Happy New Year!

 We enjoyed a beautiful New Year's Eve in New Mexico!  Of course they would have liked more snow for the moisture, but it was the perfect amount for my little ones to play in.

Little Squirt even sledded behind the 4 wheeler.  Last thing I knew he was crying for me, next thing he was on the sled.  Mimi walked along just in case.  All of this....with no gloves.  That's my fault, but he's a tough little coot.

I'm pretty sure the girl could have sledded all day.  We left it all hooked up and she got to ride again at chore time.

All smiles!!

The wagon was pretty fun too!

The horses weren't sure what to think about a sledder.  This was right before they took off.  Reed, the little brown colt second from left, will be coming to live with the Smith's next trip.  I'm secretly hoping he will be my horse.  Not sure that's what the hubby is planning though.  

We were lazy.  Well, mostly I was lazy.  My mama took good care of us.  We spent lots of time...

 playing on the I-pad or phone,

climbing on the tiny ladder in Mimi's kitchen,

 cooking, 

 backed up to the fire, 

 eating ice cream, 

 chewing the fat!!  lol

Happy New Year!!  It'll be February before we know it!

"Say I Won't"

I came back to the office to check doors and turn off lights.  Somehow I ended up sitting down at my computer.  This is what happened.

I've been inspired.....Inspired by a fellow blogger.  I adore what my friend Elizabeth wrote earlier today.  I don't have a fabulous movie line to compare to or quote.  That just isn't really me.  You should read hers though.  I don't know what moved her to feel like this, but I like it.  

Sometimes I feel like I sit around waiting for the right time.  The right time to paint this or that.  In my mind, the right time would be while kids are sleeping.  However, this nap thing is hardly ever simultaneous and/or for any extended amount of time.  Therefore, my gazillion household projects and cool ideas remain undone.  Ugh!

So here's my version of the "shake my fist" thing.

Say I Won't

I actually said this to myself on the treadmill on Sunday afternoon when I thought I might puke.  (It could have been the Mexican food I had consumed 1 hour earlier, but still......I've become soft in every sense of the word.)  

It's my mantra!  Mantra!!  What in the heck is a mantra and has Tori smooth lost it?

Mantra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Mantra (disambiguation).

Tell me that I won't do it.....

And I WILL.

I first saw this phrase on a cap in the NRS catalog.  It's a brand of clothing.  Love it!

So,....say I won't......

*Get that pantry repainted and looking all Pinteresty by the weekend.

*Read more books and play more games with my kids starting tomorrow.

*Run better than 26:20 in the Color Run on March 23rd.

*Get every single home improvement/project done by March 1st.

*Have my house in tip-top shape for the wedding shower I'm having on March 30th.

*Take care of the mending/sewing pile by the end of the day tomorrow.

*Take more time to visit friends or family when I go to town.

*Completely clean up the kitchen each time I cook.

*Loosen up and laugh!!

You may notice that I've put a time on most of these.  This is where I struggle.  Procrastination is not my friend.  Duh, I've known this forever.  Come on procrastionation......I dare you to "SAY I WON'T"!!

Good luck Ya'll!!

Smith Christmas

Smith Christmas this year was a fun time, here at our Casa in Earth.  Reno and Saylor were so much more mobile this year therefore there was never a lack of excitement.  We adults are pretty exciting too, don't forget that.  ha

Gifts, gifts, gifts galore as usual.  Reno and Saylor didn't give a rip about opening gifts and Scout likes to open them and doesn't seem to care what's inside.  She's always asking for her next gift.  My kids received some really super, handmade in the USA toys this year.  Shall I add that I'm very excited about that?

It is sort of becoming Smith tradition to sit around and enjoy time off and not do too much.  We celebrated Brook's birthday.  I won't tell how many because I'll be the same number pretty soon.  His mom made a Waldorf Astoria cake, the "beloved" cake!!  Actually Kaitlyn made the cake and Tam iced.  I did nothing but eat it.  lol

We chilled out on the food this year and tried to spend less time in the kitchen.  Tandy told me about doing canned cinnamon rolls on the waffle iron.  There's nothing to it, just plop one down on each square and cook it just like a waffle.  It doesn't take any time.  Reno said, "good cookie". He also loves ribs.  Something about gnawing on a bone suits this guy.

It turned out to be a white Christmas, which was fun.  No worries this year about getting home or having cattle out, etc.  Luckily none got out either.  

Scout loves Saylor so much.  She wants her for her own baby as you can probably see in the pics.  Scout is such a little Mama and Saylor is actually pretty tolerable of it.  She would suck on her fingers and play with Scout's hair.  

Reno loves Saylor too!  They are still just trying to figure each other out.  No big fights or drama this year.  Sure they exchanged gibberish and maybe a push or two.

My favorite pic is out by the horse pen.  This was on Christmas Eve and it was freezing but they all refused to come in.  Saylor loved wearing Reno's monkey boots around when he wasn't.  She's such a little shoe girl!

How do you like the Christmas shirts?  Cherrycow Headquarters aka Summer painted them for us.  We wore them, washed them, and wore them some more.    

Hope you all had a super, fun, time with family this holiday season!  We sure did and feel so fortunate (every day) and especially this time of year!

Wild Rags in our photos are thanks to Jennifer at Cow Camp Supply.  They turned out to be a hit!!  

Townsend Christmas Weekend

So we had started the partying this past Friday evening.  Autumn had a basketball game in Lazbuddie.  What better way to start up a family celebration than getting excited by the close game and eating delish concession stand food.  The concession stand food thing is not a joke.  Lazbuddie has the best around and lots of locals come just for supper.

After the game we moved the party to the Townsend house.  Hope had this lovely spread of goodies for us.  We played ping pong, drank hot beverages, and chatted until past our bedtime.  I can admit this and am not taking it back, even though I kind of wish I could.  "I was sore on Saturday from playing ping-pong with Summer."  There....I said it.  Everyone thought that was just hilarious.  I'm not sure why, but I was.  The basketball on Saturday didn't seem to bother??

 Our bunch pretty much consisted of my siblings and their families as well as my aunt Pat and uncle Don.  Keith and Linda also joined us on Saturday.

Food, shall I mentioned what we gorged ourselves on?  Ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, hominy casserole, pepper souffle, green salad, pink salad, relish goodies......the list could go on and on.  My mom made the Perrini Ranch bread pudding with whiskey sauce.  It is definitely my new favorite dessert.  

 Mimi and a few of her "girls"!

**Look Summer got glasses!!  Isn't she precious?  I love them.  

 Tandy has a knack for getting retarded pics of me.  She was the one taking pics though since I had forgotten my camera.  I think I'll remember next time.  I sure like it when they are none of me.  

 Reno crashed when they went duck hunting.  He then slept through lunch and the gift opening.  He woke up hungry and never seemed to care too much about opening a gift.  If you got it unwrapped and ready to go he would play with it.

My kiddos are mostly into playing with aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.  Scout is crazy about sleeping over at Aunt Hope's house.  This time Mimi slept in the living room with all the kids.  Even Reno spent the night.  It was weird for us, not having them at home.  Kind of nice too though!!

On Sunday it was just us with Mimi and Papa and Aunt Pat.  I did my camera on 10 sec delay to get the pic.  It was good of everyone except for me sliding in at the last minute.

We had a Merry Christmas and now can't wait to go spend New Year's with our Mimi and Papa!

Home Comfort

Thanksgiving, yes....it's almost Christmas and I'm just now getting around to Thanksgiving.  This year we are switching up the routine.  Thanksgiving and New Year's with my family and Christmas with Riley's family.

Thanksgiving in New Mexico was lovely.  We had Mimi and Papa all to ourselves and enjoyed every second.  The girls had a little sleepover in the living room on the army cots.  Scout insisted on wearing Mimi's housecoat thing everywhere.  

We mostly wore pajamas and cooked and ate and cooked and ate.....all while wearing our pajamas.  ha

I was the pie girl and I do have to say the turned out well, even if it was my doing.  I combined the recipe from the pumpkin can and one that called for Eagle Brand milk.  It turned out nicely and I've posted it here.  This is just traditional pumpkin pie, but better than I remember pumpkin pie being.  Buttermilk and chocolate were delicious as usual.  That's a no-brainer!

 I love how my Mom and I are so alike.  Here she is calf-roping my children, which is something I would totally do.  Hilarious!!  They loved it too.

Home Comfort, well that means a couple of things here.  We cooked breakfast on the old Home Comfort wood burning stove that Friday morning.  It turned out yummy as it always does.  Mimi prepared it, Papa cooked it and I mostly just backed up to it for warmth.

Home Comfort is also that warm, fuzzy feeling we get when we get to spend time with those we love.  Home to me is just where my family is, not necessarily the house I grew up in.

 Here's to Home Comfort to you all this Holiday Season!!

We interrupt

our regularly scheduled posts to bring you......Pumpkin Patch!  Oh wait, there are no regularly scheduled posts, there are hardly any posts at all.

My excuse this time around is that my computer was so full that I couldn't even move the pics off my camera onto the computer.  I have since gotten an external hard drive and moved pics.  Keep your fingers crossed that this silly laptop  lasts a little longer.  It is 7+ years old.  

So back in October our little family met Jessica, my high school classmate and wonderful friend, at the pumpkin patch between Floydada and Ralls.  Her Jaxon and Jenny are precious kiddos and we were sad that Justin couldn't make it.  The pumpkin patch was fairly small, but a fun place.  There were lots of picture opportunities and best of all ANIMALS.  I was afraid Scout would smell like a billy goat at our chiropractor appointment.  They had a great time feeding the sheep, goats, and miniature horses. 

 I promise you'll see Thanksgiving pics before Christmas!