PUNXSATAWNEY PHIL sits on a throne of LIES!

Paige said on our first 70 degree day. They talked Bret into hanging up the hammock and spent half the day reading there.

Safe and Thankful.

Today was the last day of CAT layoffs. Bret is the only one left on his team of 7. He's been switched to the Cary offices, where he will be in the global purchasing group. The silver lining is that his commute is only 20 minutes.

We are humbled and very grateful to have a job. Our hearts ache for the families who haven't been so lucky.

McKenna's Happy Family

She drew this picture for an upcoming FHE. She tied 5 strings to it, so that we could each hold one to show that it takes team work to hold a family up! How cute is THAT!!? She told me in a coy, side-ways whisper, "your going to LOVE the high shoes I put on you!"

Shopping at SWOOZIES!!
Swoozies, our favorite new girlie store had their big tent sale and we had to go investigate with our good friends, Jennie and Jack Councill. The girls form the Jack-Jack fan club. Jack has pet names for each of them: MaeMae, PaePae and MaePae. They are thrilled and LOVE to babysit!

This is what I need to have engraved on my First Alert bracelet!!

Here is a copy of an e-mail I got from McKennas teacher yesterday:

Hello Ladies,

I wanted to give you a heads up about an event that happened in class.
We were coming back in from recess and the whole line was talking- I said "if you are talking- go in and flip your color...cause we don't talk in the hall (silence) only if you really need something, you are bleeding or if someone is trying to steal one of you" No one moved- I didn't expect anyone to. We walk in and I am doing the normal, calling water groups, etc...kids are great and then I see McKenna crying by the coats.

She tells me, "I don't want to flip my color." It was already on yellow. She had done it. So was Kathleen's. I grab her to hug her and ask- why...and they both told me that they were talking in the hall. I held her and told her how proud of her/them I was that they told the truth even when they could have gotten away with it, because if they were talking in the hall, it was so quiet I didn't hear them, but I was super proud of them for being honest. And that probably half the class should have flipped their color too- but they didn't so that means that Kathleen and McKenna have great intergrity- to do what is right when no one is looking. I told them, if I could love them more I would for being so amazing.

I just wanted to give you a heads up and to love on them so much, because they are so special.

They are both smiling now, Kathleen cried just for a second...and McKenna looks a little sad still.

Thanks!
Any questions let me know.

Krista

Yesterday was the first day she's had to flip her card the whole year. She was still pretty sad about it when she got home, worried we would be mad. She didn't understand that being honest is so much more important than making a small mistake. I felt like jumping, whooping and running down the line high-fiving all the moms at the bus stop (NBA game opener style!). Its not very often we get to see what our kids do when our mom-radar isn't on them. We all squeezed her guts out! (not really--that'd be grose!)

Hot Tamales

Bret and the girls got a crazy cooking hair and ran around all afternoon, searching the Mexican markets for their secret ingredients. After they had their fill of the weird meat section, complete with beaks, feet, baby squid and mystery cow parts, they came home with their booty and set to work making tamales.After 3 hours of chopping, cooking, mashing, and soaking hulls, they realized schmeering, rolling and steaming still lay ahead. So they switched directions, made chicken tostadas and rolled the tortillas for tomorrow. All I can say is WHOO HOO and thank you Rick Bayless (PBS mexi-chef)!! Bret has taken to his cooking adventures with such luck and skill that I want to kiss him and whack him with a spatula at the same time. His weekend masterpieces are quickly taking over as the best meals on the table. I don't know how I feel about that. For now I'm enjoying a break from the kitchen , but mostly its fun to see he and the girls (his soo-chefs) have such a good time planning, plotting and preparing their bounty.

On the CAT front: Bret has a job!! We're so happy about that! As many of you know caterpillar has led the nation in layoffs recently. His team of 7 is down to 5, but that was voluntary and they feel pretty good about the future. They work on future emission standards that required by 2010. Is may be the first time in our lives we are grateful for the tree huggers. Please squeeze a tree for us and if you find a lucky rabbits foot, rub it once for us!

The girls got their report cards yesterday and they are all doing so great! We celebrated at the Macaroni Grill. The Girls thought they were very fancy dipping their rosemary bread into the olive oil. After a delicious dinner we went to see Madagascar at the cheap seats. A perfect date night!

Whoo Hoo its Wednesday! The Fun Fam 5 is going full tilt. Since the snow last week we've had another teacher work-day on Monday. Monday morning the girls gathered in their pj's, under their beds, to form their own sisters newspaper. They named it Smith Fam 5 (truly inspired!). I'll let them give you the scoop in their own words:

SCHOOL NEWS

School. Crazy! With report cards in one week I am trying my best to get that one point in 1/2 my classes to bump the high B's to A's! In history, we took our exams on South Africa and I only missed one! IN English, with the snow days, MLK day and teacher work days, we spend most days doing busy work amounting to about 5 points. In math, its pretty much the same, except--instead of math sheets- we are drawing 3 dimensional figures. Science, I'll get back to you on th...zzzzzzzzzzzz. Health, we finished our 80 point project with my-friend-Finn. Dance, well you saw (Macey had her dance recital last week--she was SO graceful! She LOVES to dance.) I am enjoying crazy + fun friends, good teachers, riding to school with Dad and having fun with Mamma-Bamma-Llama.

- Macey Lane Smith -

Report cards are due in one week. Had blue diamond test, checked with a clicker (a new checking devise). Did and presented colonial project. Try to work harder in math. Pay attention in literacy. Work on ensemble sons. Keep getting all my homework done. Mr. Tart's still funny. I have only been late once. In the end I am loving school!!!

- Paige Grace Smith -

As I watch out the bus window there was a dead snake on the side of the road. YUCK!!! I hope it does not happen again. just imagine. ick! uuuuuuh! It gives me chills! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! (and a lovely illustration of the snake and her bus).

- McKenna -

Other NEWS

THE BAND GETS BACK TOGETHER!!! Paige and Kate (the neighbor's) band "Summer Days" gets back together! Summer Days was some what put on hold when 2 older siblings where rather jerky making fun of a line in one of their songs. After being encouraged enough (meaning day and night!) They began the band again!!! Happy.

Ideas for future articles:

- Mom and Dad date at home on Friday!

- A short story by McKenna

- Rock Band article

- Tiara Day!

Job Adds:

Readers Wanted.

description: anyone who can read!

How Cute was THAT!?!! After the newsies were done, we went to the movies and saw High School Musical III, (It was really cute and made us all want to dance!), then off to lunch at Chic-fil-a, where I rescued the heroine in the last few chapters of my book. Ballet classes finished off our night before we collapsed, exhausted - but happy.

Last night we had Italian food by candle light and then ROCKED out with the BAND!! We got our all time high score on "way to fly"....way to go Stir Fry Chow!!! (that's our bands name)

As we said our prayers last night, McKenna asked for a "magic - miracle" for great grandma and grandpa Smith. Thank heavens for little Girls!

Mc Muffins!

Snatch the Clip

After 6 unexpected days off school we were getting a little restless. We love to play snatch the clip--its fun and the kids can whach each other without getting in trouble!

"How to play," you ask? Get one fancy bag of clothes clips and a swimming noodle at the dollar store. Cut the noodle in thirds. clip loads of clothes pins on the Whacker and blindfold them. They whack anyone they feel trying to snatch a clip. If you get whacked, that clip doesn't count. The one with the most clips gets to be the whacker in the next game. Whoo Hoo!!

Salad Shooter!

This is a dorm favorite among vegetarians at organic colleges all over the nation.

Never doubt that the Smiths know how to party.

McKenna's Inventing
This is her blender invention. She can simply turn it over, roll the can between her hands and mix her secret recipes--even when the power is out! Genius!!!

let it snow! Let It Snow! LET IT SNOW!

The stair Louge!

PG and her frosting Masterpiece

Macey won the biggest bubble contest

The Movie Invasion!

The girls gathered in every part of the house. They LOVED our soft bed. It wasn't until the next morning when I crawled off my flat sleep number bed did I realize just why our bed was SO soft the night before. They had let all the air out of it!

I guess that tells you how tired I was when I crawled in it!

The Smith Fam 5 are BLOGGING!!

This is my first blog EVER!... I have no idea what I'm doing, but what-the-heck!

ITS SNOWING!!!! A Real snow!...fluffy and thick. The girls have been out since early this morning. I've refueled them with toast and hot chocolate whenever they have stumbled thru the door with their snow packed legs and pink cheeks. Paige came in for a dry pair of shoes. When I looked down and saw her snow packed ballet flats. She said she was in a hurry and they fit over her feety pajamas......I have no response to that. :(

We're so sad Brets not here to be snowed in with us. He's in Idaho visiting the bigger Smith Crew. The doctors took grandma off all her medicine and told the family to gather. But ever since then she's done better than she has in months...go figure!? We're thrilled.

Brets hang out with his brothers, sisters and cousins that he doesn't get to see near often enough.

I think I've recovered from the CRAZY 26 girl sleep-over we had on friday. We hate hurting feelings so we invited every girl at church between Macey and McKennas age.

It was fun and insane all wrapped together. We played all night: sweet tart fun facts, vampires in the dark, frosted cookies and watched movies, but the best part was the stair-looge. We piled all the pillows and sleeping bags at the bottom of the stairs and had races down in the slickest sleeping bags we could find. It was a BLAST!!

The fear didn't hit me until 12:30 when I thought, "how am I going to get this many giggely girls to sleep all by myself?" Thank goodness there is narcoleptic powers in the "I'm a child of God" song. They fell like dominos, one room at a time.

The next morning we made pink pancakes until all the spray whip cream and sprinkles were gone--thus the need for pancakes was gone too.

As the last friend left the girls surrounded me in a giant bear hug and thanked me for "the best sllep-over in the history of sleep-overs!"....goal reached. I dropped, exhaused, but happy.