Pant Head

I know this is really random, but for some reason Jason has had this thing with ALL of our children, that it is now a tradition. When he changes their diapers, he takes their pants, puts it on their heads and makes them 'Pant Head-Kali, Meg, or Owen," and now Nash. He has even made himself 'Pant Head Daddy' while changing their diapers! They LOVE that one! Nash was just too cute to pass this up. He was sticking his tongue out the whole time making us all laugh! He is too cute! We love him!!!

Ididarod

We FINALLY made it to the Ididarod! This is the world famous sled dog race to Nome, AK. We planned on going down town to watch each musher start, but decided it would be less crowded if we watched from the middle of the race. The kids were so excited to see all of the mushers, and thought it was so funny that all the dogs tongues were hang'n out of their mouths! Kali & Meg thought it was so cool to have a musher toss out autographed dog booties {with candy inside} for them to keep! Poor little Owen though. He worked SO HARD, and waved SO LONG to each musher in hopes to get his own 'booty'. He kept yelling in his quiet voice, 'booties, booties, booties' to each musher hoping to get lucky. But the poor kid came home empty handed, and quite frustrated. Next year we'll have to make him a sign that say's "Dump Booties Here"!

Addicted

Our kids are addicted to staying at 'the hotel' now that we've had Kali's birthday party there, and also went for two nights during Christmas break. Meg wanted her birthday to be at 'the hotel' as well {apparently ANY Marriott is 'the hotel'}. So we took some of her friends after school to swim for a couple hours, had cake & presents, and then had the room to ourselves. We of course ordered in pizza, and were glued to the TV watching the Olympics.

One of the things Meg asked for her birthday was cooking lessons. I had NO clue how to make that happen, UNTIL I had a YW pres. mtg. My president used to be a professional caterer, and my kids LOVE her. So I asked her if she would teach Meg how to cook. She was SO excited, and planned three days to teach her three different meals, Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Jason and I completely forgot to tell Meg about this present until the day she was supposed to start. It was absolutely HILARIOUS when Meg found out where I was taking her. She said over and over ... "Mom! I was like FREAKING OUT, like FREAKING OUT. I fell over in the car and was like FREAKING OUT when dad told me where I was going!" She STILL to this day tells me "I can't believe you finally got me what I've always wanted for a birthday present!" {If you can't tell, Meg is uh, just a little dramatic!!}

So here is what she made, ALL from scratch:
Breakfast = Scrambled Eggs, Raspberry Muffins, & the best French Toast EVER
Lunch = Homemade Mac & Cheese, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, & Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dinner = Chicken Strips, Rolls, Potatoes & Cake

Apparently on Megs first day there, she told Bonnie that she wishes she could stay there FOREVER and cook with her ALL THE TIME until she turns 16!! She even told me she is a "CHEF" now . . . what a crack-up!

One Minute

The primary in our ward held a talent show where each kid was to perform a one-minute talent. It was EXTREMELY last minute on our part with what our kids were going to do. Kali has been teaching herself piano, and played 'Book of Mormon Stories' that she memorized . . . Owen {all by himself} walked up each piece of gear one by one, plopped them on the table, and finally said . . . 'I like playing hockey with my dad' . . . and Meg decided to bring her xx skis from Jr Nordic. It turned out to be really cute & we came home with flavored popcorn balls!

Ice Fishing

I never knew that ice fishing could be a field trip! All year long 2nd graders are learning about the life cycle of Salmon. They are still Alevins growing into Frys at her school. And now they get to go catch them in the frozen lake! Each kid got their own hole and pole and whatever they caught they could take home to eat. Kali caught hers in the belly and barely got a picture with it before it jumped back into the water. I wasn't able to go because Meg woke up sick and couldn't go to school, so Kali called my brother to see if he wanted to go. She was so excited that Uncle Jeff went . . . and he even brought her Hot Cocoa for the bus ride home!

A Good Day

Jason thinks Kali has his blood of designing! She always comes upstairs from her room with clothes that she has altered . . . making dresses into skirts . . . long sleeve shirts into halters . . . I'm constantly telling her to stop messing with her clothes because she'll ruin them. Today she wanted to do even more. She came BEGGING me to teach her how to sew! We are making the girls a bunkbed for their American Girl Dolls similar to the girls'. Kali wanted them to have a similar quilt as the ones I made. So we grabbed all the scraps . . . I cut them . . . she laid them out how she wanted . . . I sewed two pieces together . . . then she INSISTED she do the rest!! All I did was quilt it together and bind it. I thought I would be dreading this LONG day of doing a project with my daughter, but instead it turned out to be so fun and a DANG cute quilt!!!

Christmas Card

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope your Christmas is filled with the Spirit of Christ during this Holiday Season!

♥ The Smedleys

Thanksgiving Fun

Before we headed up to the Kendalls for the traditional feast, we took a family outing and went ice skating at the kids' school. Our kids have NEVER ice skated before ~ I Know! We live in Alaska, and we never go. But this year is our year! First grade and up can ice skate at recess, so I got ice skates last spring at Walmart for $8! Couldn't beat that! And Jason & I really want to get some, so that is in the works. But they loved it! I think xx-skiing last year definately helped out with their balance, cause they did great! I made them wear their helmets since I didn't know how well they would do. I know . . . paranoid . . . I'm a nerd. But lots of kids in Kali's grade were playing hockey and they were GOOD. So we might just pick up some sticks & puck and mess around. Watch out Uncle Ryan!

Busy Weekend

This weekend was a very busy weekend, but very exciting! Kali waited to get baptized so Jason's parents could be here for both baptism and blessing. So she was baptized on Halloween in the morning, then we had the typical Halloween fun and then Sunday Nash was blessed. Either I'm super hormonal after having a baby or I am turning into a boob, cause this weekend was an emotional one for me. Celebrating the baptism of our first and the blessing of our last. Exciting times! I took this picture of Nash while he was sleeping, I love it when they dream . . . too cute!

A little Chuckle

I laugh at how newborn clothes really fit 'newborns'! This was supposed to be his hospital outfit, but it literally drowns him! What you can't tell is that his pants are clear up to his chest, and the hat covers his whole face!! And when he squirms, his arms will somehow work their way back inside the onesie!! But it is cute nonetheless! Before I know it he won't fit in them anymore . . . and those are always sad days!!