the Smith Family

Happy Christmas, 2010!

2010-12-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

We made a little progress towards a Christmas letter this year, but not enough. We also know that the quotes are the most anticipated portion each year, so we'll skip right to the fun stuff.

We arrived safe in Wenatchee today, for Christmas week, and we wish each of you a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Love,
the Smiths

2010 Kid Quotes

December 26th, 2009
Emma, while learning to ride her new motorbike:
“Second gear is WAY better than first gear!” ... “This thing’s gnarly!”

December 27th, 2009
Jessie: “I said, ‘Emma, I’m breakable,’ but she breaked my knee anyway.” Not sure what happened, but she had a small pink spot on her knee.

December 31st, 2009
Ryan, putting on his motorcycle armor-vest: “Here to answer the questions of the world: I’m Answer-Man!” When he was four, he would strip down to his boxers and declare himself Body Man. Thank goodness he’s matured a bit...Answer Man is more mature, right?

Long ago...
This next quote was not from this year, but there are times your very young children say something and you don’t realize until years later that the statement was truly indicative of their personality. The following occurred probably five years ago, when the boys were about seven and five, but it serves as a good illustration of their personalities. I discovered this day, years ago, that both my boys had already planned what they would name their children: Jake intended to have a boy and a girl: Sammy and Mary. Ryan, two boys whom he would name Caesar and Zeus.

January 17, 2010
Jessie, standing in the kitchen holding a tennis racket like a baseball bat: You better look out ‘cause I’m golfing!

February 1, 2010
Jessie puts on ear protectors (which look like giant headphones) and yells, “I DON’T WANT ANYBODY TO HEAR ME!”

March 9, 2010
Jessie, to Toby: Dad, are you getting old?
Toby: Why?
Jessie: because you have so many numbers...are you gonna die or something?

March 23, 2010
Jake: When does that happen, when you get the weird square hats?
Toby: Graduation?
Jake: Yeah, I can’t wait.

April 5, 2010
Jessie, who already has a baby named “Pink Baby,” said: I’ll call this baby “White Baby” since she has white clothes.
Carol, trying to encourage a little variety and creativity, said: You could give that baby a real name, like Julie.
Jessie, surpassing Carol’s creativity said: or SkyLove.

June 5, 2010
Jessie, to Toby: “Mom put this lotion [sunscreen] on me so I wouldn’t get a sun-bruise or something.”

June 7, 2010
Carol was reading a book aloud to the kids about the energy crisis. The book said, “Cars, trucks, and airplanes all run on fossil fuels. Electric plants mostly run on fossil fuels.” Ryan interrupted, “Electric plants??? What is that? ‘I’ve got a gasoline-powered daffodil, here!’” Carol: “No, Ryan…plants, like factories.” Ryan: “oh, right…of course.”

June 11, 2010
Carol brought home a book from 1927 she just bought at a second-hand store and shared the old-book smell with the kids, saying, “that’s one of the best smells there is.” Jake, without hardly a thought added, “except Sharpies, Windex, and gasoline!” Sigh…I’ve got my work cut out for me.

September 7, 2010
Jessie, holding up her piece of chicken, said, in an announcing sort of voice, “Mom, we like to eat dead animals.” Carol: “Oh?” Jessie: “yes, if it’s cooked.” Carol: “Yes, I guess that’s right.”

October 14, 2010
Ryan: I found your purse, Mom! It was on the floor of the garage, tossed down like it was Emma’s stuff.
Carol: Oh yeah, last night when I was coming in from the car, I dropped it there so I could run out into the trees to scare you on your way back from taking the garbage out to the road.
Ryan: Yeah, that’s real mature, Mom.

October 21, 2010
Watching the credits roll at the end of a documentary about Henry Ford…
Jake: Make-up? They made some of this stuff up?

December 5, 2010
Jake: These are words I like to say: smock, Satsuma, pathetic.

December 9, 2010
Reading from a card: Would you rather eat Doritos’ for breakfast every day or Oreos for dinner every day.
Emma: Oreo’s for dinner? Would I still get dessert?

December 10, 2010
Jessie, in a scared voice: Dad, did you know we have skeletons in our bodies?

December 20th, 2010
Jake, while doing Yoga with Dad: Dad, when would we ever use this in real life?

December 21st, 2010
Jessie, confusing classic rock, with beverages: Dad, I’m thirsty, can I have a Juice Box Hero?

Jake's Berries

2010-06-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

Jake wanted me to post the other berry photos here. He thinks one or two of these are better than the one I chose. Berries seem to be his favorite thing to photograph right now.

Jake's Photos

2010-06-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

Jake's been dabbling in nature photography lately. He was especially pleased with this first one...and the one of the berry.

No Running

2009-11-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

I finally made a No-Running-In-The-House Rule...yes, it took me twelve years to figure out that would be a good idea. Now, Ryan and Emma are skipping quickly through the house, chasing each other. This, I guess, is why there are so many tiny, seemingly silly law on the books.

By the way, I finished my paper this afternoon, which was the last thing I had to do for my fall quarter class, so you might actually see a post or two by me in the next month.

Ryan's Haiku

2009-09-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

My son, who love fireworks, shoots guns, and draws skulls-and-crossbones, wrote this haiku this morning:

Kittens are playing,
Playing in the lovely sun,
Kittens having fun.

...and then he went out and tore up the yard on his motorcycle.

Emma's turn!

2009-09-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

Little Honda

2009-09-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

2009-07-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a movie-clip Ryan, Jake, and their friend Ian made this afternoon.

Farm Vacation, 2009

2009-06-26T20:22:00.001-07:00

Father's Day 2009

2009-06-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Hide and Seek, at the Farm

2009-05-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

Can you spot the kids, before they appear?

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Mimi!

Lego Designers

2009-04-02T10:52:00.001-07:00

First, the inspiration: http://powerminers.lego.com/en-us/Movies/function-movies/functions-thunder-driller.aspx

Next, watch the interpretations:
first Jake -

Then Emma -

Then Jessie (get that girl a kleenex!) -

Jessie's Driveway Walk

2009-03-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

Jessie Cathleen, taking a walk up my parents driveway, in Friday Harbor. A fun glimpse into the mind of a three-year-old.

Friday Harbor Firewood

2009-03-31T16:46:00.001-07:00

Dad, Ryan, and I - cutting down a dead tree for firewood.

Jake's Cabin

2009-03-15T07:51:00.001-07:00

Jake has been begging me to build him a "shack" for about a year now. He became interested after watching the ferry workers in ticket booths, thought their space looked just about right for his needs as a 9 year old introvert.

It continued from the ferry booths, to latte stands, sheds outside Home Depot, etc. He'd say - "Dad, if that building was about half the size, it would be perfect for my shack!".

He very specifically wanted a small footprint; enough space for a small desk, chair, some shelves, and that's it. Originally he was hoping to have his shack near the road, with a window to sell candy to passerby's. That got vetoed by Mom and Dad, sorry Jake.

Then, I got the idea to use logs, since we were clearing the back yard out a bit anyway (always extra downed trees around our place, Lord knows...). So we started last Friday, with the revised Log Cabin project:

A couple logs, nestled outside the back door under a cedar tree..

Most of the work was done last Saturday and Sunday, but I have to tell you, Jake is a slave driver. He was frustrated that I wouldn't work past dark (midnight, to use his term), and every day of the week, after work, he'd ask what the plan was for the cabin.

To be fair, it's an exciting project for me too, but I have been surprised at Jake's dedication. We finished the electricity yesterday, after a day of troubleshooting tripped GFI outlets (I wired the light switch backwards)... Here's Jake at his desk, sometime before "midnight".

We just need to finish the back window, and fill the cracks a bit, and then we're done! Although, Jake REALLY wants me to add a stone fireplace out the back of the cabin. Or if not, can he take the electric space heater out there? Please Dad!?!...

Ryan's Life

2009-02-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

Ryan has decided to do some online journaling - his blog is http://www.ryan-and-jake.blogspot.com/

He'd love your comments!

the Day After

2008-12-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Bye, Bye, Christmas tree...

December Snow

2008-12-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

2008-11-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

Ryan's 11th birthday was Thursday (I am a bit slow with the blogging, but you already know that). Toby took the day off and we had planned a day at the Science Center at Ryan's request. He woke up with the flu, though. Jake and Emma were urging Ryan to come downstairs to open his presents first thing in the morning, but Ryan just sat in a chair in our room and stared. Now that's sick! We didn't end up going to the Science Center. He built his new lego set and then spent a good portion of his birthday like this:

He was asked several times during the day if he wanted to have cake now, but he kept saying, "not yet." We finally told him after dinner that it was cake time becuase we were running out of time. Look at the enthusiasm on his face:

Here are the cakes I made for him. The birthday cake has become, for our children, a big decision as it normally represents the child's most significant interest at the time. This was Ryan's choice, after much deliberation. As a budding numismatist (coin collector), he decided the Franklin half-dollar was what he wanted for his birthday cake.

And here's a video of the cake "ceremony." He was a good sport.

Happy Birthday, Ryan. We love you.

Garage Band, the early days

2008-11-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

Ryan and Jake, soon to be famous rock stars. It all started here in a messy Redmond garage.

Sweet Jessie, part II

2008-11-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

She's sweet, but don't mess with her!

Sweet Jessie

2008-10-23T14:45:00.001-07:00

Just a few pictures of Jessie that I really love:

Mr. Peterson

2008-08-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

I’m feeling sentimental today, I guess. I feel the need to write a tribute. Usually I just think these sorts of things in my head and don’t ever say them aloud, or write them and save them on my computer, but it occurred to me that other people post this sort of thing on their blog sometimes, so I thought I would go out on a limb and share this one with you all.

I was playing a song on the piano yesterday that I hardly ever play. It was “The Entertainer”, which I learned for a recital in third or fourth grade. I was young, but it is not so simplistic a song that it is no longer fun to play...it is, actually, quite enjoyable. The reason I don’t play it anymore is that I played it so much when I was a kid that my parents and siblings would probably be happy to never hear the song again for the rest of their lives and, feeling a bit bad for making them crazy with it, I gave up the song long ago. I realized yesterday, though, that my husband and kids weren’t there then so they probably wouldn’t mind my playing it...just once or twice...

Here is an amazing thing about the human mind: after hardly even looking at the song for years, my fingers still know it. The song calls for the use of the pedal, which smooths the notes, but I didn’t learn it with the pedal...I think because I couldn’t reach the pedals back then. As I was playing, I thought about Mr. Peterson, who was my piano teacher when I learned this song and how he always stressed the need to play “legato”, smooth and flowing, without breaks between the notes (unless, of course, the music called for “staccato” or it was the end of a phrase). Seeing as how I loved this man, I tried very hard to play legato as he wished. I don’t do this very well now, but I noticed that I was playing legato rather well in this song without even trying...it was part of what my fingers remembered. He told me so many times that if I was going to play the same note twice in a row, to not lift the key all the way up before depressing it again...I am sure I never do this now, because it is not easy, but I was doing it while playing the song I learned under his instruction.

So, I’ve been thinking about Burt Peterson today. I had to stop taking lessons from him after fourth grade when we moved to a different town and I had another piano teacher whom I still love. When Helen Ellingson left for Peru, though, I thought I was ready to be done with piano, but I continued to take lessons for a few more years because of Mr. Peterson. Whenever I thought about quitting, I thought of him and pressed on because I didn’t want to disappoint him. He was an elderly man when I knew him long ago so I imagine he is no longer with us. He probably wouldn’t even remember me if he were, but I will always remember him...and so will my fingers, I guess.

Video by Jake

2008-08-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a good video Jake created that you should email to your friends - you have to listen closely to what he is saying, and pay close attention:

Online Relationships

2008-08-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Why people go through all the effort to put together a ceremony to “renew” their vows, I do not know. It can be so easily done these days with Facebook. Toby just sat me down and told me to respond to his official request to join that I received in email several days ago...and I did. While filling out my profile, he told me he would do something on the website so we’d be listed as married to each other. I was then informed online that Toby Smith would like to add me as “spouse”. I was asked, “Would you like to confirm this relationship?” I had two buttons from which I could choose: “Confirm” or “Ignore”. I thought about it for a minute...and then went ahead and confirmed.

“You are now in a relationship with Toby Smith”, I was told. Simple as that. Could have saved my parents a lot of money on that wedding if there had been Facebook twelve years ago.

Now I’m really laughing. I went back to finish my “profile” and it now says I’m married to Toby Smith and under that it has a place I can click that says “Cancel Relationship”.

I thought about adding my sister, Gail, as my first friend, but it told me she would have to confirm the friendship and I decided the possible rejection was too much for me to bear so I decided to wait.

Each time I am faced with a new technological possibility, I progress through five stages (you saw this happen with the blog):
1. Ignorance
2. Refusal (because these things always seem cheesy to me at first or because "I don't have time.")
3. Reluctant concession (usually for my husband)
4. Enthusiasm
5. Abdication

I’m at stage three so you can probably expect to eventually see more of me on Facebook...and then don’t be surprised when I disappear again.

Happy 9th Birthday, Jake!

2008-07-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today, Jake turned 9. We were on the last day of our four day vacation, so we did a few things to make it extra special for "DD" (how Jessie pronounces "Jakey"). On the night of the 27th, we ordered pizza in our hotel room, and watched a movie. Jake had special cereal (Pop's) waiting for him when he woke up. He played with new legos for a while, then took a swim, and then we spent the day in Port Townsend, exploring the bunkers of Fort Worden. We had Terriyaki chicken and rice for dinner (his favorite), and there were 5 new license plates waiting for Jake at home.

Happy Birthday, Jake!

Father & Son, part II

2008-07-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I had a fun trip to the shooting range this afternoon, with the Hartje's. We shot the .30 carbine, 9mm Pistol, 9mm folding rifle, cowboy .22 six shooter, and wrapped up with a shotgun skeet shooting competition - great way to spend the afternoon (followed by greasy bacon-cheese-burgers of course). How's that for an advertisement of Fall City, Washington :-)

M1 Carbine;

Sig 9mm, 226 (look at that finger discipline, good boy! It's called "indexing").

Single Six revolver;
Kel-Tec 9mm semi-auto

Father & Son Camping Trip

2008-07-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I went on a motorcycle camping trip yesterday, we had a great time. It was good to go, just the two of us, and have a simple but fun adventure.

Here's the motorbike - all ready to go

Here's a shot of our campsite:

A boy and four hot dogs - who could be happier?

Hot Dogs for our camping dinner

Isn't life grand?

Perfect for a short haiku

Where we would like to camp if we come here again - we found the remnants of another group at this great spot.

Lots of fun, just what dad and Ryan needed.

Emma Rose at the Skate Park

2008-04-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Emma trying out her new skills at the Redmond skate park. A month of riding around her older brothers has given her great "situational awareness"...

Emma Rides Again

2008-03-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

She wanted to show off some tricks - pretty amazing for her third day of riding!

Emma Learns to Ride

2008-03-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

Inspired by her older brothers, Emma learns to ride in one afternoon. Two days later, she rode 11 laps around our driveway, and then I got bored of counting :-)

Skate Park, day II

2008-03-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

A little more confidence today, thanks to familiarity, and inspiration from some very awesome riders - check it out:

Friday at the Skate Parks

2008-03-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Another (more modern) video of us boys at the parks:

Butch and Etta

2008-03-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ryan and Emma in a faithful reenactment of the bicycle scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid:

Jake does the "Rock Lobster"

2007-12-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

Here is a compilation of some of Jake's favorite songs. He'd sit at the computer and do this all day if we let him.

Happy December 3rd!

2007-12-03T17:59:00.000-08:00

We drove up to Snoqualmie Falls tonight because of the record rain and flooding. It was pretty amazing.

Here is a picture of the falls normally:

Here is what we saw tonight:

Happy December 1st!

2007-12-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Fun way to wake up, this morning.

Perfect in every way

2007-11-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Another one about Ryan. Sometimes it's hard to be humble... Ryan has been "borrowing" the camera lately to take pictures of himself. He turns the little viewfinder around, and poses in various ways. To make this video, I gathered up a few of the shots he's taken over the last 6 months, and found the perfect song to go along with them. You'll need sound.

Tractor boy

2007-10-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

We were in Friday Harbor recently, and Ryan had his first try at driving Smithy's tractor. I was amazed at how quickly he learned to "feather the clutch", and he, of course, was in heaven.

It continues the (probably Mead) tradition of learning to drive a tractor before learning to drive a car. too bad you can't start your car in fourth gear from a stop, like you can with a tractor...

Jessie's "Mean Face"

2007-10-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a video Ryan took of Jessie showing off a bit. The chocolate powder added (by Ryan) to her bottle probably helped a bit...

Book Report

2007-10-08T22:24:00.001-07:00

Ok, I feel very guilty for not posting in so long. Here is a very easy one to get me back in the game:

My Mom gave me two books to read while recovering from hernia surgery. "Peace Like a River", and "Playing for Pizza". Two very different books, but both page-turners and fun reads.

So, if you are so bored that you are checking our blog for activity (yikes), here are two solid book recommedations for you.

Thanks again Mom!
Toby

Stunt Man

2007-09-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here's Ryan on his home-made bike jump. He's very proud of these pictures.

It's Football Season !!!

2007-09-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon in the fall...milk, pretzels, blankie, and football...

everything a girl needs.

Endless Summer / Come Touch the Sun

2007-08-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a compilation video from our recent trip to Iron Springs with the Smiths and Guysers - enjoy!

Trip to the Ocean

2007-08-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do a little vacation catch-up. We've been out and about some this summer, but I haven't shared any pictures. We'll start with our trip to the ocean last week. We spent a few days on the Washington coast and here are some pictures:

Baby camper...camping will be easier when she's a few years older.

Contemplation and Reflection

A little more deep thinking and appreciating.

A lot of the trees over there have odd bulges in the middle - I'd like to know what they are and why there's there. Anyone know anything about this?

These next pictures are of the kids at the "Big Cedar Tree". That's what the sign on the road says to direct you to it and it is, indeed, a big cedar tree.

This is Emma inside the Big Cedar Tree.

Surfer dude...or skimmer dude.

Busy, busy.

There's that skimmer dude again.

Happy Bath-Baby !!!

2007-08-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Jessie took her first "happy bath" yesterday. She has liked showers with Toby but has cried through every bath before this one. So, Mom, I'll soon have a picture of Jessie in the kids' bathroom rather than an empty frame.

P.S. Notice the dark brown eyes in this baby -

the first one to have brown eyes...I mean, the only one.

Jake Turns Eight

2007-08-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Jake on his eighth birthday, which was july 28th. The cake is Flat Stanley, a character from a book series he likes.

My Little Girl

2007-06-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

When Emma was very little, someone said to me, "Isn't a girl so different than the boys were?" I had to say, "no, not really". I figured it was just because she was too little for the differences to be seen but I'm finding out it might just have been because she was Emma. Emma is a wonderful and fun and sweet little girl but she will probably never be girly - feminine, I'm sure, but not girly...certainly I'm not complaining - she comes by that honestly. Jessie, however, does seem different than the boys - even at this age, although I can't really pinpoint how. Here are some girly pictures from this morning.

Emma gets credit for this one - Emma does like to play with baby-dolls and I'm sure Jessie learned to like dolls from watching Emma.

Doesn't get much girlier than this - dolls and hair brushes.

But she definitely still fits in with this family.

2007-05-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday after church Ben Paul; his wife, Eileen; and our pastor, Michael came over and Ben gave us a carving and sharpening lesson. He is a Tlingit artist and was very kind to share a bit of his knowledge with us. He showed me how to sharpen my tools and showed me the tools he uses and how he uses them. If you want to see some of his work, here's a link to where you can:

http://www.alaskanativeartists.com/ben_paul.htm

Thank you, Ben!

2007-05-18T13:23:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to make up for lost time - two posts in two days.

These are just some pictures of Ryan and Jessie, who are becoming fast friends.

Carol's Mother's Day - Bridal Veil Falls

2007-05-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Our Mother's Day was a very full day with church, a Smith gathering at cousin Jake's house, and then a Posenjak/Caplinger gathering here at our house. It was a good day, full of family. Since Mother's Day was going to be so busy, thoughtful Toby made Saturday my Mother's Day and chose exactly the right present: a hike in the mountains. We went to Bridal Veil Falls near Index on Steven's Pass and it was very fun. Here are some pictures:Ryan and Jake waiting for us on the trail after running ahead.

Toby and Ryan at the waterfall. They went all the way up to it and touched it.

Toby carried Jessie most of the time - I only carried her a few minutes so Toby could carry Emma on his shoulders a little. This is our only picture of Jessie, though.

Emma by the big leaves.

Ryan and Emma under a large rock.

Girly Quote!

2007-04-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

This quote is not funny, or witty, or clever - it's just girly. Emma often gives us quotes that make us laugh, but it's much more rare that she'll say something truly girly. She just came in with her third bouquet of flowers and said, "I just like flowers; that's why I pick so many". There you have it - isn't it wonderful?

I thought about taking a picture of her with some of her flowers to go along with this post, but she's wearing Jake's camo shorts today...

Chess lessons with Jessie

2007-04-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

Emma was setting up for a very serious chess match with her father, when she was interrupted for a lesson by Jessie.

All better

2007-04-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is the first day I'm willing to say we are really all better. Jessie's nose is still running a bit, but she's finally acting like herself - her cheerful, easy-going self. Yea! After a long few weeks, here's my summary: the boys were easy and didn't complain when they were sick; the girls were fussy and difficult. Jessie would cry all day and then Emma would cry all night.

My belief is men are generally more wimpy about being sick than women (my dad excluded - I can't think of any area in which he could be described as wimpy) but they must learn that later in life. :)

Here's what they look like now - well, three of them.

Pet Peeve's

2007-04-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

In fourth grade, I had Ms. Bailey for English. I remember a couple things about her class, one was a list of "taboo" words that we were supposed to avoid using in writing and conversation. The hardest one for me to avoid was "got", because it seemed so formal to skip. "Do you happen to have a pencil I could borrow?" was a bit to stuffy for a fourth grader, compared to "Have you got a pencil?"

One day we had a brainstorming exercise about "pet peeve's", Ms. Bailey asked us to think of a few little things that really bug us in life, and we'd go around the class sharing them.

I racked my brain, but could not think of a single thing I would call a pet peeve. I had nothing.

Ever since, though, I realized how many I really do have, and probably once a week I think of a new one and wish I could go back to fourth grade and share it as an example. Socks with holes in them, having to backtrack on a road trip, pop that's lost it's fizz, inturruptions while rading aloud, pebble's (or anything) in shoes, dropped cell phone calls, etc, etc, etc.

So, to carry on with Carol's "questions for the blog", I invite you to contribute a few of your own pet peeves - no pressure, don't draw a blank!

Toby

Our Week

2007-03-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

This first picture, of our kitchen counter, represents the week we’ve been having.

It started last Monday with Jake hitting the couch to rest with a fever and aches. It was the beginning of six days on the couch for him – the first three, he didn’t move at all. As you can see in the picture, though, he was handling it quite well – always keeping his cool, even when asleep with a fever.

The next morning – Tuesday – Jessie reached for something someone was cutting with scissors and got her finger caught in the scissors, losing most of her fingernail and a tiny piece of her finger. We had to bandage up her whole hand because she would have pulled off and choked on one that just covered her finger. She kept pulling off the big bandage anyway, so I spent the day wrapping and re-wrapping. If you can’t tell which finger it is that’s cut, I’ll tell you...it’s the bright red one. This is one tough girl, though – as soon as the bandage was on, she was clapping her hands and crawling around, using her hurt hand.

By Sunday morning, all four kids were sick. Ryan had already been sick for a few days and was able to get up to eat. Jessie and Emma were just coming down with it.

The girls weren’t looking quite so cool as Jake.

It’s Tuesday now - day nine - and we’re just back from the doctor where we picked up drops for two girls with pink-eye. I didn’t take pink-eye pictures. Nobody wants to see that.

It’s like a hospital around here.

Finish the Sentence

2007-03-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

You can never have too many (or too much)...

Toby:
You can never have too many shoes.
You can never have too many flashlights.

Carol:
You can never have too many pairs of kids' boots.
You can never have too many tubes of Neosporin.

Ryan:
You can never have too much reading time.

Jake:
You can never have too many cheeseburgers.

Emma:
You can never have too much sausage.

Saint Paddy's Party

2007-03-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Saint Patrick's Day and Toby was gone to a "men's dinner" with a bunch of church men. A few friends and I decided we wanted to party too so four of my friends came over with their kids and we had a green dinner of spinach fettuccini, green salad, green bread, green punch, green shamrock cookies, and green mint ice-cream. We had a great time.Here's a picture of the fourteen kids that were present...ten of them boys. What fun!

Here's Ryan showing off the green bread.

And here are three of the ladies: Michelle, Petina, and Renee. Only Betsy's missing from this picture but there's her hand on the left.

Woman:Man::Fish:___________

2007-03-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's a research project for anyone willing to take it on (Brad, Lindsey, hint-hint).

There is a standard for the notation of Analogy in testing, using the colon as a symbol. for example;

Black:White::Hot:Cold would read Black "is to" White "as" Hot "is to" Cold.

Your mission? Tell me what set of standard symbols, notation, whatever, the colon is being used in, and what it is called.

Ideally, it would be a part of a set of recognized notation standards, such as this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathmatical_notation

And, no, I don't know the answer already. Good luck!

ps, bonus points if you know the answer to the analogy in the title, and in what 90's song it appears.

Toby

Thoughtful Question Number Two

2007-03-05T15:02:00.000-08:00

Here’s your next question to ponder:

If you could script the basic plot for the dream you will have tonight, what would the story be?

Toby:
The plot for the dream I would script would be for my family and me to be visited by an angel, like in biblical times, and given a message and instruction about our lives...or I’d dream about spending a week at Sandy Point.

Carol:I’m in the mountains, sitting on a rock, by a stream , reading. Nothing happens in this dream, I just sit in this perfect spot in silence.

Ryan:
I’d dream that I was kayaking in a really big ocean and my kayak somehow flipped over and I fell into the water with no lifejacket on and that I could breath underwater and no fish or anything would harm me. And I could come to the surface of the water and breath there and underwater. Either that or I would be discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls in the cave where they were found.

Jake:
If I was listening to a story tape in bed and I turned it on – and not just the story tape went on but the people in the story tape started appearing and I turned the story tape off and the actors disappeared. And I turned it on and didn’t even have to listen to it, I could just watch it.

Gail’s here, visiting with us, so she’s putting her answer in the post instead of in a comment:

Gail:
Awaking in a field of daisies with the sun shining on me...though daisy’s stink so I’m not sure I want to be in a field of daisies...but something beautiful and spring-like, with a good book and a diet coke.

Now it's your turn - what do you want to dream tonight?

Last Snow Day of the Year

2007-03-01T12:04:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel - Like these flowers, I was getting geared up for Spring and got caught off guard.

And there's my little angel.

A Quote for "Those Days"

2007-02-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

Today you get a quote:

I long to accomplish a great and noble task but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
--Helen Keller

Most days I am fully aware of the nobility of my job. I have never felt like I was contributing less to the world because I don’t have a money-making job. In fact, I think quite the opposite is true. However, there are some days when it’s hard to really see what I have done that day that has any lasting value and it is for those days that I have this quote written down to encourage me.

Those days it seems like I cycle through a bunch of meaningless jobs (clean the kitchen, sweep the floor, wash toothpaste off the bathroom counter, read little engine that could, clean the kitchen again, fix dinner, sweep again, do laundry, roll a ball across the floor a hundred times, sweep up broken glass, apply band-aids, clean kitchen again, and on and on) and never get to the things that actually seem important. Those days Toby comes home and says, “What did you do today” and I say “nothing” and I wonder why I’m so tired when I didn’t do anything all day. Those days I have to remind myself to do the small tasks as if they were great and noble because in God’s eyes, they are – that is what He’s called me to do on those days. Sometimes God asks us to change the world and sometimes He just asks us to take out the garbage. So here’s the lesson: it’s not the task itself, but the Giver of the task that makes it noble.

Off I go to clean up the kitchen...

Thoughtful Questions

2007-02-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start posting a question now and then. I'll answer it for me and I'll ask whomever might be near me when I'm posting to answer it as well. After that, I'll be waiting to hear your answers to the same question.

Here's the first question - it was thought up by Ryan:
Would you rather have the ability to fly or to become invisible whenever you wanted? What would you do with your new ability?

Jake: FLY! I would just like flying and when I played basketball, I could fly up to the hoop with the ball and make a slam dunk.

Ryan: Well, I would actually rather be invisible. I haven't really thought of what I'd do, I would just rather be invisible.

Emma: Fly. I would wear a cape behind me - a red cape - and I would pretend I was superman.

Carol: I think I'd have to chose fly because I can only think of mischievous things to do as an invisible person. Besides, I'd love to see the view from up above. Being able to bypass traffic would be handy, but it wouldn't do me much good unless the rest of the family could fly as well since I'd have to drive them anyway. I guess I could fly somewhere with Jake and Emma, but then Ryan would be left at home, invisible.

Planning Her Future

2007-02-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

Emma's got big plans...
When I'm four, I'll learn to swim and blow bubbles with gum.
When I'm five, I'll be able to whistle and take tae kwon do.
When I'm eight, I'll be old enough to go with Ryan walking Pippi on the road.
When I'm sixteen, I'll get my own phone.
When I'm thirty-two, I can use a chain-saw.

Everyday Life

2007-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes everyday, ordinary life seems very interesting and newsworthy but sometimes it just seems ordinary – this week has been like that. Everything seems pretty normal and boring around here. Right now Emma has all the pots and pans laid out on the floor like a drum set – she is dressed in all black and her hair is hanging in her face so she looks the part. Jake is writing his spelling words over and over on the white board next to me. Ryan is walking Jessie around the house, doing his best to avoid the rest of his schoolwork and chores. I type a few words; stop to quiz Jake on his spelling words; type another few words; get up to pull Jessie out of the bathroom; type a few more words; stop to tell Ryan to get to work; type a bit more...By now, nobody is still doing what I said they were doing a sentence ago. Jake has moved on to another school project and Ryan is doing literature with Emma – this is something they’ve only been doing for a month or so. They’re working through a list of pre-school kids’ books – gives Ryan practice reading aloud and makes Emma very happy. Since there’s not any interesting news, I’ll give you some pictures from the week, now. This first one shows a normal weekday lunch - the kids all fight over that thing that holds up a book. I wouldn't know where to get another one - we have this one becasue the realtor who sold this house left it in our hall closet holding fliers for the house and his business cards. In the second one, Jessie is eating a pear, in case you can't tell what that is. Ok, I've got to go - I'm needed for Bible and History.

British Words and Phrases

2007-02-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

Since Ryan's birthday in November (when he was given three Harry Potter books by my mom) we've been reading them almost every night. We're a quarter of the way into book 5 now, and the other night Ryan said "Dad, how come all the cool adventures happen in London? Harry Potter, Narnia, Peter Pan, the Susan Cooper series, - it all happens in London. I wish some cool stuff would happen here".

It's also been a bit of a learning curve with regards to terminology. We're obviously not the only ones though, since the first thing to come up when I searched on "British Terminology" was a Harry Potter fan site.

Here is a sampling of some of the words and phrases that the kids are now picking up on: (from http://www.hogwartsfansite.co.uk/britishwords.htm).

'Bang' him on the counter: Informal term for put him on the counter.
Banging on: Talking incessantly about something.
'Bung' him in some owl treats: Carelessly throw them in.
Cheeked/cheeky: If you're being cheeky then you're either being insolently or playfully rude or disrespectful, or you're being funny but inproper and ill-mannered. To cheek someone means to be one of these things to them.
Corking: See 'spiffing' below. :-)
Dicky bird: Not a dicky bird means absolutely nothing. E.g. "Any sign of Bertha Jorkins?" "Not a dicky bird." Or, if you say, "Watch for the dicky bird" you're tellin someone to smile for the camera. Absolutely no idea where this term comes from.
FlapE.g. "You've had us all in a right flap.": Worried or panicy.
Git: (used a ton in Harry Potter, and now used a ton by Ryan) An informal term for someone who is annoying, troublesome, unpleasant or thoughtless (like Malfoy!). It's quite a soft word, really, and is often used in an affectionate or light-hearted way (Fred and George have called Ron a git).
Keruffle: Commotion.
Kip: A nap.
Nicked: An informal word for stole. Alternatively, it could mean arrested, e.g. you can be 'nicked' by a policeman.
Nutter: Someone who acts strange or mad.
Plus-fours: Image. Not all that many people wear them anymore and the ones that do are usually older people.
Shirty: Annoyed or bad tempered.
Skulked: If you're skulking around then you're hanging about a place or person.
Spare: (going)Going mad with frustration or worry.
Spiffing: Wonderful! 'Spiffing' is considered a very posh word and is usually only used when making fun of the elite (or the British, in a friendly way of course).
Starkers: Naked.
Tenterhooks: To be on tenterhooks is to be anxious or in suspense.
Wotcher: A greeting. Comes from 'what cheer?'

Pictures of my Jessie

2007-02-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Isn't she sweet?

2007-02-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

A couple certain members of the family had a few days of quite a lot of bickering and another certain member of the family was really tired of listening to it and decided the best thing for an attitude adjustment, in this case, was a lot of really hard work – together.

So, the boys were set to work yesterday, hauling the pile of wood Toby had chopped the previous day, across the yard to stack it.

I didn’t think to take a picture before they started,

but in this picture they were well over half-way done.

These were not small pieces of wood – I was surprised Jake could even lift them.

They figured out on their own to use the wheelbarrow and wagon – smarter than me – I would have carried them one-by-one.

Nearly three hours later, they’re hauling out the very last piece.

It was so big they had to lift it together.

Mission accomplished – times two – big pile of wood stacked and boys working together.

Done.

Weekend Notes

2007-02-11T21:10:00.000-08:00

Friday evening the boys earned their green belts in tae kwon do. Here they are receiving the new belts at the end of their promotion test.

Saturday I took no pictures. Ryan and I went to Seattle in the morning to help serve a Valentine breakfast to the ladies at the Union Gospel Mission Women and Children’s Shelter with some people from church. We came home to find an ordinary Saturday in progress at the Smith house – Toby was wearing his “bibs”, Jake was shoveling gravel in his pajama pants (with one leg rolled up), and Emma had her jeans on inside-out, with a camouflage shirt, and her church shoes that were all covered in dirt because she, too, was “working” outside in them. Smithy and Mary soon arrived and spent much of the afternoon working, playing, and going for walks with us.

We do have some pictures from today (Sunday). First, pictures of Toby and Smithy working:

Still clearing trees and chopping wood – that will be going on for quite some time.

Muscle men.

Tough guys wearing bibs – aren’t they cute?
Toby looks like a bald Paul Bunyan in this picture, I think.

After a couple hours of work we all went on a little hike in Carnation.

Jessie, Toby, Emma, and Smithy

Jake asked me to find him a nest – here are the two I found.

Emma, Smithy, Pippi, and Ryan along the Snoqualmie River.

2007-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

How to entertain yourself if mom won't let you have an x-box:

Discovering Calvin

2007-02-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's one of those Calvin and Hobbes books Ryan, Jake, and Emma are always looking at.

I wonder what the big deal is, anyway.

I'd better check it out.

This IS great. I love Calvin.

The All-You-Can-Eat Book Buffet

2007-02-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

If I recall correctly, Little House in the Big Woods tells us that when Laura Ingalls was a very small girl, her family had only two books: a Bible and a book about animals. Our kids, on the other hand, have the King County Library System.

I didn’t like the Redmond Regional Library when we first moved here. It’s too big, I thought. I missed the teeny, tiny Kenmore library and its friendly atmosphere. I liked that I could see the kids no matter where I was in the building. I especially liked walking in the door and hearing the librarian say, “Good morning, Carol”. Nobody says “hi Carol” at the Redmond library. I don’t usually come face to face with a librarian there – I get the books reserved for us off the shelf on my own and check them out myself on a self-check-out computer. The children’s section of the Redmond library could hold the entire Kenmore library – probably twice. I just didn’t like this huge library...

...until I browsed for the first time without kids. I finally got to venture out of the kids’ section and into the rows and rows of non-fiction. The amount of information in that building is staggering and it’s all available to me at no cost (well, besides taxes which we would pay even if we didn’t use the library). Since I’m not only limited to the thousands of books at the Redmond library but can search online for what I want through all the books of the entire King County Library System, it’s a bit like an all you can eat buffet where you end up with way more on your plate than you possibly can eat. Right now we have more than a hundred library books in our house, which is not unusual. I don’t know what’s wrong with me – I don’t know why I don’t just check out three books, read them all the way through, return them, and get new ones. I just can’t seem to discipline myself. As soon as a thought comes into my head that I might like to know about something or learn how to do something, I go and reserve a dozen books on the topic. Here are some of the books we have checked out now:

Cedar: tree of life to the Northwest Coast Indians
The complete woodcarvers handbook
Several knitting books
Some cookbooks that I don’t seem to be looking at – not on a cooking kick right now.
Origins of great ancient civilizations (A lecture series on dvd)
Sculpting traditional bowls
Talkers, watchers, and doers: unlocking your child’s unique learning style
How to sharpen carving tools
A primer of Biblical Greek
Superfoods for children
Hiking with dogs: becoming a wilderness-wise dog owner
About ten books on heating your home and cooking on a wood stove (we don’t even have a wood stove)
Shepherding a Child’s Heart
Mummies, pyramids, and Pharoahs
Egyptian Boats
Bill and Pete go down the Nile
Beowulf (a children’s version that is still very gruesome and gory but all three kids loved it)
A lime, a mime, a pool of slime: more about nouns
Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its cultural captivity
Several Harry Potter books
Is your mama a llama?
Rocks and fossils

So many books, so little time. I’m currently looking forward to the arrival of a basic anatomy lecture series I’ve reserved and a book called “How to Play the Pocket Harmonica”. I wonder if we have a harmonica somewhere.

Fashion Central

2007-02-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

Here, we have normal Saturday attire at the Smith house. Toby's wearing his new Helly Hanson...I don't think I know what those things are called. Notice the stylish duct-tape arm band. A fly-away ember from one of his burn piles burned a small hole in his jacket and that's his patch job. He's finally starting to look like his dad (that's a good thing, in my opinion - I love Smithy). Then there's Emma - she doesn't realize that when people stay in their pajamas all day on a Saturday it's because they're staying indoors all day. The mis-matched mittens is becoming a classic Smith look - I bet Jake's socks don't match today either. Sigh.

There, that's better.

(No one can tell she's wearing Jake's bright red boxers underneath.)

Ryan, Jake, and Emma were dressing up for some sort of party they were pretending to have and, while Emma chose the above party dress, this is what the boys thought fitting.

Jake is wearing a shower curtain - it's all the rage these days.

Sunny Cedars

2007-01-31T13:27:00.000-08:00

This may not be exciting to you, but it is to me: the sun is shining on our trees! I'm not much of a photographer, but was inspired and had to give it a try.

Look at the color of the sky! I had almost forgotten there was blue up there above the gray.

Only forty-eight days 'til spring!

Meeting Spencer

2007-01-31T09:07:00.000-08:00

We have another new little nephew and we got to go meet him for the first time this last weekend. Here he is...Spencer Bradley Posenjak.

Toby's in heaven holding a one-week-old baby.

The happy grandparents. With the arrival of Spencer, my parents now have seven grandchildren: five boys and two girls.

Here's my sister, Gail, with three of her nieces and nephews. How great to have her home for awhile - especially great that she could be here to meet Spencer when he was first born.

Profiles

2007-01-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd let you know the boys and I filled out our profile information in case you want to know some things about us. Maybe Toby will do his soon. Emma wanted to tell all her favorite things, too, but she's not on here as a contributor so I'll just write them in this post. I guess we don't watch many little girl movies. :)

Emma's Favorite Movies:
Harry Potter, The Silver Chair, Star Wars

Emma's Favorite Books:
Beowulf, Farmer Duck, Harold and the Purple Crayon, If you Give a Pig a Pancake, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, Double Trouble in Walla Walla, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Emma's Favorite Music:
Hallelujah (this is What Can I do but Praise You), Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (but she sings it “Kevin’s door”)

Emma's Interests:
Drawing, Listening to stories, My dad, My mom, Jake, Ryan, Jessie

2007-01-18T11:44:00.002-08:00

Happy Birthday, Jessie!!!

We love you!!!

Curls

2007-01-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

In one of Emma's Little House on the Prarie Picture books, it tells about Ma tying Laura and Mary's hair in rags for the night so that it would be curly for their trip to town the next day. Emma and I decided we'd try it on her hair so last night we rolled her hair up in rags.

I wondered why people ever switched to curlers since it seems rags would be much more comfortable to sleep on...we found out this morning when we took the rags off. Jake said, "Wow, Emma, you look fluffy!"

I think she looks pretty cute, though. It's tamer, now, with a hairclip at the top.

Carol and Emma: a couple of girly girls...we're trying, anyway.

2007-01-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

We are having so much fun!!!

Snow storms are way better than wind storms!

Yeah, the stuff that falls during snow storms cleans itself up!

A snowman is waiting to welcome Toby home from work...

...and so are the boys.

Joining In

2007-01-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

Toby got me all set up and showed me how to write something here so I'm trying it out. I'm slow with these things - in fact, if I wasn't married to Toby, I might not have a computer at all. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer - I can't imagine life and especially homeschooling without it - Toby's just had to drag me, nearly kicking and screaming, into the world of computers. I will admit, though, that I'm glad. I've not had to be dragged into the blog idea - I like it - have really enjoyed Brad and Lindsey's - just expect me to be slow getting going.

I'm afraid my first post has to begin with a moment of silence for the Seahawks' 2006 season, which ended just a couple hours ago. (Pause here for that moment of silence). It was so good of them to give us two really great post-season games to hold us over until August. The game, this morning, started at the same time church started but our pastors, both loyal fans, made a point of ending on time ( a minute early, even) and set things up so we could stay and watch the second half. They do take good care of their flock.

Signing off from my first post. I think your job, now, is to leave really nice comments that will encourage me to keep posting. :)

Carol

Appeased

2007-01-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

2 1/4 Inches last night. A good solid amount, and Carol says I should not complain. My friend Doug had 8 inches just south of us in Sammamish. Oh well. It's supposed to be in the teens tonight, so maybe i'll try to make a hockey rink or something.

Snow

2007-01-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

Calvin: "It snowed last night! Turn on the radio! Maybe they closed school. Maybe the school buses froze up! Maybe the principal can't get out of his driveway!" Calvin's Mom: "Get dressed, Calvin. It only snowed an inch." Calvin: "Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery."

Alright, this is it. A decent chance for "measurable" snow, starting tonight. The last two snow events in Seattle have almost completely passed us by, while areas less than 5 miles away had 3-4 inches. I was watching the radar loops, and there was a 1 acre dry spot directly over our house, while everyone else was getting snow. Mom and Dad had a foot in Friday Harbor!

We're well inland, well above sea level, practically in the Cascades if you ask me. Ryan says there is not a single time that the "Weather News" has been right, so even he is getting cynical.

But tonight could change all that, with lots of moisture, then real cold weather for the rest of the week. Whatever comes down should stick, and then stay around. Here's hoping.

By the way, there is a great online gallery of Calvin and Hobbes snow comics here:

http://www.chase3000.com/userpages/calvinhobbes/

1975

2007-01-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

Since Carol and I were both born in 1975 (She on the first of January, and I on the 8th); I thought some facts from that year would be fun to post.

I made a CD with some popular songs from that year, including:
Fire - Ohio Players
Fame - David Bowie
Rhinestone Cowboy - Glenn Campbell
S.O.S. - Abba
Thank God I'm a Country Boy - John Denver

The top two movies of 1975 were Jaws and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Production began of the first Star Wars movie as well.

Ford was presedent, and it was the year of the Watergate scandal.

In technology terms, the Altair 8800 is released, sparking the era of the microcomputer, and in a letter from Bill Gates to Paul Allen, the name "Micro-soft" is used for the first time.

Tiger Woods was born in 75, along with Matt Hasselbeck, Tiki Barber, Drew Barrymore, Jack White, Floyd Landis, Juan Pablo Montoya, and others ;-)

Finally, as indicated by this Ford advertisement, 1975 was certainly NOT the best year of the Mustang!

What a game!

2007-01-06T21:26:00.000-08:00

Probably not the best to follow a "too much football?" post, but that was quite a game!

Too Much Football?

2007-01-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

A sure sign of Mom, then Dad, then all the kids being true Seahawks fans is Jake, running through the house shouting (in a deep 'commercial-like' voice); "Fox NFL Sunday, sponsored by Visa! Life takes Visa!"

Rockin' Emma

2007-01-02T13:29:00.001-08:00

Ryan and Jake were given MP3 headphones for Christmas, and Mimi later sent Emma her own set. If that is not a look of pride, I don't know what is.

Stuck

2007-01-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

After clearing all of the stumps yesterday, I told the boys we should put the truck in "four-low" and drive through the mud. Brilliant.

We had a couple fun passes and then got stuck. Very stuck. "Four-low" wouldn't do it. The van was no help. A neighbor's four wheel drive SUV wasn't either.

So, I spent New Year's Day digging in an area that I was done digging in, and putting trees BACK in the ground (go figure) under the truck tires, and then was able to get out.

Oh well.

Happy Birthday to Carol

2007-01-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Carol, and Happy New Year everyone!

Smith Excavation and Labor, LLC

2006-12-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

For whatever reason, we have zero photo's of our driveway prior to the windstorm, so I can't show you what things looked like with these three trees standing. On top of that, when we moved in, the area to the left was not gravel and a shed, but mud and blackberry bushes. To date we've removed probably 8 to 10 old stumps in this area, by digging around them and towing them out. The digging is horrible, the towing is pretty fun! Last year we brought in 48 yards of gravel (68 tons) and raised the left area by about two feet. We'll probably have to bring in another 12 to 24 yards to fill in the hole where these trees were. It does open up the driveway though...

First Storm:

Second storm:

Cleanup (so far...):

The Day After...

2006-12-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent with the Posenjak's, post church service (starring Ryan as pagaent narrator, and Jake as soloist). We watched the Seahawks lose, had great food, and a nice family evening. Brad and Lindsey spent the night.

Christmas Day we had breakfast with Brad, Lindsey, Elliott, and Wesley, who then headed for home. We had a fun morning of gifts and playtime, and then the traditional post-present letdown time of grumpyness.

At Three, we headed for Nana and Grampy's where almost every single Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin were gathered for food and a photo-shoot.

Jaxon even made his big debut. What a hit! Smithy has nicknamed him "Jaxon 5" since he is the fifth grandchild of Mimi and Smithy.

We had another fun gathering later at our house with Mimi, Smithy, and TT.

Today was spent doing chores in the morning, some more post-storm cleanup, and then another visit with Mimi and Smithy, including some very special reading time with Mimi.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all, love the Smith Family.

Post Post Storm Post

2006-12-20T22:09:00.000-08:00

Hate to bump Jaxon, but we just had two more trees fall - this time across our cars in the front of the house (frown).

At this point, I bet the van will be totalled. The truck is probably fine. Here are some pictures:

(12/26 update): Truck has a cracked windshield, Van has a few dents in the roof and a broken window. Neither are covered by insurance so unless FEMA kicks in, we're on our own. That said, the damage was significantly less than it looked like it would be.

The icing on the cake was Christmas Eve when as we were passing out presents, our Christmas tree tipped over on everyone. SHEESH!

Jaxon Mead Guyser

2006-12-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Macaulay & Jason's son arrived at 4:00 am this morning, weighing 8 lbs 4 oz and is 21” long. I went to Evergreen today at two for a quick visit - didn't get to hold him because of a little cold (frown).

He is very cute, and has thick dark hair, especially on the top, just like JJ.

When I got home I showed the pictues to everyone but Jake, he was very jealous that I went by myself and he said "I don't want to see pictures, I want be surprised by him in real life".

Congratulations to Dolly and Jason!

Post Storm Post

2006-12-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

Having been out of power from Thursday at 9pm to Monday at 2:18am, we are getting back to a somewhat normal routine. We lost four trees of our own, and two trees from our neighbors were 'added' to our propery. No damage to the house or cars, or shed. One passing neighbor looked down the driveway and told me "I guess there is something to be said for clean living!"

Family visits over the weekend were great, Aunt Gail arrived safely, and our lunchtime Posenjak party went well even without power.

Ryan, Jake, and Emma were able to go see The Nutcracker with Mimi and Smithy on Sunday afternoon, followed by an overnight at the Guyser's, and an action packed Monday as well - they slept sound last night!

Speaking of sleep, here is a very cute video of Wesley Posenjak trying his hardest not to wake up from a nap at Great-Grandma's house:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4P0ndgTVSA