Ready or not, here we come!

Well, there's no turning back now - today was middle school orientation. My baby is actually going to grow up and leave me behind. I'm not sure that I'm ready for it - but I'm pretty sure she is. I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture (it was taken at 8:30 last night - not the best picture-taking time of day), but she has CHANGED this summer! Since I had such a miserable time with junior high (think nerdy, big nosed, zit faced), I decided to treat her to a bit of pamering this summer. She is now allowed to wear makeup (okay, just mascara and a bit of eye shadow), she got a new stylish hair cut (notice the side bangs?), and last week I even took her into my "face lady" for a teen facial with "brows"(lose the unibrow)!

I know it is all external, but my work seemed to pay off today at orientation. Mikaela stepped right up in the foreign world of middle school choas and got her picture taken, received her ASB card, requested her new PE uniform, and took me on a tour of the school enough times that she can now find all of her classes without a map! Lets hope the confidence lasts her through the first week of school!

And lets also hope I can drop her and her two friends off on the first day of school before I melt into a giant blubbering mess ...

Choices...

Here is a picture of our summer ...

Painting a house can be such a difficult thing to do ... but even more difficult is the task of choosing a color! Our summer project was suppose to be painting the house, but reality has finally struck, and the actual summer project has been choosing the color. I think the fall project has now become painting the house. Unfortunately, the girls want to stay with the "purple" house, and Addison and I want to go more modern with a warm brown and white trim. Who knew there were so many shades of brown? No, we don't want green-brown, grey-brown or yellow-brown! We just want a nice mocha brown! After weeks of buying testers (see lovely picture above), we have finally reached the point of driving around, stopping at "pretty" houses, and going to the doors to ask the owners what color their house is! Sounds desperate (but much easier), but still hasn't worked as planned. Although most people have been flattered that we would choose their house color to copy, we have received many false leads. Some home owners have not spoken english, some just don't know their color, and some, who have willingly given us the color name, have ended up giving us the incorrect name! Yes, we get very excited to finally get a color name, only to buy it, place it on the house, and realize that it is not the actual color of the house we were admiring! Ugh!

So, thus is our summer...

And we are beginning to like the lovely look of the back of our house ... hope our neighbors are getting a good laugh out of it.

Our NEW Mall!

For all those who come home to visit and look forward to visiting their favorite old mall, well, it is no more. Southcenter has officially become Westfield, and you can tell by the two pictures above, it has been completely redone!

We took the girls to the new mall last night after hearing rave reviews of it's remodel. It's gone from being an old and dumpy mall, to the biggest mall in the Pacific Northwest. Grand Opening was Friday, and it now boasts 75 new stores, a 3 story window next to the new food court, parking garages, second story covered walkways from the garages, two levels of stores and a third level housing a new AMC theatre! I'm thinking, "yeah, right - I've seen the cool malls down south and dumpy old Southcenter could never look anything like those!". Well, we were pleasantly surprised!

The girls REALLY wanted to be able to "walk the whole mall". Okay, no biggie, we can easily get that done. After 3 1/2 hours, we FINALLY made it through the entire NEW section of the mall - we never even went through the old part! You need to come up here and see for yourself - you will not believe your old mall! If I was an elequent writer like the Green Duo, I could use my writing to paint a picture for you of the sophisticated shopping atmosphere, the relaxing seating that includes TV's for the husbands to watch while the girls shop, the stores that are more like entering a Disney ride than a mall store, roomy food courts and parking garages that remind the girls of the airport ... but writing is not my "thing". Here is my summary: the place was packed, there was no parking, the food was great, and we needed several more hours to truly enjoy the place. I also learned that taking three girls, who are all now concerned about "style", to the mall together is a mom's nightmare! This year we will be doing all school shopping one-at-a-time with mom! They each have their own "style" and each want to go into their own stores! I felt like I was being ripped apart the entire time! Oh, the fun is just beginning around the Smith household ...

http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/what-240-million-gets-you-these-days-a-look-at-the-westfield-southcenter-expansion/

Some one needs to tell me how to post a video to my blog! I'm so blog illiterate!

Watch this ...

http://simplyamusingblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/cat-on-hot-tiner-treadmill.html

MEGA Sports Camp

Last week was our VBS - it was great but totally exhausting! Our church decided to leave the "traditional" VBS behind, and try something new - a week long sports camp! We also decided to combine our usual two sessions (AM and PM) into one big evening session. It was a huge experiment that ended up being a huge success. We had 300 kids and 150 volunteers who all went non-stop for three hours straight every night. The kids (and their leaders) got to participate in soccer, basketball, cheer/baseball and crafts each night. There wasn't a dull moment the entire time! Addison and I both led groups of about 25 kids each - Addison had J's group (Preschool-First Grade), and I had C's group (4-6th grade). M was able to serve as a youth staff and helped with Addison's group. Taking 25 little 4-6 year olds around to different stations every half hour just about put him over the edge at times! Every time I saw him, he was busy counting kids to make sure he didn't lose anyone! Here are just a few pictures of the week.

Our New Car!

After much saving, comparing, and stressing, we have finally taken the plunge! Our poor "old" cars seem to both be on their last legs this past year. I have been wanting to take a family vacation/road trip this summer, but we just don't trust our poor old van anymore. It's great that it's paid off, but always has little things going wrong.

Addison's Saturn is having even bigger issues, but is a great gas-saver/commuter car. You just have to remember to bring an extra key along when you drive it since the key gets stuck in the ignition when it is parked.

So, when we got our wonderful stumulus present from the gov't, we knew it must be the time to splurge and invest in a new and reliable car. It was a tough decision deciding, first, which clunker to replace, and second, what to buy! It's also hard to go from no car payments to a new payment every month.

So, our new investments have been great! We feel like we are in a spaceship with all the new digital technology - and they run sooooo smoothly - you hardly feel anything. It was hard to take the plunge and buy "top of the line" - but we got a great 30% off deal, and they are something we will be using every day! I feel so spoiled! So, here our our wonderful new toys ...












Okay, life isn't always what you expect. Our 15 year old dryer died last week and I have been drying our laundry outside for the past week ("crunchy" clothes - yuck). We did get a great deal on top-of-the-line, spaceship-like purchases - they just aren't exactly what we wanted to spend our money on. I am probably the only one who is thrilled that I can fit 16 pairs of jeans in my super-sized washer, and have a steam option on my dryer so I no longer need to own an iron - but it is the most exciting thing I have bought in a long time! Laundry for a family of 5 will no longer haunt me DAILY - maybe now I only need to wash every other day or so!

Happy 4th

Here are a few pictures from our evening with Nana and Poppa ...

Summer Fun!

Summer has finally arrived in Seattle! The kids have been out of school a whole week now - and we have had two "fun" never-done-before outings. The picture above shows off our newest pedicures. I have never had a pedicure, and received a gift certificate from my girl scout troop at the end of this year. Instead of using it all myself (several times - it was for over $50), I decided to treat all three girls to their first pedicure as well. It was great - and free!

Last weekend we decided to try a drive in movie for the first time too. We took the girls to see Kung Fu Panda last Sunday night. It was exhausting (I could hardly stay awake for the end of the movie) since it didn't start until almost 10 pm - but a fun experience for all.

I'm trying to come up with something fun and new to do every week this summer. We'll see how that goes ...

Somewhere Under the Rainbow

Our neighbor just sent me this picture. Notice that the pot of gold is hidden in our house! I want to print this for the girls, but need a great "family bonding" caption to go with it. Any suggestions?!?!?!?!? I think it would make a great Smith Family Logo!

Way behind!

So, where do you start when you haven't blogged in weeks and about a million cool things have happened during this time that you could have been blogging about?

How about if I start with the most recent and work my way back (if I ever get around to that)?

Unfortunately, my brand new camera (the one I had to buy in Florida because my other one failed me in Disney World) slipped out of my hand and onto the floor the other day and refuses to turn on now. So, no camera means no pictures. These pictures have been taken with Camryn's camera - not the greatest, but works better than mine at this point.

These are the newest additions to our family. Three little foster kittens! They are VERY cute and VERY well behaved (for a change). The little boy (the brown tabby) is pretty sick right now, but we are hoping he pulls through. If not, we will be very sad.

Oh, and last weekend was our end-of-year party for Mikaela's girl scout troop. The girls have been begging to camp in our pink tents (donated by the Breast Cancer Walk last year). Since I am NOT a camper, we pitched the tents in the huge backyard of one of our girls and camped there! I survived staying up all night (and teaching Sunday school the next morning), and the girls had a blast running around and giggling all night. Mikaela and I are moving on next year, so that was our last activity with this troop. Too bad - I don't think either of us will miss them much - even after being with many of them for four years.

Okay, that's about all I can handle right now. I don't know how you all write loooooong booooooks on your blogs! Too much work for me!

My "new" daughter

Old Camryn...

New Camryn ...

Isn't she CUTE!?!???????!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?

My New PINK Toy!

In order to help me overcome my recent bout with PCD (Post Cruise Depression), I decided that I needed a new hobby or new toy. I have been "casually" looking for a new laptop for awhile, so last weekend we happened to find this little beauty just calling to us from the back shelves of Fry's! Since she was PINK, we knew she belonged to our family! Addison is less-than-thrilled with the color, but she has all the cool techie perks that he likes - plus, he already has his own "man-laptop" in a very manly black color (yes, it matches his black "man-purse" too).

I know the color does not "make" the computer - but it sure does make me smile when I see it!

Ultimate EEEEEEUUUUUUWWWWWW!

Okay, sorry, I have no picture to post with this entry (I really didn't think to grab the camera at the time) - but I had to share my ULTIMATE EEEEUUUUUWWWWW!

This afternoon I was vacuuming the living room - not usually a big deal. I finished up the living room and moved into the dining room, as usual. When I was done vacuuming the dining room, I walked back into the living room to unplug the vacuum, and there, on my freshly vacuumed carpet was a DEAD MOUSE! Next to the poor dead rodent, was a very proud dog! Now the dead mouse was gross enough, but my question was ... "where in the house were you hiding this thing, and how long had it been hanging out in my house?!?!?!?!!" I'm sure it entered our home dead - thankfully. We often have such deceased "gifts" brought to the back door by our cats and dog. But when did she manage to sneak it in? That is one very NASTY thing that has been in my house for who knows how long, and who knows where! It was still "intact", so hopefully it hadn't been around too long. The last rodent-guest was found outside with all it's innards out. Yuck! But finding one on my clean white CARPET is just wrong.

Since it was late in the afternoon when our "guest" appeared (they usually drop by in the mornings when I am here alone), I kindly placed it out on the front porch to share with Addison when he arrived home. Why should I always have all the fun!?!?!??!

Halloween ... only 8 months early!

Okay, talk about planning ahead ... I made my girls buy their Halloween costumes this month! They all "get" to be pirate girls for Halloween, and that way they have costumes to wear on Pirate night on the cruise! Don't they look dangerous?I won't show you our adult costumes - I'll let those be a surprise! Hehehehehhehehehheh!!!

We're almost ready ...

Here are a few pictures from last night's dress rehearsal of Middle School Musical:

Mikaela as a "smart" cheerleader (Taylor in the real HSM movie). She tries to convince the new girl, "Maribella" to join the Honor Society instead of making friends with all the other kids.

Mikaela singing one of her two solos! Wow - who would have ever thought she would do this a few years ago!

Camryn singing her solo. The third graders are the "brainiacs" in the musical. She will have a lab coat on during the performances.

Jillian with the K-2nd graders. They come on for four songs - as the visiting, upcoming, students for next year. They all are VERY cute in their elementary school uniforms and steal the show while they are on!

We had a very long weekend trying to get this all pulled together - but I think we are just about ready for Wednesday nights opening performance! Addison did attract everyone's attention last night by stepping off the backstage, backwards, and tumbling down the stairs during the performance! Big thump, big man laying down at the bottom of the stairs in the dark! Everyone heard the big thump, but only a couple of us got to see him on the ground. He is home today with a very sore back - but otherwise okay. Bit of a scarey moment tho.

Amazing Video!

Check this out (I don't know how to put the actual video on my blog). The kids are doing this in our church musical next weekend. There won't be a dry eye in the entire place!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT7x3VnrqbA

A sad, sad day in our family

Okay, I have to share my sorrow with you all. Three things have happened today, one to each of my three girls, to make this a sad, sad day in our family.

First, Mikaela has lost her last baby tooth. My baby is growing up! Deep sorrow there as we enter a new phase of her (and our) lives.

Second, Jillian has learned to tie her shoes! Being the baby, I was in no hurry to teach her this growing-up skill - so she finally gave up on me, and taught herself. Man, I just wanted her to stay little! She thinks she has now accomplished the "last" of the growing up skills and is now ready for adulthood.

Third, Camryn figured out the Santa secret. I know, she is 8, but again, I was just trying to keep her little for awhile longer. Now I am having to answer endless questions ... "how do they have the Santa Tracker on the computer", "where did the dirty footprints come from outside the fireplace on Christmas morning" and "where do our letters go every year"?

Guess I should figure out what I want to be when I grow up before my kids all beat me there!

Happy Halloween!

Here is a picture of our goblins...

In case you can't tell, we have a Cave Woman, A Slumber Party Girl, and a Kitty. Mikaela made her own costume (first time!), and her and her two good friends all had matching wigs. Camryn has been wanting new pajamas, so this was her sneaky way of getting them (make them be a costume).

Oh, and for Leah, here was our dinner...

Sweet and Sour Eyeballs, Vampire Brains, Bloody Lady Fingers and Dragon Blood to drink.

A very long weekend

This past weekend was our Girl Scout Service Unit Encampment out at Camp Lyle McLeod. Okay, in laymans terms, that means that all the scouts from this area get to have an entire camp to ourselves all weekend. An older troop plans and runs the entire weekend, so all we have to do is show up. It's a great camping experience without all the work.

My troop (9 girls and 4 adults) got the wonderful pleasure of staying in the Ark this time. The camp is actually situated around a lake - there are several units along the 1 1/2 mile trail around the lake. The Ark is a floating cabin that is on the complete OTHER side of the lake from the lodge and all the activities. It's very cool to stay in a floating cabin (complete with full size walls and closing doors that many units don't have), but it is a challenge walking the 3/4 mile through the woods to get to everyone else! Sooooooo, since we are "special", we got to CANOE across the lake to our cabin, in the total darkness, on Saturday night after campfire! I have to admit (and note, I am NOT a camper), it really was very cool to canoe by moonlight! Truly the highpoint of the weekend.

The girls actually did a great job cooking, hiking, acherying, wood burning, swimming, crafting, cleaning, and all the other "fun" things involved in girl scout camping. I heard no complaining this year - a wonderful change from past years. I'm exhausted - but I think they all could have stayed another day or two.

Here are a few pictures ... for more, check out our troop picture album at: http://www.costcophotocenter.com/groups/juniortroop3127.And Camryn was able to attend with her troop this year - their first camping experience! They did get to stay in an indoor unit tho, complete with electricity, flushing toilets, and hot running water! Man, I was jealous of their warm (and clean) leaders!