Day 48: February 28, 2009

Yesterday the kids got out of school at noon. After lunch I realized the house was quiet, too quiet. I found the kids outside in our garden with a lot of shovels and tools. They'd started digging a hole to the earth's mantle (can you tell Michelle is studying about the earth in school). This morning (even though it was only 31 degrees) the kids again disappeared outside. This time I brought my camera since the hole is now half as big as Caleb is tall. Today they claimed they were digging a hole to discover a cavern, some water or maybe some dinosaur bones.

Day 47: February 27, 2009

The kids got so used to playing outside during this last week of "pseudo-Spring" they're now playing croquet and frisbee in 39 degree temperatures.

Day 46: February 26, 2009

Michelle drew this picture of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove in Primary a few weeks ago. I thought it was pretty good so it's the photo of the day (technically, I scanned it but I'm counting it as a photo).

Day 45: February 25, 2009

Gabriella loves wearing my shoes and loves being outside. She took advantage of the nice weather and my leaving the front door open for fresh air, put my shoes on and went for a walk around the yard.

Day 44: February 24, 2005

Here's our hamster, Lightening. It's a very appropriate name. A half a heartbeat after snapping this picture he was already buried deep inside his hut.

Day 43: February 23, 2009

Our backyard is SNOWLESS!

On Saturday our backyard, especially the area that's in permanent shade on the northern side of the house (see above), had at least 3 inches of snow/ice. At 6 am this morning it was already 50 degrees. The snow melted overnight, literally.

Do you know what having no snow in our northern backyard means? Spring is so close, and with spring comes time for the kids to play outside and that means my sanity may return soon.

Day 42: February 22, 2009

Megan the puzzle-meister.

Gabriella was in bed and the other 3 were at an Eagle court of honor so Megan and I had some quiet time together.

Day 41: February 21, 2009

There's nothing more precious than a sleeping baby. Gabriella has to have Monkey on her left, Dottie on her face, and she usually ends up using Puppy as her pillow.

Day 41: February 20, 2009

Welcome to Pokemon castle.

A couple weeks ago Caleb spent his allowance money at the school's book fair. He bought the Pokemon Ultimate Handbook. Ever since then they've turned all of their stuffed animals into various Pokemon characters. This is the creativity sparked by us locking the tv so they don't waste so much time everyday watching the boob tube.

Day 40: February 19, 2009

"My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, to thee I sing"

Caleb and his wolf den sang at their pack's Blue and Gold Banquet tonight. I really wanted to go and get out of the house but Caleb wanted his daddy to go, so this photo is courtesy of Trevor and his new camera.

Day 39: February 18, 2009

Here's the consequence of leaving open the pantry door. My kids inherited from me a great love of salty snacks.

Day 38: February 17, 2009

Fresh strawberry jam in February - so good I couldn't resist a bite or two before the shot was taken.

Day 37: February 16, 2009

Happy President's Day!

Here's Michelle with an almost life sized Lincoln she made at school.

Day 36: February 15, 2009

For a long time I've been wanting to take a picture of our resident quail family. However, since their brown feathers match the dirt and bushes I had to wait for fresh snow to fall. There are about 28 quail here in our backyard.

Day 35: February 14, 2009

To celebrate Valentine's Day we took the kids bowling. They loved the shoes.

11 years ago today Trevor and I met for the first time. Just look how our family has grown.

Day 34: February 13, 2009

Valentine's boxes. Michelle's is pretty colored with hearts. Caleb's is a golden tank.

It's a good thing their dad was in a creative mood last night because I simply told the kids to write Happy Valentine's Day on a paper bag and be done with it. Caleb transformed my Asics box into a tank then Trevor thought it'd look better painted so they spray painted it gold (leftover from Caleb's Cub Scout golden raingutter regatta and golden pinewood derby car). Michelle used a shoebox that no longer had a lid, so she re-created one using pink paper.

Day 33: February 12, 2009

This is Megan's last day of Itty Bitty Ball at the rec center. Don't you love her baseball outfit? I don't know where my girls get it from because I didn't (and still don't) wear a skirt unless I absolutely have to.

As you can see something really wacky is going on with my camera-several photos were skewed, cut off or weird colored.

Day 32: February 11, 2009

Three words: Caleb loves spaghetti

Day 31: February 10, 2009

Grocery shopping is a vital part of life in the Smith household. I love these mini carts that are available now. It's probably not fair to the older two kids to take them to the store right after school, but it's actually much easier with 4 than with 2 kids. Weird, I know, but this way Michelle or Caleb pushes the cart, the other one will chase down Gabriella-the-escape-artist, I'll do the shopping, and Megan has a great eye for gathering coupons from those dispensers hanging on the aisle shelves.

Day 30: February 9, 2009

This is Michelle and her best friend from school, Jaylyn. Michelle just found out that Jaylyn will be moving away from this area soon, so they are both very sad to be split up. We have to fit in as many playtimes as possible.

Day 29: February 8, 2009

A flare for the dramatic.

I guess taking my dad to a cultural event the other night (see my other blog) has brought out the theatrical part of him.

This is Caleb and my dad playing a game they invented over the weekend. Trevor likes to call it "Ring the Gack" (see Dr. Seuss' "Red Fish, Blue Fish"). If you can't tell from the picture, you get different points for making different size rings in the bowls and buckets on the couch. Usually they stood farther away but I made them stand closer for photographic reasons.

Day 28: February 7, 2009

Who's winning?

Caleb and Trevor love playing chess games. Caleb usually beats my socks off, but Trevor gives Caleb strategy lessons and then beats him.

Day 27: February 6, 2009

Trevor, Caleb, Megan and Michelle enjoying a ride in the new Toyota Highlander. You'll have to read my other blog to get the full details.

Day 26: February 5, 2009

Run, Megan, Run!

You can read more about this on my other blog, suffice it to say it was flag football day at Itty Bitty Ball.

Day 25: February 4, 2009

Our Little Princess stayed home sick today. With her and her sister being sick and me busy cleaning up all the messes that come along with stomach and intestinal illnesses, I didn't remember to take a picture of anything today so I snapped this one as we tucked all the kids into bed (which is my favorite time of day).

Day 24: February 3, 2009

For a reward for our kids we took them to the video store to rent a DVD of their choosing. Megan chose Dora the Explorer, Michelle chose Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, and Caleb chose Wall-E. After watching the movie, Caleb stayed up long past his bedtime to create his own lego Wall-E. I was impressed with the result. Pretty good likeness, huh?!

Day 23: February 2, 2009

I love library days

When my kids happily sit on my lap

enjoying an adventure with me,

as one never knows what will happen

when the page is turned.

Day 22: February 1, 2009

The camera was only 10 inches from her head (I was holding her at the same time) yet you still can barely tell her whole forehead is red. To begin the explanation, Gabriella loves going outside. Whenever she hears the garage door open she runs to get her shoes. Trevor took the older two kids early to church, Gabriella desperately wanted to go too, but was told "no". The word "no" is not an easy word for a 2 year old to accept so she went into an all out fit. I was running around (literally) trying to get things together for church. I came down the stairs and saw her head red and scraped. Since she'd been crying anyway, I had no idea she'd been hurt. I asked Megan if she knew what happened and she replied, "I'm sorry Mama, I won't do it again." Apparently, Megan was trying to help console Gabriella. The scrape came from a wall. I still have yet to figure out how the two fit together.

I know it's not the most exciting picture, but then again it tells the story of what goes on in everyday life here at our house. There were a whole lot of diaper and potty accidents that could also describe my day today, but I thought I'd spare you the visual aids.