My Champions Of Breakfast

-- Post From My iPhone

She Wants To Be An Adult...

I had a fun conversation with Hailey this week. When she was little, we s-t-r-u-g-g-l-e-d to get her to eat. She just didn't eat much food. Now, she's still bitty, but we don't have a problem getting her to eat a balanced diet (in fact, she told me last week as she was dipping fresh green beans in ranch and eating them completely on her own that she really loved them and she hoped we'd have them more....I was speechless, which is difficult to achieve.). We've learned that she's just Hailey and she knows how much to eat and when to eat. Anyways, one of the things we would tell her was that in order for her to go from being a kid to an adult, she was going to have to grow to be big and strong, which would mean she'd have to eat. We haven't had this conversation in years.....until this week....

Scene: The girls and I are eating breakfast together. They all had pancakes. Landry LOVES pancakes AND breakfast. She had cleaned off two pancakes and was working on her banana at this point.

Hailey: Mom, I think Landry really wants to be an adult.

Me: Why do you think that? I think she's happy being one.

H: Well....look at her eat. It's like she's trying to eat so much food that she's forgotten the order.

Me: What order?

H: You know, first you're a baby, then a kid, then an adult. She's eating so much, she's trying to get to be an adult before she's a KID! I think she's got it mixed up. Silly Landry!

Have I mentioned how much I love Hailey being 5? The girl is just funny, thoughtful and remembers EVERYTHING. Today, we were planting flowers outside in our backyard and the ice cream truck drove by. Trey ran to stop it while I gathered the girls and got some coins. We all sat on the lawn and ate our ice cream together and Hailey said, "last time we got food from the ice cream truck, I had a Dora ice cream bar." Trey and I just looked at each other with big eyes. It's true, that's what she had the last time we stopped the ice cream truck. Thing is....the last time we stopped the ice cream truck was when we lived at our OLD house and she was TWO OR THREE. There are moments that I fear she's going to remember random things from her childhood and use it against me.

She's also been very sweet to Reese lately too. At the gym last Friday, the girls love to push a button that lets us in. I told Hailey that she could push it that day because she had helped Reese get dressed that morning. Reese started crying (helloooooo stereotypical two year old) and Hailey looked at her and said, "don't cry Reese, it's ok, you can push the button." Truthfully, my heart melted a bit as I told Hailey how proud I was of her. Could it be that my children ARE GETTING ALONG???? I'm sure we'll always have the back and forths, but it sure made my day to see them working so nicely with each other! It's the little things that count!

When Baking

Hailey ALWAYS wears her apron.


Because it can be a dirty, dirty job.



-- Post From My iPhone

She Did It...

I was somehow hoping to avoid this.



I stopped her half way through the snip.

Reese....found the scissors....and in her own words, "I cutted my hair."

Just another day!
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Can Someone Tell Landry...

That waffles don't taste as good when you sit on them!



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Easter 2010

Here are a few pictures from Easter! I don't have them egg hunting because we put it on video and I haven't had a chance to download that yet.

I had many plans for Easter. There was to be egg dying, egg decorating, story telling, pre-Easter egg hunting.....ohhhhh the plans I had. And then, we...got....hit...with...another....STOMACH....virus. WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO ATTRACT THESE THINGS? (don't answer that, I know...we have three children 5 and under....we're magnets for it) I will not go on-and-on about how looooong it lasted or how awful we felt (or the head-to-toe, itchy HIVES I GOT because apparently MY body decided to be ALLERGIC to the virus and the fact that at one point, I was sure my body had just had it and was shutting down and I was on my way out....can I be a bit dramatic at times? Possibly. I already know this).

Anyways, the important point is that we all survived and are all better now. And, even though we all weren't 100% on Easter (the girls were), we absolutely went to church and celebrated and Hailey told me she thought that the day was just great! So, mission accomplished!

Hailey and Reese (and Jake)

I even caught them kissing!

Me and the girlies.

Daddy and Landry. I really love this pic.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebrating that HE IS RISEN!

Perspective

Some might say that I failed to get a good, group picture of the girls this Easter. I disagree.

As compared to last year, we've improved 66%.

Here's to Easter 2011!

Sometimes Motherhood Is....

Gross (and secretly really funny at the same time). I will say this....I'm blogging about this because I'm turning these into a book for my family for stories way down the road. Stories, in which, someday, I'm pretty sure we'll laugh about when we reminisce. At least I hope so. You have all been forewarned.

There's a reason I have really tried to develop open communication with my children. We talk about the good, the bad, the ugly. I want them to know they can come to me even when it may not be what they want to do. I may not respond how they want, but I'll be there to listen. Of course, I'm thinking more about teenage years, but today applied. And I'm glad she came to me.

Conversation goes like this:

Hailey: Mom, guess what?

Me: What?

H: Ummm....well.....I had to go to the bathroom, so I went upstairs.

Me: Ok.

H: And.....ummmm....there was no toilet paper when I went.

Me: Oh, sorry I didn't know you were out.

H: That's ok, since there was no toilet paper, I just went ahead and used the towels to wipe.

Me: WHAT? Which towels?

H: The ones hanging up on the wall.

Me: Why don't you bring the towel downstairs to me, it needs to be washed (or chunked).

H: Which towel?

Me: Let's go ahead and bring BOTH of them.

Ahhhhh.....just another day.

I Knew It Would Happen

She did it. She's decided she has an opinion. I'd hoped she'd just stay cute (ok, she's still that), cuddly and agreeable forever. Apparently the stubborn gene is dominate and Trey and I might just have it (emphasis on "might").
Her first major disagreement with her mother....


The actual need for a baby gate. Can't a girl just waddle up the stairs when she pleases? Mommy says....I don't think so!
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Hanging With My Girl

Tonight, Hailey and I filled eggs for her Easter party at school tomorrow. We got Reese's ready too. I remember when I only had Hailey to take care of (WHAT A JOKE THAT WAS! Sorry...had to add that) and I use to think about her getting older and how I couldn't wait to hang out with her rather than care for her every need. And....I've gotten there. And....I love it. She's past the stubborn two's where I thought she and I would butt heads forever over me trying to get her to eat, while she refused, and over constant "debates" on what she was going to wear (aka. whatever I wanted, she refused). Don't get me wrong, I loved just having her (AGAIN, WHAT A JOKE THAT WAS!) and she and I had way more fun moments than bad, but now she's reached a new stage.

We get to talk back and forth. She has the greatest sense of humor. She's sensitive and so creative. Her sisters adore her and she knows it and she sets a good example for them most of the time.

So tonight, I took this picture because I want to make sure I always note the little things in our family.....like hanging out together on the floor and putting eggs together for Easter.

And then, I pulled out the video camera because we had music playing in the background and she started dancing and I wanted to capture the pure, innocent, Hailey that loves to go crazy and dance. I miss her being little, but I love that she's growing into such a happy child. And I really love that she loves to hang out with me because I know this phase will not last forever. You know what she's excited about for tomorrow? We're going shopping for her Easter dress. She let me know that she wants to pick it out this year because she just loves shopping....that's my Hailes!

Just Another Wednesday

Hailey loves (and I mean LOVES) gymnastics. I caught her doing a backroll here.


She goes every Weds. And while she's doing her thing, I get to watch and hang with the other girlies. Here's how they fill the hour:
Reese acts like Reese (and drinks from the water fountain most of the time)...

And Landry likes to catch up on some computer time while eating a healthy snack...


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Extra Jelly Beans?

Hailey is having a big 100 days of school party tomorrow. She had to count out 100 jelly beans (to use as toppings for their ice cream party). And since there were leftovers, she.....



Made a castle with the rest....DUH! Too bad I missed the part where she even had grass. I love this girl and her love of princesses. She's got such a creative mind....unlike her unartistic mother. Maybe she can give me tips.
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A True Princess

Never leaves cake batter behind.


Never has time to stop for pictures.


And never finds a clean face to be that important.



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my iPhone

Springtime Is HERE!!!

My favorite season here is spring. I love the weather (minus the violent storms that occur at times). Well, on the first day of spring this year, we got 6 inches of snow. Snow is supposed to be for Christmas time. NOT March. HOWEVER, 24 hours later, it was 65-70 degrees and back to my ideal weather today. So, today we popped open the windows. I made a nice springtime dinner that included fresh strawberries, raspberries, spinach salad, broccoli and tuna casserole.

Let's talk dinner for a moment. We've developed a new routine around here. If it were up to Reese and Hailey, they would eat strawberries and bananas every meal and skip the casserole or main course. Well, they'd skip the main course and try to go right to the brownies that is. So, in order to get them to eat, we've developed a "thing." Whichever kid takes a big bite of either veggies or the main course gets to have the rest of the table start chanting their name while pounding the table over and over....moving faster and faster until you can't say their name anymore. It works. Even Landry has joined in. Side note: we do it for Landry just to make sure she isn't left out. She had NO problem helping herself to three servings of tuna casserole tonight....I....LOVE....HER. So, needless to say, our dinners now consist of lots of table pounding, over and over again, but the girls think it is so funny AND they eat. Mission accomplished.

Since the girls did so well at dinner tonight and the weather was beautiful, Trey told Hailey and Reese he'd take them fishing. They were pumped. And this is the picture I received from him about 5 minutes after they started fishing:



A four pound fish. Not too shabby. WELCOME SPRING!

Smith Girls' First Road Trip!

Well, a few weeks ago, the girls and I loaded up for 5 days full of fun, family and driving. We went on our first road trip together. Trey had training in Omaha and since it's our last year to not have a child in full time school, we decided to ditch preschool and hit the road to see family. We stayed a night with my dad in Ark City, then went onto Topeka for two nights, where we stayed with my Aunt Rhonda and Uncle David, however we went back and forth to Lawrence those days also to see Aunt Tracey, Uncle Chris and the cousins. Then, back to Ark City for a night before making the long haul back to Texas. All in all, that was 1,165 miles in five days. It was a lot of time in the car, but really....we adjusted to it. The girls were awesome and seeing family always is worth it once we make it there. It makes me miss not having them close. I just love my family....all of my family.

However, on the last night....before the big haul back to Texas, Reese and I got either some sort of bug or food poisoning. What it was made no matter, point being we were both sick and drove back home where Trey was so graciously waiting for me to arrive and to take over so I could crash and sleep off the illness. It was the longest drive I've ever made to Texas. I even tried to pull over to a McD's for lunch and smelled the fries and quickly realized the girls were going to have to live on cheerios and car snacks until we got home (I know I'm sick when I don't want FRIES....). It was so good to be home. But, we'll do it again because watching those cousins play together is priceless.

Hailey and Keely

Making crazy faces while eating pizza.

Landry and Libby. I want to take pictures of them together through the years since they're only 7 months apart. We shall call the first one, "The shoeless, drooling, leaning girls." I can't wait to see how they grow and change through the years. And....Libby told me that she already knows she wants to room with Landry at Texas A&M someday. I sure do love Libby.

Landry, Abby and Kee. Another side note....Abby wrote in her journal that she wanted to move to Texas and live with me and Uncle Trey. Since Chris and Tracey won't listen to me to move here, I'm now going after their children for support. I know they appreciate this, almost as much as when Trey and I gave Abby her first harmonica that she loved to play so loudly, indoors :).

Hailey and Connor. Perfect playmates.

And one more picture. We drove through lots of rain, but on the positive side, the girls got to see their first rainbow. And it was a full double rainbow. They thought that was so special.