Giant Candyland

We went to the giant candyland at FBC last night. It was fun. The girls really didn't understand the game but did understand the candy & jumpy thing. Afterwards, we went out to eat with the Tyler's - they just moved to Ruston and are fabulous!!! They are in the same boat as us trying to find a church home. Well, tonight we are going to the Temple fall festival. I will have more pictures to post soon!!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Fall Pictures

We had some fall pictures made of the girls yesterday. It took all of 20 minutes and was not quite as painful as I was expecting. It is REALLY hard to get Alyssa to smile or even look at the camera but I think she got a few good shots. Mallory is a ham! Although, she kept saying "ball" and picking up the pumpkins that were supposed to be the backdrop for the pictures. If you want to look at the rest of them you can go to www.sherryowensphotography.com click on proofs then scroll down until you see smith girls. You have to put in your e-mail address and the password is pumpkin. We are taking them to the pumpkin patch this weekend so I am sure I will have more pictures to post!!!

On another note tomorrow is Trey's last day at his current job. He has decided to do home health full time. It really is a good move because he will be able to be home more and a little more accessible to help me go to doctors appointments or just pick up the girls from MDO if I need it. He is sad to leave the people he works with but we are looking forward to the change.

Corn Dogs and Ketchup

I introduced corn dogs to the girls last night. Mallory loved it. Alyssa didn't. Alyssa does love ketchup. She likes to stick her fingers in it and lick them. I thought maybe if we dipped the corn dog in it she would like it but I was wrong. Oh, well. I'll try something else! Mallory liked dipping her corn dog in the ketchup and eating it. It was so cute we took pictures. The bottom picture is from Saturday. Tech had a game so I put the girls t-shirts on to show some support! The last one is showing how excited Alyssa gets when I sing the veggie tales theme song!

Alyssa's Fetish

As promised, here is a picture of Alyssa's fetish. She LOVES to wash her hands. About a month ago I dropped her off at MDO and she immediately went to the bathroom, climbed up on the stool, turned on the water, and washed her hands. It was AMAZING! So, the potty I bought for them (that hasn't even attempted to be used) doubles as a step stool so I put it up to the sink. If I ever need to find her I can listen for the water running. Last night she couldn't get in the bathroom with the stool, so she decided to go to the bathtub. She turned on the water and was trying to get in when I ran in there. It is crazy how quick they can get into stuff!!!!

Shoe Fetish

I have decided that Mallory has a shoe fetish. She LOVES shoes. If she ever leaves the room we always know where to find her. Luckily, after she drags all of the shoes out she usually puts them back. Today I decided to catch her in action. She also has a thing about pulling out clothes from the dresser either trying to put them on or throwing them in the trash. I have to be careful to look in Alyssa's trashcan every time I throw something away to make sure there are no clothes in there. Alyssa is also obsessed with something but I haven't been able to catch her in action. I will post about it as soon as I have a picture.

Trey went to Kansas City this weekend to visit his friend Dylan. He had a great time! My mom came to stay with me for the weekend. We had our second MOPS meeting Friday which went great! Friday afternoon we went to Monroe to do a little shopping and eat. I got so sick while we were shopping. I have had a little sore throat all week but Friday it was bad! Every time I swallowed I was overcome with nausea from the pain. My mom had to drive us home Friday night because I didn't think I could make it! I felt better Saturday morning but went to Quick care to make sure I didn't have anything contagious. The doctor said it was allergies so then I went to croptoberfest to scrapbook for the rest of the day. The only problem was the doctor gave me a decongestant to take and I felt drunk all day. I hate that I can't take any medicine. It ALL makes me feel that way - and I don't like that way that feels!! So, I will just have to suck it up and deal with it. Luckily my Mom was here to help take care of me and the girls. She made me my favorite soup which made me feel SO much better. I did get 14 pages done in Alyssa's baby book! Trey came home yesterday. He was supposed to fly into Monroe but because his flight was delayed out of KC he missed his flight in Dallas so he flew into Shreveport instead. The girls and I were SO glad to see him!

MOPS & Petting Zoo

This weekend was our girls weekend at the MOPS convention. And when I say girls I mean girls - 5,000 to be exact! We had fun and got some great ideas. They had live performances by Go Fish (they sing children's songs), Jaci Velasquez and her husband (who is in Salvador), Plumb, and Avalon. They were all really good. My favorite was Jaci Velasquez. It was just her, her husband, and his guitar. Kim Hill was the worship leader. She was good just REALLY loud! We went to workshops to learn about different areas of mothering and being a leader of MOPS. We heard many testimonies that were unbelievable. We were staying at The Gaylord Texan which was really nice. Luckily we checked in in time to get a room with 2 queen beds. Many groups of 4 or 5 had to share a king bed. We were able to get some shopping done. Who can go to Dallas without shopping? I think my favorite part of the weekend was getting to know some of the ladies in my group better and on a more personal level. It was a good weekend but I was ready to see my kids! I couldn't wait to get home and hold them (even though it was 11:30pm).

While I was in Dallas Trey took the girls to DeRidder to visit his dad. Oh, I forgot to tell a story. We left Thursday morning at 9:30am right after we dropped the kids off at MDO. As we were leaving I just had a sick feeling in my stomach. I knew I would get over it but it was there. Well, about an hour on the road Trey called to tell me MDO called because Alyssa fell on the playground and hit her head. Trey quickly went up to the church to check her out. She fell and had a goose egg right in between her eyes. It looked HORRIBLE!!!!! It is much better now - she just mainly has a black eye. But of course that would happen the one day I am not there! Trey and the girls had fun in DeRidder. They did go the the fair and they had a petting zoo. Mallory LOVED it! She even got to feed a camel a carrot! Alyssa finally warmed up to it. Here are some pictures.

Sweet Sisters

So I was walking by the playroom this evening and I couldn't believe my eyes. ALYSSA was kissing Mallory. It is ALWAYS the other way around. I just had to share the sweet pictures.

Marlon & Lindsey's Wedding

We went to Dallas this weekend for Marlon & Lindsey's wedding. Marlon and Trey grew up across the street from each other in DeRidder. Marlon is the last of the DeRidder friends to get married. Trey, Cody, and Daniel were all best men. The wedding was beautiful! Trey got to spend the weekend doing guy things while the girls and I shopped. I took them to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch on Friday and they loved it. Mallory kept pointing to the monkeys! The rehearsal dinner was at a Brazilian steakhouse. It was WONDERFUL! It was hands down the best rehearsal dinner I have ever been to! The wedding was in the atrium of an office building and it was beautiful. We brought the girls but they watched outside with Mr. Bubba. They had the most interesting food I have ever seen at the reception - it was mostly chinese type foods. It was really good. After we ate Mr. Bubba took the girls back to the hotel and put them to bed. We were able to dance and just enjoy the reception. Marlon's family was HILARIOUS to watch dancing. Especially his nieces and nephews. They took over the dance floor to some new superman song. They new every step! Bryan caught the garter (because Marlon turned around and threw it straight to him)! The next morning we went to church with Bryan and Christine. It was a great service! We had lunch at Maggiano's then hit the road home. The girls didn't sleep great in the hotel so we were glad to be home in all of our own beds. Now I have to get all of the laundry done!!

Post #2

Okay, I just had to share this picture!

Still Here

We are still here. I have been SUPER busy this week. Trey has been taking care of the girls most of the nights this week. He took these pictures one night this week while they were playing outside on their new swing set. They LOVE it! It is not totally set up yet but they can still play on it.

We started a MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) group here in Ruston this year. Our first meeting was Friday. It went great. I think we had 27 people and about 10 others that signed up but couldn't make the first meeting. All of these people just heard by word of mouth too! This is going to be an awesome ministry for the mothers in our community. I am so excited to see what God has in store for us!!! If any of you readers attend a MOPS group I would love to hear some of your ideas.

The girls are doing great. They have both started Mother's Day out and are both loving it. They both have great teachers. Mallory started a week before Alyssa and of course got sick and gave it to Alyssa. Because she was sick this was Alyssa's first week. I am glad to get back in a routine.

Sweet Sisters

Okay, so I had to share this story real quick. Alyssa has been having asthma issues this week so we have been giving her breathing treatments. Our routine is to sit at her table with a little people flap book and give her the breathing treatment. Alyssa has to have everything EXACTLY the same or she will totally freak out and not do it. She gets the treatments before breakfast, after lunch, after nap and before or during bedtime. Mallory is usually in her highchair eating and watching us. So, yesterday we were waiting on Trey to get home before dinner and I decided to go ahead and give her the treatment. Mallory was running around the house and I sat Alyssa at her table. I had to run back to her room to grab something and when I walked back in the room I saw the sweetest thing. Mallory had picked up the mask for the breathing machine and was holding it up to Alyssa's face and the crazy thing was Alyssa was letting her!!! It was so sweet. It was also so fast that I didn't get a picture. After that Mallory ran off and came back with her Little People flap book and sat at the table with Alyssa with her book. I love my girls!!!!!!!

My Big Girl!

The girls are growing up so fast. There are certain things you are ready for them to do but are hit with the realization that when they do it they are growing up! I fixed myself a smoothie for lunch and Mallory threw me the more sign. I gave her some of mine but decided I was not going to stand there while she sipped from my straw. We had a kid cup from Chili's so I filled it with smoothie and she drank away. This is her first time to drink from a regular cup by herself! Oh, I also have a question. When your child starts taking off her diaper and playing with her poop is it time to start potty training????????

Destin 2008

We had a wonderful time in Destin. They guys golfed and fished and the girls shopped and laid by the pool and on the beach. The girls loved the pool and the sand but weren't too crazy about the ocean. I didn't venture out too far because there were a ton of jelly fish. Trey & Scott both got stung! Our house was wonderful. It was a short walk from the beach and the outlet mall was right across the street. We ate well! We really enjoyed being with the entire family. We will definately go back.

Elmo Sprinkler

A couple of weeks ago I bought this really cute Elmo sprinkler mat for the girls. Since they both love Elmo I assumed they would like it. Boy was I wrong!!!! They HATED it! They both screamed the entire time. I have attached proof below. Trey & I were laughing the whole time! Our neighbors probably thought we were torturing them in the backyard.

Lately

Here is what we have been up to lately:

Playing in the toy bucket

..and in the toy boxes

Daddy surprised the girls with a Disney Princess tent

They LOVE it! They play in there and sometimes they just lay down and watch tv!

Mallory really likes the mesh windows.

That about sums it up. We are in the process of ordering the girls a swing set for outside. I don't know what has gotten into Trey lately but he is all about buying this stuff. I wanted to get them a swing set on Alyssa's birthday but he didn't want to then. Oh well, they will have a few months to enjoy it! We leave 2 weeks from today for the beach! I am SO excited!!!! We are actually staying in Ruston this weekend and going to church! I am glad we can just stay put for a weekend because the next 3 weekends we will be traveling.

Peach Festival

Mallory watched part of the parade from Daddy's shoulders

So did Alyssa

The girls caught these cool glasses at the parade

Cody, Tonya & Kamryn watched the parade with us

Bryan & Christine came in for a wedding so they went to the festival with us

I thought I would share some pictures from the peach festival last weekend. We all really enjoyed it! Last Sunday was Trey's last time to play at Broadmoor. It was bittersweet. They presented us with some gifts, a really sweet farewell speech and the congregation prayed for us. While we are excited to see what God has in store for us in Ruston, it was sad to leave the church family we knew in Shreveport.

We had a wonderful time in Dallas. We shopped, golfed, and ate A LOT!!! We were able to visit with friends and spend time together. Our hotel was nice. They gave out warm chocolate chip cookies that were wonderful! Our only complaint was last night there was a high school volleyball team staying in the rooms next to us and were SO loud from 1-3 am. Trey called the front desk twice then finally had to go down there. It was not a good night for sleep but we got our room free! Texas De Brazil last night was AMAZING! My favorite was the salad bar and of course Trey's favorite was all of the meat. We were so full that we could not go and play putt-putt like we had planned.

So, I have been recording the TV show Baby Borrowers. I just had a chance to watch the first episode. Have any of you seen this show? All I can say is NO WAY MAN! There is no way I could watch these kids NOT take care of my children. I would be marching over there every few minutes. Anyway, I just had to share that.