Her first Fall ~

This little lady has learned to ride her bike without training wheels.

She said to me, "I never knew it was so easy!"

That is... until your little brother tries to ram you with his own little bike!

Another weekend surprise...

My mom turned 60 last week. My dad wanted to surprise her with a party,

and the party just wouldn't have been complete if we weren't there!

So, off we went to Utah! It was so much fun to surprise my mom and sisters. We loved spending a few days with everyone and feel so blessed to have such a great family! We only wish the weekend was longer so we could visit with long lost friends... the time goes by so quickly!

(Grandma and Grandpa with the grand kids)

It has been more than a decade since we have spent a holiday with my entire family, so Easter was extra special this year. The kids loved the big Easter Egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house and our own little lady won the Easter Egg Crack ~ What a great holiday!

We made time to attend the Temple with my sister and her husband.

It was so nice ~ Thanks to the Tidwell family for making it possible...

my kids LOVE your house, especially the playroom with the "holes!"

A trip to Utah wouldn't be complete without watching a youth soccer game (Go #10 - the best player on the team!), and a visit to Chuck E. Cheese.... the moms skipped Chuck E. Cheese and went for matching pedicures!

Who is ready for the Smith Family reunion in Florida?

Don't you just LOVE the family reunion shirts?

New York State Maple Weekend

Last weekend we were able to tour a local Maple sugar shack,

watch the sap boil, and taste some warm maple syrup.

I don't think I'll be able to look at Aunt Jemima the same way...

The kids on the hay ride - making the trip to the sugar shack.

(Notice that NONE of them are actually looking at me)

The boiling process - even though there was still a bit of snow on the ground, it was smoking hot inside the little sugar shack!

My favorite part... the Maple flavored cotton candy!

Remember these?

I am very happy this is all that is left...

Yes, that is the carrot nose from our snowman.

~ SICK, I know!

Think Spring...

I am happy to see these little flowers making their way out of the soil!

The kids woke up a little disturbed that it was still below freezing temperatures this morning. My little lady said to me... "But mom ~ today is the first day of Spring, I shouldn't have to wear my hat and gloves."

Happy St. Patrick's Day ~

It's been a while since I've taken a picture of all three kiddos together!

It looks like a little leprechaun left them something sweet!

Girl Scout Jamboree

Our little Daisy (pictured far right) attended the Girl Scout Jamboree

last weekend. This picture was featured in the Daily Gazette.

Thank you to her Kindergarten teacher who saw it and sent it home to us.

The theme was "Go Green with Girl Power."

She came home with lots of different recycling related activities.

Our scout...

We attended our first Blue and Gold Banquet last week. The theme was ABC's of the USA. The boys were able to make and decorate a cake that fit the theme. Our scout wanted to make it look like a state flag... and did the decorating himself. The final product was delicious. What state flag is it?

100th Day of School...

Today they celebrated the 100th day of school....

I am pretty sure she was excited!

Welcome, little one!

This is my new little nephew...

We are so happy to have him here ~

Welcome to the world, Mason!

Happy Hearts Day...

We always begin our day with pink heart shaped pancakes...

A tradition we had when I was a kid!

We spent the afternoon making Valentine Cookies...

Yummy!

The Pinewood Derby

We had fun with our first ever Pinewood Derby.

He designed the shape of his car, learned to use different power tools with dad to get the right shape, painted and dried the car (with moms hair dryer), and was able to use mom's cricut to put his initials on his car.

His car didn't do well running the track (dad took the blame for forgetting the graphite on the wheels), but he had such great sportsmanship! He is a great kid, we had fun with him and are proud of the Scout that he is!

We learned that we need to spend more than 10 minutes aligning the wheels, some people spent nearly 4 hours on the wheels alone!

The Snow Party

With six of his friends and his dad,

he spent some time in the snow fort and sledding.

It was a great day for an outdoor snow party!

Seriously, check out that cake ~

I know, I know... I am amazing!

His last single digit...

He is such a great kid and we were happy to celebrate him today.

We made his favorite cinnamon rolls while he was at school.

He is having a snow sledding party on Saturday so the cake will have to wait.

~

My pregnancy was pretty easy with him. The labor and

delivery was not easy at all (and I am pretty tough).

He was posterior...which explains all the back labor.

It was a natural childbirth, all natural except for the

pitosin that was used to speed things along!

He was born on his due date and shares his birthday

with his cousin (same year, different time zones).

Today was a much more enjoyable day

than it was nine years ago!

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

A Snow Day ~

The kids were home from school today... our first snow day of 2009!

Technically, they closed schools because of the ice and freezing rain ~

Here are some photos we took in the snow during the holiday break.

The kids love it when their dad snow blows the driveway - He does it so

all the snow lands in one big mound. Then he goes in with a shovel

and carves out the pathway and bench seats. One time we were out,

and came home to find three kids (not our own) playing on the snowfort.

I guess our kids aren't the only ones who love it!