Jackson is 3 today!

I can't believe my little boy is three years old. He is so "big". I can remember so clearly the day that he was born. .my little dark-haired boy. We had those fearful first few moments when they decided he wasn't breathing well enough, and the nurses took him to the nursery right away. . we didn't get to hold him for several hours. . but when they finally brought him to us it was amazing. How can you love someone so much in just a few moments? And how amazing is it that we share a birthday? He was such a wonderful little baby. Now that he's three, I thought I'd make a list of words that come to mind to describe my Jack-Jack.

charming
smart
articulate (even without the "r's")
endearing
delightful
funny (He's into made-up "knock-knock" jokes.)
loyal (He loves his "sissy" and "my baby".)
playful (It's true that play is the work of a child--he's always playing!)
repetitive (He tells EVERYONE, "I have a train table.")
friendly
dramatic (He can turn it on--and off.)
loves books (He reads stacks of books every nap time and bed time, but he told me tonight that "these were too hard for him to read--he doesn't know these words"
tan (lots of swimming in Houston!)
sweet (He recently told baby Hope that "when she grows up she can be a fire fighter, or a police officer, or a trash truck driver" in the most gentle voice--like he was bestowing on her a great honor.)
adorable (His smile gets me every time!)
mine
ours
His

Jackson's first trip to Friendswood.

Little blue-eyed one after a bath. It think he's about 4-5 months old.

This was on a trip to the park at about 8-9 months old.

We're at the Houston zoo. He's 9 months old. Too cute!

May 2006 in the bluebonnets.

At his 2 year old party!

The Big Update

I'm feeling a bit regretful about my lack of blog updates lately! I'm going to follow my friend Amber's example and give you a quick list of thing going on. . .

1. I'm blogging from camp! We're at Camp Windermere in Roach, MO with The Smith Band! We love working with our band guys and with Student Life. . . so we're having a blast! We head home today (Wednesday). . from MO to Dallas to Houston

2. We had a great couple of days in Houston (Wed.- Fri.) before heading to MO. It was so great to be home for a few days--we packed in lots of good times. . . sitting on the back porch in the evening drinking coffee and watching the kids swim (in the inflatable pool). . . going to Gringos and having birthday cupcakes (Jackson now thinks he's 3 because he got a present from Mel and Nathan and we sang "Happy Birthday"). . . lunch at the Tea Room and getting to see Tara.

3. Last Friday night, Hope and I flew out to Tulsa with Aric (he's our awesome bass player). Hope just has to be the world's best baby! All of our kids have been amazing travelers, but she is just incredible! She made not a peep through 7 hours of traveling from Friendswood to Tulsa.

4. Jackson is officially POTTY TRAINED! I am thrilled (to say the least). He hasn't even had an accident in about 2 weeks!!! He even goes by himself, and you'll just hear the potty flush and he'll come out. . I have to say he looks so big and so cute in his Thomas the Train or Cars or Diego underwear! :)

5. Madison and Jackson are being spoiled beyond belief with my parents (pool, shopping, Kemah) and with Marsh (Moody Gardens--swimming, room service, etc.). I am so happy that they are so happy!

I'm going to add some new pics ASAP!

The week in review. .

I can't believe I haven't found a moment to post anything this week. . it's been a busy one. We had VBS this week, and all of us were involved Wed-Sat. Madison really enjoyed GAME DAY, and she got to take cheerleading the last hour of VBS each day. They're doing their cheer in church tomorrow, so that should be super-cute! I'll try to take some pictures. Jackson had a good time, mostly. It was a little bit hard for him to see Stephen and me at random times but have to stay with his class. I was really proud of him because for the first time, starting Wed., I sent him to church in his big-boy underwear! Wow! He did really well. He did have an accident Fri. morning, but hey, it's really OK! We're now wearing underwear all the time except for naps and at night! Hallelujah! Hope did great, of course. She's been smiling and cooing a lot this week, and it's just so fun to get her excited and talking.

In other news, I'm pretty sure I broke my toe today. . seriously. It's the 2nd toe on my right foot, and if it's not truly broken it is definitely cracked. A friend of ours who is an EMT looked at it and concurred. I decided not to go get an X-Ray because everyone says that all they'd do is tape it up. .. .which is what Phil did. It hurts SOOOOOOOOO bad. When I'm off of it, I can handle it.. but being up on it just hurts like CRAZY!!! Poor me!

Okay, well, that's about it. . .bless you at church tomorrow!

The Weekend

I'm always glad when the weekend comes. Sometimes I think this is a bit odd since I don't work a 9 - 5 job away from home, but somehow, when (Friday), Saturday, and Sunday roll around, the pace of the day is just a bit different. Some weekends are project oriented, some are about relaxing, some are busy and play-full, and some are a mixture of all three. This weekend we did projects (Stephen continued working on the new front-porch columns, I continued the never-ending clean-out-the-garage project), and we rested (took a huge nap this afternoon!). We also played outside a lot. The kids love playing in the new sand box with our neighbors and eating popsicles! Hope and I laid in the hammock and enjoyed ourselves immensely! So. . .here we are on Saturday night. . .ready for church tomorrow.. . asking God to work powerfully in the people of our church. . .to use us in His mercy. . and to speak to our hearts, especially our children. I'm praying in faith for Madison's salvation this summer. Jesus, call my girl's name, and let her respond to you!!

Sweet Madison. She had her first piano lesson on Friday and absolutely loved it! She can already play 2 songs! :)

Jackson was a big help to Stephen and Paw Paw on the

front porch columns! :) Is he cute, or what!?

Paw Paw with the kids on the new sand box.

The Sand Box of all Sand Boxes

Something wonderful happened yesterday. .. Paw Paw (Stephen's dad) came to town.. . . and he came with projects in mind. He and Stephen have accomplished more in the last 36 hours around our house than we have done in months! They started with the most important project on their to-do list. . . the sand box. For months now, Jackson spends much time in the backyard pushing his cars, trucks, and dump trucks around in his "construction site". Well, now he can play in style! And I might just join him more often! As you can see in the picture, this sand box is quite large and has a nice ledge around the perimeter for sitting and playing on. The kids had a blast helping build the sand box, and tonight we enjoyed the fruits of their labor. We sat outside and ate ice cream (Blue Bell peaches and cream for the adults--delicious!) and Popsicles for the kids (including Madison's friend). The kids played and played until it got dark. A pretty wonderful summer evening, if you ask me. Tune in tomorrow night to see what they do with their Friday!

Hope was worn out from her day!

Jackson playing in the front yard (last Saturday). This is

the awesome tree swing that Stephen put up for the kids.

Madison flying through the trees on the swing!

From the Hearth...

Catch-up!

Well, summer is officially here and in full swing! We celebrated last Thursday with an after-school-party at the park with about 15 friends. The kids made banana splits and played like crazy! That night, Jackson and I built a HUGE train track that took up most of the floor in his room. Our friend Caleb recently passed down to Jackson a big box of train tracks and trains. Jackson is thrilled, to say the least.

On Friday, I took Hope to the doctor for her 2 month check-up. I still can't believe she's already 2 months old! She had 4 shots and is doing great. (By the way, as awful as it was for her to get shots, it's MUCH easier than giving shots to a 3, 4, or 5 year old!!!) She is now 10 lbs. 5 oz. Amazing! Friday night we went out to Highland Village to The Richardsons and had a blast! The kids played in the water hose and just loved every minute of it! Stephanie and Jeffrey are wonderful friends and it was just so good to spend time with them. We also got to eat our favorite pizza from Palio's (a Katy favorite that has a Flower Mound location!).

On Saturday, Stephen's mom came into town, and we were so happy to see her. The kids were super excited. We went to Stephen's favorite restaurant, The Italian Cafe, to eat.

Sunday was a big day at church with our first annual Bluegrass and Blue Bell event. We had between 400-450 people! All generations. . lots of community people. . .it was a huge success!! The Shady Grove Ramblers played good music, we had ice cream, bounce houses, face painting, pony rides, and classic cars. . something for everyone! Jackson especially loved the inflatable obstacle course and fire truck, and Madison had a ball because she actually got to paint faces!!!! She worked at the station and also "went to the people" with a paper plate of paint colors and a paint brush! She felt so grown-up; it was just adorable.

Monday was a good day of hanging around the house with Marsha (Maw Maw). We all just really enjoy having her here to play and relax. We also had our first "Mission Monday" of the summer. Every Monday that we're home we are going to be purposeful in doinging something for someone else, so this week we made cookies and cards and delivered them next door to our sweet neighbor who is a widow. I think she really liked them, the kids and I really loved getting to cook and then share our goodies. In the afternoon we had 4 strange visitors in our backyard. They stayed for about 10 minutes!

Tuesday we went to lunch and Pei Wei before Maw Maw headed home. It's always hard to say good-bye when family leaves. . .we treasure our time together!!! Tonight the "big kids" and I went swimming with the Durhams at the INDOOR pool in the neighborhood. . not too cold, you see.

So. . that's the "catch-up" edition of the Smith blog. The kids are in bed. . .peace reigns!

Here are pics from the week. . . .

Engineer Jackson with our huge train track. We used EVERY piece of track

we had AND it call connected--pretty good, huh?

Jackson driving the fire truck. Notice the "baseball" that Madison painted on his cheek!!

Precious baby Hope was a favorite attraction. :) Notice the adorable green

gingham dress that my friend Cathy and her mom, Jan, gave to Hope.

Madison in action! She has a unicorn on one cheek and a butterfly

on the other (painted by Ms. Holly).

Our Monday afternoon visitors. . 4 armadillos!!! Crazy things happen here in Irving!