One a quarter will do right??

Hey hey! I've had a few requests for this thing and I should really update it more than I do. (Like more than once a quarter maybe?) Well anyways things are things. My family grew...haha not like that! My sister in law Candace has been living with us since March. It's going pretty well I guess. Just more noise and kids but who can notice when we have so many anyways?!! I'm now a licensed attorney in the state of Texas, so if you know of anyone looking for an attorney in Texas let me know! I'm still working part-time with my mom and looking for full time employment.
Lots of funny things have been going on lately but one story I have to share is James' babatized (baptize) story. Many may already know that back on Easter Sunday (no cracks on how long its been since I've updated this thing please) Jacob was baptized by Will. While after that James asked if he could be babatized and has asked at least once a month since then if he could be babatized. The other day he asked my mom if he could be babatized. My mom said James do you know what it means to be babtized. James: Yes you go under water and you come back a Christian. Mom: Ok do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? James: Of course he is who else would he be?
HAHA I thought that was great.
Got to run just thought I'd catch up!

Hello...does anybody remember me??

Hey guys so blogging...not going so great for me but umm yeah not ever making any promises about it. I guess I'll just go when the spirit moves me. So for the much overdue update:
James is 5 years old now, he turned 5 the day after Christmas, had a blast at Dave and Busters, The Original Pancake House (where he ate three whole pancakes), driving his ATV and watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. Two weeks before his birthday he had a party to see Disney's the Princess and The Frog and loved it. We had a good Christmas and New Years, yes I have pictures...no I don't have a camera charger so you may not see them (yet).
Brittany has been having a wonderful basketball season this year! She scored 18 points in one game! She's also going to start a competitive league (one which she was recruited to join) in the spring. James has had fun playing soccer and he's...well...improving! He scored the teams only two goals the last game! Joseph and Jacob are doing great in school, and can't wait until football season next fall. (geesh my kids are really into sports!) I'm working part time with my mom in our new office which is upstairs from the old office, but much nicer. Will is working for two of the Dallas County Community College District (aka DCCCD) this year. We finally found a church home at Buckingham Road Church of Christ in Garland, its kind of a drive but we like it. The kids are already involved in LTC which makes us miss Fairview Road and all the fun we had with it there. Our house finally sold!!! So we no longer own our very first family home anymore. It was bitter sweet but God is good and we needed to unload that house! Yeah I know I'm rambling but I"m so behind I'm just trying to get it all out! I think I have it all down though, the kids are being their usual funny selves. We are making great friends out here but still missing our old ones (guess that won't ever go away but it will get easier). Other than that life is pretty much the same. Nothing new in the cooking department...I've been crazy busy. But yeah that is what's up in a nutshell.

Piggy flu blues and what else I forgot to say...

Oh! How did I forget my most wonderful week ever? I'm referring the fact that I forgot to post about the fact that James had swine flu a few weeks ago so I had the bright I idea that he should be quarantined. The only problem with that was I had to be isolated too, and James and I spent the longest five days ever cooped up in my room. We started out having a blast but he got stir crazy and wanted out and I wouldn't let him, so needless to say our little blissful moments soon turned into chaos. Oh well its over now and he's on the road to recovery (yeah!!)
The kids and I also visited the Texas state fair last month and I tried fried butter, fried pork, and fried bacon. It was all really good, and no I do not know the calorie content nor do I want to know. The kids had a blast (all except piggy flu he had to stay with the grandparents for fear of contamination in mass). I thought I should add that to the mix, and look at me two posting in one week! Yeah maybe I'm on the road to blog neglect recovery...who knows??
But I must attempt to be productive before lunch so good bye for now.

What's my problem?

Ok so I have no job, my kids are doing great (no stress there) and yet I've still not posted. What's up with me? Well I don't have a computer at home and when I get around one I just forget my blog. Today I was have a serious case of MissColumbiaitis and I decided I needed to spy on my friends and see what's going on in there lives. It only made it worse :( but I did realize that I need to get with the program...fast. So here I sit.

Nothing super spectacular or fun has been going on in the Smith house, just mundane stuff pretty much. I don't have bar results yet...that's for Friday. My kids are all doing well. James' new thing is calling me for a minute straight only to say I love you. It's cute (I'll just keep saying that over and over...) He also tells me riddles that he answers, for example yesterday he asked me this one- Mommy what's gray and has sharp teeth and lives in the water? What do you think it is, do you think its a shark? I said: "Is it a shark?" He said: "yes mommy, you are good at this game." Ha-larious! All the kids have this thing now where they spontaneously break out in song. Their favorite right now is Solider Boy's "Hey You There" (the most annoying song that is bound to get stuck in your head if you listen to it). One of them starts the song and they all join in. They do it with several songs and I think that anyone who thinks musicals are unrealistic because people don't spontaneously burst out in song has never visited the Smith house.

Halloween was a blast I was an 80's rocker, Brittany was a vampire bat, Joseph was a scary skeleton, Jacob was Michael Jackson (his obsession right now), and James was Snake Eye from G.I. Joe (his obsession). We went trick-o-treating without coats....YEAH TEXAS weather!!! It was great haven't done that in a lonnnnggggg time. (but I still miss CoMo).

This year I thought I'd be smart and just buy treats for James' Halloween party ( he's the only one I have that still has them now...wow time flies) however the cupcakes turned over when I had to slam on the brakes during bumper to bumper traffic ( the negative side of Halloween, or any day in Dallas). James' class was bats for the Halloween parade at his school so he had to wear all black. He found a way to incorporate his costume, he wore a black G.I. Joe shirt with Snake Eyes in the middle. It was really cute. I was trying to post a few pictures from James' party and Halloween night but the computer isn't letting me so those are still on TBP (to be posted)

So that's really all that's been going on. Nothing spectacular, just your normal brand of crazy kid-friendly fun! Oh wait new recipe alert!! I must share this guys it was a definite hit. It has a name but I forgot so here it is:

1/2 package of Abuela burrito size ready to cook tortillas (or some other brand of ready to cook tortillas

1/2 large onion diced

1-2 cloves of garlic

1/2- 1 lb of ground beef

1 package of taco seasoning

oil for saute



Saute the onion and the garlic until they are soft and carmel colored, add in the meat and brown.

Add the taco seasoning, follow package directions

Laddle 2 tbs of meat mixture in each of 6 tortillas, fold the tortillas in half to make a pocket, seal the edges with the edge of a fork. Brush with egg or milk.

Place in oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Sooooo good and serves six.



Okay bye bye for now!

New "naughty" word

Hey...look at me I'm posting AGAIN!!! Yeah...man 10 days goes by fast!! NE ways I had to share a couple of things. First I'm on a new diet, trying to lose some weight before a big formal function I'm going to next week, and the grocery list for thi thing is monsterous, expensive...and who eats wet seaweed? Yeah its crazy, we'll have to see how long this one lasts (I'm hungry already!) I'll share if any of the recipies I have to cook for this diet are any good.

Sunday we went to Golden Corral to celebrate my dad's 56th birthday (yes Golden Corral is one of my dad's favorite resturants). My mom asked Joseph to say the prayer. It was a nice prayer except for the fact that he thanked God for blessing grandpa Lonnie and allowing him to see 65 years! So that's it we at least know my dad will live to be 65, Joseph proclaimed it! I told him that wasn't so bad, his brother was teasing him at which time I reminded him that on his birthday he thanked God for letting him see 13 years...he's 11. Prehaps the Smith boys should refrain from using ages in future prayers.
Its been awhile since I've written an installment of James' words. I think I'll call them James' Jabber from now on... (Its a working title). Ok so yesterday James comes in the room on the verge of tears. This is how the conversation goes:
Me: "What is it James"
James: "It's Joseph"
Me: "What did he do?"
James: "He used the 'B' word?"
Me: "The B word?"
James: "Um huh...he did"
Me: "Joseph..."
Will: "Wait James what word did he use?"
James "Baby...he called me a baby."
So there you have it add a new dirty word to your list broadcasters...according to James-William Arthur Smith, baby, especially when said by your older brother, is a bad word!
Hope everybody is having a great start of the week. Its wet and rainy here, but at least its cooled down!

And we're back!!

Back by popular demand (ok so maybe just two people, but still) its the Smith bunch, and boy have we had a busy summer! Let me just start back by giving a month by month of our lives over the past few months.
May: I FINALLY graduated from law school YAY!!!! After much toil and tribulation I walked across the stage (in some fabulous shoes might I say) on May 17, 2009!! So that evening I had to drive back to Dallas because bar review started the next day, I then drove back to Columbia because we had a five day break from bar review.
June: The kids finished school and they and Will headed for GA while James and I were in Texas me studying and becoming a basket case and James enjoying being spoiled by Grand Gran and Grandpa Lonnie.
July: I became a complete basket case and looked like walking death. I took the bar exam at the end of the month and breathed a sigh of relief! I did it and hopefully no more studying!!!
August: I had to go back to Columbia for a few days and on the way back the van breaks down. So Will, James and I were stuck on the side of the road in McAlester, OK with a car load of our belongings. We had to stay in OK for two days, leave OK without our car. Drive to Dallas, get the kids enrolled in school (0nly to find out Brittany can't start w/o shots!) Will flew to CA to get the kids because they need to be back for school. My dad and I drive back to OK to get the van (still loaded down). We start the school year, move into a townhouse and Will starts work all within 48 hours. We had Joseph and Jacob's 11th birthday party at the pool of our new place...it was small but they had a blast.
September: The kids are all in school now. James is at a private pre-K at Primrose, and the older kids seem to be enjoying school. Brittany still plays the viola and now Joseph plays the trumpet and Jacob plays the violin. James really wants to play cello and we're looking into it. Smith family trio??? (maybe) I'm doing odd jobs at my mom's office but still looking for a job. I had an amazing quarter century b-day (and I'm still celebrating!).

So there you have a 90 second play-by-play of the events in the Smith house. Hopefully things will slow down enough and I"ll have adequate access to technology to be better about keeping up with this. On September 18 James' school will be on t.v. (So funny because my last entry was about him being on t.v.) The sportscaster for channel 8 will be at his school and the kids will all be decked out in their Cowboy finest (go Vikings). I will allow my child one Dallas Cowboy shirt for this event....ONE.
Funny bathtime moment with James and Brittany: James "sissy, I'm done taking a bath (he was really taking a shower). It was a quick bath." Brittany: "did you wash everywhere" James: "Yeah" Brittany "did you use soap" James: "A little, the soap thing is hard for me to pick up." Brittany "James, you have to use soap ok" James: "ok next time"

Stay tuned for more adventures of "The Smith Bunch"

And a star is born...

So ok I gave ya'll the heads up that my little boy was going to be on t.v. I must say that I believe he has the talent, charisma and charm to go very far in showbiz. I mean he was great, a little of a camera hog and didn't take direction very well (but then again what A list actor isn't?) I mean I believe he has the heart to go far! Oh so maybe its a bit early to tell but I must admit he did great! If you missed it you can check it out online @ http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba9247e7-c0a8-2f11-005d-a0f5c827b1ec ( its the Columbia Montessori School video). Mine is the very snazzy looking one in the green vest (but you'd know he was mine with out all the description trust). So yeah life is busy school is finally winding down and I'm realizing that my time in Columbia is short! I also thought that I should start keeping up with the better...being away from my only (maybe) readers makes it much more vital that I continue to feed you tiny morsels of Smith goodness more often lest you die of Smith starvation. Ok so yeah that was corny, I'm just a bit loopy tonight! But I must make this short as I have tons to do and little time. But I am making a spring resolution to be better about updates! Oh and I made some yummy stir fry today, will post recipe soon...it was great better than restaurant stuff and I had a real craving for Chinese food too, this recipe hit the spot!