Happy 14th Birthday Zachary!!!

I can't believe that Zachary is 14 today....It seems like he was born just yesterday. I know that everyone says that so much that it is a cliche, but it really does seem that way! One day you are holding this precious new baby and then the next day you are waving bye as they enter high school! I remember wanting a baby so bad and then the day I found out I was pregnant I panicked - afraid that I was too young, or not going to be a good mom, and so many other thoughts. But the day Zachary was born was a very happy day for me - I was finally going to have the baby I always wanted. And it was love at first sight! To hold this precious baby that God blessed us with was just the most awesome feeling in the world! Now 14 years later and I couldn't love him more! I am so proud of him and what he is becoming! I just pray that God will keep His hand on Zachary in the years to come and that he becomes the man God wants him to be! Happy birthday Zachary - I love you with all my heart!!

Happy 7th Birthday Zane!!!

I can't believe that Zane is 7 today....It seems like he was born just yesterday. In fact, I remember going to the hospital very early on September 3, 2002 wondering if I could have enough love to share with a new baby. I didn't know if it was possible to love each child the same.....boy, was I ever wrong! Almost the instant they put Zane in my arms, it was like my heart grew even bigger to contain this new fould love for him!!! Now, I can't and don't want to imagine my life without Zane! God knew exactly what He was doing by adding Zane to our family....Zane actually completed our family! And now he's growing so fast....I am so proud of him and what he is becoming! I just pray that God will keep His hand on Zane in the years to come and that he becomes the man God wants him to be! Happy birthday Zane - I love you with all my heart!!

Back to School!

Wow...I can't believe that summer is already over and that school has started! I am one of those Moms that hates school to start but loves some quite 'me' time too!! I have so many mixed emotions at this time of the year. Zane started back to school on August 19th. He is in the first grade and has the same first grade teacher that Zachary had. We are happy because we think Mrs. Dobbs is a really good teacher! Zachary started back to school on August 24th. He in now officially a high school student...in the 9th grade. He likes all of his teachers so far this year. We are so proud of our boys - they are so smart and handsome! I thank God for them all the time because He blessed us with them! Oh yeah....we have our moments, don't get me wrong! But I wouldn't trade them for all the money in this world!!!

Our 2009 Family Vacation

We just got back from our family vacation....and we had a great time! Here's the rundown of what we did: we left for Las Vegas on Tuesday July 14th around 11pm. We drove through the night and made several stops along the way. We stopped in New Mexico at the Continental Divide - it's where the running waters in the US divide. From one point the water runs West into the Pacific ocean and the other water runs East into the Atlantic ocean....it was interesting to see. We stopped in Holbrook, Arizona for lunch - making our sandwiches and had a picnic. It was nice but as we were observing our surroundings we started feeling like the place was strangely familiar even though none of us had ever been there. We soon realized that the town looked like Radiator Springs from the Cars movie....it was uncanny the resemblence. They had a motel that the rooms were teepees resembling the road cones motel. There was a tire shop that had the little lift vehicle that was just like the movie. Then there was an Army recruiting office, a old building that resembled the gas station, and even a lot that resembled the car pound. It was really cool and of course, we had to take pictures. (I will post some later for you to see for yourself!) Finally we made it to Nevada and saw the Hoover Dam....it was amazing! Then on to Las Vegas.....which was totally cool! We stayed there on the strip for 3 nights and we saw as much as we could given the time we had....which I will say, we needed more time to see EVERYTHING! There was SOOOO much to see! We watched the shows at Treasure Island, Caesar's Palace, and the Bellagio. We went to the Shark's Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus and the tiger exhibit (with NO TIGERS) at MGM Grand! We stayed at the Monte Carlo on the 21st floor which had an amazing view at night! We really liked Las Vegas and we didn't spend one red cent on gambling.....there was too much to do to waste our time or money on that!!! In fact, I would love to go back and plan on staying longer next time!!! The heat was WILD....it was 114 degrees in the day and around 108 at night!!! IT WAS HOT!!! But it's not the hot like here in Texas....you didn't really sweat....but it was still HOT!!! I'll keep the Texas heat ANYDAY!!! We left Las Vegas on Saturday July 18th for Anaheim, California....and going through the desert was WORSE!!!! The temperature gauge on my car registered 117 degrees and I would TOTALLY believe it!!! I was about ready to turn around and head for Texas!!! But we continued on and stayed in Comfort Inn which was about 3 miles from Disney Land. We went to California Adventure park on Sunday and stayed all day long!!! It was fun! Then Monday, we took the boys to Newport Beach, California which was on the same road as our hotel only about 30 minutes away! The beach was nice but the water was COLD!!! Yes, you heard me, it was cold!! We were there for about 3 hours and half way through that time Zane had to come wrap up in a towel and get warm because he was shivering so bad!! I only waded in up to my knees...I couldn't handle it! Tuesday found us at DisneyLand all day long. Riding rides, greeting characters, and having a character dinner....it was fun! However, we all decided that we totally like DisneyWorld in Florida the best!! Finally, after sleeping in for our first day on vacation, we left for Texas on Wednesday July 22nd around 11:30am. It took us almost 24 hours to get back home! Talking about a long drive - we were SOOOO ready to be home! Overall, we had a great vacation with some much needed time away for all of us!

Nothing but a Smith!

Something else I forgot to say about today....I had to take Zane to the Doctor for his finger that he hurt almost 2weeks ago when playing with Zachary. The thing I found interesting was that Zane had a hair-line fracture in the growth plate of his ring-finger on the right hand....how is this interesting you may ask? In January of 2008, I had to take Zachary to the same Doctor for his finger that he hurt while playing in a bounce house! He too had a hair-line fracture in the growth plate of his pinkie-finger on the left hand! The interesting part.....according to the Doctor these kind of breaks are rare for a finger!!!!! So, I ask you, if they are rare how do two brothers manage to end up with the same type of break within a year and a half from each other?? Well, I guess that's a Smith for you!!! Go figure!! LOL

Simply Playing!

Here are some clipboards that I finished recently...that, thanks to my super sweet friend, Cindy showed me how to do! She has been telling me to get a picture of them on here...so here they are! I really had a great time 'playing' with these clipboards! Thanks Cindy for your inspiration!!

Happy Birthday Ron!

Unfortunately this posting has us trying to defeat a virus that seems to want to hang on to all of us for some strange reason! Although Ron's birthday was on the 3rd and Independence day on the 4th, we were stuck at home without celebrating either day with fireworks!! I did make him a cake that sadly we have not been able to enjoy! However, we are fighters and just as soon as we are all well, we are going to have a special birthday celebration for Ron!!! And since we couldn't make his big day special, he is going to get to choose exactly what he wants to do to celebrate! Hopefully the next posting will find us all totally recovered!

Welcome to our blogspot!

We are so excited to have our very own blogspot! We can't wait to share with you all the simple things that happen in our daily lives. Yes, it may get corny or down right boring at times...but hey, it's just Simply Smith! Thanks for taking a minute to stop by and visit us...and we sure hope you come back from time to time to share with us the simple pleasures in life!!