A Smith Family Christmas!

We went to Iowa this past weekend to celebrate with Josiah's family! It was lots of fun... presents, food, Vallarie's Christmas concert at church, photos, and lots of playing!

The cousins played so well- we're looking forward to lots of fun years ahead!

Thanks to my in-laws for hosting us- it's always a great time- wish we didn't live

6 hrs apart! But I am thankful for portable DVD players for car trips... you saved my sanity!

Merry Christmas!

Fish Faces!

Who doesn't love a cute fish face? Just had to share!!

Pumpkin Carving

We had a play date with Grammy & Grandpapa today! We played at the MG Maze, had lunch at Biaggi's (yum!) and carved pumpkins while Naomi napped. Sorry Nomi- we still have 2 pumpkins that need carving tho!
This is our tradition with G&G- so much fun- and this year was the best so far. Ethan was very excited to carve and used his carving tool very carefully. We made a good team! Grammy helped Ethan scoop out all of the pumpkin seeds/guts and Grandpapa carved his pumpkin all by himself- with Ethan's approval of course.
Such a fun day inside- despite the dreary rain outside. We love you G&G!

Pine Tree... a family tradition

A perfect breeze, warm sun, and apples. What could be better?! We love Pine Tree Apple Orchard and spent the day having fun after a yummy brunch at Keys Cafe in White Bear Lake. Yummmmm....
First, a little posing in the face cut-outs (always fun!), then we took a walk up to the orchards. We made E pose for us (cheesy smile pic) and then saw the tall corn. That was Ethan's favorite part- he is addicted to corn! Pumpkin-picking was next on the list- and the patch just opened today so we had the whole patch to pick from (usually we go later in the season when the pickings are slim!) and E & J picked some top-notch pumpkins. Back down the trail for the real fun- eating and buying apples! J LOVES the yummy apple treats they sell- so he made his way to the food. I bought some Honeycrisp apples and apple donuts... oh, and a caramel apple for me!
A folk duo entertained the crowd outside- so we joined in! Great music, a little dancing, and then, some tired kids. Back home with everyone asleep in the car. It was a wonderful day for our yearly visit to Pine Tree. See you next year!!

Fun with Dad

I asked J to return a CD to the library last weekend when I was working... so off he went with the kids. As he was getting closer to the library he saw the Champlin City Center was alive with activity! The firetrucks were out, police cars, jumping things for the kids, food- what more could a dad ask for when he's single-parenting?!
The kids became jr. fireman and policeman (very cool!), they jumped and jumped their hearts out, E got an ice cream cone painted on his face (boy, did he love that) and they went on a tour on the tractor.
The very boring errand that mom asked them to do turned out to be a great day of fun- plus a long nap time- which makes for a happy dad!

The Smith Family Band

Well, more accurately, the kids/dad family band. Ethan told me I was in charge of macaroni-making long ago, so that's my role in the band... I guess. Such a sweet family moment to watch my very talented husband jam with Ethan and Naomi. They were in music-heaven! Maybe someday they can actually play as a family! I'm a very proud mama of my rock-star fam.

Vintage Toy Fun

There's nothing better than Vintage Fisher Price toys... in my opinion. Luckily, Stacey and Dana- the Master shoppers with Happy Day Vintage find all sorts of great stuff for me to buy!

This time around- the xylophone and record player.

The kids were delighted! Naomi loves the xylophone and Ethan adores the record player- trying out the different records and bopping his head to the beat!
A great morning to play with some great toys!

Boating fun

We spent the day with Grandpapa and Grammy on the Lake. The weather was beautiful and the lake was calm and beautiful! The kids played in the sprinkler, threw the ball to Murphy, and then we went for a boat ride. Ethan was our captain (with some help from Grandpapa) and Naomi enjoyed consuming an entire ice cream cone by herself! Everyone was happy... then Grandpapa grilled a yummy dinner for us- what a great day! We love you!!!

Naomi's 15 month check-up

How did my baby girl get so big?? Wow! We went in for her 15 month check-up today and she got, "well, she's perfect!" from our Pediatrician. Of course we already knew she was perfect, but it's nice to know she's in good health and doing well! She's my tall and skinny girl- 32 1/2 inches tall and 21 lbs 9 oz. She didn't gain much weight since her 12 month appointment, so I guess we don't need to worry about her 'eating herself to death' as Josiah describes her healthy appetite!

Naomi is a joy and delight! Her favorite things right now are eating, saying 'No!' and talking on her many phones and playing with her big brother in the sandbox! She's also becoming a bit sassy (hope she's not learning that from me!) and is not afraid to speak her mind in her toddler-talk. Here are some pics of Naomi and the sandbox- her favorite place!

Family Fun with the Smith Clan

We spent the last 6 days with most of Josiah' family- his parents, sister Christal and her husband Craig, and our niece, Vallarie, and nephew, Nicolas. We had a 4,3,2, and 1 year old... wow! At least there were enough of us to control the troops!
Here's a run-down of our fun activities: Minnesota Zoo, Children's Museum, and Lunch at Don Pablo's on the 4th. Josiah put on
a nice firework display for us in the backyard (must admit I was a bit nervous... but no one got hurt) and the kids enjoyed it! Spent
a lot of time playing in the yard and hanging out. It was a good visit! Thanks for coming!

Father's Day Fun at the Lake

We celebrated Father's Day at the Lake with my dad, my Grandpa and Josiah. We went on the boat for a ride- this was Ethan's favorite part. He went on 3 boat rides and loved them all. Naomi enjoyed dancing on the boat with her Aunt Sabie (Sarah.)
We got Josiah a Cuisinart Griller that works as an indoor grill and sandwich panini- hopefully he can put that to good use in the kitchen!
Happy Father's Day!

The Kelley Farm

Today we went on a wonderful outing to the historic Kelley Farm. Great-Grandma Pat, Grammie Carol & Aunt Sabie (Sarah)
joined us. The weather was perfect! We got to meet the baby kittens, a calf, lambs, sheep, a BIG pig, a rooster, and saw some
horses grazing in the pasture. Ethan loved watering the rubarb plant with the tin can and pumping water from the well. Naomi
did approach a sheep and actually touched it! She also loved splashing in the water with Ethan. Thanks for taking us to the farm,
Grammie. And Ethan can't wait until we can go again!

Ethan's Drumming Debut with JSB at the CD Release Concert

Papa's band (JSB) had their 2nd CD Release Concert last night. It was SO fun- LOTS of people, great music (of course), and a special DRUM solo by Ethan!! He affectionately refers to the band as the 'Ethan Smith Band,' and who knows- someday- he might just have his own band! Josiah held him up to the microphone and asked him his name- "Ethan Smith." What are you going to play tonight?- "Drums." He wasn't nervous at all! Will had to encourage him a bit but once he got drumming- he did an awesome job! I was a proud mama!

Splish-Splash!

Ethan has become our "sprinkler-engineer." Or, as he calls them, "sprinkles." He's quite obsessed with the proper sprinkler placement and making sure the sprinkler sprays the water correctly. He'll spend hours outside in his rain boots tinkering around in the yard. Naomi wanted "in" on the action too- so they played with the water table. I think Naomi was more interested in drinking the water out of the bucket though! Splish-Splash!

Words by Naomi Jean

Well, at only 14 months, she has quite a lot to say! (Imagine that huh with me as her mother! Ha ha)

Here is a listing of words so far:

Daddy (that was first- of course...)

Hi

Bye

Uh-Oh

E-I-E-I-O

No, No, No (a favorite phrase used towards Ethan when he's bugging her!)

Mama (finally! although she doesn't use it very much)

Cherry (she's obsessed with fruit and wanted my cherries so badly yesterday- so I told her to say "cherry" and she did!)

So Big! (That's what she's saying in the picture)

I'll try to keep updating it... there's probably more that she'll say today!

E's Potty-learning Outfit

We started teaching Ethan how to use the big toliet last Friday. He had been telling me of his wet and dirty diapers that needed to be changed "right now," so I decided he'd been diaper-dependent long enough.

He's been a bit resistant, but we're trying to persevere and be patient. He wears only underwear and a T-shirt inside so we can be 'ready.' On Day1-he insisted on sporting his rain boots, pirate patch and hat. Quite the look!

Summer Skirtie Love

I don't like skirts/dresses much myself- but on Naomi- LOVE THEM! She looks adorable... so glad I had a little girl!

Tricia knitted this adorable skirtie for her out of some yarn I bought that reminded me of Spring and Summer. Just had to share!

Ethan the Builder

Ethan is just like Bob the Builder. Can he fix it?? Yes, he can! Well, it was actually the assembly of our new hand-weight rack. Josiah started putting it together and Ethan just had to help his Papa! He put the screws together with the washers and help tighten everything up. He was so focused on the project- it was serious business! Some good father-son bonding time!

Nomi's new Play Station

I used to have this wooden step stool as a child. It also could be used as a chair if you swung the arm up. When my parents moved, my dad brought it over for the kids. It's just been sitting in the garage, but I finally brought it inside and cleaned it up. I would have never guessed it would become Naomi's "favorite" thing! She was instantly drawn to it, stood on it for hours and every morning walks straight to it and sits down. We call it her desk chair because she sits on the step stool at the coffee table... thus, her own Play Station. It's really quite cute!

Backyard Fun!

We have TONS of dandelions, tulips and other flower/weeds in the backyard... it's a dream come true for Ethan! So much to pick and so little time. He brings me lots of "flowers" to put into vases- so I'm one lucky mama! Naomi is loving the outdoors too and tries to keep up with her big brother. Poor girl, she wants to be 3 so badly!

My sun-bathing guy

Since it was near 80 degrees yesterday, we were outside playing. After Ethan's nap (which was very short), he insisted that he was still tired (imagine that!) and needed to sleep outside on the deck. Too funny... but it kept him occupied for quite a while so I could make dinner.

Easter

Happy Easter! We had a great morning at church (Papa sang, of course!, and he was wonderful). Then, G&G Donbroski came over
with Aunt Sarah (aka Sabie as E affectionately calls her). We opened Easter presents, Ethan had some of his chocolate bunny, and Grammie rolled Ethan up in the yoga mat (see above photo)! It was quite the morning! We had a wonderful brunch at the Northland
Inn and the best part was meeting the Bunny. Naomi saw the bunny and started squealing in her chair, waving her arms, and shouting, "HI! HI!" It was hilarious! She was in AWE of the bunny. Ethan was equally pleased to meet the bunny, but more interested in the basket of candy. I'm pretty sure he'd already had more than his share of candy for the year, but oh well. We let the kids run down the long hall at the hotel which they loved. It was a good day to rejoice that Jesus is risen and alive! Happy Easter!