Carma gets Initiated right away in the FAMILY

Dusty shows off his "swaddling" skills that he learned at Daddy Boot camp and gets Carma ready for the masses of family to admire...

me - Glamma Fabulous (and LOVING the bling that daughter #5 made for Carma...It's NEVER too early to show some glam!

Grandma Jenkins - She just can't stop smiling! Chelsea is lucky to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. I have to say that she is FABULOUS!

Aunt Devan loves her new niece (and is getting VERY baby hungry...)

Aunt Amber thinks Carma is tooooo cute! Amber was adopted into the craziness.

Aunt Kelli holds Carma and is thinking that in just 4 and a half months, She will be holding her own baby. (Notice her darling bump)

Uncle Brett was a natural holding his first niece.


THEN things went a little crazy.... (The Smith girls can not be in the same place too long together as their minds start to find new ways to have fun and make us all laugh till we cry!!!!) ((or wet our pants)) (((those girls, NOT me)))

Here is Hilari trying on the "big girl panties" I got for Chelsea for the "transition" time after the baby is born... ATTRACTIVE

While waiting for the baby to come the previous day, the girls decide to hijack a bed and roll it around the waiting area. They performed various "musical numbers" for the other people in the waiting area that they have memorized from listening to Show Tunes their whole lives growing up. (I didn't know that it would stick like it did...) Much to my amazement, we weren't "going to get kicked out" of there like I always threaten.

Kelli and Devan enjoy their Kitkats on a gurney. What can I say, I am still proud to be their mother, I would be bored with any other kids......

Introducing Grandchild # 9 !!!!

This new darling babe certainly does not look like a new born! Carma Nicole was born today, Monday the 28th of January, 2008 at 8:30 ish PM at a whopping 8 pounds 12.4 ounces and is 21 inches long. She took a long time coming and was even scheduled to be born emergency Cesarean section at 5:15 PM, but Her wonderful Midwife decided to check "one more time" and decided to let that babe take a little longer. Thanks Heavens for a Midwife who doesn't care about the time it takes out of her day and who's concerns about the health of the mother and baby are the #1 priority. Thanks also to Carma's Dad and Grandfather for giving her Mom a blessing and her Aunts, Uncles and especially her Cousins for praying for her safe entry into this world. The prayers of my fabulous grandchildren for their new cousin were answered, the faith of those children is awesome and inspiring. It was a long 20+ hours of labor at the hospital and that doesn't count the hours at home in labor. Congratulations to my dear daughter #4 and her loving husband on having their very first baby!

TARGET $1 bargain bins are the GREATEST!

Don't you just LOVE Target's $1 bins ?!!! They have the BEST stuff for decorating and small little gifts and object lesson goodies. I made this "LOVE" banner entirely with TARGET $1 bin merchandise. I bought 2 packages of paper (I wouldn't have needed both, but I messed up my measurements at first, no worries, those pieces of paper can still be used by my grand kids to make valentines). I bought 1 "LOVE" garland and took the ribbon off and cut it up to attach after I made each triangle. Oh, and I also bought 1 package of matching brads and 1 package of matching ribbon. I also have plenty of brads and ribbon left. One of these days, when I have more time, it would be fun to see how many things you could make with a few $1 scrap booking items. So BRAVO! TARGET, for seeing a need and making affordable fun items available for all our your patrons.

Unclaimed Sunglasses

5 pairs of sunglasses go unclaimed. Where did they come from? Who is going to get multiple wrinkles from squinting in the Arizona sun? Are these sunglasses owned by 5 individuals or do they belong to just one person? Do non-family visitors like to leave their sunglasses here so they have a reason to come back over and visit?(George did that on Seinfeld...) Or is the Invisible Man going commando around our house and I don't know it? ( By the way, there is also a trench coat and hat in the laundry room that no one claims) These unclaimed sunglasses represent a history of items that take root in the "Lost and Found". I have yet to establish a time limit to store such items in fear that as soon as I give them to the DI, that's when someone will call and want them back. The mystery continues........

Newly Decorated (and Organized) Computer Center

Our house has this "cubby" built-in for a TV and all it's components. Well, we have an armour for that so this space was a mystery as to what to do with it. On top of that, the desk and cabinets in the hall which I thought was a good place for the computer has no "hook ups". So until we figure out if we want to take this weird wall structure out and build out around the fireplace and get the proper electrical stuff done in the hall, I decided to "finish" this area a little so that it at least looks nice for now. I had a piece of wood cut at Home Depot and covered it with "pleather" and stapled a skirt all around. I then found some great boxes and other storage solutions in the $1 bin at Target and at (sound of the heavens rejoicing) Hobby Lobby. It looks cute now!

Young Woman Angel

I bought this angel a few days ago at Michaels. It was a Christmas item and it was 80% off. It was originally $12.99 and I paid $2.60. I took the wings off with wire cutters, primed and then painted the angel/now girl with white gloss spray paint. Wa La! A "Young Women" figurine! O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the a trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Alma 29:1

CAUTION: Artists at Work

At work are:

Blue- He posed for this but wanted to make sure that he held one of the exact crayons that he used to pose with.

Slade- He just wanted to make a sign for the entrance to Grandpa's room (his office and our library). Slade brought a scary book for Grandpa Fabulous to read to them "with the lights off, just a flashlight". (He asked how to spell his words, but did all the work himself)

Xander- He loves to draw, and the more scary and boyish subject matter the better. His pencil drawings are truly amazing.

Ava- She loves to draw too, and with as many colors as possible.

Cruz- He just can't get that anticipation for the flash of the camera off his mind. Even when he just sees a camera, he starts to squint! He loves to see what kind of marks he can make with his chalk.

Friday Night Out with my Daughter Kelli...

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This page was made entirely by a 7 year old!

I just thought I'd share with you a scrapbook page that my grandson Blue made all by himself ! He had no help in the composition, choice of paper or embellishments, He just went ahead ! I have scrap booking at my house once a month and invite friends and family over to "do their stuff" One of my daughter's husband works those nights so she brings her boys. Now, I held those grandbabies while painting, and have had the time to teach them a little about the elements of art. You should see their drawings ! It seems that as soon as they get to an age that they can control a pencil or crayon, they just take off ! I didn't have time to teach my own girls a lot, we did do crafts all the time, but now as a Glamma, I can do all this fun stuff with my fabulous grandchildren. Oh the joys of getting older. (If we just didn't have to look that way too....) I thought I'd also share a very special blog that I found while looking at a few sites that were listed on "musings and misadventures". It is karlastudio5.typepad.com , check it out it has great ideas and she's a young mom like a lot of you cute gals!

I finished the "Burp Pads" today....

I just thought I'd share my traditional "burp pads" that I make for my girls when they have their first babies. They are very functional and the fabric is cute, but they are simply made. I just get 10" each of two coordinating flannels, and cut a long oval out of half the length of the fabric. This means I get two burp pads. I use quilters batting that is thin and simply sew the batting along with the flannel (right sides together) and leave an opening to turn it out to it's right sides. Then I just sew all the way around the burp pad to close the opening. I usually make a bunch more, but Chelsea got so many cute burp pads that my friends made and embroidered with their fancy machines, that she really didn't need any more. The bottom burp pad is made with flame flannel and those wonderful dingle balls in a shout out to her darling husband Dusty, who is a firefighter. That baby should be here soon!!! (She's probably getting last minute advice from our Man Upstairs.)

I am a proud Glamma!

Today I got to go to Blue's school to attend an award presentation. The school is stressing "Life Skills" and each class had about 6 children who received a certificate for an outstanding achievement in a life skill. Blue got the award for responsibility. I asked his Mom "Was this because he always turns in his homework or something like that?" She said "Well, you know Blue..." And it's true, this young man takes great efforts in doing "the right thing" and taking responsibility for his actions. I am so grateful that my fabulous grandchildren can go to wonderful schools that are actively teaching "Life Skills" along with the basic three "R's" and that they are fortunate to go to church each Sunday to learn how they can be the people that they were meant to be and to know the difference between right and wrong. I know it is hard for parents to cover everything that their children need to know and learn. I'm not a huge Hilary Clinton fan, but I heartily agree with "It takes a Village" to raise our children properly. So a big SHOUT OUT to all the teachers (and that really means to all of us) who take responsibility in helping the young to know what is right and how to be good, honest, NICE, and responsible adults.

Chelsea's Baby Shower

My simplehappy BFF gave my daughter Chelsea a FABULOUS baby shower, her daughter Mrs. Gee made the AMAZING invitations (they were as nice or nicer than many wedding invitations I've seen. Thank you for spending I'm sure countless hours putting those together.) All of my WONDERFUL FRIENDS and FAMILY took time from their VERY BUSY lives to come and literally SHOWER Chelsea with all things PINK and too, too cute! I am always amazed and astounded at the generosity and love that my dear friends have shown to me and my family over the many years that I have known them. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!!! Chelsea's baby will be one of the best dressed newborns around when she decides to make her GRAND entrance. Today, I am especially thankful for the blessings of sisterhood that I enjoy with so many exceptional women...

I'm sewing a quilt...

Well, I finally have something to blog about. My daughter Chelsea is expecting her baby girl in a few weeks. She went online and bought this cute fabric. I helped her make curtains, my Mom made the crib bumper pad and now I am making this quilt. I did such a messy job that I am sewing "dingle balls" on BOTH side of the quilt to hide the stitching. But boy is it darling! I LOVE THOSE DINGLE BALLS ! I would put them on anything and everything if it were "socially acceptable".

So, I haven't blogged in over a week. I have been really busy,but nothing seems "blog worthy". What have I been doing all these past days...All I can think of is that I have been organizing and cleaning. Being organized makes an even bigger mess and then all of a sudden, everything has a place and it's nice again. But doing this work, leaves little to blog about. It's so fun to make something again! I can't go through too many days without creating a little something. Why is it so hard to keep sane!?

O.C.D. or Organization ???

The beginning of the end for the Christmas decorations. This is a third of the boxes, not counting the trees, that are packed, labeled and ready to be put into the garage. I ask myself "Why did I spend so much time making the "labels" ?! I even took time to customize the ornament colors to match what is in the boxes. It didn't seem weird to me at the time, and I do like looking the "organized chaos", but wouldn't just the descriptions alone be good enough? Oh well, I enjoyed making the dumb labels and I guess that is all there is to it.

Happy New Year 2008 !!!

So the girls and their families decided to start a new family tradition for New Years Eve by suggesting that they ALL party at our house and then spend the night! We blew up 8 air mattresses and made beds on the sofas and extra cushions. Dennis heated up the jacuzzi and a few of us took an afternoon dip on New Years Day. Someone decided that we also start another new tradition that on the first day of the year we all jump in the FREEZING pool and then get back into the jacuzzi. After Jason took the first plunge, the boys followed and not to be out done, all the girls jumped in too. I have had a few brain freezes in my life from drinking shakes too fast, but they did not compare to the terrible head ache that followed immediately after plunging into that COLD water. It took all I had to get out of that pool and back into the 102 degree water of the hot tub. The pain went away fast though, and an all-over refreshing feeling followed. It was fun after all. Hope this new year brings all things good for you and your families!