post-holiday deliciousness

Every year I look forward to the deliciousness that happens at Dave's work. It's amazing! I could say I would like it every weekend but then again, I'd be massive! Good times were had and I may have eaten my weight in some chocolate mint cookie goodness. Seriously... they were the schnizzle!

Mallory + tequila = whatever that face is ;)

 sistas

 and this is usually how it ends :)

 Austyn had enough

 Drew on the run... check out those ridiculously adorable boots from Aunt Pigg!

 all the little girls at the shop drew these and then went around selling to all those not of sound mind... hilarious!

they divided the money the next morning and each of them made 5 dollas ;)

Nash would NOT look at the camera. We may have another Tayt!

and then there is Dave and me... craziness :)

my slightly scary face aside... I sure love that guy!

Check out more from this night over here via Casey! :)

another one bites the dust

Anyone who knows the Smith's and the Smith children knows they fall asleep anywhere. And when I say anywhere, I mean it... *anywhere* reference mid-day snoozzz on the deck and late night pass out on the counter (via Casey).  And those are only a couple caught on camera. I could quite possibly do a daily Smith pass out section on this blog as well... we'll not add more to the plate... yet.

Drew has gotten in this wonderful *insert sarcasm* habit of waking up at 6:00 a.m.  Super fun. This isn't so bad but by 12:30 she is a complete wreck.  This particular day, she went without a fight and I couldn't help myself. I left her there for a bit just to make sure she wouldn't scream when I put her in her crib, and as I anticipated... she wasn't a fighter. :)

fashion show

Austyn came home from school last week and must have been talking 'fashion' with the other little girls in her class because she insisted on performing a 'fashion show' for us. Usually I would feature her choices in fashion on the daily Smith fashion posts, but this was just too cute. She performed this fashion show right before bedtime and couldn't have been more proud of herself. I do have to add that she's getting this pose thing but I'm not sure from where... :)

nap days

Sometimes Very rarely all 3 little ones lay down for a nap. at the same time. *miraculous*

pictured below in order of succumbing to the dreaded nap...



while I should have taken a nap with them, I'm sure I did something else more productive and less ... fun. next Monday I may take more advantage of this and snooze with them!

(almost) daily photos

In a very minor effort to learn how to use my camera, I sorta kinda made a "goal" to use it every day. Here's where those resolutions come in to play. Here is also where the goals-need-to-be-written comes in to play. It hasn't happened. I've done pretty good but not every day. Regardless, here are some of the photos from my attempt thus far.

Note: We will not be short on photos of Drew. Oops. :)

January 5, 2012

January 6, 2012

 January 9, 2012

 January 10, 2012

 (moon shots are a learning process that obviously, I haven't mastered yet. but the moon was beautiful. not in this photo)  ;)

 January 11, 2012

 January 13, 2012

 January 17, 2012

ouch... missed 6 days so far this month. writing this goal down. immediately!

(some dates have their own post...soon) :)

daily Smith fashion

Tayt got this jersey from my parents... only because it was *not* going to fit Peyton, who it was meant for. So Tayt got to try it on and never took it off. He wears it as much as I'll let him. Unfortunately, for all you/us Packer fans... it's over this year. Boo. Dave is still very bitter!

Tayt (5):
Jersey: Jordy Nelson Youth jersey from Grandma & Grandpa Z
Shirt: last season dinosaur T-shirt from JCP
Pants: hand-me-down Nike's from Peyton
Shoes: hand-me-down New Balance's from Peyton

online community & green thumb

Since the beginning of my blogging, I have run across quite a few blogs I enjoy reading. Some I read often. Some I forget to read. Most I need to read more regularly to keep up. All of which, again, I enjoy.

Awhile back I ran across this post... probably during my never ending search for practical nursing tops of any kind ... or possibly through this blog.

I follow both of these lovely ladies blogs and also on Twitter and Instagram. You might call me an online stalker... but I promise not the crazy kind :)  As a family of 8, it is quite difficult and sometimes near impossible to find other families with similar beliefs and routines as ours, and it is very nice/fun/refreshing to find other ladies online to read about and relate to... regardless if I'll ever meet them or talk with them. Our small Instagram interactions I will take! :)

Now... anyone who knows me knows I am not much of a green thumb. Someone once told me it was impossible to kill an Easter Lily... that they are the easiest plants to keep alive... yeah, reference here.

In an effort to promote simpler, healthier living and a great product of a fellow "onliner," check out these amazing plants!

While I can't promise one of these plants will be in our immediate future... about 4-5 months ago we put ourselves on an *extremely* tight budget (as in Nash is in the middle of potty training and Drew is wearing strictly cloth diapers)... I'd love for everyone to check these out and at the very least consider adding one to your house. And seeing as it's oh... 28 degrees today, a nice fresh, green plant would really brighten anyone's day!

** also check out Maryam's blog post for 25% these wonderful plants!

belated resolutions 2012

Seems as though I'm a little ahead of my usual self in 2012. Posting my New Year's resolutions 3 days earlier than last year. Who am I? ;)

After a whole year 9 days of serious pondering, I *think* I've come up with some reasonable goals/resolutions yet again for this year. Again... I'm not sure any of these will be "accomplished," but I'm sure going to try... again.

First... I'm rereading last year's goals... this may or may not be the first time I've looked at them since actually writing them... mayyyy not...

1.  Be a better me.
This probably didn't happen...
2.  Organize and schedule. Everything.
Being honest... this has only gotten mildly better.
3.  Read.
Okay... who wrote these goals. Is this a joke? TWO books a month. I'll admit... that was a lofty goal. No books to TWO books a month. That was a joke... rewriting *that* one! BUT... just for the record, I read 5 or 6 books last year... and I say 5 or 6 because there's a certain 5 year old in this house who learned to delete notes on my phone and wiped clean all my notes. and then I cried. a lot. sore subject. ANY way... these are the books I remember/wrote down... 1) It Sucked and then I Cried by Heather Armstrong; 2) Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey (this is my next read yet again this year... determined... again); 3) Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson; 4) Population: 485 - Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry; and 5) I can't remember...
4.  Exercise.
Well... this didn't happen. I lost almost 40 lbs in the last year. Okay, okay... that may not count since it was all baby weight but come on! I tried. Fine... I didn't try. I nursed. Cheater. Yes, I know! :) We're done nursing. and this is reallllllly hard on me. I'll not go there. *sigh* anywayyyyy, I can't promise exercise will be on 2012 goals/resolutions list.

MOVING ON....

As with everything I want to do, I have tons and TONS of ideas running through my head. So many things I want to do. So many things I feel I need to do. What gets done is usually only what I like to do. I think that in and of itself should be a goal. Do things that not only need to get done, but that I do not want to do. If I did that and only that, my frig would be clean. Nevermind. I take that back. Here are my REAL goals/resolutions for 2012 ;)

side note... while listening to podcast Episode 11 - Decision Making, I learned a few things about setting goals... definitely worth a listen when you have an extra 46 minutes but in short, goals need to be 1) specific, 2) measurable, 3) yours, 4) have a time limit, and 5) in writing.

* learn to use my camera
* organize my home and life MORE
* read daily
* be more involved in the kids' school(s), church, and community
* stop picking, cussing, and yelling

I'm not going into tooooo much detail on all of these because I have to sit down and set some "measurements" and be more specific regarding each of them.

OH... the best one of all, forgot...

* learn football

completely inspired necessary while in this house. and something Dave is *really* going to appreciate. who doesn't want to talk football with their wife!?! yeah... I laughed here too... ha!

All in all, I'm feeling very motivated. Casey, we may no longer be friends. Watchyermouth! ;)  At the moment, my house is clean, laundry is waiting to be folded, supper is on the counter waiting to be prepared, Nash is hopefully somewhere in clean/dry BIG BOY UNDERWEAR, Drew is sleeping in her crib... peacefully... and I'm going to think of something else to get ahead on... this may all sound too good to be true, indeed... keeping my fingers crossed and praying 2012 is more productive than 2011 :)

one of a kind

For days leading up to this day, we received texts and random phone calls so as not to forget what special day was coming up... well, it was yesterday... oops!  Happy Birthday to a man who never says no, makes me laugh nonstop, makes me so proud to be his daughter, and fixes all my crap... I love you, Dad!

oh ... and no, there is no "Annual Mid-Winter Father's Day" coming up next month ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dad!

you're the best one of a kind  :)

 photo c/o Mom

classic - deer. in. headlights.

cinco anos!

Birthday celebrations in this house are a must. and a joy. I think I may start a new tradition that I read here. Love the idea of the kids waking up their birthday morning to a bunch of gifts...granted, we might make them wait to open the gifts until Dad is home from work (be it a work/school day) but I *love* this idea :)

Here are some photos from Tayt's birthday celebration!

Every photo I ever take of this child he is looking at something else...never fails!



More to come on The Cake... it was kind of a big deal ;)

Christmas!

There is quite the abundance of photos to follow but I didn't want to do multiple posts so here goes...

Christmas around here is always wonderful. Kids. Family. Church. Gifts. Love it all. It seems so chaotic right up until Christmas. Then the blur of the celebration. And then I look back and wonder how it went so fast. I think a 2012 resolution of mine might be to start Christmas this year earlier. Dave might not be so fond of this idea but we'll see... ;)

Our Christmas Eve started like this...

Every year we travel west to my aunt's house for Christmas Eve. We look forward to this every year. Great times were had this year as usual!

What you are about to watch is a lot of odd with a side of slightly disturbing. And also could be quite hilarious. They're taking this quite seriously...

and then the kids had their turn :)

After a few hours at my aunt's, we traveled back east to Dave's parents. Everyone makes out pretty well here as well :)

Nash fell asleep on the ride and missed Christmas Eve at Dave's parents. We were okay with that! Tayt is in *love* with his skeleton hoodie from Dave's parents! 

 Someone got my camera &this is what I found on it. Thanks Casey &Jake! ;)

After maybeeeee 5 hours of sleep Christmas Eve and mass at 7:30 a.m... SEVEN THIRTY IN THE MORNING...we did it. We made it through. Gave our thanks. And it was worth it. The kids had a great morning and being up that early we got to relax some before my family arrived.

Dave managed to sneak in a nap Christmas Day. ;) 

My dad made the neatest work bench for Tayt. Lots of hammering went on! (&then some arguing)  :)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. We are *so* very thankful and blessed for our family &friends! Thank you to all of you!