In My Defense

Ok, so I don't always say the most romantic things. I can't be expected to be a charmer all the time can I? Besides, for those of you who don't already know, one of Stacy's many pet names for me is the very uplifting "Dingleberry!" Yes, nothing draws a couple closer together than the sweet whisper in your ear of your wife calling you "Dingleberry" as a term of endearment......I think we're even!

Tanner

Tannerisms

I guess I'm going to have to start a weekly edition of my husband's sweet Tannerisms.

"Your face wash makes your face smell like burnt hair."

Love him, love him, love him!

Time Flies....

...when a month goes by in a week. I've been informed by several people that it's been a month since I last posted. I thought it was a week, but I guess the dates suggest otherwise. I don't really have any humorous stories to tell, so this will probably consist of a few pictures taken on our visit home last week for Thanksgiving. We had a great time hanging out with Scott who just returned home from his mission in South Africa, meeting our new nephew Riley, learning some exciting news from my brother Jason, and eating and spending time with our other family members. Alex got his first haircut, and we also got him a pretty stylin' church suit for Scott's homecoming. Enjoy!

Alex was sick and didn't feel like smiling while we were in Logan, so these are the best we got of our little businessman!

At the Aggie game with Nana and Papa.

Sitting with a very strapping young Santa.

Discovering the Christmas tree the morning after we put it up....pre-haircut, obviously. He loves the tree!

None Can Compare...

...to my sweet husband. He is constantly giving me wonderful comments like the one on Halloween after tasting my new chili recipe: "This is so good! It tastes like canned chili!" Right out of a movie or a book!

ADDENDUM: For Tori and lazy chili cookers 'round

2# ground beef
1 large onion, diced
1 large bell pepper, minced
3-15 oz cans pinto beans (or kidney or whatever you like)
2-28 oz cans diced tomatoes
4-8 oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup chili powder (or a little less if you don't like as much spice)
1 tea. crushed pepper flakes
1 tea. ground black pepper
1/2 tea. salt
1/4 tea. garlic powder

Cook beef, onion, and pepper in large pot until beef is brown and onion and pepper are tender (about 10 min.). Drain grease. Stir in everything else and simmer for at least 30 min., stirring occasionally. I half the recipe when cooking for 2.5.

And if you did everything right, it'll come out tasting just like canned chili!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Alex had his first birthday on Monday and we had a blast! He had several parties to celebrate (some a little early with families), but we learned that he HATES birthday cake! I don't know if it's the bright, scary flame coming from the top, but he just starts screaming when we bring it in. He had two cakes and hated both of them. He didn't even dive in and eat too much either which is quite rare for this kid cause he eats ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!

This year for Halloween we dressed Alex up as Wubbzy from the Nick show "Wow Wow Wubbzy". (This is my submission, Tamara!) This is one of two shows that Alex loves, and I'm sure his dad wouldn't have let him go as a Wiggle. After all the hard work that went into the costume, he only wore it for about 3 minutes. Weird...1-year-olds don't like to be put in boxes. It turned out pretty cute anyway and we even got a good one of the man behind the mask. We had a pretty fun and festive week! Happy Birthday Alex!

All I Want For Christmas Is...A Shiner!

Alex kicked me in the eye when I was tickling him the other day...hard! It's been throbbing for four days now. I was sure it was going to turn black, but no such luck. Luck, you say? Exactly.

It reminds me of a time in high school when my friend and I thought it would be cool to get black eyes, so we actually tried. Our psychology teacher (who was psychotic) told us precisely where we needed to be hit and suggested we try a board and a hammer. We tried several times, mustering up more courage to hit harder each time, but to no avail.

We then decided to just punch each other in the face. The first time I got hit I fell to the ground. She stumbled back a few steps when I punched her. We never did get black eyes.

Tanner's been wondering why I run to the bathroom each morning to see if it's turned black. He thinks it's insane and worries people will think he did it, but he just doesn't understand. I don't really think it's that cool now, but this has been a lifelong quest, at least since high school. At least I could say I finally got one.

Well anyway, the pain is starting to go away and the swelling has gone down so I don't think it's going to happen. It's amazing how good it feels to hit your best friend in the face though. From then on we always said that only the best of friends could punch each other in the face. I think there's some truth to that.

Cockroach Castle

Since moving to St. George I've discovered a new fear. THIS. I HATE THIS.

I don't think THIS bothered me when I lived here before, but then again, I don't think anything bothered me when I lived here before.

We haven't found too many of these inside our house since we moved here, at least until a couple weeks ago that is. Now every night while I'm working, almost without fail, I'll see one of these crawling next to me out of the corner of my eye. My feet are down there! As far as I know they don't cause much harm. (Please notify me immediately if you know differently.) They're just dang weird looking and dang fast. Hopefully they're most likely too fast for Alex to eat. I've worn out my only mason jar! I can't figure out why we didn't have a problem before but now we do. Plus they crawl the same path every time. Any suggestions? I read somewhere that they leave chemical trails in their feces to attract others to their secret place of wonderful things. Sweet! I'm scared to move my couch.

Tonight as I was again thinking of my disgustation (that's a word, right?) of these, I was realizing that Alex does the same thing. Whenever I'm working on the computer, he goes crawling right by me along this same path. I've come to two possible conclusions: Either there's a mystery world that only little things know about next to my computer, or my son and these orphaned roaches just need a little TLC. I have been working a lot lately. Looks like I better go give my children a little attention instead of being a great stay-at-home-mom-blogger. Feel free to come stay at Cockroach Castle anytime you'd like. No one else makes reservations, so crawl by whenever you're in town.

On a cuter note, my brother and sister-in-law FINALLY had their baby on Tuesday (on his daddy's birthday). He's a doll! Link to Shaun and Kym on the right to see pics!

Ode to Granna

So, I missed Grandparent's Day. I knew it was coming up this fall, but I looked it up too late and missed it. I was excited to make the grandparents little gifts from Alex, but that obviously didn't happen. I think Grandparent's Day is way underrated. It's a day we should celebrate as much as Mother's Day and Father's Day, maybe even more. After all, there are some people that don't even like their parents, but who doesn't like their grandparents?

I decided to do a little tribute to my only living grandparent, Granna Renee (or LaBeau as some of you may know her.) I feel blessed to have the greatest grandmother alive. I know many of you know her and love her too, but if you don't, you're missing out! She's the best!

Because really, does your grandma give you and her employees "the rock" and tell you to "pound it"? Does your grandma have season tickets to the Jazz games and watch every other NBA game on TV when she isn't at one of those? Does your grandma still work 18-hour days running her own business at the spry age of 76 (shhh)? Does your grandma carry bookcases up the stairs by herself? Does your grandma cut herself with a knife, act as if nothing happened, and then bandage it with Duct tape? Does your grandma go on Rattlesnake Rapids over and over at Lagoon? Is your grandma a master Bingo caller? Does your grandma choose to drive a 2008 Toyota 4-Runner over a Cadillac? Does your grandma say "OH MY WORD OF HONOR!"? Does your grandma own LaBeau's? Does your grandma let you do her hair like this?

So I guess that's that and I win. She's amazing. Aside from all those funny things she does, she has the biggest heart. I think my dad described it best when she told us she picked up a snowboarder that wanted to hitch a ride up to Beaver and asked her if she paid for his lift ticket and offered him a ride back too. She is always doing things for her others, especially her grandkids and now great-grandkids. She has always paid us too much money for working at LaBeau's, and she never spends her money on herself (i.e. she asks for lotion and pajamas for Christmas so she can save up and give us what we want.) She has helped to support us in school, on missions, and when we get married and have children. She is so kind, selfless, and giving, not to mention dang funny! So try to compete, but that's why we love our Granna Renee!

Halloween: What are the costs?

It's the greatest time of the year. Christmas? No, Halloween. Tanner refuses to dress up this year because we don't have anywhere to go, but I contest that if our child is walking by then, we have a perfectly good excuse to get free candy from the homes of strangers (which Alex is too young to consume, of course.) Although I would appreciate the favorable nudges in my defense in Tanner's direction, that is beside the point of this post. Today I received an ad from Partyland Costumes in the mail and was amazing at how expensive their costumes were. This is what they were offering. SICK!


In college I produced what I think is a much better penguin for less than $2 (courtesy of the DI) and with help the help of a roommate and a large sack to dispense the guts. (Please excuse the amazing amount of legs that are showing.)


Maybe I'll get less creative as the kids roll in (or out), but I've had quite a good, cheap time making homemade costumes with friends. Here are a few examples for your viewing pleasure: (1. Beetlejuice meets Edward Scissorhands. 2. Lucy and Ricky stuck in black and white. 3. KISS. 4. Oompa Loompa.)

I guess I already got a little lazy last year though because Alex got stuck in a store-bought, but in my defense it's hard to plan for when you're due on Halloween. We still think he looks pretty cute though. Make no doubt about it, we take Halloween seriously around here.

bEnDy!

Now this is quite the predicament...
(We miss you Daddy!)

I'm it!

3 Joys:
*Getting Alex out of his crib in the morning
*Watching Tanner try to make Alex cuddle with him and getting really excited if he snuggles up for even just a second
*Eating

3 Fears:
*Losing my husband
*Not being able to have children (I know I have one, but this still plagues me!)
*Being in debt

3 Irritations:
*When there isn't any chocolate in the house
*When people don't take their shopping carts to the designated shopping cart area
*When people are judgmental, competitive, and gossipy

3 Facts:
* I love cookies, brownies, and Nielsen's Frozen Custard
*I want to be a high school English or History teacher when my kids are all growed up
*The church is true!

I TAG: Bailey, Katrina, and Kym

THIS is TRUE LOVE

Well, I've done it. I've achieved a completely successful existence on this earth at the ripe old age of 23.75! I can die a happy woman (after my children and grandchildren have grown and my husband is ready to go with me...and I have eaten all the chocolate on the planet.) I have the perfect life, the perfect marriage...yet this has not always been so until a few days after we moved here. I always felt like I was a lucky woman. A great husband--kind, friendly, loving, funny, handsome, sweet, romantic, a good father--but there was always something missing. I could never put my finger on it, but I just never felt like we were complete, like we were one. It was kind of disturbing. What more could I ask for?

Then it happened. We got a home phone line.

Home phone lines for people our age are almost obsolete. I wonder how old the people are that make all those forms you have to fill out everywhere--home phone number and only one line for a cell phone number? That just doesn't work. We need two lines for cell phones, his and hers. I actually thought they were the ones behind the times.

We got a home phone line so I could have a fax machine for work, but it wasn't until I went to fill out that next form at church on Sunday that I realized everything had fallen into place. I could actually fill in the line next to "home phone", and even more amazingly there were two lines for cell phones! I dropped to my knees right then and there.

So even though only one or two people, along with several telemarketers, actually have our home phone number, at least we know it's there. If something is missing in your life, get a home phone line. It could save your marriage.

For The Nanas: Happy 6-Tooth Wonder

Alex misses you! (Sorry about the background noise!)

I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go...

Many people have asked where we moved and why, so I thought I'd give an update since we're bad friends and don't keep in touch like we should.

We moved to St. George a couple weeks ago so Tanner could go to nursing school here. It was kind of a last minute decision that shocked even us, but things have worked out perfectly and we're really happy to be here. Tanner was planning to graduate from Utah State next year and apply to PA (physician assistant) school the following year. One of our good friends talked him into applying to nursing school and going the route of nurse practitioner instead (they're basically the same thing.) That sounded good because we were kind of itching for a change and I was itching to get back to St. George.

Well, he applied before we decided that we weren't going to accept. We thought it was best to just stay in Logan and go to PA school next year. We got the acceptance letter from Dixie in June and just kind of laughed about it. Then we decided to pray about it and weigh our options, and we decided to take the offer at the last minute.

I couldn't decide why this was a better option since he would now have 5 years of school left rather than the already-forever 3, we would only be moving to St. George instead of somewhere exotic like Alabama, and we already had one kid and 14 on the way. Plus I had a good stay-at-home job in Logan that I didn't think I could keep down here.

Anywho, after all was said and done, we decided to take a leap of faith and move! Things have worked out perfectly for us. I was able to keep my job and even get more work, Tanner got a really good job, and we found a place we love without (many) roaches at the last minute. We're so happy to be here and it feels right for us! Yay for 5 more years of school! Alex enjoyed the move too. Yes. I kind of figured out how to put pictures on here. Sad the most recent of the whole family was at Christmas.

And as if the stars weren't already aligned so perfectly, last night we sat down to find a movie to watch on TV when Tannner decided to go to channel 2 to "start at the very beginning." To which I naturally broke out into song "...A very good place to start!" As he was flipping through the channels, I told him that he was lucky that we only had "The Sound of Music" on VHS or I'd pick that to watch. (Since we still live in the Stone Age, we have both a DVD player and a VHS player, so when we want to watch a VHS we have to switch the cords. It's usually more work than it's worth to watch a movie from 1988 with lines running through it.) Just then, as if nothing else could go more perfect for us, "The Sound of Music" was on TBS. It was just magical.

Disclaimer On No Disclaimer

Everybody has one. A disclaimer. I don't believe the first post on anyone's blog pronounces their excitement to enter the world of blogging. So I'm not even going to tell you that I am the last person that I thought would ever start a blog. I'm not going to tell you that I think it can be a total waste of time and that I have more important things to be doing. I'm not going to tell you that this never would've happened if we hadn't moved away (because my mom has already offered to pay our gas to come back home for the weekend so she can see the baby), and I need a way to stay in touch. And I'm not going to tell you that the only reason I started a blog was because I've had countless friends and family members on my back about it since a few months ago when I first heard the words "blog," "blogger," and "blogging." So here we are: The Smith Family. I hope that I can become a really good blogger someday. Don't expect any cutesy templates, or even pictures for that matter, for quite some time...maybe never. This is really confusing and I think I should've done this when I lived closer to Tori. But Tanner picked a name and I wrote the first post, so I think we're off to a good start. Glad to be here!