A Small Change

Hello! I have moved our blog over to WordPress. It's going to be a very good change for our blog. WordPress offers some awesome options and more space to upload and share more pictures and videos. So please click on over to the NEW SmithHouseofC at http://smithhouseofc.wordpress.com/ and let me know what you think! I'm very excited about it! This blog will stay up and active as long as I'm blogging but the new WordPress blog will be where we keep all our activities up to date.

Love to you all!

Stone Soup

Carter had a special lunch at his school called Stone Soup. The story about Stone Soup is here. 

All the kids in Carter's class brought a fresh veggie, frozen veggie, and cup of grains or rice. Every child helped prepare the soup from the class. Carter was very proud to share it with me. 

 

Carter's table decoration. 

The rest of the class. 

Our soup and crusty bread. 

Carter's turkey. 

  

Afterwards we walked around for a bit so Carter could show me his art.

And get some dessert.

Cole had another orthodontist appt and his teeth are doing great. They haven't moved and he's brushing well. He has such a beautiful smile. I'm so glad for him!

After his orthodontist appt I brought him back to the office with me for a few minutes while I finished up some work and Cole finished his homework. 

Sunday morning as I made breakfast the boys watched a movie together and Cole read a little bit. Such cute boys. 

Veterans Days

Cole's school celebrated Veterans Day with a singing presentation. Because he is a Bear Scout he was able to wear his uniform and present the United States Flag among the other Scouts present. 

He was a little nervous here. 

This guy.....is full of it. This is his "mad face".  He wanted to part of the ceremony as well and felt a little left out and sad. 

Here they come. 

Cole is on the left right above this text. 

The entire school singing. 

Very special night to honor active and retired military. 

The next night Cole's pack (Pack 310) held a flag retirement ceremony. Cole was very excited because Bob and Kathy had a flag they needed to retire. So Chris carefully cut the flag up and we went outside after the fire was started and the Scout Master retired that flag and the others in the appropriate manner. It was very cool. We smelled a little like we had been camping afterwards but it was a cool experience. 

The next day Cole spent a very long time watching YouTube videos on Francis Scott Key. He has discovered American History and is very curious about it. 

Then we had a "make your own taco" party. Carter used alot of lettuce and almost an entire tomato on his taco. 

Sunday mornings are awesome. 

IMG 4926 from Catherine on Vimeo.

Some new friends for Cole

Just a normal night at our house

Cole was telling me at dinner tonight (Chris is on swing shift this week so it's all about SuperMom-Power this week) that his class had a mock vote and he was about the only one in his class to vote for Obama. This morning the first thing Cole asked me at 5:45 am was "Who won the election?" and when I told him Obama he literally lept for joy. We talk some politics in our house but it's not really over the top because the kids are young and it's all nonsense anyways. (Sidenote: I'm so glad the elections are over. However, I did not factor in that now all the political talking heads are going to analyze every single electoral vote and re-analyze if the media called Ohio too soon. Oy vey.) However, I was surprised Cole was so interested in what happened. So going back to our conversation Cole was telling me that alot of kids at school are upset Romney did not win and he was pretty surprised at that. Like I mentioned, Idaho is a very red state.  

I am what I would consider a bleeding heart democrat. So of course as Ohio was announced that it went to Obama I felt so proud and relieved that Obama will have 4 more years to finish what he started and follow through on what he promised. And I do hope he will finish it. I believe in his vision. I believe the country is moving in a more balanced and modern direction. Love me or hate me for it. I also LOVE that this dialogue about how America elects a new president was so prevalent in Cole's class today. I believe he also appreciated being & feeling like he was part of the process too.  

Chris voted for Manti Te'o who plays for Notre Dame. In case that raises a question of why waste a vote...here is how Chris looks at it. He's disappointed in Obama and didn't want to vote for Romney either so why not at least write in someone he adores. 

So with all of that said...the election did leave us with some funny Youtube videos. So enjoy and I really hope America can unite under a president that we may not all agree with but hopefully can work together to strengthen this amazing country.

(*p.s. these videos are a little naughty--nothing terrible but a few curse words---some spicy language...just so you know I warned you!) 

Election Day

So this may of happened....or maybe it didn't. But we voted.
(Idaho is definitely a red state. There's not doubt about that.)

Carter dressed himself. 

And we made some cookies. 

And some soup. 

And we are all so thankful to live in America and have the option to choose and vote.
Even if it's a vote for an amazing linebacker.

Boys being Boys

(The title of this video was given solely by Cole Smith. Big dreams around here.)

Future Notre Dame Player from Catherine on Vimeo.

Boo at the Zoo!

We picked up Whitney too. She was Dorothy complete with Toto in a basket. 

After all the Halloween activities this one didn't even make a peep and went straight to bed. 

The next morning was Cole's first day at a new school (again). White Pine Charter School accepted Coley on Tuesday and he started Thursday. We are so so so glad to have him in such an exceptional school. He has made quite a few quality friends already and was moved into accelerated math 

the first day. He's such a smart kid and this school will challenge him. 

Carter was tired and really didn't want to turn around for the picture.

He finally did after some begging on my part but he wasn't happy about it. 

Here's to a fantastic rest of the year.