Sick of Being Sick!!

The sniffles, the snotty noses, the fevers, the hacking coughs, the blahs, the crud.... You name it, we've had it, are having it, are trying to get rid of it!!! Been making it's rounds in our house for about 3 weeks now and we're declaring we've had enough!!! Do I hear an "amen" resounding in the heavens?!?! Lord, let it be so!

Rea has been home from school all week, hopefully can go back today as long as her temp didn't creep back up. I've been bringing work home from school for her, giving her homework from books I have at the house, too, and even got her some library books! Can you stay "stir crazy"??!! She's been up in her "new room" (that would be David's room in the loft that she confiscated upon his departure) for the past 2 days, sitting in bed with the computer on her lap playing games, her box of tissues and cup of Sprite on her night stand beside her, looking way too grown up to be a sick kid....

The other kids are doing great, and swim lessons are continuing on! Ya'shar has done soooo great - big improvements! It's amazing what a new pair of goggles will do for a kid who hates water in his eyes.... I felt so bad! Didn't realize they were leaking so bad, so he'd freak out and cry everytime they'd try to get him to put his head under the water! Daryle took him to Big 5 Sporting Goods and let him pick out his very own cool pair, and now he's got confidence galore!! Last night after swim lessons he came home and told me, "Mommy, I was swimming up a storm!" :) Too cute!!

Looking forward to a day off at home this Thursday! This is my looooong week at work and I'm feeling it more than usual.... (Lord, I'm so grateful for my job and all you've blessed my with! Just wanted to be clear!)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Pterodactyl Invasion!

David found this awesome blow up pterodactyl in a box of stuff when he was cleaning/packing/sorting last week getting ready to move. (And yes, I had to ask my 7 year old son how exactly to spell "pterodactyl".) So while Daryle had the kids out at swim lessons, we blew it up and hung it in the boys' room as a surprise when they came home. I sent them up on some random errand as an excuse to get them in their room, and then we waited.... They went upstairs, it was reeeeeaaallly quiet, and then.... pounding elephants charging down the stairs!!!

"Mom, Mom!!! Guess what!!! You'll NEVER believe this!!! There's a DINOSAUR in our room! You gotta see it!!! Come quick!!"

Priceless. :-)

David

David's been in Baltimore for a week and is all settled in! He started classes this past Tuesday after registering on Monday and really likes EVERYTHING about his new school. What a blessing for him to feel completely at ease that this is exactly where God wants him to be! He moved one floor up to a different apartment with 2 other fellow law students as his room-mates. Looks like he's off to a roaring start to this new adventure!!

He was gone less than 30 minutes when Daryle took him down to the airport last week, and Rea called him on his cell phone to ask if she could move into his old room... :) Not wasting any time!!

We miss you, David!

Polar Bear Club!?!?!?!

"Who lets their kids swim OUTSIDE when it's 30 degrees out???!!!! WHO would do such a thing???? Those parents are ___________ and ____________ and definitely ________!!" (Feel free to fill in the blanks!)

I guess that would be us.... :) For the record, I will elaborate on the above insanity:

1. They are taking swim lessons! Apparently the dead of winter (yes, it's cold even in California in the "winter" time...) is the best time to find an opening and get them in. Ya think?? We've been wanting to get them in lessons at this place for awhile now and when the opportunity came up, we grabbed it!

2. The pool is heated to 80 degrees. And the locker rooms that they swarm to after their 1/2 hour swim lesson is up is a balmy 85+ degrees.

3. They LOVE it! And after only 2 1/2 weeks the older ones are swimming half way across the pool! Mission accomplished!!!

4. Ya'shar is the easiest one to spot. He's the only kid in the POOL with his hair still DRY.

5. Almost makes me wanna go swimming with them, too. Almost.

University of Maryland School of Law!!!

Been an exciting few days around here... David is moving to Baltimore, Maryland! Lots of excitement in the Smith house! Lots of packing and shipping and shopping and planning, and lots of thanks and gratitude for prayers answered fully and completely, in God's timing and in His way. God, You're so GOOD!!!

So since David's been going to school in either Florida or Southern California for the past 5 years, we've spent a lot of time discussing the weather and laughing about what a culture shock THAT is going to be! The pictures are some that I downloaded of what his law school looks like normally, and what it probably looks like now! We've been digging out hats and gloves from the years they were in Chicago, a place who's winter weather probably puts the east coast to shame, so if he can survive there I'm sure he'll be fine anywhere! And he bought his first pair of long johns. :)

Hope everyone enjoyed their New Year celebrations!!! With all of the latest news, I'm enjoying a week off with everyone and hoping it goes super slow! I'm battling a rotten cold, one that I'm hoping won't latch on to anyone else...

Stay tuned for more adventure-updates next week!!