naughty or nice

carter smith

age: 23 months

presents or coal?

naughty: screaming and kicking EVERY SINGLE time his diaper is changed

nice: delivering dirty nappies to the proper waste receptical (saving his mother a trip)

naughty: escaping from the house, wandering down the street, and then running from his mother during her rescue attempt (this was done while mother was 9 months pregnant and barefoot... and of course, there were spectators)

nice: kneeling and folding his arms when it's time to say prayers

naughty: trying to sit on baby max while max is eating, because HE wants to be on his mother's lap

nice: willing to give max hugs and kisses

naughty: throwing food on the floor (this is often followed by him pointing and shaking his finger at the mess while saying 'no,no,no')

nice: running to get a towel after a spill and singing "clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere" while he wipes up the mess. he also gets the broom to clean up crums (which then becomes a bigger mess as he scatters it around in his attempt to "kee, up". it's the thought that counts)

naughty: yelling "no", "mine", and "let go" at his mother

nice: saying "please moma" when he wants something (we'll count this as nice even though the tone used is often identical to that of "no", "mine", and "let go" :)

naughty or nice?

it's going to be a close call this year :)

are all two year olds this cooperative?

brothers

the boys all ready for church
an outing

welcome baby max!

happy halloween!

what's been going on

TYRELL: well ty is sad as always, to see summer go. but he did get the chance to play on the lake a lot this summer and they finally called it quits in october. he and his friend have been working on their wake boarding skills and tyrell got pretty dang good at doing wake to wake 180's and such. he finally got all of the jet skis working and shortly there after, out of necessity(freeze warnings) had to winterize them. which is exciting because we might actually get to put the cars back in the garage soon. i think the look on his face in this picture expresses both of our frustration with these things :) although... now that they are all working... it might be a little harder to sell them come next summer. they are pretty fun (but don't get me wrong... if you or someone you know finds themselves in need of some jet skis, let us know:). i am always amazed at what tyrell can fix with little or no prior experience. school, teaching, and church callings are keeping tyrell REALLY busy and i know he can't wait to have a break.






CARTER: he is learning more words, and saying short phrases. he can say 'i love you' which is so cute, but when i tell him to say 'i love you mama', he ALWAYS says 'i wu-oo dada!" dada?... come on, i mean he is nice and all, but i am the one changing all the poopy diapers :)

he loves to wear our shoes and hats. he puts them on often and has kept my closet in a continual state of disarray. he has also learned some new skills like opening and unlocking doors. this has been going on for weeks now, but it reached a new level when he learned to open the front door. one day he escaped and this picture captures what i found. diaper, mom's shoes and dad's hat. everything one might need for a public appearance:)




and this may give you a glimpse of how cool he thinks he is:)













ME: and what have i been up to? well here is a picture of me at 35 weeks and the belly tells the tale. i am waiting, and not very patiently, for the arrival of baby boy smith. i am pretty anxious about him getting here! i just realized the other day that i am complaining a lot more this time around. "tyrell... i am so uncomfortable, my back hurts, my legs are restless, everyone is having their baby before me, time is going so slowly, my skin can't possibly stretch any more, i can't sleep...etc":) tyrell confirmed this realization, and i need to be grateful that all in all, i have had really good pregnancies. i know i am a little more anxious than normal because we have had some scares along the way. i just want the baby to be here safe, sound and healthy. only time will tell. three more weeks!!!

if you can ride or drive it....he will come.

and i am pretty sure it's all his fault :)

the reunion

we drove to az to see family during tyrell's two week break. here are a few recaps from the reunion.

one day it rained pretty hard and we decided it was time to corral all the kids to keep them out of the mud. we put on a movie via lap-top but the sound was not loud enough. so while it was being fixed, kristen was keeping the rioting at bay by reading them all a story.










a new game called 'washers' was introduced and the guys had fun playing. carter of course was always in the way and really excelled and picking up all the washers before, during and after each persons turn.










the boys (plus nicki and me) went shooting one afternoon (off homestead land of course :)











sat and talked around the camp fire.
















'got acquainted' (as my grandma would say)

and of course tyrell set up his zip line, which involved him scaling up this tree (which was impressive). all the kids LOVED it.

ty even offered rides in the rain :)

we helped out at the chicken coop showing the kids chickens and letting them pet and feed them. ty looks a little more frightened than carter.

who is completely unaware that his face is TOO CLOSE to the beak.





it was our first reunion without our favorite grandma smith, and it just wasn't the same. she loved being at the homestead and of course being surrounded by family!! you are loved and missed!

the weeds

our yard is in desperate need of WORK. so one day we spent 8 hours pulling weeds (i pulled the short ones and tyrell took care of the 5 feet, tree trunk thick ones). this is just one of about 5 truck loads we hauled out of our side yard. and the sad thing is.... there is so much more to do (sigh).

cuteness

1. one of carter's new tv watching spots.




















2. using dad's phone to make a few calls while he is on the move. he was just scooting around the house jabbering into the phone.


















3. dr. jekyll

(i think he looks A LOT like tyrell in this picture)











and mr. hyde.







i took this picture because i noticed a trend. in most pictures i take of carter, he looks like a rag-a-muffin, is in his pajamas, or modeling in his skivys. so after i got him ready for church i thought i would take a picture of him looking so handsome.


maybe we'll try again next week :)

clap your hands, stomp your feet, shout hurray

carter's favorite song :)

the jet skis

these FOUR... count them FOUR... jet skis are living in my garage and in my yard. and yes we are the proud co-owners of these four wonderful skis. it all happened when i was in AZ for a few weeks.

while i was there tyrell talked to me about his NEED for a stand up jet ski. i was iffy about the whole thing, but told him that if he really wanted one, and it was really that great of a deal, then he could do what he thought was best. his argument about the expenditure was that the money was not SPENT, but just TIED UP until we were able to sell them and of course... make money on them.

so that is how we acquired the two yellow jet skis. ty came to AZ for my grandma's funeral and kept asking me... 'so what would you say, if when you got home, there were a pair of jet skis in the garage?" this was of course not a good sign. remember, that this all started with the NEED for a STAND UP jet ski and when we got home, there were two SIT DOWN jet skis. his buddy brandon, with whom he went in on these skis with, talked him into the greater versatility of the sit downs (more kid and friend friendly). so this relationship between brandon and tyrell is a dangerous one, as 'mr. fix it' meets 'mr. wheel and deal'.

now these skis were purchased with the knowledge that only one of them worked well. the other ran ok, but needed some work. but after a few trips to the lake it became officially broken. to make a long story short... later there was the purchase of the two blue ones. these were of course too great a deal to pass up, and the new plan became to fix and sell the yellow ones, while we enjoyed and eventually sold the blue ones. this new pair was in the same condition.. one working, one not. but of course, soon the one working became ANOTHER broken one. there are four jet skis in my garage and only ONE of them works.

so instead of being out on the lake enjoying ourselves... tyrell can often be found in the garage taking engines apart; covered in grease, surrounded by a myriad of bolts and thing-a-ma-jigs, complaining that no one stocks the parts he needs, ordering parts on line, waiting for the mail, and since there is only one shop in pueblo who works on jet skis... planning to start up his own jet ski shop:)

carter doesn't seem to care that they don't run, as long as he gets to sit on them. and lately he decided that the fun factor can be increased exponentially if you stand up. a habit i am strongly discouraging.

the hopes and dreams of owning fun toys and enjoying the nearby lake are not working out as planned. but tyrell is of course unfazed, and glad to be able to learn about jet ski engines. he is just wishing for a more supportive and less heckling wife :)

(this is just a side note picture about the time he talked our neighbors into coming over and transferring the two working jet skis to the same trailer. no one has sued us for back injuries... yet :)

st. johns

we were able to spend a few days in sj and carter had so much fun.















he played a lot out side: on the swings, with the hose, on the teeter-totter, in the sprinklers, with the dogs and cats, on the tramp, and down the slide.













carter is OBSESSED with anything with wheels and a motor. he wanted to sit on the motorcycle, the golf cart or the lawn mower the WHOLE time. he got to ride on them all and thought he was pretty awesome. anytime he heard the engine start up, he came running.









and of course, grandpa was more than willing to oblige.

water fun

carter and i were in az for about two weeks and in that time, carter was able to have a lot of fun in the sun. we took he and morgan to play in this fountain, and for the first 10 minutes, he just stood there motionless watching the water go in and out. he was pretty fascinated with the mechanics of the whole thing.

and after an adequate time of examination, he decided he really loved it.

and dived in head first.