She's Here!

Isabella Shannon Smith arrived on Sunday around 3:00 in the afternoon. This is my cousin Kimberly's baby. All I have right now are pictures of her room and it will probably be a few days before I get pictures of the baby. It sounds like she had a great entry into the world though. After having two natural births myself and one C-section, I'm thinking those epidurals might not be so bad after all!

I'm Going to Get YOU

Yes, Grace is pulling up on everything. She crawls all over the house now. The other day I went to go find her where I had left her...she had crawled into the other room. I about panicked when I couldn't find her right away. She is determined to do everything sooner, faster, and better than her siblings. For one, she eats like a champion which neither of her siblings did. She has way more hair. I expect her to walk any day now. Some days, I swear she is saying words. The list goes on and on. Apparently, 3 months in ICU hasn't slowed her down much. It must be all those power foods I was eating and feeding her in my breast milk. ha ha. Or maybe it's just the angel that she really is.

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This weekend we had a yard sale. It was actually not too bad, surprisingly. I got the hang of pulling all our junk out and putting it back in the garage. I think I could even do it again. If anything, it was great for entertaining the kids and keeping them involved in something constructive. They weren't naughty at all! They stood watch on the front steps and would yell and let me know anytime anyone drove up. They were so excited. Twinkle Toes kept saying, "Mom, they are really liking our stuff." We got to try out our Spanish on some of our Hispanic shoppers. Mackenzie is learning loads of Spanish thanks to Dora. By the end of the day, she had a yogurt container filled with about $13 in quarters and she was handing out change.

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She is so much like me. She didn't really mind giving up some of her stuff and got some pleasure in knowing it would go to someone else who needed it. Brother, on the hand, is a packrat just like his Dad......He had trouble letting go of a few things and I kept finding them inside the house as he kept bringing things back in. Daddy went fishing Saturday afternoon and the kids and I went to Home Depot to buy a few plants with the money we made from the yard sale. Then, they had to spend some of their quarters in those silly machines with toys in them. So I let them do that at Fred Meyer. I couldn't help but laugh as they were so thrilled with their baubles, which were nothing more than a gooey piece of slime and a black string which I'm not even sure what that was. They were enamored. Then, our good buddy Jason brought us some rhubarb and raspberry plants....Thanks Jason! I have been wanting some rhubarb. We'll see if it survives. Monday we are just going to hang out at the house, mow yards, plant in the garden, weed, barbecue, spray clover, blow dust off the patio. Fun stuff...

Sunday 5/17

Tickle Tickle

Brother and Sister thought it was fun to unbutton Gracie's shirt and give her tickles. As you can see, she was soaking it up. Her jaw about fell to the floor she was loving it so much.

The MAC

Also part of the birthday weekend was going to the Madras Aquatic Center. It was a Candlelighters event (kids with cancer) and so we had the place all to ourselves plus they provided food. It was a great event and I am glad we were able to go. We took along Lana and her kids and it was a lot of fun. They have an indoor waterslide, a lazy river, sprinklers, and the best part - the water is like 89 degrees! Sweet Boy turned into a fish - I think because the water was so warm he was not held back. He surprised me. He is definitely ready for swim lessons now. Gracie did great in the water too. I didn't get many pictures, mostly because I was WET!

Five Years Old

It WAS a Pet Shops Partee! A Pet Shops cake, Pet Shops balloon, Pet Shops Presents. Twinkle Toes has died and gone to Pet Shops heaven......Thursday started out with me making two tries at a homemade cake. One ended up in the garbage and the other turned out. The kids were wild in anticipation of their cousins who came into town on Friday to celebrate with us. I curled the birthday girls hair, which has finally started growing! The weather couldn't have been better. It has rained here for two weeks straight but TODAY it was 70 degrees and nothing but BLUE sky. Beautiful. Preschool friends, church friends, and cousins all came to our park and played. Daddy was a big hit blowing huge bubbles for the kids and they had fun popping them. Then a "Pet Shops Bunny" had hidden easter eggs out in the natural area behind our house and the kids got to hunt for eggs with toys and treats inside. I was proud of Twinkle Toes, because I told her she got to help and hide the eggs but she couldn't participate because the gifts were for her friends and she would be getting presents. She was fine with it and I was proud of her for being a big girl. Some strange lady showed up and started pulling "tricks" on me. Guess who? Friday night we had movie night with the kids. Daddy made kettle corn and the kids watched Pinocchio.