Sweet deals!

I love a good deal and want to share a couple with you.....

Snapfish is offering a twenty page 5X7 Everyday Photo Book for just $1.99 with FREE shipping!!  What a great ad inexpensive Christmas gift idea!  Use code babybook at checkout.  This offer expires on 10/31.

October is National Book Month and National Cookie Month!  Great American Cookie Company is hosting a "Reading is sweet" event all month long.  This Friday, Oct 1st, you can stop by any store and receive one free chocolate chip cookie between 10am an 2pm.  Furthermore, you can donate a new or gently used book all month long and receive a free cookie of your choice in return!!  Learn more about it here. 

Shut out!

The Yoemen called the shots on Friday night against the Hearne Eagles.  The final score was 56-0!!  Unfortunately they turned the score board off as soon as the game concluded.....wish I could have taken a photo!  The Freshmen, JV & Varsity teams are all UNDEFEATED at 5-0 and next week is homecoming!  Coach Smith has nothing but great things to say about the character and motivation of the players this year.  They are respectful, determined and selfless. 

Owen clapped, cheered and even yelled "Da da da" during the entire National anthem.  He finally gave up and fell asleep during the 4th quarter.  Emma would rather hang out with anyone but her mother.....unless she needs money for popcorn.

Traveling and attending games can be challenging quite an event!  My fellow coach's wife and friend Adrienne and her 23 month old Jessilynn rode with us the past two weeks and altogether we definitely looked like a traveling circus :)  Over the years I have learned a few tricks, tips and tid bits.....some through trial and error and others through "seasoned" coach's wives/mamas.  Here is my top ten list:

10.  Do not arrive crazy early (because the kids will be tired of sitting still before kickoff!!)

9.  Take a backpack, not a diaper bag!!  Obviously it distributes the weight evenly and zips completely.

8.  Take a child leash (if age appropriate)!  This will be a lifesaver next year with Owen ;)

7.  Attach a pacifier clip!  We have searched for (and lost) too many pacifiers under the stands.

6.  Have plenty of snacks, sippy cups & toys on hand! 

5.  Take a fold up changing pad....unfortunately not all stadium restrooms have changing tables.

4.  Always carry antibacterial spray/gel....many of the restrooms at games are sans soap (I know, gross!)

3.  Take pajamas in the car and change them before the trip home.  It's easier to put them straight to bed!

2.  Be flexible. 

1.  Don't stress.  Just don't.

                        

                   

Thursday tid bits

We have been keeping busy as usual in the Smith household.  Here are some tid bits to keep you updated :)


1.  It's finally offically FALL (I patiently waited all Summer)!!  I put a bright orange pumpkin on the porch last week and now I can add the scarecrow :)  If only the temps would drop....ohh....twenty degrees or so.....I would be a very happy girl!  I am so ready for the first CHILLY morning that I drop off carpool and head straight for Starbucks to enjoy my overpriced hot chocolate (with skim milk and extra whipped cream - they cancel one another out of course)!


2.  After almost a month of our new Fall schedule and commitments I still don't have the hang of it.  I have to glance at the calendar every single day to figure out what we have planned :)  It is totally new for us to have something EVERY single day.  Emma is only 3 but I already feel like her personal chauffeur! 


3.  Owen has had an injury filled week.  On Sunday he busted his top lip on a toy at church, yesterday afternoon he smashed his tiny pointer finger in a screen door and last night he got a large purple bump on his little forehead at Bible study :(  He finally looks like a rough and tough boy!! 


4.  Tomorrow night starts district play and the undefeated Yoemen take on the Hearne Eagles.  It's hard to believe that the regular season will be half way over already.  The guys are playing so well and are so much fun to watch!  Coach Smith is enjoying every minute :)


5.  In the midst of our new crazy schedule and the 20+ hours I work each week, I am spending every spare minute party planning for Owen's first birthday.  I absolutely LOVE everything about party planning, but it is incredibly time consuming, there's just no way around it.  I like to do as much of it myself.  While I work I browse blogs and creative ideas and then remember how craft challenged I really am :(  Our theme is 'Lil Quarterback' and we are just doing a smaller family gathering.  I have tons of cute ideas and will spend the next few weeks putting everything together :) 


6.  My ten year high school reunion is next month.  I am hosting Owen's party instead :)


6.  Sometimes Emma is a big girl.  Sometimes she is a little girl.  It just depends on which one works to her benefit at the given moment.  Ugh....


7. Three hours have never gone by so fast.  I dropped off carpool and ran errands from 9-12 like a chicken with my head cut off and still didn't have time to pick up groceries.   


8.  Owen loves, loves, loves lasagna.  You can imagine what the aftermath is like :)  Gone are the days that a regular size family lasagna feeds our family! 


9.  I can't explain how thrilled I am that the newest season of Desperate Housewives this weekend!!  I rush to get everything done and everyone to bed early on Sunday nights, just for this show :) 


10.  I have to go to aerobics now..........

Tuesdays with Owen

I have really enjoyed having some one-on-one time with Owen a couple of mornings each week! Usually on Thursdays I drive carpool and run errands with just one child (which seems MUCH easier after having baby #2!!) On Tuesdays we hang out at home. This morning I tried to get some cute photos for his birthday invitations. Out of 90 photos only a few are invite worthy....but I thought you all might enjoy seeing some bloopers that definitely show off his personality :) I used the pinwheel to capture his attention but he really wanted to hold it instead. Each time I would hand him the football he would almost immediately throw it!

11 months old

Owen is eleven months old today! He is such a clever, spunky and wonderful little guy! We stopped by the pedi office on 9/2 and he weighed 20 lbs 1 oz. He has transitioned to his new big boy car seat but will still face rear for awhile. He fits perfectly into size 3 diapers and will soon be wearing all size 12 month outfits.

During the past month he started crawling (no more scooting)! He has become quite the speed crawler :) Many family members have predicted that he will be walking by his first birthday but we shall see! This mama is in no hurry to have two kiddos running in two different directions.

Lately he has been sleeping through the night (with the exception of an occasional fuss or two). About a week ago we switched him to whole milk and thankfully he seems to like it a lot! After spending a fortune each month on formula I've never been so happy to buy milk!! He is mostly using sippy cups and I will be throwing away the bottles very soon. He especially loves Cheerios, pancakes, waffles and banana bread. He is not wild about baby food or Mum Mum snacks anymore. Today at lunch he grabbed his daddy's taco off of his plate which spilled ground beef all over his lap. He proceeded to eat hand fulls of it, which kept him quiet and occupied for a good half hour :)

He is very squirmy at football games and stated to clap at a pep rally couple of weeks ago! He says "Da da" and even pointed to a photo of Jarrod on the 'fridge last week and said it. He has finally started saying "Ma ma" but usually only in times of distress! He often points to Roxie and makes the sound "D". He also pointed to a ball once and made the sound "Ba-". He is starting to babble more but his sister doesn't often give him a chance to talk :)

Owen doesn't like to be stuck in a high chair, exersaucer, stroller or car seat for very long. He waould rather be held or out and about to explore!!

Happy 11 months to Owen....it's almost party time!!!

Saturday happenings

This afternoon Emma went with her daddy to cheer on the Aggies while Owen and I went to Round Rock for some much needed retail therapy.

I just liked this sign. It is apparent that serious shoppers hang out there:

Owen tried on several different hats but here is one that I got a photo of before he took it off :) He was a VERY good shopping buddy today, thanks to milk and one yummy snickerdoodle cookie :)

Jarrod sent me this photo during the game:

Rearranged the Rattlers!!

We LOVE game day in the Smith household!! After the pep rally this afternoon Emma created this oYe on the fridge.....

Tonight we traveled to Navasota to watch the Yoemen take on the Rattlers. It was a great game (and a real nail biter during the last few minutes)!!

Gas Money: $20

Chick fil A: $8

Popcorn: $1

Beating your opponent at their homecoming by 2 points: PRICELESS!!!

Carpool buddies

Believe it or not, we have now completed our first three weeks of preschool! Our carpool set up is working out beautifully and I thought that some of you might be interested in "meeting" our buddy!

Andy and Emma are six weeks apart in age and get along very well. In fact, Ms. Susan describes them as being "inseparable". They hold hands and even eat their lunchables side by side. It is quite amusing to listen in on their conversations in the back seat. They even created a chocolate milk fountain in Andy's mom's car this week (sorry Lisa!) They also love to untie one another's shoes and plot how they can hang out together all afternoon :)

MOPS

This morning I joined a MOPS group! I had always heard great things but living in the boondocks since we have had kiddos has hindered my involvement in such activities. Well, now that I drive preschool carpool once a week it is possible! Hooray! Childcare is provided so Owen got to play with some other little friends. At the completion of the meeting I found him rolling down the hall in a six passenger buggy :)

This year the theme is 'Momology' and the main scripture we are focusing on is "Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Psalms 139:10. We watched a brief intro video which was a refreshing look at the common challenges of motherhood and keeping the Christian faith. The Lord is constantly with me. During 3 year old temper tantrums and sassy remarks....He is there. During countless sleepless nights over the past eleven months....He has been there. When the kids are both whining and causing a scene while grocery shopping...He is there!

This morning we made the cutest craft!! It was my first attempt at modge podge and we created block photo frames. Our scripture is also attached so that we are constantly reminded of God's goodness:

(front)

(back)

Another wonderful thing about MOPS is that they sent us each home with dinner! They gave us the ingredients to make taco soup! Yum :)

I look forward to next month's meeting. I am so thankful to have found such a wonderful group of fellow Godly mamas....

Happy Grandparents Day!!

Happy Grandparents Day!! Jarrod and I were both very blessed with amazing grandparents and for that we are forever grateful. Likewise, our children are lucky to also have wonderful grandparents. We are so thankful for their never ending support and involvement in our kids' lives. Below are some priceless photos of Lita, Big Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa Ed and Grandpa James with the kiddos!

Ring that bell :)

This week was the highly anticipated "Battle of the Bell", a long standing tradition between the Cameron Yoe and the Rockdale Tigers. These communities are less than 15 miles apart and a huge bell is traded back and forth, kept each year by the winning team.

At the pep rally on Friday students lined up chronologically to represent each year that Yoe has won starting with 1954:

Another fun thing for Battle of the Bell is that the students and kiddos wear tiger tails :)

It was a GREAT game!! The Yoemen led 7 to 0 at half time and absolutely dominated the second half!! The ending score was 35-13 as you can see on the brand new score board:

Way to go Coach Smith!! We love you!

So excited to have the bell back in Yoemen country where it belongs :)

The Golden state (day 3)

Our third and final day in Calfornia was the warmest. That morning we made our way to the Jelly Belly Candy Company visitors center which was just minutes away from our hotel.

Ronald Reagan especially loved Jelly Belly beans. In fact, he once said "You can tell a lot about a fella's character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a hand full", explaining why he liked to have a jar full of jelly beans on hand at important meetings. The portrait below is made out of approximately 14K jelly beans.

The tour was very informative and enjoyable. Each person was required to wear a silly hat and no photography was allowed in the factory. We saw where and how JBs are made. Did you know that the three most popular flavors are very cherry, buttered pop corn and licorice? Also, did you know that the Jelly Belly company makes over 100+ types of candies - not just jelly beans? I sampled their rocky road fudge and it was amazing!! The best part was that each person received a free bag of jelly beans at the conclusion of the tour.

That evening we enjoyed the wedding festivities. It was Emma's second time to be a flower girl and she did a wonderful job! About half way down the aisle the ring bearer asked if she was going to throw her rose petals. She then dumped the whole basket full on the ground. Everyone laughed :)

My cousin Sara was a beautiful bride and her groom (Dave) is such a great guy and we are so happy to welcome him into the family! I hope that they are enjoying their 18 day honeymoon to Europe :)

Owen and his new little friend sweet Siena :)

At the reception Dave & Sara had a photo booth set up. We were able to take one home and to include another copy in a message book to the new Mr and Mrs. What a neat idea!!

After just 3 1/2 hours of sleep we packed up and headed to the airport (at 4am Cali time) to catch our early bird flight to the lone star state. I'm sure glad I had my parents to help transport my babies and their equipment :) What a crew!

The Golden state (day 2)

After a good night's sleep (our hotel was in Fairfield), a yummy breakfast and Starbucks hot chocolate we headed toward San Francisco. We couldn't make it out of town without a stop by Target (diapers & snacks take up an incredible amount of luggage space so I waited to purchase those). First we stopped at the Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf area.

What a great place to people watch! There were ALL kinds...tourists, homeless, performers, etc. The flowers and vegetation on the west coast is absolutely beautiful ~ everything is so colorful and alive!!! For lunch we enjoyed fresh crab and fried shrimp. Afterwards we walked the streets, purchased postcards, saw the most gorgeous fruit at a Farmers Market and enjoyed frozen yogurt by the water.

If you look VERY close at the photo above you will see Lita & the kids posing under the sign :)

Take a look at this cutie....it was pretty chilly and I was so thankful that we had jackets!!

We had a great time exploring and really enjoyed the cooler temps :) Too bad we didn't bring them home with us :(

The sea lions were interesting to see! They just made themselves at home as you can see below :)

While we were there Emma decided she wanted to do this jumping fun! After I signed the consent form (yikes!) I figured she might back out. After waiting in line and watching several others she went ahead with it.....she is fearless!! She jumped so, so high, had a crowd and loved every minute of it. Now she wants a tramploine for her birthday :)


Next we traveled down what is said to be the most curvy road in the world! Last but certainly not least, we visited the Golden gate bridge. I was a little disappointed that it was so foggy & windy, but I was so excited to actually see it! It is HUGE!! First we traveled on it and then we pulled over and took pics :) The kids look fussy but I will admit that I woke both from naps. Afterall, this could be a once in a lifetime thing :)

That evening we went to Napa for an open house and dinner at Dave's parents' lovely home. Because Emma fell asleep at the rehearsal dinner, she got her fower girl gift a little late. Here she is with the wonderful groom & bride and her new pink Barbie!! Thanks Renzs, you sure know how to make a 3.5 year old girl very happy :)

More Cali adventures to come......