Capri in '09

Can't leave these classic pictures out! Notice the text on Capri's onesie. How true is that! I'm not really sure why I love the screaming picture but there is something adorable and memorable about it. She looks like such a little munchkin in that picture. And I must mention that the sweater she was wearing is one of my very favorites! Is it obvious that I love dressing my girls!

Our Sweet Little Sophie in '09

Just a few pictures of Sophie that somehow missed the blog this year, but are definitely Family Yearbook worthy! We love our Sophie.

Maxwell in '09

These are a couples of pictures of Maxwell that somehow missed the blog this year, but I just can't leave them out of the Family Yearbook. I love his little face. He is my little cuddle bug. I just love everything about this kid...except his occasional moodiness, which he probably learned from me! As I look at the first picture below it reminds me of one of my favorite little things about Max - he loves to wear crazy socks, and he loves for all to see him wear his crazy socks. He has these really long (knee-high) bright yellow soccer socks which he loves to wear with shorts. It makes it quite easy to spot Maxwell during his football game...just look for the yellow socks. He also has some long black, grey and red striped socks, which he wore to basketball practice just last night. It's a quirky little thing that I adore.

We Love Cousins!

Sicily is one of Sophie's favorite little people to play with. Hollie and I both agree that when the two of them are together the Moms don't even see them for hours on end. House is usually their game of choice!

We love cousins, and thank goodness we do because we have LOTS of them! Sophie adores her cousin Emily. Emily is actually Maxwell's age, but she is so good to play with her younger cousin.

Luke, Landon and Maxwell and Sophie, Jake and Luke after baby Jaxon's blessing. So many family events...so many memories!

A Whole Lotta Love!

There was a whole lotta love in the Payne home in 2009. Now don't misunderstand me - there was also a whole lotta whining, arguing and pouting (even by Mommy and Daddy), but love seems to reign. Maxwell is an outstanding older brother. Capri and Sophie adore him, and he has this nurturing instinct like his Daddy. I'm quite sure that he will make a superb babysitter for his little sisters by age 10! Actually, take away that exclamation mark...I'm not kidding. Sophie adores Capri, although I'm not sure that the reverse is true yet. I don't think I would like someone who tries to carry me around in very very uncomfortable and even painful positions. I tell Sophie all the time that she and Capri will be best friends when they get older. Aren't siblings great? And I speak from experience...lots of experience!

Maxwell's First Pet

Maxwell went to a birthday party where the party favor was a goldfish, complete with a bowl, pretty rocks and a little bag of fish food. On the drive home he said to me, "Mom, I finally have a pet!" I asked him what he wanted to name his fish and right away he knew that it's name was to be GARY. Yes...you read that right! That was on a Saturday evening. The next afternoon, after Steve and I had awoken from a Sunday nap, Maxwell was sitting at our bedroom door. He said, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I drew you a picture. The bad news is that Gary is dead."

He was actually okay until I asked him if he was okay, and then he mourned for a little bit. He couldn't bear to flush Gary down the toilet for several days, so Gary sat on the counter (in his bowl) until Max was ready to part ways. Probably the saddest part about this story is that Maxwell probably won't ever have another pet, unless someone decides to give out hampsters as party favors, and actually, I'm not sure how anyone could call that a "favor"!

(Scene has been recreated...obviously!)

Definitions of Begging

Every morning Maxwell gets Capri out of her crib and brings her down to Steve and I in our bed. Usually Sophie wakes up at the same time and joins them for the procession. They walk into our bedroom and Sophie and Maxwell say, "look who's awake - it's Capri!" Then they all plop on our bed and we become 5 little snuggle bunnies! I love this little ritual of ours. It brings joy first thing in the morning.

This morning, after a little snuggling, Capri began begging to play with the phone, which is not allowed. It was banned after she made a 911 call. This is when Maxwell made this very profound statement:

"Mom, there are two kinds of begging. There is the bad kind when kids beg to play something (he is referring to the x-box) and there is the good kind like when Moses and Aaron beg the king to let the Israelites go."

I just love my kids! By the way, these pictures are after the Primary program several Sundays ago. Sophie was smack dab in the front row for the program and she sang SUPER loud. It was awesome. Maxwell's class recited the 3rd Article of Faith together and he knew every word.

My BABY sister got married!

The youngest of our gaggle of 10 Smith Kidz (my Dad's license plate says "10 kidz") just got hitched...well she got hitched several months ago, but I finally have the pictures to show you. She was an extraordinarily beautiful bride. And Brennan, our newest in-law, was dashing. It was an amazing experience to be in the temple with my parents and every one of my siblings. I could tell by the tears streaming down her face that it was a very special moment for my Mom, as well as my Dad. I can only imagine what that might feel like. I hope I experience it someday.

I think it was on my wedding day that this tradition of having all the boys sweep the bride up and lay her horizontal started in the Smith family. It is a very uncomfortable tradition, but is always good for a laugh!

This is a snapshot from the reception in which I look like I am forcing my eyes open wider to look like I am so well rested, Steve isn't even attempting to look awake and Capri was so sick we almost took her to the hospital later that evening!

I included two "sister" pictures because everyone except me looks great in the first one (I must be laughing at a joke that the others didn't get!) and I think I look better in the second one, which is WAY more important!

"The Line" stayed busy all night long. I guess that's what you get when you combine two hugely likeable, popular, charming, successful and gorgeous families...maybe I should have stopped at two HUGE families!

The reception was a collaborative effort of LOTS of people, but for some reason I took ownership and have bragged about it to anyone that will listen! It was a beautiful evening, with yummy food, gorgeous flowers, pumpkins, silhouettes, candy at the exit, and lots of people who all shared in celebrating Cassi and Brennan. I was so happy to help make it a special night for them, as well as for my parents.

Meet Mr. Dot

Freckles are a funny thing, it's even a funny word. Say it out loud a few times and you'll probably chuckle in agreement. I have talked to many people who have no love for their freckles or have bad memories of their younger more prevalent freckle days. As a child I had the spattering of freckles, you know the freckles across the nose and cheeks with the occasional cluster throughout other parts of the face. I loved my freckles. My Mom always told me that people with freckles don't get acne. I'm not sure where she got her information and I really don't know if it's true or not, but I bought into it completely, and I really didn't get much acne, even during puberty. I also have very fond memories of adults looking down at me and expressing their love for my freckles and my cute little button nose. I really didn't give my freckles too much thought, but when I did they were adoring thoughts. Now I understand that some people have more than just the spattering of freckles, in fact, my own Maxwell has more than what I would consider a spattering, so to each their own freckle feelings, but I do know that I am completely endeared to Max's freckle face. Don't get me wrong, I think an olive skinned, spot and blemish free child is absolutely beautiful, but seriously, look at that little cropped picture of my cuddlebug and to me there is nothing more adorable (inlcluding the crazy 2nd grade teeth...I'm admitting my bias)! I want to make sure he loves his freckles as well, so ever since these little splats of pigment started arriving on his nose (around age 3) I started telling him how much I love them. I haven't shared the acne angle yet! I would count them each night and he loved it. By the age of four I had lost count, but I still pretended to count and would always stop somewhere around 100, and it was around that time that I found my favorite. Meet Mr. Dot! Do you see the almost perfectly round freckle below his right nostril? It's a little bit bigger and a little bit darker than the rest. To me it is the epitomy of the perfect freckle. I no longer count his freckles, but nearly every night I give Mr. Dot a kiss, and Maxwell loves it. Sophie started to feel left out, so we found Mrs. Dot, who resides at the top of her neck. It is probably even more of a perfect freckle than Mr. Dot, but it's kind of in a ticklish spot so I'm not really allowed to give it kisses, unless I steal them, which means it doesn't get the same attention from me as Mr. Dot, and usually falls off my freckle radar!

Play of the Year

Maxwell played flag football for the first time this year. He picked it up pretty quick for someone whose deadbeat parents had never even thrown a football with him (very slight exaggeration). He played center on offense, which is a great position for someone who is brand spankin' new to the sport, because they get in on each play without too much liability for the team! He actually was a very good snapper, and even perfected the shotgun snap. In this league the center does not have anyone opposing him on the defensive line, so after the play is over the center has to search for someone to block. Maxwell had struggled with this throughout the season, which is very typical. However, he had the play of the season, according to the coaches, when he finally figured it out. They were winning the game quite handily, so the coaches were letting some of the younger, less experienced boys take a few handoffs. One little boy named Eli took a handoff and headed to the right. Maxwell decided to head that direction as well, which happened to be the direction of the head coach who yelled out, "block someone Max". Max looked up field and beelined it to the closest defender and completely leveled him (mind you this is flag football). It dropped him and Max to the ground, leaving Eli wide open to score a touchdown. The best part was all the praise he received after the game. Maxwell and Eli were giving each other fives at the end of the game, and Max said, "great touchdown", and Eli responded, "I never would have made it if it hadn't been for you." It was way way way too cute!

Halloween is Here Again

Uncle Mike and his staff dressed up like the Twilight characters for Halloween in stunning fashion. We stopped in to check out Dr. Cullen himself. Capri, who adores Uncle Mike, was not really sure what to think!

Part of me wishes I enjoyed sewing and crafting, so my kids could have one of a kind Halloween costumes, but the bigger part of me is so happy to buy Maxwell the Clone Trooper costume he begged for(I even let him use his spending money to buy a super cool and overly expensive blaster), let Sophie wear her Belle costume she got for her birthday last year, and borrow an adorable ladybug costume for Capri.