Hello everyone.....

I don't even know where to begin. That is precisely why I never start any posts, not only here but in my journal or anywhere else. It's just so darn overwhelming!

Today I must post, pics or no pics.

I had the most wonderful day with my kids. No pressure, no agenda, no expectations (as unheard of as that may be) no company, just me and the girls.

We started at the Zoo, which I figured would be exactly that, :) and much to our surprise it was fabulously uncrowded, perfect temp and the new tram ride was open. The kids sat front row for the magician, Grace even went on stage. We laughed out guts out at the juggler who missed his true calling as a comedian. Not that he was trying to be funny he just happened to be hilarious. Grace and I were rolling on the grass laughing, (AT HIM). We also enjoyed an orangutan that created his own fountain atop his outdoor exhibit. He decided to play in his stream creating a lovely mist of fowl, never-ending, urine carried by a slight breeze directly over the onlooking crowd. LOL, it rocked :) :) You just can't make that stuff up!

After all of our fun at the Zoo we grabbed lunch. Gretchen did point out that I was braking about every driving rule by dividing there meals up, checking voicemail, and singing party in the USA all while speeding down I-80 to make the movie on time. I did admit that she was soooo right and they pitched right in and took care of it all for me. It's amazing what they can do when I allow them to try and don't care how they get it done. (lesson learned...over and over). We made it safely to see. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". Pretty fun, some parts not the best but I'm sure much cleaner then one trip down the hall at public school. :( I did manage to dump a freshly refilled, monster size diet coke on Grace, she's a trooper! We wrapped up our fabulous day with a barbecue and swimming in the backyard.

The girls are out of school for the summer on wed @12. They can hardly wait to sit on the couch and whine, "I'm board, there is nothing to do, what can I eat, whens dad coming home." I can hear it now. :) It never fails, the first thing Gretchen asks everyday, "what are we doing today." as soon as we are doing something she asks whats next. Never in the "now"! Any suggestions? :)

The girls will start next school year at a new school. We are very excited about the change and feel that it is the right move. Any of you that know anything about the IB or International Bacaloriate program feel free to share. I hear good things and from what I understand I am stoked about the girls jumping in.

In case you were wondering Bry spent most of the day on the best golf course Omaha has to offer. He played nine holes and had it all payed for. No question, he's a happy dude today. :)

Bry and I are both working on the upcoming Youth conference Trek. It has been fun/time consuming. We are so excited to get out and get it done, It will be awesome! I am also lucky enough to get to help plan and go to girls camp about a week later. I am really excited about that too. It's been a long time coming but I am now there. :)

Life is good. I have realized no matter how much I cut back or say no. No matter how much time I carve out and create it fills up. That is good. I just need to make sure that while I do, I don't resent or allow myself to feel like a marter. I am only doing the things that need done and that I enjoy. It's so weird how a "job" changes as I change my way of thinking. Instead of telling myself how overwhelmed and busy I am , I just get in and do it with a smile. It all gets done and I enjoyed the doing, and others are able to enjoy me. :) Lessons I am finally learning . Guess it takes living it to learn it.

I love you all! Please don't think that my lack of posts has anything to do with lack of desire or love. It is poor time management and like I said at the beginning, it's a complete bottleneck of thoughts, memories, stories, concerns, worries, emotions that hit me when I sit to post. Along with not feeling capable of relaying the message from thoughts to words. It is not my strength.

I love you all and miss you. Thank you for all the posts you take the time to post. We do read posts! :) Hope you all had a fabulous Memorial day. Love, Jen

Camping

I took Addison and Ellie camping at Del Valle regional park near Livermore, CA Friday night. Addison got right to work trying to dig out a snake hole, and Ellie started pounding down marshmallows. Addison by definition is a walking fire hazard, but we managed to walk away with only a burned fishing pole (he thought it would make a good torch).



In case anyone was worried, Lafe didn't get totally ripped off. He got to stay home and eat pork chops with his mom. Quick family poll: Does anyone else think it is wrong to let a 7 month old chew on a bone? Lesli walked down to our apartment lobby for some reason and left the chop bone in Lafe's mouth. A neighbor from an unnamed developing country said "Oh how cute, we let children in our country chew on bones too." I think this proves my point that it's a bad idea

what kids do when they are supossed to be sleeping

Addison has attempted sleeping in a hammock before, but he woke with quite a kink in his back. This time he reported that he realized his folly and felt fresh as a daisy.

Rain...

On Friday night, we were having a faux date, which means that we weren't going on a date at all. We had dinner at home, with Emily kinda-sorta pretending to be our waitress and Caleb helping out every so often, and then we had to figure out something else to do.

Because Dave said I couldn't put the kids in their pajamas at 5:30.

Whatever.

So we decided to take the kids for a bike ride. We got our shoes on and opened the door to... rain. But I didn't think it looked like it really meant business, so we went anyway. We started off with Emily on her bike, but made it only 20 feet or so in 20 minutes, so we switched to Caleb on his tricycle and went a bit quicker. Not much. A bit.

But on we rode. All the way to a little pond about a half mile from our house. Where it REALLY started to pour. It ended up being one of those weird, fun family moments you couldn't have planned if you'd tried. Now the kids want it to rain so we can go to the pond again.

Then yesterday when we went to the temple there was this awesome rabbit and guinea pig show going on at the little recreation center by the park where we wait for each other to finish our temple sessions. It was totally fun. I loved the HUGE rabbits. Dave loved the rabbits that were so fuzzy and poofy that you couldn't tell where their head was. Seriously. But the real highlight was a book by this lady:

Yes, that's a real rabbit. I heart South Carolina.

Evie's birthday cupcakes-

I wanted to share the cupcakes I did for Evie's birthday - I was so happy with how they turned out- it was a very fun project for me. The flower's were made of mini-marshmallows that I dipped in colored sugar after cutting them - and the fondant was made of marshmallows and powdered sugar - so it tasted like... well, Jared said it best- like marshmallows!
I had never made fondant icing before so I was a little nervous - people tell such tales about how tricky it is, but it was all good. I would recommend, however, using parchment paper when rolling out the fondant as it was quite sticky otherwise. With the paper, no sweat!
I suppose the funnest thing of all was Evalyn. Standing by the table and looking at them, she called them "cakes", and seemed pleased that they were hers. She would gently pull on the table cloth to bring them closer to her... "I want cakes." It was awesome. Have a great day ya'll- I love my family!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Happy Birthday! I had a great time looking through pictures to find an early one - with Evie having just turned two I decided to stick with the theme. Twenty-nine years ago you were born before the sun came up for the day - dad and I sat together in our room at the hospital and just watched you as sunlight gradually filled the room. Perfect, round little head, beautiful blue eyes, solid as a brick even as a baby. So many days have passed since then - it is the stuff of life, and always just one day at a time.
I'm thankful for the day you came to our family, proud of your accomplishments, and especially happy you have brought Mariah and Evie into my life, too. I love you and wish you a fantastic day!!

Why I like Berkeley

Just a few reasons I like Berkeley this week.

In Ellie's Back pack was a flyer for Yoga Peace camp--yes Ellie asked if she could go.

The kids and I counted 41 restaurants on one side of the street on our mile walk home from school.

We get Malcolm X day off school.

A super crazy guy started talking to Ellie about Mothers against drunk driers today at the library and Ellie just stood there like sure I see your point and then calmly got on the elevator.

Graduation week. I love seeing all the proud parents and all the mortar boards!


Lafe likes that any hat he chooses fits in here in Berkeley!

Smile

Hi Family,
I love the news and all of the pic, I am doing a lot better at work this school year is all most over for me and then we get to start into summer. I found a song that I want you to hear the tone is upbeat and I think of mom and all of you when I lesson to it.
Dad

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Smile/2DCwU0

A Smith Family Tradition...

I wish I could take a picture, but our camera is out of batteries.
But you can all picture it.

Our couch has corn starch all over it. Because last night I put Emily in a pull-up and she asked why she had to wear one. To which I replied "Because we don't want you to wet your bed." Then she asked why she couldn't have a glass of milk before bed. To which I replied "Because we don't want you to wet your bed."

Sometime during the night, she got up, took off her pull-up, and peed all over the couch.

Well. At least she didn't wet her bed.

Jamberry.

It's strawberry picking time around here.
We've gone strawberry picking for the past three years. I love going and finding our own berries, even though they're way more expensive than just buying them at the store.

I like to believe that they taste better.

And for the third year in a row, we made strawberry freezer jam. Which makes you very.very. aware of how much sugar is in jam.
Which is why it's so good to eat by the spoonful. (Almost makes me glad to be celiac. No need to bother with pesky bread. Straight to the good stuff.)
The kids were super helpful this year.
Emily cut off the tops and smashed the berries with the potato masher.
Caleb stirred the berries and sugar together, then added the lemon juice and pectin before dumping them into their containers.
And Ainsley? She tested the "di-dees" to make sure they tasted alright. She seemed to approve.

And it came to pass....

Look what we captured on video!! Ainsley's first "vain repetition" of scripture reading. We've gotten a couple "and" or "now" out of her before, but this time we got "Now the Lamanites."

*sniff* So proud.

Addison Fail

So Addison tangoed with a sawed off piece of pipe and lost. My only hope is that this time he might be old enough to remember the lesson along with the cool t.v.'s at Children's hospital!

Happy Birthday, Evie!

We had the fun of having Evie's birthday celebration here in Salem. What fun it was to spend time with her, to watch her cute little ways and do a mental rewind to a couple of years ago and the day she was born. Doing so reaffirms what I have been saying for a while now... Grandchildren are magic! Evie brings a bright little light into the world that I love.
She and her parents should be almost back to 'rado (as she says it...) by now. The Fisher Price farm pieces have all found their way back into the barn, and the teddy bear will not need to share the little rocking chair for awhile. I will fold the porta-crib and wash the little checked sheet so it's fresh for next time. Mariah asked me once why I always cry when parting with my grandkids and I couldn't really give a sensible answer. I just do, and I suppose it ever shall be so- their hold on my heart is a part of that wonderful magic!

My favorite face.

Go to about a minute in. A minute to a minute fifteen seconds. That face that Hyacinth Bucket makes??? HA! HAHAHA! I'm trying to perfect it so I can use it myself.

80's Ladies

Friday was 80's day at school. Addison wasn't interested, but Ellie went all out--side pony tail and all. I think she definitely could have hung out with the breakfast club.

Addison--as always has lofty goals. I found this scene the other day when I went to wake them for school. Maybe he can do a book review when he makes it through his list.

Lafe got a tooth this week. He is proud; we are relieved.