Delicious Dinner

I got brave yesterday and cooked some of the incredibly awesome shrimp that Pop Pop and Nana shared with our family. Thank you Donna for the wonderful Shrimp Etouffee recipe you sent to Chad. It looked so good served with fresh steamed spinach and garlic bread that I had to snap a photo. Bon appetit!

Hello New Playroom!

Here are some pictures we took during the transformation of the playroom last week.



After Chad started painting the green, we just kept staring at the walls and smiling. It's a super happy color!

I painted the outline of several whimsical clouds across the ceiling using blue paint, utilizing the original white walls.

The finished product is awesome. We talked about putting a thin white trim up between the two colors, but I really like the unfinished look. It makes it look more relaxed and . . . playful. (giggle)

Thank you hubby for your hours and hours of work. Awesome job!

Here is a walk through. To get the full effect, y'all are just going to have to come for a visit!

Random Pictures

I haven't had a chance to edit them much, but sometimes you just have to share the sweet memories before the mommy brain kicks in and you forget they even happened!

Here is a picture of Zach that I will be sure to bring out when the first girlfriend appears on the scene. I love how he always wears the tiara upside down because it fits better on his head. A girl would make it fit properly even if she had to tip toe to keep it in place. That's the part that makes him all boy despite the pink tutu. :) And, yes, I will be buying him some manly costumes at the JBF consignment sale next month.



Here is my girly girl. She puts all this on and always asks me to take a picture of her. I see a job with spotlights (on her of course) in her future.



What a good Baptist girl. Always happy when food is present. :)



My baby is getting brave. She has made it up to the second step so far. If she is like Zach, she will be a pro at them before long. I think the kids have fallen down a portion of the steps only a couple of times. I'm so glad we carpeted them instead of laying wood. Makes for much better traction!

Daddy caught this one morning quite recently. He said just before he grabbed the camera, Zach was mirroring Hannah's position. They love the treat of sleeping in the same room.

Rebecca is a big girl now getting to take a bath with the big kids. Sometimes she is just with Hannah and sometimes all three of them are in there together. They play so well together. This is the plus side of them being closer in age.

Currently the girls are recovering from colds and Mommy and Daddy are fighting them off. I'm slowly digging myself out of the chaos that has accumulated in the house this summer. I'm so tickled that our vacuum is fixed and ready to be picked up. I might not be able to stand another day and have to drag the kids down to Frisco tomorrow. I'm getting tired of stepping on the debris on the wood floor. An old broom left over from college only goes so far in comparison to my oh-so-sweet Dyson. Am I hearing an amen?

I Have Arrived, At Least For Now

Maybe it's because I have been a little under the weather this week. Or maybe it's because I haven't eaten supper yet. All I know is that I just got on the scale and it gave me my pre-pregnancy weight. Pre-preggo. As in, before Hannah. I don't know how long it will stay but I will enjoy it while I see it. :)

You'd Never Guess

Living so close to woods and the pond, I see a lot more wildlife than I used to. It always amazes me when I see how the critters have just adapted to our home being there and have started going on with life as usual.

For example, here is a nest of new baby wrens we have. The mama and daddy return year after year. Usually, they build in our Christmas cactus. But we moved the plant a couple of months ago thinking that they were done with their babies for the season. But they decided to have another set. Now here is the interesting part . . .



You'd never guess where they built the nest. They built in the exact same spot on our backporch where they always build. The catch is that there was a camping chair sitting there. Yep, they built the nest in the seat of the chair!!

We've been careful to keep the kids away from the chair. It's been so hot that it hasn't been a huge problem. Amazing, huh? Good thing Chad noticed the nest before I opened it up and got a BIG surprise!

Never a Dull Moment

If you know anything about the Smith household then you know that there is just never a dull moment around here. I marvel that it is only Tuesday afternoon because it feels like it should already be Friday.

Sunday morning dawned and Zach had a slightly runny nose. Chad had started painting the playroom on Saturday and I also had a slightly runny nose so I assumed that he and I had allergy problems. I gave us both a dose of allergy medication and life continued as usual.

Monday morning dawned and Zach was a-okay, but Hannah had a stuffy nose. Bummer. We were going to try to have a play day with Aidan and Keely. To keep Finian on the safe side, it was a no go and we would try again on Tuesday.

This morning it was obvious that Hannah was worse. Her nose was running and she was a little more sedate, pulling out every stuffed animal she has ever owned and lining the back of her pillows with her smallest ones. We went through several tissues and, of course, no play day with Aidan and Keely. Bummer again.

To make life even more exciting, I have a bizarre problem with my right foot and ankle. It has been bugging me since we returned from Destin. I took a brief nap after lunch and when I awoke, it was numb. After slowly making it to the top of the steps, it completely gave out and I suddenly found myself sitting on the floor. Well there's a fine howdy-do. The magic crystal ball is starting to say "Doctor visits in the future. Prepare thy checkbook." I'm groaning just thinking about it.

On a more exciting note, I called Wee School yesterday and cancelled Hannah's spot in preschool. I also ordered preschool curriculum from Answers in Genesis. The playroom is going through a transformation this week and should be ready to go by the last week of August when I officially begin homeschooling Hannah and Zachary. I am so pumped about it. We will have school in the mornings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesday will be shopping day. Thursday will be a play day or field trip. I already have my lesson planner started and have been collecting my goodies for several weeks now. Did I mention that I am super stinkin' excited about this? :)

So yet again, expect lots of stuff to be happening on the Ponderosa for months to come! Coming soon - the unveiling of the new and improved playroom. For now, I'll just say WOW!!!!

Ahoy Matey

This is what I have been up to this week!

I have been allowed the privilege of being the VBS director this year. What an amazing blessing! We just completed day 4 and I am seriously pooped. One more day then we have a program Sunday night. The theme is surrounding the Veggie Tales movie The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. We are learning how to be true heroes for God. Such fun!

Hannah and Zach have been attending and they are just having a blast. When they see me coming they get so excited. "It's Mommy pirate!" Too cool. Rebecca has been hanging out with some other little ones in the volunteer nursery. She has not appreciated losing her ritual morning nap but has taken a few cat naps throughout the week in someone's arms or the swing.

I get to drive back to Denton on Saturday to return my very cool outfit which was rented from Rose's Costumes. It was so worth the drive!

I promise to catch back up next week. For now I am going to enjoy this amazing week and sleep when I can!!

First Dentist Appointment

I finally got around to taking Hannah & Zach to the dentist this week. I had been shopping for one for some time and finally found a new pediatric dentist in Prosper. It baffles me that I chose the week that Chad would be gone to do this, but I did it anyway! All three kids came in tow and off we went to Roberts Dental Ranch. It was so nice with murals on all the walls, a super friendly staff, and two age-appropriate play areas with two TV's playing kid movies.

I was very surprised when the kids also got to pick out the movie they wanted to watch while getting their teeth cleaned. They have a flat screen TV suspended on the ceiling above the exam table and the kids listen with wireless headphones! Hannah chose The Little Mermaid and Zach chose Madagascar. First they attempted to get x-rays. I held each of them individually in my lap and they put the vest over the front of us. Hannah only succeeded on getting the top teeth. Zach was much better and he got the top teeth and partial lower teeth.

Hannah was a little freaked, but did fairly well. No cavities. Her teeth are great and the gap between the front teeth will probably disappear when the adult teeth come in. You could see them on the x-ray and they look nice and straight. Dr Roberts even told me they will probably come in first in about 18-24 months. She got a new toothbrush, travel sized toothpaste, dental floss, a princess floss pick, and pink egg timer. Plus she got a green balloon, Ariel sticker, and a clapper toy. Wow, huh?

Zach was much better. No cavities, but his teeth are riddled with overbites and underbites like his Mommy's former teeth arrangement. Like Mommy, he will most likely have braces down the road. From the x-ray, which looked great, his bottom teeth will most likely come out first in 2-1/2 to 3 years. Zach also got a new toothbrush, travel sized toothpaste, dental floss, Buzz Lightyear floss pick, blue egg timer, green balloon, and two bouncy balls which he immediately bounced down the dentist hallway.

We go back in six months. Dr Roberts said he likes to see them six months after their first teeth come in, so Rebecca will also get her own appointment at that time. Unless Daddy comes with us, I will bring her separately. Not a glutton for punishment, thank you very much!

Missing My Man

I am going to pause and lament for a moment. Chad left on Sunday for the church mission trip in southern MO and I have been solo with the kids since then. I have been stuck with them and haven't even been able to leave the house for two days. I had plans. You know I always do. But they have all been thrown out of whack and I have been in survival mode.

You know it's bad when you put The King and I on and sit two feet from the TV so you can focus on the movie and ignore the kids fighting. Yes, I admit that I did that tonight. Tomorrow I am going shopping for several hours with all three of them. I might come home with three kids. Then again . . .

Oh how I miss my wonderful husband. I miss seeing him around the house, horsing around with the kids, gathering up the trash for Thursday trash day, watering all the outside plants, rubbing my aching shoulders, and just giving me that "You can do it" hug that goes such a long way. Come on Friday and get here!!

Papaw's

I am seriously behind on my posts again. It will take me a few days to report on the last few weeks. We went on a family vacation, leaving on June 29 to Brookhaven, MS. We stayed with Chad's Papaw a few days then drove on to Destin, FL where we had rented a house within walking distance of the beach. Today, I will just talk about Papaw's.


For the first time in awhile, we had a nice relaxing stay with Papaw. No one was contagious, the weather was great, and there were no lit pilot lights. Hannah and Zach were able to sleep in a bed by themselves so Mommy and Daddy were finally able to sleep in the same bed again. Just to keep things a little lively, Rebecca joined our room in a pack-n-play. She became the root cause of my lack of sleep, but that's to be expected.


On Tuesday, Lori and Addison came and played all day. It was so much fun getting to visit and watch the kiddos. Here is a sweet picture I caught of Addison.





The kids all got to ride with Daddy in Papaw's golf cart a few times. They rambled all over the place and Mommy got a little break. Ahhh, sweet bliss.





Papaw discovered that Zach is still quite ticklish. This was a rare moment to catch Zach laughing in a picture as he is suddenly very much against having his picture taken.




I think this is a neat perspective pic that I got of Lori and Addison on the porch swing.




My happy country boy.

Papaw and Rebecca really bonded this trip. She was so tickled every time Papaw came into view. He doesn't usually like to hold the little ones, but he seemed to get a kick out of Rebecca.

Papaw and the girls.

We attempted to get a picture of Papaw, Chad and the kids. This is the best we could do!

We stopped back through on Sunday, but it was mostly just to say howdy to everyone including Billy and Judy whom we got to visit with briefly, sleep over (okay, I slept WAY over - again thanks to Rebecca), and head back home. Chad did manage to pick at least 8 quarts of blueberries. We brought those home and they are being put to good use in the juicer from Pop Pop and Nana. Yuuuuummy!

We look forward to our next visit to Mississippi. The older the kids get, the less stressful it is for Mommy. Maybe if I didn't have a child who had electrocuted herself, another who is fascinated when he has blood running down his legs, and another who has just learned to crawl, I wouldn't panic so much in non-childproofed homes. Some day I will look back on all this and laugh. Some day.