Blog?!?

Facebook is evidently my blog. I suppose I thrive more on the interaction of comments and banter that occurs with Facebook. However, in case there happens to be some family (or friends) out there who "follow" the blog and aren't on Facebook, here's the latest snapshot of the Smith Family.
Since my last post, Justin and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. The last year has brought us my 30th birthday, our 3rd child, and an anniverary hallmark worthy of the gift of tin (per the "official" anniversary gift guide). We took a trip to Seattle for some work and more play. I couldn't even begin to tell you how blessed I feel to have Justin as my partner in this life. Kenlee has already decided that he will be the "chef" at her wedding because he is the best cook she knows. I'm going to focus on that instead of the fact that she said "wedding" in a personal tone. Geez.

Kelton is my daily dose of laughter. He's getting to an age where his analytical ways are actually making me ponder, and I love it! He has new theories and new ideas that stretch my perceptions. God has big plans for this charmer and his "outside-the-box" approach. This photo is a snapshot of him enjoying some ribs. He most always has a mess around his mouth. "Go wash your face" is my repetitious phrase with him. He is enjoying 1st grade as much as a 7 year old boy could be expected to enjoy school. Recess is still his favorite time of day.

Kenlee has been doing well in 4th grade. She is doing UIL prep/tryouts/practice for various teams now. She cheers for the Tigers and loves dance. She has made some very mature decisions lately without prompting, and that makes me proud. She has been volunteering with Little Leaguers of Junior League Abilene, and she seems to really enjoy getting to see the bigger picture.

Miss Blakely is 8 months old!!!! The house is her oyster (and Kelton is having to adjust to that-- his toys are now the object of Blakely's determination). She is pulling up on the fireplace- making me nervous! She hasn't had any teeth come through yet. She waves Bye-Bye and consistently says "mama", "da", "sis", "bite-bite". Kelton gets a bit discouraged that we point to one of us, and she calls them, but when we point to Kelton, she just grins the biggest grin. Kenlee is convinced that Blakely gives her high-5's ;)

The other bit of the week is filled with me pursuing my other venture. I have been developing Captured Photography, and I truly love it. When I edit photos, I grin until my cheeks hurt. I love getting to know the families I work with and trying to capture a depiction of their personalities and relationships. My current web site is http://www.capturedphotography.zenfolio.com/, but I am working on getting a more comprehensive site designed.

That pretty much encompasses what we have been spending our days doing. Growing, learning, playing and arguing ;)

Keeping up with Kelton

Kelton has been working hard in Tae Kwon Do. He has earned his Yellow Stripe Belt after being tested on his One Steps, his Chun-Ji Form, and putting in his practice time.

He has also been learning the tenets of Tae Kwon Do, including Perseverence, Courtesy, and Respect. He was asked to demonstrate responsibility by posting photos of him completing chores from the chore list he had to turn in at testing.
We had Closing ceremonies for Baseball. Kelton is with his "brothers" Max and Mason here.

And FINALLY he has hit the milestone he has anxiously been waiting for: his first lost tooth! He has been rather perturbed that he was the only one left on the Boy Team that still hadn't lost a tooth... well, evidently he wasn't too consumed with it because he didn't even notice when he lost it! I saw him and asked him where his tooth was, and he didn't know what I was talking about. I showed him in the mirror, and he said, "Hmmm. I must've swallowed it."

Even though this is mostly about kelton's wild life, I had to throw in a pic of Blakely's first boat ride. We took her out at dusk on Memorial Day, and she loved it! She quickly tired of the giant orange accessory on her neck, though.

She's on a Roll

Yep, no more stationary baby! Blakely turned 4 months, and we gave her cereal for the 1st time. Evidently the cereal gave her super powers... now she's rolling everywhere. She heads off the pallet almost immediately to explore (I hope it's just curiosity.) She also is FINALLY sleeping all night. Not every night, but I call a 5 hour stretch phenomenal. Last night was 9 hours, but I know not to get used to that!
On Memorial Day, Blakely had her 1st boat ride. Justin took Kenlee & Kelton out to fish all afternoon (Kelton is still trying to master the art of setting the hook), and after the sun went down, Blakely and I joined them for a very leisurely troll.

She seemed to love it, but it didn't take long for her to tire of the giant orange neckbrace. She made good use of it, though, since she is chewing a lot. Kelton wanted me to throw Blake in the water to see if she would float. I explained to him why that wasn't a good idea and tightened my grasp ;) Made perfect sense to Kelton. Otherwise, why would we have bought her a lifejacket?

What? Yeah, she wasn't sure what to think of the cereal, but she is enjoying it more now.
And the photo above depicts my morning. Justin played golf, and I took Kelton to his Tae Kwon Do Belt Test (he did GREAT and will hopefully receive his Yellow Belt at the Belt Ceremony next Saturday). Kenlee had dress rehearsal for recital this morning, and then we hurried back for Kelton's baseball game... all by noon! After shuttling siblings all morning, now Blakely is home enjoying a nap, and I am enjoying some rest before we do more work on the pool. Dance recital is tomorrow!

I have made it painfully obvious that I am NOT a faithful blogger ;)

I guess Facebook is my Blog, and Facebook is so much more active conversationally, so this method of updates/journaling seems fairly futile. But in case anyone is listening, here's the Smith Update for the 2nd Quarter of 2010 (haha).
Kenlee is finishing up Musical Theater, Ballet & Jazz. She is done with cheerleading, so we already feel freed up. She finished Rocket Math Multiplication and has made all A's all year in school. She gets her UIL Awards in 2 weeks and is excited about that (She won 1st in District in Music Memory and 6th in Spelling and also competed in Ready Writing). She has gotten into the 15 Mile Club, and this week she is most excited about her new baby cousin Mallory (born Wednesday to Darren & Sandra). Kenlee is a HUGE helper with Blakely, and Kenlee has been entertaining me with a fashion show with 2 of her friends for the past hour.

Daddy's Girls on Mother's Day

Mmmmmm.... Kenlee made vanilla milkshakes for Mother's Day!

Kelton has been working so hard at Tae Kwon Do. These photos are from his Belt Test in April. He earned his Yellow Stripe Belt. He tests the 1st Saturday in June for his Yellow Belt and is already feeling confident and ready. And Sweet Miss Blakely sleeps through Tae Kwon Do twice a week. God sure blessed me with that easygoing, sweet girl!

Here's her 3 Month Picture from April 25th. She is about 26 inches long and 11 pounds and is a big ball of smiles, coos, gurgles, and giggles. She rolls from her stomach to her back and is starting to slobber on everything.
Here's Kelton in the dugout of one of his baseball games.

I have dove into a photography venture. My photography Blog is www.tifanismithcaptured.blogspot.com
and my website is www.capturedphotography.zenfolio.com
(currently building a home page with a more simplified name).

A Celebration of Blakely

Meeting Blakely

We met Cricket and officially named her on January 25th at 12:50 PM.

Blakely Shayne was 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and 19 inches long.
Dark hair, big blue eyes, and a more olive complexion. She had the same due date AND exact same birth weight as her big sister Kenlee... to the ounce!

She has been an absolute joy! A pretty good nurser, a great sleeper, and her big brother and big sister have been phenomenal with her. I haven't posted in a while~ went through Full Throttle nesting, then I spent a couple of weeks staring at her and staying off of the ocmputer mostly, then we went to San Antonio for Kenlee's National Cheer Competition (more on that later), then my laptop with all of our birth pictures was stolen, then recovered, but we did not get back the cord to upload pics from the camera. Then I was busy celebrating our other little Valentine's 9th birthday and all of Kelton's Kindergarten Valentines activities and some Tae Kwon Do thrown in there~ a beautiful but glorious whirlwind.

Blakely's Birth Day

The nursery

Is December Over?

Hmmm... wonder when that happened? Days have been a giggly whirlwind lately.
Since November, we paticipated in the Christmas According to Luke musical at church where Kenlee played the role of Hannah, Justin was reprising his role as the "Man from Damascus", and since the Angel of the Lord was a little too pregnant for that role this year, I was townsperson ;-)
We also went to Fort Worth for another cheer competition where Kenlee and her squad earned 1st place again. Those girls work so hard, and they have developed really close bonds. I love that we have a local gym based on Christian principles where the coaches incorporate Christian virtues and lessons into the tumbling practices.
The next weekend Kenlee was a Tunnel Kid and an Elf in Once Upon A Christmas Eve, a dance musical that has become an annual tradition. My other favorite part of the weekend was having dinner and watching White Christmas at The Paramount with my grandmother Liz, aunt Cathy, friend Nancy, and my brother's girlfriend Ann-Maree.
The 3rd weekend of December we were honored with a baby shower at work Friday afternoon and a baby shower hosted by my friends Friday evening. The shower was so much fun; when we had baby showers with Kenlee & Kelton, we didn't know the gender, so it was fun to go all out girly this time to the theme Deck The Halls With Ribbons & Bows.

YAY for SNOW! We had so much fun celebrating a white Christmas!! Justin did some catapulting of kids into snow banks, and we tried really hard to pack the dry snow into snowballs. The last time we had real snow here was in 2001, I think.

CHRISTmas Time! Kelton performed in the Kindergarten Christmas Program and took his grand bows at the end. So funny- the kids were supposed to be "asleep, snuggled in their beds", and of course Kelton was peeking through one eye thinking he was being oh-so-inconspicuous. He wants everything on TV commercials, which is concerning, but we had a great Christmas traveling around to visit family and spending some snow days at home.