Springtime

It sure has been beautiful for the last couple of weeks. In fact, last Saturday, we were all outside in a tanktop and shorts. The kids have loved spending time outdoors--Ryleigh in her swing and Noah on his slide. Just like last year, the Little Tikes hoop and his new basketball are the highlight though. In fact, he asked us to raise the hoop higher and has started to try to "dribble." Perhaps we're a bit biased, but he's GOOD. It just may turn out that instead of our dream of a Buckeye linebacker, we end up with the next Buckeye hoops star??

Potty Training

Today, I decided to hit the potty training pretty hard. Two sets of diapers are a bit old, not to mention a major stink to overcome in the house! Noah picked out a potty for himself a couple of weeks ago, and of course, we also bought a bunch of incentives like stickers, chocolates, and M&Ms. I let him wear his big boy underwear with the Cars movie figures on them today and told him not to mess his "friends" up. Both McQueen and Mater have each experienced a "shower" today! Yuck. What fun. I do know it takes awhile, but if he doesn't get it by August, he can't go to preschool! With him, it might take that long so we are starting now. We'd welcome any tidbits of genius you all have.

Parenting Relief!!

What relief I am starting to get from the daily frustration that I experience everyday while trying to deal with my amazingly wonderful, yet absolutely strong-willed son!! Ryan has been reading through a parenting curriculum program that he will be presenting to middle school parents for six weeks, and we've been talking about the ideas and trying them out on Noah. It's been amazing! Today, for the first time in months, I feel like I have dealt with the little guy with love/patience instead of anger/frustration as I've showed him the difference between making good choices and making choices that come with consequences. Sounds obvious, but it's sometimes harder than you think with a two-year old. In just a few days though, Noah is beginning to learn the difference and act accordingly! So, if you too have a little "thug" or maybe even a little "angel" beginning to show an attitude of her own (see pictures), try reading Parenting with Love and Logic. It's really brillant stuff based on good old common sense put into practice! We'll keep you posted! :)

Spring Break in South Dakota

We had a great trip to SD for spring break with the kids! We swam at a place called Evans Plunge, a natural hot springs pool, and the kids both loved it. There were several water slides for Noah, and Ryleigh had a blast in a little inflatable "boat". We also visited Wind Cave, and Noah's comment was "It's really dark!" We drove through and hiked a bit in Custer State Park, where a group of burrows set up a road block and stuck their heads into the van demanding a toll of Cool Ranch Doritos (see picture). Noah enjoyed bossing the buffalo by the side of the road, telling them to lay down and stop pooping! Mount Rushmore was a neat place to see, and Noah is still talking about "people in the mountain." Overall, it was a great time, but we were all glad to sleep in our own beds after a week away. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

The Smith Family Blog

Welcome to our new blog! Okay, so we decided to join the high tech world as a quick way to keep all of our loved ones updated on the Smith family happenings. To those of you that know us, we aren't very good at keeping up with emails so this way you can always get the scoop and of course, current pictures of the cutest members of the family, Noah and Ryleigh!