Welcome Home Adam!

The west-siders all got together at the Schultz's to celebrate Adam's homecoming from Iraq.

Playing Bocce Ball

catching up and

Of course no get together is complete without good food.

Thanks for serving our country Adam.

Smitty's Crew

Finally, chaos ended, and ready for the picture. Quick take it!

It took about a year, but we finally got EVERYONE in a family picture.

James' new motorcycle

New Motorcycle + Saving gas money =

One happy Hubby!

Come Learn with me!

Every morning since school has started LJ cries or whines as Cooper gets on the bus and leaves for school. I figured it was time to be more pro-active and get him into something fun for him to do. We've been attending two different libraries for story time two days of the week.
Grama Pam has provided a way for us to attend a pre-school age Parks & Rec. program on another day of the week.
So every morning when he gets upset about the bus I can remind him that we're taking "Logan's Bus" to the library, the store, the park, or his class. We even pack his backpack with a snack.
These pictures were taken his first day of
"Come Learn with Me"
He loved painting!!!

and the sand table.

After free play, the instructor reads a book, sings activity songs, and they learn a new letter.
Afterwards they make a craft with paints, stamps, cut-outs of what they've learned. It's been really fun, and it wears him out.
He has started taking afternoon naps again. LOVE IT!!!

Silly Boy!

Today I watched baby Julia for a couple of hours.
Logan decided to be silly and get into her carseat.

Note to self, next time put carseat on table or in bedroom.

Day trip to the Puyallup Fair

On the first day of the Western WA. Fair (a.k.a the Puyallup Fair) admission to the fair is always free from 10 am to noon. Looking for ways to keep Logan busy and forget about the fact that he doesn't ride the bus every morning with Cooper, I thought it was a perfect thing to do. So we packed up some snacks and water, and headed out. My friend, Kati and I tried to walk through the vendor pavilions, but soon realized, LJ did not like that idea. What we found outside was more fascinating. For instance, he thought that the National Guard Humvee was way more fun that walking through the crowds.

And it wasn't too hard to convince the State Patrol officer to let him ride his motorcycle. All he had to say was, "Please, me ride your cycle?"

After finally getting him off the "cycle" we headed out to me up with Grama Nina, Jocelyn & Zada at the cow barn. Just like last year, "Hi cow! Mooo! Bye, Cow!" on to the next cow saying the same thing. We went to all the animal barns, had a snack, then went to the 4H barns. What more do you need to do at the fair with 3 toddlers?
It was a hot day and 3 hours was plenty good for everyone.
On our way out we grabbed some fair treats, the taffy, the elephant ears,
corn dogs, the things you only get once a year.

Cooper's 1st day of kindergarten

My big boy on his first day of Kindergarten.
(Sorta, explaination below)

And of course little brother had to get in a picture too.

Okay, so here is where the drama begins. Last week, Sept.4 (Thursday) I hadn't heard anything from the school except from the transportation dept. telling us that Cooper would be picked up on the 9th at 8:20 am. No probs. Then, Tuesday at the open house Ms. Shaw told us that the kindergartners would not have school until the 10th. So, thinking that because he was in a different class, she said to send Cooper on the 9th if that is what the bus driver told us. All these pictures were taken on the 9th. This is my boy, looking for the bus anxiously, and starting to get worried. We waited for 30 minutes, the bus never came. And so, I called transportation, and they told me that he wasn't being picked up today. Why would they tell me one thing and do something completely different. I probably should have figured it out and waited an extra day, but I didn't want the bus to come and him not be there. Hmm. Lesson learned. We went into the apartment, and we both cried. Cooper because of disappointment, and me because it broke my heart to see it. We changed his school clothes and went on with our day as best as possible.

Dressed in the same clean outfit, we tried again today. His REAL first day! As the pick-up time came and went my heart sank and Cooper's confidence in the bus actually coming this time was sinking. You can tell on his face. I just kept praying, literally, that it would come so I wouldn't have to see my boy sad again.

Alas it arrived! (only 15 mins. late)
Cooper's face was gleaming with the excitement of yesterday! And I was silently saying a quick prayer of gratitude as
I gave him a hug and kiss goodbye.

While getting on the bus, he turned around and said to me,
"One more picture, mom."

As I watched the bus drive away, a few tears started to well up. Immediately extinguish by the need to console Logan, who was crying hysterically, (with real tears) saying,
" I want to ride the bus too!"
" I want to go with Cooper!"

Does the drama ever end?

Welcome Baby Julia!

Congratulations to Jeremy & Jehana!
Welcome, Julia Rae Twiddy!

9-9-09
7 pounds 4 oz.
18 in.

Aunty Sunny was the first one to get you to take a binky!!
(mama tried all night)

I love baby feet!!!!

Cooper's School Open House

School is set to begin in a couple of days. I'm still in denial that my baby is going to be in Kindergarten. Tonight we went to the school for an open house. He's in a specialized learning class (1 teacher and 2 para-educators) that right now only has 7 kids in it. He will be integrated as much as possible into the mainstream Kindergarten program.

We were able to see where his desk was and meet his new teacher. We were surprised to learn that he would be having a different teacher than the one we met back in June. His teacher's name is Ms. Shaw.
Cooper was a little shy at first, but it happened that we were the only ones to visit the classroom, so he warmed up a little bit to her. It was really nice to be able to talk to her about all our concerns and ask questions.

It seemed he really enjoyed exploring the room. As we were walking around the room I noticed the job chart and asked Cooper to find his name. He pointed right to it! He was really interested in the seasons chart. When asked about what his favorite season was he pointed to winter and said,
"I want it to snow!"

We are so excited for our big boy.

Last Campout of Summer

2nd Annual Smith Family Belfair State Park Camp-Out

Finally the last camping trip this summer. Wow a total of 4! I can't believe it! What fun we had and great memories we've made. It wouldn't be complete without 1 camping trip in the pouring rain. All week I kept changing my mind about going. Friday night it started pouring at our house and I called mom and told her we weren't going to go overnight, we'll just go up for the day on Saturday. This is after I had packed the van, all by myself. (James had to work, and I was too impatient. Next time I'll wait, it's better with help.) Anyways, the next morning we woke up and it was beautiful outside. So as a standby I packed a quick overnight bag for all of us, just in case we decided to stay the night. We got there and it was beautiful! It had only sprinkled a little bit since my parents got there Friday afternoon.
So we put up the tent and prepared to stay overnight!

The boys played with their trains under the canopy, rode bikes, and we took a walk to the beach.

Campfire Pictures!

Yummy Cherry Cobler and Icecream.

Snuggles

'mores!
(spelled as pronounced by my boys)

It was a beautiful Day! I'm so glad we decided to stay.
That is until it started pouring at exactly midnight!

We woke up and it was still pouring outside. Grama let us stay in the trailer while Grampa and James made breakfast outside. Logan really wanted to go outside.

Grama and Logan passed the time with song.
Please watch this, so totally worth it!

Cooper spent his time playing with his trains.

Finally the weather gave us yet another sunbreak (after a 12 hour down pour)
Finally off to the beach to explore!It was a short visit.
What's missing from this picture?
After getting cleaned up, Dustin arrived for a visit! We headed over to the park for some fun.
It was windy enough to bring out the kite.
After about 45 minutes we had to pack it up, the rain was coming yet again.
Perfect timing for lunch and more sitting under the tarp.

After lunch, we packed it up and headed home to get warm and dry.

Additional Bel-Fair Pictures!