Bella's Blessings

Monday, November 12, 2012

Halloween Winners

Tme for the 2012 Halloween Costumes Award. I think you will agree:

Cutest Award- for being a puppy dog with floppy ears!

Cutest Couple Award- Carter is very serious in his Mickey Mouse as he takes the role on! Finley is always the Princess!

Best Group Award- even though we did not win at school the kids got a kick out of it.

AHHHH LIfe is fun!

Count Your Blessings!

Bella

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Wow has it been a hard year with UT football. The loss to Oklahoma and W. Virginia were very unpleasant to say the least. The defense looks awful and last week the offense looked even worse against Kansas. So at the Smith household we have had to try to focus on other good aspects about Texas football. For instance Kirk, Jeremy, and Connor get to go to the games and have good "guy time." We spent September together with lots of family time since Jeremy, Luci, and the kids came down for the games. We were able to take my Boss' husband to the Baylor/Texas game. Kirk, Finley, and I were able to go to the OSU/Texas game. So we have had alot of fun! Thanks always to Jeremy for taking his family to the games. We treasure the moments we get to spend with you!

Hope we get to see this against Tech!

Had a great time!

Before the UT/OSU Game

Texas Proud!

Running the flag was a tradition when Kirk and I were students!

As they say about UT- what happens here changes the world! So proud to be a longhorn!

Count Your Blessings!

Bella

Life in Oklahoma

I had the pleasure of spending a week in Oklahoma with the grandkids and new baby. We had an awesome week. I got to go to school with Finley to mommy and me music. I also had a great time just hanging out with the grandkids. We played, baked, walked, and watched movies. Bath time and story time were always a hit. Here are some of the highlights of the week:

Mommy and Me at Finley's School- look at the use of technology!

Party welcoming baby Riley home!

Bath time/down time with daddy

Bella's turn to feed the baby- Finley always helps!

Man it was hard to leave them. They are all doing fine. Luci recovers so quickly, she is wondermom! Jeremy really helps out and they are now a family of 5 WOW! God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

Count Your Blessings,

Bella

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

God Bless Riley Hope

Well she is here! We welcomed Riley Hope Monday at 8:17 AM. She weighed 6lbs, 3oz. She is the cutest little thing you have ever seen. She is well filled out, but tiny with beautiful olive skin like Jeremy and lots of dark, dark hair. She reminds me of Brooke, when she was born. I do see some of Finley's expressions in her when she was a baby. Finley loves her baby sister and Carter does not seem to notice her. Both kids have been great for their Bella, Pops, and Aunt Brooke. We have had an awesome time in Oklahoma. I will stay here through out the week and help Luci and Jeremy. Kirk went home today and Brooke and Connor left late last night. Jeremy is with Luci at the hospital and I am home with the babies. I couldn't be prouder or happier for Luci and Jeremy.

Here are the pics to tell the story:

Count your Blessings, Bella

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Try to Remember the Kind of September....

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Wow was it a busy September- not a slow one at all. I am writing this in Oklahoma while my grand babies sleep. We are leaving for the Texas/OSU game in about an hour and I am ready for a nap too! There are a few wonderful moments I needed to capture in my blog for posterity. First of all Brooke, Travis, and Hudson are living with us until October 20th, when they close on their house in San Antonio! How lucky could I be! Brooke is an excellent cook. Dinner is usually ready when Kirk, Connor, and I get home from work. Hudson is a great baby and loves it when we get home. I have to say he prefers his Pops, but I still get to bathe him most nights and play peeka boo with him! He also likes to pray and will spontaneously fold his hands in prayer and say Pray! So Precious! I have introduced him to Yo Gabba Gabba and he loves it.

Hudson cuddling with his Pops

I am still on my healthy living journey and decided to walk/run the Deerpark 5K. I pushed the stroller with Hudson and Brooke and Kirk ran. Kirk came in 2nd for his age group. So he was pretty proud. I finished in the rear but was proud to finish. It was a beginning. I am always in awe of my sister who runs a couple of times a week and is a marathoner. Maybe one day I will get there Ellen.

Ready to race

My teacher friends

Finally we have had dinner with other couples in September. We have a real social life now that does not revolve around school, kids, weddings, showers, or football. Kind of fun! We had dinner with my wonderful friend from college- Janna and her husband John. We always meet them downtown and have good food, libations, and conversation! We also had dinner with our friends from Dallas, Becky and Fred. It was their 10 year anniversary and it was such an honor to spend it with them. We hope to get together more often.

Happy Anniversary Fred and Becky!

Love this marriage quote:

The kind of marriage you make depends upon the kind of person you are. If you are a happy, well-adjusted person, the chances are your marriage will be a happy one. If you have made adjustments so far with more satisfaction than distress, you are likely to make your marriage and family adjustments satisfactorily. If you are discontented and bitter about your lot in life, you will have to change before you can expect to live happily ever after.
~Evelyn Duvall and Reuben Hill

Count your Blessings, Bella

Les Miserable

I love musical theater! Fortunately for me my boys love it too. We went to Fort Worth to see the 25th anniversary touring company of Les Miserables. I have to say, this is my 4th time to see the musical and I know the music from front to back. Some of the music is different and some had been cut to shorten the production. I still loved it. The turning over the top stage is gone, but there are wonderful 3-D moments in the new production which bring everything to life and have you saying wow! It is always hard to change a musical- especially for those of us that like the traditional experience, but I have to say I really liked the production. Some of the music has different orchestrations which make it sound more pop for today's crowd. Overall it was a great night- the dinner with my boys was wonderful, Bass hall is beautiful, the seats were awesome and well what more can a mom say about these fine men I have raised!

Jeremy with his friend Kyle- who we sat with

“To love another person is to see the face of God.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“Those who do not weep, do not see.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Count Your Blessings, Bella

Monkey Showers

Abbey had two showers in September for Baby Wyatt! The first one was a traditional Sunday afternoon shower with girlfriends given by the two Grandmas. It was so much fun. We even played a few shower games. My friend Roxi catered it and I had planned a monkey theme. I even made an animal diaper cake. It was great to have Justin's mom, Sasha in from San Antonio to help with the shower. Here are some pics:

Monkey cupcakes on grass icing

Diaper Cake!

The second shower was a couples shower and given by one of Abbey's and Justin's friends. Kirk and I and Brooke and Hudson attended this. Kirk won two of the games. They had more exciting prizes- a pint of bourbon and a huge bottle of M and M's. We all had a good time and most importantly Abbey and Justin got some of the baby stuff they needed. The couple giving the shower went with a monkey theme too.