Simply the Smith's

Grayson Michael, I'm going to sound cliche for a moment but where have the 6 years gone? I remember like it was yesterday waiting for you to come. You were late by two days which fits your personality because you just like to go through life with no real hurry to anything.  You my boy are special to me because you made me Mamma. A title that I'm forever grateful for and will gladly spend my days earning.  I'm sure I have said it before but the word I would use to describe you first and foremost is kind. You are just a kind sweet kid and it's only grown the older you get. At your parent teacher conference your teacher said "I don't know how else to put it except he is just so kind to everyone". You spend your days drawing posters and Star Wars scenes. Hockey drawings are now on the up swing and you take great pride in your work. You like to draw things for people and you watch in anticipation of their reaction. You go through this ...

I had grand plans to document our day on Friday. I was going for an every hour sort of thing and then after the 3rd hour lost track I will shoot for next Friday though we will see I'm off on Friday's ( all the happy faces for a 4 day work week and the $$$ saved on daycare ) It was our February break from school so Grayson is home too. I get up at 6:15 on Fridays which is sleeping for me because during the week I'm up at 5 and I head downstairs to do a workout. I'm in a funk right now with that stuff but I still move my body. Today I did a 10 min arm video and 10 min lower body video. I stretch for a few mins and I'm done just in time for Grayson to come wandering down the stairs. I chug some water. Check in with Michael and head upstairs to get Marshall and Charlotte from their beds. They both woke up dry (we are in the throws of potty training and are still in pull ups at night for now) They charge downstairs yelling that they have to pee and demanding...

I'm dusting off this space to share some confessions I have a running notes section on my phone of confessions and well the list is a little long so I figured I would put some here....... I don't always brush my kids hair before they go to school. Most times I throw Charlotte's hair in a pony or pig tails but the boys. They get to just go as is.  I feed the kids a separate meal most nights. And 90% of the time it is breakfast (like eggs, sausage, waffles) or what we call a snack plate (granola, yogurt, a fruit or veggie and chips) because let's be real at the end of a work day scrubbing them down after they eat spaghetti is just too much for me to handle which leads me to my next confession Charlotte and Marshall will be 3 in April and I still have them in cribs and high chairs. Why? Because it's easier to have them contained. They are double trouble. We tried having them at a kids table but they got up every 5 seconds and so we got tired o...

I normally do a day in the life post on a day that I get up and out and head to work.  Well I decided to do one on Friday when I'm home and this past Friday just happened to be a day that Grayson had a half day of school so it's extra special. 6:15- I'm up. I could sleep in but I find my day goes smoother when I'm not summoned from my bed by the small people that run my house. I get up feed Riley and make my cup of coffee. I turn on the tree and usually shoot a text to Michael to let him know I'm up and what time I can schedule our grocery pick up for ( this depends on his work load for the day) I finish that up and turn on a Hallmark Christmas movie because tis' the season 7:00 I hear Grayson starting to stir in his room and I run and shut off the tree just so he can turn it on because he loves it so much. Michael insists that this is over the top but oh well I still do it. Grayson comes down the stairs we find our elf who brought baking supplies a...

When I was pregnant with the twins Michael dubbed us the Smith Squad and now Grayson refers to us as the quite often and I kind of love it. So here is a little update on my Smith Squad Grayson Is thriving in Kinder. Exceeding my expectations. He is friendly to all and does well with his assignments. He is writing more and more and starting to read. At his teacher conference she used the words kind to describe him and that just makes a parents heart fill right up.  He is my budding artist. He will come home from school pull out a notebook and just draw until dinner. It's different everyday but he explains them in their entirety to us before bed each night. He even made Baby Jordyn a book for her birthday it was the sweetest thing ever. He is still in love with Hockey and even though we decided to take a session off from his hockey clinic we are so glad we did because he has the opportunity to play with a program run by the Buffalo Sabres alumni and so he will do...

Marshall and Charlotte have reached that phase. You know the one where you can do everything the exact same way that you did it the day before however on this day it's just not right? Yeah that one. The one that makes you turn into a full on crazed person. Sissy and Marshy go to daycare 2 days a week. I'm solo on those days to get them ready and so I try to streamline that process as best I can. I lay clothes out the night before from start to finish including diapers and shoes I have everything ready to go so that when they are dressed we walk out the door. The last thing I need is them getting involved in a TV show or some toy and having that battle. I bring them down they both have to be touching me in the morning because they hate waking up early. I get Marshall dressed first most days that is fine but some days it's not. Some days he acts like the floor is hot lava and he arches his back until I'm sweating just trying to hold him down long enou...

Grayson is in full day school now. Kinder to be exact. Last year he was in pre-K and was home until the bus picked him up around noon. This year the bus picks him up around 8:45. He has been home all summer with Marshall and Charlotte and those three have become so bonded together. They are the 3 Musketeers. So on the first day that he had to go to school and they stayed home it was Friday. My day home with them. Wake. Up. Call. Grayson was such a helper with them and I never even knew it until he wasn't there. The first half an hour he was gone I was dragged from my seat where I normally get to enjoy my first cup of coffee no less than 20 times. At first I was baffled at how much they needed me, it took me until hour two of Grayson being gone to realize that he was the one that dressed them in their dress up costumes and subsequently undressed them .25 seconds later when they changed their minds Have I mentioned how fun 2 year olds are? He was the one that fou...