Well....technically....

Yesterday I was in Hope's room and I asked her why she hadn't made her bed yet. She looked at me and said, "Well, technically mom, I did." WHAT??????

I started laughing and said, "Do you know what technically means?"

Hope: "Well. Not really. But on Rip Girls (a movie) when the boy asks the girl if she has been surfing she says "well, technically no."

I swear. The girl is a sponge. Moral of the story...be careful what you say.

And the verdict is.....

SHE LIKES IT!!! SHE REALLY LIKES IT!! Hallee has come home from school the last two days SOOOOO excited! She loves her teacher and says she is really funny. What more could you ask for!
Hallee picked out this skirt and shirt for her back to school outfit. She said it made her look like a "private school" girl. Say WHAT???

To see more pictures from her back to school photo shoot you can check out her blog here.

So long summer...

Ok, so we won't say good-bye forever but it is necessary to take a 3 week hiatus from summer when Hallee goes back to school tomorrow. Come mid-August when Hallee goes off track we will be back at it again but for now...so long.

We have managed to have a jam packed "summer" full of fun, family and friends. A few family reunions, multiple trips to the SPLASH PARK, the recent discovery of the "beach" nearby, a few pool visits, lots of SUN, and more popcicles than you can count and it's safe to say that we have had a great little summer break.

Our last week of summer did not disappoint in the wild and crazy area with my sister and her three kids coming for a visit, a full day of wedding bliss, and an entire day with the cousins and family proved to be the perfect way to spend our final hours. My cousin Lorren and her new hubby Michael. The day was perfect!

Me and my gang (aka family). My older brother Kory had to bail early.

Me and my sis. (Nice posture I'm sporting hey?)

And now, I am looking at the clock reazling it's 7pm and thinking "oh crud". Time for baths, storytime, lay out the school clothes, discuss the school schedule and all that other fun stuff. Say hello to "summer" for me tomorrow would ya?

More wedding pics

Just another reason I love where I live...

Last week we discovered this little man-made lake at Daybreak about 3 1/2 minutes from our house. It is perfect for our kids and we spent most of Saturday playing on the beach and floating on the water. Caymbree hates the water and I was trying everything to coax her in. Finally after watching me float around on this fishing chair for a while she decided to give it a try. Once she discovered this spot she NEVER got off. Literally. She pretty much declared it hers and that was that.

The water stays shallow for a while and the kids LOVE jumping off this dock.

Girls just wanna have fun!

For my cousin Lorren's bridal shower we decided to get a hotel and do an overnighter. Apparently it was LONG overdue because we laughed like it was our first night ever away from the men and kiddos. I can't even begin to describe how much fun we had. We laughed, laughed, and laughed some more. My favorite highlights are Adree's informative tips until 2am in the morning, the man in the room next door coming over to lecture us and all of us staring like deer in the headlights, and the laughing hysterical meltdown Adree and I had when the front desk tried to charge us $2.50 for a generic bottle of water yet a pot pie was only $2.00. Our little episode got us two free water bottles when the man told us it was the best laugh he had all day. :)

Noteworthy Moments

Caymbree's hair fits in "piggies"!!! It makes her look so old and actually makes me a little sad. And to top it all off it adds an extra six or seven minutes to the morning-get-the-girls-ready routine. Oh well. It's so worth it to see how cute she looks. And Miss Hallee finally got her first visit from the tooth fairy. I think she was just about the only first grader left that hadn't lost a tooth. Considering that as a baby she did not get her first tooth until around 14 months we shouldn't have been surprised.

The tooth was loose for quite a while and I was worried that pulling it was going to be quite traumatic. (She falls right in line with me when it comes to the wimp factor). I guess I was wrong. It was bugging her in school one day so she asked her teacher to pull it out for her. Is that included in Elementary Ed teachers training?

Happy Birthday to Me

What do you get when you take one incredibly talented dude, a gift card to Lowes, and a husband with a little extra time on his hands......

THESE AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL SHUTTERS to block out the sun and add a little touch of decor to our 8 foot window.
It's just about now that I start singing "Don't ya wish your husband was crafty like mine." (Think pussy cat dolls). But that would be lame. So I'll just sing it to myself :)

Smith Family Reunion 2009

Another great year at the cabin. So many memories. So much fun.

My favorite part about the cabin is watching the second generation cousins recreate the same memories I had as a child. This year we showed the kids where we played "fort" when we were growing up and they took right to it. I think they spent pretty much every waking hour building their own "fort" in the exact same spot.

Caymbree is the worlds biggest scaredy cat so I was sure she was going to be terrified of the fireworks and sparklers. But she surprised us all when she LOVED the sparklers and kept going back for more. Maybe this prepared her a little for the fireworks because she even thought they were pretty cool. Each night we had a theme. My favorites were Western Night, Luau and, Fiesta night complete with a pinata for the kids.

And the unexpected theme for the year was DANCING. My cousin Jeff had the top 100 hits of each year from 1955 up to present day. We would crank up the music and DANCE!!! We covered all the basics from disco, rock, country, pop and hip hop.

Hallee and I taught all the the women and girls the HoeDown Throw Down by Hannah Montana and Krissy taught us a few dance moves in honor of Michael Jackson. Tricia taught us a western swing dance and the kids did their annual dance performance. Ya... WE can dance!!! It was a blast as always and I will forever be grateful for the fun and crazy family I belong to. I was reminded where we get our spunk from when my 70 something year old Grandma on oxygen suggested all the women go skinny dipping in the freezing cold pool while the men were golfing. The best part about it is that up until about 10 years ago she really would have done it!!

Happy Birthday Caymbree!!!

I can hardly believe that my baby is TWO YEARS OLD. How did that happen??? She is growing up way to fast thanks in part to having two older sisters to mimic. Caymbree's birthday started off with a visit from Grandma SuSu from Arizona. We spent most of the afternoon watching the kids run around at the splash park.

We then headed to Chuck-E-Cheese!!! We were a little worried that Caymbree wouldn't be able to do much but she had a BLAST!! (Although she wasn't to fond of this clown.)

Her favorite part of the evening was redeeming her tickets for this gigantic sucker. She has a slight obsession for suckers so she was in HEAVEN! (Gotta love that pizza face)!

MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT CAYMBREE...

1) When she is being a tease and taunts us with "tease ya, tease ya!"

2) Absolutely obsessed with SHOES. Seriously. Who knew it started this young!

3) Loves suckers. Can be found with numerous suckers in her possession at any given time. One time she managed to sneak one into bed with her - not a good idea! She woke up with it stuck to her hair.

4) She can shake her groove thing!! In preparation for the girls spring dance concert Hope and Hallee had to practice their dance routines every day. Next thing we know Caymbree has memorized Hope's routine, facials and all. It was hysterical!!

5) She has such a cute personality. A little mischievous, sometimes downright naughty but always cute. Sometimes I find myself just watching her every move.

Happy Birthday Caymbree Rose! We Love You!!!