The Dark Side of Higher Education

There are only two things about going to school that I hate. First, it costs way too much $$$!! Second, it takes me away from my family. When I have class during the day, Ashlyn gets to go to preschool, and Trent gets a play date with Maya (Thanks Mindy!). When I have class at night, Brian gets to play "Mr. Mom". On one such night, Brian was busily trying to juggle all the needs and wants of the two kids. He was in the middle of fixing dinner, and could hear Trent in the next room crying and repeatedly saying, "Mommmyyyyy!" Brian did his best to console him from afar.

Brian: Bud, Mommy's at school.
Trent: Mommmyyyyy!
Brian: It's okay Trent.
Trent: Mommmyyyyy!

After several minutes of trying but getting nowhere, Brian poked his head around the corner and found this:

Now if that doesn't pull at your heart strings, then you might want to check your pulse.

ABC & 123

Ashlyn started preschool earlier this month. I really wasn't planning on her starting so early - she is still two! But, Mindy called me one day last fall and said that a lady in her neighborhood was starting up a preschool. She has an early childhood development degree and had done a preschool before. It is just two days a week for two hours each day, so we decided to give it a go. Plus, it works out so that Ashlyn goes to preschool while I go to school - BONUS! Needless to say, I am so glad I put her in, because she LOVES it!! She looks forward to it each week, and she loves to tell me what they did each day when I pick her up. It is so fun to see how much she is learning, but it is also hard to believe she is so grown-up!

Madi and Ashlyn on the first day! I was a little worried about them being in a class together (Ashlyn + Madi = trouble!), but they have done really well together - at least that is what the teacher says :)

On the first day of school, each child was given a blank paper doll to take home and decorate to look like themself. As you can see, Ashlyn was more interested in decorating herself than the doll - what a clown! I guess she has a couple years to learn to take her homework seriously ;)

A Well Balanced Meal

A carrot in one hand and a sucker in the other. I am such a good mom ;0)

New Year, New Word

I know, I know, the anticipation has been killing you. Here we are almost 1/12 into 2009 and I have not yet revealed my "word". However, before we can talk about 2009, we must first take a look back at 2008. Just in case you forgot, my word for 2008 was "grow". I really wanted to focus on spiritual, mental and emotional growth.

Did I accomplish my goal? Well, I went back to school, so I think I can cross off mental growth. Spiritual growth? I think so. Because of my calling as a RS teacher, I was forced to study. Definitely a good thing. Now I am the primary chorister (weird I know), which does not at all require the same type of study and preparation. I used to study the scriptures, Ensigns, and various churchy books. Nowadays I am trying to figure out the difference between 2/4 and 4/4, practicing my "head, shoulders, knees, and toes", and cutting out paper fish. Oh boy! And emotional growth? Who knows. I'm a woman, I'm emotional.

In reality, "grow" is more of a lifetime goal. I hope to always be learning something new, reading a good book, studying, developing a stronger testimony, and maybe even learning how to control those dang hormones.

Okay, now the moment you've been waiting for:



I actually decided on this word way back in November '08 (a lifetime ago). And my main reason for choosing the word was because I really want to build up our food storage and emergency essentials. However, the more I thought about it, the more areas I found it to apply to my life. "Prepare" involves:

• finances (our savings needs a boost, and so do my kids' college funds)
  
• schooling (no room for procrastination there)
  
• my new calling (I am starting from scratch and I have loads to do)
  
• being on time (that's a toughy for me, but I am usually late because I didn't prepare well enough)
• organization (I think the two go hand-in-hand)
  
• motherhood (so much to teach and prepare my kids for in this world)

So, yes, it is a much bigger word than I had originally thought. I think I may have bit off more than I can chew. But, I'm gonna try my darned hardest. Plus: "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30), and it seems like there is an awful a lot of "fear" happening these days.

13-0

I really can't write about January without mentioning the Utes AMAZING undefeated season. Even if you bleed blue (which just seem so unnatural to me), you have to admit that the Utes had an impressive, outstanding, national-champion-worthy season. Our neighbor said he could hear Brian's screams from his house - good thing he's a Ute fan too ;0). After the BIG and somewhat unexpected win, Brian jumped in "old blue", rolled the windows down, and drove around the neighborhood honking his horn and waving his U flag. Then he came home and lit some fireworks. With a 31-17 victory over Alabama, there was definitely reason to celebrate. GO UTES!!!

Holiday Wrap-Up

I am determined to caught up with my blog this week...we'll see if I fail or succeed. First things first, I need to start where I left off and briefly recap the remainder of our 2008 holiday season. Here it goes...

*We met up with some friends at Thanksgiving Point and took the kids through the lights display.

*We had our annual grandkid party. Grandpa and Grandmom provided a yummy dinner, Grandpa read the kids a story, we decorated gingerbread houses, and all the kids got a new pair of jammies.

*Brian and I went to our first Neck & Nog party. We lucked out and borrowed the sweaters that Mindy and Marty used the week before. Thanks to Mindy's grand creations, we won us a cheese ball - for being cheese balls of course ;0)

*The days before Christmas are kind of a blur - lots and lots of projects! But everything was finished by the 23rd and I spent Christmas Eve wrapping presents while having a Christmas-movie-marathon with the kids.

*In the midst of all the boxes, paper, ribbon and tape, Ashlyn managing to get ahold of a pair of scissors. Kids and scissors and never a good idea, and I have to say that I am usually so careful to keep them out of reach. But when you are in the middle of wrapping a gazillion presents...well, what can I say? I looked over to find Ashlyn giving herself a new "do". Apparently the hair in her eyes was getting in the way of her "movie marathon" and she decided to remedy the situation herself.

Ashlyn gave herself bangs and she actually did a really good job. I barely had to even them out. I didn't think I would like bangs on her, but I do. Brian is still unsure.

*On the night of Christmas Eve, we went to my parents for our annual fondue dinner...Mmmmm. I look forward to this meal every year. It is one of my all-time favorites.

*Christmas was wonderful, perfect really. Snow, snow and more snow!!! I LOVED it! I did feel bad for all the snow plows though. But, I can't remember the last time we had such a white Christmas. So beautiful. The "big" project of the year was this:

I had really wanted to get Ashlyn a kitchen but after looking online for hours, I couldn't find one that I liked that we could afford. So, I gave up on the idea. The very next day, a neighbor came by to see if we wanted a play kitchen that his father-in-law had built in the 70s. They were going to toss it, but decided to first see if we wanted to fix it up for Ashlyn. I was so excited!! We said yes and then brought it home and realized it was going to be quite the project. It definitely looked like it was built in the 70s and desperately needed some modernization. Brian sanded, stained, and painted. The old yellow formica counter top was replaced with tile. We added the shelf to hold baskets of food and hooks to hold pans and utensils. We reused the faucet since it was still in great shape, but did replace the cupboard handles. I love the way it turned out. Brian did such a great job.

*Ashlyn and Trent got spoiled with presents from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Aunt Stacey made Ashlyn's hat and scarf - too cute! Trent got the puppy from Grandmom Lifferth - he LOVES it. Can ya tell?

*The week between Christmas and New Years was nice and relaxing. We breathed. It was great.

*Mindy and Marty hosted another fun New Years Eve party. We decided to have a "fry fest". Among lots of other non-fried foods, we had hot wings, potstickers, navajo tacos, scones, and rosettes (a deep-fried cookie covered in powdered sugar, yum!). It was delicious, but I think it definitely put us all in the mood to start diets the next day!

Well, there you have it. Thanks for reading. On to January '09 :)

Back By Popular Demand!

Okay. Not really. There has been no popular demand, no demand at all in fact. But, it has been almost an entire month since I last blogged, an entire month since I looked at any blogs, an entire month since I felt I had a moment of free time in which I could devote my attention to the blogging world.

I actually got on my google reader about three weeks ago and found that I had 71 new posts to view! Well, that scared me so bad that I just turned off my computer and didn't look back - until now. And I have to tell you, I actually enjoyed my vacation away from my computer. Alright, alright, so I didn't completely avoid my computer. I did get on occasionally to check my email, balance my check book, look up a recipe, etc. But, I did not blog. And, no, I have not gone private...yet. We'll get to that later.

For now, I just figured I'd let anyone who's interested to know that I am alive and well. Not only that, but I am happy. Life is good. Christmas was wonderful. School started again. And now we are getting back into a rountine. And so, I will be finding more time to blog - but where to begin? There is so much to say, so much has happened in a month. So, stick around. I'll do my best to catch you up to happenings of the Smiley household. And I will do my best to catch up with all of you, but I'm not making any promises. I just checked my reader again, it's up to 98! And that doesn't even count all you private folks. Oh boy! Maybe I should go back into hiding.