Thursday, December 30, 2010

Christmas Eve 2010

We started off our Christmas festivities right! We got to go to HCBC’s Christmas eve service for the first time! It was beautiful. Eli got to go to the stage to sing with all the other kiddos.

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Here is Eli & Dada with their candle. Eli is NOT holding a match! It is someone else’s candle behind her.  She is holding a cracker, but it sure looks very pyro doesn’t it?

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Behold! All the candles are lit up!

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Lovely family pic thanks to our gracious friend Sol, who just happened to be at the right place at the right time to be our photog!

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The service was so beautiful and jam-packed! The snow at the end is a very generous addition to an already beautiful service!  I ♥ HCBC!

Three hours later we were at my parents house for dinner. Here is the Kid Table. Eli got to eat with her best (only) first cousins in the whole world! Abigail the Brazilian baby model and Edson, the Sweetest 4 year old boy we know!

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Here is a Piña/Gentile/Smith family picture!

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Speaking of models, here is my Sis modeling my first Ezer sling. I’m naming it Ezer because Jehovah Ezer means, God my Helper and I prayed for His Help the entire time I made that bag!! Particularly since I made it the night before!!  The pattern is by Amy Butler and she calls it the Birdie Sling... She is an awesome pattern writer!

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Here is Kena with JD. She is holding her creations: An embroidered piña pillow she made for my mom & a family portrait she painted for our bro. We got one too. She is so talented!

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Here is Eli gettin' down in the playroom!

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Here is AbiGirl being gorgeous!

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And Kim posing next to her delicious tres leches cake!

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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Coco the Big Sis

Welcome to Earth Baby Carys! You are in good hands little girl!


Thursday, December 23, 2010

Is my girl Naughty or Nice?

Naughty: She took my best lip gloss without asking!                    Nice: She is prepping Tata for Christmas!

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Look at that concentration!

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Sheer delight!  Aside from Hattie, I’m certain Eliana wants to do make-up for Christmas! 

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BUSTED!

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I like to indulge thoughts that Eli will grow up to be a ‘creative type’ and somehow make a living from it…so if she does I will have lots of ‘proof’ that she always was the creative type…

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Poor Eli! She’s always getting BUSTED or should I say caught green-handed…

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This is the response I get when I say, “Eli, come to mommy so we can wash your face.”  And pretty much most of the time I ask her to come to me!  The Naughty Shoulder!

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After several bribes and threats of the Naughty Spot, she considers obeying!

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In conclusion, my girly friend is BOTH! Thank goodness gifts are unmerited favor! And the gifts under the tree bear witness to this truth!!!

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--   Ephesians 2:8-

Merry Almost Christmas!!!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Pajama Party Time!

Where is everyone? Where are the gifts?

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There’s my Munchkin and some gifts!

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Eli, Cora, Marley and Grace! We missed you Ava!  Froggy is keeping me company so Eli can keep Hattie company!

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Toddler Paradise includes but is not limited to, COOKIES:

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PRESENTS:

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AND (STEALING) MOMMY’S MAKEUP:

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My paradise includes these but also includes, LOTS OF CUTE GIRLS!!!

GROUP PIC

HAPPY 12 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Pain, Paletas & Park

Eli got a purple owie in the bath today. You may now cry.  I was asking her to put her hair under the shower and she lost her balance and somehow her left eyelid bit it on the side of the tub.  I felt awful!  But thank God my freezer is stocked with smoothie pops or as Eli says, “Pah?”.  (In Spanish popsicle is ‘paleta’.)  As soon as I promised her a ‘paleta’ the tears magically vanished but the owie did not!

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Eliana is learning to pose for pics!

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Thankfully the paleta was both the medicine & the reward for her pain. One went in the mouth and the other on the eye!

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The weather was so beautiful this afternoon that it would have been a sin to NOT go outside!

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I love this pic! If Eliana’s pockets are the eyes…can you see a happy face?

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How frustrating to be too little for something!

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The tunnel never gets old!

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What could top going to the park? Coloring!  Let this picture be evidence of Eli’s naughty nature. She is not supposed to be coloring the table!!! 

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And this picture is evidence of her loving nature!  She is coming around the table to share her palomitas with me!  What tops paletas, the park & coloring?  Making Kena’s famous stovetop popcorn recipe! Nummy!

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Thursday, December 9, 2010

All stuffed up and nowhere to go!

Today was a sad, sad morning at the Smith home! We were supposed to have a big ole’ girly Christmas party, but Lil Miss E woke up with a fever so I had 6 sad phone calls to make.  Ana and I consoled ourselves with smoothies & gingerbread! 120910 032

However we could not console ourselves with the Gingerbread Shack! (I do not feel like making a second house before Monday) The orange Starburst on the right is the AC unit.

This is my first G-house so I kind of fudged the architectural dimensional mathematical configurations and calculations!  Maybe next year I will let JW participate more…

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Ani did not eat very much lunch but thank God she did sleep a lot during nap time!120910 045

If you happen to drive down our little white-picket fence street after dark, this is what you might see: taaaadaaaa!120910 061

(You will probably not see the squiggly lines)  JW and I have big plans to add on more lights year after year.   By the time Eli is in high school our house may be the neighborhood freak show!  More pics on that later!!!

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This is one of my fave ornaments. It is by a very gifted and obscure artist named Kena, aka my sis!

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And this is the staple, Sword & Rock ornament! 

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Cuz Love

Over Thanksgiving Eli gave and got lots of love from Abigail & Edson!

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However, Eli was not too keen on sharing Tata with Abi…

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Edson & Eli must have agreed upon making silly eyes for this picture…the pineapple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

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Eli enjoyed reading Edson’s big boy books about planets:112610 035

Baby in a Box is definitely at the top of my Christmas list, how bout you?

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Here is Tia Kena posing with the cousins:

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Here is Eli & Abi’s goodbye hug. It’s your turn to come visit us now!

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Eli’s farewell to Edson was even  more passionate. I may be uploading the mug down later…