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The Big D. (Derek, not Dallas) turned 39 on Sunday.  One more year until the big 4-0.  Wow!

He's set to take this 40th year by storm by running a marathon in February – I'd certainly say that's not someone who is getting "old".

We sure love this guy!  He adds color and depth and creativity and calm and strength to our family, like no one else could.  He's a great provider, an amazing father and husband and a super great guy.

Happy Birthday, Derek!

(Samuel sang the sweetest rendition of "happy birthday" to Derek – that sweet little voice will melt you!)

I forgot to include one of my favorite pictures EVER the other day.  When we went to see ICE! they were very clear in their instructions that we should not TOUCH the ice at any time.  I completely missed the instructions trying to clothe every child and myself in the over-sized parkas, but the boys quickly scolded me in the first 30 seconds for touching the ice (at least they were listening!).

So I was taking pictures of the boys and Derek coming down the slide and I looked down at Sam and this is what he was doing…

Pretty sure this might be considered illegal TOUCHING but it sure made me giggle (and the man standing next to Samuel was giggling too!).  I wonder how many other kids tried the same thing?  Cutie patootie. 

I can't believe my baby is 3.  Those three years went by way too fast.   But three is fun.  Three is challenging.  Three brings potty training.  And "why"?  Three brings lots of testing of boundaries, lots of re-directing, lots of forgiving and peace-making and giggles.  Lots of chatter.  Lots of exploring.  Lots of "I do it myself!"  Lots of feeding the dog from the table.  Lots of swinging on swings and making new friends.  Lots of hugs and kisses.  Lots of climbing.  Lots of independence.  Lots of love.

If three looks like this, then I love it already.

A New Year's baby - it seemed so exciting at the time (and it still is, of course) but I never thought about how tired we would be each New Year's Day from staying up late the night before! :)  Nevertheless we celebrate in full fashion. 

We had the "party" the day after his b'day so my mom and Steve could attend (they were out of town visiting my grandmother on the 1st).  Aunt Anne also came which made it special too!

Derek overdid himself with a Lightning McQueen race car cake (Sam's favorite!) – these cakes always amaze me?!  I just don't know how he comes up with these things, but I'm so thrilled that he does.  Samuel was pretty thrilled too and delighted.

Presents included playdough, a miniature sandbox and play food from us, a Davy Crockett hat, soft football and crackers from my mom and Steve (the crackers are because Samuel was stealing and hiding some at their house recently) and TinkerToys from Anne and Mark, clothes from Mimi and Papa C and from Grandma and Grandpa. 

The best part was Samuel singing 'happy birthday' to himself all day – so sweet.

Happy Birthday sweet boy…we love you!

On New Year's Day (and Samuel's b'day) we headed over to the Gaylord Texan for their ICE! exhibit this year featuring Dr. Seuss's the Grinch.  What a cool (no pun intended) display!  Very fun.  And very cold.  I felt like I was in the McDonald's freezer (we went there once on a 3rd grade field trip and they joked about how bad it would be to be locked in – my anxious mind did not think it was funny and I've never forgotten it).  The boy's favorite part was the ice slides (we enjoyed them too)…our favorite part was that they ended the display with an ice sculpted nativity scene (how wonderful!). 

We had to kill some time prior to our tour (because I didn't buy the tix on-line and discovered once there that they were sold out until the evening – oops!) so we enjoyed the amazing hotel lobby (and train displays) and had a fun dinner at the Riverwalk Cafe (what is it about all-you-can-eat that makes boys, little and big, so giddy?), where we got to sing to Samuel with chocolate cake.  We also had the important discussion with Jacob about why marashino cherries are not actually considered to be in the fruit group!  He took 15 of them for dessert (along with a piece of chocolate cake) and declared "but they're fruit!" 🙂

Fun evening spent as a family!

We were thrilled when the Hicken's reinstated their Family Pajama Party on NYE this year – it's been 5 years since the last one (and one attempt by me to host it here) and it was missed.

So we headed over, in our pajamas (except for Derek who will never wear pj's in public for some reason), for great food, fun games, laughter and friends.  We played "Would you Rather…?".  Caleb and Samuel didn't quite make it 'til midnight.  Finding them cuddled up together in the Hicken's big king-size bed (making themselves right at home!) was about the cutest thing EVER!  Jacob made it 'til midnight, but only barely – he fell asleep in a chair right before we left. 

It was a fun way to ring in the new year!!  Thanks, Hicken's!

For months now we've been planning to give Jacob a room of his own.  This high-strung 10-year old needs a space to take deep breaths and read and be by himself.  But Samuel was still in a crib and I just haven't had the gumption to make any drastic changes in that department, because he also still NAPS every afternoon in the safety of that crib.  But we worked out a plan to keep Samuel in his crib, and still make a room work for him and Caleb.

So part of Jacob's Christmas was a "fathead" of a Dallas Cowboys star signifying to him that it was time for his new room!  He was so excited.  While the boys were in Austin we got busy and spent a full day and a half working, re-organizing, cleaning closets, and moving furniture.  We also called Pablo the painter in to paint the room navy blue and silvery gray (Cowboys colors, of course).

By the time Jacob and Caleb got home we were able (barely!) to unveil their new and improved bedrooms to them.  I have to admit that these are fun bedrooms – I'm tempted to sleep their myself sometimes!

Jacob's desk was $40 from the local resale shop.  His bed was a garage sale find. 

One cool new feature of Caleb and Samuel's room is this "ball run" that Derek envisioned and built out of wrapping paper/toilet paper rolls.  He's so creative!  And says that the track has 70% accuracy, ie. the ball will make it all the way down from the top to the bottom without falling off 7 out of 10 times. 

Are you tired of me yet?  You should be.

4 more blog posts tomorrow!  She's on a roll, people!

🙂

While we were there for Thanksgiving, my Dad and Christy expressed a desire to fly the big boys (Jacob and Caleb) down for a visit after Christmas.  Dad was interested in taking Jacob fly fishing!  At first I scoffed at the idea.  No way was I putting my children on an airplane – by themselves, even if the flight was only 40 minutes!  But when Derek heard it he said "What a great idea!" which then got D&C excited and they all jumped on my case.  I was outvoted.

So in the early morning hours on the day after Christmas, I put these very responsible, very confident, slightly nervous, but very excited little (big?) boys…with their new Christmas luggage…

on one of these…

And boy, did they ever have a great time!!  BTW, Derek was able to accompany them all the way to the gate, and my Dad was waiting for them at the gate in Austin.  And even when Derek was slightly late picking them up (security issue!) the sweet flight attendant let them watch movies in the Southwest office.  No sweat!

While in Austin, they went to a dinosaur museum, hiked, watched movies, visited a candy store, and went to the park.  Jacob got to go fly fishing with his Papa C and a guide.  And wouldn't you know, they both caught 6-8 fish each.  What an experience!  Jacob is in trout heaven right about now!  Caleb spent a fun day with Mimi at the movie theater. 

Thanks, Papa C and Mimi for pressing the issue and making lasting memories for these two!

 
 
 
 
At some point during the day Jacob lost his own sunglasses, so he had to wear some of my dad's.  This big ol' smile with those big ol' glasses just cracks me up!


 
 

So after my Dad and Christy's challenge and $100 gift (see THIS post) we put our heads together and decided we needed to involve the boys as much as possible.  We decided to do what we Smith's do best – which is sell our wares on our street corner on 12/22.  I sent e-mails to all our neighbors and PTA gals.  Caleb made fliers and he, Jacob and the neighborhood boys took them house to house. 

We were touched by how many neighbors came out to contribute and support us.  Some stopped on their way to other things.  Some jumped in their cars and headed over in the middle of errands or chores.  Some kids came with their own wallets.  And the neighborhood boys stayed for the full 3 hours helping to hold the sign and pour the marshmallows, etc.  At times I had to make sure it was still MY boys' project!

After it was all said and done we made $93.  With the $100 from D & C, plus some of our own we were able to write a check to the Samaritan Inn for $250 – enough for an evening meal.  The Samaritan Inn is where we helped serve food earlier this year and is the only homeless shelter in our county.  The boys were praised by the volunteer coordinator for their efforts, and it felt good to be able to contribute in this way.

Thanks Dad and Christy for this great opportunity and challenge!  We loved it.