August so far….

Just a few great things about August so far….

1. I get to read the third book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series! Woo hoo!!! It has just been released and I have been waiting for so long to see what happens between Bella and Edward! I have read Twilight and New Moon this summer… if you haven’t, you should. Very entertaining and addicting if I may say so! I’ll keep ya posted on whether Eclipse is as good as the first two books…

2. Luke has learned his animal sounds, and it is pretty much the cutest thing ever. His version of an elephant is my favorite!… he pretends that his arm is a trunk and flings it up in the air as he makes his elephant noise. Cutie! His version of snake noises is funny too, and he has decided that bees and spiders also make a hissing sound. Anyway, it is very entertaining watching TV or looking at books since he wants to make noises of whatever he sees. Haha. Oh, and he’s learned his body parts and has been saying “O Oh!”… whenever something falls or spills. I love this stage.

3. Just got a book in the mail to start another independent study class! I should be done with school in the spring! FINALLY!!!

4. Our neighbor’s dog barked and cried non-stop in their backyard for a week straight. Luckily for our sanity, the owners just returned, so he’s back in the house where we can’t hear him. I really like dogs… just not listening to them bark ALL the time! haha. Such a relief.

5. Jake is back into the swing of things at school… with patients every day now, so I guess they really are learning stuff! haha. Hopefully this year passes as quickly as the last two!

Little Artist :)

We're stranded today! No car, and the stroller is in the trunk of the car while Jake takes the first part of the boards exam. Usually Luke and I go somewhere every day... not always a super exciting place, but at the very least a walk around the neighborhood! The two of us get so restless sitting around here! So without a car and stoller, I decided to try something a little different today. Luke loved it! A couple of months ago I gave him some crayons and put paper in front of him to see what he would do... he just wanted to eat the crayons! haha. But, today was different. He actually put them on the paper and colored. Here is his first masterpiece!

Check out the dots from the banging action!

Chunky little hands have mad drawing skills...

Ok mom... it has been almost 20 minutes and I am definitely done! ... notice the crayons and his paper on the floor now. :)

FiNalLy! :)

So, we have been home since July 6 and I am finally getting around to putting some pictures on here! These are from the Smith trip to Zion Natl. Park, and our time back in AZ! My sis-in-laws posted others at http://4yourconsideration.blogspot.com/ or http://hootieshowl.blogspot.com/.

Zion Natl. Park :)

Jake's brothers & sister

Smith ladies!

Ethan & Luke

cousins!

Trip to the Grand Canyon :)

Luke with Grandpa Smith!

Baby bumper cars! 6 babies + 5 big kids and their moms and dads in the pool.. fun!

The Cutey is one! And, Cabin fun :)

This is a little late because we have been on vacation, but my little guy is now a one-year-old! Yay! This year really has flown by. Crazy! We celebrated his big day with family at the cabin... Hebgen Lake just outside of West Yellowtone. He was so excited about everything. It was fun! We missed Jake.. he was still at home :( but had a fun time with cousins and family! Here are some pics of the recent trip! The cabin is my most favorite place. Everything about it is just always the best! This year, we got in tons of boating, waterskiing/wakeboarding, mini-bike riding, fishing, and eating too much good food.

Anyway, here are some pics!

It's the birthday boy!!

my cutey cousins!... Ty and Ashley

the cabin!

Hebgen Lake

Grandpa and Luke driving the boat!

Yay for skiing!!

What a cute one year old!

He thinks he's one of the big boys :)

Hanging out at the dock...

After Luke's first ride on the mini-bikes!.. he loved it!

Say cheese!

my "Must" list...

Thanks Jenni for the prompt to do a "must" list for the week. I was needing to make a list! Anyway, here mine is!

10. I really have to find a swimsuit this week! It seems to be an impossible task to find a cute one that fits me and is not super skanky! I have already looked just about everywhere, including online. Wish me luck on this one!

9. Jake's leftover birthday cake from Cold Stone is in our freezer... must either throw it out or feed the rest to Jake before I finish it off! Yellow cake with sweet cream ice cream and cookie dough... too yummy!

8. Going on walks with Luke... I love them! He does too. We always seem to walk past lots of people and their dogs, and he can't get enough of dogs lately! All animals really! He sees them way down the road and points and jabbers in excitement until we catch up. Cutey. Maybe one day we'll get a dog... when our kids are old and can take care of it!

7. Yay for TV! American Idol is down to the top 3! Hopefully Blake goes tonight! Not that he's bad... Melinda and Jordin are just better! I'm hoping Jordin wins. Also, I'm excited about The Office and Grey's finales! Oh ya,... and can't forget Spurs vs. Suns!

6. Another shower tonight... it's that time of year! Everyone is having babies or getting married!

5. Got to clean the house! Visitors are coming this weekend. I wish I took the time to really deep clean every week!... would make things easier!

4. Flowers! I love them and our yard despritely needs more! Tomorrow morning's project! :)

3. Seaworld passes! I am so excited to get mine this year so I can take the stinker swimming! Jake and I had so much fun there last summer. Didn't think I'd be saying this since we were there so much last year, but I'm ready to go back!

2. Countdown to fun begins! Next week Jake goes fishing and I'm off to Arizona!

1. As of this afternoon, Jake is done with his second year of Dental School! Woo hoo! This year has been a pain! On to third year! Also, congrats to Josh! Happy graduation Dr. Smith!!

crOp-A-DilE!

I got a new crop-a-dile yesterday... so much fun! I had to try it out this morning. It does snaps, eyelets, two different sizes of holes, and other stuff too! I used to hate setting eyelets and haven't used them much since high school since setting them annoyed me so bad... but now they're fun again! yay!

Feeling Scrappy!

A few weeks ago, I was inspired by Jenni's scrapbooking and decided I should get going on Luke's scrapbook! After all, he is just 2 months away from his first birthday and I've got a million pictures. Here are just a few of the pages I've done lately.

Morning Entertainment

While I was doing my makeup this morning I was amazed at how good luke was being in his little entertainment center thing. Usually after 5 or 10 minutes he freaks out and wants me to get him out of there. Anyway, I went to check on him and he was watching a giant spider that was outside on our window. He was fascinated by it! haha. I'm just glad it wasn't in the house! Hopefully he won't make his way in somehow! Aaaaa!

oUch!!

I used to think (until yesterday) that all the pro-athletes that you hear about not playing their sport for a while because of a groin injury were a bunch of pansies. How bad could it be, right? We’ve all pulled muscles and it’s never really that bad, huh? Well, I have now changed my mind! Last night at the gym I pulled a muscle while running, and it is so stinking painful! Aaah!!! I can barely walk or put weight on my left leg. Since this annoying injury, Jake has had to pick up Luke for me, grab diapers and wipes, food,… you know… be my servant because these little dumb things seem impossible to do right now! I just had to walk to the mail box to put some outgoing stuff in… thought I was going to die pushing that stroller! I stopped like 5 times on the way home to take a break! Ugh!! Anyway, to all the athletes that have this problem fairly often, I no longer think you’re looking for an excuse to slack!

ToP 10 SpRinG BrEak AcTivItiEs CouNtdOwN...

10. Getting to Arizona without a hitch! Luke slept almost the whole way on the plane! The ride back to San Antonio was great too! Luke was awake this time, but in a great mood! This really is a big deal, considering how aweful his first trip to Arizona was by plane!

9. Going to my favorite scrapbook store in Mesa with friends, and then making letters for Katie's wedding! Here are a few :) ...

8. Eating dad's cookies! (way too many of them!!) mmmm...... and going to a bunch of yummy restraunts... Gecko Grill (Arroz Con Pollo is my fav!), Cafe Rio, BJ's... and others. Rick and my dad both used their BBQ skills to make us steaks... Sunday after we got back, Aaron & Kristen and Josh & Jenni made us an awesome hawaiian haystacks dinner... Oh man,... eating can be fun!
7. Shopping!! I love Arizona malls. They really do have everything! Plus, who can argue when moms/grandmas want to buy stuff??

6. Birthday parties! We got to hang out with everyone and eat lots of cake and ice cream at Rick's and Jane's birthday parties.

5. Luke discovered his 2nd mom (I think he sometimes thought Abby was me!) Anyway, he loves her! He also discovered that he loves kicking his feet in swimming pools! Too bad the water is still a little too cold to get all the way in!

4. 24 hr babysitting available! Jake and I took advantage of this and went on a few dates... thanks to mom, dad, and abby, we saw movies, shopped and had fun without our little guy in tow! Also, it was so nice to have people watch luke while I ran at a normal times during the days we were there! Going before Jake is off to school in the morning here in TX is way to early! Ugh! 3. Our trip to see bodyworlds! We went with my family and some of Jake's family. It really is amazing... go see an exhibit somewhere!
2. Jake and I got to go on a temple trip with Todd, mom, and dad. Thanks Abby for watching the stinker! 1. Hanging out with family all the time! It's so much fun! We don't see them enough! Luckily we get to come back to family in Texas! Spring break went by way too fast! Oh well.. back to reality!