hp obsessed???

no, you computer geeks, i am not talking about hewlett packard. i am talking about none other than HARRY POTTER. now, i admit that i was an avid harry potter reader (as was travis) and couldn't wait until the next book came out. but, once i read the series, i was satisified and figured i might get to it again in ten years or so (i'm not much of a second time movie or book person).

but kaleb takes the love of harry potter to a whole new level. he has always been an excellent reader and we tried to convince him for a while to read the books. he finally took us up on it and he read all seven books in about a month. right after he finished, he started the series again and finished them in two weeks.

i thought FOR SURE after round two that he was done, but he immediately picked up book one again and started the series AGAIN! so, now he is on book three for the third time. what the?!?!? and to top it off, he walks around casting memorized spells from the books.

should i be worried that my kid is normal or are there others this obsessed with harry potter...haha!

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a rare moment

here we have a rare moment and a break-your-heart-moment.

the rare moment is the picture of me and all three of my boys on easter day. this rarely happens as i'm the one always behind the camera...

...and i admit it...also because i don't like to get in front of the camera when i am so severely inflicted with the 32-weeks-pregnant-and-chubby-all-over syndrome.


and the break your heart moment (well, at least break mommy's heart), comes to us as we were preparing for easter sunday by giving barrrett and isaac a hair cut...

i'm not really loving this, but i'm ok...

kinda bugged, but i'm still ok...

daddy thinks it is cute to turn me around and show me in the mirror that all of my hair is gone and now i am heartbroken he cut off my white locks of lusciousness.
i am still just downright mad.
i'm so mad, i'm just going to keep crying until this horrid moment is over.
hope everyone had a fabulous easter!!!

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blogs to books

so my friend britnee told me about this great site called blurb.com where you can turn your blogs into books. so, i went on and made a 2006 and 2007 book (currently working on 2008), and realized what a priceless things blogs are.

i know a lot of people consider blogs their "online journals," and i have never felt that to be the case for me since i have journals for myself and each of the boys. well, i came to the sad conclusion that i have not written in my own journal for more than a year and it has been several months since writing in the boys. soooooo, to make a long story short, although i am not a wonder with words, my blog HAS become somewhat of a family journal for us.

so, i renew my commitment to update this bad boy once a week. i really want to. i am going to. most of the time.

HAPPY EASTER to everyone and have LOTS of chocolate this weekend (isaac did)!

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still kickin (literally)

yep...we're all still here! how does a month go by so quickly???

we just got back from utah to visit family and friends. well, i should say me and the three boys went to utah...travis ended up not being able to go at the last minute :(

the boys all did awesome on the plane to and from and everyone around me on the plane must have been expecting serious meltdowns with the pregnant mommy and three boys, because they all felt the need to come up to me after the flights and tell me what well behaved boys i have. oh brother!

anyway, it was so awesome to see everyone again and i'm so glad we were able to visit now... who knows when the next time will be...with the coming of a newborn and now that we will have to pay for isaac to fly (turns two next month). i brought my point and shoot camera and didn't even pull it out once...YIKES! thanks to my mom and allison for pulling out their cameras and giving me the only pictures that were taken while we were there.

me in all of my 28 weeks of pregnancy glory...pulling a really ugly face...

me and my chicks! we were missing a few, but i was so happy i could get together with my friends from high school for dinner. i love these girls and consider myself SO super lucky to have such wonderful friends!

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ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. yeah, that sounds about right. we took a short, spontaneous, wonderful vacation to cancun last week. we're still wannabe world travelers and take any opportunity we can to go on a vacation!

i already posted some pictures on my photography blog and you can see them HERE, but let's get to the good stuff that i don't talk about on that blog!

so, our equally spontaneous friends (from thunderbird), the sherwoods, live in mexico city and agreed to meet us in cancun with a week's notice! they rock! here we are...one big, happy family at the tulum ruins.


well, as we were making our way back through the jungle from the ruins, we happened upon this hideous monster (and he was HUGE).

travis squatted down with isaac in between his legs trying to get a good picture. all at once, the evil beast from he#! started charging travis and isaac at top speed (and those things run FAST). i started screaming for travis to pick up isaac, but my precious husband just kept trying to get a picture.

just as i thought isaac's toes would be gnawed off, it was apparent that the crazed lizard had seen isaac's binkie fall and went after the delicious morsel of food. he put it in his mouth (just like a baby does) and started running. i AGAIN started screaming for travis to GET THE BINKIE...IT'S THE ONLY ONE WE HAVE!!!!!!!!!!! travis reacts to his wife's panic and sprints after the hideous creature.

anyway, the lizard obviously realized the binkie wasn't food and dropped it. but, it was all too late to look casual and composed as we had just gathered a nice little crowd to witness our 28 seconds of smith craziness.

and yes, i WAS screaming.

screaming at the top of my lungs.

i didn't look at the crowd as i'm sure they were all suppressing manaical laughter as we walked away.

oh well. what's a smith vacation without something crazy happening?

first it was me almost drowning in the ocean in hawaii. now this. what's next you ask? well, you'll just have to stay tuned for the next smith vacation.

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i am a rock

I DID IT! i made it through our 20 week ultrasound appointment today without breaking down and grabbing the ultrasound machine right from the unsuspecting technician's hands to find out for myself what the gender of our baby is.

you all thought i would cave and find out what we were having, didn't you?!?!?

well, i guess we'll just have to wait until june 15th...

oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful mother!!!!

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check it out

so i needed to veg for a moment and i came across my friend's blog with a little collage bit on it. hmmmm...looked like fun. so, i headed over to polyvore and made my own little collage of ME! kind of fun, eh? go on, go check it out...you know you kind of want to...


jean by jeavis

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hawaii

Christmas is over (and it was fabulous, by the way), and now it's time to talk about our awesome trip to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago! We went to the Big Island of Hawaii for the wedding of our very good friends, Paul and Staci. The beach wedding was amazing and we had ONE WHOLE WEEK of hanging out with our wonderful friends KIDLESS (thanks Grandma Debbie)!!!

I mentioned on my photography blog about being saved by lifeguards at the beach. I have had several people ask me about it, so I feel it is time to tell the story. I read the Dalpias' blog, and after reading the very false version, I am here to set the story straight...

It was a beautiful day at the beautiful Hapuna Beach on the beautiful big island of Hawaii. We (six of us friends) were playing in the waves and having a good old time. Suddenly, a series of humongous waves started coming in. Holly, Camille, John, and Jean were smart enough to realize it was time to head back to the beach. Jean suddenly realized that Jason and Travis weren't following and turned to see them as tiny specks in the vast ocean. Arms were a-flailing and waves were crashing over their heads. Jean used her sweet swimming skills and quickly made it out to them in record time. They were exhausted and what looked to be near drowning. She grabbed them both (without a buoy OR flippers), told them to hold on to her and each other, and started pulling them to shore. After about a half a mile (maybe more) of dragging them in (they were WAY out there), Jean screams to the lifeguards who quickly sprint to help pull the two guys the rest of the way in. Jean was a bit embarrassed, but took a little bow as everyone on the beach clapped for her.

ok, ok, if you must know the truth,we were all frolicking in the waves...jean kept frolicking but was unknowingly getting further and further out... the waves became gigantic... jean kept playing... jason and travis swam out to tell her to get back to shore...we all tried to swim back, but kept getting pulled further and further out to sea...four baywatch-like lifeguards spotted the three almost drownees and came to drag our sorry butts back to shore. there. you have the truth. can you see why i would want to tell the first version? how embarrassing.

Bring on the pics! I also just posted some pics from the wedding on my photography blog if you care to see the beautiful bride and groom!

we should have paid more attention to the sign..."if in doubt, don't go out."

jason, holly, travis, jean, camille, john, paul, staci

girls being girls

guys being monkeys. out in the middle of a hawaiian jungle. with a car ripped to pieces behind them. what the?!?!

black sand beach
a hike to....hmmmm...dang it....can't remember the name. but, it was beautiful.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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merry merry

merry merry christmas to all of our friends, family, and random blog readers!!!


oh, and by the way....
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one more thing...
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we're expecting baby #4 on june 15th, 2009!!! i am fifteen weeks along, but don't call me up in five weeks and ask me what we're having, because we're not going to find out!

oh yeah...HAPPY NEW YEARS while we're at it!

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giggle with me

the other day, travis and i came across a forgotten folder on our computer. we opened it and just started giggling...had to share some of the gems we found...

about five years ago, travis discovered a program that i had never heard of...photoshop. yep, that's right...the same program is my best friend these days. anyway, he started playing around on this crazy new program and became obsessed with distorting our poor little family.

unfortunately, others were victims as well...his very first distortion was our good friend jason...

it's 1:30 am and i'm tired. maybe these are funnier to me because i am in sleepy land right now...

click on the image to see it bigger.

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so proud

i am so proud of travis...he ran his first marathon this last week! a marathon and triathalon are both on my list of "things to do," but i have never quite got around to either of them yet. so, that makes me all the more proud of him for deciding to do it and, well, just doing it! here is our day in pictures...

the family arrives in detroit at 6 am...jean and the boys sleep in the truck for two hours while travis starts pounding the pavement...

we head out into the chilly morning and head to the finish line...the sun is just starting to come up and some half marathoners and 5kers are finishing up...


kaleb, barrett, and isaac hanging out...anxiously awaiting the time when it's time to go look for daddy...

we were close to the finish line and could here the announcers naming people and telling stories of the finishers as they crossed the finish line. there were so many inspirational stories and people (i shed a tear). i saw one man fall to the ground with exhaustion (or injury) and two other marathoners picked him and carried him to the finish line (i shed another tear). some runners were crying, some were limping, and some were working the crowds. it was so fun to watch.

and then there was this guy...

oh, i see daddy...BOYSSSS...there's daddy...DO YOU SEE HIM?!?!!?
trav after hearing us scream our guts out for him...
oh, and want to see travis' number one fan on the sideline? he should be so proud...
just chilling after the race...

well, i'm happy to say that travis can now walk again and has regained full control of his muscles again. he wasn't very happy with his time, so he is already plotting his next training schedule for his next marathon.

hey, next time, it's MY turn...

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a little help?

ok, so i logged into blogspot to make a new post and noticed a few things.

- my poor family blog has once again been neglected (almost a month since my last post).
- i looked at my blog and realized how pathetically boring it looks.

i go to everyone else's blog and see patterned backdgrounds, polls, slideshows, pictures on the sides, etc. i have always been more into the simple side of design, but gosh dang it, i want to learn some of these cool tricks! can anyone give me tips? i'm not sure where to start...

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does this happen at your house???

(time for isaac's nap)

has anyone seen isaac's blankets? i could have sworn i set them down by the stairs. anyone? anyone?

a few minutes later, i find this. yes, that is the garbage can. a tall one.


now, who in the world would stuff two blankets, two spatulas, six spoons, and a wisk in the garbage can? hmmm...i think i may have found out who done the deed...

GUILTY as charged.

this has been happening often around here. i remember the infatuation kaleb and barrett had with toilets, but garbage cans? better watch my wallet...or my camera...or pretty much everything.

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i'm in love

we just got back from washington dc over labor day and had so much fun! but until i get around to uploading our pics and postingt them, i just had to post this picture.

i am so in love with isaac i can hardly stand it. i was just telling travis how sad i was that i had no pictures of him and me. when we went to utah, heather mickey took our family pictures and i totally don't remember her taking this picture, but she sent it to me tonight and i wanted to cry (oops, maybe i did a little). anyway, just wanted to share...

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lesson learned...but i'm still mad

this post is strictly for venting.

i'm not blaming anyone besides myself for my very stupid mistake today, but still...i need to vent.

let me tell you a little story...the condensed version...

i had a session this morning at 9:30 am at university of michigan's campus in ann arbor. oh, by the way, parking is horrendous 99.35% of the time in this town. i am looking for parking and see this...



SWEET! an open meter! so i pull up, note the orange bag on the other side that says tow away zone and the handicapped sign right above it, and figure the "tow away zone handicapped zone" only applies to the orange bag side. the other meter is fair game...rock on.

jump out of car. insert money in meter. run to session.

session ends at 10:45 am. i go out to find NO CAR. this is where the panic began. why? because my wallet AND my phone were in the car that was apparently towed. i was stuck in a town where i didn't know a soul and the only phone number i had memorized was travis (in which he was an hour away from me at work).

hmmm. i looked at the sign above the meter again. oops. NOW i notice that the red arrow points in both directions, not just the orange bag side. insert swear word here.

can't call a cab...no money.

can't call for help...no phone and don't know any phone numbers.

i find the first innocent victim with a phone and commandeer it for a few moments trying to find out which towing company has my car. found it. scared boys with phone run away from the crazy lady on the verge of yelling and/or tears.

find another innocent victim with a phone. i am crying by now. i somehow remembered the phone number of the client i just did the session with and called it. humiliating? you don't even know. she came and picked me up and continued to drive me to the lot to get my purse out of the car, back to the police station to get a release, back to the towing company, and finally to the lot again to get my car).

three hours and $375 later, i got my piece of crap honda accord back.

$375!!!!!!!!!!!!!! are you kidding me?!?!!?!

anyway, for those of you still here with me after this monster vent session...thank you. i needed that.

learn from my mistake (or should i say mistakes...does a shirtless jean in walmart ring a bell).

by the way, since when are there handicapped meters anyway. for crying out loud...

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back from utah

ugh...kind of sucks to get back to normal life after a vacation. don't get me wrong...we are excited to get back to a normal routine, our friends, and the rest of our michigan summer (so beautiful here). i'm talking about responsibility. housework. other work. you know...the stuff that's manageable while you are at home, but kind of hits you smack in the face when you get home from a vacation. enough about responsibility...let's talk utah...

as you may have read in my last post, we were without travis for most of the trip. although that part sucked (do i use that word too much on a family blog?), it did allow for some much needed time with just my boys and me. we played games, read stories in the hammock, went to lagoon, cherry hill, swimming, and miniature golfing. i love my monkeys!

on to family and friends...i love you all and miss you already! this trip was the most relaxing utah trip we have had in a while and it was wonderful to see everyone. my boys were in pure heaven spending so much time with both of their grandmas. it's pretty crazy how much they adore them. speaking of grandmas...i'll let you in on a little conversation from a car ride with kaleb, barrett, and grandma debbie (relayed to us later)...

kaleb: grandma, i can't wait to move back to utah
grandma: i know, i can't wait for you to move back
kaleb: i will probably have to wait until i am an adult to move back
grandma: yeah
kaleb: i don't know if i will have a wife and kids when i move back
grandma: hmmmm
kaleb: i will probably just wait until i get to utah to get a wife and kids so i don't have to buy them a plane ticket

kaleb overhead talking to barrett afterwards: no, barrett, you can't just find kids, you have to get a wife first and then find kids


when i got back, i very sadly realized that i took hardly any pictures of my kiddies while i was in utah. but, here are a few i did get of my boys doing what they do best...being crazy little boys!!!

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