The Smith Family Adventures

We have two cats: Hermione and Olive. They are both indoor kitties and are very loved. “Kitty” was one of Simon’s very first words.

A couple of days ago, Elias left the sliding door open when he went outside into the backyard. I scolded him, telling him to close the door, and explained for the four hundred and twenty second time (ok that may be an exaggeration) that we have to close the doors so the cats don’t go outside…that they are indoor only kitties…etc.

Little did I know at that time that Olive had already gotten out! I don’t know where she went, but we played outside for a bit and we never saw her. We went grocery shopping. Nathan came home and we ate dinner. We played in the backyard again. We never knew she was gone.

As bed time was approaching, Elias left the door open once again. I said as a side comment to Nathan that I hoped neither of the cats ever got out. Then I thought about it. I hadn’t seen Olive in a long time. Nathan chose this time to tell me that our neighbor kids were yelling over the fence at him to give back their “black and white” cat. Uh oh…What if Olive got out and she had been in our neighbor’s yard? (Our neighbors don’t have a cat) We searched and searched the house. She was nowhere to be found. We searched the yard and the street. We searched inside some more.

I was distraught, but we had to get the boys to bed. I thought I would never see Olive again. After the boys were asleep, I searched around our yard, and Nathan went out on his bike to search the neighborhood while it was still light out. As I searched under the deck, I heard a meek “mew.” It was Olive! She had come back!

I coaxed her out from under the deck. She was very timid and not her usual self. She was covered with cobwebs. But once I got her inside, she returned to normal. Her entire adventure lasted about five hours. We are so happy to have her back, and let’s hope she learned her lesson!

Here she is stalking a bird safely from inside!

Although Nathan is pretty much trying to indoctrinate our children with the belief that soccer is evil, he recognizes the fact that allowing them to try lots of different things while young is important. So…while I was looking for a t-ball opportunity for Elias this summer, I happened across a soccer mini league for three and four year olds through THPRD. It is simply five weeks, one hour a week, where the kiddos just go run around and have fun, and hopefully learn something about soccer. I signed Elias up!

Elias has had very little exposure to soccer, so he knew next to nothing before his first soccer night. He was very nervous at first, and refused to join the other kids. But luckily, Elias’ friend Dom is also in the soccer league, and they got on the same team. My friend Korie offered to take a picture of Elias in his team shirt, and something just clicked. He was ready for fun. You can see he has been crying here, but he is ready for fun!

After the pictures, Elias went over to stretch and warm up with his team mates.

Everyone got to practice making goals. Here is Elias first one!

At some point, Elias became overwhelmed again…probably by having so many new people and skills at the same time. He started crying and we could never quite calm him down enough to get him to participate again. So he just watched the scrimmage his team had with the green team. Maybe next week! Watching the kiddos kick and chase the ball was both adorably cute and hilarious. It was a lot of fun! Go Blue Thunder!

Here in the Smith household we don’t need a lot of fancy stuff to have some great family fun. All we need is a clean laundry pile!

After Nathan’s softball game, we came home, made (and ate) some burritos for dinner, and tried to start getting ready for the week ahead. The boys decided to start playing in the clean laundry pile on the couch. I guess it is my fault for leaving them there instead of folding them right away…but sometimes you just don’t have time…you know?

When the chores were finished, Nathan and I joined the boys in some play before bed time. They were so cute burying themselves in undershirts, pants, socks, and more (all clean) that I decided to get out the camera and start snapping pictures. We got some good ones!

After a few cute pictures, I suggested to Elias that we do a funny face picture. I thought we might get one…or maybe two if we were really lucky. But Elias really took to it! That one idea brought on 10 or 15 more minutes of family fun making funny faces and playing in the clean laundry pile. We took a bunch…but here are a few of my favorites.

You never have to wonder why we occasionally wear wrinkled clothing!

After each one, Elias jumped off the couch, ran over the see the picture, giggled a whole bunch, and then ran back to take another one.

After we were done with funny faces, Elias wanted to try taking a few of his own. Many of them came out fuzzy or had his fingers in them. A few were pictures of his own face because he had the camera turned backward. But this one was pretty good:

It would have been even better if Nathan hadn’t leaned over so far. I am laughing in the background because I don’t know why in the world he is doing that!

Anyway…vacations and big outings and activities are fun, but I hope that someday I remember these kinds of moments the most. These are the real spice of family life.

We have had our first harvest from Elias’ seed planting back in March. We have been watching with excitement as the plants grow. Many of them are doing very well. Today, though, we had two notable things.

First, we were able to harvest our first radish! It was very exciting to actually go through the entire process of planting, watering, caring for the plant, and watching it grow. Now if I could only get Elias to try it….of course the first successful plant was a radish.

Second, I transplanted the pumpkins again. We moved them into a pot a few weeks ago, but they were starting to outgrow it. This time, I planted them in the ground. We had been outside for a long time by the time we got to the pumpkins. Elias said he was cold and wanted to go inside so he didn’t really get to be a part of this transplanting. But I’m sure he’ll enjoy watching the plants grow in their new spot! Hopefully they will yield some pumpkins for us this fall!

I’ve been wanting a rose bush for a few months now. We do live in Portland after all. When we went to Farmington Gardens yesterday, and I had a gift card, I decided to pick one out. Nathan told me he thought I meant I would want a rose bush in like 5 years. Well…no time like the present…especially with a gift card! Elias helped me pick out my rose bush, and we brought it home.

Today it was time to plant the rose bush. So…here is how to plant a rose bush. (Smith Family Style)

Step One: Distract the Children

The key here is to keep the children away from the work space while your husband is clearing the spot. We wanted to remove a different bush, and put the rose bush in its place because that was the best sun spot in the yard (and we didn’t like the other bush that much). This is easier said than done. For example, I arrived outside approximately 15 seconds after the three boys, and by the time I got out, Simon had already eaten dirt.

I was able to get Simon interested in playing with some whiffle balls. Here he is telling me that he threw one behind the hydrangea:

Those will be difficult to retrieve, but I did not care at the time because he was happy and occupied.

Step 2: Keep Distracting the Children (Don’t forget about the other one)

Like I said, this is easier said than done….especially with Daddy doing such interesting things with such interesting tools. But Elias is interested by the camera, so I kept taking pictures of him playing under our trees and letting him view them. That worked for awhile.

Step 3: Enjoy the Most Important Family Past-time While Daddy Keeps Working

Baseball! Elias loves playing, and Simon is becoming more and more interested (and able). This picture was taken shortly after he hit a ball off of the tee.

Step 4: Finally Give in and Let the Kiddos “Help.”

What is more interesting than a big hole in the dirt? I found Elias a shovel and he went over to help Daddy dig the hole. Simon of course followed, and though he didn’t have a shovel, he found something else that would work.

Step 5: Completely Forget About the Rose Bush and Get Distracted by All the Cute Things Your Kids are Doing

The boys were so cute “helping” with the hole. We got distracted and let them help with a few other things too. Elias helped me trim back some of the other bushes. We weeded a bit. We ate a strawberry that is ripe. Elias helped put all of the debris into the yard debris container. All sorts of fun things! Simon found Daddy’s shovel while we were cleaning up and found out what he was missing! What fun!

Step 6: Remember That You Came Out To Plant A Rose Bush

Oh yeah…we are supposed to be planting a rose bush. Work together to get the soil ready, get the bush out of its pot, and set it in the hole. Fill in dirt. Stand back and admire.

Step 7: Revel in its Beauty

Roses are so beautiful. Don’t forget to pray that you’ll be able to take care of it well enough for beautiful flowers to grow every year!

Today was Elias’ last day of Pre 3’s. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. Now we have to wait all the way until September when Elias will start in the 3’s program. We loved Pre 3’s at Prince of Peace. Elias learned a lot about how to be in school and how to play with friends. He learned some new songs, and had a lot of fun doing his “jobs” (art projects). He even came home singing Frozen songs last week, saying that his friend Erin taught him the words. This has been a really good experience for Elias! Here are a few pictures from his last day:

Elias loves Mrs. Kimball!

Elias couldn’t wait until we got home to show me all of his hard work. He pulled out each item from his car seat and wanted me to take a picture. Here is one!

When he got home, Elias got to open a goodbye gift from Mrs. Kimball. He got a Curious George book and a lamb stuffed animal.