What color is your thumb?

My mom spends the majority of her life in her yard...in the warm weather anyway.  She is always out watering, weeding or picking up sticks and branches that have fallen from one of her 37 trees.  (we did count them at one time).  

She used to pay us to pick up sticks.  

I think she is obsessed with the sticks.

We always had plenty to burn in the bonfire pit.

No matter what she plants, she can make it grow.  

Our garden was always overflowing with growth.  The flowers are constantly beautiful and blooming.  

Her thumb is green.

I have had a few house plants in my day.  None of them have lived very long.  Emma brought these zinnias home a few weeks ago.  They are growing rapidly.  I do not touch them.  

I think my thumb is black.  

We are starting a new adventure with a few friends.  We have 2 "plots" reserved for us at the stake farm for gardening.  

Luckily, Ryan seems to have inherited the green thumb from his father, the self proclaimed "orchardist."  

His whole hand is green.

We will be meeting tomorrow to discuss what we want to plant in said plots.  I am a little hesitant.  I seem to make things shrivel rather than grow.  

Whenever we have had a little garden in our yard, I steer clear.  

I may pick a few weeds here and there. 

I am great at turning on the water.  

I want to be better at it.  But now other people are involved and I am nervous about messing it up for them.  

What color is your thumb?  Any suggestions on how to turn mine green?

SPRING BREAK

This year we decided to take our Spring Break the economical route.  Instead of going to visit cousins or friends (sorry guys!  we miss you tons!) we are staying home and playing "tourist" in our own town as well as organizing like crazy.  

Here are some of the highlights so far.

We went to the Museum of Idaho and saw the new Titanic exhibit.  It was GREAT!  The kids loved it and had a good time in the other exhibits as well.  I knew I wanted to see this exhibit from the moment it came out.  When I was in 6th grade, we studied the Titanic.  It was a newly discovered shipwreck then and it was amazing to learn about.  We made a ship in a bottle of it with an iceberg and everything.  Ever since, I have been fascinated by it.  Even when the movie was released, my favorite parts were the clips of them deep sea diving and studying the wreckage.  

When you enter the museum, you are given a boarding pass of an actual passenger.  As you go through you get to see the accommodations you would have had as that passenger.  At one point they have a giant "iceberg" that truly is made of ice for you to touch.  The point is to understand just how cold it was in the water and why so many people died there.  Not from drowning but from hypothermia.  

The iceberg was by far the kids favorite part.  They couldn't stay away from it.  It was good news for us because it gave us more time to read and observe the rest of the information.  

None of our passengers died, but their husbands did.  It was sad, but very informative.  I loved it.  I may actually go again.  

We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Happy Chinese Restaurant afterwards.  It is such a delicious place to eat.  We found it just a couple months ago and it quickly became a favorite.  

Other exciting Spring Break news:

We went swimming at the APPLE, one of our favorite places in town.  

We are doing lots of spring cleaning and have taken several trips to DI.

There is more to come...I need to upload pics.  Stay tuned for more spring break action!

A Heavy Heart

I was taught in drama that comedy always comes in threes.  In direct relation, drama seems to follow the same path. 

It is with heavy heart today that I mourn the passing of three great friends.  It seems to be almost surreal that all three of them would meet their end all close to the same time.  It makes me feel better to know what I do about the eternal life we have to look forward to.  That life is just a brief stop in our progression.  We are only here merely to be tested and to gain knowledge.  

I don't have a whole lot to say.  I am at a loss for words.  I am very sad about each individually and for very different reasons.  

So long friends.  Perhaps some day we may meet again.

My husband already chastised me once for the "who died??" post so what about this?

Take 2

MY SUPER POWER

I found out what my super power is. 

Deelectronization.  

k I totally just made that word up.

Let me explain.  

Over the past few weeks SEVERAL of my small appliances have mysteriously stopped working. 

No short outs.  

No burn out smells.

Not even a spark.  

Flat stopped working.  Mid-meal on 2 out of 3.  

So I no longer have a rice cooker, a waffle maker and it would be a camera but my hubby bought me a new one for V day.  

What's next?  The toaster?

Knock on wood.  

Music to my ears

Spring is officially here.  Do you know how I can tell? 

It is not the milder temperatures. 

Not the grass popping up.  

Not the snow melting.  

Not even the buds of perennials making their way through the once frozen earth.  

The tell tale sign:  my children's laughter drifting through the slightly ajar front door.  

Nothing could keep them from a game of freeze tag with the neighbors in the early evening yesterday.  

As I was cooking dinner there were no complaints of hunger.  

No little ones underfoot wanting to help.  

Not even Spongebob could interrupt our first evening of Spring.  

I am elated.  

A little too close to home...

In The Motherhood

Have you seen these previews?  Are you going to tune in?  I am a little afraid from watching the previews.  It looks a little too realistic to me.  My opinion is, why would I want to watch a rerun of my day, at night when I can stop thinking about the kids for an hour or two.  

In truth, I will probably watch at least the first episode.  I usually do that with new shows I find even a little appealing.  But I watch a lot of TV as it is so it would have to be FANTASTIC for me to add it to my DVR.  

What do you think?

My Sick Family

I have to say I am about tired of everyone in my family being sick.  Usually, I am super sweet and nice to them.  Make them warm soup, let them "camp out" with a good movie on, cater to their every wish.  

On Friday Emma threw up all night because mucus running down her throat is to much for her to handle.  

On Saturday I was completely hoarse from the sore throat/coughing.  

On Sunday Ally was too sick to go to Papa's birthday party.  

On Monday they were ALL home from school.  

On Tuesday Ryan even came home sick. 

At one point sometime Wednesday, I think, he made a comment to me about "this is what sick people do" referring to the all day in bed he had been spending.  To which I replied. " I wish."  

Could you imagine what would happen--or better how he would react--if I tried to spend the whole day in bed?  I think the world would fall apart.  He doesn't get it though.  He thinks I would be able to do that and wonders why I couldn't.  "I have 4 children" was my reply. 

On Thursday my crazy little boy who runs everywhere sat on the couch and starred at the TV with a glossed over look.  I thought he would fall over at any moment.   That was when I knew there was a problem.  

But the sick needs to end.  After 2 weeks I am done.  Get over it already.  At this point they all have the lingering cough.  Luke is on antibiotics and Clark has a runny nose that won't quit.  I feel fine--now.  I hope they all do soon as well.  

I am horrible I know.  

Post Script:  I feel the need to add here that my husband is AMAZING when it comes to helping around the house.  I just don't think he quite understands the levels to which the mischief can go when all 4 children are set loose.  Plus they mind him a lot quicker than they do me.  

Enrichment

that  seems to be the word of the month in my house.  And consequently the reason I have neglected my blog as of late.  

Last night we celebrated the Relief Society's 167th birthday.  We had Home, Family, and Purse-onal Enrichment.  An idea we found here.  It was so fun and it turned out great!  We have a very small ward with ok attendance to activities.  I think our turnout was larger than I have ever seen to a weekday activity.  I was happy.  It was a lot of work.  I am very tired today.  In addition to all the purse fun, we collected photos and created a movie of everyone at different stages of their lives, from baby photos to wedding pictures to recent pictures and some that I took over the past month or so.    We also prepared a delicious meal of Chicken Alfredo Manicotti and Spinach Salad with Bread sticks and Cheesecake for dessert.   We really wanted to make it special and  a treat for our sisters.  I think we succeeded.  One of the best parts was my beautiful mom came and spoke.  I love her and it was fun to have her be there for it.  

At school they offer Enrichment Activities 3 times a year after school.  Students sign up to participate and pay a small fee.  I am teaching the Cooking class this time to 3rd-6th graders.  So far we have met twice and both times I found myself scrambling for more to do--especially while the food is cooking in the oven.  I think I have next time planned out well enough that we should be ok.  This has taken a lot of time to prepare.  I have enjoyed it, but I was not completely aware of what I was getting myself into when I volunteered.  2 more classes to go...

Giving Thanks...

sometimes I need a reminder.

I have a wonderful husband who works hard and does lots for me. He was even willing to give up something he LOVED just to try and provide a better life for me.

Things didn't work out.

According to him we are still moving. just not changing jobs.

I hate moving.

We need too. Our house is little. We have 4 kids. That realization hit me the other day when Clark learned to sit. He is no longer my extra appendage. He is an independent sitter now.



Anyone want to help me organize? I need help in this area.

We have a great life here. We just got "grass is greener" syndrome for a minute.

I have a great opportunity right at my finger tips. I will make it work for us. He doesn't need all that stress anyway.

Off to plant some grass to make ours greener right where we are!

Biggest Loser

Thanks to my friend Jill, I took her idea and started the Biggest Loser contest with my brother, Scotty. We are doing it Wii Fit style--you can't cheat the weight on that thing. I figured if nothing else, we would get a yummy dinner at a nice Sushi restaurant. Loser buys.

I asked Ashley to moderate. She wanted to play along. She threw $50 in so I said sure.

I told Ryan about it. "I'm in" was the reply.

Carson jumped on the Wii fit board next.

It has turned into a whole Smith Family contest. As far as I know, every adult is participating. Maybe not Nate. He is already super skinny. Scott is the official judge. He is on an all liquid diet anyway.

"Not by weight" was the overall theme. The judging is on the Before picture we took on March 1 and will finish with the After picture taken on May 25th--Memorial Day. The Annual Smith Family Picnic. Watch out for the desserts.

I took my before picture. It was not pretty. I weighed in. Not great. At least I am still under the dreaded.

That was Sunday. My arms hurt. My lower back aches when I move. My deltoids are burning.

"Game on Bitches."

10-4 Tuesday

1- I HATE BridegeMaxx. I know that is a strong word. The people are sweet and try to help, but it seems to be a problem we cannot find, so therefore we are unable to fix it. SO frustrating!

2- I almost threw my monitor across the room yesterday.

3- Is paying money for a subscription to the newspaper so I can get more coupons to save more money counter productive?

4- I enjoyed an evening out on Friday night. I got to spend it with people I don't get to see much anymore. It was also full of new people that are interesting and insightful and I hope to get to know them better. Thanks for the "break from the routine" Bonnie!

5- We started a Biggest Loser competition amongst the Smith Family on March 1. I appointed Ashley the moderator in charge. She is already doing a great job. Almost too good according to some people. Personally, I need the motivation. Ryan is determined to win. I hope he does. Then I win too!

6- My baby got 6 month immunizations yesterday. He is fevered today and I hate the day after sickness. That said, I would never not immunize my kids. Is this as controversial as I have heard it is?

7- I appreciate people I know who write what they think on their blog no matter who they offend. Way to be real.

8- Another messed up week has begun. No school yesterday so I am off my game. Not to mention, I thought today was the 2nd. It's not.

9- Apparently I forgot how to spell. Or at least how to type.

10- Thanks to spell check, #9 will seem ridiculous to you.

Have a happy week. You can join us at The Civic Auditorium on Saturday if you would like to see what all the hype is over this dancing thing. We would be happy to have you. Go Infinity!