Gender Stereotyping

Smith: (Singing) "Let Earth receive her King. Let earth receive her King."
"Wait. Does it say her? Is earth a girl? "

Mom: Well, yeah. Have you ever heard of 'Mother Earth?'

Smith: "Oh. I guess that's why there are trees. You know and hair on the earth."

New Smitty Pics

Making Cookies

Boo season is here, so we've been making lots of cookies.
The kids have loved it and we still love to end the night with
hot cocoa even when it's 90 degrees.

First Day of Kindergarten

Walking to school.

Smith's buddy Ryan,

Outside classrooms.

Lainey was just as excited as Smitty.

And, luckily they have Legos there too!
He LOVED his first day.

Smith is 6!

Here are some of the highlights (besides legos):
Birthday Boy

Tie-fighter cakes and movie food,

a backyard movie,

and some good buddies.

We Are The World....

Smith had a long day of playing with his buddy today. In the car from the friend's house to ours, they were talking about how cool it was that they could play for so long.
Friend: "It's like we're having two play-dates. One was at my house and now the second at yours!"

Smith: "It would be really cooler if we could invite all our friends in the whole wide world....like even the Chinese!"

Church Thoughts-by Smith Romney

"Jesus came back alive and then we went back to school."

"The temple is a house of love because Jesus lives there."

Like Geeps, Like Grandson?

I finally got Smith to open up a little about school today as I drove him to soccer practice. He was gabbing away with his friend, and quite at his leisure, so I figured it was a good time to drill the two boys about their new school. I asked Dillon what his favorite part about school was and he gave the obvious reply, "recess." To Smith, I offered up the same question, expecting to get the same answer.

"Well. I like learning the best."

Shocked, I asked what he liked to learn the best.

"Numbers. I like to learn all about numbers."

Not sure I'm related to this kid since I personally liked recess the best. However, as a new Kindergartener Mom, I couldn't be more proud or excited.

I'm Better, You're Better, I'm Best

Smith: "Rosey is the cutest baby at our house. Laine is the silliest. I am the smartest. Dad is the muscley-est. And Mom. You're the....you're the cookiest."

Thank you Smith. For me, that's the ultimate.

Hill of Funness (& the Tar Pits)

Tar pits were great, but so was the hill!

She's Here!

Rosey Romney
August 3, 2009

Graydon and Jenni came down and stayed to play with the kids and meet the babe. Thanks guys!

(And this time, he did not seem to care that she was a girl and not Flash!)

July

While we waited for the baby to come....

Smith learned to swim, played with friends,

went to the car show at Lacy Park,

beached it up,

and we were tuckered out at the end of each day!

National Geographic

A few weeks ago, Smith got a new toy bow and arrow. For the next few days, he became an Indian. He did not wear a shirt, carried the bow everywhere, wore the quiver over his shoulder, and attached a sheath to his belt with a toy hunting knife. That week, we went to the library and found a few kids books about Indians. When I came home and thumbed through one of them, I saw some depictions of early Native American women that were a bit too realistic for a five-year-old. I showed Whitley the picture and said, "This book might have to go back. It's a bit too National Geographic for Smith."

Flash forward a few weeks later, when Poppie and Geeps were in town and Poppie was helping Smith get ready for bed. She picked up one of his new library Native American books to read to him. When she showed him which book it was, Smith asked, "Poppie, we can't read that book. It's, um....what's another word for naked?" Poppie, a little confused, began to come up with any synonym she could for the word naked: nude, bare, no clothes, nudies-tudies, scantily clad, etc., when Smith yelled, "Oh yeah! Geographic! We can't read that book it is just too geographic!"

Everything but Pie

Smith: "Hey Mom. We get to have lunch at Knotts Berry today."

Mom: "Yep. And you'll get to eat their biscuits with yummy jam and maybe some Boysenberry Cobbler for dessert."

Smith: "What? I don't want to eat Poison-berry anything! Maybe I should eat at home."

Summer at the Cabin

There's always fun to be had at the cabin. Smith braved the hill on his dirt bike,

rode horses,

was nice to his sister,

still might have a little crush on Aunt Jenni,

ate tons of S'mores (and C'ello's),

had his cousin Chase up for a sleepover and lots of exploring,

hiked with Geeps,

and his way prego Mom.
(Also played lots of Wii with Aunt Merrill and Uncle DUG).
Hopefully we'll get to go back soon!

Is That All?

While eating dinner at the cabin tonight:

Smith: "Mom. How come Dad decided to marry you?"

Mom: "Cause I'm the coolest?"

Smith: "No. It's because you like the color green."

Mom: (Speechless)

Smith: "And you married Dad because he likes red."

Of Course You Do

Smith: "Hey Mom. Could you play Indy on the Wii with me?"

Mom: "Uh, No. I don't know how."

Smith: "Yes you do. You said you played when you were little."

Mom: "Smith that was Mario Bros. Wii was not around when I was little."

Later on....

Mom: "Okay, time to say prayers."

Smith: "Mom. Were prayers invented when you were little?"

Mom: "Yeah."

Smith: "Oh. Stink. I wish they were invented after I was little."

Diarrhea of the Mouth?

It has been a long day of Smith. I LOVE the kid, but he literally has not stopped talking since he came home from school at noon. He has loads of ideas running through that little head of his and has let me know every single one. He talks while eating; going to the bathroom; playing with toys; playing a computer game; slipping down the slip and slide; sitting in time-out; riding his bike; looking at books, etc., etc., etc. He can say a prayer and hold a separate conversation ALL AT THE SAME TIME! As I'm trying to write this post he asks me, in one breath:

"Mom. Hey Mom! What speaks louder than actions? Do you know? Well, I do. Fire engines. Really loud ones. You could hear them all the way to Belgium. Hey, then Oma and Apa could hear them too! See, louder than actions. Mom. My eyes don't hurt anymore. I'm almost done with my chicken. . . ."

Sometimes this quality is quite endearing and can fill a dull day with a million fun things to do and talk about and imagine. For some reason, today is not one of those, but we'll keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Juice anyone?

Smith: Hey Dad, can I have a drink of juice out of the cup that has that white thingy in it?

Me: What white thingy?

Smith: The white thing that stops you from drinking those things that look like nose hairs?

Me: What???

Smith: You know, when you drink orange juice, there are all those nose hairs in it? This cup stops you from drinking the nose hair things.

Me: Are you talking about pulp?

Smith: Yeah, I don't like the pulp, so I like to use the cup that blocks the pulp.

No wonder he doesn't like pulp. . . .

Say What?

(Smith and Mitchell)

Yesterday-

Smith: "Mom. My friend John is half Korean, right?"

Mom: "Yep."

Smith: "Well, I'm Spanish."

Mom: "Since when? I thought you were Caucasian....like, white?"

Smith: "Nope. I am not white. I am so Spanish."

Then today,

Smith: "Hey John. Are you Korean?"

John: "Yeah. It's the best. When food drops on the floor I can blow on it and eat it."

Smith: "Huh? Hey Mitchell, you're Spanish right?"

John: "No he's not! He's white! Duh!"

Smith: "Whatever. We're both Spanish."

Celebrity Look-alike?

Smith: "Hey Mom, when my friends come over tomorrow, we're going to play Kung Fu Panda. I'm going to be the Master (surprise, surprise), John can be Monkey, Mitchell can be the mean Tiger, and Dillon can be Crane. Oh yeah and Lainey can be Tigress. Who do you want to be?"

Mom: "I want to be the Old Turtle guy that knows everything."

Smith: "Um, Mom. How 'bout you can be Po. 'Cause he has a really big belly. Hey can you
bounce stuff off your belly too?"