Photography by Cole Smith

This week Cole wanted to take his digital camera to school for "show and tell". I was pretty hesitant about the idea but he promised me that he would be responsible and take care of it while it was at school. So I agreed and I'm so glad because he took photos and his friends took photos in the classroom. This below is a classic Cole look. I get this alot from him...and what follows is "Mooooooom" it's pretty funny and I just have to laugh at him.

In addition to the school photos he had some photos from an afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Wyllie's house.

This is Henry, Cole's cousin and he is almost 2...next week he will turn 2. Such a cutie.

And of course....our Carter....but he's a little blurry. Sorry.

Another shot of Carter right before dinner.

A promise not broken...

ugh...I have been sooo sick. Thank you Kathy for watching the kids today so I could rest and start to feel better. Sunday was spent all day in bed trying to feel better too. I felt terrible and very guilty...the kids were running around like crazy chickens and Chris did his best to keep up with them and keep them from jumping on the bed...with me in it. I think we are on the mend. I think I had the flu. Yuck. I will post pictures and catch up (again!) I promise.

Photography from Cole Smith

So you probably wondered where I took off to again and I'm sorry. Starting Sunday I'll start trying  to post everyday to keep up with what is happening around our house. 

We gave Cole a digital camera made specifically for kids for Christmas. It's pretty cute and he really enjoys taking photos with it. After it's full we can then upload the pictures into iPhoto (he even has his own folder) and it's been so much fun. The pictures are priceless and I thought I would share them with all of you.

(more below the photos)

Cole with Whitney Christmas morning. I ordered Cole a matching yellow apron with his name embroidered on it so when we cook together he can wear his special yellow apron and I can wear my pink apron.

This is his GIANT Where the Wild Things Are puzzle from my Dad and Tamara. Pretty cool. Cole likes to put it together and play with the stuffed animal characters he has that go with the story. I think we could open a toy store at our house.....

Ah...breakfast....and Chris' favorite shirt...he's always wearing it Saturday morning.....

More Sock Monkey. Both boys have them and they love them. 

So the latest with us: 

I put this on my Facebook page but not all my blog readers are on Facebook...so I'll tell it again here...

Last Sunday I was working on some stuff on the computer and all of a sudden Cole started spraying me with water....and ALOT of it. I turned around and asked him what in the world he was doing and he told me "it's Holy Water"....apparently Mass left an impression on him....

also continuing on this theme....Mass with Cole includes: 

Cole loudly asking (while the Priest is doing a reading) "Why are those guys in costumes?" 

As we are singing he finds the kneel bar and loudly pulls it down....CRASH....and then I look over in horror to see the 96 year old woman next to us cringing in pain because it just smashed into her shin.....and all I can offer is a sincere "sorry"

He then finished off his baggie of small marshmallows and sang the hymn as loud as he could....even though he had no idea what the words were....

This is pure entertainment....

Beyond that excitement Chris had a series of tests this week at work so he's been wound up pretty tight and is enjoying his evening because today was his "Friday" and tomorrow he is getting his hair done. Too much information? That's OK because Chris loves getting his hair done.

I'm doing fine. I've been a bad Mom this week. I only cooked once and we ordered pizza and ate out the rest of the week. We had tacos tonight and they were very good. This weekend we will be having some homemade pizza and hopefully some other delicious Barefoot Contessa meals...I have to plan that all out.... 

In annoying news: it snowed here again today and I think I spend more time chasing gloves, hats and snow pants than anything else. I will be glad when it is back to warmer weather....in 5 months. Yuck.

So at this point I'm just rambling....so I'll close but Thanks for reading...hope you enjoy the photos.

Last note:  Don't forget about Haiti. Helping in small ways can make a big difference. Just text "Haiti" to 90999 to make a $10 donation to @redcross.

New Year's around our house

Here are the two monkey children and their sock monkey's. Carter also loves to play with the box of Jenga blocks so it's included in the photo as well.

The morning of the first day of 2010 we woke up to a blanket of snow. Cole had managed to stay up with Chris and I until 11 pm so he slept in until 9 am. This is a record for him and I literally wrote it down in my journal/calendar because I want to remember that morning forever. Cole normally rises at 6 am (sometimes 6:30 if I'm lucky) so I've learned it's nearly impossible to rise earlier than he does.... instead I do most of the laundry/cleaning/whatever else needs to be done...late at night after he goes to bed. The positive side to having an early riser is the kids are both in bed by 7 pm every night. No argument from either child and Chris and I then have time to enjoy our tv shows and check out the internet. So now that I've gone on about this far too long...let us get right to the pictures....

It was a all out snowball war between Cole and Chris. Cole did everything he could to try to get snow down the back of Chris' pants. I was inside with Carter watching through our patio door ironing and Carter was having a blast watching them outside through the window....and then both boys outside started throwing snowballs towards the patio...

Notice please, Cole is "holding" his Snowman's hand above.

So yes, my favorite time of the year is in January. The new year is here and I take great effort in cleaning  and freshening up the house. So this translates to deep cleaning and organizing.

So from the Smith's here in Idaho Happy New Year. I'm sure 2010 will be full of suprises and fun...

keep in mind everyone...Chris turns 30 this year and I've already began the process of brainstorming for his party....big big fun plans. Mark your calendars please...May 17

p.p.s Chris wanted me to mention that he does have more than one shirt (I'm referring to the blue shirt in the post below) for some reason he is always wearing that shirt on the weekends for breakfast...so the same shirt is in nearly every single photo. I'm should make a photo montage of him in that shirt....that would be funny.