A Night in China

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There is a cute girl from China who lives with some people in our ward. We invited them over for a little FHE and asked Lucia to teach us a little about her life in China. She was so sweet and cute. Hopefully our 5 children didn’t scare her too much. She made us some yummy pork dumplings. Here’s a little recap of the evening. The kids were pretty good. Hannah and Abe and Max really enjoyed hearing Chinese. Tru liked hearing about the animals in China (he ran to get a Panda bear and giraffe upon hearing those names). Max was the bravest to practice the Chinese words. Nee-how. The kids loved seeing their names in Chinese. They were amazed that Lucia could write the characters.

This is a video of Lucia playing a Chinese Instrument (I wish I could remember what it was called… but I was really, really bad at understanding or saying Chinese.) Everyone really enjoyed the music.

a bit of the random

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Basketball. Hannah & Abe each made a basket at their games this week.

Bountiful Baskets. Decided to try this again. We needed some assistance in the fresh foods department. We also got a box of IDAHO pink lady apples. Yummers. Colorful food in winter is good.

Family Proclamation. Have a new design coming to the etsy shop soon. I love it. I printed one in the Cockatoo color… okay, it’s probably like aqua. Anyhoo, I like it. It’s a little wild but it is readable… kind of like a maze for the kids to figure out. I’m excited for the new wall collage with this as center.

Food. Tru loves eating waffles. Max loves eating cinnamon toast. They both like warm chocolate every morning… they must be like their mama.

5-minute Dancing. For excitement … and some energy release in the wintertime, we turn on fun dance tunes. It’s a Beautiful Life… Surfin’ USA… Alvin & the Chipmunks… etc. The littles love it. If only you could see our rockin’ dance moves.

Callings. I’m in charge of my first funeral luncheon on Saturday. It’s a sad & unfortunate situation the Harris family is dealing with.

Skills. It is 6 am (early for me) & I’m up with zu zu. It is tricky to type in the dark one-handed.

Sleep. I’ve decided sleep is a new hobby of mine. I get to do it occasionally. I sometimes think I will forevermore be tired. I found out today that my new blood pressure medication will probably make me feel more fatigued. Just what I needed! or not. My body needs more oxygen people.

Dream Home. We are totally going to win HGTV’s Dream Home. It’s in Midway, Utah! We could totally live there for reals … if only it had 2 more bedrooms. Don’t worry … we’ll let you visit.

Adventures with ‘Liza

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“I love you sweetie, sweetie, oh, sweetie pie pie.” said little Max to ‘Liza this morning.
Eliza warms everyone’s heart.

Yesterday she decided to become a pro at rolling over. She has been rolling over stomach to back in her crib. But now she can roll either way. Cute bug.

We also gave her a bite of some applesauce. She didn’t love it.

She spent time with each sibling this week. They love her.

She started a new “I’m mad” cry this week too. I’m a little surprised she’s so feisty. but Child #5 must be heard, I suppose.

We love ‘Liza.

something right… something wrong

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sometimes i think we’re doing something right as parents when our kids say things like Miss Hannah did today:
“Mom, don’t you think we ought to take some cookies over to the new neighbors?”

and sometimes i wonder what we’ve done wrong when our kids say things like mr max did today when standing by the heater:
“I burned my tooshie.”
What?! Who teaches him these things?

sigh…
we win some and we lose some.

hopefully the kids will turn out okay in the end.

because we love her

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oh liza… we love you.

Don’t forget Max…. he turned 4

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I guess this week is ‘catch up on birthdays’ time on the blog. I realized we never acknowledged Max’s birthday in December.

It would appear that Max stayed in his jammies all day… but knowing that it was a Sunday, he did go to church (not in his jammies). I guess it was a mellow day at home the rest of the day. Sunday birthdays are a bit like that. Happy Birthday little Max.

Here’s a few stats on Max from his well check:
Weight: 35 lbs (50%)
Height: 40.25 in (50%)

We went ahead and got all his kindergarten shots at his doctor’s appointment. He wasn’t extremely thrilled with all the shots… but at least they are over with for several years.

In the past year Max has done better saying sentences. He still gets a little confused between he/she. We need to work with him on pronunciation, clarity, and sentence structure, “We don’t have no milk.”

Despite struggles with communication, Max is such a great kid. He is a bit full of drama which is probably part of what makes him so lively when he is happy. “Max, are you our happy child?” “Yes… I am a happy child,” says Max with a big smile.

Max likes to play Mario on the wii. He loves when Hannah reads to him. He loves Eliza and says endearing things to her. He loves when Abe lets him play with his little legos.

Oh – and it about kills him to have to say please. Really. He usually says, “I want … etc.” “Try again,” says mother. “May I please… have some warm chocolate.” “Ahhhh… much better little Max.” It’s so hard for him, but he is learning to say please the first time.

Max is a keeper. Happy Birthday little buddy-buddy.

two photos for a sunday evening

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miss hannah in my wedding dress : 2006

mr abe – cute as a bug – 2004

once upon a time … miss hannah had a birthday

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unfortunately, I don’t always get journaling done right after events.

fortunately, nobody is holding me to a deadline so we’ll try to get to the important matters eventually.

important matter #1: Hannah’s birthday: oh, ya know… in October. Hurray for age 9.

It was a busy Saturday to have a birthday. But hopefully there was a bit of fun for Miss Hannah. 1st… breakfast and presents. A few favorites: Corn-nuts (she loves them!), the Gift of Music (piano lessons from Wendy Rencher), little Hannah Statue, slippers, new outfit for Kit, clothes, gum, new purple coat.

Hannah’s comments about her birthday: “I really liked when me, you, Grandma, and Eliza went out to eat and to Gardner Village.”

Then we headed to Salt Lake City as a family to celebrate Patti’s wedding to Brett (friends of Jimmy’s from work). It was so sweet. Patti just crouched right down to talk with the kids. She is such a wonderful woman… so friendly and kind. And Truman loved Brett. Their reception was really neat to attend and hopefully our loud and big family didn’t ruin the event!
The Smith fam came on Sunday to celebrate with Miss Hannah. We had Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Sheetcake (the family favorite lately) to celebrate Hannah and John’s birthdays.

Happy Birthday Miss Hannah Mae. We sure think you’re FANTASTIC. Enjoy being 9!

Jr. Jazz

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Big news in the Smith home… the kids finally got to play on a basketball team. Jimmy was thrilled. The kids are glad. The first game was a little intense since they just weren’t quite sure what to do. We play ball with the kids, but being on a court with other team members, having to dribble, pass, defend, was a lot to take in. They have had fun though. One of my favorite conversations after the first game was this:

Jimmy: Abe, try to be aggressive and go for the rebound. Do you know what a rebound is?
Abe: Yes.
Jimmy: Do you know what it means to be aggressive?
Abe: No
Jimmy: Well, in all other parts of life, we need to be gentle and nice. But when you play basketball you need to be tough and try and get the ball. Go for it.
Abe: Yeah, I’m not very good at that.
(sidenote about Abe: this kid has a bit more of my personality… the non-competitive gentle type)

It was just funny. But the last few games the kids have tried to be more tough and GO for the ball. Hurray! It’s fun to go cheer as a family (when Tru is being nice, that is). Max likes the games, except for the loud buzzer… well, and when he gets lost walking into the game with the fam.

stuff like this makes me laugh

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I walked into the laundry room this morning and found this on the dryer.

We bought “the orange sweatshirt” on Saturday (rock-on $6 clearance) and I think she wore it every day thereafter. I’m glad she finally realized it was dirty.

Makes me chuckle!… Hannah and her little notes.