The Smith Family Blog

Not much going on right now. We are just hanging out with the family. We went over to my in laws today (Nancy and Larry.) It was a nice visit. Kami feel asleep sitting with Larry in the chair. It was very sweet to see the two of them curled up sleeping. But then again kids sleeping is always so peaceful and sweet to see. Kalaree spent most of the time trying to find a friend to text with and Kezri mostly complained about being bored. Typical afternoon in our house. We came back just in time to find out that Melvin had run out of the house when Jared opened the door. All it took was one yell and he came running to me. Such a stupid dog. We had a great dinner with the whole family (minus Jake and Katie) and now a game is on the tv, I am on the computer as well as David is. Kalaree is pulled into my iphone with me because she wants to hear the rest of the Relient K CD that I just bought. It is a Christian Alternative group, which really isn't bad at all. I love their Sadi

Well we made it to my families house without any problems. The girls of course could only think about opening presents. They were so excited. David and I ran a few errands around town and then came back to have dinner with my parents and all my siblings. The cousins are just ssssoooo excited to have everyone in the same room. We are loud and crazy and the house is just so small with all of us here, but but it feel so nice to see everyone again. This will be a quick visit but I am so glad that we were able to come and to see them. It has been so long. The girls were of course overly spoiled for both Christmas and for their birthdays. We always leave with way more than we come with. I have really enjoyed all the time with family. I have spent a ton of time on the computer reading and listening to the headphones. It is nice to be able to sit and read without being interrupted all the time. I was totally spoiled by Brandi. She got me the perfume that I wanted as well as a gift card to iTun

Yesterday, afternoon David called me from his work to tell me that he was trying to go get some lunch and he ended up getting the van high centered within the parking lot of his work. He then informed me that something was not working and that the van is not drivable. I was so upset. That meant that the money we had to travel now needs to go to fix the van and we are not going to be able to go see my family. I was REALLY upset to say the least. It just seems that when things start to go well there is some sort of limit of contentment. That for some reason my level had been reached and now I must go through some sort of angst. As it turned out it was just a bunch of snow packed in there and so once that was all cleared out the van drove fine without any problems and therefore we are able to go see family and to have the time with them that we wanted. I did learn from this though. First, I need to not jump to the worst. It is hard with our track record of not having much "luck"

The girls have a new favorite song. It is by All American Rejects . I can have a very peaceful music playing in the living room reading with the kids playing upstairs and when that particular song they come running. All three of them. They crank it up and then do this: I have had to set a limit to how many times they are allowed to repeat the song. I do love to see them enjoying music in this house. I think it really sets an atmosphere. I love having it go all the time. This one should be long enough that you get an idea. Loves to all.

This is what we call all those cute haha comments that come out of the girls mouths. Lately, we have watched less tv and have just had the music playing instead. Amazing how much conversation goes on that way, as well as how much can get done. Anyways, lately we have had a few more and I thought I would share them here. Kamism: Kami: "mom, when I was little was I in therapy?" Mom: Not sure what brought this on, "no." Kami: "oh so I learned to talk by magic then?" Mom: Oh that kind of therapy, "You are just to cute!!!" Kezrism: Missionaries: "We have a baptism on Christmas day at 3, do you think your family could come?" Kezri: "We aren't morning people!!!" I would give you a Kalareeism but all of hers go about the same way. "Um, YEA, like that." However, if you ever get a chance you really should ask her about "pass the butter." I would post the story here but there are innocent people that need to be pr

Okay no pictures. I was way to tired to remember to take them (I had stayed up all night reading) and well it went rather quickly since it was just the immediate family gifts. Santa brought all three girls real Ipods shuffles. Then Kami got an easel and Kezri got a papasan chair for her room and Kalaree got a "twilight" shirt and some buttons. They all got another Webkinz so their accounts will be open for another year. That is truly a gift that keeps giving. They have been playing it a lot lately. They also all got gift cards to Itunes to add songs to their Ipods. I honestly let them pick their own music. As proof I have imagination station on my Iphone since that was the group Kami wanted. They actually have a song called healthy snacks. HEHE!!!!! I also have the Naked Brothers Band and Miley Cyrus so even though I benefited I did not necessarily gain as I had thought I would. David got a surround Sound (home theater) system. We let him have it early since I got my Iphone e

I learned something new today. I apologize for the back story but the learning doesn't make sense without it. So lately I have been getting more and more into all sorts of genres of music. I am still a country girl at heart but lately it seems that alternative has been more and more of a presence on my Ipod (who would of thought that Ipod would be a common phrases 10 years ago, wish I had!) So I was talking music the other day with a friend of mine here in town (actually a teacher I work with) and had said that I am usually a country girl but I am getting more into alternative too. So he suggested that I should check out some of the indie music. Now of course simple brain me thought indie was a whole new genre of music, you know something along African Rain Forest music or something like that. Well when it comes to music, especially since I have an Iphone, I turn to Itunes. Also doesn't hurt that 3 girls got Itune gift cards as stocking stuffers (yes this was a little bit of a

This: Nothing like a surround sound cranked all the way up and three very happy laughing girls. I REALLY love my life.

It sure feels like Spokane around here. I think we are at 5-6 inches now. The grass is totally covered. It isn't even the nice kind of snow it is the snow with a thick ice covering it. They just opened up the interstate that has been closed for a few days now. We are suppose to get more tomorrow and then it is suppose to warm up to the 40s again. I so am looking forward to the 40s. It wouldn't be so bad if the roads would get plowed or sanded or something. Instead it is just ruts were everyone has driven with their chains. David and I had to venture out yesterday to an appointment at DVR and it took us over 45 minutes to travel just the 9 miles it is from here to Vancouver. David had to head into work today, so I am hoping he is able to let me know that they have improved the roads since then. I am bummed because if they haven't I may not make it to see my family till Superbowl then. I am going to think positively and hope that the weatherman is correct in that the big melt

...is my two front teeth!!! That is what Kami is saying this year. She lost one of her top teeth back in October and I think it was a little early since the tooth has not come in yet, but last night her other top tooth was loose and she wanted it out. She wiggled it and wiggled it and then decided it was time for mom to pull it. Yes, I am the official tooth puller in this family. Of course the tooth fairy came last night (I think it was the first time ever that the tooth fairy remembered on the day that the tooth was lost.)

Our home laptop has decided that it is done. It started a few days ago. First it wouldn't recognize the printer. We tried everything we could and it still wouldn't not print anything. Then a few days ago it stopped recognizing the keyboard. Now it is the mouse. It seems that the hard drive is still good but the it is just not recognizing anything. Well with Christmas and all we just aren't going to be able to get it fixed right away. I do have my work laptop at home right now so for Christmas Break we will have all the internet access we want but after Christmas break we will only have internet when I bring the laptop home. Hopefully, we can get it up and running right after Christmas and I won't have to continue to the transport back and forth. But if things slow down here on the blog it is because of the wonderful computer woos that happen. We have had the laptop for 3 years now so I guess it is time that it started to give up the ghost.

Well finally I can get to do my Christmas baking. I have some friends coming over today so it should be a lot of fun. This year we are making Fudge, of course, since I am the only Opheikens female that an make fudge. We are also making chewy caramels, no bake cookies, peppermint bark, and a pumpkin roll. I am so excited to get all this made and completed. Then on Monday, we can go caroling as we have every year. We haven't exactly picked our families yet but we are doing the new dust pan idea again this year. It just makes since for us to do something fun our first year here. I will post pictures when we are completely done. If I am ambitious enough I may even post the recipes on the recipe blog. Loves to all.

I think I have finally found my Norman Rockwell life. Well pretty darn close to it. As you know, David got me the Iphone for Christmas and well in return I got David a pretty cool Christmas present and since I was using mine early I let him use this one early. I got him a home theater system to hook up to the built in house speakers. Well the system that we bought has a dock for Ipods. So lately I have turned on the fireplace, set my music on the surround sound, picked up a good book (don't ask which one, it is truly an addiction) and drank hot chocolate (homemade of course and after today I will have peppermint marshmallows to put in it.) Life does not get any better than this. The house is quiet because the girls are upstairs playing and I am able to just enjoy. Truly, this is bliss. I have never really been a homebody type of person, but I could really get use to losing myself here in my comfortable life. I truly am blessed. This was the right thing for our family. All around we

I have honestly been trying to keep up the blog so there aren't a ton of big long posts. But lately I haven't had the time to download the camera so I haven't posted about a lot of things we have been doing. We started a new tradition this year. A friend of mine has been doing it for a few years and her son loves it so when I found this elf at goodwill I figured it would be a good time to give it a try. This generates from a book called "The Elf on the Shelf" I have never read the book. But I got the jest of it from my friend. Essentially this elf sits on the shelf during the day but t night he comes alive and gets into mischief. So our elf has an shelf he sits on during the day but at night he comes alive and gets into mischief. So in the morning the girls find him. I never really think about what he is getting into when he is hidden but every morning the girls have some story about what he was getting into. The first night he hid in the freezer and the girls fi

I can't believe that it has been 9 years since she blessed us with joining our family. Kezri was such a calm quiet baby. In fact we questioned whether or not she could hear those first couple of months because she wouldn't jump at any sound. She would just lay there so peaceful. She also was always very skeptic of others. I remember as an infant if she was handed off to someone she didn't know she would get this look on her face like she was about to cry. This usually resulted in her being passed right back to me. She was such a snugly infant. She loved to lay in bed with mom, both first thing in the morning and at night. However, such an easy going baby had to result in a stubborn toddler. Which of course it did. Kezri was my screamer. No warning what so ever. If she wanted something or she was not getting her way she would let out a blood curdling scream. Happened many times in Sacrament. It was so bad that others in the ward would comment on it. If only there was a warni

But it all has pictures to go with it and I don't want to blog about it without pictures. The pictures are at home sitting on the camera waiting for me to download them. I am so far behind. David started on the outside lights. I am so hoping to get those done here real soon. We are celebrating Kezri's birthday today since on her birthday David has to work and won't be home till late. She is so excited. She wants to take a treat to her class but her teacher has asked the parents to donate a book in place of snacks. I like that idea a little better. But then Kami has snacks on Kezri's birthday and she is allowed to bring a special treat since her birthday is over the break. That has created all sorts of fun in our house. Kami is not liking Kezri having her birthday so close to hers it seems like hers is never going to get here for her. Oh the joys. Kami also has another loose tooth. It is the other top front one. I am thinking hopefully right around Christmas is when it w

The big "Artic Blast" hit home today. We got a nice scuff of snow. Didn't even cover the grass. What it did cause was us being sent home from church early due to the snow. Everyone keeps swearing that there won't be school tomorrow and I can't understand why. But I guess they would know better than I. It is cold out but nothing that a good coat wouldn't take care of. Oh well, I guess we aren't in Spokane anymore.

Last night was YW in Excellence for our ward. I can't even begin to express what and awesome experience it was. I was in tears from the beginning and ended bawling just from the spirit that was there. It also reconfirmed to me that this move, if for no other reasons, was for Kalaree. The theme was "I believe..." The YW leaders took about a month and spent a little of each Sunday talking about testimonies and what they are and when to share them and how to share them. The girls rough them out starting with a list of what they believe and then moving on with that. By the end they had generated a beautiful statement of belief that truly is a spiritual uplifting testimony. Anyone who had the opportunity to see them last night would not of been able to deny the truth. The leaders took each girl's testimony and printed it onto a piece of paper and then decoupaged it onto a board for them to display in their rooms. They then used them for the center pieces on the tables. T

came out on Monday and have some smarties in our house. Kalaree of course did fine. More Cs than usual at this time of year. But it is because she hurries through work and doesn't take the time to complete what she should. All the comments were that way so it gives us a clue. Hopefully that part kicks in soon. Kezri the perfectionist of course had all 3s and 4s. 3 is meeting expectations and 4 is exceeding. Writing was a 4 of course. She did get a 1 in PE which has me perplexed since the other two grades in PE were 4s. I have an email out to the teacher because I am wondering how he got that. Plus it is really bothering her. Kami had all 3s. She is doing well. Independently she is reading at a level B and instructionally she is at a level C. C is the end of the year Kindergarten goal. So WOO HOO to her. It was so funny, I forgot how nervous that first report card is to the kindergartners. Kami was so worried that she would have bad grades. She was very happy to see that she was doi

Right before the Thanksgiving break Kezri had a classroom assignment to "create" a ship and label the parts. Well after her disastrous clay flower ***oh yea I didn't post about that. Well long story short, she made a clay flower and attempted to take it to school four different times and each time it broke along the way so she finally gave up and just drew one.*** we decided to use some other form of creativity. So originally we thought about cake. Now I am sure you all would love to see some lopsided cake that I am sure would win some sort of award on the famous blog of cake wrecks and mine would definitely be a good contender if we had gone that route. I was smart enough to talk myself out of that. So then brilliant me though, wood!!!!! How hard could it really be, they turn blocks of wood all the time into pinewood derby cars. Why couldn't a girl of the same age turn a block of wood into a ship. Don't start to worry yet, no fingers were lost in this project. Af

Well it is official. I am seriously gone over the deep end when it comes to the Twilight series. I have decided that I should just be a Cullen and then my life would be perfect right? Just kidding, but I did go to the movie again. This time it was because I wanted to see it as compared to the Midnight Sun (Edward's story, can be found at www.stepheniemeyer.com.) But the nice thing about going so much is that you find little things that I totally missed in the two times I saw it before. Plus having a thirteen year old point out that there is jewelry makes you pay a little closer attention. So Jasper, Edward and Emmett all wore this wristband. Now I don't know why but I have always like that type of thing on a guy. David doesn't wear them but maybe if I gave him something like that he would. Carlisle, being more "adult", wore this ring. Which is more of what I could see David wearing as he is more on the ring type of guy than the wristband, but still. Esme wore th

I love this tradition of taking a day and just going out and shopping. It makes my life so much easier. We did get the tree up and decorated but we didn't get any of the other decorations done. Oh well, that will come in the next few days. I will get pictures of it all on the blog here in the next few days as it gets finished. I still have some crafty stuff to finish. I love that I get to stay busy and I even have some extra time since we won't be going down till after Christmas. YEA!!!! I am so ready for Christmas break. I love my job but lately it has been easy to get distracted and think of other things I would love to be doing. Man, I must be human. Well I better get back to work. I have a few reports to write. Loves to all.

YEAH!!!!! We are upholding our tradition of me taking a personal day and David and I heading out to get all the shopping done in one day. I am so excited. By the looks of it one or two stores and it should be finished. Then a nice leisure lunch then home to put up the outdoor lights. Should be interesting to see how lights from our old place work at our new place. I can't wait. It does make it seem more like Christmas, even though it is still in the 50s during the day and I still have my window open at night. Oh well, new area. The lights are so pretty over here and almost everyone in our neighborhood has them up so that makes it really nice. We also plan to go to the zoo lights this year and check them out. We are planning on doing a family party with a couple of families in our ward and I was going to do a pj party with Christmas stories but then I saw this ugly sweater party and that looks like a lot of fun. So what do you all think Pjs or ugly sweater?

The other day I was talking with Kalaree about how much easier it is today to stay in touch with friends that you move away from than it was when I was a child. I basically said the only way to stay in touch was to call long distance and that cost an arm and a leg. So over time you ended up not keeping in touch. So she looks at me and says well why didn't you just email. Yes, my thirteen year old thought email was around forever. So I explained to her that while we had a computer in our home it was not connected to the world wide web and I didn't get my first email account until I was married and had her. She was floored that it was that way. So then tonight the discussion was around why we didn't just have thumb print recognition to do all our banking needs. Think of how simple it would be if each store just had a pad and you left your thumbprint and your bill was paid. Definitely easier but way to techie for me right now. However, having said that. I was out and about ton

So the Young Women's program is intense. The girls complete what I call 6 little goals in each of the individual values and then one large project in each area. Well if you figure it out that is one 10 hour project each year of their young women experience. Kalaree jumped on the band wagon this summer and redid her bed, dresser and bookcase. Well the opportunity came up where she could do a service project for a teacher in my building. A group of us get together once a month to craft and gab and eat. I brought the girls with me the last time we came and the secretaries daughter is turning 12 and starting YW. So Kalaree was telling her about the personal progress and this teacher asked her if she would be willing to sew Santa hats for her class. Kalaree jumped on the idea and was super excited about getting it done. The teacher provided the fabric but Kalaree had to cut it out and then sew them together. She didn't finish them off because the kids in the class were going to fini

So in my pity me week I forgot to get a few posts on my blog. The first and most important one is the one acknowledging my mom on her birthday. I did call and wish her a happy birthday but I didn't get her recognized here. I have realized as I have gotten older that my mom is so much better at parenting than I am. For example, this week Kalaree is trying to learn to sew. I can't tell you how many times I have had to rethread the serger because she got it jammed or broke a thread and wasn't paying attention. So in one of my worst parenting moment I lost my patience. I kicked her off the machine and I finish three hats before I calmed down. Then realizing that she needed to learn this skill and she needed to learn to do this on her own and she wasn't going to learn by me taking over. Now my mom taught me how to sew and I don't remember once her getting frustrated and kicking me off the machine. I do remember her having to rethread a machine that I am sure I messed up

So this morning, due to a headache, I went into work a little late. I laid in bed and enjoyed the dark quiet room. Well, Miss Kami found a yellow legal pad and decided it was doctor time. She comes into my room with her pad in hand with all the names listed out on it. In her other hand is her glucometer lancet. She says in her very business women voice, "Mrs. Smith, It is time for your shot." I asked her what my shot was for and she says, "you need two, one in each arm." me: "Yes, but what are they for?" Dr. Kami: "Chicken pox." me: "You're giving me the chicken pox?" Dr. Kami: "No, this will keep you from getting the chicken pox." (Guess which shot she just had to get.) She then readied the lancet (thank goodness we are out of needles) and gave me a shot in each arm. Then very business like she quickly checked my name off her list and excused herself to go give more shots. Such a silly imaginative child. Who would of th

and it is not Twilight related. My Iphone has a Facebook app that you can download. So I did. I already had an account but I wasn't really using it all that much. Well it is another one of my new obsessions. I have found people on there that I have been looking for/wondering about since high school. I love that it is a great way to reconnect with those that we have lost touch with. Kalaree is working on her YW project tonight. The fabric that the teacher bought is just crazy and it keeps snagging so I will have to sew some of the for her. But for the most part she is doing them herself. So crazy. David is working again as usual. But we have our shopping say planned out. Next Monday I am taking a personal day and him and I are going to head out and get our shopping done. I way over spent again last night. I found some great stuff at Goodwill for the girls room. I love when I stumble across things that are perfect. Plus it is amazing what you can find at the thrift stores you just ha

Okay so I am not a hundred percent better today but I am feeling a little better. Not sure if it is the decision to focus on Christmas and to start working on that stuff or the fact that I know I can't just allow myself to wallow. I really can't continue to tell everyone that they need to make the decision for themselves and then not do it myself, so last night I made the decision that I would make sure that I was happy here and so I am a little better today and tomorrow I am sure will be that much better. One day at a time right?

Yep I admit it I have neglected the blog these last few days. Usually I try to post daily. It makes me feel like I am keeping up with things rather than letting everything happen and I have to go back and fill in. But to be truthfully honest I am neglecting a lot of things in my life right now. While this entry will be a catch up on what is going on it will also be a vent. I figured it was only fair to warn ahead of time. I decided the other day that I am truly depressed. It is the time of year for it right. Well things are starting to pile up and I am starting to feel quite a bit alone. Metaphorically of course since there are always someone around. But lately with David working the opposite schedule as me and me not having made any real great friends here that I can call up to go do things, I feel that I am starting to like to wallow by myself up in my room. Thank goodness for ear phones, Iphones and good books. Oh don't get me wrong I do know that I am blessed but right now I ju