We Have Teeth

Rebecca got her first tooth yesterday. She has been fussing over it for many many weeks. I could see it but it didn't seem to be going anywhere. It finally broke through yesterday morning. This morning, she was fussing again. Wouldn't you know it. The neighbor of the first tooth is also about to break through. Why do my kids always teeth when we go on vacation??

Table Food

Rebecca is really digging table food now. Check out one of her first real meals on Father's Day.

Zach's 3 Year Appointment

I got the privilege of taking all three of the kids to Zachary's 3-year appointment on Tuesday. He did fantastic with his hearing screenings and passed without a hitch. The vision screening had to be skipped because he completely freaked out by the flashing lights aimed at him. Poor little guy. No shots at this appointment. Thank you sweet Lord. Here are his stats:

Weight: 32 pounds 3.2 ounces (51 %)
Height: 38 inches (57 %)

I glanced back at Hannah's stats and she it literally just a smidgeon taller and heavier than him. Amazing. No wonder I get asked if they are twins all the time - seriously!

Almost There

Do you mind if I brag on myself for just a moment? Okay, here goes. Only five pounds to go until I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Woohoo!!!!! As some of you may recall, I boo hooed after passing the 40 pound mark with Rebecca so I am super pleased that I am close to my goal after 8 months. Now the pre-pregnancy figure? Well, let's just say that three babies in three and a half years have taken their toll. The Magic 8 ball says "No bikinis recommended." So unless there is some personal trainer in my future, this is just the way it's gonna be for awhile. :)

Remotely Clean

Has anyone else had a preschooler who tried to help you clean by running the remote control under the water? I removed the batteries and dried it, but water still flies out every time I shake it. Thanks for helping Hannah.

Snacking

You know it's time to just go to bed when you are reading an article about healthy snacks in your Parenting magazine and you look down to see that you are snacking on Nestle Tollhouse chocolate morsels . . . handfuls at a time.

Please say he didn't

We ended day three of the four-day camp on a sour note. Zachary is about a year behind on speech and sometimes it really bites us in the patootie. Today was one of those days.

I had to wake the kids up at 8:10 this morning to get them fed and dressed for camp which started at 9:00. I had a feeling it was going to be a tough day, but I didn't have time to stop and consider it. Zach whined because he didn't get his morning snuggle but that's just the way it was going to have to be.

He had a melt down when I said good bye to them. The two lovely teachers immediately engaged him in play as they have done each day. Rebecca and I ducked out and went to shop and spend a few hours with Memaw. When I returned a little after 1:00, I fully expected two happy children as I had received the previous two days. I did, indeed, receive two happy children. But, alas, I also received a report from the main teacher.

Zach apparently thought anything with wheels was his. This included a giant bucket of cars. When another child played with them, he screamed and cried until it was returned. THEN HE THREW THE CAR AT THE CHILD!!! Oh, how I wish I could have been present to deal with it. Instead these sweet ladies had to finally remove Zach from the room after 45 minutes of a Zach Attack.

To put it simply, I was mortified and incredibly embarrassed. I know that he is only three and that he does not have good social skills, but I felt that it somehow reflected some aspect of parenting that I have overlooked. To be sure, Chad and I are going to implement some new techniques. He is going to spend some one on one with Zach and I am going to research some games that better teach sharing and communication.

After a lengthy conversation, Chad and I decided to keep Zach home tomorrow and Hannah gets to enjoy her last day of camp tantrum free. Besides, they are having water play tomorrow and my boy is much too fond of his birthday suit this year. I don't think I want to hear a report about that from the school so it's just better to nip this one in the bud.

Lord, please give me strength!

Beach Preparation

Hannah is so ready to see the ocean again. She has been practicing her sand castles. We had a nice rain last week and the sand box was perfect so she took advantage of it. She's actually pretty good at this now!

Sweet Pics from the Wedding

I am a few weeks behind, but we were so delighted to attend Brooke and Steven's wedding on June 6. I don't have any good pictures of how awesomely gorgeous Brooke looked because we were too busy chasing down kids, but I do have some sweet shots of the kiddos.

I came loaded with Dum Dums and each grandkid got one after we successfully took a full family photo without melt downs.



I just love this one of the girls. They were all captivated by something.



Chad took this one. Rebecca is grinning so big at me behind her passy.



The kids so wanted to touch all the candles at the reception. We were firm that they could not get on the stage so they just looked longingly from the edge.

Loving Day Camp

Okay, I totally love being a stay-at-home mommy and I still plan to homeschool, so don't misunderstand my next comment. Wow, it's totally cool to drop off your kids at day camp and not see them again for four hours!!! Hannah and Zach are attending a four-day camp this week at Wee School. The theme is camping and they have been bringing home the cutest stuff. I need to get a few pictures of their crafts. I also need to start looking for some more day camps for them to attend . . .

It's About Time

Rebecca will be 8 months old next week. In the last year, including through my third trimester, I can honestly say that progress has been slow on just about everything. I could generally only keep up with one area at a time. For example, if the kitchen was clean, the rest of the house was a disaster zone. Ha!

I reflected on my life today and concluded that I am actually beginning to make some progress. Here is a list of what I have accomplished up to naptime:

• Took the kids outside to play this morning
• Played with each child individually, including a game with Hannah and reading two books to Zach (this hasn't happened in some time)
• Made three phone calls
• Researched fall events for Children's Ministry
• Located and printed the school calendar for Hannah's preschool this fall
• Got my bulletin submissions to the church . . . before the deadline
• Made brownies
• Got some stuff ready for our July garage sale
• Bid on some Leapster games on Ebay
• Just started load 6 of the 8 loads of laundry I will do today

I know it sounds so simple and I didn't actually make a dent in the pile currently in my room, but it is progress none-the-less. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel . . . and I am thankful it isn't a train. :)

Not Welcome!

We have had a lot of slithering critters around our property lately. This little guy cruised across our back porch one evening last week. He wasn't poisonous (like some of our other resident snakes), but he was still not welcome!

Awanas Hiatus

Hannah completed her first year of Cubbies with Awanas in May. She missed several times throughout the year due to all our family illnesses, but she still recited all her Bible verses and earned her patches. I stitched on her Cubbie bear last week and took a picture for the memories. Piglet, Penny, and Purple Bunny got to join in the celebration too!

This fall, Zach will get to start his first year of Cubbies and Hannah will complete her second year. And if you are new to Awanas like I was this year, you can check them out at http://www.awana.org/.

Beads and Blessings

I had the wonderful experience of attending a Women's Ministry event at my church tonight. I knew that a woman would be there selling bead jewelry from Uganda, but I had no idea that the evening would change my perspective of the world.

There were actually two speakers for the evening. One was the aforementioned woman who gave her testimony of her company Bagala Beads. Please, please, please, take a moment to click on the link to her site. Read the brief story and look at the beautifully crafted beads that are, get this, made from recycled magazines and such. I bought a pair of earrings that are simpy gorgeous and incredibly lightweight. I have been to Brazil and seen extreme poverty, but when you return to the US, the memories begin to fade and you begin to fall into the slump of me, me me which is so prevalent in our country. Hearing the stories of the Uganda people tonight reminded me that there really is a difference between what I need and what I want.

The second speaker was a banker who told us about microfinancing. In a nutshell, it is the supply of loans, savings, and other basic financial services to the poor. Simply put, a bunch of people offer up small amounts of money so someone in a 3rd world country can take out a loan to start a business. Banks don't make any money in impoverished countries, so they don't go. I learned about two sites that are terrific. The first is Opportunity International which takes your donations and invests in larger projects in impoverished countries.

The second site called Kiva is so cool because you can invest using Paypal and select who your funds are going to. Your loan is repaid over 12 months (they have a 98% repayment record - way better than the US!!), and you can reinvest the funds or request the funds be returned to your Paypal account.

You can also visit www.microfinancegateway.org to learn about lots of other legitimate companies who do this. Can you tell that I am so pumped about this? Tonight I bought a small pair of earrings that will directly help some women in Uganda stay out of prostitution and I learned about a site where I can loan a tiny amount of money to someone who more than likely lives on less than $2.00 a day (more than 3 billion people fall into this category). It's been so difficult to measure my successes lately with three children demanding my attention. I can measure this and it's like a cool drink of water. This evening was a blessing that I needed so badly. Thanks hubby!

Has it been so long?

I glanced at my last post and was shocked and amazed that it has been almost two weeks since I last updated the Smith following world, such as it is. I knew it had been some time because I noticed that there are oodles of pictures and movies on my camera that need to be uploaded and scrubbed before Brooke's big day tomorrow.

If there is one sentence to sum up what life with three young kids equals, it would be "I just thought I didn't have time before."

For example:

• I relished the shower I got at nap time today and pondered when my next one could be scheduled.
• There is a stack of baby thank you notes to my left mocking me.
• There is a Mother's Day gift just behind that stack that needs to say hello to the post office. Dear woman, if you are reading this, please understand that the delay of the package in no way represents the amount of love we have for you!
• I have a to do list next to my computer that just needs to go away and a new list needs to be started. Just for my ridiculous sanity.
• There is a stack of stuff that I already went though and purged and the stack looks suspiciously taller. What kind of new math is that?
• Oh dear. Did I just spot my electric blanket in the corner waiting to be washed and stored? Yes...yes, I did.
• Mending? Isn't that just a stack where clothing that needs attention lays, looks at me sadly and hopes it will be remembered again before next year?
• And I just looked at the clock and realized that I put the kids down for their nap an hour too soon. That means there is an hour more in the day than I thought there was. To some that might sound great, to me it means one more hour of - how to put it nicely - chaos.

I promise to add pictures and movies of all the fun activities we have been doing of late. For now, hello from the crazy Smith household!