Ready Or Not....

Five days since I last blogged? I'll blame it on mentally preparing myself for my trip tomorrow and the 12 inches of rain we've received this week. Tomorrow morning, me and my two bff's, Jen and Nessa, are heading for U of I for 36 hours of wild fun. College keg parties, watch out! Not. More like outlet mall, dinner, movie, and oh yeah, a stupid 13.1 mile run. Sounded good 4 months ago. PRAY FOR STORMS!!! This will be the first trip I've ever taken without Scott...my first time away from him in 10 years. Hope he survives the kids. His mom and my parents made it very clear to me tonight that I will be coming home Saturday afternoon! Wish me luck!

running....cheaper than therapy

Easter 2011

Team Smallie survived another Easter. Barely. Ben and Brady spent the night at Uncle Josh's Saturday night, so Cate got to color all of the eggs by herself. Well, Cate and Scott :) (I'm the official family photographer)

This was her very favorite

Sunday morning, Brady called at 7am ready to come home. So much for sleeping in :) The kids had their egg hunt and Brady was a bit disappointed that the Easter bunny didn't leave any candy in his basket. Too bad sucka! This Easter bunny knows that there will be plenty of candy in baskets at the grandparents. I opted for practical gifts this year :)

Here is the Family Foto Easter 2011. Awesome, right?! Carter's hair is clearly out of control. He's getting it cut on Wednesday. That bowl on the table?? Worms of course. Cate collected lots so she could go fishing at my parents house. So gross.

Uncle Josh saved the day and hid eggs at Grammy's house in between rain storms. Good thing Cate was prepared with her new rain boots!

Our kids behavior was less than stellar at my parents house Sunday night. I could offer up lots of excuses for the heathens....exhausted, over-stimulated, sugar rush, etc.....but in reality, sometimes even the greatest kids act like heathens. We forgive them.

Saturday

For Ben's birthday yesterday, he got to spend the day doing what he loves most...playing baseball. His team had two games in Jacksonville, IL and they ended up winning one and losing one. The weather was a perfect 70 degrees and sunny...so much better than the cold rain back home :) I'll post some pics for those that didn't make the trip (ahem, my parents)

Cate and her friend Drake chased bubbles for a long time. Drake is the funniest kid ever...so dramatic (guess that's why they get along)!

"The bubbles are coming, the bubbles are coming"

"Nooo, not the bubbles!"

"It's going to get me!!!"

"Aaaahhhh, it got me!"

"RUN!!!"


After Scott chewed Ben out for having a bad attitude, I'm pretty sure I know where he would have liked to stick that bat :)

Double!

Looking at Brady inside the dugout. This is right before he was "banished" (his word of the week) from playing in the dugout during the game :)

A special dessert for a special birthday boy!

Happy 9th Birthday Bennett!

here he grows again....

How did this little guy get to be.....

this big guy???

And this sweet scared little boy....is now a confident pitching machine!

Makes me very sad. My babies are growing up. I think I'll save the Jacksonville bday pictures for tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to cry my way through Ben's baby pictures and post a few on here :)

Happy 9th Birthday Bennett!!!!

Storms, Fractures, and Naughty 3yr Olds

Be warned....totally random post below.

We've had some crazy storms lately...and lots of them. Tornado warnings=being forced to sit in the basement and do nothing but watch tv. I heart tornado warnings.

Scary sky outside our front window!

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Last Sunday, Carter was kicked in the face during his soccer game. By a foot. He complained a little after the game, but didn't say much other than it was sore. Each day the pain got worse and yesterday, Scott called me from school to say that Carter was in a lot of pain and couldn't eat his lunch. I thought his lack of talking this week was just my prayers finally being answered ;) Anyway, I took him to the doctor who sent us for x-rays and turns out he has a hairline fracture of the mandible. Guess telling him all week to "suck it up" was bad parenting. Oops. There's nothing they can do for him, but the doc did prescribe some Tylenol with codeine for the pain. He should be good as new in about a week.

My illustration to show where the fracture is :) You can still see where his face is red/swollen. He also has lots of sores inside his mouth on the jawline from the trauma. Fun!

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I'm becoming very aware that the 3's are way worse than the 2's. (Yes, Cate is my 4th child to go through the 3's, but everything with girls is so much more hard core!) Into everything, Miz Cate is. Last week while we were eating at Chevy's, she finished her entire lunch and asked to get down. She was very quiet standing behind my chair and I turned around to find her filling up her shoe with sand from the plant!

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Cate: (in her most excited voice) "Moooommmmm, the Easter bunny is sleeping on our back porch!!!!!"
Shit, this can't be good.
And it wasn't. Apparently our not-so-vicious dog Buddy...whose meanest moments are when he barks at thunder...got himself a wascally wabbit. I have no proof of this other than he was outside part of the morning and a dead rabbit then appeared on our porch. I assume death by broken neck? No blood and neither dog showed any interest in it once it was "sleeping". Another mystery unsolved. Anyway, I was not going to dispose of this animal. I could just picture that stupid rabbit jumping up as soon as I got close enough. I text Scott at work and his response was "have Brady take care of it when he gets home". Yes, Brady is only 6, but he's most definitely the 2nd leading man in this family (and barely 2nd at that!). Of course, Cate was enthralled by this bunny. She crouched down to get a better look and would hush anyone near as to not wake it from it's nap! When Brady walked in the door after school I told him the situation, he changed clothes, grabbed a shovel and heaved it over the fence so Scott could take it to its final resting place later. What a man!

Hope that bunny wakes up before Easter morning!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

This week marked the start of Bennett's baseball season. GO ILLINI! This is Ben's first year of kid pitch and to be honest, my expectations were low. His team (State Champs last year!) lost four very good players from last year and kid pitch is just a whole different game than machine pitch. However, I was pleasantly surprised at their performance Tuesday night. Even though they lost, the team played so much better than I expected. And last night, we won 12-2! Ben pitched two innings...making five of the six outs himself...four strike-outs and caught one pop up. He also got to catch, which is his favorite position. Last nights game definitely got me in the baseball mood, and I'm actually hoping tomorrows games won't be rained out!

He had two great hits last night...one over the center fielders head! He also struck out once and since Scott had to miss the game due to his own game, I went ahead and yelled his standard "encouragement"..."SWING THE BAT BENNETT". :)

The boys are very well dressed on the baseball field! Uniforms/bags/and matching shoes are a must! But, I hate their hats. Of course, Ben loves it. He also loves when I sneak into the dugout and take pictures

Team Illini's biggest fan!

My Brilliant Sons

An email I received from Scott today (keep in mind, he is Carter's 8th grade teacher)...
~We had a presentation in class today from a Prevention Officer from Chestnut Health Center. Carter raised his hand and asked a question (which always makes me nervous).
Carter: "Who is that a picture of on your badge?"
Officer: "Um, me"
Carter: "Why would you put a picture of yourself on your badge?"
Good luck to us. **************************************************************************** While Carter was studying for his health test tonight, Bennett said "I know what vagina is....CHEST PAINS!!!"
We're raising brilliant children here at the Smallie house!

True Love

Some men show their love with flowers or poems. My husband? Fountain soda. When he knows I'm going to have a long day or the day prior was less-than-stellar, he often drops off my favorite fountain beverage (currently, Quik Trip pepsi with crushed ice in a styrofoam cup) during his prep hour. Awwww, so sweet, I know. But this weekend, he went above and beyond. He let me wear his beloved sunglasses during my marathon relay race. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but if you know Scott Smallie, you know he NEVER goes outside without his sunglasses. EVER. His highschool softball girls gave him the nickname "Ricky Raccoon" because he has permanent sunglasses tanlines on his face. Seriously, I would have a very hard time finding a picture of him outside without them on. And on Sunday, he had to sit through an entire soccer game without them. True love, I tell ya. I guess I should mention that on mile 5 of my race, when I had to take the glasses off to wipe the sweat from my eyes and a lens popped out of the frame, I nearly fell to the ground and faked a heat stroke just so he wouldn't kill me. Thankfully, I was able to fix them and since he doesn't read my blog, he'll never know!!!

Rockin' the Oakley's.

Girls of '94 rocked the Go!St Louis Marathon. 94 is the year we graduated highschool (not college like some dumb woman at the expo asked me!) Left to right...me, Jen, Angela, and Shelley. Jen and Ang have been friends since 2nd grade and Shelley and I have been friends since kindergarten!

My Thursday

Things I did today....in order.
Brady to school
Cate to my parents house
Bennett to Podiatrist
Bennett to school
Quik Trip
Big River Running Co (South St. Louis)
Walgreens
Early Childhood Center
My parents house
Home
ATM
Coolidge Middle School
Business Equipment Center
Home
My parents house
Golf Course
My parents house
QT
Brady and Bennett's 2 hr. soccer practice
Home to pick up Carter and Scott
Steak N Shake
Schnucks

I left this morning at 8am and walked back in the door tonight at 9pm. Those stops back at home throughout the day totaled 25 minutes. Longest. Day. Ever. Tonight, at Steak n Shake, I wrote the above list on my placemat and Scott gave me a very loud standing ovation...he is such an ass. (I think I at least deserved a thank-you)

On a great-parenting note....Scott and I have teased Bennett about his lack of running skills forever. Today we found out he has Sever's disease (severe) in both feet. He was fitted for orthotics and will have to wear a boot on each foot (one at a time) until they heal. If we chose not to treat it, he would not be able to play sports until he is finished growing (15-17 yrs old).
As a family, we have decided to cut-out all fast food for 30 days. Subway does not count. And apparently, Steak n Shake, when eaten inside the restaurant, does not count. If we succeed, everyone gets to pick a new pair of shoes...whatever they want. Missing the actual food isn't the issue...it's missing the convenience of running through a drive-thru that will be the hard part.
In other news, I've been asked to watch Miss Hadley a few days a week. 8 weeks old and just as sweet as can be. If it weren't for the three toddlers running around and getting into everything because they knew I was occupied, I would have sat on the couch and cuddled with this baby all day long. Cate's room is almost finished. Painting is complete but I have to finish up the dresser and side table. I found the coolest art canvas that ties all of the colors together....love it. This is a picture of the blue paint vs. the primer(top of wall) I had to use on the walls. The blue is a very very light shade and when finished, it looks great. I love it!

Cate convinced Scott it was ok to go to the store in pants with silk pj's short over them, a polka dot dress, her coat, and flip flops. 'Throwing in the white towel' is how he describes his discipline tactics with her.

And one last picture...Scott and the boys (which means Brady) are creating a raised bed to grow vegetables. Today, my dad dropped by and built two raised beds and delivered some compost. I can't wait to eat fresh tomatoes picked right out of my yard.