All Smiles for Christmas!

We have bright eyes and happy smiles at our house this Christmas!

We hope you have a Merry Christmas filled with JOY!

Love,

the Smiths

A Warm Snow Day

We were excited to have our annual Winter Wonderland in our neighborhood this past weekend. It was close to 80 degrees, but so much fun to sled down the hill in the snow. Mason and Haden rode together on a sled and had a great time.

Haden had a pretty scared look on his face every time he came down the hill...

...but he always ended the sledding trip by saying, "That was fast!"

Only in this area of Texas can you find people wearing flip flops, shorts, and t-shirts to play in the snow!

The boys had a super fun snow ball fight with Daddy too! I think that was probably the most fun of our afternoon. They got him pretty good!

A Christmas Picture

Trick or Treat!

We had a really fun Halloween this year! Haden learned all about knocking on neighbors' doors and saying trick or treat and filling his bag with candy...oh what fun! Mason had a good time running around with his buddies and dressing up. And little Rylan took it all in! Our neighborhood is a super fun place to be on Halloween...we are lucky to have fun neighbors and a safe place to trick or treat!

Pumpkin Patch

Movin' and Groovin'

Our littlest guy is on the move!

I know, I know...in just a few days he'll be seven months, but I hadn't gotten a chance to share the sixth month pictures we took of him a few weeks ago. This baby boy is such a joy to our family. His brothers think he is amazing...Mason actually said those very words yesterday, and Haden has started "playing" with Rylan a little more. Rylan is always smiling and is on a mission any time we put him on the floor...if he wants a toy, he's gonna get it!

So, happy 6-7 months to this little guy!

Favorite Things Friday :: OUTSIDE!!

Most of the day I hear, "I wan' go ou'side!" and "I wan' wide my soooter." We are spending lots of time outside!

This week we went on a nature walk and visited a few different playgrounds. My neighbor shared a fun idea: turn some tape sticky side out and make a bracelet, then collect and stick leaves and sticks, etc to your bracelet! Haden had a great time gathering his treasures on our nature walk!

Little Rylan is a good sport and rides around in the stroller for our adventures.

On an "inside" note: This picture captures a priceless moment we had one afternoon this week. Mason is turning into quite the reader and spent a little time reading to his little brothers while I made dinner. Oh how my heart skips at the sight of their love and fun with each other. I hope and pray that moments like these continue through a lifetime!

Favorite Things Friday :: Shadows

We have been playing outside a whole lot this week. Things are finally cooling off a little bit and our boys LOVE to be outside! I love it too. There is just something about the way the sun shines in the Fall...the way the wind blows...the way the birds sing. To me it brings somewhat of a feeling of resolve. We endure the summer, the heat and the busyness, and then suddenly Fall arrives and the tension resolves into a slower pace, a peacefulness, a comfort.

In our time outside this past week, something so sweet has been catching my eye: my shadow. It is one of my favorite things to see my shadow and the outline of my children along with me. Our shadows combine and we appear to be connected...extensions of one another. I love my children so much and am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be their mother. And I love how our shadows are pictures of the love and bond that He has gifted to us in this season!

Favorite Things Friday :: Cheese!

Nothing like some "cheese" to make your Friday! This was one of my favorite moments this week...Rylan started on his rice cereal this week and I just had to get some pictures of the moment. While I was taking his picture, the other boys had to join in with their funniness too.

By the way, Rylan isn't a fan of cereal so far!

Favorite Things Friday :: Communication

I just love how kids communicate! Our boys are very active communicators and are growing in their language and communication skills. I thought it might be fun this week to share little clips of them as they communicate in their individual ways!

Rylan communicates mostly with his eyes. He is a happy kid and loves his jumper. Some of my favorite moments with him are when his big brothers interact with him!

Haden is talking up a storm these days. He keeps us laughing! It's so fascinating to me how the parents of a two year old can know what he's saying, but everyone else is baffled! Haden definitely has his own language.

One of my favorite things he says goes like this:

Mommy: Haden, what are you doing?
Haden: This.

Cracks me up. I have tried to translate some of what he says in his little video clip. Most of the time he replaces "I am" or "I have" with "My"...for example, he says, "My eat some race car chicken." I think once we deciphered that replacement, so much more began to make sense!

We try to get Mason to share with us about his days at school. We laugh with his friends' parents that we have to pull information out of our kids! I have to say, however, when Mason is passionate about something he is definitely eager to share about it...especially his creations. He does a lot of creating with paper these days. He recently made an entire paper castle with a door that opens, a good dragon that can be pulled out to reveal a bad dragon underneath, and his own separate king crown (you can see in the video). He always has very imaginative stories to go with his creations and I love that he shares them with us!

Favorite Things Friday :: Painting Pottery

We have taken on a new project! We have three stone benches that we have set up in the backyard and have a plan for the boys to each paint tiles once a year that we can use to tile the benches. Painting pottery is a fun summer time activity we like to do and we are hoping that this will be a fun way to keep the boys'art and see the fun ways they change while they are growing up. Here are some pictures from our first year's attempt:

Mason + Love = Rainbows

Lately, I have been saying, "I have to tell you my rainbow story" to just about everyone I have talked to! I have decided that our blog readers should read it too...it's just so neat!

Over a week ago, Donald was out of town for work for the better part of the week. It was my first time to take care of the "bro trio" all by myself and it was the first week of school. Might be needless to say, but it was pretty intense here at home. When Donald returned on that Saturday, it took us a little while to adjust back to normal and Donald and I had a morning full of arguements. Mason, of course, observed our arguing.

The next morning Mason found me and had a picture he had drawn for us. On the front the picture had a drawing of:

Mason + (a heart) = (a rainbow)

On the back he had drawn a picture of the sun shining on a pot of gold. Next to the sun he wrote, "Daddy" and next to the pot of gold he wrote, "Mommy." He explained to each of us (separately) that Mommy was the pot of gold and Daddy was the sun shining on the pot of gold. He said that he was praying that Daddy would shine on Mommy and that Mommy would shine back on Daddy and we would grow and help each other.

Wow! This little six year old hasn't ever read Paul's words in Ephesians 5:20-25:

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."


But this little six year old boy captured those verses so well in his little picture!

How wonderful to picture the covenant of marriage like a rainbow with a pot of gold and the shining sun. How amazing that he drew a picture of a pot of gold that needs and submits to the sun in order for it to shine on the gold and give it its beauty and its shimmer. How beautiful that he thought the pot of gold would shine back to the sun to brighten its rays. And how miraculous that God used a little boy (who's name, if you remember, means "builder of love") to paint a picture for us to remind us of His provision in our marriage.

And God didn't stop there...

On Monday, while in the car together, we saw a rainbow in the sky.
On Tuesday, while in the car together, we saw a rainbow in the sky.
On Wednesday, on his way home from work, Donald saw a rainbow in the sky and brought me outside to see it.

Three days God showed us a rainbow in the sky...completing His picture and thoughts for us...and creating a forever reminder of this moment of promise and provision.

On the fourth day I saw this sweet painting that was done by preschool children...a picture that serves as a reminder of the child-like picture drawn by our sweet six year old boy that God used to speak wisdom and promise into our lives.

Favorite Things Friday :: Ends and Beginnings

I have to admit that "ends and beginnings"--aka transition--is not one of my favorite things! We have, however, had a fairly smooth transition from the adventures and easy goings of summer vacation into the routine of school. Of course, with these boys, adventure and discovery have not been absent throughout our summer and into the past few transitional weeks!

We have seen and played with and taken pictures of Lizards...

And this "garden spider"...note that the moth in this spider's web did not fly into it on his own, but was put there!

Adventure and discovery have kept these boys constantly on the move...and being on the move in Austin during August makes for some very hot and sweaty boys!

Because of the hot days, some of our last days of adventure and discovery had to be inside. The picture below is of GG the Giraffe! He was the first member of the zoo in our house-consisting of a giraffe, lion, monkey, aquarium, entrance gate, and soveneir shop...all made of card board boxes! Oh what fun to live with our super-creative 6 1/2 year old, guided by the scientific and engineering minds of Daddy and Grandpa!

Our littlest guy is transitioning in his own little way too...he's movin' and groovin' these days in his jumper and LOVES it!

He is also learning lots in his exersaucer! Our transition from three at home this summer to two at home has been lots of fun. These two are learning more and more about each other and are having fun little moments of discovery together.



This was the first day of first great for our BIG guy! We have all been waking up early and walking to school and are having fun on this new side of adventure and discovery. I have started calling these guys my "Bro Trio"...I love how unique they are in their approaches to life, but also how well they do together as brothers. What a team!

And this guy is the leader of the pack! He is doing a fabulous job in his transition to first grade! He is reading and writing nonstop! He sets such a great example for his brothers and cares so deeply for them. And they are learning so much from this big first grader!

So here's to the end of a fun summer and the beginning of a new season of adventure and discovery!

Talking Tuesday :: What's in a name?

(If you want to know more about the inspiration behind "Talking Tuesday" read the previous post.)


This past Spring I attended a new Bible study about Daniel. The study is done by Beth Moore and is a very in-depth study with lots of homework and lots of history. I enjoyed what I could be a part of very much.

In the first part of the study we learned of the meaning of Daniel's name and the names of several other guys in the story. We learned that when they moved to Babylon, the king of Babylon changed their names to Babylonian names. In the study, she talked about the significance of their original names and the significance of the change in their names.

I love names and their meanings! With each of my boys it was very important to me that their names have meanings, and I love how the Lord has given each of them significance in their names. One of my favorite things is to watch how their lives reflect the meanings in their names! Even just this past weekend Donald and I were talking about how Mason is living up to his name even now...it's such a stunning thing to experience!

Mason Phillip is our "builder of love" and the verse that the Lord gave to us as a reminder for him is Isaiah 58:12: "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. " We have watched him already have such significant ministry; restoring and building with love in the lives of our families, his little friends, his brothers, and with his mommy and daddy!

Haden Joshua is our "hill of heather (a plant that grows in barren places)" and the verses that the Lord gave to us as a reminder for him are Isaiah 49:8-9: "This is what the LORD says: "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation (Joshua means 'the Lord is my salvation) I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill." Haden is a funny little guy who brightens up any room with his fun-loving personality. Even as at the wonderful age of two he brings fruitfulness to barren places!

Rylan Asher is our "happy, blessed meadow." When I was pregnant with him I couldn't help but think about how he was God's provision without man's effort...just like a meadow springs up because God makes it bloom and grow. The verses the Lord gave to us as a reminder for him are Isaiah 44:3-4: "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams." We are so thankful for our little Rylan and his constant happy smile and the ways he has brought blessing and joy to our lives!


We are so mindful of God's hand in our boys' lives and pray over them that as they grow into the men God has created and named them to be, they will choose to belong to Him and live out the calling He has on each of their lives!

Isaiah 44:5 "One will say, 'I belong to the LORD '; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's,' and will take the name Israel."

Talking Tuesday :: The Beginning

If you haven't guess by now, I like to use aliteration! Something about putting beginning sounds together to emphasize thoughts and set a rhythm within languaget is quite appealing to me. So, I've decided to start the next aliteration element of my blog: Talking Tuesday! These posts are intended to give me opportunity to "talk" out some thoughts I have...to share a little insight into the meaningful things in my simple life...and to tell of the works of the Lord in and through our family.

I have been meditating and praying through Psalm 145 this week...mostly praying the words over my sister and her family. I believe that so much of what is in this passage of scripture has truth and promise for our family! I have been reading my sister's blog: bynumfourblog.blogspot.com and have treasured the opportunity of hearing her testimony as she shares it there! I am inspired by her and my life has been gloriously wrecked by that sweet baby girl, and I know that as God is in the business of transformation, I am going to want to share testimony of His work! There is power in the word of our testimony!

Psalm 145:4-6
"One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. "

Thanks for stopping by on "Talking Tuesday"...jump in the conversation any time! :)

A Journey..."Ten Tiny Toes"

I just wanted to post a quick invitation to my blog readers to check out my sister's blog, "Ten Tiny Toes":

bynumfourblog.blogspot.com

Our hearts are aching for their family and we are longing to see God's mighty hand in their lives! Please join us in praying for their daughter, Tessa, and for my sister and her husband as they learn to live one day at a time and in step with the Lord through this journey.

Here are some pictures of our visit with them:

1 Big brother + 5 cousins = 6 energetic kiddos who love baby Tessa!

Tessa at the hospital...what a beautiful grin! :)

Favorite Things Friday :: Rainy Days

We had a rainy day inside last week and came up with a fun activity to keep us entertained. We spent the afternoon searching for objects in our house that started with each of the letters in the boys' names. Mason had lots of fun brainstorming and collecting objects to create the letters. Haden played our little game for awhile before his nap and then mommy finished up :). We had lots of fun!

M-magnets :: A-animals :: S-socks :: O-oatmeal packets :: N-necklaces

H-hats (he loves to wear them!) :: A-animal crackers (can't live without them) :: D-diapers (hates them!) :: E-elefun game (loves to play it) :: N-nutrigrain bars (a daily necessity!)

Rylan spent time playing on his blanket with his "moo cow" and Baby Tad. He had fun with his own little rainy day activities! :)

Happy Rainy Days to you!

A New Creation

Mason says:
"In June, I went to church one Sunday morning. At church we were talking about asking Jesus in your heart like Zacchaeus did. At the end, my pastor called me over and he told me that he'll pray for me whenever I wanted. When I came home I told my mom about this and she said that we could pray together after lunch. Daddy and Mommy and me talked about it and after that we prayed and I prayed and I asked Jesus into my heart. On July 3rd I got baptised. My Uncle Kyle did it and I did it at Lake Pflugerville. What I liked about it is that it showed people that I asked Jesus into my heart."


It was a beautiful night! The sky was amazing with a beautiful sunset and the lake was peaceful. Mason had fun wearing his swim shorts to be baptised! He was very excited to say that his Savior is: "Jesus!" He said it loud and clear! We were thankful for Uncle Kyle to be a part of this special time for Mason. It was a joy to talk to Mason about following Jesus and to see him learn about how asking Jesus to be in your heart and life is something you choose daily. He has such a sweet 6-year-old heart for the Lord!

Fun at 4 months!

What a blessing this little guy is!

He is a growing boy with lots of smiles and giggles and lots of loving from his big brothers!

Favorite Things: Adventure Day!

I love adventure days! Learning new things and doing new things is a sweet part of life with kiddos. I wanted to share some pictures from one of our recent "Adventure Days!"

We started the morning on a hot air balloon chase...





Then picked raspberries and dug up potatoes at a farm...

The next day we joined some friends for a crawfish boil...

This was a fun, HOT, summery weekend and we loved every minute of it!