Still In My Head

Upcoming Posts:

Ellie's Rolodex

Video- My Momma- Find Your Own

I Don't Like Dr. Suess

Tamatha vs. The Tiller

"The Notebook" in real life

Remodeling Purgatory

Ma's 80th Birthday

They Look Like Me

Kenny The Carpenter

I'm Seeing Red!

Momma Plays In The Dirt

I'm determined to have a garden this year. The last time we had one was 3 years ago. Kenny made 30 rows that were 45 ft in length, it was insane. He planted two rows of spaghetti squash. Now I do love spaghetti squash.. but it got to the point where I couldn't even give it away. Lesson learned- this garden will be much smaller. Of course I should've started the whole preparation back in the fall... but that didn't happen. So tonight I had my first encounter with the roto tiller. That silly thing ran me ragged. I finally figured out how to use it, and wow it was a workout. One of the tires was flat and coming off the rim, but I was on a mission. There is a ridiculous amount of Bermuda grass in the spot I chose and the ground is hard. I got a whopping five rows done (22 ft rows)- I quit because it started lightening and it was pitch dark. I have no doubt it was a sight to see, me fighting with that tiller. I'm going to till more Wednesday night, I'll have Kenny take pictures of the spectacle. I wore my garden clogs (brilliant) and they were completely full of dirt when I was done.

There's just something so therapeutic about gardening. I love everything about it, well okay not everything.... weeding is not my favorite past time. One of my friends has some organic pest control method that he swears by. I'm going to try it and try to fore go the sevin dust, etc. I'll post the recipe when I get it.

Get ready to watch our garden grow- I plan to post lots of pics!

No Pictures- Are You Kidding Me?

Kenneth Malcolm, AKA in this post as "Loser" didn't take any pictures or video on the fishing trip with the girls. I'm going to call his brother and see if he took any pics...

Here's what I know about the trip- Madelyn has some nasty rash (looks like poison ivy) on her arm and stomach. According to Kenny, Madelyn can cast incredibly well and both of the girls played (rolled) in the dirt a lot. They had a great time, will post pics if Robby took some.

Ok Mom, I'm Full- Thanks

And the finale- The sweetest smile you've ever seen

She was clearly finished with the milk, turkey and carrots.

Without warning when Ms. Chloe has decided she's done with her meal, she picks up her food and drink and starts throwing it all on the floor. This all occurs at lightning speed and by the time you're brain has processed what's happening and you react, she's done. Once she is done, she smiles her sweet smile, obviously proud that she's so effectively communicated that she is full:)

Future -N- Law Ruby Sky

Today, Chloe and I went to see my sweet, precious friend Lisa. She and Warren had their fifth child yesterday, Ruby Sky. She was so beautiful with big dimples. They have 3 boys and 2 girls. Lisa has already married off our girls to their boys. Kenny isn't thrilled about it. Every time we see them, she tells the boys to say "Hi" to their Father- n- law. This throws Kenny into a tail spin, he starts cussing under his breath and says "Real funny Lisa". I don't know that he will remain sane once boys enter the picture.

Everyone is always complaining that there are no pictures of me, that's because I'm always behind the camera. So I asked Lisa to take a picture of me and Chloe bug- since I have no pictures of she and I together.

Kenny, Madelyn and Ellie are gone on a fishing trip with Uncle Robbi, Stephen and Grandpa Smith. They come home tomorrow. I'll post pictures when they get home. Hopefully they took some pictures and I'm sure they'll be plenty of stories to post.

Spring At The Smith House

I get absolutely giddy about spring. Again, it's the little things that make me happy and planting flowers is one of them. The bulbs are all blooming, my Peony bush is coming up and I'm so ready to plant flowers. I've had to will myself to continue driving past the nursery several times in the last week. I have a feeling I'll give in this weekend. I have a slight fascination with tin buckets, watering cans, etc. I've acquired a few more over the winter and can't wait to plant flowers in them all. We also need to plant our garden in the next week or so. I'll post pics when we get the garden started, of the girls planting seeds and I'm sure Chloe will try to eat the dirt (that's a given).

The weather has been incredible here this week, 83 today. Kenny is out for Spring Break this week. Kenny, Uncle Dzung and the girls have gone fishing a couple of times. Four more days home with Big Daddy and they are not going to want to go back to school. Monday morning will be very dramatic.

I have a couple of funny stories to post, will try to post tomorrow or Friday.

Dora and Victoria's Secret

If you'd asked me 7 years ago if I'd do any of the following, I would've emphatically denied it. But then I became a parent... and things I thought I would never in a million years do, well, they happened.

Obsess over, count, study and document bowel movements for my newborns.

Call out all of my children's name, one after the other, internally swearing that I can't believe I've turned into my mother. Frustrated that they know good and well who I'm talking to, why don't they just answer:)

Lug a breast pump to work daily for what felt like forever, kick out my male office mate to pump and obsess over my milk inventory.

Invade every parking lot in the Tri-County area to breast feed.

Drag a screaming, yelling, hitting, tantrum throwing child by the wrist (while smiling) through a sea of onlookers- out to the car, feverishly fasten her in the car seat and speed away before someone calls DHS.

That I would fantasize about a nap and a maid.

Empathize with the woman in Target whose child is having a nervous breakdown while everyone stares at her like she is crazy.

That I would never use the restroom alone again....ever.

Find petrified cheerios and other unidentifiable food object in my car, purse, couch, bed and everywhere in between.

That my body was capable of functioning on what sometimes feels like minutes of sleep and that Kenny would somehow manage to never miss a moments sleep- It's a wonder I've allowed him to live.

That my dream get away would be- me- alone- in a hotel room- bubble bath- room service and silence...

That when my first child ate a piece of dirt I'd call Poison Control and by the time the third came along and ate fish food I'd say- Oh well it's protein.

That I would hear the word "Momma" approximately 10,343 times a week and answer to 1/3 of those inquiries while artfully blocking out the others.

Ask "Do you need to go pee?" "Did you wipe?" "Did you flush?" "Do you need to go poop?" 8000 times in each child's first 3 years of life

That I would build my entire daily schedule around nap times and meals.

That I would dream of where my breasts used to reside.

Spank my children- Prior to having kids I proudly proclaimed my beliefs for alternative discipline- naively believing that there were better options than a spanking...I know my parents got many laughs out of that one

And last but not least, Go to Victoria's Secret, select my purchase, and after the 20 year old size 2 clerk gives me the total; bust out the Dora The Explorer backpack slash diaper bag slash wallet/cell phone holder slash snack bag.... to get my debit card and hand it to the clerk as she stares at me in dismay.

Having said all of this, I also never imagined that I would ever love 3 precious girls with every ounce of my heart and soul. That being a mom would be the most exhausting, challenging, rewarding, life changing, empowering, indescribable, miraculous, sometimes overwhelming thing I would ever be so lucky to experience three times over....

Sweet Curls

It appears sweet Chloe is going to have curly hair like Ellie Kate. The curls have started on the back of her head just like Ellie's did. I had natually curly hair when I was young and it is still semi curly if I don't blow dry it. It's funny, everyone assumes that the girls get their curly hair from Kenny since his is naturally curly now. But when he was young his hair was board straight.

Ms. Chloe is still a Momma's girl. Now that's she's walking she follows me around with her arms extended saying Momma and of course I pick her sweet baby butt up. What a mush melon... love it.

Evening Sky

Beautiful sky and incredible weather here tonight about 72 degrees. One of these days I'll figure out how to take clear evening pictures:)

Kenny's Kryptonite

Kenny just can't help himself. I came home the other day and he said "FYI, I beat your high score on step aerobics." I said "OK, the fact that you are a male and doing step aerobics is something that we can talk about later, but as for your high score, I'm not worried." Of course when he left the next morning for work I did step and advanced step. When he came home that evening I said "FYI, I spanked your a*@ in step aerobics and I did advanced step." He acted like he didn't care but as soon as the girls were in bed, he busted out the balance board. I was sitting behind him in a chair when he started. What I witnessed next is still unbelievable. For those of you who don't know Kenny, he is extremely physically fit and very athletic and I can't recall of anything physically that he can't do. Back to the show- Kenny starts moving in these very robotic and awkward type movements, missing steps regularly. At first I thought he was joking and just being a dork. After 5 minutes or so I realize that he is genuinely trying, I finally bust out laughing. He says "What, I don't understand the arrows ". I told him that I had no idea it was even possible for him to be so uncoordinated. It was painful to watch. Seriously, it was like watching Superman encounter Kryptonite. He finally muddled through it. I was still in my work clothes, took of my heels and said "You need to sit down, I'm going to show you how this is done:)". He watched in amazement as I hit all the steps. This is the first time I've ever beat Kenny at anything physical. I realized later that he can't do it because he has zero rhythm. I called his brother (Robbi) and told him he needed to call Kenny and challenge him to an advanced step- step off. Robbi said "I've never done the aerobics on the Wii"--- exactly..