Evening Walk

 It was a beautiful night tonight, so a friend and I took a walk while our daughters came along for fun.

 They had a different method of transportation...

I love HB summer evenings!

Alex's 8th Grade Promotion

 Seriously...

 I am in shock that Alex isn't my little baby anymore.

 The thought of her in high school is so CRAZY!!

 Here she is with her favorite teacher, Mr. Riley.

Off to ninth grade...and seminary...and surf team...and mia maids...and big kid things.  I can't believe it!!

Puzzles

I am SO far behind!!  Today I thought I would capture a moment in the day and put it on here.  The girls were in the patio doing puzzles.  The conversation is hilarious.  Sure love summer.

drawing wars

Tonight was one of THOSE nights.  Alex drew a picture that she was proud of.  It was a cute cartoon of a girl with big eyes and long hair.  When she showed Matt, she expected praise.  Alas, she heard Matt laugh and ask if Sophie drew it.  BIG mistake.  So Matt tried to make it up to her by drawing a picture of Steve and I.  

Notice that Steve is holding a Book of Mormon and a legal contract.  I am holding a spoon and fork.  Hmmm...

I don't understand the bunny thing...

?

Alex wasn't impressed.  

So he took it to the next level.  

He went on her computer and found an image that said  I <3 U and loaded it to be her home screen wallpaper.  Then he put the song "You're Beautiful" on a loop and it played as the screen was set to the home screen I <3 U image.  He put it on her bed so when she came in, she would be serenaded while she looked at the image.  That would be precious except the image I <3 U was written in poop letters.  Well this actually turned Alex's frown upside down and now we are happy again.  (But not until after I drew a picture of Matt...why is my symbol a fork and spoon????)

cookies for sale!

The sweetest thing happened this week.  A man in our ward paid Sophie $100.00 for an assortment of cookies just because he wanted to support the Girl Scouts.  Then he asked that we donate the cookies to the missionaries!  Thank you Brother Sowers!!

old photos and figuring out the scanner

For Christmas my mom gave me some of her old family pictures.  It was my favorite gift...

I love these pictures! Above is a picture of my Great Grandpa Ernest David Archibald Carnegie.  How awesome is that name!  He was a piper and taught all of his boys to play the bagpipes. They are in the picture below in a parade in Manitoba, Canada.

My Grandpa, Donald Carnegie, is the piper in the front and center of this picture and his brothers are piping around him.  His kids are in the picture below.  My mom is the babe with the lighter hair and glasses on the left.  She was around 16 years old in this picture.  Her mom passed away not long before this picture was taken.  My grandpa remarried and his wife's children are the kids are the little girl in front of my mom, the littlest boy in the front and the little girl to his right.

This is a picture of my dad, Lyall Smith.   Good lookin'.  

This is an old picture of my family with my Smith grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  I am the frizzy haired girl standing between my grandparents in the middle of the picture.  My sister, Kelly, is in the matching dress on the floor. My parents are standing on the left side of the photo and my brother is leaning up against my mom (who I think is pregnant with my little sister...maybe).  It is so fun to see pictures of the past!  I remember that dress, that hair, those shoes, and even my mom's Avon pink flower necklace she is wearing. It really seems like yesterday to me!  I can't believe we are all grown up.

Valentines, Disney and a Scavenger Hunt

Valentine's Day was a little out of the ordinary this year!  First of all, my Valentine is away for a week on business, so it was just me, the kids and a few of their friends.  

The girls wanted to go to Disneyland, so we got ready after breakfast, and off we went.  Before the 2 older girls left for the day, I texted them a scavenger hunt list of things I wanted them to find.  More on that in a minute.

 Sophie brought her friend and we went on as many rides as we could fit in!  The girls loved to pose and have me take their pictures.  I couldn't believe I left my camera at home!  Lucky for me, my phone has a camera that kinda works.

 Ok back to the Scavenger Hunt.  On the list I put things like Twins, A Man Wearing Mickey Ears, Pickles, Blond Girl with Braids, A Mouse, Someone Eating Ice Cream, Someone Wearing the Same Shoes as You, 5 Disney Princesses, among other items.  A few moments later I added...JUSTIN BIEBER.  By the end of the day, I had received many texted pictures of the items, but no Justin Bieber.  Instead, I received this picture:

ITS FREDDY FROM iCARLY!!  A fine substitution!  
I thought that was pretty funny :)

life's loves and not loves

 I was watching Sophie this week as she was building her new little vanity with her dad.  She really enjoys doing build-it and fix-it projects with him.  She gets lost in it!  I love those things about life that we lose ourselves in because they are so fulfilling and so much fun.  Watching my kids find their life loves is so wonderful!  With some kids, it takes years of trying new lessons, sports, books, projects, clubs, play dates, etc., just to find their niche.  Once they find it...woo hoo!  Other kids seem to know exactly what makes them tick.  As a parent, I find it so rewarding to watch my kids bloom when they discover things they love...

Then there are life's NOT loves...

They have pretty much the opposite effect.

A day in the life...

 When I got a laptop for my birthday, my sister laughed at me and asked, "So how many computers does that make in your family???"  (Steve likes to build them as a hobby so I won't say how many we now have cuz...it is weird.)  But I REALLY needed one because I am in the van ALL afternoon and I love my web surfin' so now nothing comes between me and cyber space :)  (nerd)  So anyways, yesterday was a crazy "in my van all afternoon" day.  I think I used up a quarter of a tank of gas and I didn't even leave HB!  It started when I dropped off the kids at each of their schools and thought to myself, "I need to spend more time with Alex."  So after a vt appointment with awesome Rosa, I ran to Jersey Mikes to get an enormous sandwich to share with my girl.  It was a quick lunch in the van, because it was early release from school so I had to run and pick up Sophie early.

 The crazy time of day was between 1:00 and bedtime.  After early pick up, I was planning on taking the girls to piano for 2:15.  BUT..Matt called at 1:45 saying he needed to come home before his wrestling tournament to shower (??) and he needed food and to be returned to Edison for the tournament at 2:15.  Not possible.  I picked him up, told him he had 6 minutes to do everything and be in the car. I did everything I could to wait for him (ironed on all the wrong patches on Sophie's girl scout uniform).  Sadly, it didn't happen according to my plan so I ended up taking the girls -  Matt was mad cuz I didn't wait - and racing home to take Matt back to the tournament - he was late- back to piano to take Sophie to girl scouts at the beach - she was late - back to piano to pick up Alex - I was late - then to Dell Taco (thank you fast food)  - then to Matt's tournament - ON TIME!!

Sophie even got to work the snack bar (her favorite thing to do at wrestling tournaments).

Luckily, I got to unwind a bit with my girl friends at Panera for a little birthday get together later on that night.

Now it is today and it all starts over!!

sophie and her dad

 Sophie and Steve manage to have quite a bit of fun together.

SO cool.

homecoming dance

So Matt and his friends decided to go to Homecoming together this year. Before the dance they all met up for a really nice dinner.
They had a great time. I still can't believe I have a kid this old. Where did the time go???


I wish the clock would slow down!

hollywood day

I am still catching up from summer vacation on here and today I am home from church not feeling that great, so I thought I would do a catch up summer post. This summer, my neice, Sydney, and my parents came so Syd could go to girl's camp with Alex. When the family comes in town, and if we pick up in LA, we usually stop over here so the kids can play around looking at the hand/feet prints.



Michael Jackson's star wasn't hard to find.

I like coming here because we go to Dee Dee Rees after - bring on the ice cream!