DADDY'S HOME!!!!!!!

Some pictures don't need any words.

They are a bit out of order, but enjoy the reunion pictures below.

(all of the pictures can be clicked on and opened larger)

Dental Day

Want to know a prescription for a good time?
Take 4 kids and their 80-some-odd teeth to the DENTIST!
I found a FANTASTIC pediatric dentist up in Boise when we got here that I would recommend to anyone.
It is an all female staff. Everyone is so kind and gentle and PATIENT!
We have all four appt.'s at the same time, so we take up the whole place. Each Smith has their own hygienist and it works great.
Kaebrie had a new employee, but she was AWESOME! It took her about 15 minutes of role playing to convince Kaebrie to get in the chair and lay back. Then she demonstrated everything she was going to do on DINO, and Kaebrie cooperated. She even let them take x-rays!!
My oldest child won't even let them do that!
Here she is TOTALLY cooperating!

Kaitlynn has no problem. Ceiling movies are the best!

Christopher does fantastic as well!

Kaebrie wearing her shades and has the headphones on to watch and listen to the movie that plays in the ceiling and brushing Dino's teeth at the same time!

Four kids, close to 90 teeth and zero cavities again.

One child is missing in these pictures.
It wasn't an accident.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

On the way to the dentist, my cell phone rang and it was SAM!

Calling from HIS cell phone.

IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!

THEY MADE IT!!

He was tired. It was a long 9 hour flight in a windowless coffin (as he referred to it) across the busy Atlantic Ocean, but he was good.

They spend the night on the East Coast at an Air Force Base and are supposed to be here tomorrow afternoon.

There will be more pictures tomorrow of the happy, joyous, excited, exuberant kids and their glad to be home, but exhausted and tired daddy.

Mommy is trying to decide what is the appropriate amount of hours to be here, to make him feel welcome and glad to be home, before yelling "SEE Y'ALL" and running out the door ALONE without hurting any feelings.

:)

(Before returning by 8pm for the season finale of LOST)

YIKES!

Thankfully here on base it is still in the $3.80's, or least it was 2 days ago when I filled up. But passing through town today, this was the first time I saw FOUR dollars!
ugh

Final Days

I posted two pictures of Wyatt below, but since he is at school today, he wasn't here for this picture.
These are the rest of the playmates. Katie and Colton have birthdays 2 days apart just like Christopher and Kaebrie. And their birthdays are 2 weeks earlier. So, Katie is exactly 2 weeks older then Christopher and Colton is exactly 2 weeks older then Kaebrie!
{Was that confusing??}
I know, my tall kids look like Amazons.
And Tiff dressed himself today as well. Quite a colorful and unique look.
* Added note: They weren't supposed to be leaving until 9 June. Erika just knocked on my door and said they are leaving, for good, in less then 2 days.
:(
They have to go over this weekend to close on their house, and Daddy decided there wasn't a reason for them all to come back and wait for him with a basically empty house ,so they will be staying there.
NO REASON???? What about my two little ones????
This is the sucky part of the military, you meet and become friends with so many great people, but there are just way to many good-byes.
:(
:(
______________________________________

Talked to Sam a few minutes ago. It is just so good to hear his voice. Makes me really miss him even more. They are still ready to leave in the morning, so pray for the planes to work, all the flight plans to be perfect, and no other incidents to prevent them all from leaving. I told him I would give him a two hour adjustment period, then he had to hit the ground running!

Not as bad as the earlier email with an arrival of next Tuesday, but not as great as the news they would be heading home yesterday either.

Apparently, they were all on the plane, engines running, plane was just fine, but a human error caused a mix up with the flight plans. They lost the 2 hour clearance to cross the Atlantic. I don't know what that exactly means, but it does mean they stay in Spain for another 24 hours.

Now, just a few minutes ago, ANOTHER email. There are a lot of missions going on this week, and there isn't any space for them to fly over the Atlantic tomorrow, so they have pushed it ANOTHER day. So now it will be Thursday, at the earliest, before they get home.

No space. Over the ATLANTIC OCEAN. I so don't understand that.

I have learned to NEVER give the kids a specific date of arrival, just to stay vague. "end of the month", "next week", "a few more days", ect. But Sam called yesterday while I was at the park with Kaebrie, and he told Collin he would see him Tuesday afternoon. Of course, I am the one who has to tell him, it isn't going to be Tuesday, let's pray for Thursday. And I am the one who has to watch him cry.

:(

This vacation is coming at a good time. With separate events that have happened here this month with PWOC and the chapel and now this, I have about had it with all things military.

Will keep ya posted! Off to Wal Mart, because I was able to control the urge to go to Boise and spend money the other day, today I am going shopping!

Cutie-Pa-Tootie

Here is Christopher's best friend, Wyatt. He is in the first grade and Tiff had a HARD time this year when Wyatt was gone all day long to school. He didn't believe me when I told him Wyatt wasn't home every day, so daily, for weeks, he knocked on Mrs. Erika's door just to make sure.
When they did school pictures a few months back, Wyatt had had an accident the day before, had slipped on some ice and busted his cute face up pretty bad ( I felt really bad because is was OUR ice).
Needless to say, his mom was NOT interested in keeping those school pictures, so this week we went outside their house and snapped a few.
I LOVE this first one, but we had to get some of him smiling and showing those brand new teeth coming in!

The new big boy smile!

We are sad that they are leaving. By the time we get back from our trip in June, they will be settled into their new house in Wyoming. They will be VERY missed!! _________________________________________________________

Hubby update!!

They left Bahrain on time, I think it was Friday, well my Friday anyway, and arrived safely in Spain for the weekend. They are thrilled about getting real food and CHOICES of food! He told me he didn't want to see a chicken or rice for months!

I got an email from the commanders wife yesterday, saying there was a problem with the plane they were on, and it might be NEXT Tuesday before they get home.

That did NOT put me in a good mood.

We are supposed to leave here next Tuesday. We have plans and reservations across the country based on Tuesday's leave date.

I thought about starting all the phone calls and changing all the reservations, but then I decided not to. Even if he did arrive home late that Tuesday, I don't even know if could have left the next day. I know his boss wanted some projects completed before he left. Also, he will be jet lagged and 9 hours off of our time, not the safest way to drive! So I didn't do anything, except call 3 close friends here and tell them to PRAY!

An email this morning said the plane was fixed and they are back on schedule for getting home THIS TUESDAY!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That doesn't guarantee anything, but I think it means they were able to leave Spain for Virginia.

We haven't talked in 2 days. I don't know if he couldn't, or just didn't want to have tell me they might be in Spain for another week.

:)

I don't blame him. I would not have called me either!

So, I would appreciate continued prayers for the safe return of the entire squadron and also a special prayer for our neighbors. He has been with Sam this whole trip, and his wife was told last week that the foundation in their home was leaking and they are being forced to move 2 houses down. Another neighbor is being forced to move due to a leaking roof.

This happens all to often!

The consequences of living in condemned housing.

The brand new officer homes are being completed this summer, so all the new incoming people will have nice and happy and safe homes.

We will be the last ones to live in these.

I just wish I could be the one to drive that bulldozer through this place!!!

:)

Time Waster

WARNING!!!

The following link takes you to a completely addictive , time wasting , you surely have something better to do then this, site.

I don't know if the following is true, (in fact, I seriously doubt it is), but here is what the game site said:

The object of the game is to move the red block around without getting hit by the blue blocks or touching the black walls.
If you can go longer than 18 seconds you are phenomenal. US Air Force pilots are expected to go for at least 2 minutes.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

Yes, I made it past 18 seconds (on my 5th try).
Wouldn't that qualify me for my own ride in an F-15??????

Why did I even find this? Well, frankly, I am bored out of my mind. It is a 4 day holiday weekend here, and everybody is GONE; off camping, to Yellowstone, Vegas, California, Tennessee, Boise, ect. I am about to dial 411 information just to hear an adult voice. I am seriously thinking about driving to Boise this afternoon to go to Sonic. Yes, almost 100 miles round trip for a slushy.

Might as well hit a few more stores since we will be there.
I warned Sam that I spend more money when he is gone!!!

Piano Recital Night

Here are the two Smith musicians!

Kaitlynn's Turn

Kaitlynn did very well on both her pieces. I love the duet she does with her teacher.

Collin's Turn

Collin played three songs. Two were warm up and calm-down-the-nerves-songs getting ready for his final piece, Here I Am To Worship. They have both amazed me with the progress they have made after only 2 years of lessons. I look over their shoulders as they practice, and I just can't comprehend how they do it. How do you look at five lines of music and play it with your right hand, while AT THE SAME TIME, looking at another five lines line of music, that is way different from the first, and play something different with your left hand?!?!?! Oh well. That is why there are people you can pay to teach your children things that you can't!

Answered Prayers

In dealing all these years with diabetes, we have had the opportunity to help several families over the years. Sometimes it is just a few emails of encouragement, sometimes more. Our prayer over the years has been for God to use this disease for good, as he promises in the scriptures that all things will be.



When I wrote the newspaper article (see the post below for a link), my prayer was that it would reach a family who could be encouraged. But with the anonymity of newspapers, I knew I would never know if or who, but knew that God would know.



I just received the below email about 15 minutes ago. I had to stop crying long enough to even be able to finish it.

I am writing in regards to your commentary in the Gunfighter. I thought it was awesome. I almost started crying because my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in March of this year. He is 9.

It all started with a drive to the base ER with high fever and him not feeling good. He had slept pretty much all day the previous day. We just thought he was tired from playing hard. I was told it was the flu that was going around and to push fluids and have him eat chicken noodle soup. Everything thing I gave him, he threw up. He was getting very weak and losing weight. He complained of stomach pains and his hands and feet were cold even though he was under a blanket. My motherly instinct kicked in and I ram him back out to the base ER. They put an IV in him and ran some lab work.

That’s when I found out he had diabetes. They told me his blood sugar was 460. I asked where it should be, they told me below 400. He was transported to St Luke’s. I found out that when we first got to the ER his blood sugar was 760. He was in the PICU for 2 days. I cried a lot while I stood by his bedside just looking at him. Like you, I didn’t want to believe that my healthy 9 year old was sick. My husband was speechless. I stayed with him while he was in the hospital. I cried myself to sleep plenty of times. I cried a lot, but not in front of him. I wanted to be strong for him. When we first got home after the hospital stay, he was sad and upset because he had diabetes. I reassured him it was okay to be sad and that me and daddy would help him with everything. I would always tell him that I would never let anything happen to him. This is something I couldn’t stop from happening.

He is doing very well with having diabetes. He is pretty much independent when it comes to testing his blood and giving his own shots. Me and my husband still kind of monitor him to make sure he is taking the right amount of insulin. He is taking his shots by needle. He says he isn’t ready for the pen or pump. We don’t want to rush or push him. Everyone is telling him what a brave little boy he is. He is going to camp for diabetics in June. I think it will be great for him. He likes to meet new people.

One of the first questions my husband asked was, Will he be able to play sports? Thanks to your son's story, we can all be reassured there is nothing he can NOT do.

I just wanted to share my story with you because I know what you went through. Thanks again for a wonderful commentary.

A.

___________________________________________________________

Good grief. Crying AGAIN. :) Where is that box of tissues?? How great is God to sometimes answer our prayers so immediately!!!

I have already emailed her, and she has already responded that she would love to get the boys together and for us to talk.

Just thought I would share....


:)

Newspaper Article

Here is the link to follow:

http://www.mountainhome.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123099454

This is an article about Collin and is now on the Mountain Home AFB website and will be picked up by the Mountain Home paper next week.

The Sgt. in charge also e-mailed me and said that he also sent it to ACC Public Affairs to run on their site, which in turn may have it run in the Air Force News, which is National.

I will let you know and post any more links if or when I get them.

I wish they had used some of the pictures, but oh well. Hopefully this will bless somebody and encourage some families somewhere who are just starting out on their diabetes journey.

I wish technology was caught up with my imagination. I wish your computer screen was scratch-and-sniff accessible.

Idaho is a strange and unique place to live, but one of the perks? The lilacs.

They are in bloom all over the base. The small tree in our backyard and the huge bush in the front smell INCREDIBLE!

I just LOVE lilacs!

Prince Caspian

I feel a bit let down.
=0(

Not from the movie, but from being back in the real world.

The movie?

Phenomenal. period. I don't have one criticism.

We loved the first part as well, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

I think I have already figured out why I liked this movie even more. With the first movie, everything was so familiar. I can not count the number of times in my lifetime I had read that book as a child, as a teacher, as a parent, it was familiar, and throughout the movie, I was waiting for the next scene I knew was coming. There were no surprises even though the movie was excellently done.

I have read Price Caspian, once, probably when I was around Collin's age, and I have NO memory of what happened. And that is what made this 2 hour and 25 minute movie so incredible. I could sit back and enjoy and not analyze and wait. Enjoy the actors. Whoever did the casting was "spot on." The recurring roles of Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy were wonderful. The Prince was also incredible, and what a cutie! The main dwarf almost stole the movie with his deep voice and one liners. The cinematography and creative camera angles created beautiful and surprising scenes.

The costumes were gorgeous. The talking animals and creatures were so life like.

The story was believable and captivating.

It did deserve its PG-13 rating. For the violence. VERY violent, but without the gore. I wouldn't take anyone under the age of 8 or 9. It was a darker theme then the first move, more choices of good verses evil, and the evil was VERY scary. Collin and Kaitlynn were wide eyes and pushed back as far as their seats would allow.
The scriptural references and connotations were deep, the few that I caught. I will need to read an article to point out all that I missed because I know that I missed a lot.

This is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. The sights, the sounds effects, everything about it.

C and KK want to see it again. So grandparents and aunts and uncles, all of you who will be keeping them alone for 3 days while Sam and I sit on a quiet beach, they would love to allow you the privilege of seeing this movie and would be happy to accompany you! :)
__________________________________________________________________
On another note, Sam is well. And hot. And tan. Temps have been averaging over 103 on a daily basis. The Bahrainian military treated them to a day at their water park yesterday, and then to dinner. Sam said the park was great and the food wonderful. Back at the camp, they are given the same meals every day; chicken, rice, peas and carrots.

Due to the death of the Prince this week, a few flying days were cancelled, so they have even more free time on their hands. He is bored. REALLY bored a lot of the time. He messaged this morning that he did make the finals of the poker tournament though.

They should start the return trip home in a week, this time going through Spain instead of the resort spa in the Azores. { I seriously am typing without any sarcasm in my fingers. Or trying to anyway. Nope, no jealousy issues here. :) }

___________________________________________________________________

We are enjoying our first summer weekend. Everybody is outside. Monday the temps go back down to the 60's and 70's for the week, but we are going to appreciate it while it lasts.
The lilacs are blooming everywhere and the air smells so good. We have a giant lilac tree (bush?) in the front and with the windows open I can smell it.

Without any wind, the cow manure particles from the three surrounding dairies are staying put, and the fresh clean air is a rarity to enjoy!

I guess that is it for tonight!
Have a GREAT Lord's day tomorrow!!!!
Good night!

Car Wash Solitude and Lary Boy

How can it have only been 11 days since Sam left. Eleven days that is starting to feel like 11 weeks. I am just not cut out for single-motherhood. I don't have enough patience, enough stamina, enough energy, or enough consistency. ( Or enough mint chocolate chip ice cream).

The kids are OK. There are usually strong behavior changes when Daddy leaves, and as usual, it is the boys who are the most affected. Nightmares, stuttering and explosive behavior from Tiff and a sad, melancholy demeanor from Collin. It just makes it all that much harder to parent because the behavior is ten thousand times worse then normal.

So, looking for the positives becomes a search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for me. Focus on the positives, FIND them, and enjoy them.

I got 8 minutes of the BEST alone time yesterday. Kaebrie was napping, Kaitlynn was at a friends house, and the boys were watching a survival show on discovery, so I left them here. I had to run to the hospital to pick up Collin's prescriptions, which they had not ordered yet (no surprise there) and on the way back home, I decided to run into the shoppette for a Boise paper and on another whim, decided to buy a car wash. This is one dusty and dirty place, and my pretty new blue van sure wasn't looking pretty.

So I punched in the code, and in I drove. The water started spraying, it was kind of dark, and I turned up the radio as loud as I could stand it. There were some great songs on the Praise and Worship station, and it was so loud that I could feel the music. There is no better place to sing then alone inside a running car wash! Three whole songs. I felt as refreshed when I drove out of there as my van did! :)

(do they have security cameras inside those things???)

We are working SO HARD on teaching the kids to respond correctly to each other. I am so tired of hearing "MOMMY ( she touched me, she took my toy, he stuck his tongue at me, he won't leave me alone, and 12,758 other tattle tales)." Over and over we tell them, "talk to the (sibling) first, using nice words and a nice tone, THEN come get us if they won't listen.

So, just a few minutes ago, I send Kaebrie to her room to get her jammies on and I hear her say,

"please get out."

"please get out."

"please get out."

Seriously, she said it about 11 times, all softly and sweetly. (Progress, I thought, YAY!!!!)

I was so excited she wasn't screaming at someone, but then I realized that whomever was in her room was blatantly ignoring her, and then I started to get mad. So I yelled back there, "WHOEVER IS IN KAEBRIE'S ROOM, SHE HAS ASKED YOU NICELY OVER AND OVER SO PLEASE GET OUT!!!!"

Kaebrie walks out into the hallway and says. "Mommy, they won't get out." Now I am really angry and I am stomping down the hall the her room when she says.'"Larry Boy and Alfred won't get out of my room."

..................... That stops me. She was tattling on her IMAGINARY FRIENDS!!!!!

I tell you what, I do have some experience with three year olds, but this one takes the cake. I have never met a more verbal, social, creative and unique child. All you family back home in Alabama, you have about a month left until we arrive, so start taking your multi-vitamins now and investing in a nice set of ear plugs probably wouldn't hurt anything either.

Tomorrow, I am taking Collin and Kailynn to see Prince Caspian. We have been waiting for about 6 months and are so excited. Collin re-read the book again last week so it would be fresh in his mind. A sitter is coming for the little 2 ( or little 4 if Larry Boy and Alfred are still here tomorrow).

I put on some shorts today. SHOCKING!! And sat outside in the backyard for about 20 minutes, feeling my skin go into shock at the vitamin D exposure. We reached 88 today and will be in the 90's this weekend. It just feels so good not to feel cold!!! I had to wear my sunglasses because the glare coming off my white skin was blinding. But I sat and listened and watched Kaebrie and her friend Colton play on the swingset. They took turns swinging and locking each other up in their jail. The funny thing was when Kaebrie told Colton to push Larry boy on the swing, AND HE DID!!

If any you can tell me how I can get Kaebrie to treat her brothers and sister as politely as she treats Larry boy and Alfred, I would appreciate the advice!

:)

First Tooth!

Well, Christopher reached a milestone today.
He Lost His First Tooth!
It has been hanging for a few days and we tried to get it with dental floss yesterday morning, but it was too slippery.
This afternoon, he spit it out with a mouthful of chewed up cheese crackers.
That was fun {eewwwww} to dig through.
The one right next to it is pretty loose too, so it shouldn't be long before it falls out as well.
(the pictures open up nice and big when you click on them)

He is so proud! He also takes the Smith First Place Award for being the youngest (so far) to lose a first tooth.

That was all the pictures he let me take. He wouldn't open up his mouth again.

Oh well. I got a couple of cute ones.
Collin lost another tooth today as well. He has lost 4 in the past month. But it isn't as cute when you are 11 as it is when you are five.
{Sorry Collin!!}

=0)

AWANA Awards Night

Tonight was the last night of the AWANA program.

AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. They meet for 2 hours every Sunday night and it is a fantastic program. This year all 4 Smith kids met the age requirements and Sam and I loved that even more.

Here is Kaebrie getting her certificate for finishing her book.

She was so pleased!

Cubbies is a 2 year program, Tiff got his book completion certificate and his second book award. He has now graduated from being a cubby, and next year he will be a Sparky!

I tried to get both of them together, but they were pretty wired. Tiff got the award last week for the best attendance and he was really happy with his gift bag full of gum, bubbles and a really cool bubble machine.

They showed the parents some of the things they have learned. Here she is singing her heart out to He Makes The Whole World In His Hands.

Collin and Kaitlynn are both in the TNT class. Collin received an award for finishing his book. Each book requires many projects, lots of memorization, a lot of reading and hard work. Kaitlynn almost got done with hers, so she will it complete it next year.

Then it was time for an ice cream party. Kaebrie loves ANYTHING with sprinkles on it!

Tiff enjoyed the ice cream too, and here he is showing off his dangly tooth. I think I will go and have him bite into an apple in a few minutes. :)

*On another note, Sam made it safely to Bahrain. I really don't think it is a secret where they are as people are freely mentioning it, even from the pulpit this morning.

It is 105 degrees with a lot of humidity there. He does have an air conditioned room with only one room mate, a friend of ours from down the street.

The time difference is 9 hours ahead of us, but he still works out some times for a phone call or two, but mostly it is instant messaging on the computer.

He did a communion service this morning in a tent in the desert.

Pilots from around the world are there and he is enjoying meeting men from pretty much everywhere.

I will update some more when he gives some more information. I wish he could send some of the pictures he says he has taken!

We might have to wait until he get back to post some of those I guess.

Hope everyone had a Happy Mothers Day!

Rose Beal

We had a really unique and memorable field trip today.
We went up to Nampa, Idaho with DeeDee and 2 of her girls, and ReNaye and Wyatt to the War Hawk Air Museum.
The boys were really into figuring out this Morse code machine that still worked.

Kaitlynn and Anna Brooke were really impressed with the bombs and the miniature models.

We had to sit in the back, even though we got there first. We didn't know we needed reservations.

Why did we go?

To hear a speaker, Mrs. Rose Beal. An 86 year old spunky woman with a story to tell that they all needed to hear.

There were over 800 Jr. high and high schoolers there, and I had my doubts about being distracted and not being able to hear, but for the 30 minutes she spoke, you could have heard a pin drop in that large room.

Rose was 11 years old when Hitler took power in Germany. She told the story of the next 7 years of her life. Being separated from family, long train rides, being cramped and crowded and starving, the tunnels they were held in like animals without food or water, the terror of the guards, and so much more.
Of the 17,000 that were sent to this particular place in Poland, there were only 200 survivors.
This was a chance for the children to hear, in person, from a Holocaust survivor. To ask questions, which they did for over 30 minutes!
There won't be many more chances to hear in person from survivors as that generation will be gone before to long.
We thought it was important enough for them to experience. So DeeDee and ReNaye pulled their kids from school today and we all went together.
We are glad we did.
Almost 70 years since she and her mom and 2 brothers caught the LAST ship that sailed to America at that time, she still cried in telling us what she remembered.
What touched me so much was seeing the tears in the eyes of a lot of young teenagers around us. Their generation, and mine as well, have never been through a depression, or a war in our own country, and it is easy to take everything for granted. She made us all feel thankful to be Americans and honored to be able to carry on her story so it is never forgotten.