Useless

Bennett: (Screaming from his room) "Moooooooommm, where is my baseball jersey?"

Me: (*sigh* pet peeve---screaming at me from another room) "It's in your closet."

Bennett: "Which side of my closet?"

Me: (Are you $#%&*!@ kidding me? That closet is one rod not a 200 sq. foot walk-in) "LOOK FOR IT"

Bennett: "I did. I still can't find it."

Me: "It's on the left side." (Of course it is. I have their closets organized from left to right....sports uniforms, school polos, pants, tshirts, long sleeve shirts)

Bennett: (3 minute pause...which I'm certain is not from actually looking for the shirt..he's definitely sitting on his bed watching tv) "Moooooommmm, it's just not here"

Me: "Bennett Smallie, I know for a fact that jersey is hanging in your closet. Do you know how I know this? Because I have washed every piece of friggin' laundry in this house over the past 48 hours...including all bedding, drapes, pillows, and rugs. If I walk into your room and find that shirt in your closet, there's going to be hell to pay"

Bennett: long pause "DAAAADDDDD"

Just another typical day here at Casa Smallie. At least it was warm and the kids were able to play outside ALL day. Brady's buddy Jack came over and they rode bikes, killed bad guys with sticks, and counted Jack's 216 bouncy balls.

Ben practicing his mad basketball skills

Crazy Cate in her ruby red shoes

wednesday. thursday.

Last night, in the middle of the Dippin' Dots ice cream store (is that still the ice cream of the future?), Carter and Ben let me have it. I don't know where it came from but one minute they were eating and the next they were going off about how I only take pictures of Brady and Cate. Of course I ignored them, but once we were home, I decided to snap a few pics just to make them happy. And like always, they yelled and complained about having their picture taken. I can't win.

Here is Carter after our twenty minute fight over me not letting him play soccer with his friends after school Thursday if it's raining. Seriously.

I have two new BFF's. Washer and Dryer. The kids are fascinated and I'm still confused. Where is all the water and where does the Oxiclean go?!?!

Cate was in a very "bright" mood when she got dressed this morning. I never know what she's going to put on :)

Yesterday she wore pigtails....

And today they're gone!

I love her new haircut!!

Notice her playhouse in the background. The big bad wolf paid her another visit and blew it down. It's a very intense dramatic scene...nothing in the living room is safe :)

Bennett also got his haircut (that makes 4 out of 6 for us this week). He wanted it cut just like the highschool hockey goalie, Clint. Thankfully, Clint's mom is a stylist and Bennett loves his new do!

I received this letter yesterday. Way to go Bennett!

Hey look! Another picture of Carter! I would take more pictures of him regularly, but it's such a process. I take one~he looks at it~he deletes it~I take another~he looks at it~he deletes it. He takes all of the fun out of "candid" pictures! And is it just me (and my Ambien) or is he starting to look older? Only 5+months before he's a freshman and he is so excited about it. "Highschool's going to be the greatest time of my life mom"..... I sure hope so, it was for me :)

Cate *helping* me make brownies.

This now concludes my brief update on the last two days.

Week Review

Cate came down with a pretty vicious cough and fever last Thursday. By Friday night, she was coughing non-stop and her breathing had become labored. I called the doctors exchange at 10pm and they told us to head to Children's Hospital. Uncle Josh was here within minutes to sit with the boys while we were gone (he's a pro at this. Reminds me of the time my water broke at midnight and he got "the call". I'm sure he was thrilled to walk into the kitchen as I was leaking amniotic fluid EVERYWHERE. Ahh, good times). Anyway, the ER waiting room was packed with kids that sounded just as terrible as Cate. After a few hours of waiting (five less than the second time Brady needed stitches), we were called back and the nurse immediately noticed Cate was "retracting" when she took a breath. Each time she inhaled, you could see her ribs on her back because she was working so hard. The doctor came in and ordered chest x-rays. Cate did great and cooperated with all of the nurses and doctors during each procedure. The x-rays showed pneumonia in her lungs. Once we were home, she slept most of the day and the medicine has made a huge difference. Monday was her follow-up appt and everything sounded great. We are soooo ready for spring :)

Poor sick baby Cate in the waiting room. I can't believe I forgot my camera and had to use my phone to take pictures.

Scott breaking his neck trying to watch Sportscenter in our hospital room

On Monday night, Brady and Ben had two soccer games. They won both and are undefeated going into the last game next Monday. This is a picture of Brady and Josh between games. They are the best of friends. On Sunday, Brady got to hang out at Josh's house for 10 hours..his first time going to a friends house without Bennett!

Today is Bennett's President presentation. He is Franklin D. Roosevelt, (which I'm sure you guessed from the picture!) He had to research and write a speech to read in front of the class. Then the entire 3rd grade will walk through every classroom in the school, showing off their costumes (the girls chose a First Lady to research) and giving facts about their President. Cate is so ready for swim season. She wore her suit and flip-flops all night last night. She even packed her swim bag with towels and pool toys (including Brady's construction goggles). I think we'll have to work in a trip to the Y this weekend.

Brady and Scott got their heads shaved

That's about all the excitement going on around here. Baseball season starts Monday, so I'm mentally preparing myself for that. And Carter's outdoor soccer starts next weekend...pray for warm weather!!!

Run For Your Life

In case you're wondering, yes, I'm still running. Coming up on my one-year anniversary of starting this stupid "hobby". Obviously, I still have a love-hate relationship with running. We had a rough winter here in the midwest, and even though I don't mind running in freezing cold weather, the three inches of ice stopped me in my tracks. It's ridiculous how long it took me to work up to six-mile runs and then how fast I "lost it" when I couldn't run for a few weeks. But, I have a lot of motivation to get back at it...I'm signed up for my first half-marathon April 30! Jen and Ness and I are heading to UofI for a girls weekend and to run 13.1 miles. Tomorrow starts my official training, but thanks to the weather, I've been able to run outside a lot these last two weeks to get myself warmed up. Next weekend, Candi and I are running a Mardi Gras, Run for Beads 5k in the Lou...margaritas and beer at the water-stations! Then, there's the St Pats 5-mile run in March, and the Marathon Relay with Shelley, Angela, and Jen on April 10. Can't wait for new race t-shirts to add to my collection!

Bennett and Brady (both desperately in need of haircuts) love to comment on how sweaty and gross I am when I get back from a run....nothing but support around here!!!!

97 days til swimsuit season!

Random

Nothing too exciting going on around here. 70 degrees today...hooray! I'll just post some pictures since I have nothing to say. (I realize that 99% of my pictures lately {or always?} are of Cate. Yes, I have three other kids, but all they're up to is XBOX, MTV, and fighting. No great photo opportunities there)

Givin' the business to Brady

First flips of 2011

Aunt Meme and Uncle Joe bought Cate a trunk full of dress up clothes for her birthday...she loves them!

She calls this flapper dress her "dance pwincess dress". Scott calls it her "hooker dress". She wears it all the time...

Grace and Gabby loved playing dress up too!

Our nephew, Jon, turned 16 on Sunday! Scott originally thought we'd wait til summer to let the boys ride with Jon but just a few hours after passing his driving test, he picked them up for a spin! Today, he and Carter cruised around town and of course stopped by Burger King. 10 and 2 Jon and NO CELL PHONE!

Delaney, Cate, and Harper had a great time playing at Jon's party. This picture cracks me up because Delaney looks so huge! Crazy camera angle is to blame. All three girls are exactly one year apart...4...3...2 :) We're excited for Harper's birthday party this weekend.

That's all I've got...nothing too exciting. This weekend is packed full of fun activities...basketball, soccer, trivia night, Grammy's bday, Harpers bday, and we're getting a new washer and dryer (Praise the Lord). Maybe I'll get a few pictures of the boys...maybe not.

Adored.

I hope Miss Cate realizes how lucky she is to have so many people that adore her! She clearly loves the attention :)

On Saturday, we had her final 3rd birthday celebration. Lots of family, lots of fun. So blessed to have such great people in our lives. Here's hoping it's her best year ever!

Mickey's Magic

On Thursday, I took Brady and Cate to Mickey's Musical Magic Show at the Chaifetz Arena. (Ben had basketball and Scott had Carter's highschool registration..yikes!) Grandma Vineta gave us the tickets and it was our first time going to a show like this. Cate enjoyed all of the shows at Disneyworld, so I knew she would love this too. And she did! She sat in her seat the entire time and hung on every word being said. I could tell she really "got it" because she clapped at the right times and knew when to yell "abracadabra"! Brady really liked it too...but neither of us could figure out how they did any of the magic tricks!

This hat came with Brady's cotton candy...Cate wore it the ENTIRE show

Brady finally got it back..on the ride home :)

Gettin' Crafty

Loooove my sisters Cricut paper cutting machine thing!!

Don't you just love Cate's birthday sign?!

Finally found a way to display the kids artwork! (Although I think I'll find a fun art quote and use that instead of "create". Cricut sells vinyl pages that were super easy to hang on the wall)

Miss Cate Turns 3!!!

And Scott didn't think we would survive her 2's....

Well, today we begin the adventure of the 3's. More attitude, less listening, sass, spunk, school (holla!)...I can't wait to see what else is in store for Miss Cate!

Each year, I write a letter to my kids on their birthday and put it in their baby book for them to read when they're older. I will highlight a few things I will be writing to Cate...

~at 36 months, you weigh a whopping 29 pounds~your favorite place to lounge is on the back of the couch with your favorite dog Murphy~you still love being naked. I have no idea why you are so comfortable wearing only socks all day long, but whatever. I gave up on this months ago~ you hate having your hair combed and cut. This drives me crazy. Your dad will remind you of this when you are one day asking for $100+ haircuts~you call your brothers "my boys". It's really the cutest thing ever!~you sleep with me and your daddy every night, smack-dab in the middle of our bed...and have since you were 2.5 days old~"I have a see-wee-us pwoblem" is your most used phrase. You always have problems :) ~your brothers still dote on you and they think you are the funniest, prettiest, most precious thing ever~lately you talk a lot about witches and monsters. Your favorite story to retell over and over again is "the big bad wolf"~when you were playing hide-and-seek with your brothers and you were "it", you counted to ten in Spanish...such a show-off :)~you are still a rockstar sleeper!!

Now a look-back at her past birthdays:

Happy Birthday to the happiest, sweetest, most-perfect girl we have :p.

WE LOVE YOU CATIE BUG!!

Wow!

Today is Cate's 3rd birthday (stay tuned for a birthday post). I let her open a few gifts this afternoon...she's easy to please these days...she was so happy with her new Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! movie :)