Randomness

Luke loves his Mum-Mums!

Yet another, "Hey, Mom! Take a picture of this!"
Our mostly-packed living room/dining room
"Hey, Mom! You take a picture of me while I take a picture of you!"

"Hey, Mom! Take a picture of me! I'm a pirate Iron Man!"

Noah and his friend, Graham, a fellow big brother, at Baby Bible presentation

The only picture I have of all 4 kids at Luke's Baby Bible Presentation at church!

Daddy and Jack fell asleep watching cartoons!

Change

Once again, I have confirmed that I am indeed a Republican. No, not because I voted for McCain (which I did), but because I HATE CHANGE! I hope in the near future, I will be enough adjusted to the changes that I can look back and see what in the world this is all supposed to mean. Right now it's hard to see past today and I'm just kinda stuck--with my fingers in my ears, singing lalalalala until the dust settles. I have not felt much like blogging about anything really, but especially about the move. It is hard for me to say what I think without whining and without getting overly dramatic. I think it would be fair to say I'm in a funk. A funky funk. I'm sure I will snap out of it at some point. I'll let you know when that happens. For now, I'm going to continue ignoring the elephant in the room (that we are allegedly moving in 2 weeks) and try to resume the posting. And I promise it will be happier than this particular post. The end.

We're getting a niece!

David and Maggie are expecting Georgia Grace in April 2009! Maddy and I are especially excited to add another girl to the family :) Even Jared said, "Let the spoiling begin, let it BEGIN!" Must. exercise. self-control. Otherwise every lacy, frilly, pink piece of clothing from here to BG would be on its way to Maggie!

Wide Open Spaces aka Great Move of '08

(and evidence of my lack of photography skillz)

Zai jian, Mei Lin

This is part of Maddy's Mandarin Chinese class at our church in Nashville. She loved learning the language and culture. That makes her language-nerd mama proud :) Her class had a going-away party for her before we moved, with cupcakes, snacks, a card, and a gift of a Chinese dress and purse bought by friends of ours when they went to China to adopt their precious daughters! We are so blessed with such thoughtful and generous people!!

The board says "To: Mei Lin [her Chinese name] Zai jian [Goodbye!]

I am so impressed with how well she picked up the language, especially learning characters and the very specific sounds and tones necessary to speak. My nine year old can carry on a (basic) conversation in THREE languages!

There's really no explanation for this

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Believe it or not, Noah was a super-chubby baby (9lb 2oz at birth), not quite as chunky as Luke is, but more like him than any of the others. Now he is the skinniest kid ever, like his daddy ;) But every great once in a while, I catch a glimpse of that little baby boy face and OH I could just stare forever...

The kids wanted to see the new "Journey to the Center of the Earth", but rather than load them up and head to the theater, Jared rented the original 50s version and we pulled out the sofa bed to watch.Who looks most interested here? Jared doesn't watch a ton of tv, but when he does, there is no dragging him away!
The "little boys"

Christmas linkage

Here are links to some moms' favorite toy ideas...and also just a great blog.

Prayers for our children...

There is a great post here about praying for our children. I'm taking the challenge!!

Boys in the Floor

Could this baby be any happier?

Oh, the things you learn when you're #4 with 2 older brothers...he's an early reader ;) I think he's learning about "Amazing Snakes" here...
Smalling Boy v6.8, v4.0, v0.5

Silly, Silly Smallings

Noah got these "disguise" glasses in his halloween treats, and they provided hours (or at least minutes) of entertainment for the Smalling "kids"...

...from the biggest...
...to the smallest...

I don't know where they get all the crazy!? (Please don't answer that, Mom and Dad!)

MJ-CrazyPants (yes, giving HERSELF bunny ears)
"Say What?!"

JackE the Smooch

At what point will he not be shocked by the sight of the camera?

Trick or Treating 2008

We've enjoyed trick-or-treating the last few years with friends who live in a neighborhood near ours. The Cromwells have hosted this, and we all bring food to share and send the kids out (usually with the dads) in shifts while we visit and supervise the little ones in the playroom. Dads who are not on trick-or-treat duty sit in front of the house in a line of lawn chairs and hand out candy. This year, they started asking trivia questions to trick-or-treaters and giving them candy based on how well they answered (they ALL got some, you just got more if you were right!). I think the neighbors began to wonder what was in the tea punch we were drinking!
Here's the Smalling clan, ready to go get some candy!!