Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas





Christmas time has always been magical for me. I love seeing the look on a loved ones face when they know, deep down that they are truly loved. I saw that look so many times in the past two days. I have to say that I usually do not enjoy making people cry, the tears that were shed in the last 48 hours were tears of joy, and warm my heart. The smiles and giggles of excitement have never been bigger. We have a TON of playing and crafts to do, and new gadgets to learn how to use. The best part is we have a 'family member' back. We love you Moose Tracks, and are so pleased that you came back to us for Christmas this year.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

2010 in pictures

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Merry Christmas


Here are the kids with Santa this year, and a little video of Wyatt watching Dora and calling for the map. I hate how fast they grow up, but do so love the journey!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

CRAZINESS!

As predicted this has been a crazy few months. Bug's b-day was great. Halloween was fun. My birthday we all had a stomach bug. And now we're gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will try to get some recent pics up very soon.

Friday, October 8, 2010

never a dull moment

So, after battling some sicknesses (still can't kick mine) the kids are feeling better. This always proves to be a very busy time of year for us...Courtney's b-day, Halloween (which co-insides with a visit from Grammy), and my b-day all in a 2 week span (not to mention b-days of some of our nearest and dearest...) and to top it all off, we have meeting #2 of our Holiday Card making Club on the 30th.....

Bottom line, no rest for the weary. (And goodness knows, that's me these days!)

Sunday, September 26, 2010

The things we say...

So Cooper and I have been butting heads as of late, she is trying to assert her Independence. I asked her to hand me the powder the other day, she picked it up, shook it and told me "Empty Mommy". And I said "No it's not, just bring it here." And then it happened! She looked me square in the face and proceeded to tell me "Mommy, trust me, empty!" It's funny because I tell the kids that all the time when they are about to go off the deep end over some little thing that is a non-issue. Ahhhh, the circle of life!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

that time of year again

I always dread the start of school. Not for the same reasons most people do...but because for as long as I can remember, school starts and I end up getting sick! Not usually something that makes the world too difficult, but this year it ended up hitting me, Jilly, Cooper and Wyatt. I have never seen so much snot before! (I know, not the prettiest of mental images)

Courtney is getting use to 8th grade, Jilly loves school, Cooper and Wyatt are dealing well with the schedule changes.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

resolutions

I know it's not time for New Year's, but as the school year is about to start I have a tendency to make resolutions. One of my resolutions is to blog about the kids once a week. I may not have as many pictures, but I will try to keep everyone up to date on a more consistent basis.

Love to All!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Such a slacker!

My apologies for not keeping in touch. Busy, busy, busy as of late. Kids are amazing..Wyatt popped his first tooth right after 4th of July. Cooper not only speaks in sentences, but in full paragraphs...too cute to hear her tell a story. Jilly has discovered how much she loves to sing and dance. Courtney is just chilling this summer, being a huge help to me with the kids while I 'work'. I have helped my Mom start a business (get ready for a shameless plug). To see part of what's been keeping me from blogging go to www.bugandbeanstore.com . I have become the resident photographer (love it!!!) and have been helping with a lot of the creative for the website. OK, so kids...check, bugandbeanstore....check, oh yeah! I have also become a consultant for the scrapbook company Close To My Heart. So you can see, being a wife, raising 4 kids and trying to get 2 businesses up and running is a little time consuming, but I promise to get caught up!

Love to All

Sunday, May 30, 2010

appologies


So very sorry to all for the hiatus. With Jilly finishing school, horse shows, Birthdays, and trying to get 2 business off and running, I have had very little time to get you all updated. Here are a few of my favorite shots of the kids and the ponies.



























Wednesday, March 24, 2010

OH...Cooper

One smart cookie is all I can say about Cooper Boo. I have found myself having actual conversations with her as of late. It amazes me how much she understands what people are saying to her, and her vocabulary is astounding. I would be here all day if I tried to list all the things she says. I think the funniest thing she does right now is to follow Jilly to timeout. And then she just plops her little butt next to Jilly and sits there quietly. At this point we are starting to give Cooper her own timeouts...it might only lat 20-30 seconds, but she knows where to go, and she stays there. And when she's all done little Missy does give you a kiss and hug and tells you she's 'sorry'. As much as I complain about the kids making me want to loose my noodle, they truly are such individual precious gifts that I would not trade for the world.

My Jilly Bean

What else can be said for Jilly, other than she keeps us laughing. Here are a few examples...

She has picked up on the commercial for Charlestown Races and Slots. (Mostly, she is drawn to it because of the horses they show...) but it is too funny to hear her sing the tag line!

Along the same lines, while watching Nick Jr there is a commercial for a brand of shoes called Lelli Kelly. And girlfriend flips her lid when it comes on saying "I want to be a Lelli Kelly girl." These shoes are just canvas Mary Jane's that have been 'blinged out'. So I was paying attention one time to the commercial for a website, and was heart broken. In fine print it stated "Available only in finer department stores Nordstrom and Macy's". I was depressed, I was so looking forward to being her hero, and just could not justify 70-90 dollars for one pair of shoes that she will out grow in the next 6 months. And then it hit me "Chris, (that's typically what I call my self during internal dialogue) you are a crafty person, you can MAKE something that looks similar, and with her bring so young she won't even know the difference." So off to Target I head to look for some plain canvas Mary Jane type shoes. And to my surprise, they had a knock off with all the bling that little Miss Girly Girl could ever want! I got to be the hero and not get shot by Jeff for spending that much on one pair of shoes!

One more quick story about just my Jilly Bean. We were in the kitchen looking for a snack, and she turns to me and asks "Is it OK if I have one of your Nudie Boys Mommy?" I about died I was laughing so hard. I had to try to figure out what the heck in the world girlfriend was talking about. And when she pointed to the box of Nutty Buddies, it all made sense. I'm just waiting for the time she's out and about and starts talking about 'Mommy's Nudie Boys'! There is no shortage of laughter in THIS house.!!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

First solids


OK, you can call it cheating, but I like to think of it as being tricky. All four of my monkeys had pears for their first 'real' food. Makes it easy to remember, and it is one of the easier foods to get use to eating at this age.




Wyatt was not to happy about it at first, but after a few tries, he now eats like a champ. He's eating the stage 1 food with just as much rice cereal in it twice a day. Boy sure loves to eat, and it shows 'cause he's growing like a weed!!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Mad

So Cooper has discovered what it means to be mad. Whenever she gets upset, she will cross her arms, drop her head to her chest, and say "Mad" and then start to cry.

And in similar fashion, she has also discovered what 'no' means. When she does not want to do something, she just looks you square in the face and tells you "No."

And, she is pushing the envelope when it comes to being 'advanced for her age'. She has blessed us with "Why?" And yes, she does expect an answer. The 'why' thing isn't supposed to start until well into the "terrible two's" which are still 4 months away! Lord give me strength, I need it!!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

photoshoot

So this is how we spent our time waiting for Courtney to finish her riding. The two girls were just cracking themselves up running around, and I was lucky to be able to capture some of their joy.






































Surprise, surprise...we're riding

The weekend of Martin Luther King's birthday we had great weather so we headed out to the barn. Everyone was there, and we had spent a good 2 hours riding and hanging out in the gorgeous weather. Courtney went off to ride with some of the other barn girls, so we didn't get any pictures of her this time. Here's how the day started.



Again, these two could not be sweeter together. They shared and took turns riding, and were just fabulous to be around.

Cooper looks so at home in the saddle.


Cooper and Jilly sharing a ride, and Cooper loving on Friskey Whiskers.

Jilly helping lead Cooper around. It amazes me that somehow I was blessed with kids with kind, compassionate, big hearts.


Even Pop-pop got in on the action and led Jilly around for a while. The kids love spending time out at the barn, and love it even more when Gran-ma and Pop-pop are with them.



Team work


I love when Jilly takes Cooper under her wing when they play. Here is Jilly playing on her DS, leaning on the back of the couch, and before I knew it Cooper had hopped up there next to Jilly. They must have stayed there for a good half hour, just chilling, Cooper watching Jilly play the 'puppy game'. When I see them like this, it makes me think...sisters by chance, friends by choice, and I feel truly blessed.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Smiley Boy

'Nuff said!

welcome 2010

I often sit back and wonder how my kids are growing so fast. It's not until we get out to the barn that I notice just how big Courtney and Jilly have gotten. It seems to me that it was just yesterday that Courtney needed help getting Friskey's tack on because she wasn't tall enough. Then came Moose, and let's face it, poor kid did not stand a chance at getting his bridle on by herself. But these days, not only does Courtney get Moose ready to ride by herself, but she is a big help getting Friskey ready to be ridden by the littler girls. What a great way to start the year!









Wednesday, March 3, 2010

sorry

To all of you who look forward to reading about the girls, I have been crazy busy as of late. And I have decided that I will try to catch up on a few stories, but for the most part I think it's going to be easier (and honestly less stressful) to just start from now. I'm basically giving up on chronological order is what I'm trying to say. We were with out a washer/dryer for just over 4 months, and with 6 people, there is a ton of catching up I have to do there. So as I get time, I PROMISE I will get things moving again!

Love to all

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Rock star in the making



While we were waiting to get things started for the Sunny's Corner Farm Christmas party, Christa and Jilly started to rock out to Karaoke Star on the Wii. It was hilarious, they kept everybody entertained.
























The "big" girls were all just hanging out and having fun talking. And of course watching Jilly and Christa 'rock it out' as Jilly would say between songs.



Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Meet the Smedleys


Aunt Joanie, Uncle Dave, Rachel and David came down for a visit in late December. The kids all had a great time. Jilly loved having her 'play dates' with Aunt Joanie, singing and dancing for her. And then there was the wrestling on the floor with Uncle Dave. Cooper was in heaven as well, she was playing with everything under the sun and showing it off to everybody.

Wyatt loved having Uncle Dave to hang out with. Wyatt just kept staring up at Uncle Dave, and Dave was the only one who was able to get Wyatt to sleep for a bit.
We ended up having dinner at my parents house so everybody could visit. By the time we got there and finished eating it was already close to 9 o'clock (which is almost an hour after they are use to going to bed). So the girls were kinda sleepy, but they have a bad habit at Gran-ma's house. They tend to just grab any snacks they want...all well and good, except for when it's all cakes and cookies. Needless to say, the kids were on a sugar high, with a brand new audience to entertain. I think it was close to 10:30 when we packed up and came home! That's one thing I love about my kids...keep them fed (and overfed sometimes!!) and they are good as gold!