The Pre-Dad of the Pre-College Dude

The first order of business today is to click here to see what this picture is all about. There are some changes ahead for our favorite Princess Groovy Chick!

The second order of business is to let you know that I’m feeling pretty well recovered from my under-the-weatherness of yesterday. I slept about ten hours and woke up feeling a bit more perky. Or if I wanted to practice the fine art of using bad grammar I could always say “a bit more perkier!” (By the way, Lisa asked what book I was reading in bed last night. It was “Nerve,” by Dick Francis, who is one of my favorite authors.)

The third order of business is to ask you to indulge me on a momentary pictorial journey down memory lane. I was looking through my photos earlier today and happened to run across some that featured Steve in all different stages of life. So for your edification and entertainment, I’ve decided to post a few.

They’re not in any sort of logical order so I hope you don’t get dizzy jumping back and forth between the years. However, if you DO happen to get dizzy, just sit down and put your head between your knees. And then report back here when you feel better. Or more better-er.

I seem to be on a “bad grammar kick” today!

Steve as a High School Senior. Dig that groovy hair, man!

We were in a little town in the Midwest a few years ago when he spotted the name of this coffee shop. Of course, he just had to pose as “Grumpy Steve.” In public. To embarrass his poor family. (You dress him up. You can’t take him out.)

A scene from when we were on the road. He’s performing a song we wrote, “Hard Keeping Up with Jones’” in Garth Brooks style.

Sarah and Steve at Busch Gardens Amusement Park. Steve was wanting to be all perky and Sarah was wanting to be all non-perky.

Ridin’ the purple dinosaur together. When Sarah was little and we used to visit this town (Hutchinson, MN) she was always scared to death by that dinosaur. However, she seems to have conquered her fear and even made friends with the scary fella.

Steve, the Crab

On Sarah’s Make-A-Wish Trip to Hawaii in 2005.

Dashing Dad and Delightsome Daughter

Showing off their loot after going grocery shopping for me.

On their way out the door to a Daddy/Daughter Dance

A tired cancer girl (sporting wig, hat, and nose tube), catching a ride with her daddy.

Steve and the Smith Sibs

Steve and the pre-College Dude

With the pre-Princess Groovy Chick

“Back in the day” with his 19th-century family.

When we were on the road for fifteen years, Steve spent many a day repairing stuff.

Sharing his mechanical knowledge with Nathan.

Steve got his Eagle Badge when he was thirteen which, from what I understand, is very young. Since I am not “up”on all the Boy Scout insignias, I can’t tell you if this is a photo with an Eagle badge or not. Nevertheless, it IS Steve showing a bunch of badges.

Which is a good thing. And also impressive. And that’s also a good thing. Being impressive, I mean.

Steve and his family. His saintly mother raised three blonde, active boys by herself much of the time since Steve’s dad (a retired fighter pilot) was away a lot in the Air Force.

Nathan is obviously greatly amused and entertained by his dad.

I believe this is his first year of college. (He went to UNC in Charlotte.)

Along the way, he found a girl to marry. She looks vaguely familiar.

The girl came into the marriage with ginormous glasses, which she threw into the wedding deal at no extra charge.

The pre-father of the pre-College Dude.

Goofing off in the recording studio. It’s a wonder we ever got anything done!

Umm. Speaking of “goofing off,” here is Steve performing a comedy song we wrote called, “It Stinks In here.” When he was a boy, his mother told him over and over to brush his teeth but it appears as though he didn’t listen.

And so ends the pictorial meandering of the day. Thanks for taking the journey with us!

Oh, and one more thing. When you look at the picture above? Don’t try this at home.

That’s all I’m sayin’.

A Book And A Benadryl

I’m home.  Not really home sick, but “home under the weather.”  (Hmmm.  That just doesn’t have the same ring, does it?)

I am SUPPOSED to be at church right now, playing the piano for a few opening songs and then sitting entranced in the congregation to listen to my husband’s Wednesday night teaching. 

But thankfully, I have a wonderful back up piano player as well as a husband (and a congregation) who don’t believe that the pastor’s wife is required to be in church every time the door is open.  (Hurray and hallelujah for understanding husbands and congregations!) I’m going to post this quick update and then jump into my pre-heated bed with a book and a Benadryl. 

Chills, running nose, fatigue?

Woeful.

Staying home and getting to pamper myself? 

Wonderful.

Before I sign off though, I’ll address a few things from the Comments area.

Rachel signed in with a wonderfully easy recipe for chicken enchiladas.  Rachel, I am ALL about easy recipes; thank you so much for sending that one my way!

Stacy asked why we didn’t have more than two kids.

That’s a good question, since we both wanted at least four.  However, I had some health issues with both kids.  With Nathan I had pre-eclampsia;  I gained 65 pounds, my shoe size went from a 7 to a 10 (due to water weight) and I lost 35 pounds overnight when I delivered him.   I was high risk and labor had to be induced toward the end of the pregnancy because of dangerously high blood pressure.

With Sarah, I wound up with a life-threatening complication called H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome.   (H=Hemolysis, the destruction of red blood cells.  E.L.= Elevated liver enzymes.  L.P.=Low Platelets.)

Bottom line?  When the mother is diagnosed with it, the baby has to be delivered immediately regardless of its gestational age.  So Sarah was born at 36 weeks and I ended up in emergency surgery and blood transfusions.

And then the doctor looked at us and said, “No.  More. Babies.”

Sigh.  I would have loved a house full but at least our two Smith Sibs have given us a heart full.

Megan asked why drummers sometime have a Plexiglas shield around their drum set.

Megan,  drummers do that to keep the volume of their drums down.  The shield sort of “contains” the sound a little bit.  Actually, drum shields are usually quite a bit larger than the one you saw around the drums in the recent picture I posted.  In fact, some drum sets are enclosed entirely in a Plexiglas room and then have mikes on them so that the mix and volume is easier to blend with the other instruments.

Okay!  I think I’ve covered all the stuff that needed to be covered!  And I’m sorry to report I have no lovely or funny pictures of anyone or anything to share.  My brain is beyond the point of coherence right now so I shall sign off before I start blabbing and blathering.

Which would not be pretty.

At all.

And now . . .my book and my Benadryl.

 

Five More? Probably not.

A few recent miscellaneous pictures . . .

Steve and I went to the hospital last week to visit the newest member of our congregation. Is she a cutie, or what? When I held her, I immediately got the Baby Fever and asked Steve if we could have five more children. Immediately.

I have yet to hear an answer back from him.



Our two Smith Sibs hanging out in fine Smith Sib fashion.



Snowy with static. (He looks so much like me with "morning hair" that I just have to laugh.)






Is this not the cutest little dress ever?

I got it for Sarah at a consignment store when she was about four; when she
grew out of it, I packed it away. I just found it again when we were moving
and fell in love with it all over again.




Nathan sat in with us on the drums when he was here the past two Sundays.




The rest of the music team at our church; they are so great to work with.


And now I have the happy job of going downstairs and pondering the chicken
that has taken up residence in the refrigerator. My brain is a complete blank
as to what to do with ye olde bird for dinner but maybe if I ponder long enough,
inspiration will strike.

And maybe while I'm pondering, Steve will make up his mind about whether or
we're going to be having five more Smith children.

Ha. I think not.

(But that doesn't mean that I still don't love holding those teeny, new
congregational members!)

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Chicken Enchiladas (This has been a Smith Family Favorite for about ten years.)

3 lbs chicken, cooked and boned

1 C chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I use cheddar soup instead)

1 tsp. chili powder

4 tsp. minced onion (I used the dried minced onion)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce (add more more or less, to taste)

4 C Dorito chips

8 oz. sharp cheese (grated)

1. Combine and heat soups with seasonings, onion and broth, mixing well.

2. Spray 9x13 baking dish with Pam.

3. Cover bottom of pan with Doritos, then layer chicken, half the sauce, and cheese on top.

4. Repeat, ending with cheese.

5. Bake 25-30 minutes.

May be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen.

Note: I almost always increase this recipe by 50%. It still fits in the 9x13 pan if you're serving a bigger crowd, or you can divide it between two square pans and freeze one of them so you can feed your family two meals with just "one meal effort!"

Enjoy!

The Fly Away Child

We took down the Christmas tree Friday night.

And since I had had sort of promised (threatened) to do it anyway, I went ahead and put some sugar cookies in the oven.

Nathan is very serious about frosting his cookies.

Steve put an “S for Smith” on his cookie. I told him if he held the cookie in front of his shirt, it would like like the “S in Superman.” So he did. And it did. Sort of.

Sarah ate a couple cookies and then suddenly remembered that we had forgotten to have anyone wear the traditional antler ears this year.

Alas! Oh no! Woe is us! Emergency! Code Red! Red Alert! Man the battle stations! Sound the alarm! (Insert other dramatic phrases at your leisure.)

And so . . . . to save the day (and the season) I present to you the Antler-Wearing Rudolph Girl.

As Nathan and Steve were rummaging around getting out the ornament boxes and tree box, Sarah took a few moments to sneak in some reading by the soon-to-be-dismantled Christmas tree.

It was the last quiet moment she would have for a while because as it turned out, her brother was in Wild Wacky Mode. All. Night. Long.

Even after Nathan had gotten up to help Steve get the unadorned tree back in the box, he was still being entertaining, as this shot so happily illustrates.

The worst thing about Christmas break is that it comes to an end. All too soon. And all too soon, fly-away-children disappear. Back into their other lives. Back into their other, motherless lives.

It was a happy month. But today is a sad day. Today is the day the wacky, wild College Dude gets on a plane to head back to Florida. I just hope his carry-on luggage is big enough to carry all the happy Christmas memories we are sending with him.

Today our house suddenly becomes one person quieter. One person emptier. One person sadder.

All because one annoying, beloved, noisy, fly-away child has flown away.