family pictures

getting family pictures taken is always a stressful time. moms... you know what i am talking about. first you have to find the photographer, decide on the location, and worst of all.....pick out the coordinating outfits. which, for me, requires a lot of thought: 'what do we have that will work?' 'what colors should we wear?' 'what do i need to go buy?' 'ok, i can do this... i am going to go shopping with the kids.' 'you know...i just need to find something that looks good on me and make everyone else work around that.' 'why does nothing i try on look good on me?!' and 'what will tyrell wear? (one thing i picked out for tyrell was a v-neck sweater, you would have thought i was asking him to wear a dress!) 'ok fine, we are just going to wear this because it isn't hideous and i am not going to worry about it any more!' :).

after all this is accomplished, the real fun begins as P-day arrives! when you must somehow get everyone clean, dressed, happy and simultaneously cooperative. quite the task indeed. but, i suppose, it's worth it in the end when you get pictures of cute smiling faces. never mind that your smile is perhaps a little less than genuine :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

yard

i really wish i had an original picture of our front yard so you all could appreciate how it looks now, but here is an in progress before picture.




















and here is an after picture. there is still more work to do but the grass is growing (it's patchy, but it's growing), and it's not looking half bad!

we live on a dirt road and it FINALLY got scraped! the boys sat outside for a long time watching the tractor, and the driver even stopped in front of our house and let carter get inside. living on a dirt road has it's perks :)

this and that

max loves to dumpster dive. he is constantly pulling things out of the trash can. somethings are worse than others... empty wipes bag = ok, vegetable peelings and raw chicken packaging = NOT ok!

aren't these the cutest smiles you have ever seen?

we have an unfinished basement and it is GREAT for ridable toys!

we found this guy in our garage a month or so ago. they are pretty scary, ty and i both may have screamed a little :)

consistent parenting

yesterday was one of those days. the kind where carter tested my patience to the N'th degree, and i could clearly see my mother-of-the-year award, slipping further and futher out of my reach. he screamed all through safeway, refused to obey almost everything asked of him, and later in the day cried about EVERYTHING! he was in and out of time-out all day, had a spanking or two, and even more threats hissed at him through clenched teeth.

as i went to bed last night, after i had expressed my frustrations to tyrell, i lied there wondering why i can't be a better mother? i lose my temper, i raise my voice, and sometimes...on the worst days, i consider my child's imminent demise :) i mean, where is the loving, calm, and wise, mother who will be praised by her adult children as a great teacher and disciple of Christ from the pulpit of the conference center? :)

it is at these low points, where one needs a little support and validation that not everything you do as a parent is in need of revision. and who better to buoy you up in your time of need, than the man who loves you no matter what. so in an attempt to fish out a compliment, i posed a question to tyrell:

"does it make you so sad that i am not a great mother?"

to which he so lovingly replied:

"no. it just makes me feel better about not being a great dad."

well folks, there you have it... at least here in the smith home we are all on the same page, providing consistently bad parenting :)

ok so here are a few pictures of our summer adventures

summary

i keep getting on here, ready to make our summer adventures public, but discouragement sets in and i can't decide where to start. my neglect has rendered me immobile. so, in an attempt to move forward, i will provide a short pictureless synopsis of our summer's happenings. after which, i will attempt to keep my updates more current :)

JUNE
-re-modeled our master closet
-max started crawling and pulling himself up
-we tore out most of our old landscaping (tons and tons of rock) made a circular drive, hauled in dirt for grass! lots and lots of shoveling and rock displacement.... killer
-re-roofed the house
-trips to the lake
-ty fixing cars
-boys being adorable and occasionally horrid :)
- i started working out in the mornings, loving it


JULY
-home to AZ:
*4th july in SJ, BBQ, fireworks, foot races at the park, beautiful weather lots of family
*pima to fix car (to no avail), play with friends, cousins and ty's parents
- carter learned to jump off side of pool, float with floaties, and 'swim' to the stairs all by himself
-trip to lake navajo with friends: awesome new lake, got sun burned, camped with both boys for the first time, minimal sleep, mosquitoes, good water, kids had tons of fun on the shore.
-ty went to scout camp
-ty fixing more cars
-ty had training in denver: the boys and i went to stay in the hotel with him for a few days, swimming, mall and more importantly escalators (carter's favorite), out to eat, pump it up (bouncy place, carter still a little too young), temple
- lake trips


AUGUST (so far)
-ty to emerald lake for back packing trip with high school friends
-the kids and i to my family reunion at the homestead: volleyball, treego, race (carter kept running over the finish line so people would cheer for him), games (carter LOVED being able to yell and cheer as loudly as he could, he was very enthusiastic), cousins, dancing (no one danced their heart out like carter) , dirt, carter in heaven!
-leveling and trenching for sprinkler system (moved more rocks...boo) grass on the horizon !!!!
-ty started work
-max top teeth in
-carter can now tell you how old he is "I'm two!" :)
- more lake trips

and there you have it!