T-Ball Games

I am waaayyy far behind in blogging. The last post I did was for Valentines so I'm going back to March which is when I think T-ball began. T-ball may be my new favorite sport (or I thought that at the time anyway). For most of the players on Jonny's team, including him, it was their first year to play and boy did it show in the first game. Most kids always hit the tee instead of the ball, and it's way cute to see all the dads standing out with their kids in the field. I especially love to see 6'6" Jeff in his shirt and tie standing next to 4' Jonathan with curls sticking out from under his cap. But the best things happen during play.


When the kids get up to bat, they get 3 pitches from the coach and then get to hit off the tee. When it's Jonathan's turn (he's 2nd in the order) he missed all the coach pitches but hit the first one off the tee and ran as fast as he could. Too bad he ran toward third base. Luckily that was his only "cute mistake" of the game. But there were plenty of others. These are my two favorites.

There is a coach standing at each base telling kids when to run and when to stop. Well one kid gets up to bat, hits the ball, and the first base coach starts yelling "run to me". (Apparently they learned after Jonny.) The kid starts running as fast as he could toward the coach, and I do mean toward the coach. He runs right to him and gives him a hug. "OUT" Now it's our turn to play in the field (not sure what that's actually called). The other team has gotten a couple of hits and has a kid on 2nd base. The next kid hits it and they all start to run. Our team gets the ball and the coaches yell "Tag him, tag him with the ball". So the kid throws the ball at him. NOT AN OUT!
Well the whole team has gotten much better and knows the basic rules by now. (Although I did see that throw the ball at a kid thing last week.)

random pics from april and march

so, for those of you who don't know... we finally switched from a mac to a PC about a year or so ago... and it was the worst decision ever... our computer has been in and out of the shop (and by shop I mean mailed back and forth to the manufacturer) for the last 6 months or so...

so, we've finally loaded all our pics... and rather than wait for kari to blog... here's some random pics from our random visit/travels/occasions... enjoy

Can You Believe She Said That

So I've been know to run. About 10 miles a day give or take. I've always thought that was pretty good. Well, we just had a new neighbor move in a few days ago. I finally got to meet her today. She's this very sweet older lady with thick all white hair whose in her 70's. I introduce myself and she says"Oh you're the one who likes to run" (small town, nothing's private). Apparently she likes to run marathons, outside. I say yeah but I like to run on a treadmill inside. Her response is "Yeah, you're a lightweight". I do not want to play keeping up with the Jones with her.

A Quick Word Of Advice...

For those with kids younger than ours. Start playing sports with them early. Hannah played her first ever baseball game today (actually it was just a scrimmage). Unfortunately because of all the rain and a spring break vacation (which I will blog about later) she has only been able to make one practice ever, yesterday. Add that to the fact that I am not exactly "sportsy" and the fact that Jeff hasn't exactly been here that much in the past few years and she really hasn't been prepared very well. Given all that, she still seemed excited to play. She jumped out of the car first and headed to the field. I had to take some time to get the others out of the car. The rest of us make it to the field and settle down to watch. I little bit into the game, our neighbor who's little girl is on the other team, comes over to share something with me. While I was busy with the other kids Hannah was having some trouble...figuring out how to get onto the field. Apparently she wandered around for a few minutes and then had to go ask the neighbor lady for directions to the dugout. Lesson learned. Before we let Rachel hit her first ball, we show her where the entrance is.

On a side note, Jacob played his first spring game tonight too and got a hit his first time up to bat. For those of you who may not know, like me, a "hit" means he hit the ball and got on base. Go Jacob.

Father Knows Best...

So, the evening begins with me (I'll be playing the Father in this story) trying to do the right thing and help the missionaries out with some splits. I figured it was better than watching another couple of hours of college basketball with my singular birthday present--a sackful of candy. Meanwhile, Kari (she's playing the part of the Mother) decides since Father isn't monopolizing the TV she will let the kids watch a movie and pop some popcorn on the stove top. So, she starts heating some oil in a stainless steel bowl.

Now let's take step back from the story. Granted, I wasn't present for the ensuing events. But let's go back to a kinder, simpler time one month ago...

The setting is Family Home Evening at the Smith Home. Hannah reads a story out of the Friend about a little girl putting together a 72 hour kit with the family. Father smirks over at Mother because Father has been trying to get this done for years much to the chagrin of Mother. Seeing a foothold (as he's in charge of the "activity"), he announces the activity will be starting the 72 hour kits and practicing a fire drill.

Skip forward one week to another Family Home Evening. This time it's the dessert portion. All of a sudden, Father announces "Fire Drill". The older kids spring from their seat, find their little 72 hour back packs, and go out front to the mail box. Little Rachel--with terror in her eyes--exclaims, "I don't want my buh-ssert (it's duh-ssert, Rach, duh-ssert) to buurrrnnn!"

One week later, the kids have got it down--all of the troops get to the mailbox in under a minute (dog included)! And no crying from Rachel this time!

Now let's jump back about 25 years. Setting Long Beach California sometime around the 4th of July. After young Father's mom leaves us kids alone at home to be babysat by some quality Nickelodean programming (Turkey TV anyone?!), Young Father turns to witness a nice grease fire coming from the electric french fryer. Interestingly enough, the carnage unleased on the house by the smoke led to our families first trip to the Big D to spend some time with the grandparents while the house was cleaned!

Flash forward to today. Father's vision of flames is now mirrored in his young daughter Hannah's eyes as she spots the unattended stove top (Mother--big surprise--is chatting it up on the phone). According to Mother, huge flames (probably mere sparks) were spewing from the bowl of hot oil and apparently neccesitated the unleashing of a whole cannister of fire retardant powder (no... our countertop and stove tops are not white as the photo below might lead one to believe).Needless to say, the inspired drills of previous week pay off as the kids dash for the mailbox only to tell the entire neighborhood of Mother's folly.

No harm/no foul. Everyone is safe. Even the stove top appears realtively unscathed. We do however have a pleasant smell pervading the entire house. And that pleasant white powder is being tracked all over the house.

The only casualty was noted as Father was settling in later that night to watching the remaining minutes of basketball--his lone bag of birthday candy covered in fire extinguisher frosting! No justice...

Exibit B

I thought I would just quickly post this picture as yet another example of what a terrible sleeping companion Jeff is. Always takes most of the bed.

If He Really Wants Me To...

So Jeff has been telling me I need to blog again. Well I will. We had fun over spring break but I'm going to start with my husbands subconscious feelings that only surface when he sleeps.

It's well known throughout our family that he only sleeps well when his left knee is firmly planted in my back. Somehow I have gotten used to this and barley notice anymore. But his latest round of attacks are starting to get on my nerves. Last week I went to bed much later than him (I'm not all that big on the whole sleeping thing). Anyway, it's hard for him to fall asleep so I try my very best not to wake him. I listen at the door to make sure he's breathing heavily, he is. I tiptoe across the floor not making a sound. I ease into bed not even making it squeak. All of a sudden, he lifts up his head and says in a very loud, stern voice "Kari, What are you doing, I'm trying to sleep". Then he lays down his head and doesn't move again. Given that he doesn't remember a thing about it in the morning, I chalk it up to mere coincidence to what ever dream he is having.

Now it's two nights ago. I am suddenly woken up in the middle of the night with the weird sensation that my head is falling. I find my self without a pillow. I know I went to bed with one and I am not a tosser. I don't see it lying on the bed. I don't see on the floor next to me. Ah, there it is, on the floor on Jeff's side of the bed. How did that happen? I retrieve it, but wait. This isn't my pillow, it's Jeff's. He's sleeping on my pillow!!! Apparently he knocked his own pillow on the floor, and that sensation that my head was falling was actually him taking my pillow right out from under my head. Now, I don't get mad, I don't shove him over. I get his pillow and very carefully try to get my pillow back and slide his under his head. Does he appreciate this? No. Instead he sits up yells "STOP IT" and then goes back to sleep. Again remembering nothing the next morning.

So, let this be a notice to all. If I mysteriously die in my sleep. It may not have been an accident. And Jeff may or not may not remember anything in the morning.The picture isn't really related to the story, but cute all the same. I think this was our second night in our apartment in Provo a month after being married almost 10 years ago! Two seconds before I took this picture Bomers left "arm" was actually in the same position as Jeff's.

MARCH MADNESS e-vite!

So, it's that time of year that we live for... the NCAA tournament! It's hard actually not having the luxury of a medical school Spring Break anymore to watch the first round of action. So much so that Jeff had to schedule a week off of work and make up some story about needing to attend a conference in Houston (okay, so there is a conference in Houston... but, we're still excited about watching the games).

Our immediate family always makes bracket picks and it has been pretty fun in the past. And we're still doing that this year (check your email). However, in addition, we've been using this blog and Facebook as a medium to catch-up with old friends, and so we're sending out a universal invite to all our friends and extended family to join our new bracket group (don't worry family--we're still doing the family-only bracket... in fact. we may pick two separate brackets just to up our chances of winning one of them!)

Feel free to join the fun!
http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joingroup
Group ID# 82121
password: sansuk (in memory of University of Kentucky not making the tournament for the first time in 17 years... good luck keeping your job Billy!)

May the best (or luckiest) person win!

Fine, I'll do it.

So Jeff has been saying for a while now that I need to blog something so here goes. This is going to be a long one.

I'll start with the cutest (also it actually happened before Valentines Day). There's a mother's club in town that has several fundraisers a year. It's mostly bake sales and raffles and such, but each February they hold a Daddy Daughter Dance. My friend across the street belongs so she asked if Jeff would be interested. I wasn't really sure that he would so I said I'd have to get back to her. Well, in the meantime, Hannah gets wind of it and the choice is made. Jeff pretty much grumbled about it right up until he left (I guess he thought his dancing days were over) , but my sources say he had a good time. They made corsages for themselves and a lollipop boutinare for him. I was told he danced with one girl or the other all night long, including the chicken dance, the twist and many more. Rachel was in hog heaven, she didn't want to leave, but Hannah was tired and ready to go home early. Apparently there are candid shots out there somewhere but I haven't seen them yet. As soon as I get a picture of Jeff busting a move, you can be sure I'll post it. For now all I have is the professional shot taken. Note Jeff's shoes, his attempt to be young and hip.
Next, we have an update on the kids basketball. Jacob and Hannah did well all season. Not only did they enjoy it they are actually good. Hannah has even decided that she wants to go to a basketball camp this summer. Jacob has decided that this is how he is going to pay for college. Jonathan however never really took to the game. I think he was always waiting for someone to give him the ball nicely. Toward the end, you could even catch him hiding behind the other players so that he wouldn't have to touch the ball. Jacob was a little miffed at the ending ceremony. They didn't get trophies, they got backpacks. The disappointment was lessened though by the show. A guy from some sort of power squad came in and broke baseball bats with his hands and bent steel bars with his teeth. They're all excited to play baseball though which started two days later. Now I get to drive kids to 6 practices and 6 games a week, all at different locations.

Now a note on my husband the doctor. One Saturday night Jonny goes to bed feeling bad and a slight fever. The next day the fever's still there and he feels terrible. Jeff checks him out. Ears...fine. Lungs...clear. Throat...normal. Complaints from patient...sore, fever, achy, tired, and a third of his class out with the flu. Conclusion...we've been hit with the flu. No need for antibiotics, it's the flu. Great, just great. There are 5 other people in this house to go through. Jonny stays home from school on Monday. And Tuesday. And Wednesday. Still having a high fever, still same exam findings, still same complaints. Jeff decides it's time for an official flu test. It come back negative. Missed pneumonia? He gives him antibiotics. He's better in two days. How much was med school again?

More poo...? Ah it's that season again. We've begun the garden adventure for spring. Last Monday I went to WalMart and bought 40 bags of manure. (Technically Jeff calls it Humus--I just know the word manure is on the bag.) Then I piled it into the back of my car. Then it started raining. Was I going to lug it all out in the rain and put it in the yard to get soaking wet, NO. Was I going to pile it up in the garage and then not be able to fit my car in, NO. So there it sat, in the back of my car for 5 days. It didn't smell as bad as last time, but it's not exactly fresh. Not to mention the fact that it weighs down the back of the car to about 18 inches off the road, prompting every dad that helps get the kids out of the car for school to comment. Today in 40 degree weather, but no rain finally, we unloaded it and put it in the beds. I'm just counting my blessing I didn't have to help build anything this time. If you've ever read the book "The $64 Tomato", we're giving that guy some competition.

And last but not least, a sad note. The Kentucky Wildcats started off the SEC tournament with a win, but sadly in the next game lost to LSU. Where are the Cats of my past? For the first time in 17 years they will not be in the championship tournament. Will I be able to make due with the NIT? I guess I can but I'm not going to like it. Let's go ahead and start looking forward to a good recruiting time and a great season next year. I'm not going to say anything about the coaching yet.

Best Valentines Ever!!!!

I know it's a little early to be making a Valentines post (I started this post several days ago) but Jeff and I actually started celebrating about two weeks ago. Now you might be thinking "Wow, did they go on a trip, or spend the night in a nice hotel, or was there jewelry involved, or maybe they just went to a great restaurant!" Well, my answer to all of this is...NO. Even better, and not quite so conventional. I'll start with Jeff's present, it's not near as cool as mine though (in my opinion).

If you read any of the Christmas blogs, Jeff has developed a fondness for Rock Band. So I was thinking I'd get it for him for his birthday but I found it on sale, and then it became a Valentines present. It's actually Guitar Hero, something about having the extra cymbal. All in all, its a pretty fun game. Each player can be a different level so the kids can play with him without feeling like they always lose. (By kids I mean me.) Apparently he has now finished the game and opened all the songs but not mastered every level. I'd say we play a little every day, but we do it as a family so it's OK right?

Now onto my present, the coolest thing in the world, or as others may say: One of the most deadly toxins in the world


That's right, BOTOX!!!! It's actually something I would have loved to have started getting about 5+ years ago, but being a med student and resident doesn't really leave any extra cash for reducing wrinkles so I had to wait. Well my time has finally come. Jeff took a course this summer in aesthetic medicine and wants to start doing this in his practice and he needed a few people to fine tune his technique and take pictures of for his portfolio. So, being the generous person that I am--I volunteered my face. And by face, I mean every part possible! He did my forehead, "crows feet", and between my eyes. All in all--25 shots. These next few pics would be my before and after shots. I am not that embarrassed to post the before cause the after are so much better.



I'm not THAT old. How could I possibly have that many wrinkles. Well two short weeks later and I'm paralyzed from the eyes up. OK it's not quite that drastic. I can actually move my eyebrows, but not enough to create any lines.

As soon as I realized how well this Botox stuff really works, I was ready for something more. I am going to have him fill in some of my left-over fine wrinkles with collagen. I'm not quite ready to have him plump up my lips (no matter how bad he needs to practice). But I won't say I never will. Is it sad to think I might look better in my 30's than I did in my 20's?

On To The Next Sport (My Favorite)

I had to get a nod in for my team. Go Wildcats!!!


I signed up all the kids for basketball, and only Jacob asked for it, but it's a good life experience right. We'll take it kid by kid.


Jonathan agreed to do it cause I think he just likes to go along with things. There wasn't too much mumbling with the practices and with him being my most athletic child I had high hopes. The first game however he was just getting over being sick and didn't really seem into it. He's kinda sleepy/bored looking. The second game went much better but I think he's still trying to grasp the concept of catching the ball (it's not soccer) and guarding someone. But he seems to be enjoying it.





Next is Jacob. He asked to play because he wants a trophy in every sport. He does complain about the practices because he'd rather be home playing video games (if only there were a trophy involved in that). The games however are a different story. He's pretty good. I think he does well with a set of rules. Guard this man, after the other team scores go back across the line, throw the ball in here. In the last game he scored points, had assists, forced the other team out of bounds, and blocked shots. Lets hope his height advantage keeps up.

This is his "I'm Concentrating" face. I like my basketball players mean so I'm OK with it.


Then there's Hannah. I didn't even tell her I signed her up until right before practices started. Sure enough I heard nothing but complaints. Now she's not the most coordinated child but basketball seems to be her sport. Practices don't always go that well, if she's not directly involved she gets distracted. But I have never seen her try harder than she does in the games. She understands the concepts and actually runs down the court and gets in play. I'm hoping her height holds up too.


Footnote: Jeff tells me he's going to start deleting the shots he doesn't like because I always pick the badly lit ones to post.

Cover Models

Well I'm way behind in the blogging world so I'm going to try and play catch up. A while ago I mentioned that we had some family pictures taken. Well they weren't for us exactly. The hospital puts out a monthly magazine (that goes out to about 10,000 people) and they wanted Jeff to write an article and wanted to include his family in the pictures. Well the girls and Jeff ended up on the front cover and Hannah thinks it's just great. She had to take a copy to school to show her teacher and friends.


I will say this is probably the best picture Hannah and Rachel have ever taken.


The boys and I made the family shot inside with the actual article. Those are not our vegetables or even our kitchen though I'd like to claim them.

The one downside I've experienced with being in a magazine is being recognized when I don't want to be. A couple of weeks ago our washing machine took it's final turn and while waiting for the repair guy and then a decision for a new one, I've been using the one local laundromat. I've been doing the wash just once a week so of course I go there wearing the worst of things so I can wash everything else. This last time Hannah had been sent home sick from school and she was with me. Sure enough some lady walks by sees Hannah and says "I know you from somewhere". Then she looks and me and says "Oh yeah, your the doctors wife, I saw you in the magazine." I'm sure the next question she wanted to ask was "Why are you dressed like that and in a laundromat?" Oh well, Even Jennifer Aniston gets caught without makeup sometimes.

The Question

Jonny cracks me up daily but today I was reminded of something he said a while ago. He was looking at my engagement and wedding ring and asks in a completely serious tone: "If daddy gave you a ring when you got married, who did you marry before daddy to get the other ring?"

"Let Me See"

If Jonny has his way there will be no more babies in this house. I was helping out a friend of mine who was sick by watching her little boy today. He's 6 months old and completely adorable. Not to mention pretty darn good for a kid who's used to mom all day. Well we have a fine day. Rachel likes him and has fun feeding him and playing with him. Then it's time to pick up the boys. First it's Jonathan. He gets in the car and is surprised to see a baby, I tell him I'm babysitting and he seems to accept it. A few moments later I look in the rearview mirror and he's got this disgusted look on his face. He says "Why is it looking at me?" I say he must like you and we keep going. A minute later and Rachel reaches over to hold his hand and Jonathan screams "Don't touch it Rachel, you'll get baby germs". We get home and everyone else thinks Samuel is great and Jonathan just ignores him, until.... it's time to change a poopy diaper. Now he says he wants to watch!

our youngest is 4?!

Where is the time going? While Rachel still looks like a little kid to us, the years just seem to be getting faster. Despite promising her mother she would turn 3 for a second year in a row, Rachel reminded us all clearly yesterday she was four--in fact, she hopped up on our bed and showed Jeff that, in fact, her legs were longer this morning!Because she was the birthday girl, Rachel had the final say in her outfit for the day. Her special day revolved around favorite meals at favorite spots. To spare further fights over Jonathan's bicycle, Rachel received her own two wheel (really 4 wheel).
One nice thing about having the grandparents move closer, is they can drop in for birthday dinner and presents!
Well, we finally got our computer back and have 100s of pics loaded (of course, >50% are blurred with motion)... as you can see, we added some to old posts. Enjoy!

12 "events" of Christmas

Well, Christy won't stop pestering us for pictures--and, no, Christy, we still don't have pictures. Hopefully, this blog will be littered with pictures in a week or so. So, we offer this little verbal recap of our holidays. We could have probably included some other "incidents", but we're trying not to blog too much about our extended family or we may lose all of our readers. So, without further ado, we present the 12 "events" of Christmas...

12. Mom and Dad's Move - Man, what a nightmare. The day before Christmas in the rainy weather with sketchy schedules. Thank goodness there were other Smiths in town to toe the line better than our clan. Brave to do given the timing and the hordes that descended upon it's new carpet. Just thinking about it makes us shudder....

11. Follow the Leader - Stripped of their wives (but bound by children) the Smith brothers entertained a small army of kids (who if they were smart should've banded together and made a break for the nearby swimming pool or skate park) at a local playground. The youngest of the crew soon started a game of Follow the Leader that soon had other kids following suit. Pretty cute, actually.10. The Chandelier - Despite Uncle Brad denting his skull multiple times on the low light system in our office (curse the Smith tall genes!) and telling us to raise it repeatedly; it wasn't until Jeff was stumbling around one night and clipped his own scalp that it finally got raised. Kari did not appreciate her husband waking her from a dead sleep (with blood streaming down his face onto her nice floors) and asking "Does my head need a staple?"9. Uncle Chip's Nose Ring - So, Chip posts this Facebook pic of himself with a nose ring--and by nose ring we're talking like "El Toro". And he walks off the plane with this thing in his face and has everyone thinking he's gone off the deep end. He keeps the charade up for at least a day if not longer before he pulls it out and reveals it's just a fake clip.
8. Giddyup! - The kids had fun riding Mickey and Lucy -- the White's horses. Now we know what they're gonna want under the tree next year!7. Sibling Santa Swap - It was a first for the sibling Santa swap--it was pretty entertaining. Pooping penguins, liquor flasks, microwave S'more machines... things every family needs!
6. Game Night - Previously mentioned in earlier posts--board games tend to take the Holiday spirit out of our family and flush it down the proverbial toilet. We won't recreate the memory--but Jeff still believes he can get the answer just based on how the question is read and all the teasing in the world won't change his mind.5. Missing Chicken Toes - An event that was witnessed by none except a few poor backyard animals (and apparently heard by our neighbor across the street). Short story--families leave for lunch and return to find each chicken missing at least one talon. Blood everywhere but clues were scant. The kids are still tracking the culprit...4. Fireworks - Roman candles were made to be lit and pointed at your favorite loved ones--just not the ones that are big enough to require a PVC pipe to launch! Our kids learned some bad habits to ring in the New Year...
3. Rock Band - it's tough to find a video game that draws the whole family in--okay, so the grandparents weren't so crazy about it... and maybe most of the wives...
2. Sulphur Springs State HS Football Champions - again, already been commented on... pretty amazing experience in and of itself--even more so watching the community get caught up in it. They finally had the "parade" for the team tonight. The boys really enjoyed giving the players hi-5s as they walked past--especially the star quarterback. It was a town party!1. Christmas itself - I think the quote of the holiday was Jonathan's. Santa got the kids a Wii and the kids hadn't even asked for it. Jonathan said, "That was nice... Santa didn't have to do that".
Christmas was nice and we really enjoyed seeing everyone. Happy New Year!

rock band stole our christmas...

needless to say, if the video game Rock Band had existed in the early 90s, Jeff would have bypassed the hours of frustrating attempts to sync guitar riffs with CD recordings and just plugged in the XBOX. Not to mention the fact that if the real drums are half as fun to play in real life as they are on rock band, he would have skipped the guitar altogether. While Kari would have it sound as though Jeff spent his whole vacation playing the video game, the truth of the matter is Hannah, Jake and the cousins were the true rock junkies. And as a result, we have banned the songs "Eye of the Tiger" (Survivor), "Say it Ain't So" (Weezer), "Orange Crush" (REM) and "That's What You Get" (Paramore) for life--thank you, kiddos, for wrecking perfectly fine songs through overplay. If Kari's smart, we will continue to save Rock Band reunions for visits to Uncle Brad's.

Speaking of games--the holidays confirmed to us once again that the Smiths should not play board games together. The competitive virus is apparently spreading to the spouses as well--nobody's safe. Marriages were tested. Integrity was questioned. Eternal progressions were held in the balance. The game "Battle of the Sexes" will probably be on eBay by week's end.

The wives made out like bandits--shopping sprees, vampire movies, carb binges. The poor kids and fathers are still recovering. New Year's Eve held some redemption--pyromania was reexplored and young generations of Smiths were introduced to the seductive dangers of viewing their parents take pot shots at each other with Roman candles. Some things never change...