New Blog with Old Posts

As you can see, we now have a new blog. For whatever reason, I logged into Blogger one day and suddenly it no longer recognized me as the author of "Smith Family Wobinson". I spent several days going through the 'Help' process, which really didn't 'help' me at all except confirm that I can get a migraine headache just from working on the computer too long getting help.

Because I am not much of a scrapbook gal, I was devastated that my on-line journal of our family for the past 2 years was no longer accessible. So...I have spent the last month tediously copying and pasting all the old posts (in chronological order) into this new blog. Don't look too closely or you'll see that I still have a lot of uploading of pictures to complete for many of the older posts.

In case you've been wondering where we've been, that's the short story. Here's a few things that have been happening around here in the last month or so...

Brady playing football with some friends during Avery's soccer game.

Avery - fall soccer

Jack and Audrey at our house...5 kids is no big deal (for 2 nights)

The girls with cousin Audrey

Brady and Avery celebrate their birthdays together on Avery's big day (10/11/08)

Nora discovered Avery's ballet costume and likes to play 'dress-up' in it.

Avery dressed up like a colonial girl for a field trip to Sholes School in St. Charles.

Brady pitching during a fall baseball game.

Photos at the park (originally posted on 9/3/08)

I've been feeling guilty for years that we have a ridiculous amount of pictures of each of the kids from birth to about age 2 and then the pictorial memories taper off a bit. In my opinion, the reason that this happens is that they no longer sit motionless, enraptured by your voice and the shiny black thing that lights up and makes noises while you smile and coo at them. Now if I point the camera in their direction, I get the backs of their heads while they run out the door or a "not now, Mom, I'm in the middle of something" or, most often, I receive the cheesiest "I do not want to smile right now" grin that is entirely unsuitable for framing or anything else.

So, because we are now on the move, I had to schedule an entire morning when I knew Scott would be home to help me, just to capture this stage of our lives. Of course, we spent at least 30 minutes moaning and complaining about having to change clothes (Brady: Why can't we just wear our basketball shorts and t-shirts, Mom?), especially into a dress, for crying out loud (Avery: I don't like dresses...they look weird). Nora was happy to oblige in changing her outfit, what a shock (Nora: I look like a princess!).

We started at the train bridge in Geneva overlooking the Fox River, which I'd had my heart set on using because the light coming into the bridge is great. What I momentarily forgot is that it is a holiday and every person in the western suburbs is out biking, picnicing and walking across this bridge! So...we took a few shots and then packed it up for a quieter location. By the time we found a park in St. Charles it was really getting steamy outside and a bit close to lunch time, but as you can see if you take at least 200 pictures, you're bound to get a few good ones. I'll upload the ones that didn't turn out, but are too funny not to share in another post.

Labor Day Weekend (originally posted on 9/3/08)

The kids were curious why we celebrate a holiday called "labor day" and since I didn't want to just make something up about it being a day for children to do chores for their parents, we went to Google and found that it started as a set day off for those in labor unions. Now, it's traditionally celebrated as the official end of summer holiday.

I am more melancholy than usual about saying good-bye to summer, but we were able to fit in some great end of summer activities over the long weekend - golf on Friday and Sunday, photos at the park in Geneva & St. Charles near the Fox River, lots of meals on the grill and a spontaneous trip to see the Kane County Cougars (minor league baseball) on Saturday night with great seats (compliments of our neighbors) in the front row on the third base line. Brady and Avery brought their mitts, but we didn't have any foul balls come our way (this was a huge relief to me!). I think Nora enjoyed the after game fireworks the most.

Brady & Avery at the baseball game enjoying their seats and the treats
The ever-changing moods of Nora -- mad....

...to happy in a matter of moments.

Number 23 is Rhyne Sandberg, former Cubs player and hall-of-famer who now manages the Peoria Chiefs

By the river in Geneva near the train bridge

First Day of School (originally posted on 9/1/08)

I would love to say that we just started school, but indeed we have been back at the routine for more than a week now. Brady started 5th grade and Avery started 3rd grade on Wednesday August 20th. Nora is continuing in her personal 'school for future princesses'. Everyone is enjoying their new teachers so far and even the homework!

Stylish 3-year old (originally posted on 7/25/08)

Everyone needs a stylist like Traci Falder, don't you think? Noni loves this new outfit from the Falder family and says she looks like a princess. I just say - cute, cute, cute...

Needtobreathe (originally posted on 6/20/08)

We have a new favorite band - Needtobreathe. They came into Chicago last night and did a show at a small bar called Schuba's in the city. We really felt old when they didn't even start until 11pm (ha, ha). Anyway, great concert and if we didn't have a family to care for, I think Scott and I might consider following them on the road as their newest groupies. :) They have a song on the soundtrack for P.S. I Love You ("More Time") and one on the radio called "Washed by the Water". You can buy their music on iTunes too. Check them out!

**We are not receiving any kickbacks for this endorsement, but let us know if you hear them or end up catching a concert.

Happy Father's Day! (originally posted on 6/20/08)

On Father's Day weekend we drove out to Elburn (west of us in the country, but not as far as Hinckley) and had Scott pick out all his favorite things from Ream's Elburn Market - brats, chicken, jerky, biersticks, salsa, smoked cheese, etc. Scott chose Red Robin as his lunch choice on Sunday and then for dinner we enjoyed the Grand National Champion bratwurst on the grill.

Noni's 3rd Birthday (originally posted on 6/20/08)

Here are some pictures from Nora's actual b-day on March 12th and her lady bug party on March 16th.

Brady's Baptism (originally posted on 5/18/08)

We are going to attempt some major catch-up on the blog over the next week. I'm going to start with Brady's baptism pictures from April 27th. I've included his faith story that he read in front of the congregation. We are all very proud of him!

Hi. My name is Brady and this is my faith story. I came to know Christ as a 4-year-old. Close friends of our family had a baby girl who died at the age of 5 months. My mom and dad talked about her going to heaven. I had questions about how get to heaven. They explained to me that you accept Jesus into your heart by saying a special prayer. I said it with my mom. Since that time, I understand more about what it means to be a Christian. I have a personal relationship with Jesus and I know that I can go to Him at any time. I want to be baptized today because I want to obey God’s command. My favorite verse is Psalm 25:4: “Show me the right path O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.”

Our New Assistant Lieutenant (originally posted on 5/18/08)

Noni: "MOMMMMMM...DAAAAD, Avery's room is a mess again!"

Noni: "Daaad, Brady is sitting in your seat!"

Noni: "Mommmm, Brady kicked me!"

Noni: "Daaaad, Bailey's not in his kennel!"

Thank you, Noni, we appreciate your help. :)

Can I have an "EEREO"? (originally posted on 5/18/08)

Escape to Florida (originally posted on 2/13/08)

We were very happy to escape the arctic cold of Chicago this week and head to Naples, FL. We arrived Sunday evening and had a wonderful sunny Monday at the pool while Scott played golf with Dave Merwin. Tuesday was a thunderstorm forecast, so I took the kids to the pool for about 30 minutes before a huge wind started blowing in and we had to gather all the pool toys up and race back to the condo. Fortunately, the bad storms held off until late evening after we returned from dinner at Guy Harvey's Island Grill on Marco Island. My dad had told us stories about being in the condo on the 17th floor during hurricane Charlie, which I'm sure was much more intense than what we witnessed last night, but we did have a bonafide tornado warning and it was pretty cool to see a panoramic view of the lighting striking around us. Today is another rainy day, but our forecast for the remainder of our time here will be sunny - just what I need! We will be heading out on my dad's boat for the day tomorrow to fish and explore some beaches. Kelsey is going to play hooky from school to join us. We'll be back on Monday the 18th and hope to post some pictures then (Noni will NOT be getting at our camera to throw it in the pool this year - knock on wood please!).

I want a COOKIE! (originally posted on 1/23/08)

Even though we have been less strict with Nora's diet than with our first two children, she only recently discovered cookies. She followed a 'cookie a day' regimen over the holiday break with MaMa's sugar cookies and then, when they were all gone, would continue to sneak the empty cookie tin out of the pantry in hopes that some new cookies might have appeared.

Today was just like any other Wednesday for us. I was home, trying not to do too much work, and multi-tasking on all the other stuff that needed to get done. Nora was amusing herself at the table making shape cut-outs with Play-doh and suprisingly had done a very good job not eating any of it. I left her working at the table to walk into the office for about 3 minutes (there is no way it was any more than that). When I returned, I found her sitting on the kitchen counter with an Oreo that had been pulled apart and all the icing completely gone from the middle. I had to blink at her twice to figure out how in the world she'd not only climbed up there, but opened the cookie jar, removed an Oreo and expertly pulled it apart to dig into the frosting in 3 minutes time. She said, "Hi Mommy! I want a cookie." I gave her my sternest face possible and said, "what are you doing?". She looked very guilty and was trying to figure out a way down when I noticed that she had used her play table chair as a step stool to get up on the counter in the first place. So now I cannot help but smile at her creativity and breathe a sigh of relief that she made it up there with no major injuries! I did attempt to tell her "No" for the future, but I think the effect was somewhat lost on her since I was laughing at this point.

Seeing that she is not going to sit in time-out for the rest of her life, she says, "Me eat the cookie again?" I did not give it back to her, but I think she already knows that I'm not really in charge here.

The Kiss...(originally posted on 12/28/07)