This is what we do

It's a busy week for us - the 30th Annual Kroger SpeedFest has arrived. It's a big deal, and the last one for awhile. I won't see Scott again until Sunday, and after noon tomorrow I won't see Connor again until Sunday. We are all going in three different directions. But, we're lucky to have jobs that allow us some fun opportunities like this. There are still good seats available! Check out LucasOilRaceway.com for event details and ticket prices.

See you at the races!

Flashback Friday - Connor's first trip to the zoo

This weekend is Connor's second birthday party. It doesn't seem as chaotic as planning a 1st birthday party, but it could be the fact that we are doing it BEFORE the big SpeedFest weekend, instead of after like we did last year and we have other things occupying our mind.

Last year we really wanted to do something with just us and Connor on his actual birthday. Since he was born so close to this little event we have, sometimes that isn't possible. This year Scott may not even see him on his birthday since it is Friday of the event. But we can look back to last year, on the day after he turned one, when we traveled to the Indianapolis Zoo for the first time.

To say he was excited is an understatement. His eyes were W-I-D-E open as soon as we walked into the oceans pavilion and he saw the brightly colored fish. We knew it had been a good choice to make the visit as soon as we saw his face light up.

Still has the wide eyes! This is in the dolphin dome - the only underwater viewing area in the World - where you are immersed under the dolphin pavilion and they swim around you.

He loved the Merry-Go-Round! Scott did not, so he took the photos. It is impossible for him to take a decent photo of me. Every time he does, I look like I do in the above photo. It's almost a game now. (I figure I might as well put a few up, or there may never be a photo of me on here!)

Family photo on the train, not our best one but we'll take it.

Surprise, surprise! Tony Stewart and his surprisingly tame Cheetah hanging out in the Plains exhibit. Seemed like a good guy, but a little stiff. I know bad joke, bad joke.

At the end of the day, Scott got Connor a cute little polar bear that he sleeps with today. All in all, a great first visit, and a great first birthday. Here's to this weekend being just as nice as last year!

Wordless Wednesday - July 20th

I can't even imagine what he is thinking...but I bet it's something!
Hendricks County 4-H Fair, Monday 7/18/11

Kissing Cows and Petting Pigs

Judging by the title, I hope you assumed it was Fair Time, but if now let me set you correct, it's Hendricks County Fair week. If you are from Indiana or any Midwestern state, I'm sure you know the rite of passage that is the county fair. Scott and I both remember treks to the old fairgrounds with the super scary carnival rides which were right in the middle of all the other 'fair' things. The sheep barn was next to the pigs and cows, and the horses were way in the back. The midway was in the middle of it all. Things have changed, including the move to the new fairgrounds, but it was awful fun to take a 2 year old Connor to the fair tonight.

For reference, here is Connor during our 2010 visit. It POURED rain. It was miserable. We just saw chickens and rabbits, it was the next to the last night, nothing was going on. He looks positively thrilled I'm sure.


2011 tells a different tale. This year we went earlier, and that was wiser. We took reinforcements (grandparents) to help with corralling our little animal. We ran into a wonderful former Commissioner and all around amazing man, Mr. Whicker, who let Connor get close enough to kiss the cow!


Two groups of baby pigs were in the pig barn, and Connor was in L-O-V-E. He even had to pat a few other bigger pigs, but he was smart enough to stay away from the momma sows.


Ahhh....the lemon shake up!


Connor loved walking around the big tractors. He climbed up in the wheels and would scream 'Cheese!' for me to take his picture.


Connor and Daddy posing by the combine. No wonder you can't get around them on the back country roads - they are huge!


The absolute strangest looking chicken we have ever seen. We never did 'see' it's eyes. I call him Disco Chicken.


In the exhibit hall, I love looking at the 4-H projects. They have photo projects, scrapbooks, gift wrapping and my favorite, cake decorating. We even saw two lego shuttle projects (I'll have to do a Flashback Friday on Scott's lego building soon!) in the craft entries. Here is the most amazing cake in the bunch:


Awful reminiscent of Cinderella's Castle don't you think?

If this is your fair week, or if you would like to visit your fair, look here for all 92 here in Indiana. Ours goes through July 24th, and you can learn more at www.4Hcomplex.org. You can also follow them on Twitter or Like them on Facebook.

County fairs offer good hometown fun, and a great sense of place. You can experience that on an even grander scale at the Indiana State Fair, coming up August 5th through the 21st. Take the time to visit, I promise it won't disappoint!

Wordless Wednesday...I mean Thursday!

Oops! The day got away from me. I had a great meeting getting ready for the 2012 Super Bowl to be here in Indy yesterday morning, and I was knee deep in parking, control centers, super celebration sites, 1st and green and more. I promise Indy in February is not to be missed!

Here's a fun photo of Connor during the Family 4th Fest on the 4th of July. Pretty funny to see him run the track and Scott and I's high school alma mater.

Flashback Friday - 1st birthday party

Posting took a back seat and this one is way late tonight. I had a bit of a mix up with my daily medication, you can read about it here. Let's just say I had to take a nap today, and it makes a really funny story. :)

Since we are getting ready for the 2nd birthday bash, I thought a few photos from his first birthday party would be fun. We had it at Nana and PawPaw's house and several of our friends and family came, even Great Grandma Mary Ann and Bill. Uncle Jason came from Bloomington and your buddies Addison, Ava and Cassie were there too (I promise you have boy friends too, you just like the ladies better!).









You're party was jungle animals and you had the cutest cupcakes and smash cake. We even had a more sophisticated grown up cake with fancy sparkler candles. You weren't even a walker yet, so we could keep you contained. I doubt that will be the case for year two.

Wordless Wednesday - July 6th

Didn't quite realize it was Wednesday already! I'm working on a speed scrap layout for my other hobby, and ran across this photo from our Disney trip. Check out Connor's super excited face. 3 months, 1 week and 1 day until our flight back to Florida....



Is it bad I'm already counting down to vacation just two days after my last vacation?

Flashback Friday: Bathtime Splashes

Well, #smithcleansweep11 is plodding along. We got a bit derailed this morning. I was excited to spend my last vacation day relaxing and sleeping in since the 2-year old was at Nana's. However, the 85-year old had other plans. :) Thank goodness we are here to help, and thank goodness he asks for it. Alas, that is a story for another day.

Before I get to Flashback Friday I want to show you my desk in my house. If you've seen our house or even my desk at work you know I'm a pile-er. I get it from my mom and Grandma Girton, papers get stacked and go in piles. I know what's in each of them, and where they are. There does come a point though, the piles can get to be too much. And now that we have a budding artist in the house who brings home a 'report card' every day he goes to school we have waaaayyyyy too much paper. Here's my desk before:



And after:



I love my desk accessories, I picked them up at Wal Mart. They were pretty inexpensive and I hope that having a system (bills/to-do stuff in the left box, filing in the right) will help keep the paper off the kitchen table. That being said, I have about two years worth of filing under my desk at work so I'm not expecting miracles.

Onto Flashback Friday! This video is from April of 2010, Connor was just 8 1/2 months old. He was still taking baths in his baby bathtub, but we put it in the big bathtub. This was one of the first times that we filled up the whole tub along with the little one. He's always loved the water, as you can see:



We are hoping for a relaxing 4th of July weekend, and right now it looks like the Bohler/Smith Fireworks Extravaganza will not be happening for 2011. Life just got in the way today. We hope it'll make a comeback for 2012. We'll make up for it by using the kiddie stash to entertain our 17 different neighbor kids. It'll be a new kind of firework show. Have a great 4th of July holiday!