Our New Blog

Our names are Isabella and Kaylee. We just moved back from costa rica 4 1/2 months ago. Our mom gave us this blog. Today we tried out for basketball teams. The try outs were lame. We can't wait for Thanksgiving. We like Thanksgiving for the food and for all the thanks we give. Next week were going to our grandma and grandpa's house while mom and dad go to Cancun. We get to help our grandma make all the food for Thanksgiving. We get to help make the cookies and maybe eat some cookie dough. We are so happy we get to start blogging!

New owners!!

So as you can tell, I've quit the blogging business. I was kind of pressured into starting this thing by my sisters and never really loved it. Anyway, Isabella and Kaylee have asked if they can do the blog, so with me overseeing it, they will be the new authors from now on!

I saw this questionnaire on Facebook and thought I would do it with all of kids and put it here. I asked each of the questions individually.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Zoey almost 3: Monkey
Isabella 7: Clean your mess up.
Kaylee almost 10: How was your school?
Braden 11: How was your day?
Austin 12: How was school?

2. What makes mom happy?
Z: You are gone in your car.
I: Me doing the dishes.
K: Us kids.
B: When we clean our rooms.
A: The beach.

3. What makes mom sad?
Z: You sad with my teachers.
I: When dad goes on a trip.
K: When she gets sick.
B: When dad goes on a business trip for a long time.
A: When Zoey gets hurt.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Z: Like this hahaha.
I: I don't know, do something!
K: When she says funny things.
B: She can't.
A: Stuff you say sometimes.

5. What did your mom like to do as a child?
Z:um what? nothing.
I: I think you like to go outside and play in the river grandpa owned. What? I know he owned a river!
K: Play with her sisters.
B: Shoot guns.
A: Play sports. I'm not sure.

6. How old is your mom?

Z: 1 hey no 2.

I: 33

K: 33

B: 33

A: 33

7. How tall is your mom?

Z: 1
I: 75 inches.
K: 6 foot.
B:Really 5 foot 11, but she says she's 6 foot.
A: 6 feet. Well really 5 foot 11.999.

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
Z: Movies.
I: Dr. Phil.
K: Dr. Phil.
B: Oprah.
A: The food channel or HGTV.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Z: Play.
I: Shopping...a lot!
K: Read.
B: Go to her friends house.
A:Meet with friends.

10: If your mom became famous, what would it be for?
Z: Zoey is done answering questions.
I: A singer (Austin said "are you crazy Bella?).
K: Acting.
B: Not dancing or singing, I don't know, an actress?
A: Writing a book.

11. What is your mom really good at?
I: Exercising...no, cooking, you're really good.
K: Cooking.
B: Decorating.
A: Reading.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
I: Being a farmer...I know you're good at shopping.
K: Climbing trees.
B: Playing tennis.
A: Singing.

13. What is your mom's favorite food?
I: KFC.
K: Terryaki chicken.
B: Samuri (Japanese).
A: Haystacks.

14. What does your mom do for her job?
I: Take car of 5 kids.
K: Take care of us.
B: You don't have a job.
A: Nothing, stay at home.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I: She makes wonderful food and cake.
K: Being my mom.
B: She's smart.
A: She's really smart.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I: Cinderella.
K: Minnie Mouse.
B: blue car on Cars.
A: Roadrunner. Beep Beep.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
I: Go to Miami.
K: Go shopping.
B: go to the store.
A: Cook.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
I: We have the same hair color.
K: We have the same color of skin.
B: Both tall.
A: Our genes.

19. How are you and your mom different.
I: You are older, and I am younger.
K: She likes shopping and I don't.
B: She's older.
A: Our gender.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
I: I think because she had me and she loves me very much.
K: Because she takes care of me.
B: Because she treats me good.
A: Cause she's my mom.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
I: He's cute or he's hot.
K: That he is handsome.
B: He's hot.
A: He's sexy.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
I: Walmart.
K: Shopping, to the mall.
B: Hawaii.
A: New York.

NOT Pottytraining!

We have been trying for a while to convince Zoey it's time to be a big girl and start wearing panties and get rid of the pacifier. She hasn't been to hip on the idea and claims she wants to be a baby. She always tells me "no potty train". We bought Dora panties at Christmas, but she wanted nothing to do with them.

Well Monday afterschool Isabella brought Zoey in to me and said "Look, I got Zoey to wear her panties." Well, although she was indeed wearing her panties, she had her diaper on underneath! Later I took the diaper off and she had a fit for a while but resigned herself to wearing panties. She wore them for about an hour, the whole time saying "I no pottytrain?!" For some reason she has an aversion to "pottytraining" so I told her we were "just practicing".

We have now "practiced" a little every day and this morning she was actually willing to sit on her little potty. I put the potty in front of the tv and she sat there for 2 1/2 hours! Everytime I asked if she wanted to put her panties back on she said "no, pee pee not ready". I even gave her 2 juice boxes to help the process along! Finally she went and was sooo proud, and excited to get a pee pee treat! Of course she also had quite the ring around her butt. I'm thinking maybe she will pottytrain before she turns 3!!

PS. As I was writting this she managed to pee her panties! Maybe the juice was not such a good idea?!

HiS and HeRs

This is just like 25 things about me,except there are pre-decided questions and it's about you AND your spouse!! And of course,tag people!!!

1. What are your middle names? John & Dawn
2. How long have you been together? Married for almost 14 years, but knew each other for almost a year before getting married
3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? 3 months, we were really good friends.
4. Who asked who out? Dustin asked me out on a "Hot Date" but I thought he was joking. Turns out he was serious!
5. How old are each of you? I'm 33, he will be 36 next month.
6. Whose siblings do you see the most? Mine. He only has 1 and she lives in Germany.
7. Do you have any children together? Yes, 5, 2 boys and 3 girls
8. What about pets? Zero, much to our daughter Kaylee's dismay.
9. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Dealing with 5 children.
10. Did you go to the same school? No.
11. Are you from the same town? No.
12. Who is the smartest? How do answer that? He's smarter at some things and I'm smarter at others.
13. Who is the most sensitive? Dustin, however I've become more sensitive over the years.
14. Where do you eat out most as a couple? Samurai baby! It's a Japanese place we LOVE!
15. Where is the farthest you have traveled as a couple? That would be where we now live, Costa Rica. Although we have also been to Hawaii.
16. Who has the craziest exes? neither of us
17. Who has the worst temper? Me, most definately
18. Who does the cooking? I do. I'm not sure what everyone would eat if something ever happened to me?
19. Who is more social? I guess I am, but less so as I get older.
20. Who is the neat freak? Unfortunately no one. Of course that doesn't mean we are slobs, just not neat FREAKS.
21. Who is more stubborn? All the way, Angie. I can drive Dustin a little crazy with this one.
22. Who hogs the bed? Used to be Dustin, but we seem to sleep on our own sides for the most part. Gotta love a King!
23. Who wakes up earlier? Dustin, I hate mornings!
24. Where was your first date? TGIFriday's and then we walked the trails at Big Cedar Lodge.
25. Who has the bigger family? I do, 3 sisters to 1.
26. Do you get flowers often? No. Dustin forgot the advice his father gave him before getting married!
27. How do you spend the holidays? Usually with Angie's family, but we also see Dustin's parents too.
28. Who is more jealous? Neither one of us.
29. How long did it take to get serious? A couple months.
30. Who eats more? We are probably equal on this one.
31. Who does the laundry? Until 2 weeks ago, the maid, but I fired her. Now it's all me.
32. Who is better with the computer? Dustin wins this one hands down. I'm very computer illiterate
33. Who drives when you are together? Probably 60% Dustin, 40% Angie.

Superbowl Sunday

Yesterday the boys decided we should have a "Superbowl Party". I have to say, I have never watched the Superbowl, and quite frankly I've never had the desire to. But we decided to have a family party, with the party food and all. All of the kids helped make the snacks. Austin made chicken salad sandwiches, Braden made a cheese dip, Kaylee made BBQ meatballs, Isabella made Reese's peanut butter bars, and even Zoey made a salad. Zoey actual tore all of the lettuce herself and did a great job! They were all very proud of their food.

We all started out watching the game, but it didn't last long. The girls ended up playing on the computer and with each other, and I ended up doing dishes. I did watch a bit of the game and was rooting for the underdog, The Cardinals. Unfortunately, it looks like they lost it in the end, but that was the most football I've ever watched on TV!

At one point Zoey thought we should all sing a song and of course she would lead!
This is how Kaylee enjoyed the Superbowl
Austin had to call Grandpa Smith so they could watch and discuss the game together.

We're still here!

It's been a while, but we wanted to let you know we are still here!

We went back to Arkansas/Missouri for almost 3 weeks at Christmas and in spite of the cold, had a great time. We were able to see my parents, Dustins parents and all of my sisters and their families. We also got to see alot of our friends, but unfotunately not all of them. We also were able to get our fill of "The good old USA".

The day after returning to Costa Rica we had a small earth quake in the afternoon, and I thought "welcome back!". It turned out that was nothing! The next day we had a BIG eathquake! It was a 6.2, centered less that 20 miles from us. We live on the 4th and 5th floors and let me tell you, we were movin'! Luckily all of the kids except Zoey were down in the pool, or I'm sure they would have been alot more traumatized. I grabbed Zoey and ran for a doorway. It lasted for 40 loooong seconds. Although we had alot of things fall off of shelves and walls, we were lucky in that we only had 2 minor things break.

The tragedy is that this is a 3rd world country and alot of people live in substandard housing and concequently there are alot of people closer to the epicenter who are without housing now. It's fortunate that it wasn't a highly populated area and I think the death toll was only around 43.

After the quake there were a few thousand aftershocks in the first 2 days, most so small you can't feel them, but we felt at least 20. We are still experiencing aftershocks, but have somehow gotten used to them.

Austin stayed an extra week with my parents and missed all of the excitement! It was his first experience flying alone and he did great! He even got through customs in spanish by himself!

Here are some pictures from our holidays- Enjoy!

All of the Smith Grandkids Christmas Eve

Braden with his new CameraIsabella Christmas MorningKaylee with her new shades
Austin after a Christmas nap
Kaylee
Kaylee, Isabella & Zoey at Grandma Lowe'sZoey checking out her stocking
Zoey and Trista finding trouble!Isabella & Braden trying out the Wii while Dallin watches