Introductions

It’s been a long while since I’ve been consistent at blogging, and it seems like a good time to re-introduce us. If you know us well, this might be the most boring post ever… and, actually, even if you don’t know us well, it might still be the most boring post ever. Ha!

I mean, honestly, how exciting can a nice family like us be?
(Don’t answer that. We can be SO exciting. I once let my kids eat cheetoes AND soda. On the same day. It was insane.)

I suppose since it’s my blog, I should go first.

So, there’s me.

I’m the wife, the mom, the writer, the rusty piano player (meaning that my skills are rusty, not that I play rusty pianos — although in Hawaii, pretty much everything is rusty, so there’s that)…

I love good puns, living in Hawaii, good books, making music — especially being involved in my kids’ amaaaaazing children’s choir, oh my gosh, don’t get me started. I love movies like Mega Mind, The Greatest Showman, and old musicals. I passionately love foot zoning and all things related to the healing arts. I’m a reforming-horrible housekeeper and an I-don’t-even-care-that-I’m-terrible cook, too, but somehow Mr Smith and I manage to keep everyone here alive and fed, so yay for that…
and that’s pretty much me!

Sometimes I feel the need to clarify — I really mean it when I say “ALL things related to healing.” That includes all the “woo-woo,” out there, outside-the-box, crunchy stuff AND the stuff inside the box, too. Medications save lives. Surgeries save lives. …but the “alternative” and “holistic” stuff can help a great deal as well, and they saved MY life, so I’m a big fan. Moderation and wisdom in all things. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And a pound of cure is pretty much useless if you don’t prevent the problem from happening again. …so yeah. Think long-term. Maximum utilization of available resources!
End soapbox.

Life is better when you open up instead of closing off.

There’s Mr Smith

He’s the most amazing guy ever, basically. When I was a teenager, I fantasized about what the perfect guy would be like. Is that a normal girl thing to do, or did I have an unhealthy obsession with Happily Ever After? Let’s blame Disney.

Anyway. I am daily amazed that God sent me exactly what I wanted.

He’s the rock that keeps us on the right course. He’s the Spock that sees the logical way to make things happen, where I’m more like Kirk, rushing off without a plan to save the world — and we make a great team. Also, we both really like Star Trek, so it works out. I can’t imagine my life without him. He’s an amazing parent – he truly loves our half-dozen here and is an equal-parenting partner in every way.

He’s an incredibly hard worker, and his greatest dream is just to see me smile… which means I’m really lucky and he’s really NOT, because it hasn’t been easy the last 4 years, trying to make me happy. (Thank you, brain, for the crash course in healing mental health issues, bleh.) But he hasn’t given up yet – so let’s add stubborn determined, patient, and persistent to that list of accolades.

Also, he let me buy a puppy this year, so let’s add softy pushover saintly to the list, too.

Mr Smith also has a fondness for good puns (well, okay, he likes the bad ones, too), loves good books, movies like Superman, Justice League, Star Wars, & The Greatest Showman, (but don’t tell him I told you about his secret crush on that last one, k?) aviation, space, and training for the Iron Man Triathlon that he’s going to complete before he turns 40.

And then there are the Smithlings.

C, D, E, F, G, H.

Or, from left-to-right, F, C, H, E, G, D.

Right now they range from almost-14 down to almost-5.

C

is the product of two pun-lovers, and has the witty, dry, sarcastic sense of humor to prove it. Gosh, I love her personality. She’s amazing, but unlike her mother, she keeps her business to herself… so… I have to kind of balance my naturally-extroverted/share-everything nature with her naturally-introverted/selective-sharing desire for space.

Sigh.

D

is also in Camp Don’tTalkAboutMe. There’s a lot I could tell you about his quiet brilliance, his goofy laugh, his deep thoughts and his huge heart, but……it’s a major sacrifice for him to even let me post a picture, so that’s it about him for now. Oh, and he’s 12.

E

– now, he’s a fun kid. He’ll get up in front of any sized audience anywhere if he has something to say. He’d make a fabulous politician that way. He wants to be an inventor when he grows up; he’s pretty amazing at thinking outside the box and connecting things in ways others haven’t. For better or worse, he’s a lot like how I was socially as a kid… aaaaaaaaand… well, yeah. I’ma just leave that there. He’s one-of-a-kind awesome. I’m biased, but he really is. Also, he’s 10.

F

is a happy-go-lucky ray of sunshine. I used to think it must have been his homebirth that made him so chill, and then I thought, no, maybe it’s all the one-on-one attention he got from my amazing sister in his toddlerhood when she was our nanny during Baby G’s pregnancy… but honestly, some kids are just like that. He’s friendly, outgoing, passionate, always singing, and you can generally hear him a mile away. He’s basically a feisty, vibrant, lovable (& loving) carebear in disguise — but at 8 years old he’s just big enough to not appreciate my calling him that, so shhh.

G

is the reason I found foot zoning, but that’s just a side-note. He’s another outgoing, friendly, happy-go-lucky kid, but he didn’t start out that way. As a baby, he was one step shy of stoic. It was foot zoning that completely transformed him (literally, overnight) and it launched me into a whole new world of amazingness. He went from sober and serious to a vibrant, bubbly, happy little guy, and he’s pretty much stayed that way ever since. He loves all things ninja, Star Wars, all kinds of weapons (oh joy), and enjoys music, too, like his older siblings…His blue eyes melt me daily. His snuggles and his never-ending “scratch my back” remind me how great the simple joys of life can be.

H

was born in Hawaii and she loves to tell me that she loves people “as much as she loves Jesus.” She’s assertive, strong-willed, even more passionate than F, and always into something. She loves animals, dragging our poor puppy around with her all the time, and is never happier than when she’s bossing someone around.

Yesterday, when we left for date night, she asked, “Can I be in charge? Pleeeeeeeease???”
I knew from past experience how “well” anything but “yes” would go over, so I had to think fast. I mean, yes, there are times to just lay down the law and to heck with it if they don’t like it… but when you’re trying to get out driveway on a date and you’re about to leave the 12yo in charge… that’s not the time.

“Yes. You can be in charge of your stuffed animals!”
She was crestfallen and clearly couldn’t decide if she was going to throw a massive fit about it or not, so I jumped in before she could figure that out.
“…You have to go tell them what to do and make sure they don’t fight or make messes, and make sure they go to bed on time, too, cuz you KNOW how much trouble they can make sometimes! Okay, bye bye, Sweetie!”

We left with her giggling at my silliness and my thanking God for whatever angels gave me that stroke of brilliance.

So, that’s us! We have a good time for the most part. We also have crazy times, but that’s life.

Thanks for stopping by!