Monday, January 19, 2009

Harrison go to sleep!



It is 10:00pm and Harrison is not showing any signs of slowing down. He is in my lap asking me to write about him. Is this what motherhood is really about? I wish he would go to sleep but secretly I think he is so cute in my lap. Today it was a gorgeous Oregon day and on our way to Wilsonville we could see all the mountains, clear and beautiful. Harrison turned to me and said,"Is that Mountain Dew?" Leave it to aunt Gretchen to teach him the important Mountains!
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4th grade is great!


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Mike had an Indian feast this month and he was so great. His Indian name was Cholisead which means, salmon rising from a mud mound in the forest. He made it up. He said the mud mound was because of his boyish stink and the whole class laughed. Just like his dad, Mikey loves to make people laugh.
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Bird watching!

Our last day with Mandi and Ben we spent bird watching. We are a funny bunch of people. We got to the trail and it was closed because of the flooding. In typical Croft behavior, we tried to get around the closed signs and gates to get on our hike. No one tells us what is open or closed. We finally gave up when we realized the large herd of humanity we had created was really loud and EVERYONE was going to notice if we went past the closed gate. We all have a little Arnold in us!

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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Max the king of all wild things!

A happy day at Hebb park! Of course the Smith kids are in the mud.
After Max takes the big jump!
Give him some food and he is happy!


I love this story from last year. We were on a hike at Hebb park in late November and went down to the dock to see the river. The kids love to go out on the boat with Grandpa in the Summer time, so jumping into the river for Max is pure joy. One this day, however, his little brain did not know the water in November is not the same temperature as the water in August. Without warning, he jumped right off the dock! Mike and I heard a huge splash followed by a scream! He swam to shore screaming all the way and did not stop until we got his clothes off him. We did not know what to do but to laugh. Everything about Max is so wonderful. He is such a boy but at the same time he loves pottery. When he jumped into the river it was a perfect example of his personality. He did not ask for permission or wait around for the other kids to go. It looked good, so he went. The best part was we got him warm and gave him a bag of chips and he was the king of all wild things! Although having 3 boys can be very loud and messy, it is times like this that make it all worth it.
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Sunday, January 4, 2009

Should Grandparents play Guitar Hero?


Punk rock meets motherhood! You go Mandi! (One of my sisters)




How gorgeous is this girl going to get? (Julia 12) Mike will put her safely in a glass box for the next 10 years!


It was the year of the Guitar Hero! Even Harrison got in on the action. My mom really thinks she is a rock star! I asked Wendy if Guitar Hero was educational in any way and she reassured me we were learning our colors! So scary!



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Smith Family Christmas!


The entire Smith family was together for a Christmas celebration. Grandpa Bob is always so happy when he is with his grand kids and you can tell when you are with him. He thinks everyone of them is brilliant! It was especially fun to see Aunt Tammy who lives in Arizona and works at a Charter school as a teacher. The best part of the Smith Christmas is the stockings. Grandma Carole has made a stocking for every person in the family and fills them with all the things we need. Each year we get new tooth brushes, soap, kitchen utensils, and even a Christmas ornament. All of our kids have a tree in their room with the ornaments we have collected from our stockings over the years. I guess you could call that a Smith tradition. Thank you grandma and grandpa Smith for your kindness and love!
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Let's start with RUBY!
















Trouble!






More trouble!






I think secretly I wish Ruby was my child. I had to just start with her because this picture is so gorgeous and I did her hair. We had a wonderful week at Black Butte with the family. After everyone left we spent 3 days with just the Dean family. There is something about cousins that have grown up together that is just magical. All the kids spent an entire day creating a Star Wars skit. Julia and Mikey are obsessed with filming things right now. The boys spent hours crafting the Jedi battles and Julia was, as you can guess, directing everyone. Lauren made a beautiful Princes Lea. I will attempt to add the skits to the blog so you can see true talent at work. Actually, Mike and I think Maxwell is pretty good. After Black Butte we came home and spent another week with our cousins. And as I sit here writing, Julia is with Lauren and Jelly is here for a sleepover. We never quite get sick of each other. What a wonderful blessing to have cousins that you just love to be with. Maxwell thinks Lauren's name is Lauren Brook Dean Smith. With 3 weeks off of school, I am not sure what we would have done without our cousins. Ruby is just the icing on the cake!






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