Happier Stuff

In all the excitement of the plumbing yesterday, I forgot to blog about the good times. My sister, Brenda, came to visit me Monday through Wednesday this week, with her three adorable kids. (That's her 11 year old, Kaitlyn with me in the picture I stole from Brenda's blog... I forgot about cameras the whole time she was here!) We did all sorts of fun crafty things, like scrapbook paper magnets, menu organizers, etc. We also went to kickboxing, and spent some time outside in the gorgeous fall weather, and I got to fix Kaitlyn's hair twice!

I wish I could see them more often! At least we live a lot closer to each other than we used to! (Thanks for putting up with cold and snow so that can be possible, Brenda!) I need more of those laugh so hard you almost pee your pants moments...

The Grinch Stole Christmas

The plumbers just came to assess our leakage problem in the kitchen. The "home warranty" that was purchased when we bought the house doesn't cover ANY of it (surprise surprise). Apparently they'll cover plumbing problems, but not if the pipes are rusty, or corroded, or too small, or hindered by tree roots. Those are the problems we've encountered so far... none of which have been covered. They also don't cover roof leaks, or anything caused by snow, wind, rain, age, bad construction, etc. I think they should make a booklet... wait, no... a post-it note with everything they DO cover written on it, instead of a booklet with what they don't. This warranty is seriously a joke. Anyway, it'll be $750 just to fix the pipes so we can wash dishes and use the sink in the kitchen and the bathroom again. That doesn't even touch fixing the buckled floor, the giant hole in the wall they cut to get to the pipes, or a new dishwasher. The moral of this story is: do not buy silly home warranties when you buy a house. They are worthless pieces of sh*&. Also, do not think that you just might have money for Christmas... the grinch hears these thoughts, and finds a way to take it away! ;)

I know this post is gloom and doom, but really, we're okay. I'm thrilled to be able to use my plumbing again, and I will be thrilled to have a new kitchen floor... you all know how hideous it is. I was telling a dear friend my woes, and she said that somehow they made her feel better. See, that alone is almost worth going through this crap! I love to ease the burdens from others' lives, even if just a little bit! We will figure out a way to have Christmas... I'm thinking Little House on the Prairie style... a shiny penny, a candy stick, and some mittens. Oh, and the tin cup!

For Jake

My mean brother in law, Jake told me that I'm the boring one in my family, not the rest of them. Well, all I have to say to Jake is that if he didn't have three of the cutest girls in the universe, I wouldn't even LOOK at his blog. (Jake, I miss you... when are you guys moving back?) Cooper is one amazing kid. He's 7 1/2 and he is barely getting his 6 year molars. He's only lost two teeth. This has to be some sort of special talent... hanging on to baby teeth. I went on a field trip with Cooper's class and saw for myself that he's like the most popular kid in school. Especially with the ladies... Funny story... last year a little girl came up to me and told me that she had a crush on Cooper, and thought he was cute. She went on and on about him, and I'm like, You're in 1st grade! Cool it a little, will ya? I'm going to be beating them off with a stick.

Tyler is turning 11 this month. How on earth did THAT happen? He's finished all of his requirements for Webelos and his Arrow of Light. He loves Scouts... which makes me ask again... how on earth did THAT happen? ;) I took him to the orthopaedic surgeon for a check up on his leg that he broke, and everything is fine. (Except the cost of the lamest dr. appt. I've ever been to... I could've done the check up myself.... he looked at both knees for about 5 seconds, had him walk (Tyler stumbled a few steps because his pant leg was still up... the dr. said fine and went on) then asked me if he seemed okay at home. That's it. Seriously.)

Aubrey is doing awesome with Swim Team. She goes three times a week, and will be moving up a group next week. We do need to get her a new swimsuit though... three times a week is rough on a suit. She's getting taller every day, and I know one of these days I'll wake up and she'll have passed me up. She is getting all A's in school, which isn't unusual. She's a smarty pants. She also just got called to be Beehive President.

Last but not least... the sexiest man in the universe. Here he is dressed for church... ha! Of course, dressed for hunting. He's had a good time hunting the last month or so, although he has only been able to go a few times. I wish he could have a lot more free time to do what he wants. He works insane hours, and then is on call all of the time on top of that. When he mentioned that he would like to have Thanksgiving off, and maybe a weekend every once in awhile his boss told him to just be glad he has a job, since people are getting laid off in other parts of the country. I say, they should just be glad they have an employee since they've hired five guys since Brandon and every one of them quit because of the insane hours. Brandon's just the most awesome guy in the world, and I think every business should see that and pay him a billion dollars. If only I ran the world....

Scattered Randomness

It's your LUCKY day! You've just won another post about NOTHING from yours truly!! You can go celebrate as soon as you've read it and left a random comment. Have some Cold Stone for me, okay. Just don't tell me about it, because I might cry, since there are NO ice cream places in this godforsaken place I live in.



I didn't realize that I have a slumping problem... until I went to Silver Sneakers training. This is a fitness program for "older adults" (that's what they tell us to call them. I prefer grandma and grandpa!) Anyway, I'm doing the practical test, which we were all freaking out about doing (TEST!? In front of EVERYONE?!) and I got great scores except on one thing... my posture! I was perplexed. Me? Posture problems? I was kind of like, whatever... until it made me start paying attention. Holy cow, do I ever slump! I'm working on it as I speak. Or type. Whatever.



I'm wondering what this blog really is. It seems to be mostly about me me me, but it's called Smith Family Ice Cream Scoop. Am I cheating the rest of my family? The truth is, they're just boring. Believe me, I have to live with them. Should I rename it Mindy Smith Ice Cream Scoop? The subtitle could be "Because the rest of the family is boring". What do you think?



Why does everyone hate to do the plank? I made my class do the plank between every set of exercises last Thursday and they gave me dirty looks the whole time. We'll see if anyone comes back next week.

How come the only people who call me want to eliminate my credit card debt or sell me satellite tv? That's how you really know you don't have any friends. That and when the only thing that comes in the mail is junk mail addressed to someone else.

Our "Quilting Retreat"

by Aubrey

Today my mom and me had a sewing day. We both did projects and had lots of fun. There is our work area. My stuff is already put away. So it was actually messier than that. We also finished off those PB M&Ms.

I made a bag that I got fabric, a pattern and instructions for for Christmas. My mom had to help me alot but I did it!

My mom made this table mat square. (note from Mindy: I finally made something with the Prairie Paisley fabrics that V and Felicia sent to me!!)

So that is what we did while the boys finished the shed roof, and then my brothers went to an activity at the library. So we had all the time to ourselves.

Joey + Rory

I have been listening to this cd all today and yesterday, and I LOVE it! If you like traditional country stuff, and people who are good, down to earth, married people who love each other... you should check this album out.

Joey and Rory were on CMT's Can You Duet (they totally should have won), and they were such neat people. You also might have seen them on the Overstock commercials. When I saw that they had a cd out, I was going to buy a song or two, but I ended up liking so many that I bought the whole thing, and boy, am I glad. My favorites so far are Heart of the Wood, Loved the Hell, and Free Bird.

Grumble Halloween Grumble Grumble

I hate Halloween. Sorry to all of you Halloween lovers out there.... but, since my kids are cute, I thought I'd show you their costumes. Cooper wore Tanner's football outfit... Sorry, Tanner, I know you were probably planning on wearing it! ;)

Here's our 80's girl. How is it that I'm old enough that people are dressing up in the era I grew up in? I told Aubrey that she could go to my jr. high with me looking exactly like this, and people would say she looked cute! I'm just sad that she can't own a pair of rad jeans like I was proud to own... They had a zipper that went up the back at the ankle with a bow at the top of the zipper. I had to unzip them to get them over my feet, because they were so awesomely tight at the bottom!

You're probably wondering why there are no pictures of Tyler... just imagine a black flowy costume with a scary mask. That's it. Ugly scary thing. I didn't take any pictures, because he got ready later, but you really couldn't tell it was him anyway.

I dressed up as a voter. Complete with a sticker on my chest. Brandon dressed up as an employee of R & H, complete with a polo with R & H embroidered on his chest. We go all out, I know!

Look What I Woke Up To

Hell froze over.

My Newest Nephew

I know I'm totally late putting this on, but I had to share pictures of my adorable little nephew, Donovan. I got to hold him and admire his little toes, hands, etc. The only bad thing is that Jason and Dallas wouldn't let me take him home with me, unless they came too. I'm actually fine with that option, but I think they'd start feeling crowded! He didn't have his eyes opened very long, but when he did he made the funniest little faces.

He's so perfect... seriously!

I love love love baby feet. I took his socks off and admired them for awhile. He probably didn't like his socks off, but he's got to get used to his weird aunt sometime! He has very long toes.

I sure love my little nephew, Donovan. I can't wait to see him again!

Yesterday's Dolls

My mom started a new Etsy shop called Yesterday's Dolls , and I wanted to share with all of you, in case it's just the perfect thing you needed for Christmas! ;)

She'll be adding new ones every few days... it's fun to see who she puts on next, since they are all so different. It amazes me that she can paint the eyes and everything else so beautifully and with so much detail. I think she's probably underpricing them, but hey, it's good for the buyer, right? She does everything, from pouring the porcelain into the molds, firing it in her kiln, painting and firing multiple times, and then sewing the teeny tiny dresses and bloomers. I tried to sew a doll dress once. The key words are TRIED and ONCE. ;)

The Truth in Family Pictures

With all the family pictures that have been posted lately, I thought it was about time somebody shared the truth in family pictures. Here's a little demonstration: FAKE

REAL

FAKE

REAL

In No Particular Order...

Another tag by my bosom buddy Marci...

8 things i am passionate about:
1. Brandon
2. my kiddos
3. my faith
4. music
5. family
6. my home/ old things/decorating
7. running/ gym class
8. politics

8 words/phrases i use often:
1. love you
2. did you clean your room?
3. stop fighting!
4. frick and frack
5. do you EVER stop fighting?!
6. see you later, alligator
7. what do you want me to do about it?
8. target those obliques

8 things i want to do before i die:
1. watch my kids grow up
2. watch their kids grow up
3. travel with Brandon
4. run a marathon
5. live in a house I love in the country
6. have thick, long, gorgeous hair
7. make many, many happy memories with my family
8. have lots of friends

8 things i've learned in the past:
1. things aren't always as they seem
2. things don't always turn out the way you think they will/ should
3. it all comes back to family
4. I can do things that are hard
5. everyone makes mistakes, nobody's perfect
6. true friends are hard to come by
7. push on the brake hard before you hit a snowbank/ curb/ pole
8. appreciate what you have, because it might not always be there

8 things i currently want or need:
1. a vacation
2. money
3. love
4. time
5. patience
6. to know where my ipod went
7. to see my husband
8. a new wardrobe

8 places i want to see or visit:
1. ireland
2. vietnam
3. scotland
4. prince edward island, canada
5. australia
6. philadelphia
7. alaska
8. cabo san lucas

8 favorite restaurants:
1. texas roadhouse
2. johnny carinos
3. chilis
4. marie calendars
5. cafe rio
6. mimi's
7. anyplace yummy
8. anywhere not here

8 tv shows i like to watch:
1. veronica mars
2. america's next top model
3. if walls could talk
4. cold case
5. amazing race
6. what not to wear
7. arthur
8. right now... frickin' frackin' politics

tag 8 people:
1. melissa w.
2. brenda
3. hannah
4. jake
5. jason
6. dallas
7. vicki
8. anyone else

I'm a "Real" Photographer!

A real live family let me take their pictures... how exciting is that? I have dreams of being a photographer, but doesn't everyone? ;) Anyway, it was a lot of fun to pretend for a little bit, and I think they turned out pretty good...especially for a point and shoot, and starting at almost dusk. I did have beautiful subjects though, so that made it easy! I didn't put many on here, because I'm thinking Melissa might want to use them for Christmas cards or something, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise!

10 Things I Hate about My House

I thought it was only fair to show this side of my house, too! Plus, I think it's interesting, and somewhat funny (you have to laugh, or you might cry!) I hereby declare this a tag too, so go take pictures of the 10 things you hate too!1. My kitchen floor... the beautiful "marble" stick-on tiles that are worn out in traffic areas and trap grit in between them.
2. Do I even have to say anything? It's been a slow drainer ever since we moved in, and it finally just stopped draining all together. It's been out of commission entirely for a couple of weeks... with no end in sight.
3. The ceiling saga is not resolved.
4. The miniature steam torture chamber.

5. Living on a busy road... the traffic noise is irritating.
6. The houses so close to us... the neighbors are nice, but...
7. The fake rock stuff around the wood-burning stove. It's an eyesore, and I stub my toe on it all the time.

8. The cheesy "stained glass window". Luckily my blinds cover it.
9. Now, I know that this is ridiculous to have here... it was going to be something I changed the very first week, but as you can see, I haven't yet. It's not even a hard thing to fix, yet it continues to plague me every time I flip the switch in the kitchen.
10. The overabundance of black around the window in the kitchen. Too dark.

Whew, well that was fun! Now let's see your hidden eyesores!

10 Things I Love about my Home

Amy had this great tag on her blog, so I thought I'd share mine, too! The only rule is that you take pictures of 10 things you love about your house, and tell about it. Simple enough! 1. I love the arch doorways. There are two from the "parlor" into the living room and into the kitchen.
2. I love the trim! One of my favorite things about old homes is the trim, windowsills, etc.
3. I love the bay window, and I love how my furniture fits with it.
4. I LOVE the wood floors! I adore wood floors with character, and these floors are full of it!

5. I love the built in cupboards in my bedroom (used to be a kitchen ever so long ago), and I love how they match my quilt so perfectly.
6. I love my porch. Porches just make a house feel so inviting!

7. I love the old doors. They are all different... different styles, different colors, and I love 'em.
8. I love the built in cupboard in my kitchen. And you might have noticed that a lot of things in my house that I love are red. Coincidence? I think not.
9. I love the copper tiles behind the wood burning stove.

10. I love the doorknobs. EVERY door in this house has a different doorknob, and it makes me think about all the many years that this house has seen.

Well, that about wraps it up... I know some of the things I love would drive other people nuts (like having all of your doorknobs mis-matched) but that's what draws me to a home. I told you I was quirky! ;)

School Pictures

I just couldn't bring myself to pay $20 per kid for the smallest package of school pictures... plus I knew I could do better anyway. So, this week we went out to a beautiful place I found while out running, and I snapped away. Here are some of my favorites!