Hi all! We've been action packed as usual the past few weeks. We had Jake's birthday party, a visit from Kelly's parents, soccer games, bbq's and parties of friends to attend, and we started going to the pool! We joined a swim club located about 5 minutes from our house and have already been several times. It has great accommodations for kids and families and we plan to get a lot of use out of it this summer!
In other news, Jake got an award at school for "Producing Quality Work". Mommy and Daddy are very proud and were able to go to the recognition ceremony. Jake also had field day last week and enjoyed the various games and events with his 4B (fourth grade) buddy Finley. It's hard to believe in a week and a half he'll be done with Kindergarten!
Ben continues to be our little rascal but has been doing a bit better with his listening skills lately. :) We've tried lowering the dose of his inhaler to see if that will help him focus a little better and it seems to be helping. Either that or he is just maturing!
Leah is crawling all over the place and starting to try to pull up on things. She is loving the pool and gets such a kick out of splashing around.
That's about it! Be prepared for video overload on our May web album!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
What happened to April?
Wow. April came and went didn't it? I can't believe it's been over a month since our last post. Since we never got around to posting an update I guess you can imagine that April was pretty busy! Let's bring you up to date in the goings-on with ThemSmedleys.
In early April, our good friends Derek and Beth came down from Maryland for a visit. Jimmy and I hired a sitter for one night when they were here so we could enjoy a dinner out sans kids (heaven!). We also had a visit from Jimmy's parents. The boys went fishing with Jimmy and Pop and the kids also had a fun Easter egg hunt in the backyard. That was the weekend that a bunch of tornadoes came through our area. Luckily they hit slightly north and east of us but the wind and rain was pretty intense!
Easter weekend was a quiet weekend at home. Jake was on spring break and got to spend a few extra days at home as well as go to camp. At the end of April, Kelly got a night away to attend a wedding in Alexandria, VA. Her parents and sister Laura also were there as well as several old high school friends. It was nice to get a day away although toting the breast pump along took a little bit of the fun out of it (3 more months to go!).
As far as the kids go....Jake just turned six on May 2nd. We had his birthday party yesterday at our local Pump It Up (a bounce house place complete with huge slides and several bouncing activities) with most of his classmates. He continues to enjoy playing soccer and would like everyone to know that he now has two loose teeth. His class also hosted a Mother's Day tea last week which was absolutely adorable. They sang songs, recited poetry, and served all the moms cookies and juice. It was too adorable.
Ben has been our challenge lately. He continues to be FULL of energy and combined with his strong will makes for some challenging times. He is trying to exert his independence and has had difficulty following directions both at home and lately at school. He and Jake also just love to bicker back and forth and he knows just how to push Jake's buttons. We continue to remain consistent and enforce discipline in hopes that these Terrible 3's pass soon. Ben has been hot and cold on the soccer field...he loves to play sometimes and other times would rather sit or climb on the goal net. Sigh. Yet, he continues to make us laugh and gives the best bear hugs.
Leah has also had a couple firsts in the past month. She is now crawling and is enjoying her newly found mobility. She also had her first ear infection a few weeks ago. :( But overall she has been doing just great and has been enjoying eating some small finger foods and making all sorts of adorable baby noises.
Jimmy has spent time staining our decks and continues to be busy coaching Jake's soccer team. We also got a new sliding glass door installed (going from our family room to our deck). It really opens up the room and it's so nice you can't feel the wind from any gaps! (Like our old door).
Kelly has been working on a new research study at work and has recently gotten into couponing. She's tired of spending an arm and a leg on groceries so is trying to save some money by watching sales, clipping coupons, etc. It's more time and planning but in these early stages seems to be helping!
I think that covers it on what's been going on with us the past month or so. May is proving to be another crazy month. We did find out we got into our local pool club so we are excited to be able to swim a lot this summer.
Pictures and video posted soon.
In early April, our good friends Derek and Beth came down from Maryland for a visit. Jimmy and I hired a sitter for one night when they were here so we could enjoy a dinner out sans kids (heaven!). We also had a visit from Jimmy's parents. The boys went fishing with Jimmy and Pop and the kids also had a fun Easter egg hunt in the backyard. That was the weekend that a bunch of tornadoes came through our area. Luckily they hit slightly north and east of us but the wind and rain was pretty intense!
Easter weekend was a quiet weekend at home. Jake was on spring break and got to spend a few extra days at home as well as go to camp. At the end of April, Kelly got a night away to attend a wedding in Alexandria, VA. Her parents and sister Laura also were there as well as several old high school friends. It was nice to get a day away although toting the breast pump along took a little bit of the fun out of it (3 more months to go!).
As far as the kids go....Jake just turned six on May 2nd. We had his birthday party yesterday at our local Pump It Up (a bounce house place complete with huge slides and several bouncing activities) with most of his classmates. He continues to enjoy playing soccer and would like everyone to know that he now has two loose teeth. His class also hosted a Mother's Day tea last week which was absolutely adorable. They sang songs, recited poetry, and served all the moms cookies and juice. It was too adorable.
Ben has been our challenge lately. He continues to be FULL of energy and combined with his strong will makes for some challenging times. He is trying to exert his independence and has had difficulty following directions both at home and lately at school. He and Jake also just love to bicker back and forth and he knows just how to push Jake's buttons. We continue to remain consistent and enforce discipline in hopes that these Terrible 3's pass soon. Ben has been hot and cold on the soccer field...he loves to play sometimes and other times would rather sit or climb on the goal net. Sigh. Yet, he continues to make us laugh and gives the best bear hugs.
Leah has also had a couple firsts in the past month. She is now crawling and is enjoying her newly found mobility. She also had her first ear infection a few weeks ago. :( But overall she has been doing just great and has been enjoying eating some small finger foods and making all sorts of adorable baby noises.
Jimmy has spent time staining our decks and continues to be busy coaching Jake's soccer team. We also got a new sliding glass door installed (going from our family room to our deck). It really opens up the room and it's so nice you can't feel the wind from any gaps! (Like our old door).
Kelly has been working on a new research study at work and has recently gotten into couponing. She's tired of spending an arm and a leg on groceries so is trying to save some money by watching sales, clipping coupons, etc. It's more time and planning but in these early stages seems to be helping!
I think that covers it on what's been going on with us the past month or so. May is proving to be another crazy month. We did find out we got into our local pool club so we are excited to be able to swim a lot this summer.
Pictures and video posted soon.
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