Simply the Smith's

The sweet spot…. We seem to have hit one. I feel like we have not been in a sweet spot since the twins were about 6 months old. You know before they were mobile and can get into a ton of mischief. When kids are 0-6 months they still like to be held they eat mostly bottles and they mostly just stay in one spot. No issues, you can go places and even though you have to pack up your whole house to be prepared you can relax. And if you are in my family someone is always willing to hold or feed or change a baby. 7-months to 2.5 years old is what I refer to as the lost years. You have so many things you have to do for them they are not potty trained and they are mobile and get into EVERYTHING. Going outside is more work than its worth and with twins they scatter in opposite directions. Three on one is so hard handle in big open spaces. I would often find myself skipping outside time because the work was just too much for me. When the twins turned 3 and Grayson was 6 it felt like we had a ...

Ah home schooling something that all of the country was thrown into. March 13 th was the last day that Grayson went to school and Charlotte and Marshalls last day was March 12 th . We got the call on March 15 th that school was closed for 2 weeks and that a pick up for at home materials would be on Tuesday. It was not required just suggested and so we loosely did school work. A worksheet here, spelling words here, some math problems ya know simple things. We truly believed that 2 weeks and they would be back in the classroom that is what the district presented as happening and so the distance learning was just to occupy time not to really learn anything new. Everything we were given was review.  Then we got the notification March 30 th we were closed again for another 2 weeks. Again, we were being loose with the learning because I was now working from home all but one day a week and had all three kids home and lets be honest it was a lot. Michael was still working 4-5 days a...

Things have been…..how do I say this different lately. We have been struggling to find our footing for months now. It feels like the hits just keep on coming. On February 10 th my parents were in a very serious (awful, horrible, scary) car accident. My father suffered a stroke (we found this out later) while driving the car. My mother was the passenger and they hit a telephone pole and then flipped (it’s an estimate because no one saw the accident happen) 6-8 times and landed on the drivers side of the car 100 feet off the road. I was still at work when I got a call from an unknown number and for only reasons that God knows I answered it and it was a young girl who had pulled up on the accident and had gotten my mom out of the car and was there with them while they waited for Mercy Flight for my dad as he was unresponsive. It was gut wrenching and horrible and I felt paralyzed. My mother was taken by ambulance to the same hospital they were Mercy Flighting my father to. We got...

Four things about all of us right now... Grayson One- This boy has finally found his groove in 1st grade. Kinder to 1st was a big adjustment but he's doing well now. And he is a spelling champ! He does sooooo good on his spelling tests! Two- Hockey is life for this kid. He skates twice a week (once doing a hockey specific clinic and once doing family skate see below) His skills are really growing Three- He loves reading and so we are riding that wave all the way. Four- He has to wear his glasses full time now. What started out as hey wear these when you watch TV that is farther away or when you sit farther from the board has turned into needing them full time. Our school has a local organization that comes in and does eye assessments for free for the elementary schools and they sent home a letter saying get him to the eye doctor he needs glasses (well that was the jist of it) and we since we already had glasses from his eye doctor he just started with tho...

I have been absent. I could make up a million excuses and blubber on about it but the truth is I got overwhelmed. My duties at work changed and continued to change over the course of the year and I feel like just now I'm steady in my work life.  Also my kids got older and that was a big change.  Kinder to first grade is a huge difference.  They are all in activities now dance, hockey, skating, baseball, floor hockey. Just all the things.  Plus two 3 year olds...…. way more work than two newborns. Call me crazy but 3 has thrown me for a loop. But I missed writing about my family and having this scrap book and okay maybe venting a little bit too.  So I'm here I'm back and I'm going to try my best. I'm sure I will have to fill in some blanks here and there but we will cross those bridges when we come to them.  I will leave you with this cute picture of my three little loves and be back tomorrow....I hope(just kidding)

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...

He was ready. We had been to meet the teacher/supply drop off night and had his outfit all picked out. Why was this harder for me than him? He had already done the whole bus ride thing going to Pre-K. Was it because this was a whole day? He was riding a big bus? I'm not sure but I will tell you this I cried when that bus pulled away.  He came off the bus with smiles and the standard answer of "I don't know " when asked what he did at school.  I guess that makes it a success. Up and eating breakfast Caught Daddy sneaking pictures Our handsome Kindergartner Must show the back of the backpack because duh it's Star Wars  Quick family shot A great first day!!! And just for fun check out last year I mean so much has changed in one year

Summer has come and gone all too quickly It really is only 8 weeks and those are a packed full 8 weeks We started summer off with a fun 4th of July party at Aunt Stephie and Uncle Jared's house It was so hot that day it was like the surface of the sun but I packed that giant 30 mesh bag of icees  and handed them out to all the kids and even some grownups. Anything to stay cool and a little hydrated  They splashed in the pool and we partied way way late for us 9:30 ha! It was great kick off to summer The rest of the summer was spent swimming for hours on end in our pool Adding that deck was the best thing ever. We used the pool twice as much as last summer We did have a pretty big bump this summer Grayson ended up with 4 stitches after he tripped on my foot and flew into the baseboard heat register Him and I were upstairs getting ready for bed. I had just put the twins down and he was picking out a book. He was sitting on the ed...

May and June were 2 of the busiest month we have had in a while and so updating out debt journey took a back seat. So in the months of June and July we paid off $6000 worth of debt! We are so excited!!! We originally had September as a goal to having the truck paid for but with cash flowing things we are shooting for November if not sooner. Once this truck is paid off this will be the first car that I have owned since we have been married. I was stuck in the buying/leasing a new car cycle and I'm proud to be off that wheel. $6000 is a great number and we are still on track to hit our original goal of being debt free except the house by August of 2019. I still sometimes have to sit back and think about how much our behavior has changed. We do not have a single credit card. Not one. This time last year we have 5 credit cards. That in and of itself is such a huge accomplishment. Another aspect of this that has been such an eye opener is talking to Grayson about mon...

At the end of June Grayson Michael made his first trek across the stage wearing a cap and received his diploma that says he officially completed Pre-K. They sang songs, which is so cute because they all just yell the songs and it's kind of hard to understand the words really. One of the songs was set to the Frozen song Let it Go and it was really sweet.  They had packets for each kid in the back of the aud so that the parents could grab the packet on the way in which included their diploma and some workbooks for over the summer Then they announced each name and the kids got to get their "diploma" which was a tube of bubbles. After we all went outside for a picnic and playing on the play ground. Let me just say we did not stay long. Why? Oh, Marshall and Charlotte thought that it would be fun to run in opposite directions towards a very busy road. So we ate and booked it out of there to go home and rest and share some cooki...

I wanted to document what our life looks like while Grayson is in Pre-K and Marshall and Charlotte are still going to daycare 5:00- My alarm goes off I hit snooze once and roll out of bed around 5:15 5:15-6:00- I get dressed, do my makeup, let the dog out and make my lunch. I also layout the clothes for the kids and get my coffee and their milk for the car ride.  6:00-6:25- My Dad shows up a little after 6, on Wednesday and Thursday he comes to my house spends the morning with Grayson and gets him on the bus for Pre-K (more on that later) I wake up Marshall and Charlotte, Sissy hates to get woken up and Marshall usually pops right up. I take him downstairs get him dressed and ready to go, I'm talking shoes and coat on. Then I go back up and pry the princess from her bed. If Grayson is awake he gets her out of her crib and she is happy. If he is not awake and I have to do it she usually cries and fights me on getting dressed.I get them both ready and loaded up i...

I have been MIA for way to long on the debt updates. But don't worry we have been plugging along We bought a new car. And we cash flowed a ton of it We traded in the mini van that was more than we wanted to spend on a van anymore and we got a 2012 GMC Acadia  We reduced our debt by $5,000 and we put a down payment down of 4,000 We are hoping to have it paid off by September. We had a few emergencies that we had to cover and they are all small but when added together more than we would like but again we are focusing on the positive which is our behavior modification of not charging anymore I mean 3 years ago if our video monitor had stopped charging we would have charged a brand new one this time we had to wait save up the money and buy a new one.  We also cash flowed a deck for our pool I know I know we are in baby step#2 but this was something we knew we needed to be able to use our pool this summer because it's impossible to carry 2 y...