{ my worst nightmare... }

So...I don't like spiders...like, AT ALL!!!  This past summer, I have heard one too many stories about people finding HUGE spiders at their houses or coming across them in the mountains...freaks me out every time!  I started to joke that I would be the next one to "come across one"!  Well, one night, there was a lot going on at our neighbors house, so I went over to find my worst nightmare....a HUGE TARANTULA!  Are you kidding me!  I was terrified, to say the least!  Noah, of course, being the spider lover that he is, was touching it and holding it!  What??!?!?!  No, no, NO!!  I got this close to it to take this picture, but then I spent the rest of the night looking at it from the street!  So gross!  And scary!  I made sure my neighbor was going to take it back to where he found it...then he joked he'd let it free in my yard.  Not funny ;).  Needless to say, it was a pretty interesting night around here! 

{ lately... }

There has been a lot going on around here lately.  Here are some pics from the past month...

Leah started dance the week that school started.  She is LOVING it so much and looks forward to going every week. I'm already looking forward to her recital in December :).

Love hanging out with these cuties every day...but I miss Noah like crazy when he's at school!  And, meet our new puppy, Spot!

Isaac has preschool in the morning twice per week, which means I get to hang out with just these cuties.  We sure have fun together :).

Love this boy and all his cute freckles :).

Doug had a golf tournament with his buddies from him MBA program.  There was a dinner that evening that I went to, which was so fun!  I even won something in the raffle...winner winner chicken dinner!

We are obsessed with melty beads around here.  My kids will spend *hours* playing with them.  So fun!

My favorite time of day...all of my kiddos home with me :).

This little gal was so sick one weekend...not fun at all!  Although I did enjoy cuddling with her all day long...that doesn't happen often.

Kate is obsessed with this car and insists on riding in it whenever we are outside. 

Noah lost another tooth!  That makes four teeth lost...and loads more to go!  And this poor boy is definitely bound for braces, thanks to Doug and I.  Oh boy!

Kate is my blanket and bottle baby...

Kate is also tall enough to reach the door knobs...too bad she can't open them ;).  

Isaac is a good sport...seriously, how many little brothers will dress up in Snow White for their big sis?!

Kate's a screamer, just like her big sis!  And, yes, she is *that* loud!

Kate *loves* to read books and her absolutely favorite is looking at books with animals.  She knows the sounds of most animals, which is so adorable to watch.  Love it!

And, here's one for the books.  Doug is THE pickiest eater ever!  I am pretty nice and make most meals to cater to him, but sometimes we all wants something else!  Noah and I absolutely love spinach and mozzarella ravioli...so Doug was just thrilled as can be when he came home to see what was for dinner!   And, yes, he is like my fifth child and I made him eat it.  And he did!  But he looked like *this* the entire time!  Here he is with one more bite left!  Ha!  

And this boy...I just love him to pieces.  Even though he has been giving me a run for the money lately...

Noah's soccer team played against his cousin's team, which was so fun!  They were so excited to play against each other, and it was pretty fun to watch too.  Cute boys!

We don't get naps on Sunday, due to the fact that we have church at 1:00...not my favorite!  Isaac is known to fall asleep at some point after church...sometimes it's at dinner, or in the car, or just on the couch.  I think it's so cute to see him all curled up in dreamland :).

Leah is obsessed with all things arts and crafts, so, naturally, Isaac is too...since he does whatever she does lately ;).  He absolutely loves coloring and concentrates so hard on staying in the lines.  Very cute to watch.  

He also loves to use scissors...and I don't mind as long as the kid is being supervised!  He took it upon himself to cut two wholes in one of my favorite shirts...stinker!  

And we are still enjoying dressing up in our UTAH attire whenever there is a game!  Go UTES!!!

Corn

It's no secret that Kate loves to eat. She devours most everything that we out in front of her. Well, tonight we gave her her own corn on the cob and she was in heaven!  I already knew she loved corn, but she loves it even more in the cob!  It was hilarious watching her gnaw on it during dinner...very entertaining!  

Soccer Season

Soccer season has begun!  Noah is playing on a AA team this year and is just loving it!  He is the youngest player on the team, but thank goodness the kid is tall, cause he's just as big as everyone else.  

All suited up...

Doug and I have LOVED watching Noah's games this year.  They are keeping score, there is a goalie, and all of the kids are playing the right positions.  And they are good!  So fun to watch!

Such a handsome soccer player!!

Noah has actually been playing goalie for most games, and he has really enjoyed it.  He has had some GREAT saves, which makes him so happy.  He is still learning, but that is what this league is about...learning!  And I love that!  I am definitely not a very competitive person, but I do believe in working as a team and learning as much as you can.  And winning isn't all that bad ;).

And...Leah started playing soccer this year!  I don't think she knew what playing soccer really entailed, even though she has been to ALL of Noah's games the past 3 years!  Her first practice was a good eye opener for her and she was able to learn the basics.  Then she was all ready for her first game...

Yep, she totally has ribbon with soccer balls on them in her hair!  I'm all about the accessories ;).

She totally surprised me at her first game!  She was running the entire time and went wherever the ball was.  We need to work on a few things, but she did great, considering it was her first time playing!  She  even scored a goal and her first and second game!  She has informed me that she'd rather play the games than go to practice...she got a taste of something she likes!

And then there's Isaac...who is DYING to play soccer!  Seriously, he would do anything to get out there and play!  And I can guarantee that he'd do a good job.  This kid loves this game and can NOT wait until next year!  Doug and I are pretty excited to get him started too....we've been waiting long enough for him to play sports :).

Utah Football!

It's no surprise that the Smith family LOVES football season...especially when our Utes are playing!  We have been counting down the weeks for opening day, and we were very excited when it finally came :).  Of course, the kiddos wore their Utah gear to school...they like to represent too.  And, in my defense, they chose to wear their Utah attire ;).

I had Kate wear a littler Utah shirt at first, but the girl has grown a LOT in the middle, so that shirt was NOT working out for her ;).  So, naturally, I made here a Utah dress with some leftover fabric that I had.  It turned out so cute!  Love it!

Opening game was on a Thursday night, which proved to be a little tricky.  Noah had a soccer game that evening that he couldn't miss, so my awesome sis-in-law took him to his game and kept him for the evening.  Then we took the girlies to my parent's house, and we took Isaac with us!  Doug and I just knew that Isaac would be so good at the game, and we were right.  He was an absolute angel!  This child...he is so awesome!  He just sat on Doug's lap the entire time and didn't wiggle at all...seriously...for 4 quarters, he just sat there!  He would talk to us about the game and was so interested in what was going on.  He really loves sports...that one!  It was such a fun night and I'm so glad I was able to spend it with these cute boys!  Plus we won...GO UTES!!!

We love to see the temple...

The weekend before school started, we decided to get out of the house and head up to SLC.  We ended up at Temple Square and had a great time walking around the grounds and seeing all things beautiful!  I absolutely love walking around the temple...the grounds are SO beautiful!  The kids loved to see the fountain and flowers, and Leah was thrilled to see all of the brides coming out of the temple.  After walking around for a bit, we went to the church museum.  They had a nice kids area and we spent majority of our time there.  There was also a Norman Rockwell exhibition going on, so that was fun to see too.  Then we headed off to City Creek to attempt to do some shopping...that didn't really happen.  But we still had fun :).  Love spending time with the family!