Long overdue

update on the girls....

Eliana is changing every day! Having siblings has been so good for her! She is much more physically active and can now climb onto the couch alone. Her imagination is getting more creative as she plays with her sisters more and more each day - plays with them, not just as a prop that they move around. Her language skills have really jumped in the past month or so. She now says El-nana (for Eldana) about 100 times each day. She still can't say Abigia and calls her 'Hi Baby' when prompted to name her. She is now in the hey Mom look at me stage in which she yells for me ALL DAY LONG to witness whatever her latest trick is. Oftentimes she loudly proclaims 'Ta-da!" with arms in the air to show the magnificence of herself. It truly is magnificent. She's at a point right now where everything is fun for her. She has a great time everywhere we go, whatever we do. It's a real pleasure just to be near her.


Abigia has been doing great. About a month ago we had hit a rough patch where I was short on patience and she was doing her best to test my limits. Although she's still very, very 2, she's been getting along much more easily the past week or 2. I thought for sure our camping excursion would throw her off track for a bit after returning home, but it didn't at all. She's not tantrum-ing much, her fits are of the regular old toddler variety and are fairly easily calmed by either Matt or me. She really is a funny little person. She jokes and teases us and has the most ornery smile. She sings to herself a lot, loves to dance and is always going 100 miles/minute.

Eldana is a great kid. She loves to help and is very into being a big sister. Her newest interest is learning what foods are good for her and make her grow. Sometimes when she eats vegetables she can actually feel herself growing right there at the dinner table. It's pretty amazing. She is excited for school to begin and we have been working on 'school books' (little skill workbooks) to prepare her for 1st grade. She lost another tooth a week ago. She loves to dance and do any kind of 'sport' (as she calls exercise).

I took the kids to the doctor this past week and they all got good reports. The little girls each had to get one shot and Eldana had to get 4! They were all tough and did not cry a tear. Since their appts in April, Eldana and Abigia have each gained 3 pounds and around 2 inches. Eliana is (slowly) growing, too, finally passing the 20 lb mark!

We are planning the older girls' baptisms for next month.

I cannot believe I am going to have a kid in school. This seems so crazy to me. Very adult. Very responsibility intensive. I'm a little nervous. I don't even know when the first day of school is! I'll find out the details tomorrow.


I feel like there were many more things I had banked to share with you all that have now left my mind (like so many other things....). Go ahead and point out how if I updated more often I wouldn't have to struggle to remember what happened a month ago.... I know, already.

Today I am thankful for ......
Katie and Pat's safety... both totaled their cars last week yet both are unharmed
Earlier bed times
Chocolate chip cookie dough

popcorn

Jenny and I took the girls camping this weekend! That's right, tent camping with a 2 year old, 2 1/2 year old and a 6 year old and I only asked "what were we thinking?" a couple of times. Really, a good time was had by all. The weekend went very well with just a few minor meltdowns. We went camping near Canaan Valley in West Virginia. Jenny and I love that area. Here are some pics.




Our home for 2 and 1/2 days. A huge storm rolled through on Sunday around 6pm which almost blew the tent over. I held it up while Jenny frantically put shoes on little girls and packed some clothes in case we had to run for it. The girls played liked nothing was going on. We took some water and decided to spend the night in a hotel.


The following pictures are from Blackwater Falls which was about 30 miles from our campsite. Jenny and I love it there.











Scenes from our water battle...






marshmallow madness...

Breakfast with Abigia...


On Sunday we hiked 1 1/2 miles up Seneca Rocks. The view was worth the trek. The girls did great!! Eldana walked the entire way by herself, Abigia walked a mile up the mountain and Eliana did about a half a mile.



Photograph by David Benson









We camped at Jellystone park. Despite never seeing Yogi Bear in their lives all the kids loved him and asked where he was about every 20 mins or so.



hanging at the campground pool...



On the way home we stopped by "the Littlest Church in 48 States," a Smith family tradition dating back to a time before kids.









Injury report:
kids 0
Mom 1 skinned knee (fairly gross, fell coming down from Seneca Rock)
Dad 1 infected bug bite (pretty gross, requiring seven days of antibiotics)

Apple Pie

I will never understand how this symbol can be seen as socially acceptable.


Our area that hosts a large country music festival every summer. Thousands of rednecks gather together for this drunken celebration that gives them the opportunity to show too much skin, act like idiots and get a hangover that lasts well into the next week. On that weekend people who don't listen to country music any other time of year are suddenly yeehaw-ing and looking for a new-but-used-looking pair of camouflage shorts to go with their new cowboy hat. The good ol' boys fill their big, noisy trucks with the largest coolers of beer they can find, even temporarily removing their gun rack to make space, if they need to. To top off this All-American weekend, plenty of the above flags will be flying, worn as capes or bathing suits, or used as tent toppers.

How can it be ok to display a symbol that for thousands, no, millions, of people represents hatred, racism, oppression, and violence? I've heard all of the arguments.... that it's a Southern pride thing, that people that fly this flag are not necessarily racist, that it's a symbol against the government, that 'I just love Hank'........ who cares?
I find it rude, offensive, ignorant and disgusting that this flag is used for anything other than a history lesson.

The music festival I mentioned is next weekend. As people are gearing up, more of these flags are cropping up around the valley. I just can't wait until one day my daughters notice these and ask me what they're for and what do they represent. Imagine the pride I'll feel as I explain it to her that the guy on the street doesn't hate her, directly, he's just proud of what the Confederacy stood for. And he loves H@nk Willi@ms, Jr.

We will be retreating to the woods that weekend. We're taking the girls camping, 3 hours in the opposite direction.