Boy Antics

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So . . . . I’m still in the midst of processing pears for canning and came across a peculiar-looking pear with a “worm hole”. I looked closer and found that it was not a worm. Can you see it? What is it? This is just every day life at the Smith house full of boys.

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No Words Necessary

Sometimes things just come together - lighting for the camera, attitudes, smiles, and you are left with pictures that make your heart all warm inside. That is what happened here. These are so precious to me, a rare treat, definitely!




And I couldn't have done it without older brother, Brown Eyes, giving them a reason to be happy:)

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Sewed In and Blog Anniversary!

While a lot of people were complaining about being snowed-in a few weeks ago. I was blissfully sewed-in. The boys were outside sledding all hours of the day, the house was quiet, and much was accomplished.



Here are 4 of the 14 prs of pj bottoms I sewed with the help of Pearly who did a lot of cutting and prep work. It was a great team effort. The brown was for my daughter, Hannah, the blue pairs were given to my 6'3" sister, Denise (hi, Nise!!!), and the pink for my Mom. My absolute favorite part of Christmas was the thrill of watching my long-limbed family try their pjs on and see the excitement in their eyes when they noticed that they fit in length. My mom actually did a little jig, and once she put them on, refused to take them off even though we were having another family over for Christmas dinner. Well, that was all the encouragement I needed to remain in my pjs. So, that's how we ate our dinner - some of us were in pjs! Fun!

I made a pair for Tall Dude (who was 6'7" the last time we measured him), but they were about an inch too long. So I told him I'd quickly go hem them and he retorted, "Are you SERIOUS????". Ummm, I did not hem them. He's never experienced pants that drag on the floor, so he wanted to keep them that way. I originally wasn't even sure he'd wear them, because he typically wears his gymn shorts to bed, but he's been wearing them every night.

I had to laugh at this one morning when I went downstairs to begin my sewing. I'm trying to ignore the fact that my beloved Rowenta iron got knocked over, but check out the army guys all lined up ready for battle. And be sure to check beneath the ironing board - we have a paratrooper who snuck down to get in a better position. For what???? I do not know. Boys!!

I also happened to notice that it's been 4 years since I began this blog. It first began as a place to document my knitting projects so I wouldn't forget details like name of yarn, needle size, gauge, etc, but now it is a diary of the happenings in our home as we raise our remaining six children. I am amazed at how many people from all over the world are interested in our seemingly mundane life, but thank you for your supportive posts and communication along the way.

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Snow Day and Sew Day

We got a major dump of snow in the Pacific NW - between 6-12 inches depending on the elevation. This is a rare storm for us. We haven't seen it like this in the last 8 years we've lived here. Last night we got freezing rain and here you can see Orange Boy holding up the top layer of ice.

The house is pretty quiet and so I have been sewing a LOT. Here are my new flannel PJ bottoms that are long enough for my nearly 6'4" frame.


I've never had a pair of pjs that fit my long legs before, so it is a delightful treat. I will be wearing them all day, thank you very much. I've lost track of how many pjs we've made for the family (Pearly has been helping, too). Pearly and I are also making other clothes. We just discovered that Pearly wears the same size top as me. She's now 6'2" at the age of 14, and still growing. Oh yes, baby, she IS learning how to sew. Because of all the snow, our church had the services on Saturday morning. That was very smart because we wouldn't have been able to make the drive today. I love this weather. I love being snowed-in. We have our pantry stocked, wood stove going, hot apple cider, stew or chili ready to put on the stove. This is the life.

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Snow, Snow, Snow

We got snow yesterday. Church was canceled and the kids played their hearts out - until 11:30 pm!! I hope there wasn't a curfew in effect? LOL

Pearly Girl took all the pics except the one I took of her. I stayed in my pjs all day and sewed. What a great day!

Brown Eyes

Orange Boy played the most - from morning until 11:30 pm!

This is the wonderful hill just a few houses down from us. All of the neighborhood kids come to this hill to sled. I wish someone would put barricades at the top and bottom of the hill so the people showing off in their SUVs don't trash the good snow on the hill. My kids watched 2 SUVs go in the ditch. I'm not sure that I feel sorry for them.

Caboose was thrilled - and actually stayed out quite a bit.

This little strawberry-blond is turning into a carbon copy of Orange Boy - he can't get enough of the outdoors and is quite the trooper.

They are calling this storm the Arctic Blast. We will continue to have lows in the 20s for the rest of the week. More snow could come on Wednesday and Sunday again.

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Boys and Their Toys

One of the wonderful blessings of homeschooling is that a lot of our schooling takes place in life, not in a school with four walls with texts, class interruptions, etc. A bigger blessing is that we are able to take advantage of wonderful resources around us to enrich the learning process. Not long ago, a semi-retired man from church asked us if our boys would like to learn welding. Orange Boy, in particular, took an interest. One thing led to another and now this welding class has turned into a go-cart building class. The "boys" (as in Papa, Orange Boy, and our semi-retired friend) meet weekly to learn skills, talk about plans, etc.

Not wanting this project to be a huge expense, we were able to find a used tractor lawn mower on Craigslist for $140. This tractor has been disassembled by Orange Boy and a large percentage will be able to be "repurposed" for the go-cart. Here you see the tractor and then the process of disassembling. (Click the picture to enlarge.) I'm really excited about this school project. The little boys don't know about the go-cart. They will sure be in for a surprise! More updates to follow!

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What Rain?

We went to a picnic on Sunday and it started pouring . . . . absolutely pouring. Because Bunny knows how to ride a bike now, Caboose thought that he got to "ride" the bike and so he put on Bunny's helmet by himself and started to walk Bunny's bike out in the rain - oblivious to the fact that he was getting sopping wet. I know the thought - "I'm an Oregonian, don't need an umbrella, rain is one with me".

So, seeing how I am sitting underneath a roof, nice and dry (read: lazy), and Orange boy has been playing in the rain and already sopping wet, I sent him out to fetch the Caboose. The pictures explain it all.

There's a true Oregonian right before your very eyes.

Come on, Caboose, we have to get out of the rain.

No, I want to ride my bike!

Mommie, he won't listen to me!!!!!!!

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Another Bike Rider in the World

I'm not sure why we didn't try this sooner, but we have a new bike rider. He went straight from tricycle to bike without training wheels on his 2nd try. This doesn't surprise me. He's been very coordinated since he learned how to walk. He is one happy camper.

Click on the picture to enlarge

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Beach Trip

We went to Rockaway Beach, Oregon for the day on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day. Grandma and Grandpa tagged along with their dog.

Bunny got his pants so wet, they were falling off his skinny waist. He kept holding the back of his pants up!

Orange boy requested this action shot.

All of the kids couldn't get enough of these tide pools. This is every boy's dream - to be able to stomp in every puddle.

Pearly Girl


Grandma holding her baby - oops, dog, Priscilla, in a baby carrier.

Grandpa throwing frisbee.

Tall Dude swinging around the Caboose. (Tall Dude had a bike accident last week which resulted in a fractured wrist.)

Papa and his 4 youngest boys.

Brown eyes

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Favorite

My favorite picture out of the 450+ pictures taken.
Our 2-1/2 yr old baby with Tall Dude (18 yrs old, 6'7")

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You get a Line, I'll Get a Pole, Honey

. . . . we'll go down to that crawdad hole . . . .Crawdad Song
Do you remember that camp song?

We went back to the blueberry field to get more blueberries. You can see the blueberry fields off in the distance. You have to cross that bridge over a creek to get there. My boys didn't make it to the berry fields for a while because they spotted much more interesting stuff beneath the bridge = crawdads.

Orange Boy had plans for the crawdad he caught. See how the color of the crawdad changed from the previous picture to this picture? That can mean only one thing. I didn't tell him how to do it. He called his Papa and took care of it himself. He especially enjoyed the fact that his little brothers weren't too interested in having some, so he was able to eat it all by himself.

That's my boy.

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Not Too Big for a Nap

Bunny, nearly 6-years old, is getting so big now. He's lost two teeth. His cute face doesn't have as much of the squishy cheeks that toddlers have. He doesn't need to take a nap anymore because he's "too big". But sometimes, if he takes a little rest in a well-used recliner, just happens to get a hold of his beloved polar fleece blanket, and the thumb finds his way in his mouth, the eyes involuntarily get very heavy and he might accidentally fall asleep just as he did here.

You know, he really is too big to take a nap now. But I'm glad I caught this leftover remnant from toddlerhood days gone by.

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Redheads

I am a redhead. The only other redhead in my family was my great-grandmother. So I really did not have high expectations for having my own redheads. I actually prayed for redheaded babies. Yes, I was teased as a child. The most common tease that I thought was hilarious was "carrot top". Well, anyone knows that the top of a carrot is green! Thankfully, the positive comments far outnumbered the negative comments and the teasing had no lasting effect on me. I feel very blessed to have three redheads: eldest daughter and these 2 cuties. Orange boy has pretty straight hair, but Bunny, our eldest daughter, and I have natural curls or wavy hair. I've heard some rumors that redheads will be going extinct. At least we've done our part in helping squelch that rumor for the time being :)

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