Halloween Party at School

Kate and Charlie had Halloween parties at their school. It started with a cute Halloween parade where all the kids wore their costumes and walked around the school for all the parents. Then the parites started in their classrooms. I was going up and down the stairs trying to split my time between Charlie's class and Kate's class. I got some great pictures of my kiddos and some of their friends.

 

 

Boo at The Zoo and Halloween

Halloween this year was a lot of fun.  We started by choosing our costumes.  Kate decided she and Charlie were going to be pirates.  So, she was Izzy (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and Charlie was Jake.  Henry wore a cute pumpkin outfit.  We went to Riverbanks Zoo to meet all the grandparents for Boo at the Zoo.  The kids had a great time walking around the zoo and getting lots of candy and treats. 

 

 

We also went Trick or Treating with the Hauck family.  Kate and her friend, Kendall, ran around the neighborhood, while Charlie and I slowly walked from house to house getting candy.

 

 

Corn Maze

This fall, we also went to a corn maze.  Me and the kiddos had a great time playing in the corn boxes, riding on the hay ride, and walking in the corn maze.  We didn't get lost in the maze, which was a good thing.  The kids also had fun playing on the the huge sand pile and sliding down the tube. Here are some pictures from our fun day.

 

 

Pumpkin Patch

 Every fall, I go and get pumpkins and mums to decorate our front porch.  This year I took the kiddos to a patch and I was hoping to get some cute pictures of them with their pumpkins.  But, they were not interested in taking pictures.  Charlie was having too much fun pulling the wagon and Kate was looking at the flowers.  Henry was just hanging out in his stroller.  I didn't get that one picture of my kiddos together with pumpkins, but I did get some other good ones.

 

 

 

Potty Training With Charlie

So my little man, Charlie, is two and a half which is about the time we started to work with Kate on potty trainging.  Everyone says that boys are harder, and I do agree.  My little man could care less about the potty.  That is until it is bedtime.  He always wants to sit on the potty right before bed.  For the most part, this is just him trying to stall bedtime.  Anyway, for anyone who knows Charlie, he does not stop.  He is always doing something.  So, it is really hard for me to get him to stop playing and go sit on the potty.  I set the timer for every 15 minutes, but he doesn't care.  I offer M&M's but he doesn't care.  Kate even tries to encourage him.  He could care less about the potty.  Then I did have an idea.  I wanted him to at least sit on the potty for a period of time, and maybe he would go.  Charlie loves the iPad and he loves watching Disney Jr. on it.  So, I set up the iPad one day in the bathroom and he sat there on the potty watching Handy Manny.  He still didn't go potty, but I got a really cute picture of him and his sister.  The adventures of potty training still continue, and one day Charlie will use the big boy potty.  Let's hope that happens before Daddy gets home.  I will keep you posted.

Bob the Spider

 

Meet Bob the Spider.  This spider created a web right outside our garage.  It was in a perfect spot for the kiddos to see it up close.  They liked checking on it every morning before school.  They also looked for it when we got home in the afternoon.  I really am not a fan of spiders, however, I have to admit that it was kinda cool to watch.  Then one morning, after a rain storm, we discovered that Bob was gone.  Kate and Charlie were really sad by this.  Charlie was always the first one to say, "Bob the Spider, Mommy" when we were getting in the car.  Luckily, I think I found Bob or at least a spider that looks a lot like Bob in our neighbors bushes.  So, we still check on "Bob" every morning and afternoon.  The kidds just love looking at this thing, and it does take cool pictures.

Photography Fun

I had the opportunity to this weekend to attend a photography workshop.  At this workshop, I learned how to use our Canon Rebel better.  I learned so much about what I can do with this camera.  I am so excited about getting better pictures of my wonderful kiddos.  Here are a few pictures that I have taken since this weekend.  I am still learning how to work with the light, so these pictures are not perfect.   Thank you so much to Ashley Essig at Joyful Images Photography for the wonderful workshop.

Joyful Images Photography

 

Henry Patrick Smith

Henry is the third little angel that joined our family in April.  Each month I have been taking pictures of him to document how fast he is growing.  It is hard to believe he is five months old.  Here are some pictures of Henry from the past five months.

Funny Events While Adam is Gone

So, I have had some interesting things happen since Adam has been gone.  My mother-in-law tells me that I have to share these stories on the blog.  So here we go.....

 

Story #1

Growing up, I would help with yard work when I had to.  I knew how to cut the grass on a riding lawn mower and how to use a push mower.   Cutting grass is not something I enjoy, but I will do it.  I would rather plant pretty flowers instead, that is my kind of yard work.  Well, with Adam away, our grass has to get cut.  So, it is up to me to take care of that.  So, I started with the back yard, which I am scared of because of all the bugs, and I saw a snake back there once.  Anyway, we have some trees back there, so I have to clear our all the falling branches first.  Kate was helping with that, until I saw that she was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (those little bugs love both of us).  After I sent her inside, I began to cut the back yard.  The backyard was not a big deal.  I was excited that I got one yard finished and it wasn't too hard.  I then moved onto the front yard.  As I begin to cut the front yard, I find myself having a really hard time pushing the lawn mower.  Our grass seems to be really thick, I guess Adam did a good job with the fertilizer this spring.  So, I keep pushing and pushing, but I feel like I am getting no where.  This grass is too thick for me.  I was so tired ( and it got dark), that I could not finish the front yard that night.  The next day I go back out to finish it, and I struggled and struggled.  I finally got it cut.  After I was finished I started thinking, I should not have had to struggle so much to cut grass.  I am not that out of shape or weak, why was that so hard?  Later that day, I find out from my husband that our push mower was not self propelled.  NO WONDER I had such a hard time.  I wanted to hurt Adam when I talked to him that day.  Needless to say, I found a company to come an cut our grass for me.  I am going to stick with the kind of yard work I like, planting seasonal flowers in my flower pots. 

 

Story #2

After being away for the weekend, me and the three kiddos get home and we start doing our normal things.  They watch some TV and play, while I unpack the car and everything else.  As I am unpacking, I am noticing some white spots on the hard wood floors.  I keeping looking around the house and notice more on windows and even in our bathtub.  I look closer and realize that it is poop from something.  So I am thinking, "Great, there is some kind of animal in our house!"  I cleaned the poop up and basically forgot about it.  That is until I hear "Mommy come here, there is a bird in my room."  That's right, my sweet Kate found a dead bird in her room.  Luckily it did not seem to bother her that there was a dead animal in her room.  She even touched! Yuck!  She then washed her hands for a good ten minutes.  So, now what am I going to do with this dead bird.  We are fortunate to have some wonderful neighbors.  They come over and got the bird out of our house for us. I am still wondering how a bird got into our house.  I think it enjoyed flying around the house, because he left markings pretty much everywhere.  Hopefully that is the last time we will have an animal in our house, at least while Adam is gone.

Summer Fun Part 2

Another adventure from this summer was our trip to Louisiana. Kate's best friend, Maggie, lives there and her birthday is in August. Being a teacher never allowed me to take Kate to Louisiana to celebrate Maggie's birthday. Well, since I am taking a year off, my mom and I decided to take a road trip to LA. The trip was pretty easy with the three kiddos. Kate and Charlie were entertained with books, coloring, and the DVD player. Henry did pretty well for a four month old. He slept and played with Kate for most of the ride.

 

Once we were there, the fun began.  Kate and Maggie picked up like they just saw each other yesterday.  The girls had sleepovers every night and played all day.  Charlie also joined in the fun, as he explored all the new toys there were to play with.  And Henry got to explore the house with help from Maggie as he rode in the walker.  Kate even got to see her best friend off to school.  One the morning we left, Maggie started her first day of kindergarten.  Those girls had a blast together. 

 

We had a wonderful time and we can't wait for the Stevens' Family to come visit us in SC this fall.

 

 

Our Summer Fun Part 1

We had a wonderul summer this year.  One of our highlights was getting to spend time with our family who live in Japan and Texas. Auntie M, Auntie K, Claire, Nate,and Gwenny were visiting Gigi and Papa Mark, so we had to join in on the fun.   Kate was very excited to spend some time with her cousin Claire, who she calls her sister.  Those girls had a ton of fun together.  Charlie and Gwenny were just two peas in a pod.  Those two little two year olds had a lot fo fun together and they kept us on our toes.  And Henry got to meet everyone for the first time.  We spent most of our time in pool.  Following her cousins' footsteps, Kate became braver in the pool.  She started to swim underwater and go down the slide.  Charlie also became braver as he floated in his own tube.  And Henry even got his feet wet a few times.  The highlight of the day was "Popsicle Happy Hour".  The kids loved when they were able to get popsicles, and of course we loved the clean up.  Pool fun and Gigi and Papa Mark's is always fun.

 

 

Welcome

Welcome to our family blog. I have been thinking about starting a family blog for a long time now.  I thought it would be a great way to share the different things we do as a family, as well as, different projects I do around the house.  I hope to be able to post things here weekly, that is if the three kiddos let me.  They keep me pretty busy, but we have a lot of fun together.



Kate is our four year old, who loves to sing and dance.  She also enjoys reading and doing different art projects.



 Charlie is our two year old, who loves to play with cars and tractors.  He also loves Mickey Mouse and helping mommy.



Henry is our four month old, who is learning new things everyday.  He is a happy baby who loves to play with his sister and brother.

 I hope you enjoy reading about us and all of our family adventures.