Smith Family

The kids and I went out for a nature walk to find a rainbow. It was a good time looking around really closely to spot the colors. We're about to complete our 2nd week of homeschooling and I would say for the most part we are doing pretty well. We've been keeping up with the suggested assignments and go pick up lunch at Audrey's school which has a very quick system. I just find that our motivation to be active seriously falters when there aren't any scheduled events to plan for or get to. Elliott jokingly asked if I would ever consider home school after this experience. I told him I don't think we are getting a fair representation since I hope we would go to museums, have extracurricular activities and classes to attend. Being stuck at home all day is rough no matter how creative or positive our attitudes may be.  I am so thankful that we are healthy, we have food and Pete has a job. I wouldn't change that, or risk anyone else's health to change our circ...

We celebrated Melanie's 8th birthday this last week. Unfortunately due to the Corona Virus we have had to postpone her baptism and her birthday party at the trampoline park. We were given instruction that stake baptisms have been canceled but we can perform a small baptism with less that 10. My parents really want to be here for her baptism and traveling isn't really possible so as of right now we are just waiting for things to calm down before decided on what to do.  We did our best to make her birthday special under the circumstances. We were able to find her favorite breakfast which is eggo waffles with strawberries and whip cream. I was shocked there were any Eggo's left at the store! We had planned an outdoor scavenger hunt, but it basically rained all day! She still went out with an umbrella to find a few things. We played hide and go seek, had pizza for dinner, watched Frozen 2 and had an ice cream cake from DQ.  On Saturday Pete had the day off of work so h...

It brings me an unbelievable amount of joy that I am all caught up with the ol blog! I can't believe it.   Elliott had the entire week off of work so we could spend spring break and our anniversary together. To celebrate our family birthday we headed to the zoo but it was insane! We knew it would be crowded because of spring break but not that crowded. There wasn't one place to park and tons of cars circling like hawks waiting to snag a spot. The museum is really close so we opted to head over there and had a wonderful time. It's one of the coolest museums I've ever been to. We ended up getting a membership so we can go more often which I'm really happy about. Somehow we all ended up coordinating with Dodger colors which I thought was kinda embarrassing but Elliott LOVED it! Elliott and I went to see the Cirque du Soleil show that's in town. We headed to BJ's for dinner which is one of our favorite spots. The show was incredible! It blows my mind th...

We found the most beautiful baptism dress for Melanie. It may be a bit much for a baptism but I knew there was no convincing her otherwise that the most beautiful dress she's ever seen wasn't going to work. We are really concerned that with the corona virus that her baptism is going to be delayed. We are beginning to wonder if we should do it in AZ so all our family can be there this June, or maybe do it in Galveston at the beach. I had just gotten invites made before everything happened and we are still awaiting news. These pictures were just shot with my phone so we could get an invite made but I'm looking forward to getting some professional ones done. Then I can finally hang all 3 of their baptism pictures on our wall!

Zwink has a spring celebration the Friday before Spring Break where parents are able to come and be apart of their kids classes. I must have accidentally deleted Brandon's picture. His teacher has the most fun class parties with different stations and games at each one. He had to use a straw to get jelly beans from one bowl to the next, placed a peep on his forhead and using by scrunching his face get it to his mouth and some other fun games. Melanie made a little rainbow and had a rice krispy treat. I took them out of school a little early. We are excited for Spring Break!

Go Texan Day must have escaped me last year because I don't remember it, but this year we were ready. I don't know exactly what it all entails but from what I understand it's honoring Texas history and the first day of the Rodeo in Houston. It's a big deal! The elementary kids were asked to dress as cowboys and they had little activities all day to celebrate. I happened to be at the school to do the BoxTop store and was able to watch Brandon participate in the ho down with his class and some other 4th graders.

Elliott was gone on another work trip so I had to take matters into my own hands. I was so sick and tired of the bikes always in a heep in the garage. So I ordered this little bike rack from Amazon for about $30 and went to work. It has made a huge difference in our garage.

There really is no purpose to this post other than Melanie was "sick" this day and stayed home with me. She was waiting in the carpool pick up line with me to get Brandon and looked cute so I snapped a picture. She was devastated after school when she couldn't play even though she felt all better! 

We had a great valentines day. We had pancakes with strawberries and cream, their grandmas both sent a package, Cam and Becca's family sent valentines and we got them each something they would like. Audrey got a Minnie Mouse case for her air pods, Brandon got V-Bucks for his video game and Melanie got some lip gloss and eye shadow for fun.. not for school! They don't do the traditional valentines day parties here like we are used to is Arizona which I think is such a bummer. I always looked forward to helping at their class parties. They can bring valentines but they are asked to not have candy and they just quickly hand them out in the morning then are done with it for the rest of the day. I had to make sugar cookies, because what is valentines day without a good sugar cooking? That night we had a pizza movie night. I sure love this family of mine. They are my safe place and where I am most comfortable. I hope they always know how loved they are.

In some ways this seems unbelievable to have a 12 year old but in others ways it seems like she is much older because of how mature she is. For her 12th birthday she wanted a beauty day, so I surprised her by not going to school and we had the best day. We started by getting her hair cut, then got some good foundation that matched her face well, picked out an outfit, got our nails done. I haven't had my nails done since prom so this was a new experience for both of us getting our nails dipped. The guy doing Audrey's nails wanted to do something special for her birthday so he decorated hers a bit for free but unfortunately she didn't really like it but it was too late. I felt kinda bad about it because it's not cheap and she's been wanting to get them done for forever. She didn't hate them, just wished they were plain. Once we got home we died her hair pink, something she has been dying to do for forever. Later that night we went as a family to Olive Garden to c...

This is kind of a big year for Audrey. This is from her very first mutual activity. She was kinda embarrassed I was taking a picture and wouldn't smile or look at me, the little stinker. She also had her first babysitting experience. Well she babysits for us all the time but another family in the ward. She also got to do baptism for the dead in the temple for the first time. I was so happy I got to be there to experience it. I had taught her young women's class the week before all about the history of temples starting with the tabernacle and the importance and significance they hold which made it more meaningful to then go a few days later. I love that I get to be her you women leader.

Hands down Melanie's favorite Christmas present this year, well probably of all time is her motorcycle. She LOVES this little thing and I have to admit it's the cutest thing watching her zoom around. Unfortunately her and Audrey were riding it and took quite a spill that was pretty traumatic for them. Both of them got scraped up pretty good. Melanie had this huge wound on her arm that took a while to heal and chipped her front tooth. We still need to go get it looked at.  On our neighborhood facebook page there was a concerned neighbor posting about a little girl riding a purple scooter not being safe. Soo... we've had to limit her free range to just around our little circle which has been a bit devastating for her. I want to load it up in the car and take her to a park. We may need to do that sooner rather than later to let her go at it.