One more time around

There are so many thoughts swirling in my head recently, so I thought, maybe I should jot some of them down - like start a blog. Then I remembered: I already have one.

Back before Facebook was a thing, many friendships were started or strengthened through the blossoming blogging world, and then FB killed it. Not really, because there are still numerous blogs with perfect pictures ready to be shared on Pinterest so that we can attempt to attain the perfect diet, home, children, crafts, and you fill in the blank with what you want. But, then we went from sharing our lives in paragraphs on our little family blogs to 1-2 sentences to a quote or phrase from a good article with a link to a picture of offspring with a catchy caption.  Occasionally there was a pic announcing big news, and you start checking comments, likes, and now other emotions.

And now, I want to share a little more again. When this was first started we had no kids, and now we have five. There was a little more down time to share thoughts and ideas over ten years ago, but now that our youngest is two, I feel like survival mode has been shifted in the off position more often than the thriving mode. Even if no one reads these thoughts, it will be nice to get them out of my head into an organized way and maybe someday, I'll come back and reflect on them again.

First Day of Pre-K 2012

 Here's a couple pictures for the family to see what's going in our lives.
Maleia's first day of school.  She's attending our local public school for PreK.  It's 2 days a week - Mondays & Wednesdays.  She did great with the drop off & had a wonderful day learning the rules! :)

 Happy & Excited Girl!

 Showing off the backpack

 Maleia's Pose

2 kids watching the picture taking - love squinty eyes smiles!

By her cubby - "OK, Mom, that's enough pictures, there's a lot of people here!"

 

I Will Get Back Into This . . .

It's just nice to be able to "talk" in adult language, so I will try to keep this blog going.  Since I've gotten back online, I've discovered pinterest.com, more money saving websites, and more Facebook updates from others.  I feel like I was living in a hole for 3 years and came back up to see so much more that I can use online!

With Christmas only 19 days away, I'm excited as I've used those internet tools to score some great deals & use craft ideas to make some cute gifts too.  The house is decked minus the tree, but whether we're ready or not, Christmas is coming!  Woo hoo!  Maleia is excited and Lincoln just rolls with the flow and Alayna has no clue what's going on, but still is adorable as always. :)

 Hoping Lincoln's sense of fashion improves over time

 

Maleia with her friends for her 4th Birthday - Tangled Theme!

Smiling Happy Alayna - 8 months!

Finally . . . Here We Go!

Ok, so after 3 1/2 years of dial-up like internet access or access through just Geoff's smartphone, we hooked up with high speed internet! Add a cheap wireless router & we're doing great. Except for one thing. A home computer. Ours died shortly before Alayna was born in March. So, we'd use Geoff's work computer if he brought it home. But, this week that changed, here I am in my kitchen on my home computer with wireless access. I feel so up. to. date! :)
So, pics & updates will be a regular thing.
Family around the country rejoices!

It's Been Awhile

So, it's been almost a year since my last post. Since then, we've remodeled most of our home,

gotten pregnant, moved & had a baby. Here are some pics for the family - finally. :) Home pics should come soon!Alayna Caye Smith born on March 16th

First Bath-not too happy about it :)

On the way home from the hospital

Minutes after being born - we were shocked because we'd only been at the hospital for 20-25 minutes, and here she was!

Maleia's favorite thing to do - hold her little sister

Lincoln sporting his sister's Strawberry Shortcake glasses

Miss Sweet Alayna

The best we can do in getting the 3 kids in 1 picture

Maleia's Grand Prix Car for Kids4Truth. She wanted a car that was purple and had butterflies and flowers on it - so dad made a VW Van. It got 7th place overall in speed!

A New Home

On May 27, 2010, we closed on our first home! It's a great ranch with a raised family room & kids' bedrooms with a partial basement. It's about 2,000 sq. ft which is double what we are living in now. The Lord allowed us to get a great price and has obviously led us to this home. We'll be doing some renovations over the summer before we actually move in. Here's a tour of the new place in the BEFORE conditions!

First view from the front door into the living room

From the sliding glass door view. Right side has the front door & the door from the double garage. Coat closet straight ahead with a strange cubby too small for a fridge, but with an outlet in the back.

Breakfast bar & kitchen cabinets in the living room (will be relocated)

Cabinets from the living room will be moved to the left wall. Green sink, stove top, and oven will be removed. Paint the cabinets and new countertops is the plan.

Dining room Mucho paneling and rock stickers! Painted finished drywall has been found under this paneling!

Cool archways throughout. Entrance to the master "suite."

Master bedroom side

Master bathroom side - it's in the same room as the bedroom - no walls to separate. Yes that is an "outhouse" built around the toliet. The inside is also lined with paneling. A nice fake brick wall is the background.

Luxurious tub - no shower - only tub in the house

Great mirror tiles line the walls with a relaxing bench in the corner.

Strange place for a linen closet - it won't be there forever!

Family room

Family room looking down to the dining room & kitchen

Maleia's "Bubble" Room

Bright blue bathroom with shower - only shower in the house

Lincoln's room with shag carpet that isn't shaggy any longer

Hallway from family room to kids' bedrooms and basement door is ahead

Looking down the basement steps - yes that is carpet on the walls.

Nice electric stove - note the outlet & plug from the "brick" wall. :)

Laundry room

Backyard pics - about 3/4 acre

Pavilion is 18' by 24' - very nice. Just needs some paint & a roof soon

The center doorway is from the master bedroom. The paver patio is decent size.

Better look at the fireplace.

front porch

Maleia was supposed to be in this pic, but she's off the the side crying & ready for lunch.

2 car garage