Valentines Day...yes, I am that behind!

It's probably a good thing that I have waited this long to blog about Valentines! I use to love Valentines, but the last few have been a little crazy! Our Elementary school has the kids decorate a valentines box. I remember doing this as a kid, and Loving it! However, we could make what ever kind of box we wanted. At my kids elementary school, each grade has a theme. This year, Whitney's was Europe. Katelynn's was I Love Utah. Dalaney's was Nursery Rhymes. Not only do they have to stick to the theme, there is also a contest. So each year, my kids "just know" that they are going to win, but they never do. So needless to say, I DO NOT love decorating Valentines boxes! Of course we had a fun time anyway!

The "Super fun" Valentines boxes.(:

Grandma Great gave the girls some fun chocolate lips for Valentines.

Ethan made a fun card for v-day.

Our Valentines day breakfast. Yum!

Help for Haiti

There are so many crazy things going on in the world right now. With earthquakes in Haiti and Chili, I thought it would be a good time to help reinforce the importance of service. A sweet sister in our ward decided that she was going to do a service project once a week with her kids. So she had a night of putting together kits for Haiti. I took the girls so that they could feel good about doing service. Hopefully little projects like this will help their love of service to grow.

My Sweet Thumbsuckers

Quite often I will find these two snuggling and sucking their thumbs. So sweet.

Science Fair...Again!!!

I'm not going to lie, I DO NOT love Science Fairs!! I have never been very scientific, my brain just doesn't think that way. You would think, that this was Whitney's assignment, that I wouldn't really have to worry about it...well, I Do! The science fair is just another one of those assignments that the parents end up doing most of the work. (: Well, I better be fair, Whitney did do most of the work on this project, which was really nice. She wanted to find out which spearment gum lasted the longest. It wasn't super scientific, but she did find out that trident does last the longest.

A Whole New Experience!

Having boys, has been a whole new experience! Everyone told me that they would be so much easier than my girls. I have yet for that statement to be true.(: Boys are so funny. I still think it is crazy what they consider fun. Like wrestling, for instance. To me, being tackled to the ground is not amusing! However, Mike and my boys seem to think that it needs to be a nightly ritual. They wrestle, growl like some sort of animal, and chase eachother around on all fours. I'm glad that they have something to do each night together, but man, it's crazy!(:

Sunday Night of Fun!

Every now and then, we'll stay home on a Sunday night. Usually we are visiting family, but a few Sundays ago, my family decided to come and visit us. My brother David and his wife Lindsay were here from Vegas, so we all got together to just hang out. David, of course, had to show us his "war wound" from his appendix surgery and I got a great shot of my girls reactions to it. I love spending time with my family, and I'm glad that we live close enough that we get to do that quite often.

My dad just happened to sit in one of our folding chairs that was on the verge of breaking. Sorry dad!(:

Reaction to David's "war wound." I love this picture!

The Cows are Back!!!

I am really behind right now with my blog. I am slowly trying to catch up with all that has been going on at our house lately. Last year we had the "privilege" of having all of our cows in Springville. It made it nice for Mike to be able to check on them and to help deliver their calves. This year, he found some land in Dueshane (totally spelled wrong) to put them on. Secretly, I was a little excited about that. It meant that my husband wouldn't be stopping every day on his way home from work to feed the cows and checking on them sometimes through the night. Well, Mike being the person that he is, had a hard time letting someone else take care of his cows, so of course, they are back. The only person besides Mike that is really super excited about this, of course, is Ethan. So at least now, Mike has a buddy to go along with him to feed his cows.

Piano Player???

Spencer has decided that he LOVES to play the piano. The girls use to sit him on their lap, and he would love to just pound on the keys. Now that he is standing, he will pull himself up to the piano and just sit there and play. I would love to have a Mozart in the family!(:

Remember the Good Ol' Days!?!

Remember when we had to carry home all of those heavy text books? Well, gone are the days of doing that! It is amazing to me, that everything is digital now a days. When Whitney does her homework, it is on the computer and the internet. When I was her age, we didn't even have the internet (and I am NOT that old!(:) Hopefully none of our children will have the back problems that we have from carrying those HUGE backpacks!(:

Try not to notice how clean my laptop is!(:

The Lock is Gone!):

So, for some "unknown reason"...Ethan has always had a plastic lock on the inside of his bedroom door. The other day, he decided that he was done being locked in his room, so he figured out a way to get it off. I am actually suprized that it lasted as long as it did. Anyway, I love the smile on his face in this picture. He is so proud of himself. Naptimes and time outs should be a ton of fun from here on out.(:

An Average Day in the Smith Household

Our Master bedroom seems to be the gathering place for all of our kids and their friends. I don't really mind it most of the time, but I do mind all of the food crumbs that seem to be everywhere.(: I came in from doing hair the other day, and this is where I found everyone.

Notice they all have a bag of cheetos!(: Lovely!

Caught in the Act!

One of Spencer's favorite things to do right now is play in the bathroom. It happens to be one of my least favorite things right now. If any bathroom door is left open, Spencer knows, and he heads straight for it. Of course he loves to play with the toilet paper and suck on the little white things on the bottom of the toilet (I know, this totally grossed me out!!!) So needless to say, if I can help it, the bathroom doors are always shut!(:

He's such a little cowboy!

Ethan told me the other day, that he was going to play cowboy and horses. Of course I told him that that would be fine. When I walked into the front room, this is what I found. He was having a blast riding, brushing, feeding, and taking care of his "horse." Ya gotta love this kid!(:

For F.H.E. the other night we had a lesson on Eternal Marriage (I am starting to freak out a little that I only have 6 more years to teach Whitney all that she needs to know before she heads out into the world.) Anyway, we had a great lesson and then the girls wanted me to put on my wedding dress. Needless to say, it didn't quite fit and it felt really weird to have it on again. The girls decided that they wanted to all try it on. It was really sweet to see my girls so excited about getting married in the temple one day. Time flies! I kind of wish it would slow down a little.(:

Grandma Day!

The kids were out of school for Martin Luther King Jr. day, so, Mike's mom decided to have all of us up for lunch. It's a little crazy when all the cousins get together, because there are 19 of them.(; But, we had a great time. The kids all got to practice a song that they sang at a family get together and we also were able to get a good picture of all of the kids with their grandma.

Spencer's 1st Haircut (the first of many!)

I finally decided the other day, that it was time for Spencer to get a haircut. I always dread the first haircut, because after that, they don't seem like such a baby anymore. But, he has so many stragglies, that I decided to just do it.

My Annual Super Fun Neighborhood Retreat

The one thing I look forward to every year, is the annual neigborhood retreat. It is my one weekend out of the whole year that I get to go and relax (by myself without my kids), eat yummy food, be with some of my most favorite people, and get some digital scrapbooking done. I love, love, love the neighborhood retreat! This year we stayed at a new place in Midway. The house was very warm and nice. We had a ton of fabulous ladies there, so naturally it was a blast! Of course, the retreat wasn't quite the same without our Amy, but she definately was there is spirit.(:

The whole gang

Seriously, Jamie and I went to get our pajamas on the 1st night, and we totally had the same pajamas!! We seriously didn't even buy these at the same time or even know that we had both bought them. So crazy! We just both have great taste!(:

This is Karla giving us a photoshop lesson.

Some of my cute friends.

Cute Kellie is my seamstess. I do her hair, and she sews for me (sweet trade huh!) Anyway she was working on Whitney's birthday blanket, that by the way, turned out SO, SO cute! ( I'll post a pic on Whitney's b-day post.)I brought my protein bars so that I could be somewhat healthy this year (we eat complete junk for two days straight.) Um...notice all the wrappers...that would not be protein bar wrappers.(:

Krista brought face mask stuff. Don't we look pretty!?!

Aren't we all beautiful!!!

Oh Michelle!(: I said that I wanted a pic with all my far away friends, and Michelle wanted to be in the picture. Ya gotta love her!(:

Me and my sweet friend Lori wore the same shirt. I wish I looked as cute as her in it!(:

All the Smith girls. (None of us are related)(:

Thanks Lauren! I can't wait for next year!!!