another app to waste my time

I took the leap and added this app to my phone probably 6 months ago now and just the other day gave it another try. The real reason...my phone is out of memory and I'm not able to take videos unless it's through an app. Bummer! andddd mostly because I'm too lazy to delete things off my phone. Also on my to-do list ;) for those of you who aren't familiar with this fairly new app, here's Rowdy being rowdy. enjoy!

if you're not hearing the sound, hover over the top left corner of the video and it should show you a speaker to enable/click

FYI: she's telling me to 'git' right at the end. stink butt!

21/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Peyton: in his element.
Lia: deep in thought.
Austyn: artist in the making. always with writing utensil.
Tayt: no words for this one.
Nash: working hard at riding his bike.
Drew: looking a bit like white trash.
Meg: smiling as usual.

My beloved camera has now officially been to more states than I. She's made her way to California and I can only assume someone from Nikon is working their little heart out so she gets back to me quickly and safely... working through the night, I just know it!

In the meantime, I must utilize my phone even more to capture my 52 of 2013 photos... as if I don't use it enough the way it is.

I was inspired by Jodi to catch the kiddos in action. Doing something besides staring at my camera waiting for me to take the photo and be done. While their faces are the most incredible things and I love to look at them daily (yes, sap!), I do also like to look back and see actually what they enjoyed doing at this point in time. what they were interested in. So... that's my new adventure, if you can call it that, and I'll try to do that here and there for each of them.

daily Smith fashion

Nash (almost 4 in this photo):
T: hand-me-down from Tayt from our adventure to NYC when Nash was 5 weeks old (I may have purchased it online after our trip... unsure)
Shorts: hand-me-down from Peyton and then Tayt (similar)
Kicks: his DC "new shoes" or "fast shoes" (depends on his mood) gift for his 3rd birthday from Casey &Jake

Daily Smith fashion posts have also taken a back burner to keeping up around the house. This isn't to say the photos haven't been taken. I just haven't sat down to put them on the blog. This was Nash's attire in the middle of January... in Central Wisconsin... I guarantee it was less than 30 degrees outside at the time of this photo. Crazy child. Good thing some weeks in the winter the only thing we leave the house for is Sunday morning mass :)

etsy Sunday

I've been absolutely terrible keeping up with my blogging as of late. I've been doing reasonably well with laundry, keeping the house clean, trimming the lawn, etc, etc... and because of that, my blogging has taken a back burner. None of the kids are doing activities this summer, which I'm actually completely okay with, but I suspect our summer will be just as busy with bonfires, bags in the field, cook outs, gardening, relaxxxxxing... I'm very much looking forward to it!

In another attempt to catch up and keep up with my blogging, here are some of the goodies I've had saved in my etsy folder (which is quite beyond ridiculous now...oops!). Enjoy!

***

I would *love* to make this! Now to find a pattern for the thing... I have NO idea how to do this. I'm going to make an extreme guess here, but I think each of these triangles are made separate and then knit/sewn together... knit friend? help me out. throw me a bone here... ;)

knitted triangle pattern baby blanket  $85

I have a 25$ gift card for etsy just waiting for me to decide what I need to get. For some reason I'm leaning toward a piece of jewelry or another bag. As if I need another go-to bag and I never change my necklace... but that's what's catching my eye right now. And maybe not necessarily this particular piece but I like it nonetheless.

chevron pendant necklace  $35

zebra plush toy  $50

We have a wedding coming up in Florida, but I think this would be more appropriate for running around instead of ceremony attire... maybe... I'm no good at this dressing girly stuff. Ugh!

bridesmaids dress  $48

mint Peruvian opal teardrop earrings  $44

keepsake dish  $26

Dave has always wanted to vacation in Hawaii. I guesssssss we can do that some day ;) but this would be fun to put in our entryway. Accent my crazy green walls ;)

aloha reclaimed wood sign  $155

infinity scarf  $30

market tote  $86

There ya go. A post. 

Next goal: read the Bible. Kidding! Not really... it's on the list. Honest. 

Next goal on the blog list: Smith daily fashion post. Keep an eye out for it ;)

20/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Peyton: started this crazy, beautiful mess.

Lia: keeps me on my toes.

Austyn: teaching me to be girly.

Nash: melts my heart.

Drew: going to test us.

Meg: makes me want more.

I'm in the process of catching up my 52 in 2013 posts. I feel like all I'm doing is apologizing. I don't have much to report in the last couple weeks. I like it when things are calm and relaxing... kind of. There is always laundry to do, email to read, photos to take, dishes to wash, meals to make, and did I mention the laundry... I may have to do a post dedicated entirely to our new laundry process. Laundry seems to be topic of conversation when people ask about our big family...add it to my list ;)

I received a few emails with questions you followers would like to know about our family. I promise I haven't forgotten about them. Thank you so much for your questions! I promise I will attempt to answer most of them :)

These photos were taken throughout the day on Mother's Day. My goal to have one of myself with all the kiddos didn't happen. Boo. I'll take this! AND seeing as my camera is now on her way to Californ-eye-aaaayyy... I'll have to be a little more creative and sneaky with my Instagram so I'm getting photos on the blog that aren't doubles.  :)

19/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Peyton: confused.
Lia: always silly.
Austyn: always smiling.
Tayt: pretending to be an old man.
Nash: super excited about rocks.
Drew: pretty, pretty princess.
Meg: everything in the mouth.

I apologize this week is extremely late. I could blame it on my camera breaking, butttt it wasn't done before my camera broke like it should have been. My 20/52 will be from Mother's Day... and that I'll blame on the camera breaking ;)

crazy day part 02: first communion

This hectic Saturday almost 3 weeks ago was pretty darn special. Tayt being miniature prom king and Austyn receiving her First Communion. Austyn loves dresses in any size, shape, or form so she was pretty tickled to wear Lia's handmade dress. (no, I did not make it. a friend of ours had her mother make it. and we love it!) And she also was able to wear my Mom's wedding veil (courtesy of Casey). She really looked so nice!

Lia sang in the choir (bottom left, right by the organ)

Peyton helped serve

daddy's girl

Mass for First Communion began at 7pm. The class was ready to be done. Austyn was not very willing to take photos :(

We are very blessed to have Father H with us. Every time we catch rumor of priests being moved around our diocese, I cringe at the thought of him possibly leaving. I think he may be with us for some time...and that is sincerely my hope! He does a great job with everything!

18/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Peyton: growing into a fine young man.
Lia: all her own.
Austyn: diva.
Tayt: curious.
Nash: adventurer.
Drew: all up in that sand.
Meg: so much going on in those amazing eyes.