Sunny Cali

It has been wonderful in California. The weather has been beautiful and the kids and I have had a nice time visiting with family and friends. Christmas was a blast, and tonight we are eagerly awaiting 2009! Wishing all my friends a happy new year. Love ya! Jen

Christmas #1

This weekend was Christmas in Indy! It started off with "Christmas Eve" with Grandpa David and Grandma Kelly..

Then there was Christmas morning....

And then Christmas night with Grammy, Pappy and Uncle ET. They had a blast and did extremely well with the presents. Merry Christmas!

and Papa and Shleby.

Gingerbread Madness

I had my fourth and fifth graders over for a little Christmas party a couple of weeks ago. Honestly, I am still recovering, hence no posting lately. Just Kidding, but seriously, it was a massive chaotic mess! They are all a blast, and I love hanging out with them. We made gingerbread houses, the mess was out of this world. Good times with good kids! Logan and Jacobs house was awesome...there house actually stayed up for days!

We finished the afternoon off with a little WII action...that was a hit!

Turbo Tree

Well, here is our tree up and running. The kids were super excited. Logan asked me where every ornament came from as we put it up on the tree....where did I get this one mommy, and this one, and this one......It was pretty cute. Rylan loved going through every single pretty ornament. She wanted to carry her annual kitty ornaments around with her.

It was a wonderful day and we all enjoyed ourselves!

Madison enjoyed putting up her first tree too! :)

Our Trip to the Tree Farm

The past couple of years we have abandoned the plastic tree for a real fresh green pine from the tree farm. I have to admit I absolutely love going to the tree farm with the kids and cutting down a tree that we choose. It is so fun watching the kids as the excitedly run throughout the rows of trees to find that perfect tree for teh living room. I found the perfect tree and the kids reaction was simply, "ARE YOU KIDDING US?"

Way too small, Logan yelled as he continued the search for the biggest, most beautiful tree at the farm. Madison enjoyed her first trip to the tree farm. It was a beautiful day and a simply beautiful end to our wonderful Thanksgiving weekend together.

So sweet....

Here are the Smith girls, just chilling out on a chilly day. Man has it been cold in Indy. Sure could use some 70 degree weather in Cali.

Basketball and Logan

Logan has been playing on a basketball league for tri-west. He has been enjoying it...although we have all decided it is not his number 1 favorite sport, how could baseball, the beloved be replaced? Anyhow, he is doing a wonderful job and has shown much improvement over the past month. Can you believe how big he looks????

Indian Princess

This past week Rylan's preschool put on a feast for the children. It was absolutely adorable. The children were to dress up as an Indian, a Pilgrim, a pumpkin, or a turkey. At first Rylan was convinced that she wanted to be a turkey. I convinced her otherwise. In the end she was a beautiful Indian Princess. Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL! WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. THE LORD HAS TRULY BLESSED OUR FAMILY THIS YEAR! TODAY WE SPENT THE DAY RELAXING AS A FAMILY. WE HAD LUNCH WITH SHELBY'S FAMILY AND THEN WE TOOK OURSELVES TO SEE BOLT, SO CUTE! IT WAS A WONDERFUL DAY SPENT WITH THOSE WE LOVE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON ELIZABETH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET PRECIOUS BABY GIRL. SHE WAS ONE YESTERDAY. MADI, YOU ARE A BLESSING AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Precious

In celebration of Madison's first birthday Rylan made a special dessert for her. (Daddy helped) I was so proud of her, and she was extremely proud of herself. She is a doll, a true treasure.A pic of the pastry chefs....

Madison loved the cake her sissy made her! She was super excited.

Museum Madness!

Here are my precious superhero children. Yes, they are saving the world...or so they thought. I just have to say that the Indy Children's Museum has got to be the best in the world. I love it! The kids and I went for a fun adventure and had a blast. We have actually never gone by ourselves, kinda fun!

Madison got her first experience playing in the water area. Sorry grandma, she is eating the germ infested boat..WHOOPS!

A shot of me...YIKES!

Sweet Princess is one tomorrow! Can you believe it? It sure went fast.

We were also very fortunate to be able to go on a dinosaur dig while we were at the museum. The kids found these Dino eggs, so proud. Everyday I am more amazed at how much joy and life my children bring to our home. They are precious commodities, and I love them dearly. I truly believe being a mom is the best gig ever!

So Funny

I know that I have no new posts. Well, good news is check back tomorrow. I have quite a few to post. I am just way too tired tonight. So here is my funny pic of the week. I walk into Madi's room and this is what I see. She has a paci attached to another pacifier. These Smith children sure love their pacifiers. She just could not get enough!!! It made me laugh, and then she started to giggle. I JUST LOVE HER! Hope you all had a great weekend. Princess Madison will be magically turning one on Wednesday! I can not believe it. What a crazy fast year. Catch y'all tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!

Today was an extremely fun day! I wanted to make it super special for the kiddos, so we had a festive day. We started the morning off with pumpkin orange cinnamon rolls, complete with a spider banana. We then went to a special lunch at our favorite chicken place, can you guess which one? And then for dinner we had a pumpkin pizza and salad! Finished off with decorating homemade cupcakes! Life doesn't get better than that!! Then we got all dressed up in our gear and went to our neighborhood party and then trick-or-treating. We finished the night off at our churches trunk or treating and then came home and crashed. It was as Logan said, "A Totally Awesome Night!"

Rylan's pumpkin

My sweet precious daughter makes me laugh numerous times a day. Today I had parent teacher conferences with her teachers. She is doing great and they love having her. They showed me this pumpkin she had colored that day. It was a directive coloring, meaning that the teacher gives instructions and they color what she tells them to. So, here is Ry. As the teacher is telling me the following I could not decide how to react, so I resorted to laughter.
Teacher: Class color your jack-o-lantern orange. Color the stem green, and the eyes and mouth yellow. She then explained how the light would show through that part.
Rylan:Mrs Karen, I can not color my mouth yellow. I am not allowed to have yellow teeth!
As many know, I am very into teeth. I make sure the kids brush their twice a day, and mine at least a million...just kidding. ANYHOW....The teachers had a good laugh and
That just made me laugh!
SIDENOTE: Speaking of laughter. Tonight I visited our churches website. Which I love by the way, and noticed a pastor tab. I personally loved the youth pastor. He sure was a cutie. His interests made me laugh. Whoever thought of that, BRILLIANT!

Harvest Fun

Recently we went to a fun party to kick off the harvest season at our friends James and Dawns house. The kids had a blast doing all of the different activities. There was a bonfire, and Logan enjoyed jumping on the trampoline. Rylan painted her pumpkin very intensely, and enjoyed the fire with us. Here I am just taking my normal pic. Lovin' life!

What a great night!

Florida trip

I am back from my trip to Florida. The conference was great. I learned a lot and came back refreshed and renewed and ready to get crack-a-lackin....here are a couple of pictures from the trip. It was fun hanging out with Sarah and Heather. We also met Tracy, a woman from southern Indiana. She was a blast. I will post more pics later. Kinda tired now, Pammy.

Princess Jen meets Princess Cinderella...

The Goof troop

Zoo Boo

This past Sunday we went to Zoo Boo. The kids had a blast, and the zoo is decorated so cool. It was a great couple of hours with the fam. Early in the day my friend Heather Painter and I took our churches fourth and fifth graders out for their quarter reward. They had a blast. We went on a corn maze, it was their first time...they sure are FUNNY! They made me very proud by working super hard the past couple of months to be able to go on the trip.

Just for you Paul, as promised. Your wife in the corn.