Tavin's Horse On A Stick

I found one of those horse heads on a stick that kids can ride on for Tavin-he loved it and has been pretend riding it for the last half hour. But the best part is what he named his horse. Without any prompt from Dan or I he decided to name the horse CHARLEY....so he refers to it as his "CHARLEY HORSE:)" -get it! Dan and I thought it was so funny....maybe we are just really tired from a long day or maybe it is funny-either way-it brightened up our night and I wanted to share.

And I am back-Brains just a little jiggled is all:)

Well I finished my blog book and it is supposed to get here next week-very excited about that. I also finished by children's book and that is ordered and being shipped in the near future as well-very pleased with the results from that too...and we are gearing up for the holiday trip to see our families for Christmas! We will be heading out on Thursday.

I have had a little bit of a rough couple weeks due to the ICY weather here-fell on my way out the door...my foot COMPLETELY slipped from out from underneath me and I fell right on my head. Never experienced such a hard fall before and was unable to work my arms for about 3 minutes. Once they started working again-I immediately picked Katie up-I was carrying her and luckily she just fell to the side in the snow. Called Dan-and he came home. The next day-I was having really bad head pain, nausea, and tunnel vision-so we were off to the doctors where he diagnosed me with a severe concussion and sent me to get Xrays to make sure no fracture or internal bleeding was going on. Results came back fine thank goodness and he just told Dan to stay home and keep a close watch on me-along with pain pills and nausea meds that knocked me cold. Dan woke me up the first night cause he said I was making really strange noise and it was "freaking him out" :) He made me let him prop my head up with pillows (the doctor said I shouldn't lay flat).

I think he was freaked out cause the nurse told him that they had another guy come in a couple days before I did with the same accident and he died 2 days later! The doctor also put things into perspective for us when he told Dan that when he (Dan has gotten a few concussions from football before) got his concussions he had a helmet, I fell flat on my head without any protection. Pretty scary all in all and now we heavily salt our stairs. I still get pretty heavy migraines-which is normal-but am steadily feeling better. THANKS to all for your concerned calls and thoughtful acts. ESPECIALLY to my sweet husband who dropped everything for me.

ANYWAY-On to better things-LOTS of new and exciting projects in the works-and back to blogging-here are a few posts before I got to bed. I will post some of our Christmas activities in a few days-including our Santa clause visit and chat:) Tavin was soooo excited this year and personally invited him to our home along with Rudolph of course:)

And now for Tavin....

We can't forget our Tavin boy-he has a new obsession with flushing the toilet. Whenever Dan and I head into the bathroom-he is right behind us-and stands next to the toilet to flush it for us! He keeps on asking-"now can I flush-now can I flush"-until we are done! We plan on potty training after the holidays-I feel he is ready! And we got him a Thomas the Train potty seat that he loves too.

He has been absolutely loving playschool-sadly it is over next week-it was just a month long thing-but it has been so good for him-he goes 3 times a week for an hour and a half. They make a craft and play games-etc. Our babysitter asked if he could come to it as part of her child development class lab. There are about 25 kids that go. He is so friendly and has no problem getting right in there! He even blows me and Katie a kiss and says: by mom I love you! see you in a while! ALL the teenagers in the class LOVE him and know him by name-Dan went to pick him up one day last week and one of the guys in the class said-you have such a stud for a son!

(Whatever that means-Dan thought it was funny)

The picture above is of his "bug glasses" that he made on bug day:)

Oh and just as a side note-he told me out of the blue the other day that I am his bestest mommy! Who knows where he gets this stuff but I sure do love it. He also now tells Dan and I to sleep tight and don't let bed bugs bight:)

Where is Katie....

Our house is like a "Where's Waldo" book when it comes to Katie:) She can be found in the most interesting places these days! Dan calls her his monkey cause she literally climbs ALL over the place! I walk into a room and do a quick scan to try and find where she might be "hanging" next"! She is so funny and taking more and more steps each day. We are so taken by her cute personality....and believe me she is fullllll of spunk and personality.

Just recently-she has started to pick up a little girly flair to her-she loves to get dressed up-brings me her socks and shoes to put on-and gets really excited when I get my make-up out -she is right there next to me putting on everything! She also LOVES lotion-and associates it with girlie-prettiness-whenever I put some on-she has to have some too! I have to admit-I really like this new stage-and enjoy that she likes imitating me:) So interesting that the innate "girl" instinct is just inside us!

Here are some of the spots we have found her lately:

*Sitting on the dishwasher door-she loves to help mommy take the dishes out!

*Sitting on the tray of her walker-she now can get in and out of her walker-very talented little missy I must say-so when she is hungry-she gets in and lets you know by making noises-"uh uh uh" and then she lets you know when she has had enough by just upright getting out and abandoning you:)

*On top of the the kid table in her green seat-this seems to be her "princess thrown" and she is often found sitting high and mighty! Usually-again-telling us she is ready to eat!

*Another favorite spot is the rocking chair in her room-she can get herself up into it and manages to get herself rocking back and forth!

Where I Have Been...

This seems to be a common question lately about my blogging status:) Where have you been? So I decided to tell you all where I have been-that is-anyone who still checks this:)
I am currently in the process of trying to complete a number of big projects:

1. I found a program and a good deal to make my book into a blog-it is in the finishing stages and includes my blog posts since I began blogging-I am super excited to have all of it in hard copy for my family to enjoy for years to come! It has 165 pages at the moment-so I have been tied up-editing and designing pages for it. I hope to send it in to be published this week!

2. I am also in the process of finishing a children's book:) That is all I will say for now-The writing has been done-and I am waiting on the artist who is finishing the pictures for me....more on this later.

3. I am excited to share that I have been chosen to blog for a Rexburg website on one of my favorite subjects...COUPONING and deals in Rexburg and Idaho Falls. I posted my first entry this weekend and will continue to do so daily or every other day-hoping to help those wanting to learn to save in Rexburg. I am absolutely phyced about this! You can check out my posts at www.rexburgsocial.com

4. We just finished pictures for our Christmas cards and I will be getting them ready to send out-if you would like one-please leave me your address in a comment or on facebook or email me:) You will be interested to know that I am sporting light brownish red hair in this years picture-it is quite interesting and I am still getting used to it.

5. Tavin is involved in Playschool-a program that some of the girls I teach at class are in for high school-it runs a month and he goes 3 times a week! So far he is loving it! And all the kids love him:)

6. Getting ready for the holidays! Putting up the tree and the christmas train and wrapping presents!
I promise to post soon and include video of Katie taking a couple steps!

Marshmallow Fondant

Buzz LightYear Spaceship

This is my very first attempt at making a birthday cake that was more than a square boxed cake with frosting from a can....and I have to say I am very happy with how it came out. In Daniel's words : " Wow this came out really good-usually things we try to make don't turn out looking anything like what we planned" :) Tavin Loved his cake and when he saw it he yelled: "MY SPECIAL CAKE!" His smile and joy made all the work of making the cake worth it.

My good friend Catherine showed me how to make marshmallow fondant-a lot easier than I thought it would be-and a lot of fun-kind of like edible play-doh-very sugary play-doh-the recipe consists of a whole bag of mini marshmallows and a 2 lb bag of confectionery sugar.

Lets just say it is very yummy cake! More on Tavin's Birthday fun to come...

At It Again!

My little photographer was at it again-he got a hold of my camera and took about 30 pictures of random objects and mystery items:) I was surprised at how good some of the pictures actually came out! And I like the angle on some of these shots-we can get a feel for how things look through his eyes and at his height. To me-a proud mommy-this is art at its finest:)

P.S. We are thinking of getting him a LeapFrog Camera-so he can take his very own pictures-then I won't have to go through and sort/delete a million on mine. I could here him in the living room trying to get Katie to pose for him:) The one of her that I posted was about as posed as she got. Evidently she wanted a try at the camera too.

Deep Sense Of Joy

My children bring me such a deep sense of joy that I cannot find in or through any other thing or person on this earth. Just watching the smile on Katie's face as she slid down the slide was priceless to me. And like children, we need to find happiness in the simple things-even something as small and insignificant as a slide....

Look What I Found in My Cupboard!

You never know where you might find Katie these days-she gets around that is for sure. This particular instance I had just finished cleaning and organizing the bathroom-including under the sink. About 10 minutes later, we could hear noises coming from the bathroom but when we went to see what was going on, all we found was a pile of all our cleaning supplies spread out all over the bathroom floor. No Katie...well at least until we saw her poke her head out from the cupboard:) Time to child proof I guess!

P.S. The very next day I found her in one of the kitchen cabinets-the one with all the Tupperware-the Tupperware was in a pile on the floor and she was squeaking from inside the cupboard. She didn't like this one as much though because she couldn't sit up straight!

P.P.S. Side note: Katie was playing in the bath tub the other day and I went to get her diaper from the bedroom...when I got back, she had one leg up on the side of the tub like she was trying to get out-I wondered why she didn't want to play anymore until I happened to glance in the water to see little floaties-yep she had pooped big time! It took an extra 40 minutes to get the bath tub cleaned out, disinfected, and then refilled and Katie washed! At least she was smart enough to know that she wanted to get out fast after pooping-she wanted nothing to do with it!

Quote of the Week

Tavin: Mom my tummy hurts!
Mom:It does! What is wrong?
Tavin: It needs some....cookies (said this very non-chalantly)
Mom: (getting it now-relieved that it wasn't a stomache ache) Oh you think it needs cookies do you! :)
Dan-laughing goes and gets a pack from the back and we all eat some oreo cakesters
About 30 min. later...
Tavin: mom...my tummy hurts again
Mom: (a little hesitant) it does?
Tavin: yes it needs....another cookie:)

This kid is smart! Don't worry I didn't give in the second time-but it sure made our night:)

Buzz and a Bee

We loved Celebrating Halloween this year-despite the yucky weather. Tavin is finally getting the idea of trick or treating and Candy-it was so fun taking him to the doors and hearing him say trick or treat. He loved all the attention he got from admiring candy-hander-outers and jumping in the rain puddles. He actually held out a lot longer than I expected-every time I asked him if he wanted to go in, he would say: "No I want to get more Candy!"

At one house he even went back for more candy-asking the Lady if he could get one for his mommy-He looks out for me:)

Katie girl liked the candy part and would bring anyone who was sitting around her a bag or bar to open-as you can imagine-the diapers were such a joy to clean the next day!

Carving Flames and A Monsterous Fellow!

Tavin's Pumpkin

Dan and Kendra's Pumpkin

Another one of out Halloween Activities was carving pumpkins! We got Tavin a "Mr. potato head" Halloween kit so he could actually make a face-he is a little to young for the carving part-although he wanted to help mommy and daddy carve theirs! Dan and I decided on a flame jacko-lantern face. I have to say, both came out very Halloweeny:)

Practice Run

Monster Eyes-cute and easy idea to store away for a future year

Buzz Light Year, The Easter Bunny, and a horse-WOW what a crowd

Buzz Light Year Meets Ms. Horse

This is one of my girls that I teach on Sundays-her name is Katie and she was a bee too!

The picture outside our house!

We had our church Trunk or Treat on Tuesday night-inside due to SNOW (yes I did say snow) the kids had a blast and practiced for the big Halloween night....getting the candy and EATING it!

Halloween Festivities

Tavin's cookies

Mckenna's cookies

We started off Halloween week by making LOTS (And I mean LOTS!) of yummy sugar cookies with our neighbors and Dan's sister Deedra (she came to visit us while she was getting things set to go to school here in January-we are very excited to have her close!) The kids got to decorate a few cookies on their own-note the sugar sprinkles piled as high as it could go! Can we say "Sugar High" but they had fun.

Have You Ever Seen Such Dirty Faces??

This is Tavin's best bud Mckenna-or Penna as he calls her. Their family joined us on our most recent hike to bechler falls during General Conference weekend and it was tons of fun! Guess what their favorite part of the hike was? Playing in the dirt in the parking lot after we were finished:)

Pumpkins In The Patch

This patch was just a few minutes drive from our home-there were tons to pick from-and every pumpkin Tavin came across was the "perfect one" so I spent a lot of time hauling pumpkins to our pile to be inspected:) Katie just really liked playing in the dirt! In the end-we found each of us a great pumpkin to carve-don't u love the little mini one we found for Katie! I thought it matched her size just right. And Tavin was proud that he could carry that one to the checkout stand for her:)

Fall Is My Favorite!

Family Trip to Corn Belly's-Katie in the Corn Pit

Finding the "perfect one" for Katie

Tavin Amid all the pumpkins and a few of these stalk like things....he liked this one for some reason and wanted a picture with it-I am sure it made the stalk feel good to be noticed:)

The colors turning on the trees-one of our recent hikes near our house

I Love Fall the best out of all the seasons....the smell of the cooling of the air, the changing of the colors, spices, pumpkins, looming holiday season, coziness, beautiful sunsets, smell of fireplaces....I could go on and on-I just like it a lot. Too bad that here in Idaho it only really lasts for a couple of weeks before the snow shows up.... speaking of which the forecast for Monday is 45 degrees and snow.

We went pumpkin picking yesterday and carried on the Smith tradition of starting a pile of all the pumpkins we think are good ones-after searching high and low for them-then lining them up-and choosing the bestest from the pile. When we were younger, my dad would take us out to a real pumpkin patch-on a wagon ride-then allow us to go through this process until we found our perfect one...as long as we could carry it all the way back to the wagon-hold it for the wagon ride-and haul it to the checkout stand, it was ours:) I remember hefting some pretty big pumpkins! Had to take breaks as I was walking back to the wagon. I hope that my children will grow up having fond memories of this tradition like I have!

Katie Is One!

Katie had a blast celebrating turning one year old! Time has flown by so fast and I am so proud of the little person she has become. We blew bubbles, opened presents, played with balloons, and best of all-got messy eating cupcakes! She LOVED it when we sang to her-clapped her hands and jumped up and down in her chair. At first she was very timid about eating her own cupcake-wondering if it was ok....but she didn't need much encouraging to dive right in! We put her in the tub when she was finished-there wasn't a place that the cupcake didn't get into-nose, diaper, hair, and all!

She is such a fun little girl-and so independent/adventurous-she wants to be a part of everything and isn't affraid to give something a try.

She is our drama queen, our stunt man, our loving little princess. We absolutely enjoy every minute of watching her grow up...just as long as it isn't too fast!

She is now standing up on her own-and will randomly decide to do this-she can use things to walk around the room-and we suspect that walking is not far off. She has also started to say mom and dad....well more like ma and da. And is just as smart as her brother.

Things Katie Loves:

Her green Turtle blanket! I have tried to replace this thing with a ton of other blankets-even ones that are the same size, and fabric-and she still doesn't like/won't go to sleep-with anything but her green blankie! I guess I better learn how to sew so I can sew up the holes this sucker is getting from all the love she gives it.

To eat! Especially bannana-she is such a tiny thing that you couldn't tell that she eats whenever she can.

To play peekaboo

To go down slides-she tries to do this on her own-despite me trying to make sure she gets down safe.

Fliping through books-following in her mom and brother's footsteps

Baths-usually will stay entertained for about 20 minutes

Outside-swinging and playing in the dirt/sand/woodchips-going on walks/rides in the wagon

Being walked around

Thanks to my family for helping us celebrate and for ALL your help in raising her!

Last Museum Post Part 3

Few...last post....So there was an eating area out on a deck on the second floor that had a huge helicopter the kids could get in and pretend to drive-had sound effects to go along with it.

We ate snack at the picnic tables and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

The second floor is more geared toward older kids-a lot more "building activities" and there was a stage to put on your own shows, as well as a TV studio to pretend you were a weather man, etc. I enjoyed watching Aidan especially-he really liked to build his own stuff. Check out the tower he made.

All in all-it was a GREAT day.