Memorial Day Weekend 2020

We took full advantage of Andy's time off this weekend and stayed busy.  Sunday we went hiking in the cove/Pigeon Mountain area and had a cookout/swim day with our neighbors.  Monday we went fishing, played at my parents', did some more swimming, and had a cookout at Andy's parents'.  It was a great weekend, and we really enjoyed all the family time!

Post School Update

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!

Upcoming 4th grader

Upcoming 2nd grader

Upcoming preschooler

School is done for the 2019-2020 year!  I hate to say it, but I'm glad it's behind us!  None of us Smithsons were made for homeschooling, so we didn't shed any tears yesterday.  We're desperately praying all will be back to normal this fall.  Things are slowly opening back up in the Chattanooga area, so I'm hoping life quietly returns to normal during the summer.

Okay, here's a little update on our family.

Cooper:  Cooper is officially a 4th grader!  I can't believe it!  He did exceptionally well with homeschooling, and I'm so proud of him.  He definitely misses school a ton, but he made it easy on me at home.  I currently teach 4th grade at his school, but rest assured, I'm making sure I won't have him next year.  That wouldn't go well for either one of us.  He's always liked working puzzles, but since we've been under quarantine, he's turned into a little puzzle wizard.  He's working a 1000 piece Harry Potter puzzle right now.  I just watch him in awe because I'm terrible at them.  We moved him to his own room this week, and that was a huge deal!  He took Abel's room and Abe moved in with Clark.  He and Clark have been together since Abel was born, so it was a bittersweet moment.  He's loving it though and feels like king of the castle.  He's a bit bossy when it comes to that new room, but I'm hoping that'll calm down some when the newness wears off.  He's got a king sized bed that he's in love with, and it's quite funny to see him sleeping in it at night since he's so small.  Now that schools out, when he's not working on his puzzle, he's keeping himself busy with jumping on the trampoline, playing with the dogs, and playing on his computer.  He's desperately ready for things to start opening back up and to start swimming.  He also loves watching the Harry Potter movies with me, so we're working our way through those.

Clark:  Clark is SO glad school is over!  That baby definitely needs to be in a classroom!  He persevered though, and I'm proud of him.  He pulled his own tooth this morning, and if anyone knows Clark, you know that's a HUGE deal!  He and I both hate teeth, so I was thrilled when he took care of it himself.  When it came to the bedroom switch, he was upset about it.  He's sensitive and sentimental (he gets it from his mother), so that little breakup about killed him.  I've promised him he can still do sleepovers in Coop's room, so that helped some.  He promised me he would be a good influence on Abel in their room, and I almost melted to a puddle when he told me that.  He's really getting into Harry Potter, so he's enjoying the movies with us as well.  He's ready for swimming, and he's dying to see all of his friends.  When we watched his 1st grade slideshow the other day, that sweet soul teared up and fought off tears.  Like I said, he's sensitive and sentimental like his momma.  If he could have his own way, he'd spend all day on his computer, so that's a constant battle we fight every day.  He also loves riding his bike, and he did a 3 mile trail ride with Andy this past weekend!  I couldn't believe it!  He wants a lot of that and golfing to fill up his summer... his daddy is happy to comply with those requests.  

Abel:  Abel has been so happy to have everyone home the last few months... his world is going to be turned upside down when school starts back.  Speaking of which, he'll be starting preschool in the fall!  That breaks my heart!  I'm not ready for my baby to grow up.  He'll be right across the school parking lot from me, so I'm looking forward to being so close to him.  He was excited about the room switch because he loves having a sleeping buddy.  He's happy to do anything and everything his brothers are doing... as long as they'll let him.  He's been happily watching Harry Potter with us and declared that he would be a Slytherin... I can't disagree with him there.  😂  He is also ready for swimming.  We were at our neighbors' swimming a few weeks ago and he jumped in the deep end without his puddle jumper.  He can swim, but it was his first swim of the summer, so he absolutely panicked... I had to jump in like a crazy person and get him.  Twenty minutes later he was jumping off the diving board without anything on, so it didn't traumatize him too much.  He's chomping at the bit to go to the beach... we're both ready to go!  He's really into water guns right now, so he's spraying his bothers and the dogs whenever possible.

Andy & Cass:  I've been reading nonstop here lately.  I just read my favorite book of the year so far, The Scent Keeper.  It's definitely different, but it was great!  Other than that, I'm happy to be done with school.  It was hard doing school with the boys at home and doing online school with my students.  I miss my coworkers and students dearly though, so I'm hoping more than anything that we can go back like normal in the fall.  I'm refusing to read the CDC recommendations that parents are raging over on Facebook... I'm not worried about what they say until it's time to go back.  I'm still trying to make my way through some TV series, but as I've mentioned before, I'm a terrible binge watcher.  Andy has been working INSANE hours, and it's wearing on him.  He's keeping a good attitude about it all, but it's a lot.  We cancelled our YMCA membership this week because he's basically the only one who uses it, and he just doesn't have time anymore.  He's spending any free time he has playing with the boys and watching Seinfeld with me.  Seinfeld has been a great distraction from all things work and coronavirus.  Last weekend we did an overnight anniversary trip at the Westin downtown, and it was great!  That hotel is SO nice!  We're planning on taking the boys to it before school starts back for a little treat.  We were planning our trip to Sanibel Island for June 6th, but they've been a bit slower on opening up to people out of state.  We've moved it to the middle of July, so I'm hoping it won't be an issue then.  We desperately need a vacation! 

Recent Reads {24th Edition}

Here's my latest installment of books!  This was one of those rare instances where every book I had on hold at the library came available at the exact same time, so I had to do some serious reading.

Dear Edward:  This book was sad... that's all there is to it.  It's about a 12 year old boy who is the sole survivor of a plan crash.  He goes to live with his aunt and uncle, and the book go and forth between current times and the day of the crash.  I knew from the description it wouldn't be a light book, and it wasn't.  Don't get me wrong... it was good, and I flew through it.  I'm just trying to warn you.  It does have some language in it, but overall, it was a good read.  

The Scent Keeper:  This was another Reese Witherspoon bookclub pick, and I either love or hate the books she picks.  I went into this one with NO expectations, and man, was I pleasantly surprised!  This was the BEST book I've read all year!  It's different, but in a good way.  It's about a girl who is raised on a remote island with her father.  He keeps secret bottles of different scents and a mysterious machine she can't quite figure out.  At the age of 12, her world is turned upside down.  She must find the answers to her past and figure out who she is.  I loved this book!  There is very little language in it, and it's a fabulous story.  If I had one complaint, it's that it ended a bit abruptly... I wish there had been one more chapter, but overall, I loved it.

The Honey-Don't List:  I've read several books by this author duo this year, and I didn't like this one quite as much as the others.  It was cute, but I didn't just fly through it like I typically do theirs.  I will say that you pretty much know how each book is going to end from the first page, and they are all for a mature audience.  Anyways, this one was about a famous HGTV couple (pretty much a carbon copy of Chip & Joanna), and their assistants who have to keep everything from going off the rails.  It was a cute story, but it fell a bit flat compared to some of their better books. 

Class Mom:  This was a cute story!  I read it in a day, so it was a quick read as well.  It was our 4th book club pick, so it was a nice change of pace from what we've been reading.  It's about a mom who's in her late 40s and is the kindergarten class mom.  She has two older daughters and a son later in life, so the young kindergarten moms don't quite understand her sarcasm or life experience... that lands her in some deep water throughout the school year.  If you're a mom or teacher, you'll find this one funny!