Smiths' Small World

Yummy & Easy Recipe

2008-07-11T17:24:00.002-05:00

I easily get stuck in a rut with our dinners. Since getting satellite television, I've been interested in watching the Food Network. It's amazing what some of those people can do with food! Being the newbies in town, we've been invited to many homes for lunch & dinner. Here's one that made it into our regular schedule because it's simple & delicious!

Chicken Pockets
2-3 cups of cooked chicken, cubed into bite-sized pieces (about 2 boneless chicken breasts)
3-4 oz. of cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat) softened
1 tbs. butter melted
1 container of refrigerated crescent rolls - 8 crescents (I use low fat ones also)
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375* F. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the cream cheese & butter. Add in the chicken, salt, & pepper. On a cookie sheet, press together 2 crescent roll triangles to form a rectangle & repeat with the remaining rolls (equals 4 rectangles). Spoon equal amount of mixture onto each rectangle. Bring the corners of the roll to the center and twist together creating a pinwheel type look. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown & heated through. Serves 4 pockets.

Delish!

Happy July!

2008-07-11T17:16:00.003-05:00

Look at my new trick!

I'm cute & I know it

Try #1-Getting dressed for 4th of July. The snaps weren't even done & this happened!

Later that day - all clean & ready to go to a picnic!

1st Ponytail!

Hi!

Maleia in Colorado

2008-07-11T17:10:00.003-05:00

We had a great trip in Colorado back at the end of May.

4 Generations - Great Grandma Hurley, Grandma Lewis, Mama Smith, & Maleia Smith

Mommy, think Uncle Pat will let me drive?

I'm soo cool!

Having Fun

2008-07-11T16:57:00.005-05:00

Hanging with her friend Emma

6 mos old & sitting by herself

... well not for long . . .

"Hey Mom, you going to do something about this?"

Not so happy Baby

Maleia's Got the Blues

Hangin' with Daddy

6 Month Pics

2008-06-10T21:11:00.005-05:00

We headed into a nearby town to get pictures down at Sears. Maleia slept on the way, it wasn't feeding time yet, and still we have a meltdown 10 minutes into the session. Figures. :) Well, our package is for 1 shot, so we got it. The rest aren't terrible, just not the greatest. Geoff wants us to invest in some material and do our own, so if she isn't in a good mood that day, we can try again another day. Do you do portrait shots of your little ones?

Our serious child

Half smile

Cute Smile, off center

Smiling, but leaning forward

Since she keeps looking this way, maybe we should turn the camera over here

Nice smile, but still to the side

The Winner: Smiling & Centered - how hard could that be?

Quick Re-cap

2008-05-29T11:44:00.003-05:00

Ok, I have no excuse for not posting more regularly. I finally figured out how to use Geoff's phone as a modem for the internet a couple weeks ago. After being away for about 2 months, there's a lot to catch up on!

We're getting accustomed to country living and enjoying it!

My first Mother's Day was enjoyable! Thanks to Amazon.com 's reconditioned section, Geoff set the bar high with this

and a nice dinner out to Texas Roadhouse! I know the future ones will be more low key, but I felt very loved!

Right now, I'm with my parents in the midst of a 10 day stay. Maleia & I flew out alone leaving Geoff to bach it out. He's extremely busy with church responsibilities since our pastor is out of town too. So, if we were home, we'd see him just as much as we have here in CO. :)

I've been enjoying having great stores within 10-15 minutes away versus 45-60 minutes - hello, new summer wardrobe!

I think that wraps up what's been going on with our lives. Nothing overwhelmingly exciting, but since I've been reading all my friend's blogs, I figured I better post something!

Cereal!

2008-04-28T13:43:00.000-05:00

She LOVED eating cereal!

One Word Says It All:

2008-04-28T13:39:00.000-05:00

TEETHING!!!

Maleia in April

2008-04-28T13:36:00.002-05:00

Her favorite toy - her hand!

Note: Wheel of Fortune was on & it's never too early for her to learn her letters!

Are you talking about me?

Rolling Over!

2008-04-28T13:34:00.001-05:00

I wonder if any other of our future children will have pics like this??

Maleia in March

2008-04-28T13:31:00.001-05:00

3 Mos Old
4 Mos. Old
Having too much fun playing!
Last Family Shot in PA
Can I have fries with these?

Easter in PA

2008-04-28T13:29:00.002-05:00

Scrounging for Internet

2008-04-28T13:22:00.002-05:00

Well, we made it safe & sound to Greenwood, WI! The move went smoothly even though there's some new scuffs & tears here & there on our things, we are happy to be here! Maleia did great on the 2 9-hour drives each day. The last hour of the day was the noisiest with the crying, but we made it!
The church here has made us feel right at home & we feel a great bond with the people. The boxes are unpacked & we're busy with different ministries. The youth group will be taking a large part of our time during the weeks. We went on our 1st activity: Springfest 2008 at NBBC. It was freezing!! Snow, wind, and 35 degree weather kept Maleia & me indoors most of the time, but the teens seemed to still enjoy themselves. We took about 25 kids up. No complaints about the weather or leaving the church at 4:30 am on a Saturday. We have been blessed with great kids! :)
Due to living in the sticks, DSL is not available to us, so unfortunately, my interent time is scrounged here & there when we're at church. Hopefully, we'll get something worked out pretty soon. Until then, I've stacked up on some pics, so the grandparents can have their fix. :)

Friday Survey - SPRING!!

2008-03-21T10:17:00.002-05:00

1. Does your household do spring cleaning?
Nope, not usually. I try to do a complete cleaning when I'm changing seasonal decorations, so that happens around the fall, Christmas, and summer.

2. Do you approach spring with joy for all the newly growing things and the sight of grass, or does it just scream MUDDY FLOORS AND MOPPING?
It definitely lightens my spirits by seeing green grass & new flowers popping up. We take off our shoes at the front door, so no muddy floors for me. :)

3. Do you have a garden that you will be planting and, if so, what do you plant?
I usually plant flowers in a flower bed. Since I have no clue what our house looks like that we'll be moving to in 10 days, I'm not sure if any planting will be done this year or not.

4. What is your favorite thing about springtime?
I love the newness of spring! Some people feel that way at the beginning of the year in January, but I feel that way now. I love seeing the trees blossom, daffodils pop up, tulips opening up, and being able to take walks outside with just a sweatshirt or jacket!

An Easter Package

2008-03-20T14:00:00.002-05:00

Today we received an Easter Package from Colorado!
Thanks, Auntie Katie, for the Easter Duckie! I needed more bath toys!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Lewis for the fun toy!

My 1st Easter Bunny!

More clothes!

Reading my card

Maleia Just Wants to Say

2008-03-17T09:56:00.002-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Gotta Love the Stat Counter!

2008-03-11T09:47:00.003-05:00

I found out that I've had some interesting hits on my blog this past week.

Someone from Singapore found my site by googling: Pamela Used Undies - - - umm, gross! & how did I get linked to that??
Someone from England found my site by searching: Big Beautiful Preggo - - - thank you, I think.

Time Flies When . . .

2008-03-07T14:27:00.002-05:00

you really want it to slow down! :) We've been staying busy trying to work out all the details of the move. I haven't started packing yet, but have decluttered a little here & there.
This week Geoff & I drove out to south-central PA to pick up a new-to-us sectional for our living room. We needed new furniture because we knew that what we have probably would not make it to WI in one piece. It would make sense to purchase something in WI, but when you can't afford new, and the area you're moving too has VERY little used, it was best to check out the overabundance of Craig's Lists in my area. On Monday night Geoff & his uncle squished it through our doorway. Geoff's newly wed (as in 1 week!) sister & brother-in-law are interested in our older stuff since they have nothing for their living room and thought they'd come this weekend. So, in my living room sat a sectional, couch, dining set (since our dining room became an office when Maleia came), rocking chair, recliner, and entertainment center. We made a "pathway" that we knew would last a week and then our home would come to some kind of order before the movers took everything away.
UNTIL, a phone call came in on Tuesday afternoon. Our complex manager wanted to show the apartment to a prospective tenant on Wednesday!! The next 24 hours was a flurry of organizing closets, pushing furniture around to look somewhat reasonable-ok somewhat reasonable is pushing it, but I tried! I went shopping with a friend to avoid embarrassment. :)

Maleia is 3 months!

2008-02-23T21:05:00.005-05:00

Showing off her new toy-the boppy pillow!

Loving the Boppy!

Tired of the Boppy!

We loved her cute folded hands.
"Please feed me!"

Maleia with her sweetheart (I share!)

Little girl in a big bed

"These things taste really good, but when I get them in too far, yucky things happen!"
After eating, she put her fingers in her mouth & accidentally did a bulimic move-not pretty!

What a happy baby!

Time's flying by, and the relatives are begging for more pics!

Deal of the Century!!

2008-02-23T20:56:00.005-05:00

Knowing that we were most likely heading into full-time ministry soon, Geoff's parents gave Geoff a check for $100 to put towards a new suit for Christmas. Now, if you're suit shopping, you usually wait for a sale, and even with a good sale, $100 doesn't go too far on a nice suit. I had been shopping in the mall, and saw that one of the department stores was having a 50% off sale on all their suits. So, I drug Geoff in to check it out, but Maleia needed to eat soon. After feeding her, I asked if he wanted to go back and look some more, but he had pretty much seen everything, and hadn't like anything. So, we headed to J.C. Penney's to look.

We walked into the section, and I saw a clearance sign. It stated $14.97. On the rack were dress pants, and many many suit coats! Geoff didn't believe it and he asked the clerk to confirm. Yup, EVERYTHING was $14.97 each!!
So, we walked away with 4 suit coats and a pair of pants for $14.97 each with regular prices of $200.00 each. Then Geoff picked up an expensive pair of pants for $25. The regular price of all of these would have been $870.00, and we paid $98.00! We praise the Lord on such a great find that He led us to! Geoff has doubled his suit choices, and will have plenty of choices now that he needs to wear these more often. It just seemed like the Lord was saying that He has led us to this assistant position & He will take care of all the little things.

Where are the Boxes?

2008-02-20T22:09:00.002-05:00

Today, Geoff called the pastor in Wisconsin to let him know that we would love to accept their offer of Geoff being the Assistant/Youth Pastor at Missionary Baptist Church in Greenwood, WI.
We hope to be in the moving van April 1st or so. We'll know more information once we have housing secured in Greenwood. It's funny to think of me living in a town of 1,000 people where everyone knows everyone's business. I've lived in a suburb all my life except for college. Now, I will have to plan carefully trips into towns since I won't have the convenience of forgetting important things. Greenwood does have a small IGA, so those forgetful moments will probably cost me. :) The nearest good sized town is 40 minutes away, and 2 larger cities, Wausau and Eau Claire are an hour on each side of Greenwood, so when I need to get to a mall to feel like I'm back in society, it is possible!

We are both looking forward to working with the church. Geoff is the first assistant the church
has ever had, so it'll be a learning experience on both sides. The youth group is made of about 40-50 great kids. We have ideas spinning through our heads for activities and such, but know that we need to take small steps as we learn full-time ministry.

So, since May of 2007 we have had the following changes in our lives: Geoff graduated from seminary, we announced our pregnancy, started searching for a ministry, gave birth to our little Maleia, grieved the loss of my brother, and beginning a new ministry in a new state. Needless to say, our lives have not been boring. It's been so neat to see God leading us through each circumstance with his grace and mercy to help us through.

So, does anyone know where good free moving boxes are?

Taking an Airport Break

2008-02-20T15:56:00.004-05:00

We arrived home after 8 days away on Monday at 2 am. I'm calling a break from airports & airplanes. Here's a timeline of our travels to explain why:

Friday:

Call to check our flights before leaving the house and everything is on time!
Leave the house at 8:30 am to arrive at the airport by 9:30 am for our 11:30 am departure
Arrive at the gate to see that our flight is delayed 1 hour due to the Windy City having windy weather
Sat at the gate and saw that our flight was pushed back an additional half hour-figures
Finally, take off & arrive in Chicago with 45 minutes to spare before our connecting flight is supposed to leave
Check the monitors to find out where we need to jog to next. Having to step over people and guide ourselves through a human mass made me a little nervous.
Our flight was canceled, so I stand in line while Geoff stays with Maleia in an overcrowded gate. We obviously weren't the only ones with a canceled flight.
I get our re-booked tickets which state we'll leave at 7:30 pm. Only a 3 hour wait!
As we sit in our gate reading and eating lunch, we hear of 5-6 different flights being canceled. So, I check ours just in case-CANCELED!
We call the pastor and decide to try to fly into a larger airport, and reroute ourselves to go to Minneapolis.
Since we had changed flights, we change gates. I call the airline to make sure our luggage is switched to the new flight and am told that this is impossible to do, and that our luggage will arrive at the original destination on Saturday morning. This is frustrating, but manageable.
Board our new flight and realize it is quite hot since there's no air conditioning running.
The pilot says there is water leaking into the cockpit, so the mechanics have to check it out.
45 minutes later the pilot announces that it could be an easy fix or one that would take many many hours - still VERY hot!
After sitting on the plane for 2 hours, we finally get ready to take off.
30 minutes after that, we finally do take off on our 1 1/2 hour flight!
Arrive in Minneapolis to take a 2 1/2 hour drive to Greenwood, WI
Original arrival time: 2:30 pm; Actual arrival time: 1:30 am Saturday

Saturday:

In the morning call to check on the luggage, it has not arrived and will come in around 11 pm possibly. More likely on Sunday.
Since Geoff is preaching on Sunday, he needs church clothes. I wouldn't mind fresh underwear.
A quick 20 minute trip to Wal-mart to get all needs to get through to Monday since our schedule was full and no trips to the airport would be able to be squeezed in. $150 later we have fresh undies, socks, church clothes, diapers, shoes, a fresh shirt for our activity on Saturday night, and some nice extras like deodorant and combs.

Monday:

Hallelujah for clean clothes!

The flights back were less harried, but we still had 2 hour delays here and waiting over an hour for our luggage there (I guess just as long as your luggage gets on a flight to your destination it doesn't matter if you are on that flight or not). We were hoping to be in bed around midnight, but it was 2 am. I guess it could have been worse! I just want a break from the airline industry!

A Couple Pics

2008-02-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

Our little girl just keeps growing & growing! The doctor said at her 2 month appointment that she was "developmentally advanced." I thought she was trying to make a first time mom feel good, but I looked up a couple things, and she is a little ahead of the game! :) Grandma Lewis in Colorado requested more pics, so here it goes!

Our sleepy girl learned how to hug her Piglet that her aunt bought her at Disney World.

Hi!

These things are hands, and I just realized that they belong to me!

Our petite princess

"I'm going to take you down!"

She fell asleep in her bouncy holding onto her doll's hand - how precious!

Great deal!

2008-02-07T08:45:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Katie's recent post about a great deal with Safeway stores, I headed over there yesterday. The special was for when 5 items of Sara Lee, Hillshire, Jimmy Dean, and Ball Park were bought, a coupon would print for $10 off your next purchase of any size. I was planning on stocking our freezer before leaving on the trip, so when we got back we'd have something to eat for dinner! Of course, after I buy my initial purchase to get the coupon, the cashier's register is not working and nothing prints out, so the manager handed me a $10 bill. Hey, that works! I decide to come back after church that night so they'd have time to get their system back up & running. I bought as much meat as I thought our freezer would hold for now, divided it up into a couple transactions. The 16 year old cashier looked shocked when I told her I should get back a $10 coupon as it was printing it out. She asked how I knew that, and I told her there were signs saying it would happen. For a moment there I think she thought I was psychic! :)

Our store doesn't carry Sara Lee breads, which I was kind of hoping for, but that's ok, we stocked up on meat! The crazy thing was that all the meat was either 2 for $5 or 2 for $4! Good thing we eat pork!

2 packs of Ball Park hot dogs, 1 box of turkey sausage patties, 5 containers of lunch meat, 2 rolls of sausage, 1 package of bacon, 1 package of cocktail weiners, 4 packages of kielbasa, and 3 Sara Lee pumpkin pies (on clearance from the holidays, so only $3.50 each in contrast to the regular $8-9 price). Total worth regular price: $106! Total worth sales price: $85! Total out of pocket: $27.00!

I still have one more $10 coupon, and will go back to buy products that we need later on. So, that will had $10 more to the savings. Praise the Lord for His providing a great deal!

And, We're Off!

2008-02-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

On Friday morning, we head to airport again. Little Maleia has been on 9 planes so far in her short life, and she's about to board 4 more in the next week! The church in Wisconsin that is interested in having Geoff come as an assistant pastor has invited us out for a 2nd interview and to candidate this next week. We have a hectic week full of youth activities, church dinners, meetings, and other outings. Well, Geoff will be more busy than Maliea and I will be. We'll hang out, play, crochet, etc.

We're looking forward to it, and I'm just hoping little Maleia continues to sleep through the night like she has this past week! That's right! Maleia has dropped her 2-3 am feeding and we are sleeping solid from 11 pm -6 am. Hallelujah! I was just beginning to get to my wit's end when she started. God does know how much we can handle. :)

So if you think about it, please pray that God's will will be shown to us clearly, and that we will follow His guidance. Also, pray for Geoff as he prepares to preach or give devotions 4 different times during the week. To say the least, we haven't seem much the past 2 weeks as he has been preparing.