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.

Monkey cupcakes made with vanilla wafers

Hudson monkeying around

It is a wonderful time in our family.  We cannot wait to meet out three precious grandchildren coming this fall!

One last picture which sums it all up:

 Little Miracles coming this fall!

Count your blessings,

Bella

Blogger Fest

So much is going on - I have no time to blog- But I miss it!   Let's see- What has September brought.....well Jeremy and Luci have come into town twice, once with the kids and once without.  We had a shower and a wedding last weekend on top of all that!  This weekend Brooke and Hudson are here and yes Travis has been transferred and they are moving to San Antonio!  Can I hear a big  "Oh Yea" ?  Also it is homecoming weekend for Connor.  I have made my last Westwood mum and and taken my last Westwood Homecoming Dance pictures.  Justin and Abbey have been over as well. Tomorrow is Abbey's Austin shower.  Sasha (Justin's mom) and myself are hosting.  So the Smith household is very, very busy. Here is life in living color:

My friend Kathy and her new husband Dave  for their first dance.

Beautiful Bride

The last Homecoming Mum- my best yet!

All the little drummer boys- Connor is second from left

Brooke and Hudson at the homecoming game

Fall cleaning at the Smith house today- Hudson was a big help!

Build a Bear with Abbey and Justin

Precious picture of Connor and Hudson with his build a bear at the mall!

Connor and his homecoming date- Paige!


“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” 


Count Your Blessings,  Bella

Labor Day 2012

We had a glorious Labor Day weekend with our family- especially our grandchildren Finley and Carter.   We simply just had a lot of family time.  There were the football games- Westwood and UT and now that Justin is in the family, we have good political debates.  But the most beautiful time I have experienced in a long time was watching Finley work her "Pops " through build a bear.  Here it is in pictures:

"Come on Pops let's go"

"I want a pink bear"

The funniest look on Kirk's face was when he thought we were finished when the bear was stuffed with a special heart and sound.  Finley took him right over to the outfits and shoes and special panties and blow dryer- the list goes on and on.  We were able to stop at clothes and shoes!

Saying a wish for her bear!

She also talked her Pops into the carousel.

Playing with Uncle Connor

Nails done with Bella and momma

Carter cutting up during nail waiting. 

We did get to have a family lunch at the Domain!

What a blessed weekend to get to be together.  Thanks Luci and Jeremy for bringing the kids and making the 8 hour trip when Luci is 35 weeks pregnant. Thanks Abbey and Justin for spending most of the weekend with us!  It was too much fun!!!!  Count your Blessings, Bella

Two Baby Boys and a Baby Girl

Kirk and I are so very blessed to have not 1, not 2, but three grandchildren this fall.  We feel so elated and fortunate to add these three precious blessings to our family.  Luci and Jeremy are having their third, Riley Hope, Brooke and Travis are having their second, Caleb August, and Abbey and Justin are having their 1st, a little boy.  We cannot wait until all three get here!   Last weekend we had a shower in Dallas for Brooke and Abbey.  My sister and niece threw a beautiful shower at a Historic Tea Room in Plano that was there in the early 80's when I lived in Plano.  In fact one of the little stores where the tea room is housed is where I first registered for bedding for Jeremy.  It was awesome to get together with friends and family.  The girls were so appreciative and really enjoyed the lunch.  An added bonus was getting to stay with my mom and dad and sharing family time with them and my sister's family.  Hudson came into town with Brooke.  He is at such an awesome age.  He is beginning to talk and has such a sweet disposition.  Here he is with both his grandma's ( Bella and GeeGee):

My Sister and Niece Anya

Three More to Come!

Please pray for healthy babies and mommas!  Love all my girls so much and so proud of all of them!
Count Your Blessings....Bella

Success and Failure

How to measure a man....

Do you measure success by family, money, job satisfaction, other people, comparisons, happiness....

I have been pondering this question this week as we look towards the new school year.   I still have the same job and I expected I would be in another one by now.  Even though I love my job, my boss, and the people I work with, I thought to move forward in my life, I would have to either have my own school or be in school working on my PhD.  Yet something does not seem to be propelling me forward this year.  I feel so very settled.  Kind of a weird feeling for me in this part of the school year.  This feeling doesn't mean I have stopped wanting to learn new things or continue in my career which I love dearly.  Perhaps I have found other ways to be content and measure success.  I am at a good place in life- a strong marriage, successful  and independent children, loving grandchildren ( 3 more on the way), and healthy parents.  I have strong relationships with all these folks and some long lasting friendships.

 I have a loving God who I believe in with my whole heart and I know He has a path for me.  I have for once in my life stopped and listened and feel such contentment and peace. Is there work to be done? Absolutely!   The work will be done- this is called life!

I heard a wonderful message in church last week talking about failure.  The point was- failure is not a person, it is an event and a process.  I pray that each of you will find success,  peace and contentment in your journey.

“A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions--as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Count Your Blessings, Bella