A southwestern Christmas Eve with lights, candy canes, and luminarias!
Five kids getting ready to open up the loot.
Aaron with his magical remote control car that can drive on ceilings and walls. Awesome!
Bethany with her new stuffed dog and Miranda with the bike she's been pining after for several months.
Miranda sitting on Santa's lap at the Schmutz's annual Christmas Caroling Party. It's great fun. The Schmutzes load up two tractors with haybales and everyone climbs on, bundles together, drives around the neighborhood and sings Christmas songs. Then we go back to the house for a fabulous chilli dinner. Good times! Unfortunately, Amber threw up all over me towards the end of the caroling and had to go home with Daddy for a bath. 
Bethany and Miranda posing with cousins after their Christmas performance at the annual Hurst holiday dinner in Monticello. It was a quick trip, but it is always fun to see aunts, uncles and cousins. And of course the food is out of this world.
Amber's first pedicure. Grandma decided to treat all the daughters and granddaughters to an afternoon at the spa. Amber thought it was very relaxing. :)
Miranda and Bethany watching Barbie movies and soaking their feeet. You ought to see the designs on all of our toes. We're quite festive.
Jazz Band I playing at the local retirement center. Chad had concerts almost every day last week. He spent the last day of school before break performing in a school music assembly and playing in a teacher vs. students basketball game. He didn't spend a single minute in class. Chad saved the basketball game during the last five seconds by getting fouled and pulling ahead of the teachers by sinking two free throw shots. Afterwards, the crowds erupted into squeals of delight and everyone ran onto the court in celebration. Ah, middle school!
Miranda at the iceskating rink. The Activity Day Girls had a budget surplus this year and we decided to spend it at the Ice Post. It was a lot of fun. We had a couple of injuries but nothing serious. I wish I had a picture of Bethany but she refused to get off the ice. She got pretty good towards the end and her fellow Activity Day girls told her she looked like a professional. :)
The Desert Ridge "A" season basketball party at Fuddruckers. The boys had a great time and they all love the tradition of signing each others' laminated jerseys after the season is over as a memento to keep.
More Fuddruckers. Kai and Chad (pretending he doesn't see me trying to take a picture) with Amber joining in the fun.
Here is a picture of the cake I made for the party. I decided to make it look just like their basketball jerseys.
Aaron all dressed up and ready to go to his first Desert Ridge band concert. He looked quite handsome and he rocked the house (or I guess it was actually the gym)!
Sam & I took the girls to see a production of the Secret Garden Musical last night. My friend Sharee played the role of Martha and she is an absolute star! Sharee teaches a children's musical theatre class in the the summers that the girls just love - particularly Miranda. When I told her yesterday afternoon that she needed to get ready to go to Sharee's play, she said, "It's tonight? But Mom, we haven't even practiced yet!", thinking I was talking about the plays that she and the kids put on after the class in the summer. :) The girls loved the play and they were absolutely enthralled with the little girl who played Mary. We went to a late show and they got a little bit sleepy during some of the adult musical numbers, but every time Mary would come on stage, they would perk right up. I asked Miranda if she would like to be in a play like that, and she emphatically answered "Yes!"
The three Smith princesses.
Amber slept over at Grandma's on Thanksgiving Eve. She was getting restless as they were settling down to their long winter's nap and she finally told Grandma, "I'm bored of going to sleep." Dang! Going to sleep is the most exciting part of my day. :)
Here is a portion of our Thanksgiving pie extravaganza. We generally try to have at least one pie per person in our family. It's a tradition dating back to my childhood. I'm not sure exactly how it started, but I'm pretty sure most of the blame falls on my Aunt Elizabeth who has never been known to celebrate any holiday half-way. We will not speak of the tragic end met by the chocolate mint pie this year because I tear up just thinking about it. If you want details, you will have to ask Rebecca and the boys. :(
Another Thanksgiving tradition in our family is the post dinner trip to the movie theatre. This year my sisters and I went to see "New Moon". I'm not the biggest Twilight fan, but sometimes when you have three sisters, you just have to take one for the team (even if you do get endlessly mocked by the adolescent, male contingent of your family). I'm not sure Rebecca and Emily will let me go next year though, because I burst out laughing at terrribly inappropriate moments in the film. I ask you - does no one else think that the moment where the werewolves come bursting into the forest as tall and wide as the trees through which pass is absolutely hilarious? Or what about when Bella gasps in shock after Edward suavely proposes with lips all atwitch? I almost expected her to blurt out, "Edward, this is all so.....sudden!) As if she hasn't been writing "Mrs. Edward Cullen" on every notebook she owns for months now. And speaking of which, doesn't anyone else think Bella may be just a teensy-weensy bit pathetic? Or that she might not top anyone's list of fun persons to invite to a party? I'm just sayin'... 
Today was Amber's Thanksgiving party at school. Have I mentioned how glad I am that Amber is still attending this preschool?
Amber goes to a developmental preschool for children with special needs. She is a peer model. For the first couple of weeks, she was having a hard time focusing and following directions. Her teachers thought for awhile that she wouldn't work out as a peer model and that she might even need to be evaluated for a learning disability herself. I cried and cried because I was worried that something was wrong with her and because I knew she'd be disappointed if she couldn't stay in the class. She loves her teachers and the other kids and talks about them all the time.
Well, things have improved a lot. I think she still has trouble focusing, but then I remember Aaron's preschool teachers telling me the same thing about him and now he's practically a straight A student (darned B plus in math). Her teachers told me last week that they are so glad they decided to keep her because she is so compassionate. That is definitely true about her. She is the first person to dole out hugs and kisses to her family members when they are hurt or sad. I guess she does the same things with the kids in her class. We sure are lucky to have this "spreekool" girl and to have such great preschool teachers and friends.
Here is the last picture we have of our lovely Cottonwood. When the landscaper first xeriscaped out front yard and planted this tree, it was so tiny that we had to stake it in three places and I still thought it would snap like a twig in a wind storm. Four years later, it had become a monster with huge, sprawling roots and millions of leaves that dumped all over the rocks every fall. It turns out that you aren't really supposed to plant Cottonwoods anywhere except down by the river because as they mature, they become absolutely huge. So, alas, we had to say goodbye to our little tree before it did serious damage to the infrastructure of our home. 
So, here is our family's new little tree. It is a 6 ft. blue spruce. It will get quite a bit bigger, but the root system is not nearly as invasive as that of a cottonwood. Plus, it smells lovely and only drops it's needles once every three years. It also makes a great outdoor Christmas tree and I'm sure we will have fun decorating it next week if I can find another outlet for an extra string of lights.
It seems strange to have a new tree in this spot. By the time I came home from picking Amber up from preschool and doing a little shopping, the tree cutters had already cut down the cottonwood and were loading it into the truck. I didn't think they were coming so early and I felt bad about not being able to say goodbye. Dumb, I know, but I kind of feel like I betrayed an old friend.
The Hoosiers played together for the first time this weekend. Here are two of the most handsome boys on the team, if I do say so myself. Aaron didn't appreciate my "constructive" criticism after the first game. Not only did I make him cry but he came home and wrote "Loser!" all over one of his tshirts and wore it around for the rest of the night just to make me feel like the horrible mother that I am. Alas, will I never learn to leave pep talks to the coach? I apparently am not very good at them. The second game went much better and Aaron even got a basket. Woo Hoo! When that ball went through the hoop, everyone on the team and their parents erupted in cheers. Chad thinks it's not fair that everybody made such a big deal over one basket when he got 17 points. But I say, suck it up, Bud!
Here are Bethany and Amber in their matching dresses. Amber was mad at Sam for taking her CD away when we took the picture below so she refused to sit with us and we had to take the above picture after she calmed down. Ah, life with a three year old.
But here are the rest of us. We are a bunch of sillies who wore matching dresses to church. I love doing that. I know it's cheesy, but there's only so many years that the girls will put up with it, so I'm striking while the iron's hot. 
Here is the cake I made for the baby shower of Sarah and AdriAnne - two of the cutest pregnant ladies ever. It was really fun to decorate, but now the leftovers are haunting me. My diet was going just great until Halloween weekend. I had lost 5 lb. and my pants were starting to feel quite loose and comfy. Shoot, I was about to get out the old, smaller jeans just for kicks and giggles. But how do you say no to jack-o-lantern pizza and 100 Grand bars lovingly offered to you by your darling son? Plus, some evil temptress brought the most fabulous current tart to the ward Halloween party. The world must be against me. How does one have self discipline this time of year, I ask you? And can someone please come get the rest of this cake and take it away? I can't bring myself to throw it out and I have to lose 5 more pounds before Thanksgiving pie making day.
Here's our princess on a unicorn. At first I thought Miranda wanted to be an actual unicorn and I bought a vintage pattern off of ebay. Her face fell when she saw it however, and we finally figured out that she had riding a unicorn more in mind than actually being one.
Aunt Emily made Miranda magical with face sparklies and a glittery butterfly.
Bethany decided to be a devil this year. Her brothers would tell you that the costume choice was quite appropriate. :) But Mommy thinks she's the nicest devil ever.
Here's our little flower. She has the most fun of everyone on Halloween. She runs from door to door screaming with excitement. What a cutie!
Here are the girls with their aunt Strawberry Shortcake. Thanks Em for making the girls beautiful for Halloween. I wish we had pictures of the boys but Aaron is too cool for pictures this year and Chad was just too cool for Halloween in general. He went long boarding with his friend instead. I guess every party has a pooper (or two)!
So, it turns out that Bethany has become a quite um... agressive soccer player. This is her second year playing and I almost didn't sign her up. Soccer always conflicts with baseball and I found that Grandma and the aunts were taking her to half of her games. It seemed like I just couldn't make it work. Plus, I didn't think she particularly loved it. Miranda certainly didn't. Fortunately (I think), one of Bethany's best friends begged her to be on her soccer team and we were able to get her on in a semi-legal legal way. :) Well, since about the third game of the season, Bethany has become a beast. She loves playing defense and has decided that it is up to her to protect the goal at all times - even when she's playing full-back or center. Often times, she will hang out in the goal box just because, "The goalie needed my support." Yesterday, her coach asked her why she was hanging back near the goal when she was supposed to be playing center and she answered, "But coach, no one else is defending." The coach laughed and told her to let him worry about it and just play her position. She also is seemingly always on hand when it's time for a corner kick or a throw-in. Yesterday, the coach was about to assign someone else to throw in the ball when Bethany just went ahead and did it. It went something like this. "Ella throw it in - or okay, Bethany, that'll work, I guess." And right before the end of the fourth quarter, the ball went off sides and Bethany ran for it. You could hear Olivia running behind her yelling, "Bethany, it's my turn to throw it in." Luckily, just then the game ended so we didn't have a brawl on the soccer field. I'm not sure what to think about this turn of events. I'm thrilled that she's becoming assertive and that she has made several goals and assists this year but I don't want her to turn into a total ball hog. Any suggestions? It's kind of funny now, but it may become less and less funny as time goes on.
Here is a short clip of Chad's jazz solo from the concert last night. Bass guitar is his absolute passion. He plays all day and reads guitar books like he used to read sports books. He never volunteered to do a solo with the trombone last year and he dreads recital time because he is terrified to play a piano solo. So the fact that he volunteered to do this shows you how much he loves playing his bass. Check out the smile on his face at the end of the solo.
Tonight was pumpkin carving night at the Smith house. Check out these bad-boys! Unfortunately now we have to eat 5 lbs of roasted pumpkin seeds. I never have developed a taste for them.
Miranda's Halloween tribute to Michael Jackson. I think she has watched the "Thriller" video once too often. 
Aaron says to tell everyone that this is a picture of Chad with a future Diamondback B-team basketball player. First, we'd better see how his first season ever in a competitive basketball league goes this fall. He and Chad are on the same AYBL team (Go Hoosiers!) It is the first time they've ever been on the same sports team and it should be lots of fun. Hopefully, they will still like each other next spring.
Friday, I woke up from a lovely autumn nap to find that the girls had been decorating. The front yard looks great. Don't you love harvest decorations? Earlier in the day, they had hung ghosties and spider webs with Aunt Emily at Grandma's house and I guess they decided they were experts and should do our house too. What a fun surprise.
This morning was the Special Shapes Balloon Rodeo. There are some really interesting balloons. There is a sunshine, a cow, a house, a beer can, an Energizer bunny - you name it. They don't fly as high as the round balloons, but boy are they fun to watch.
Grandma and the Smith kids watching the balloons from the huge windows at Burger King. Amber has been going around for three days saying, "Balloons! I see balloons!" and shrieking with delight. She and her peeps have been painting balloons at preschool this week too. What fun! And speaking of October fun, they also made spider snacks at preschool yesterday. Thank goodness Miss Melissa let Amber stay in the class. :)
Here are the round balloons floating on the horizon. They ascended after the special shapes, but they were worth the wait. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?
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