We've Got Waaaayyyy Too Much Candy

First of all, we finally carved our pumpkins. It's been warm and they tend to rot if you do it too early. Everyone picked their patterns and Jeff and I started scooping. Hannah actually carved hers by herself (the cat) and Jeff ended up doing most of Jacob's (the skull). Then we put them all out and Jeff took pictures. He's really good with the camera.

Halloween came and went and we still have a huge bowl of candy. Granted it's not the best stuff that's left, but I've had four kids going through it for two weeks now. The candy actually started coming a few days before Halloween at the branch party. There is a couple in the branch that love this holiday. They have some land and they really go to town decorating. Thing's hanging from trees, lights, huge cutouts and the house is completely decorated inside too. The craziest thing was that they drained their in-ground pool and constructed a haunted pirate ship. the main mast was probably 12 feet tall. The kids had a blast looking at everything and then there was the trunk-or-treat of course. Jeff really got into it this year and created a huge painted bat to put across the back of our car. He cut the mouth out and kids had to stick their hand in to get candy. It was a hit. We did this once while in Lubbock and apparently I made him throw it away upon moving. I wont' make that mistake again. I forgot to get a picture that night so I'll have to post one later.

On the actual big day we got the kids dressed and went over to a friends house for a party and trick-or-treating. There were several kids and we all had fun.

Rachel went as "The blue princess" (Cinderella), Hannah was an Asian Princess,
Jake was Ben 10 (of course) and Jonathan was Optimus Prime.
The little pink princess was Rachel's good friend Ella.

Jacob always has the same smile in every picture.

See how Hannah's standing next to the cute tennis player, we're keeping an eye on that.

The Garden

It's been way too long since I've posted so now I'm playing catch up. I'll start with the garden. It was coming along beautifully. Everything was green and just about to start producing. I say was because all of a sudden we had a cold snap. For one, just one night it got down to freezing. Now I brought in the chicks and rabbits (not a fun task) but I didn't think about covering up the garden. I didn't even get a picture of it pre-freeze. I will say that the weather got warmer and things started to come back. We've harvested squash, zucchini, green beans, and tons of lettuce. But I'm not sure if there's enough warm weather left for everything else to make it. On an ironic note, the couple of things that do survive the cold weather, broccoli and peas, the chickens destroyed. Oh well. Anyone want to come over for some salad???

You Just Wait...

Sneak in a post will you? And make me the cause of your political inactivity? I've got plenty more pictures of you from your childhood and I'm not afraid to show them to the world.

Civic duties sabotaged! Et tu, wifee...

Yeah, so I'll sneak in a post on my wife here...

So, all along with this election Kari keeps telling me "Oh, just tell me who to vote for... I can't keep up with this"... and who can blame her? I mean this election seems like it's been going on for years.

So, anyways after a long day of work, then running to a pumpkin patch for some not-so candid shots, then to soccer practice, back to the hospital, then exercise and finally crash on the couch, Kari goes "Oh by the way, I went and early voted today. They say the lines here on election day are crazy long." Don't get me wrong, I was excited to see my wife rock-the-vote. A little surprised because I've never let on to whom I'd vote for (probably cuz I'm on the fence and it's not like Texas is a swing state) and so was a little relieved that my possible bad choice wouldn't be doubled by her vote.

Then she adds "Yeah, and I didn't see your name on the voter registration list. There were a couple of Jeffreys..." I'm like "Yeah, right." I'm the one who responsibly changed my driver's license address within one week of moving to Sulphur Springs. Miss McLennan County sitting across from me wanted to wait until her braces were off so she could get a new mug shot on her license--and still hasn't changed her address. And I know I checked the voter registration box. And then she adds "Yeah, and come to think of it, your voter registration card never came in the mail'. Now, I'm thinking to myself "And you're bringing this up 7 days before the election because why?".

And of course 7 days turns out to be a critical number (come to find out). Sure enough, after an internet search today, I find out I am registered in Waco and to get a ballot mailed to me, they have to receive a form SEVEN days before voting. So, I went through the motions of faxing and hoping they'll still mail it anyways.

But, here I sit... castrated of my civic duties (you think I'm gonna drive 3 hours to vote) by my own helpmate... 6 days before voting. Well, at least I can spend the next 4 years stating "Well, I never voted for so-so"!

Nothin' Like Hay Down Your Pants

In a last minute decision we took the kids to the local pumpkin patch. It's only open until 6 so Jeff took off work a little early and away we went. It took about 15 minutes to get there but it was really cute. I guess it's used quite a bit for school field trips. There are different stations to play at and several places set up to take pictures.

The kids favorite part was a large maze made out of hay, and here's where the hay down my pants comes in. Hannah had been here the week before with her class so she made a bee-line for the maze and the others followed. By the time we all got there she had climbed on top of the hay (over my head but not Jeff's) and was following the maze that way. Jacob decided that looked cool so he joined her. Jeff, Jonathan, and Rachel head to the middle of the maze and (I'm not sure who thought it would be a good idea) I climbed on top to take pictures.

Everything was great until it was time to get down. I try to half slide, half jump down and end up with a backside covered in hay which somehow makes its way down my pants. Have you ever had hay in your pants? Really not that pleasant. I don't know where that saying "take a roll in the hay" came from, but who would do that? At least the pictures came out good.

Before leaving the maze Hannah and Jacob have to jump every gap in the bales.They did pretty good until they tried to jump over the entrance. It's at least 3 feet and neither one makes it and they both end up sliding down the hay and landing bottom first.

They all then take turns climbing up a hay tower, and roping hay bulls. The only complaining (mostly from Jacob) came because I wanted to take pictures of everything and they just wanted to play. At the end they all got to pick out a pumpkin to carve. It's been so warm here we've had to wait until the last minute so the pumpkins don't rot.

Jeff is a much better photographer than I am. He takes all the cool shots.

He Did It!!!!!!!

So Jacob's been playing ball for about 5 weeks now and although he has hit a few foul balls, he's never actually hit the ball in play. Until now! He hit it and ran. Now he didn't make it all the way to first base without getting out but his hit got a run in. I was so happy for him I teared up. So did my friend sitting next to me. And Jeff jumped up to go congratulate him in the dugout. But even all of our excitement was nothing compared to the dugout. His entire team was cheering him and congratulating him. The coach said it made his season. You'd of thought he just won the world series.


While that was definitely the best thing of the week, we had a pretty fun week in general. Jonathan's team won their soccer game again this weekend, 5-2. Jeff's really done a great job and the kids play very well. The season's almost over but I think Jeff's planning on coaching again next season so hopefully they'll be able to pick up right where they left off.

As some of you know Jeff had a short stint as a child model once upon a time. (From what I understand he was paid to take some pictures in some guys basement.) Well on Wednesday he got back to his roots and took us with him. The hospital has a monthly magazine and they are spotlighting the new doctors in town and their families. They asked him to write an article on childhood obesity and wanted to take pictures of him with his family cooking in the kitchen. Everything in the media is so fabricated these days. Now if they wanted a picture of him getting out an ice cream scoop to fix his nightly nine-o-clock snack, that I could get on board with. But cutting up vegetables with Hannah (the cover), I can't really support. Oh well, I get to be on the inside with all the kids.

I'm guessing this was an action shot. How cute was he!!!!!!!

Jonathan Nugget (part 2)

We are having a family picture taken tomorrow and we were discussing what we were going to wear. It will be a winter theme and Hannah was whining because I wouldn't let her wear a coat. Well she keeps whining and I finally say that I am not going to let her be in the picture and I would get the little girl across the street (Emma) to play Hannah in the picture. Jonathan, without missing a beat says...

"Emma will have to learn to whine alot like Hannah"

Rachel (AKA "The Princess")

And boy oh boy is she. This was a particularly fussy week for Rachel. Each morning after she dressed I was assaulted by much whining claiming... "My hair is UUUGGGLLLYYY, you have to fix it, make it pretty. Mind you she only actually goes places twice a week. If I run out of time and she has to get into the car without her hair done, I am treated to this chant over and over again until it can be remedied. In addition to her hair being perfect, she has decided she needs the perfect outfit and matching accessories everyday. She is especially fond four bracelets that she even sleeps and bathes in. She has also developed a new found love of bows. This pink one is her favorite.


Speaking of Rachel's hair. The other night Jeff and I were sitting on the couch and she came to sit with us. Jeff makes a causal comment about how her hair has gotten pretty long and it might be time for a hair cut. The next morning she comes down after brushing her teeth with a new section of bangs. In disbelief I asked her if she had cut her hair. She replied "Yes, daddy said it was getting long". Can we really blame her that much? All in all she didn't do that much damage. It looks kind of like she has those side swept bangs. It could have been much worse. Don't most kids cut much closer to the scalp?

She really didn't want to have her picture taken with messed up hair.


The brightest spot in Rachel's week was that her picture was in the paper. Mind you it wasn't on the first page like Jonathan, he was learning how to wash his hands and all. She was in the center of page 11, before sports. What, you might ask could have put yet another one of my kids in the local paper? Why we went to the library for story time of course!

Little Nuggets Of Wisdom From Jonathan

1: I was pretending to be dead....Jonathan says

"You're not really dead mom or you'd have X's for eyes."

2: We're sitting at the baseball game and a foul ball goes over the fence and into the
stands...Jonathan says

"That's why everyone should bring a glove."

3: I jokingly (in a mad tone) say to Jonathan that I thought he'd promised not to get any
bigger. In a very serious (just as mad tone) Jonathan says

"I've been trying."

Can't argue with that logic. On a side note Jonathan's team won their soccer game this week 6-5.

Happy Birthday

Jacob turned seven today! I can't believe it. I remember when he was a chubby little baby content and quiet as can be sitting in his bouncer. Now he's this loud, rambunctious, always wrestling with his brother, and constantly wanting to eat, boy.

I feel like we've been celebrating Jacob's birthday for days. On Friday my parents came up to bring me some much needed Ben 10 party supplies that could only be found in Dallas (THANKS SO MUCH) and took us out to dinner for Jake's birthday. We got to go to my favorite diner (MMMM fried egg on a burger) and he got to pick all the songs on the juke box and got ice cream. The next morning was the party. It was a Ben 10 theme and I think he had a pretty good time.








We had an alien training course, a pin the alien on the watch game, and of course they all took home stink-fly eggs as a prize. Then grandma and grandpa came up for the soccer and baseball game. Then they took us out to Chilis to celebrate. We finally made it home and had even more cake and ice cream. Now it's Sunday and his actual birthday. This afternoon it was time once again for cake and presents. I must say, his Ben 10 toy collection is well stocked.

I probably should mention the lovely color of Jake's left eye. That would be his first baseball injury sustained last Tuesday and slowly turning a nice shade of green. Way to be a boy!

She gets Her Dance Moves From Jeff (or Elaine)

Hannah has tried soccer and swimming and gymnastics and now were on to dance. If you knew me in high school, this was my thing. I'm not sure if it's going to be hers. Her goal in life right now is to be a "pop star". Thanks alot Hannah Montana. She is taking piano and can sing pretty well, so now she's working on the moves. We'll see how this all pans out. She tried out last week for a solo in the third grade musical. She's pretty confident she going to get, but didn't we all think we were great at that age? The primary program at church is next weekend and she is definitely the loudest, and as primary chorister I appreciate it. Maybe one day you can all say you knew her when. At least she doesn't mind having her picture taken, she actually asks for it daily.


On a side note: Is it wrong of me to covet my own daughters body. She walks around in these skinny jeans with her hair all straight and all I can think is man I wish I could wear that.

The Oldest First.

Well it's been too long since I've posted so I'm just going to go child by child. Jeff's first. He's really pretty boring. I will say that his garden is coming along fabulously. We've got too much lettuce to eat and in a few weeks we're going to be up to our ears in squash. I would like to say it's mostly do to the compost.

Sports Anyone?

Well, Fall is here and so starts soccer and fall ball. We started to sign up both boys for soccer but Jacob insisted that he wanted to play baseball and nothing else. So now I am not only a soccer mom but a baseball mom. Apparently here in the town of Sulphur Springs that is the sport of choice anyway.

Jonathan is playing soccer and seems to be enjoying it. Jeff is his coach and I even helped out at the first practice. Can you imagine that?!? They're a bunch of cute little 5 year olds who have way too much energy. Energy they don't always want to spend actually playing soccer. At our first game it was pretty hot so we brought a bunch of rags soaked in cool water to put on their heads or necks or whatever to keep cool. That in itself turned into a fun game. Then of course there are the smashed cups that used to hold water. But all in all it's fun for everyone.


Jacob is playing baseball for the first time ever. As in he has never played t-ball or anything. I'm surprised they let us move here. Baseball is a pretty big thing around here. I heard a rumor that some parents even hire personal coaches for their kids. Goodness know I'm way to cheep for that. So we get Jake a bat and glove and send him to his first practice. They put him somewhere in the infield give him a ball and have him throw it. They quickly realize this might not be the right place. They start working with him on batting and throwing and he's coming along quite nicely. If nothing else he's got that little quirk baseball players are known for down pat (see pic below).


I will say one thing, the coaches of any children's team have definitely learned the art of patience. Jacob's coaches are quick to praise and always encouraging. And Jeff has been more positive in the face of turmoil than I have ever seen him. Thanks for all you do guys!!!

Another Year Older

It was my birthday today, again. When will it end?!? I haven't quite grasp hold of the whole "The Thirties are the new Twenties" concept yet. I was not this tired and wrinkly in my twenties. Oh well, until I'm ready to go under the knife I guess I'll deal with it. I had a great birthday. I got to go out to eat for lunch and dinner. Nothing like good greasy food to make you feel better, until you get home that is. If you're ever in town you gotta go by the Broadway Diner and try the Stagecoach Burger. It's your basic large, greasy, bacon cheeseburger but with one extra topping...a fried egg. You read that right, a fried egg. Nothin' Better. After dinner we came home played outside with the neighbors and then had cake. Mmmmmm....cake. Now I may have to be rolled to bed, but it was all worth it. I'll worry about my cholesterol tomorrow.

Where did the camera come from?

Top Ten Ways You Know You're In A Small Town

10: You can't take more than two bites of your lunch at the local sandwich shop without someone
stopping to say hi.

9: You can't complain about a neighbor to a random person without them knowing them
personally (open mouth, insert foot).

8: The crime report each day consists of four people being detained for being under the
influence, one is always from Arkansas.

7: You need a family tree mapped out for the local church.

6: There are only 3 food stands at the county fair, and no fried twinkies.

5: Everyone you see on Monday, wonders why they didn't see you at the Stew Cook-Off on
Saturday.

4: You don't have to worry about traffic on Friday night because everyone, I mean everyone
(including myself) is at the high school football game. (By the way, ESPN covered one of our
games on Sept 11th and I was on TV)

3: The ONLY place in town to buy socks and underwear is Wal-Mart.

2: Every gas station in town is named Joe-Bob's and I actually know Joe Bob, (really I do, he's
super nice).

1: Your son makes the front page of the local newspaper for learning to wash his hands.

Jonathan's class had some high schoolers come in to teach proper hand washing techniques and the paper was there to take pictures. Apparently this was the biggest thing going on that day so it made the front page. That's him in the bottom left corner with the dark shirt. When I picked him up from school and told him there was a picture of him on the front of the newspaper his only response was "AGAIN". We've already been in the paper for Jeff's grand opening and evidently the fame of it all is getting to Jonathan. When will those paps leave him alone.

All kidding aside, we really love it here and encourage all of you to move.

Ah...farm life.

Well, we had our first farm fatality yesterday. Jacob's chicken, Nugget, got sick last week. He kept falling asleep standing up and bobbing his head around. Then he started getting "foamy eyes". Then he started making weird noises in his sleep. So Jeff reads up on chicken illnesses and everything says just kill it. Well, neither Jeff nor I could do it so I head to the local feed store to pick up some OTC general antibiotics. We isolate the bird and give him meds for a few days but it just didn't seem to be working. Yesterday morning, before school, Hannah and Rachel go out to check on the animals and Rachel comes back in yelling "the chick is dead, the chick is dead". Yep, it was. So after I get everyone to school I get a trash bag, scoop up the chicken, put it in the trash (don't worry trash day was today), and I'm done. But wait, I'm not. Jeff calls to say we should probably take a picture of the bird with the date so we can get a replacement. Did I mention I had already thrown it away. You guessed it, I exhumed the body, and boy was it stiff. I started to post the picture but thought it might be too much. Luckily the kids took it well. We told them "that's farm livin".
So.... You were a good bird Nugget, Thanks for the memories.

Lesson Learned

Don't you just hate it when your kids are smarter than you. Well, it happened to me this morning. We've been getting the after effects of the hurricane and therefore alot of rain. Last night Jeff and I had to put tarps over the bunnies and chickens to keep them somewhat dry. This morning Jacob offered to go out before school and check on everything. He comes back in a minute later and says the hurricane opened Sundae's cage and he was gone. I start freaking out and spend the next 10 minutes searching our small backyard to no avail. I come back in and announce that the bunny is gone forever. The kids are sad and asking what to do. I say "nothing he's gone and we're not going to find him". They're still upset so I half-heartedly say "maybe you should all say a prayer to find him". So my four kids gather together in the dining room and Hannah says a prayer on behalf of them all. I, being the terrible mother I am, am trying to finish up packing lunches. After the prayer, everyone gets up to finish getting ready for school. Not 30 seconds later, our neighbor rings the doorbell and says our bunny is out front. I'm lucky my kids have such faith.

It's all about the poop!

TRUE STORY: Two women in the neighborhood are out taking a walk around our block. The first woman turns to the second and says "Have you noticed it smells more like cows around here lately?" The second woman says "Yeah, it's that new family on the block, the Smiths."

Unfortunately she's telling the truth.

We finally got all the beds made and placed in the ground. Now it's time to fill them with dirt, no wait I mean poop, and lots of it. Being that this is one of the dairy capitals of the world there is a surplus of cow waste that you can get pre-mixed with chicken waste and other such fillers. Apparently it makes really good compost and therefore a great garden mix, according to Jeff. So we borrow my dad's truck and I'm off to the land of stink. By this I mean a long tunnel with piles of different kinds of animal waste along each side. The very sweet old farmer says he's got a nice mix for me and we head to a pile in the middle. He gets in is mini bull-dozer thing and gets a big scoop to drop in the bed of my truck. I immediately see all this steam coming from the pile and then the smell hits me. Rachel says "that's some stinky poop mom". So true Rachel, so true. Well we make it home OK bringing with us countless numbers of flies. It just sits in the back till Jeff gets home and then we start a-shoveling. This is sooooo not what I thought it meant to be a doctor's wife. I not really that much of a snob but come on I'm shoveling manure. After we're done we've got three of the six beds filled and I've got to go back. The next day I head back and get another load and bring it home and start filling beds on my own. When Jeff gets home we mix in a few other non-offensive things and we're done. I must admit they look really nice. This really dark dirt in contrast with the new wood and the green grass. Luckily the house next door is empty because our whole back yard smells like a pasture. Oh well, at least I'm done with the poop part.

But wait, my lovely husband has more plans. Who keeps giving him these farm books????

You know what would make great fertilizer for the future garden. Rabbit POOP! You heard me, rabbits. My next task is to go to Canton and get rabbit cages and then go to Tyler to pick up rabbits on Friday. "We'll just rotate their cages around every so often and it'll be great for the garden" he says. OK fine. Friday morning I talk to him before I leave and he slips in "get one cage for the rabbits and one for the chickens". WAIT, WHAT?!? Now we're getting chickens. "That was always the plan" he says. Whatever.




So now we have 2 rabbits, Carmel (all brown) and Sundae (white with brown spots). Get it... Carmel Sundae! And, 4 chickens Leggs (white), Midnight (black), Nuggett and no name (white and black Bramas). If you have any good chicken names floating around I'm open to suggestions.

All the new animals are a big hit. Jake's the bravest, He reaches right in and grabs the chickens and he's the official feeder of all the animals. We did have one close call the first day we had them. We didn't have a very good shade system set up and Jake went out to check on everything and one of the rabbits was drooling and not moving much so we had to bring it in and get it cooled off. Now before you call PETA we fixed the problem and all animals are doing fine. The chickens spend their time pecking in the grass for bugs and the rabbits are getting plenty of treats.

So just in case your keeping track.....
That makes 1 dog, 2 tortoises (coming shortly-our last ones died), 4 snakes, 2 rabbits, 4 chickens, and thousands of flies. We could probably charge admission by now.

We almost made it without any tears...

The first day of school was Monday and the kids were so excited. They had everything picked out and packed the night before. That morning they even all got up the first time I called (not normal) and were ready early. Hannah was starting the 3rd grade and Jacob was starting the 1st. As we walked in they still seemed pretty excited. Hannah only cared about finding her best friend from across the street and I never really was worried about her. Jake's looking good so we head to his class first. He walks right in and straight to his desk still looking calm. Now he would be one I might worry about but he's doing great and I'm impressed with him. Then he hears his teacher telling another student to go put his backpack in his locker and that was all it took for poor Jake to lose it. His eyes well up and he makes a beeline for me. I asked him what was wrong and he tearfully said "I forgot to put my backpack in my locker". I look back now and think there were two reason for this reaction.

1: He'd been trying so hard to be brave it just took one little thing to set him off.

2: At meet the teacher the week before someone had jokingly told him he had the meanest teacher in the whole school. This didn't go over well then and I think he remembered it at that moment.

Well, after some brief reassurance from me and the teacher that everyone was forgetting that he was fine. He went back to his desk and didn't look at me again. I dropped Hannah off (no drama there) and then it was Jonny's turn.

Jonathan is starting Kindergarten and he is at a separate school about 7 minutes away so we pile in the car and head there. He walks in confident, goes straight to his locker (he learned from Jacob's mistake) and then into the classroom. He did act a little shy but no real problems.

Now it's just me and Rachel till it's time to pick everyone up. She was great over the summer playing with her siblings and having fun on her own but it will be interesting to see if she gets clingy again now that they're gone.

At the end of the day everyone said they had a great day and wanted to go back. Let's see how long that lasts.

Oh The Aches and Pains of It All...

Well, this has been a week of manual labor for me, and if you know me at all you know that it's not something I enjoy. It all started Tuesday (it was supposed to start Monday but my procrastination kicked in), with the garage. Now we've been here about two months and I've been ignoring the garage. I would even park the car in the driveway and walk with groceries all the way around to the front door to avoid it. But I couldn't take it any longer, neither could the rest of the family for that matter. Every time the kids wanted a bike or ball, or every time Jeff wanted some tool I would have everybody stand back while I waded through broken down boxes, weight equipment, shower curtain rods with the curtain still attached (don't ask) and who knows what else. I really think the city could have condemned it if they wanted to. So anyway bright and early Tuesday morning, well 9:00 anyway I went at it. Pulled everything out into the driveway, separated it all into piles, and then it started to rain. Have I mentioned I don't like physical work. Now the Gods are against me. So I pulled things back in just far enough to not get wet and went to work. Building shelves, going up and down the attic stairs, and sweeping spiders from everything. About 5:30 I decide I'm done for a while and Jeff comes home. Good Thing---He says it looks alot better, Bad Thing---He tells me I stink. Well of course I stink my body isn't used to this. It's physically rejecting work. Really, it happens. You'd think it would be the end of it but oh no I've got another day and a half to go. But now I'm happy to say we can fit both cars into the garage, which is good because Thursday my car window broke and wouldn't roll up all the way.

So now Friday rolls around. Jeff has decided that he is going to build the garden beds. (I think because the wood was taking up space in my beautiful garage.) I'm thinking great, good for him, he enjoys gardening so. Late Friday afternoon Jeff is off so he gets out his work bench and his wood and his oil and starts treating the wood. I watch from inside the house where I should be. About dusk he comes in (these mosquitoes are killer) and says to me "Would you finish up oiling the boards tomorrow morning so when I get home I can start building?" WHAT...haven't I done my work quota for the year by now. Well being that he's so cute and can reach the really high things, I guess I could help. It's just wiping some oil on a few boards right. So the next morning I'm up bright and early again, (9:00) and I go out to the garage to survey the situation. There are 20 boards left, and these are big boards, and it's AUGUST IN TEXAS! Fine, it will take a couple of hours then I'll be done. I finish about noon. Then HE gets home.

They're all done I say.

Great, will you help me build them I can't do it by myself he says.

What's that part about together forever again......

After a VERY VERY long day, many many bruises, and some choice thoughts I don't care to reveal here, it's all done. Everything's been measured, measured again, cut, screwed, unscrewed, and rescrewed. They actually look pretty nice.


Now we really have six of these and they're each 4 foot by 8 foot. They still need to be flipped over, secured to the ground and filled with dirt, but then we can start planting. And after that it's all easy right? All I know is he better be growing me something chocolate, or at least be bringing it home.

We'll see if I'm any better...

So now everyone I know has these great blogs going and I'm all jealous but Jeff doesn't quite have the time to keep ours up so I'm going to give it a try. Since the last post we've baptized Hannah, watched Jonathan turn five, went to Utah for Christy's wedding, and Oh Yeah, moved to a new city and started a job. (Well, Jeff started a job and I'm an unofficial personal secretary.) We now live in Sulphur Springs, Texas. I know, I know you've never heard of it. Go east from Dallas about 1 hour and you'll find it. Jeff has started a solo practice so the month of July was spent trying to get that up and ready. For me that meant lots of trips to Dallas and Ikea (gotta love that store) for random office supplies. (Maybe I forgot to mention that in this town of ours the only stores are Wal-Mart, Brookshires, and Lowes. At least nothing is too long of a drive away.)

We were able to take a couple of trips this summer. The end of June we traveled to Provo for Jeff's sister's wedding. I actually drove out with the kids and Brad and Karrie and Milo (an adventure too painful to write) and Jeff got to fly out (he said he had to be back to work but I'm pretty sure he could have worked around that if he wanted to). Utah was fun. We partied with the siblings and cousins, mostly playing Rock Band. Turns out Hannah wants to be a pop star when she grows up and Jeff wants to be in the band. Christy's wedding was great. The kids all thought they were so special with their matching outfits. Hannah keeps asking me when she gets to be a flower girl again.

Our second trip was too our favorite vacation spot...Galveston. Now I know you might be thinking--Galveston, really?--but we get to stay with Uncle Brad, Aunt Karrie, and Milo and go the beach. Jeff and I even got to spend the night in Houston for our 9th anniversary by ourselves. THANKS BRAD AND KARRIE!!!!!

Alright, well being that it's taken me about an hour to get this far, we'll see if I make anymore posts. Even if I don't I still love reading yours.

Turning Over the Reigns

Well, if you hadn't figured it out...I, Jeff, had initiated this blog and maintained the few posts that it had... As of tonight, my lovely wife has informed me that we have gotten some complaints on my lack of recent interest in the site (thanks a lot Lorie!). So, the rest of the posts should be up to Kari and all blame for the content (or lack there of) should be directed at her (author's disclaimer)!

Spring has sprung!

I think I'd be better at this whole blog thing if I could figure out the technology-end of it to suit my inherit laziness. Here's the dizzying logic--1)I never feel like posting unless I have pictures to post; 2) I have to load pictures on the home computer; 3) I hate to use the home computer; thus 4) I never post. There's a way to network pictures and all of that, but none of that has panned out as of yet and I am too lazy to pursue it any further. So, the frequency of posts will probably continue to dwindle.

Well, Easter weekend was pretty fun! It was the height of March Madness--always a reason to watch more TV (and continue to contribute to the lack of blogging). Then there was Easter. The pic above shows the kids scrounging up the remaining eggs that were not pilfered by some neighbor's kid at my parents' apartment complex (who steals Easter eggs?). And then there's Uncle Brad who spent the weekend bemoaning his black eye (which he says some horse gave him, though geriatric eye witnesses state it was self-inflicted...that's Brad for ya'. Blaming poor beasts of burden).

Well, we thought we had settled on Sulphur Springs as the future destination. That is if they ever get a finalized draft of the contract to us! Good thing we're pretty laid back--otherwise there'd be another bald Smith to add to the mix.

Well, now that the basketball brackets are a bust, maybe life will get back to normal. Not promising anything, though.

However, I am taking advantage of Photoshop's new foray into the online "photo sharing" world. Check out jeffandkari.photoshop.com for more pics from our latest spring break trip to Dallas!

King of Kong and other musings

Man... didn't realize we didn't get a single post in during the entire month of February! A lot has happened. Not much of it blogworthy but here it is nonetheless...

First of all--must see DVD rental of the year is The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Even if you have absolutely no interest whatsoever in '80s arcade games, this documentary will suck you in and you'll find yourself rooting for some middle-aged Donkey Kong champion. Trust me on this one, you won't regret seeing it. I only see like 3 movies a year and watched this one twice!

Valentine's was fun this year. Everybody was actually home and available! It's fun to watch the kids make all their valentines. This whole thing with kids not being able to address the specific valentines to other kids is a little over the top. I understand the whole "make everyone feel included", but come on. Everyone knows they try and slip the "flashiest" valentine of the bunch to their little crushes. You can't take that away from kids. If a kid isn't gonna get Valentines, don't you think it would be better to start now and ease them into reality slowly (I'm kidding--I don't really believe that...I'm just saying... hypothetically).

That being said we had the annual China Spring Elementary barn dance. Even as I type this I can imagine all of our non-Texan friends rolling their eyes back in their heads and thinking "let me get this straight--Valentine nazis, and yet the Baptist capital of the world is letting their ankle-biters dosie-doe?!" I know, crazy, huh. It was pretty funny to see the kids get into it. I think little Rachel was doing the chicken dance better than her mom! Jake was already waltzing with his sweetheart down the street. I guess it's like the song--"Momma, don't let your sons grow up and be cowboys"--amen.

Soccer is in full swing. Jake is really getting into the action. Jonathan, on the other hand, was in rare form. He had a melt-down at team pictures. When I tried to make him apologize to his coach after the game, he started crying. Nothing puts two grown adults in an awkward spot faster than dealing with some kid crying for who knows what reason.

Well, pics should follow. Never a dull moment.

Reconnaissance...complete?

Sorry the posts have been few and far between. A lot of it has to do with the fact that for some reason, I feel the need to post a picture every time. So, this post will be sans photo. The last week and a half have been spent driving around Texas again. You would think we'd be used to it by now--we haven't exactly been the most stationary couple over the past 8+ years. At least the kids are older (and easily entertained with new hotel rooms every couple of days and pit stops at Grandpa and Grandmas house). The car DVD player is definitely paying for itself!

So, what's the verdict? Let's just say the older I get, the more indecisive I am. It takes me weeks of internet research to decide which shaving cream to try next--how can I be expected to bear the weight of where our family will spend the next 20+ years living happily (I hope)? Time is against us at this point--we really do need to make a decision within the next couple of weeks.

Who's in the running--initially Athens was the only real option. Port Lavaca was thrown into the mix (mainly 'cuz if we're gonna stay in Texas I wanted to at least consider the coast). Some last minute research from Kari pulled Decatur into the viewing. And after a phone call from a rep has us searching for Mt Pleasant we noticed we had overlooked Sulphur Springs. So, those are probably the Final Four (although the phone still rings frequently with other offers). Now it's just distilling all the myriad of variables to see which town will be the most compatible with our family.

Any suggestions?

1,2...3

Rachel had her big day on Saturday. It only took us 3 days of prepping her (both before and after the actual day) to help her realize that she was "2" and now she's "3". It was nice that her birthday fell on a Saturday. We could do the family thing as well as have a party with her friends all on the same day. Rachel had her friends over in the morning for her "My Littly Pony Party" (not trademarked--please don't sue me Hasbro). It was a nice enough day that the majority of the party was spent just playing with odds and ends (read: junk) in the back yard. The only game played was "Pin the Tail on the Donkey (I mean pony)" and it was a real hit. It looked like some pony came into the house and puked pink everywhere--pink cake, pink lemonade, pink ice cream--Rachel's heaven (and my hell).

The evening was spent rubbing elbows with Waco urbanites at Peter Piper's Pizza. I think the kids are developing a bit of a gambling habit. I had to pull Jacob away from those ticket games like ten times. Remind me not to take the kids to Vegas--I think they'd hawk their dad if it meant sticking a quarter in a machine for a single ticket!

All in all it was a good day. Thanks for the presents and calls. It has been like a big long "Pony Christmas" for Rachel--now, where to put them all!

Christmas Craziness!

Well, the blur that was Christmas has come and gone yet again! Every year the getting and giving of presents gets less exciting for us--but it definitely gets more exciting to watch the kids.

We also enjoy the contact with familiar faces. We got our card off and were glad to hear from so many of our old friends. Where does the time go?

Well, Christmas (in a nutshell) was spent up in Dallas again this year. We split the time with the McClanahans and the Smiths. It was good to see all the siblings (minus Kurt and his family stuck out in Cincinnati). Christy brought the new boyfriend down to meet the family. At first we thought the guy was crazy for dedicating so much of Christmas break to be crammed into a tiny apartment with all of our family. But, he seems like an okay kid--so we didn't hold it against him.

The girls got clothes and dolls. The boys got video games and Red Rider BB guns (and "no", they haven't shot their eyes out yet!).

Here's wishing you all a Happy New Year early! Keep in touch during 2008!

Dancing with the Star!

Hannah made her big dancing debut this week! Kari's dance gene must have double penetrance because goodness knows I have no interest in this sort of thing. Basically it was a weekend workshop and a dress rehearsal followed by 15 minutes of dance spread out over an exhausting hour. Hannah's group danced about 90 seconds of that entire time. Despite the look of terror in our daughter's eyes (and the stuffed chihuahua's for that matter), I think Hannah's stage fright is getting better. Santa made his debut at the end of the performance and Kari got to explain to the other thee kids why Santa only had a candy cane for Hannah's happy feet and nothing for the kids in the audience that had to endure the grueling performance. No permanent harm done--I'm sure it'll make the truth about the faults of Santa easier to swallow down the road.

Christmas...again

Yes, it's that time of year again. The time we spend hours moving junk around the garage only to get more junk out of the attic. Then we haul down boxes upon boxes of decorations. Then there's the time spent setting everything up (only to find the top 1/3 and every other branch along the bottom of your pre-lit Christmas tree won't light anymore). By the time it's all over the only thing I can think about is how much of a pain it will be to shove all that junk (and, of course, the stuff that's accumulated this year) back into their boxes and back into the attic! Don't even get me started on stringing Christmas lights around the roof outside (only to find out there's a short fuse somewhere in the line--twice)!

But, it is fun to see how excited the kids get. In fact, they had the tree decorated in under 5 minutes. Now if I could only teach them to write the yearly Christmas card!

the tooth, and nothing but...

...the tooth. Another typical week at the Smith household. Take a good look and Jonathan tooth #8 (that right upper central incisor). Due to a good game of chase the loose ball at the gym, Jonathan (with some aid from Jacob) ate the hard wood. The wreckage entailed some bleeding and wiggling and--after a trip to the dentist--a death sentence for old #8. So, the less-than white tooth of Johnny's will be headed for greyer waters. Took one last pic for posterity. Luckily, God gave us permanent teeth to follow. However, if Smith genetics prevail, Jonathan will be able to show off "Ol' Grey" for a number of years yet.

Otherwise, not a whole lot else going on. We'll be working on Christmas cards this week. Maybe we will have them out before Christmas this time around!