HALLOWEEN is here!!

The Halloween season is upon us again. I LOVE this time of year. A couple weeks ago I sat down with the kids to start discussing what the plan was for this year. Of course they had LOTS of ideas (Ressa must have the next 4 years planned out in advance). I think we finally settled on this year's items.

Cyanne: Alice- zombie hunter from the "Resident Evil" movies
Foster: A skeleton zombie- for Cyanne to hunt of course
Ressa: A beautiful bride- that has or has not been bit by a vampire. That is yet to be determined.
Ammon: undecided- either a storm trooper or Woody from "Toy Story". This changes every day.

Cyanne is wanting the costume Alice wears in the second movie. I think it should be fairly simple so I am leaving it for second.






Foster would like to purchase a skeleton costume and then add zombie make up to his head to be a skeleton with a zombie head on. This is his own creation.

Ressa and I went online looking at wedding gowns. She looked and looked, but finally settled on a couple to combine elements of. They, of course, were designer gowns. The bodice of a very expensive Vera Wang (except with "skinny straps"), and the skirt of a moderately priced Oleg Cassini. Something tells me her real wedding will be quite a challenge.

The Vera Wang bodice:



The Oleg Cassini Skirt:






Ammon with either wear an old costume of Foster's (storm trooper) or I will pick up some felt and make him a Woody costume. I have yet to decide as I'm not sure how long the wedding gown will take. He doesn't seem to mind either way.

I hope you all are just as excited for Halloween as we are! I will post pictures of the finished products when I can.

KEEPING BUSY... YOU KNOW HOW WE ARE!

Hi all!! I have been really bad about getting on here and updating what we are up to. Sorry. We have all been moving and shaking as usual.

Today I had something happen that made me think about blogging. I locked myself out of not just the car, but the house too. I got out of the car with Ammon and Gretch only to swing all the doors shut with my keys in the ignition. SMART! I tried calling my mom (she is still with us), but was unable to reach her. Brandi and Nate were at work, and too far to run home. The garage door would normally be a possibility, but it has a broken spring so I couldn't begin to open it. I walked around the yard debating my options. The fence is too high for me to scale, and even if I could what would I do with Ammon and the dog? Throw them over? I don't think so! After a few phone calls back and forth with Nate I decided to borrow the empty trash can from next door (abandoned house) to be able to get over the fence. I told Ammon to stay in front of the metal gate so I could see him and tied Gretch up on the chain we keep in the front yard. Once on top of the fence I had to figure out how to get down. My knees are killing me after the jump down, but I made it and no trip to the ER was needed! I let Ammon in and we walked around back to find the sliding door in the kitchen wasn't just unlocked, but was sitting 2 inches open! Way to go Smith Security!! Once into the house I grabbed the spare car key and could get back to life as usual. What a wild beginning.

We had a good Easter. We dyed eggs on Saturday. I love living someplace that the mess can be made outside! We had all 3 dozen dyed and put away in record time. Sunday the Bunny brought the kids a bit of chocolate and new swim suits. He also had WAY too much fun hiding eggs in our huge yard! I didn't have my camera, but once I get some pictures from Brandi I will post them. Later we put together the dog house kit we purchased for the dogs. So far they aren't sure what to do with it. The big earthquake (7.2 in Mexico) rocked our area, but it really wasn't bad here. We have not felt any of the aftershocks. All in all that was our Easter. Relaxing and fun. Hope you all had a great holiday!


I have had some projects happen! I added draped cap sleeves to a prom dress for a friend's daughter, painted the banister, painted more of the banister, managed to stay on a ladder to finish painting the banister and now have finished painting the banister. Yes... I thought I would start with a "small" painting project. For your information painting a banister is NOT a "small" job. Sanding took 2 days, painting all tolled was about 6 days spread over the last month. Here are the before and after pictures!

BEFORE:


























AFTER:




After that painting the walls will be no big deal! I hope to start painting the common rooms in the house this month. Will post my progress.














Nate is working at Saturn still. We are patiently awaiting the opening of the new Kia store across the street. The commute isn't killing him too badly, but not having him home as much is interesting. I think we are all adjusting okay though. He did purchase a lawn mower and weed eater. On his days off the yard keeps him busy! For my birthday he bought me 11 rose bushes and helped me plant them! My Grace Garden is real now! I have to add a couple more plants, but I'm off to a great start. I can't wait for them to start blooming.

BEFORE:




















AFTER:


























Cyanne is doing well. Last term she made honor roll again. I'm hoping this term will be just as productive. Would be nice to finish the year on a strong note. She has found a great group of friends. All the girls are on the tomboy side and are honor roll students. We love them all. We had a full house with them coming for play dates over spring break!

CYANNE'S AWARDS FOR SECOND TERM:





Foter is doing well. He is catching up in school and received an award for most improved reader for last term. He is not doing sports right now, but in considering going back into soccer in the fall. We shall see! He is acting his age... something I could do without. 9 is not one of my favorite ages. He did manage to hang out with his friends, Brandon and Vanessa, over spring break. He is starting to make some really good friends, and can't wait for summer... no homework!

FOSTER'S AWARD:



Ressa is doing SO well at school! She is reading, writing, and already has her own style of penmanship! I'm just excited that you can read her writing. She loves everything about school, and keeps us busy having play dates with her classmates. Zoey, Zachary, Noah, and Jaelynne are the most common ones found around here. They are such good kids!!

RESSA'S AWARD:



Ammon is, well, Ammon. He is into everything, beats on the dog regularly, never keeps his clothes on, and gets under the kids skin. He has developed quite the slap. His favorite target is Nates left cheek. He is definatley my kid! He is a full speed ahead kid with little to no fears. He loves to call people "freaks". Most commonly as they leave, "bye freak". He is so much fun to have around!!


St. Patrick's day was fun as usual! We did the green hair, green teeth and lips, green eggs and ham, and finally the green clothes. The kids may have been the only ones dressed up in the whole school, but they didn't seem to mind much!


On March 31 we celebrated the Grace's Day. I had tons of support from all my friends on facebook. Everybody left very nice comments about her, and I was happy to hear that some of them were willing to celebrate the day with me. I love this family holiday. We remembered her all day long working in the Grace Garden, making (and of course devouring) her old fashion fudge, and sharing old memories with family and friends. I can't believe she has been gone for 3 years already! We miss her, but her good food lives on!


Next month we are venturing to Salt Lake for my nephew's wedding. It should be a fun trip, and will be great to see everybody. Directly following that trip Nate's parents are coming to visit. We are super excited for them to see our new home!

We miss all of our friends in Long Beach, but do make it back to see them once in a while. I hope this post finds you all doing well!

OUR 2009 RECAP

Hi Everybody!!

We hope this letter finds you doing well and on your way to a happy and healthy 2010. Since we all know I don't have the patience to mail Christmas cards, here is our New Year letter...

One year ago we were living in a converted 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bathroom house on Keynote St. in Long Beach, Ca. In July our lease expired so we had to move. We began house hunting in January. After a lot of sorting through foreclosures, even more phone calls to the world's most fantastic Realtor (Dave Crandall), and fax after fax to representing Realtors we finally entered escrow the end of June. We moved into a friend's house in Rowland Heights (for the duration of escrow) the last days in June. During this move we didn't even bother unpacking everything. Just the bare necessities. It was a long and time consuming escrow that devoured all of our summer. August 17 we officially moved into what is now our home in Lake Elsinore, Ca. We now have 6 bedrooms (that are packed right now), 3 bathrooms, an open kitchen, a play loft, and a couple living rooms. We also scored one of the biggest lots we could find. Nate and I are in heaven just having our own master bath! We have plenty of room for the dogs and kids to play on our 1/3 acre! We are also loving our location. We are an hour from the beach, Long Beach, LA and San Diego.

The last day of June we went to Lake Powell with the Smith clan. Jeff and Sandee were kind enough to have us all stay on their houseboat for a few days. We enjoyed it SO much. It was a much needed break from the home buying stress! Jeff, Sandee and I all water skied everyday. I was very pleased to find that I haven't completely lost my skills. Jeff even let me drive his new boat for him. Let me just say it was AMAZING!! Let me also say that Sandee is the best driver ever for tubing. We launched all the kids into the air, and flipped the big boys (the dads) multiple times. Good times!

Cyanne got up on skis for her first time as well as mastered knee boarding and the tube. I'm not sure who's child Foster is, but he didn't enjoy the water sports nearly as much as the rest of us. He spent most of his time in Grandpa Steve's fishing boat and going on hikes. Ressa loved the tube and jumping off the house boat, while Ammon just loved jumping off the boat and tubing... maybe we have another extreme sports kid! It was a great time had by all, and was so very much fun seeing all the nieces and nephews that we haven't seen in SO long!

From Lake Powell Cyanne went to Montana for the summer. She stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Smith. She was also lucky enough to spend time with Great Grandma Mettie! She spent a few days with Jim, Denise, and great Grandpa Harry and ventured out on a camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa Harkins too. Uncle Sean took her on a date to see Harry Potter in his new jeep. Something she seemed to enjoy greatly. She spent a couple days floating the Blackfoot River (which made me quite envious), fished a lot with Grandpa Steve, and even went on horseback into the Montana wilderness with Steve and her cousins. All in all it was a summer filled with new experiences for her.

School started the week we moved into our house. This is Ressa's first year in school! She is loving being a big kid now, and is really doing well with it. She loves her teacher and adores the girls in her class. Foster and Cyanne both are making friends quickly and are enjoying their teachers. They are currently in the school running and reading clubs. Cyanne actually made the honor roll for the first term! We are so excited for her. Hopefully she can keep up the good work! Foster is making advancements and we are hoping he will be on honor roll this next term. Ammon is loving being the only kid in the house. He spends most of his time playing with the dogs and making messes. I prefer the first option, but boys will be boys!

The end of August my best friend from growing up, Brandi, moved in with us. It started out being a temporary situation, but has grown to a semi-permanent one. We adore having her around and the kids love her. She is great about taking them on "dates" as well as allowing us to go on dates. Of course, I LOVE having her around, and am so glad that we are finally in a position to help her!

At Thanksgiving my mom decided to come down. She enjoyed her time with us so much she has decided to give SoCal a try and move here. For now she is staying with us. She should be starting her new job in the next week, and seems to be excited. Again we are happy to finally be in the position to help!

I am still "just" a mom. I keep considering making a career change, but it is afterall, nice to stay home and do whatever strikes me. I stay home and hold the fort down while Nate commutes into Cerritos for work. He has been working for nearly 12 years for Saturn in Cerritos. Now that Saturn is dead in the water he is preparing for a change. The owners of his store have secured Kia and Subaru as well as a new location caddy corner from where he has been. He will continue on in the service department under the same ownership/management. We are hoping that this will be a seamless transition!

Love,
Nate, Tara, Cyanne, Foster, Ressa and Ammon Smith

HALLOWEEN!

As most of you know Halloween puts me in my element. This year we decided to go easy on my sewing (due to little time and our just settling in). We were a family of zombies. Brandi and I had WAY too much fun with this one, and are already brain storming for next year!

I went as a lifeguard, Nate was a business man, Brandi was a runner, Cyanne was a soccer star, Foster was Foster, Ressa was a sweet zombie, and Ammon was a beach going zombie. Brandi bloodied up the clothes with the kids and I did all the make up. We were rocking the trick or treating! We are thinking about framing some of these pics. Enjoy!

Family picture:


Stay out of the cookie jar:


Just a taste?:

Soccer zombie:


Foster zombie:


Sweet zombie:


Beach bum zombie:


Crazy dad zombie:



Me and Brandi:


Even little zombies like loves:


When we were done in the neighborhood we stayed out on the front porch to hand out candy. Next thing the masks were out and we were scheming on how to scare teenagers. Cyanne successfully scared a couple (wearing Nate's big scary mask)when she jumped out from behind his chair. The one threw his bag of candy on the floor and yelped, while another screamed and almost landed in my lap. It was a great night.

Ressa didn't get in on the scare fun, but she modeled the mask for us:

SHAUNTE SAID TO UPDATE... HERE I AM!

I spoke to Shaunte' this morning. The coversation didn't last nearly as long as needed to get all the details out, but it seldom does when you have kids at home. She checks in here often, as do some of the rest of you, and would love to have me update. Today is a relativley calm day so here I am!

We are all loving our house! The idea of us owning it has finally started to settle into our heads. We have begun watering the dead lawn (mostly to keep the dust down), Nate purchased a weed wacker and knocked down all the weeds in the back, we had our first Halloween in our new area, the kids are starting to meet new friends, and my sewing room is finally all set up (the bare bones were functional before, but now it rocks)! I still have to paint it. The walls are all stark white, but I haven't discovered what color or colors I want to use. Soon I hope!

Our next project is to plant grass in the front and back yards. Nate also has to get the sprinkler system working. I will be getting some rose bushes and planting them over the next few months. They always remind me of Grace so of course they are my favorite. This area is great for them and they bloom nearly year round!

Here is the shock that nearly dropped Jen to the floor... I finally bought a vacume! We have always has wood floors and I never owned one. Now that the whole house is carpet we broke down and got a canister vac. I am loving it! It is fantastic for the stairs because it is light. The kids are hating it though... lots of legos and barbie shoes have met their end by being sucked up.



We have been so busy getting the house unpacked and figured out we haven't done anything too amazing. I also haven't had too much time to get on the computer or phone. Check out the other posts, and eventually I will start catching up with everybody!

Hope everybody is doing well!

WE ARE STILL ALIVE!

For most of you it has been forever since we have caught up. I know I have been bad about keeping everybody up to date, and am sorry.

It seems our summer started off in a whirl and we merged right into the school year full steam ahead. We moved twice this summer. First into a friend's rental house in Rowland Heights and then again when our home purchase in Lake Elsinore closed. We moved into our new home the day before school started so you know we were running! We also made a trip to Lake Powell with the Smith side of the family, went to a couple swim dates in Long Beach, attended a Dodger game, and have spent most of our time unpacking and fixing up our house.

HOUSE!!

We were lucky enough to be able to purchase a new home for our family. We could not justify the cost of Long Beach foreclosures and so decided on Lake Elsinore. We bought a very clean foreclosure that sits on a huge (by cali standards) lot. We now have 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and loft to our names!







We are loving our house. I spent the first week and a half covering all the shelves in the kitchen with vinyl flooring. It took some experimenting, but in the end I got pretty good at it!

Nate got out all his tools and hung ceiling fans in the house. Those seemed to be a hot commodity for the previous owners as they had taken them all out. The monster one in the living room was a pain to put up. We were laughing because on the box it said it was a "5 minute fan"... try 55 minute fan!! It looks and runs great now though.



Nate also switched out the kitchen faucet for me. The previous one leaked and looked like it had never been cleaned. I am loving my goose neck faucet now!

Our yard is dead, but that is okay with us for now. We have grand plans for the front and back yards, but will have to wait until it isn't quite so hot around here. The first couple weeks we were her the temps ranged from 102-111 everyday. We recently had a nice week in the high 80s, but as of today are back up over 100! When will it end?

Brandi, my best friend from growing up (also know as Aunt Brandi), moved in with us a couple weeks ago. She has been a lot of fun to have around. The kids love her! She is working over the Ortega in San Juan Capistrano in a medical lab. She plans to stay with us for a few months until she is ready for her own place.

SCHOOL

The kids school is incredible! Such a change from the Long Beach schools we are used to. Rice Canyon was just built 8 years ago. The classrooms are larger than the standard, and there are a few more kids in each class (mostly due to so many new families moving in over the summer) but the teachers and principal are fantastic. The teachers are really gearing the kids for the responsibility of middle school. The kids favorite details of the school are, of course; the huge grassy sports field, the fact that every grade level has its own computer lab, and the fact that they can actually bring home the library books that they check out. Like I said... way different to LB!

Cyanne is loving 5th grade. This is the first year she has a male teacher and she just thinks that is the coolest thing ever! He is very strict, but fair with the kids. I like his style! She is doing fairly well in his fast paced class.

Foster is in 3rd grade. He is struggling a little with the fact that there is daily homework as well as weekly homework. Over all though he is liking school much better.

Ressa started kindergarten! She is loving the half days of school and is excelling in getting her homework done. She is very motivated to do well. She has these little flower clips that she won't go to school without. Her teacher makes a comment everyday, and I hear about it every afternoon... followed by her princess giggle. Tina makes the clips and sells them online. I would suggest anybody with girlie girls check it out! http://www.princessjanesbows.blogspot.com/





Ammon is loving having the house and my attention to himself. We hang out every morning while Ressa is in school. He has gone on a couple mommy dates with me too. His favorite was the first day of school when I took him to IHop. We had blueberry pancakes and he was all smiles! He has also been getting into all kinds of mischief. He found a sharpie the other day. In the time it took me to use the bathroom, put on yoga stuff and put up my hair he had colored all over himself and one of the couches. Fun!






DOGS
Daisy had puppies when we were in Rowland Heights. They were adorable! Foster just loved that he got to watch them be born. He has told everybody about how cool and messy it is. It was the first time I have been part of that process. It was actually very cool. She was a great mom!! Her puppies left the house a week and a half ago. They went to friends of ours. They will be very happy girls!

The day the puppies went to their new homes we picked up the doberman puppy we were waiting to adopt. She is adorable! Her name is Jackie. She is all legs and with any luck she will be a big girl. Her parents were huge! She is really sweet with the kids and calm for her age (10 weeks this week). Ammon pals around with her all day. She mouths a little, but is really good not to bite. Sometimes I look out back to see his hand or diaper in her mouth and them walking down the patio... nothing like holding hands. This new addition doesn't have Gretchan too happy, but she is getting along just fine. Daisy enjoys her play buddy for the most part, but has definitely showed poor Jackie who is boss. Jackie loves to cuddle with the kids and Nate. She likes me during the day, but once Nate comes home she is all his.






I think that is everything this time. I will try to be better about posting now that we have settled in some. I owe a lot of you phone calls too. Will try to start calling this week. Finally have a home number so will be able to really talk instead of rush off the phone due to minutes. Hope everybody had a great summer and will chat soon!!

CRAZY START TO OUR SUMMER!

Our summer is off to a whirl wind start!


HOUSE:

The kids were out of school mid June, but unfortunately we were busy right off with packing up our house. Our lease was up and it is time for us to buy a house. We are working on that ultimate goal, but in the mean time moved into a friend's rental house (as of June 26). We are now in the community of Rowland Heights!




Rowland Heights is a great community with lots of beautiful parks. It is hotter here than in Long Beach, but is not too far from our old home so we can still get together with our old friends. We love that! We have had a few funny moments already...

Our friend, Victor, had teased us that we would be the token white people here (Rowland Heights is mostly Asian people). We thought he was kidding!

1.The second night in the house we decided to go out to dinner. Victor refered us to a great little cafe that serves Asian food- Maxim Cafe. When we drove into the lot we noticed that there weren't any American made cars. Ours was defiantly the biggest and most American model in the entire lot. What happened next was like something out of a movie! As we walked into the cafe, all the customers and staff stopped what they were doing and watched us. Yup, we were the ONLY 6 white people in there... probably in all of the shopping mall! The waiter seated us and first thing he said was, "so, how did you hear about us?". We told him our friend had sent us in. Victor was right; the food was amazing! The waiter gave us coupons for Victor and our next visit when we were done. He was great, and we will definitely be the "token white people" when we visit again!

2.The same night we went out for dinner the girl from next door came over to "warn us she was having a party to celebrate her graduation. When she said it might get loud we had no idea how loud it was going to get!! Apparently they had hired a professional DJ and when he started up the music our house was shaking. Somehow the kids managed to sleep through it and Nate and I managed to get a couple hours sleep after everything shut down at 2:15am. We left for the family reunion at Lake Powell the next morning at 4am. More to follow on that one...

3.I have decided that fruit smoothies should make a re-appearance on the menu. That said I went out and bought tons of fruit for them. Yesterday morning I was making them with my nifty hand blender thingy (my 25.00 special that I apparently expect to do wonders). I got the kids soy smoothie done and moved on to one for Nate and I. About 1/2 way done the stupid mixer starts billowing smoke! I hurried and turned it off, but it was too late! The whole inside had melted! My little hand blender had blended its last drink...




Nate came to the rescue and bought me a new Kitchen Aid blender. A very fashionable red one! Smoothies in this monster are fantastic. Dump everything in and bled for about 30 seconds and enjoy. Now I am just trying to figure out what other things I can blend up in it!!





4.This morning I went out to push the garbage cans to the curb, as the truck was coming already. Normal enough right? As I moved the recycling bin a lizard ran across my foot and into the rose bush. Of course the normal person would have jumped and then moved on... I screamed and then continued to yell at the lizard. The neighbor came out and asked if I needed help. I said no, but am sure he thought I needed some kind of help!


FAMILY REUNION







Two days after moving we raced to Lake Powell with a part for Jeff's house boat. We made it just in time for the mechanic to fix the boat so we could all hit the lake. Jenn, Matt Holste and family were next to arrive. We set up in our assigned sleeping areas and waited for the rest of the family to make it to the marina. Everybody arrived around 10:30pm. That first night we stayed in the slip... that means all 25 people were on the boat. It was fun!

We left the dock in search of a campsite. Justin with Luke, and Matt S. with Carter on the wave runners accompanied Jeff and all the middle nieces and nephews went in the ski boat. They were off ahead of us to scout out beaches for us to use. Steve did a great job of driving the houseboat with all the younger kids and us parents. A few hours later we caught up with Jeff. Sandee jumped in the boat to see what Jeff had found. We settled into a campsite that was near a sandbar that formed a little swimming cove. Jeff managed to park the house boat in a way that would give the smaller kids a swimming pool that was protected from other boats. It was really cool! Then we set up 2 tents on the sand bar and a play area for the little kids.






The rest of the days were filled with nothing but water sports. Jeff and I went out skiing every morning after breakfast. The water was all glassy and his new ski rocked!! I was so excited to see that I have not lost all my skiing ability. Actually felt like I was doing pretty well by day 4.

In the mid morning, until the sun went down, we took turns on the boat and ALL the kids go to ride on the tube! Even the little ones took a couple rides. Ammon was funny because the entire time on the tube he was waving and saying, "hi mom!" Ressa went on a couple times, but on one trip she found out what it meant to wipe out. She was on with Lex and Jax. We hit a wave just right and the side that had Jax and Ressa on it popped them up in the air. They came down together, and I thought they would be okay, but suddenly Jax's survival kicked in and he was on Ressa's back pushing her down. She started crying, but I think it was because she was scared of being pushed under. They were both fine and ready for another run a couple hours later.

Nate, Holste and Justin were very entertaining on the tube! Sandee managed to flip them 3 or 4 times on the way to get gas at the marina. They are all so competetive that it was hilarious to watch. Nate also did some knee boarding, but seemed to just like being on the boat.

Cyanne, Heather, Natalie and Denise were fearless on the tube! Sandee is a crazy driver and on her runs we managed to launch the girls into the air. We even flipped some of the girls with Jenn, and the brothers. I went on the tube with Carla and Jenn... so I couldn't get killed. It was okay, but I think i will stick to skis!

Cyanne was the only kid to get up on skis!! She was frustrated because it took her 4 tries. Once she was up though she was pretty stable. Keeping her arms straight was the only thing that she needed to work on. Next year... crossing the wake!!







Cyanne was also a fearless knee boarder. Big surprise as she is our natural athlete! She and the older girls would have knee board wars. That was always entertaining! The last day she took a huge spill. She and Heather were having wars and she caught the tip of the board just right. Next thing we all knew she was tumbling through the water. She hit so hard she lost one of her earrings!

Foster went on the tube, but didn't seem to like it too much. He was more than happy to play on the beach, swim and jump off the house boat. He had no interest in the water sports or the boat... how did that happen? Anyway, he had a great time!

Ressa enjoyed jumping off the top deck of the houseboat as well. She thought it was great fun. When Drew gathered up all the older girls to go cliff jumping she was wishing she had gone! She kind of surprised me... under all the layers of princess seems to be a dare devil!





Ammon just loved to go on the boat! He was happy as could be watching the tubing and skiing. He adored going over the waves in the boat and was the first "baby" in the water during swimming times. He was great about wearing his life jacket all day as long as he was able to cool off in the water. He would just run off the side of the boat. He and Carter really hit it off I think. They would play together, throw rocks together and swim together.









All in all it was a fantastic trip. Elements from every family. Matt and Justin both just had new babies so their wives stayed home with the younger kids and Jeanne stayed home with Grandma Mettie. We missed them, but had a great time with thier families!!

the girls all sining to Lady Gaga