'd like to try. While I was at the conference, Mark held down the fort with the boys. Micah's GT tutor returned for another session and Mark & Jonah worked on getting the computers fixed.

Smith Family Online

2008-07-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

Inspired by all my friends that have "blogs" now I wanted to give this a try.....so we're now "online"! Welcome!!