Building Our Forever Home…Almost Done!

Posted in Family, Raleigh NC by Karen

In true Smith fashion, things are nice and crazy right now (and exciting!) We’ve been traveling for the holidays- Atlanta last week and Savannah and Daytona next week. We’ve also been putting up our Christmas decorations. Oh, and we are moving into our new house the day after Christmas! Our original closing date was scheduled for February. That got bumped up to January, and while it was a little sooner than we had planned on, we went with it. THEN, our builder came to us and said they’d like to close before the New Year. Whoa! We quickly had to make arrangements with our current rental house, look for movers, and wrap our heads around moving over Christmas break. (We also negotiated a few concessions with our builder to compensate us for accommodating their expedited schedule!) Despite the stress that comes along with yet another move (our 3rd in the last 2 years) we are pretty giddy about the idea that we’ll be starting out the new year in our forever home.

The boys look forward to our weekly trips to the house on Sundays to check out the progress. It’s always a fun game of chasing Nolan around and trying to keep him from picking up rusty nails, touching wet paint, grabbing insulation, etc… Brady has the house memorized and has been able to give a tour since it was just framing and floorboards. He loves to show us where “his” playroom is going to be and always likes to remind us that we need to remember to bring the T.V. from the old house.

Here’s some pictures of the recent progress…

Nolan checking out the new bathtub in the boys’ future bathroom.

It was really exciting when the siding started going up!

Drywall really made it start to feel like a home!

The original deck. They ended up re-building it because it was just all wrong.

The new and improved deck with the stairs moved to the side.

My favorite part of the process…seeing the kitchen cabinets installed. Not gonna lie, I almost teared up when I saw my kitchen. {The site of future Kids Cook Monday posts!}

Another exciting day was when the stonework started going up!

Paint and trim- getting closer!

The driveway was poured this week and our fireplace has a mantel. I can’t wait to see the flooring and countertops go in next. It’s hard to believe that in less than a month we can unpack our boxes for good!

24Nov2014

Vegetable SOUPer Stars! {Kids Cook Monday}

Posted in Kids Cook Monday, Meatless Monday by Karen

Today we whipped up a simple and tasty vegetable soup. This is the kind of soup that is perfect on a rainy, cool day, and utilizes whatever fresh or frozen veggies you have on hand. It’s exactly what you want to eat when you’ve maybe been overindulging in junk food or perhaps need to detox after several days of binge eating Thanksgiving foods!

We started our soup with a combo of fresh, frozen, and canned ingredients. And to really make our soup “shine” we used some awesome star shaped pasta in it.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Frozen Vegetables (we used 1 cup peas, 1 cup corn)
1 onion (diced)
2 carrots (shredded)
1 can Italian tomatoes (don’t drain!)
1 box vegetable broth
About 1/2 box pasta

Check out these awesome star shaped pasta noodles. Brady was so impressed!

Brady asks for me to buy him a carrot practically every time we go to the store.

Using the box grater to shred the carrots is such a fun activity for kiddo helpers.

To make this simple soup, we started by cooking up our onions in a big pot in some olive oil. Once they were tender, we tossed in the frozen vegetables. Then we threw in the carrots and cooked them for about a minute. Next, we added the entire can of tomatoes (juice and all) and the entire box of vegetable broth. We brought the whole pot to a boil and then added about half the box of pasta. We turned down the heat a bit and let everything cook for about 10-15 minutes (until the pasta was tender.)

This soup thickens as it sits and the pasta absorbs the liquid. If you want your soup soupier, add less pasta. If you want it thicker, add more pasta. Either way, you can’t go wrong with these flavors.

Nolan- caught eating vegetables and he doesn’t have a clue. A win for mommy!

Vegetable Souper Stars! Easy, peasy, yum.

31Oct2014

Halloween- Smith Style

Posted in Family, Holidays by Karen

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday. It’s always been OK, but now that I have young kiddos, it’s a whole new ballgame. We had such a blast getting ready for and then celebrating Halloween this year. Our boys are at such a fun age and really enjoyed every bit of the festivities. Brady was obsessed with planning, creating, and wearing his costume that he thought up. And Nolan? Well, he was pretty much made for Halloween. Socializing with strangers, eating junk food, and being told how cute you look… that’s basically Nolan’s dream come true.

This year we let the boys pick out small pumpkins at the Farmer’s Market and they each got to paint them. Nolan mighta eaten a little paint. And of course, Brady meticulously painted every inch of his pumpkin as slowly and carefully as possible.

Nolan’s on the left, Brady’s on the right.

For Halloween food, I turned to Pinterest. So many Pinterest ideas seem silly and over the top, but I can honestly say that our boys got a kick out of all the special food that we made. For once, we nailed a Pinterest inspired idea!

PB&J Spider Sandwiches

Mummy Hot Dogs

Jack-O-Lantern Ranch Bean Dip

Aaanndd… Fizzy Worm Juice (which was not Vodka and Sprite for us adults, if that’s what you were thinking. Ahem.)

As for costumes, this year Brady chose what he and Nolan would be. He’s been super into his Curious George books lately, so he decided that he wanted to be “The Man with the Yellow Hat” and Nolan should be Curious George. This totally worked for me because I had a monkey costume that I bought from Target on clearance at the end of the season last year, so Nolan was taken care of. However, Brady’s costume was a different story. Turns out, “The Man with the Yellow Hat” is not a very common pre-schooler costume, so we had to do some improvising. We found his shirt at the mall, the pants on Amazon, and well, yours truly made the hat. Thank you, glue gun!

Ahhh the cuteness!

We took the boys trick-or-treating at the park by our house for their “Trick or Treat the Trails” event. They had a blast and I was so relieved to see that people actually knew what the boys were dressed as. Again, thank you, glue gun!

Once Nolan realized that people were just giving him candy, he was stoked! He tried eating it wrapper and all!

Brady would not let Chris and I go without costumes, so last minute we threw together some cowboy costumes. When a 3 year old tells you to wear a costume, you do it.

We ended the evening by trick-or-treating with our neighbors in our neighborhood. After we put the boys to bed, Chris and I sat outside, gave out more candy, and enjoyed some more “Worm Juice.”

It was an awesome Halloween! We’ll probably need to detox tomorrow from all the sugar and excitement, but it was worth it. I’ll leave you with another favorite Halloween memory…Nolan’s first time listening to “Thriller.” HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

30Sep2014

Building Our Forever Home

Posted in Family, Raleigh NC by Karen

After almost 6 months in Raleigh, us Smiths are smitten with North Carolina. We’ve fallen in love with the mild weather that still boasts a distinct change of seasons. We can’t get enough of all the parks, lakes, and biking trails that the area offers. We are addicted to trying new restaurants and exploring downtown Raleigh. It’s a perfect mix of big city, Southern charm, with a little bit of Crunchy Granola thrown in. Our kids are always active and learning as there is so much to experience- Farmer’s Markets, Kids Museum, Science Museum, libraries, parks, and activities with the “Mom’s Group” we’ve joined. We’re also loving being a little closer to family and having easy access to the beach and mountains. To sum it up, we’ve decided to stay put here in North Carolina.

We decided to build a home in a neighborhood that we absolutely LOVE that is about 5 minutes from our current rental. We’re hoping to be in the new house early next year. Brady is loving watching his new house go up and keeps asking to get his tools to help. He’s especially excited because of the golf course that is visible from our front porch! This past weekend, the framing was completed and we were able to walk into our new house for the first time. As Chris and Nolan crossed the threshold, Nolan sweetly said, “Home.” How completely perfect.

We do daily drive-by’s of our new home and have become it’s official stalker. I take pictures of it every time we pass by to document the progress, so we can always look back and show our boys how their childhood home came to be.

Here’s the journey so far…

Empty lot on the corner…ready for the Smiths!

SOLD!

Here’s how the house currently looks!

Checking out Brady’s new room!

Let’s get my tools and get to work!

We’re so grateful for this opportunity to build our forever home and can’t wait to start this new chapter of our lives!

2Sep2014

Brady’s First Day of Pre-School

Posted in Brady, Education, Family, Projects/DIY by Karen

Today was Brady’s first day of 3 year old Pre-School. This year he will go Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:15-1:15. He was so excited about playing with new friends and seeing his teacher, “Miss Cwad-yah” (Miss Claudia.) He specifically requested a special lunch for his lunch box…a bologna sandwich, grapes, and a muffin (a cupcake.) He couldn’t wait to wear his new Gator backpack and his “Vroom Vroom” shirt. I love that he was so brave and ready to take on a new school year!

Breakfast with Nolan on the 1st day of school

A little first day gift for “Miss Cwad-yah.”

His first lunch box!!

I couldn’t help but think how cool it was that over 11 years ago Chris and I met at UF and now, here we are with a 3 year old going to school with his Gator backpack and an Orange and Blue cupcake in his lunchbox!!!

Nolan fit right in…and couldn’t quite understand why he couldn’t stay and play!

Had to sneak one picture after we walked away!

Yay for our big boy!

17Aug2014

Baby Boy Haircut= Bye-Bye Baby

Posted in Family, Nolan by Karen

What is it about getting a baby boy’s haircut that instantly turns them into big boys? It’s. So. Sad.

So, Nolan has had one haircut in his life. It was not a fun experience for any of us. He cried the whole time and I was a nervous wreck thinking that they were taking too much off and transforming my baby into a toddler. 4 months later and his hair was, well, according to others, in need of another trim….

After much nagging on the part of his father, I had to admit that Nolan could stand to have his hair cleaned up a bit.

Even though, it felt like we were taking away his mojo, we went for it…

Where’d my BABY go?!?! Yes, he’s still adorable, snuggly, and sucking his thumb, but there’s just something about those haircuts that’s such a game changer. Sigh!

It should be noted that the hair cut was going fine until they brought out the evil squirt bottle and all heck broke loose! Poor Bubba screamed “All Done!” throughout the entire haircut. Meanwhile, big brother Brady sat like an angel for his!

9Aug2014

Summatime…Smith Style

Posted in Family, Travel by Karen

As I sit here typing, it’s currently about 68 degrees out, raining, and I’m wearing sweat pants and drinking hot tea. It’s hard to believe that it’s August! Thank you, Raleigh, for this unexpected break from Summer weather. With that being said, I thought it was a perfect time to sit and recap all of our Summer adventures. Between family trips, girls weekends, and tagging along for some of Chris’s work trips, we’ve been on the go all Summer. We also celebrated mine, Brady’s, my mom’s, and Chris’s birthdays…along with our anniversary and Father’s Day- we’ve been busy.

I kicked off Summer with a Gator girl weekend in Savannah. That was followed by a work trip (for Chris) that we tagged along for to Virginia Beach. Then B-Man and I headed to Atlanta for my Goddaughter’s 1st birthday. After that we took a trip to Washington D.C., then a long weekend in Oak Island, NC, another girl’s trip to Tampa/Naples, then a family vacation to Myrtle Beach which turned into a staycation in Raleigh/Durham area, and then a week long trip to Savannah.

Whew!! This. Summer. Was. Awesome.

Here’s a virtual scrap book of our travels…

Gator Girl Reunion in Savannah, Memorial Day Weekend.

Virginia Beach, VA

Atlanta trip with Brady… playing at the lake with Taylor and Jackson, exploring the Georgia Aquarium, and celebrating Miss Taylor’s 1st Birthday.

Washington D.C. Mine and my friend Lindsay’s hubbies both had to be in D.C. for work, so we tagged along for some sightseeing fun!

Oak Island, NC. 4th of July weekend, visiting with our Lancaster buddies!

Summer also consisted of lots of golf, birthdays, and date nights!

Gator girl weekend in Naples, FL

Myrtle Beach, SC

“Staycation”- Jordan Lake, NC Zoo, and Durham

Savannah, GA- visiting Grandpa and Nana

Traveling with young kids is not always easy, but I’m truly grateful for this time in our lives where the kids are not in school full time, I’m not working, and we have the freedom to get out and expose our kids to new adventures. We’ve made some amazing memories this Summer! Even though I’m sad to see this summer come to an end, I’m secretly excited for the structure and routine that comes with Brady starting Pre-School, being home for the kids’ naptimes, and cooking/eating dinner at home. And of course, the fact that College Football is just around the corner!!!

19Jul2014

The Life and Times of Nolan Smith

Posted in Family, Nolan by Karen

It’s been 3 months since we celebrated Nolan’s 1st birthday (eek!) and it occurred to me that when Brady was 15 months old, I did a blog post to document what he was up to at that age.

http://www.ourblessedadventures.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-life-and-times-of-brady-smith.html

I thought I’d do the same for N-Dawg to help myself remember some of his baby (although less baby-like every day) quirks.

First off, he has just recently mastered walking within the last month. He still has a little drunk man technique at times, but is trying so hard to keep up with his big brother. He always has the bruises to prove it.

Since he took his time getting the hang of being mobile, his focus must have been on language skills because lil’ man has lots of words he likes to use. Some of his favorite words include; ball, balloon, “all done,” “I did it,” bobba (bottle), wawa (water), Brady, momma, dada, pup-pup (puppy), up, down, Gato, moo (cow), foffle (waffle), night-night, vroom, airplane, monkey, moodic (music), outside, spoon, bite, wow!, hot-hot, bubble, pop, bucket, button, book, banana, and the ever so lovely “poo-poo” and “burp.” Just to name a few…

He’s already fascinated by anything that Brady likes- trains, trucks, airplanes. He even knows the characters from the “Planes” movie…yesterday he brought me a “Planes” sticker he found and kept saying, “Dusty,” which is he main character from the movie. He loves to make sound effects when playing with anything that has wheels. He gets great delight from coming in the room and destroying Brady’s train tracks and stealing one of his “choo-choo’s.”

The thing I will probably remember the most about Nolan from this age is his love of music. I know, I know, all kids love music. Brady loved music too, but this is like, whoa, demands music anytime he sees an I-Pad, speaker, or radio. He takes his music and his dancing very seriously. There’s a whole repertoire of moves that he uses for different types of music. He loves Hip-Hop and 80’s hair bands. His very favorite song, the one he actually requests by name, is the “Happy Song.” (Happy by Pharrell) If he sees my mom with her Kindle, he makes a bee line for it, saying “Happy Song” and does not give up until she has the music video playing on YouTube. He likes to watch and imitate any dance moves in the video. I can’t make this stuff up….

Since day one, Nolan has been bursting with personality. He is quick to laugh, and quick to freak out and cry. He is always “on” and rarely has quiet or down time. Despite his “on the go” personality, he still likes a quick snuggle with mommy every now and then. His signature move is to snuggle in my neck, pull my hair and suck his thumb. I’ve lost quite a bit of hair thanks to him, but have gotten quite a few cuddles to make up for it.

Nolan keeps us on our toes, but brings us unimaginable joy. He couldn’t be more different than his big brother, but they are still best buds. We have so much fun watching Nolan and being a part of his little world!

Mouth full of snacks…this is oh-so-Nolan.

Nolan is a constant sweaty, disheveled, messy-faced kid. Love him!

Still just rocking the same few teeth he’s had for forever! I think we’re finally up to 6 now…

My smart, sweet, silly boy!

Momma’s boy!

21Jun2014

B-Man is Three!

Posted in Brady, Family by Karen

Our big man, my first love, is 3. Three is the beginning of “big boy” world- no more diapers, constantly asking “why?”, off to real pre-school, and so much more. I just wanted to take the time to write down some memories of my sweet lil’ guy so I’ll always remember him at this age.

Brady loves all things golf. Putting around at Dick’s Sporting Goods with daddy is about the best thing in the world.

His favorite foods are hot dogs, popcorn, and fruit (all of which he requested for his birthday party.)

He loves Disney Junior and would watch Mickey Mouse all hours of the day…if I let him.

He’s fearless around water. Since he was a baby he has always wanted to dunk his head under and doesn’t understand why we won’t let him go to the deep end of a pool.

He loves music. From singing nursery rhymes, to jamming out to Disney songs, to our nightly dance parties with the “Happy” song, the kid just loves music.

He always wants to do things himself. He’s stubborn, short tempered, and easily frustrated, and always refuses help when trying to accomplish a task. (Gets those traits from daddy.)

He’s checked out almost every book about trains that the library has. Airplanes and tractors are pretty cool too, but trains are where it’s at.

He’s totally daddy’s sidekick. When it’s time to mow the yard, he’s got his bubble mower right there. When Chris has to fix something, Brady has his tools too. If daddy gets the motorcycle out, he’s right there waiting to honk the horn.

He loves his little brother so much. They are absolutely best friends. {Melts this momma’s heart.}

He pronounces his own name as Brady Chri-a-pher Miff (Brady Christopher Smith)

He still snuggles with mommy- gives hugs, plays with my hair, and asks for kisses on his “boo boos.”

Brady has such a sweet, soulful disposition. He studies people and is always thinking. He’s tender hearted and a little praise goes a long way. One of my favorite things he says is, “I make you happy!” when he does something that makes us smile.

Happy Birthday Brady-Boo. You make us so, so, happy.

10Jun2014

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins {Moo Muffins} – KCM

Posted in Kids Cook Monday by Karen

We went with a comfort food dessert for Kids Cook Monday this week. After a weekend full of potty training, we felt (gross, disgusting, frustrated) like we deserved a little treat! Brady has made great strides since embarking on his diaper free journey, thanks to his ultimate motivator- TV! That means we’ve watched lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over the past couple days and got some inspiration for our recipe this week. Toddler parents; perhaps you’re familiar with Clarabell’s Moo Muffins? We decided to make our own Moo Muffins with the abundance of Blueberries that are in season right now.

I love searching Pinterest for different recipes and then tweaking them to make my own creations. Several of the muffin recipes I’ve come across involve Greek Yogurt (yum!) and lemon (double yum!!) and I really wanted to give those a try. We were sure Clarabell would approve! Here’s what we came up with.

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins

Ingredients

3 Cups Flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 & 1/2 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 container Greek Yogurt (we used Blueberry, Lemon would be tasty too!)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 pint of fresh blueberries

Pre-heat oven to 350* and prepare a muffin pan with liners. Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda, and salt) in a bowl. In another bowl, use an electric mixer to combine oil, sugar, eggs, yogurt, and lemon juice. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet and mix on low. Last, fold blueberries into batter. Bake muffins for approximately 20 minutes (or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.)

Brady really got into baking and it was a nice break from potty training and TV watching; however, littlest man was much more into eating the muffins than B.

These muffins were a great mix of sweet and tart and we will definitely be making them again!

	kesuf on The Mini Man Cave
	Lauren Tillman on The Mini Man Cave
	gypcgal on Nolan is 3!
	Amanda Estes on First Day of School (2…
	Pastel Carousel on July Adventures

our blessed adventures

Finding the extraordinary in this ordinary life!

Tag Archives: The Smith Boys

Building Our Forever Home…Almost Done!

Vegetable SOUPer Stars! {Kids Cook Monday}

Halloween- Smith Style

Building Our Forever Home

Brady’s First Day of Pre-School

Baby Boy Haircut= Bye-Bye Baby

Summatime…Smith Style

The Life and Times of Nolan Smith

B-Man is Three!

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins {Moo Muffins} – KCM

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