Awards-SWAT-Stockings OH MY!

School Awards
Cole received the “People Respecting Others” certificate.
Both kids have had perfect attendance through December so here they are receiving another perfect attendance tag for their necklaces.
Both Oma and I made it to this ceremony knowing it would be the last at this elementary.

The man!
“For showing courtesy, kindness, consideration and respect for his/her fellow students and teachers. Thank you for your outstanding behavior on the playground!”

And yes he is dressed in full football gear, Colts to be exact. Oma brought home real football pants and pads so now when a football game comes on tv he will show up in his full uniform to watch and have us throw him a ball once in a while.

S.W.A.T.
A friend called on a Tuesday evening and asked if I wanted to be a hostage on a bus the next morning. How could I say no to this? I asked if I cold bring my mother along and was told sure. A quick call and she too jumped on the bus as well.

It was about a four hour SWAT exercise, we were the live hostages.
Knowing we would have some down time sitting on a bus we all came armed with what we thought best. Mom brought a book to read, we both made sure we had little to nothing to drink that morning and then I filled my pocket with jerky for snacking. Guess my mind works more like my Father’s, you never know when you’ll have your next meal.

It was a very interesting, and educational experience and I would volunteer to do it again in a heartbeat. Though holding your hands above your head for an extended period of time becomes quite exhausting so I don’t think a real captor would like me very much.

Xmas Stockings!
We are still living with the Lampitts and like a broken record (do we still say that or should it change to a scratched cd?) all our “stuff” is in storage including Christmas. So a quick drive to the dollar store with the family gave us an opportunity to create. We told the kids while at the store “pick out any stocking you’d like”.
Jo’s eyes got very large as she saw this giant stocking and asked. “Could I have this one?” I repeated what I had said and the smile was immediate as she quickly grabbed and hugged this sock.

Marking pens and glitter glue, we were in business.

Oh Oma…
Oma wanted to create a holy leaf and berries on her stocking. I was not quite sure what it was, Jo figured it out quickly and then we all laughed even harder as Jo pointed to her own stocking and said “Look Oma, this is holly”. And there on her stocking was perfectly drawn holy with berries.

We love Oma’s though!

HOUSE…WE HAVE A HOME!

Our first meal in our new home.
Pizza on the floor, just like it should be.

Oma’s Birthday

With all the craziness around us this year Oma asked
that we keep it simple for her birthday. So dinner with the kids,
a couple good friends and a belly dancer.
Oma didn’t need much prodding to give the whole dancing thing a try.

The food was good and Oma went home with a couple new earrings.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMA!
! WE LOVE YOU !

Xmas keeps on coming!

August we decided to put our home on the market and with this decision we needed to make our home more presentable for potential buyers. Ok, in short, hiding all our “stuff” in storage to make our home look larger and not “lived” in.

I know, your asking yourself; Why are you telling us this?

The kids have lived with limited toys since August. Though they both have been troupers through this whole process it has started taking a toll, mostly on their moods. Sharing this information with Rachelle and Connie they decided to give the kids their Christmas gifts early.

The kids were very excited while tearing at the wrapping but handing Mom the ribbon stating “Keep this for me Mom”. Rachelle asked me why they wanted to keep ribbon and I explained that the kids would play with it as a toy.

Cole slept with his transformers that night and when he woke just sat up in bed to play with them some more.
Jo has had a good time playing with her Barbie and the dog that will pull Barbie around on skates.

It was good to see the kids playing and smiling.
Thanks Rachelle & Connie.

Duck Women’s Basketball

Asked Jo for a date to a Duck game and she said
“No thank you”
(She really doesn’t enjoy watching games)
Mom informed her that Ducky would be there and she could get a soft pretzel too. She then said,
“Ok, I’ll go”.

Jo, Ducky and pretzel in hand, Jo wanted to go home after this photo after all she got what she came for! (It wasn’t even halftime yet)

It was a good date!

Christmas Spirit!
Looking at the calendar we figured out that the BS family might still be living with the Lampitts at Christmas. So after a very brief conversation the household decided it was time to get the holiday spirit going in the house.

This tree looks good.
Between Cole and Jo the tree came down.
We then drank hot coco, stood around a bon fire and shared in an elephant ear before heading home with our Noble.

ST. NICK?
While we were out picking our tree St. Nick stopped by our home and showered the kids with more gifts.

As you can see by their faces they were quite happy.

Littlest Pet Shop, Hats/gloves and an indoor basketball hoop
to name just a few.

With more toys comes more noise in the house. It’s been nice to hear them playing and laughing just a bit more.
Thank You St. Nick!
(p.s. the chocolates on the adult’s beds were also awesome)

Back to the Tree!
We all had jobs to do, Martha and the kids decorating the tree and Oma lending a hand while Tracy hauled up the boxes to supply those Elves with the decorations plus!
The next morning we did yet another mini Christmas with Tracy, Martha and Lil gifting the kids. Mom and Oma also got very nice gifts too!
Here Jo is wearing the beautiful dress, shoes and socks she received. Lil gave Jo a box of dress up cloths that Jo can use to dress up Lil.
Doesn’t Lil look happy?

Cole is learning how to fly his helicopter! I don’t think any of us are going to ride with him anytime soon but he is getting much better!

Lil gave Cole a box of pull toys so Cole can play tug of war and other things with Lil.
When asked what he thought of the gift from Lil Cole said, “Kind of selfish gifts,” and Tracy informed Cole, “Lil is only three”.

Tracy and Martha took the kids to church on Sunday morning for Advent services while after the service they joined in on creating candles, cookies and grahm cracker houses.

They are saving them for Santa!
I think he will LOVE to take a bite out of them.

Decorating Contest!
That night we competed in the tree sugar cookie decorating contest.

Competition was tough!

(Oma however just wanted to get through the
contest so she could eat her cookie)

We then each voted on our top three.
While Martha tallied the votes Oma devoured her cookie and was happy.

Cookie
#3 WINNER!

Jo won by a land slide!

Second place went to Mom (#5)
and third place Martha (#6).
(second and third place only
separated by one vote)

We might have to do this
again next year.

November Ends

Wrestling
Cole’s been having a good time wrestling this year, the matches have gotten tougher as he has gotten older and the other wrestlers have gotten better as well. He has also learned more of the rules and strategies of this sport.
This week’s match he went 1 & 1 earning him a second place ribbon. Cole won his first match on points and lost his second on points. He is proud that he has not been pinned yet this year. (He has fought to get off his back often)

The following week Mom (the mat coach) noticed towards the end of his first match that Wrestler Cole was watching the score table and seeing the points difference. I asked him after this match what he was looking for and he said “I wanted to see if I was winning by points or if I needed more.” We had a lesson on wrestling from the first whistle to the last whistle and not stopping until then. I also explained to the young man that if he wanted a for sure win and not worry about points that pinning his opponent was the way to go.
The second match ended during the first round as Cole pinned his opponent quickly. (Mat Coach Mom said, lesson learned apparently.)

Bounce Jo Bounce!
Jo has been in a gymnastics/trampoline class and really enjoying it. (bad Mom keeps forgetting the camera) She has gotten very good at her bridges and cartwheels. Watching her get stronger has been great and seeing her smile while she bounces on the trampoline is awesome!
Here she gets to wear the harness with the bungee attached. Not only does she bounce a little higher but also has learned how to flip!
We have asked her if she would like to do this class again and she has said “No.” Why her mom’s ask? “I just don’t want too,” Jo says. Moms quietly scream inside…"will we ever figure out our daughter?”

Turkey Weekend
We spent the holiday with the S-side of our family again this year, brining along a cousin from the B-side.

Turkey Trot
Last year the Turkey Trot was cold COLD. This year it rained RAINED! We were all soaked but the kids more than anyone else because they just trotted through the puddles rather than go around.
After the Trot. These turkeys were not happy birds but when I asked them to give me a pose before loading up in the car they obliged. Off to warm showers and dry cloths!

Dinner

Good meal, great family time and full FULL bellies.

Poor Lanna got sick so we told the kids they had to share Maggie’s room. The girls thought it would be fun to sleep in the bed together so they slept on it sideways. Cole wanted to be closer to them so he climbed up on the bench and that is how they slept.

Cole, Hannah, Jo & Maggie.

Geocaching
We had a beautiful day on Friday so Oma and I took the kids geocaching at the lake. It was more of a “Get out of the house and move our bodies” time.
The kids did a lot of running, helped Oma find a couple caches and then back to running on the trails laughing and playing.

What a Group!

Lanna, Maggie, Cole, Jo and Hannah

What’s Up?

Hiking with the Lampitts!
That would be hiking with Ms. Lampman and Ms. Pitts. I am sharing their name “Lampitts” with you because during this hike they came up with the name Smelmonts for us.

Jo & Cole Smelmont and Tracy, Lil & Martha Lampitts.

We enjoyed many stories between the two families during our hike including one from Tracy about her grandfather teaching them to eat fern roots when she was a kid. So we had to give it a try right?
Tracy said she always thought they just tasted like dirt and after giving it yet another taste as an adult it still tasted like dirt and Cole agreed. But then again, it did come from the ground and it was not very clean.

WRESTLING
Cole has been wrestling with the Churchill Club this year and he is having a very good time. The schools have it set up so the kids wrestle for seven weeks with one wrestling match each of the last five weeks.

Grandma Marie and Grandpa Norman came up for the first match.

(Jo took this photo)

Cole wrestled two boys this week with one pin and the second match winning by points.

A blue ribbon and a happy wrestler.

NEW HOME!
We finally had someone accept our offer to buy their home. We are very excited to move into this home and become the second owners (built in 1958).
The kids have picked out their rooms and Oma has already been on the roof sweeping off leaves. The leaves are not so exciting but the tree is awesome and house large enough for all our stuff and then some. (though coming from our D house it didn’t take much to get larger)

Coast with Roseburg Gals!
What can I say here… Some of the best women I know! The history is that this is part of my very first softball team and we still come together to catch up, laugh, eat, laugh and drink.

Tina, Cathy, Joyce, Annie, Arleta and Sandy

I don’t see them often but when I do it’s always memorable. Just lots of laugher and love.

WRESTLING #2
This match was quite different than the first weeks match. Cole was grouped with three boys that had quite a bit of skill and speed. He had three great matches, getting smarter and quicker each match and loosing all three matches by points.

Fourth place ribbon and one tired but happy guy.

Cole got kudos’ from a ref that said he had a great match and then a coach taught Cole another move to help him escape the half-nelson.

Through the eyes of Jo.
Jo entertained herself during the wrestling match and I had such a good time looking at her photos I thought you might as well. The video is less than a minute so take a look at what Jo sees during a wrestling match.

Keep your eyes open for:
Oma’s bald spot from the vacuum. (click on our “Summers End” post in September for further information on her bald spot)
Martha’s face.
Top of Tracy's head. Jo asked her to “Smile Tracy” and just before Jo clicked the camera Jo moved it up and only got the top part of Tracy’s head. Then Jo proceeded to smile with the smile of “I so did that on purpose”.
Jo's skin.

Love You BS Groupies!
Or rather…Smelmont Groupies!