The Smith Family

Trip to Florida (April)

2009-06-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Kenna looks so little next to her growing big brothers!

Kenna and Parker hanging out being silly together.....Kenna's "man"

My Florida running partner and great friend...Trish and I

Kenna being silly!

Jodi, Parker, Kenna and I at our big night out eating mexican!

Tusa Family Visit(April)

2009-06-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

I know this is a late posting, but I am just now getting a chance to post some pictures from the last few months:) We were able to spend an evening with the Tusa's while we were in Florida for spring break.....we miss our Florida friends:)

Strawberry Festival Tournament

2009-06-08T21:01:00.001-07:00

Peyton's soccer team placed first in the tournament!

2009-03-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to take our new boat out for a spin, so we are patiently waiting for summer to arrive here in Ohio. We hope the boat gives us many great family memories...especially for our kids.

Shawn's Ohio Visit

2009-03-14T18:48:00.001-07:00

The WHOLE group....Caldwell's, Sommers, Cotner's, Scott and Marti, Shawn...and us!
Roman and I

Marti (a little tipsy from all of that harry buffalo:), Nicki, and I

Great picture of Shawn and my dad

The Boys!

We had a fun night with Shawn and our friends at my parents while Shawn was home visiting. We had WII competition, horse racing, and lots of great food. As always, it was great to visit with Shawn during his time here in Ohio....he had to brave the cold nasty Ohio weather during this visit.

Happy Birthday Grandma Holly

2008-12-19T18:54:00.001-08:00

Happy 60th Dad!

2008-12-15T19:35:00.000-08:00

Indianapolis Colts Game

2008-12-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

Wow...I am getting good at this.....3 posts in 2 days! I took a little break from blogging, but now I am back in the swing.

We took the boys to the Colts game today. They both loved it...Caiden is more of a Giants fan (Eli Manning), but he enjoyed the game. We had great seats and the new stadium was awesome!

The Tusa Visit

2008-12-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

Our friends from Florida (Venezuela) came to Ohio for a visit with us at the beginning of November. We had a great time! They had never walked in leaves or seen an actual changing of seasons, so they loved the weather!

Trip To GA

2008-12-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from the trip we too to Georgia at the end of October (I know a little late to post) with our friends from Florida!

Camping/Halloween Weekend...

2008-10-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

Kenna enjoying her clown costume...and makeup of course!

Caiden in his "atomic wedgie" costume which the underwear are over his head and the back of his costume is the wedgie, Kenna as a clown, and Peyton as the gorilla.

Picture of all of the cousins....

Well, it was a very chilly weekend (high 30's at night) in a tent, but we had a great time. The kids enjoyed their first crisp fall weekend at the campground as the leaves are on the ground and the halloween decor is out for them to enjoy. Kenna said again this weekend "Mommy I think I like Ohio much better" She has found things throughout our time here that she likes and things she says she enjoyed more in Florida, so apparently fall is one of her enjoyments here in Ohio. The boys filled their weekend with exploring and finding any type of ball to play with in the area around our campsite.

They had trick or treat and the kids walked from site to site collecting candy....they all three ended up with a bag full of sugar! I am not sure what we are going to do with it all considering trick or treat around our neighborhood is in another week! We are going to have candy until next halloween!!!

Trip to Brumbaugh Fruit Farm

2008-10-20T13:45:00.001-07:00

The kids were able to visit an apple farm that actually had a pumpkin patch that we could pick our own pumpkin from....for those of you Floridians the church lawn was our pumpkin patch!

They had a great time going through the cornmaze, going on a hayride, picking apples from the trees (and of course eating them with all of the chemicals on them right there in the orchard), playing in the corn box (sort of like a sand box but with corn!), and seeing all of the pumpkins in the fields.

We ended our time at the farm with a visit to the bakery....the bees loved that place, so we stood swatting at bees just to have our sweet treat!

Up Up and Away!

2008-10-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

My dad just recently went on a hot air balloon ride. The second picture is of the beautiful fall trees looking down...they look like little pieces of colored cauliflower!

Congratulations Caiden.....

2008-09-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

Caiden won his first Ohio soccer tournament this weekend! They went all weekend without allowing another team to score against them...as you can see he was very happy with his accomplishment.

Our Baby Started Kindergarten

2008-08-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well...she is exhausted, but she made it through her first day of kindergarten! She woke up this morning asking me a million questions, "mom does Mrs. Beam have your phone number?" "are you going to be home when I get off of the bus?" "does she have grandma's phone number since daddy will be working?" So, I was a little worried but she got right onto the bus and never turned back! I think it might have helped that Roman got her onto the bus and not me....and she was with her brothers so they were there for her too. I cant believe she is in Kindergarten......time flies!

Glad to be in Ohio

2008-08-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

Moving to Ohio in January wasnt the brainiest thing Roman and I have ever done, but the cold weather doesnt compare to the Hurricane Season that Florida is going through now. I am so glad to NOT be down there right now! I can remember the anxiety of the season of hurricanes....boarding up windows, getting lots of grocerys and other necessities, and deciding which house (my parents or ours) would be safest to stay in through the storm. I feel for those of you who are experiencing the tropical storm and all of the rain right now.....its not fun sitting around waiting for it to pass! We miss our Florida friends....along with my brother and sister in law, but we are definitely glad to be in Ohio and missing the Hurricane season!!!!! The memories of rats flying through the air, toilet water slushing from side to side, and the sound of our windows and doors sounding as if they are going to break any minute are definitely memories we are glad to have in our past....

First Day of School

2008-08-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

The boys started their first day back to school today. Peyton is in 5th grade and Caiden is in 3rd. They both seemed excited to start back and see their friends. Their Open House was last night so they met their teacher and checked out their new classrooms. Kenna goes for her Kindergarten testing today. She was screened in the spring, but today is a one on one test that they give all kindergarteners. She will start school on Monday! She asked me if I could stay home and wait for her instead of working....I guess she feels better knowing I am waiting at home for her? I think she is excited too, but a little nervous not knowing what to expect.

Kansas City

2008-08-09T05:39:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was KC! A friend of ours and Jim's stepbrother, Jeff Davenport, works for the KC Royals....so he got great tickets for us for two games. We were also able to take a tour through the players locker room and into the dugout and onto the field. Jeff was also able to take us through the visiting team locker room, which happened to be the Red Sox. The boys were in heaven standing right next to David Ortiz's locker ("Big Poppi"). We stayed in the same hotel as the Red Sox as well and right next to a great shopping area!!!! My birthday was a lot of fun....Jodi and I shopped and we all went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner before heading off to the game. The last picture is of Kenna in Jeff's office....of course she spotted his pink bat as soon as she walked through the door! We made fun of them because we are standing in the dugout of a major league baseball team and her and Parker were more interested in a cricket that happened to be in the dugout.......and the goldfish and gummy bears that Jeff gave them!!!!

We had an awesome vacation.......we are so glad the Schaar's asked us to join them!

Budweiser Brewery

2008-08-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

On our way out of St Louis we were able to tour the Brewery. The kids actually enjoyed this too! Its amazing how much beer they make and sell daily....the tour was great we even were able to go through their stables and see a few of the horses that they keep right there on their grounds. The last picture is of Parker and Kenna...we got on a bus to take us back to the front of the Brewery and as soon as they sat down Kenna put her arm around Parker. We are always teasing the two of them, so I thought it was so cute. Of course we finished with a few beer samples.....

St Louis Zoo

2008-08-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

We saw all kinds of things at the zoo.....including an ape who threw a stick at Roman. He was making tarzan noises (I know its hard to believe) and the ape looked up at him and threw a stick toward him. The picture of Kenna and the ape is her looking through a glass at him making monkey faces and my camera picked up the ape and her shadow. The others are just some snapshots....great zoo and it was free!

2008-08-08T13:26:00.001-07:00

In St Louis Peyton, Caiden, Maddi, Kenna and Parker getting ready to get on the Riverboat.....the three musketeers in front of the Arch, and the last of Kenna, Parker and Jim looking from the top of the Arch.

Trip to St Louis

2008-08-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

We had our first family vacation without beaches and cruising and we had a great time! We traveled with our friends The Schaar family and began our trip with a stop St. Louis. We went to the Arch, a Riverboat Cruise along the river, and the St Louis Zoo. The kids had a great time at each of our stops and were amazed with the Arch. We stayed downtown St Louis right inside Union Station which is now a mall! Our weather was in the 100's during our entire stay, so it was super hot!

Peyton's All Star Team

2008-08-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Peyton had a great baseball season and was also invited to play on the all star team....as you can see they had a lot of fun! It was a great experience for Peyton as this was his first time to play baseball. The team didnt win a lot of games, but they enjoyed playing!

Caiden's First Baseball Trophy!

2008-08-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Caiden won second place at the Vandalia baseball tournament last weekend! He battled through 7 games in the heat on Saturday and Sunday, but walked away with a trophy! Coach Roman (also the team pitcher) was pleased with the tournament since this was the first all star games that they won all season.

Day at Kings Island

2008-07-20T19:42:00.001-07:00

We bought season passes to King's Island (a theme park for those of you Floridians), but we have only had a chance to use them as a family 2 times!!! We had no idea that baseball would still be going on for the boys at the end of July. We spent half of the day at the water park and then we went to the roller coasters.....BUT the boys were sad because we ended up getting bad weather and they shut the coasters down. It was a beautiful day until then....we hope to get back a few more times before the summer ends!

Kenna's Princess Par "Tea"

2008-07-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Kenna had a great time with all of her little princess friends. I think we had 15 little princess's sitting at their party tables painting tea sets....they did a great job! Even Princess Isabelle who is only 2 painted a tea set and it looked beautiful. They had a lot of fun dressing up and getting make up on while they waited for their tea party to begin. Thank you to everyone who helped Kenna make her 5th birthday a true fairy tale!

Happy Birthday Marti!

2008-07-18T13:50:00.001-07:00

Roman and I celebrated our friend Marti's 29th (ya right....that is what she told everyone) birthday a few weeks ago. A few of my friends from HS were there...we had a good time.

Camping with the Schaar Family

2008-07-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

We had another fun weekend camping with friends! The first picture is of our 3, Maddi and Parker Schaar, and Meg and Kate Rehmert. Their was an old bridge that was a railroad track that the kids found and went across. The next two pictures of our Kenna's little friends Parker and Kate. Then, Jodi and I and the last picture of Jodi, Mindy and I... which I am sure neither of them are happy that I posted....sorry!

Play Date with High School Friends

2008-07-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

We had a get together with a few girls that I went to high school with yesterday. As you can see we had a whole day care with our kids at McDonalds. The kids had a great time at McDonalds and then at the park. The first picture is a few of my friends (starting next to me is Becky Foley-Forse, Andi Gibbons-Brown, Kristy Teaford-Godown, Denise Eley-Sharp, Jodi Brumbaugh-Schaar, and Nicki Clear-Sommer). The next picture is of all of our children!!! The girls with Kenna are Kyndall and Kylee Brown and Parker Schaar. The last picture of the boys is with their friend Maddi Schaar. We had a great day other than the weather not cooperating so that we could go to the pool together.

Happy 5th Birthday Kenna!

2008-07-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Kenna celebrated her 5th birthday today! She went to dinner as Princess Kenna and decided she thought Grandpa Bob should be a princess too (as you can see in the pictures). The other pictures are of her opening gifts. She has a fairy princess tea party planned with her friends later this week, so I will post more once her party is over!

Happy Birthday Kenna!

Camping Weekend at New Paris

2008-06-18T15:51:00.001-07:00

We had another good weekend camping with friends. This trip was a little different though because there were multiple families that camped with us (about 20 kids in all)....but we had a great time.

The first picture is of Peyton and Caiden with their friends Meg and Maddi. They had a great time riding bikes, swimming, and being adventurous around the campground.

The next picture is Kenna with her friend Kate. This was the first time that the girls actually had a long period of time to spend together and they got along great!!! Parker was their other playmate, but for some reason he missed this picture. They also went fishing with their dads and Kenna caught a fish!

The picture of Peyton, Caiden, and Meg is down by the lake. I took the picture because I thought it looked like Lake Cumberland (I was dreaming).....anyway it was really pretty as the sun went down on the lake.

Other than one wet night of down pouring rain.....and a little rain in our tent, we had a great time camping with friends!

Happy Birthday Roman!

2008-06-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

Roman celebrated his 36th birthday yesterday! We went to dinner with his parents and my parents at a Mexican restaurant. We got him corn hole boards, which he has been wanting....for those of you who do not live in Ohio corn hole is a game that EVERYONE plays here in Ohio. I guess it goes along with all of the corn fields and farm land we have:)

Happy Birthday Roman!

Caiden's Field Day

2008-06-03T18:52:00.001-07:00

Caiden had his field day today. I was able to go to see the tug of war and wow is that a HUGE thing at Broadway Elementary. I think the teachers were into getting the grade level trophy as much as the kids. The picture of the actual tug of war isnt real great due to the gym lighting, but the others are with his friends and of the class celebrating their trophy for winning the 2nd grade title for tug of war. Caiden was very excited to bring home all of his ribbons for placing in the different events.

Caiden

2008-06-03T18:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Isabelle

2008-06-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

We spent the afternoon with a friend of ours at her second birthday. The kids had a great time and finally a beautiful day here in Ohio.

March Trip to Florida

2008-05-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

I know these are a little outdated, but I really never sent these out because my computer was sending multiple copies of picture emails...so I never sent out the pictures to most people. Anyway, we spent the week at Indian Rocks which is near St Petersburg. The first few pictures are of our day with Orlando friends on a pirate ship. We were able to spend the day with a mom's group that I used to do activities with on my summers off. We also spent a day with the Tusa's who are friends of ours from Orlando. They have a boat so we went out with them so the kids were able to tube, look for shells, build sand castles, and just hang out on an island with our friends. Again, they are a little outdated, but I wanted to add them to the blog since it was our family vacation:)

Bailey

2008-05-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Bailey loves the outdoors. He hid in the flowers under our tree so that only his face was sticking out. I thought he ran away at first, then I found him under the tree hiding.

Weekend of Camping

2008-05-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

This is our first camping trip with the kids in Ohio. We went to Meadowlake Resort close to St. Paris which ended up being way out in the middle of no where. Our friends, The Fout's, went along with us, but they have a luxury camper that doesnt even feel like camping to us. Peyton said, "mom do they really call that camping?" So we had lots of fun toasting marshmallows, making hotdogs over the fire, and hanging out at the beach (well what people in Ohio call a beach). The Fout's have two little girls which Kenna had a great time playing with.