Layton is a whole hand full now!

My baby turned 5 yesterday! I told her now she lives up to her age, a handfull! She is always on the go, never stops talking, always happy, humorous and very affectionate. I love her more each day. I feel so blessed to be her mama. She teaches me the meaning of patience but I am loving every minute. I have read James Dobson's book, "The Strong Willed Child" twice in her 5 years! Mimi says she better be a lawyer when she grows up because she can debate better than any child she's ever known. She does not accept no as an answer, EVER. I remember stories Miss Brenda shared about Dave when he was little and they remind me of Layton. There are so many things to say about her at this age so the best I can do is list them! Happy Birthday baby girl, you are all I prayed for and more! Love you Lay Lay :)

Her smile is infectious. You just can't help but fall in love with her! I promise if you are with her for 5 mintues, she will make you laugh!
 

 



She knows how to write her name. It’s not always in a line form though!

She loves to answer the phone.

She loves being outdoors. She loves to ride her bike and swim. She learned how to turn a flip underwater this summer and get things off the bottom of the pool.

 

She says she wants to be a animal doctor when she grows up.

She is really competitive. She loves playing any kind of game.

 

She likes to be the center of attention! She DOES NOT like to share the spotlight and sometimes that includes pictures! She's pinching Lydia in the picture below.

She loves her sister. They fight like crazy some days but when you see her look at Lydia, you know that she loves her so much.

 

She HATES sleeping by herself. The girls sleep in twin beds in the same room. This is not good enough for Layton. She does start out by herself but once Lydia goes to sleep, she'll sneak in her bed and cuddle! I often find this in the mornings....melts my heart!

 

She is OBSESSED with animals. We even seen a boy with a snake at a festival this summer and she asked to hold it. He let her touch it! 

 

She doesn’t eat much meat. She went from eating everything to hardly anything!  I have seen her eat meat 1 time in the past week. Her daddy is not very happy about this stage!! She does love sweets and chips, basically she’s a junk food eater!

When anything happens exciting, she will yell “YYYYYEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS”.

She has recently started sitting in the floor playing by herself with Barbie’s & Polly Pockets. Her imagination has come alive over the past year and most of the time, it involves her boyfriend!

She asks 1,000,000,000 questions a day.

She is rarely quiet or still, early mornings are the only time. She’s a sleepy head!

She is very affectionate. She constantly tells us she loves us and gives us kisses.

 

She played soccer for the first time this past spring and she’s playing again this fall.

She did gymnastics last fall and enjoyed it.

She sings ALL THE TIME! If she's not singing, she's humming! She started singing in kids choir at church.

She is a daddy’s girl.

 

She is loud. She is a true Smith! When she gets excited, everyone knows!

 

She talks in her sleep.

She is so tough. There have been sooooo many times when I just knew she would have to have stitches or would be really hurt from a fall but nope, she pops right up.

My “mama” heart exploded...

 

August 12, 2014, was just a normal day in my world. Around 430 I picked up Lydia and we start on our way home. As we were riding home, she told me that she needed to tell me something. By the way she was acting, I realized she was really nervous. She told me that she wanted to be baptized, that she had confessed her sins to the Lord. I asked her to explain what she was feeling & thinking. She explained that she had done the ABCs of faith, Admit, Believe and Confess. And that now she wanted to be baptized. As she talked, I realized that she was fully aware of what had happened in her heart. My heart was beating 100 miles a minute! I felt so many emotions in those few seconds. I was so, so proud of my baby girl. Of course, I started to tear up as I drove! She made the comment that she probably should have saved telling me until I wasn’t driving! It was the LONGEST ride home! We finally got home and she told Dave about her decision. He was a proud daddy too! Later that night when we had a little private time, without little sister (she was in the tub), we sat down with Lydia and prayed the salvation prayer. We got almost all the way through it and Layton starts yelling for me. I ignored her, trying to “have a moment” with Lydia but Layton yelled louder and louder. When I didn’t answer she said, “I’m gonna get out of the bathtub and get water all over your floor!” We all started giggling. Thankfully we had just finished.
She said that she has been thinking about it for a few weeks and that camp had a big impact on her decision. But that without us at camp, she didn’t want to make any decisions. We went and talked with Bro Steve the next night at church. She will be baptized in a few weeks.   
I am so proud of her. There are so many people who don’t listen to the Lord. She, at 9 years old, has listened & obeyed.

"We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of The Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." Colossians 1:9-10

Lydia’s in the 4th grade!

Lydia started school 3 weeks ago, 4^th grade! Her teachers are Mr. Bennett Overall and Mrs. Beverly Cole. I think she was disappointed that she has a man for her home room teacher but has come to realize that he’s a great teacher. She doesn’t have many friends in her classes so she’s been a little bummed about that but is ok now. She is still getting used to having homework EVERY night. That is new to her (us)! In years past, she hasn’t had much homework. On the afternoon of the first day, I asked her to tell me some cool things about 4^th grade: she has an agenda this year, she has a locker in the hallway (compared to past years her lockers have been in the classrooms) and there are a lot of new rules – ALL BIG DEALS!!!! When she mentioned she had a locker in the hallway, I asked her what her combination to her lock was....dummy me, you don’t get locks for your locker until MIDDLE school!  

I look forward to hearing all about her 4^th grade experiences! I DO NOT look forward to the homework!!!!

And she’s off....to church camp

In February, our church started talking about the children going to Camp Linden. Lydia said she wanted to go, I agreed it would be fun for her but didn’t think much about it. She is so shy and quiet, I assumed the closer we got to July, she would change her mind! Dave was hesitant about letting her go but, from experience, I know how much fun church camp is. I thought it would be a great opportunity to let her spread her wings and what better place than CHURCH CAMP?! The night before she left she started crying, she was so nervous and anxious. I’ll admit I was a softy....I slept with her that night....in her (twin size) bed! I just knew she would wake up the next morning and tell me she didn’t want to go. She didn’t, she said she was ready to leave but didn’t want to talk about it! Right before we left the house, she grabbed some sunglasses because she said she knew she would cry the whole way there......way to me your mom feel better, Lydia!

We got to the church about 10:30, they were scheduled to leave around 11. She boarded the bus 10 mins before everyone else. She REALLY was ready to get this part over with. I wanted to go get her off that bus SO bad but I also wanted her to prove (to herself) that she could do it! She was gone all week and only called once!  She called me Tuesday morning about 7. The reception was really bad but she was able to tell me that she was happy and having a good time. Every night, Dave would tell me to call her and check on her! Thank God for FB, the church posted pictures all week of the fun times they were having! She called me Friday once they left the camp and told me that she had a lot of fun but was ready to get home. I enjoyed hearing all her stories about camp, the people she met from other states, the activities she did, and all the fun things that happened all week. Her faith has grown so much because of her camp experiences.

 

 

P.S.I should have taken a picture but one of the things I was most worried about was her not bathing! I know that sounds gross but......She was gone for 4 nights, that should have equaled 4 showers.....she came back with a full container of soap. Her soap bottle had NEVER BEEN USED! I did NOT ask her anything about this, simply because I didn’t want to hear her answer! She did say that when they got in at night, a lot of the other girls would beat her to the showers! :/

Summer 2014

Pictures from our summer!

The girls and I at Mimi’s one Sunday afternoon.

 

Fishing at Aunt Chris’s house!

 

Mama and I took the girls to the play Aladdin at the Ruffin. It was Layton’s first play. She loved it!

 

We tried to work-out every once in a while! 

The girls finally were able to go back to art class. Because of Layton’s soccer games, they didn’t go for a while.

 

 

We celebrated America’s birthday at Mimi’s. Some of my fondest childhood memories were at Mimi’s on the 4^th of July. We had so much fun eating and making memories with family.

 

The girls with their friends at Miss Darlene’s!

In April, we (spontaneously) decided to get some chickens. The girls love Mimi’s chickens. One Sunday afternoon, we went and bought 5 hens and 1 rooster. The next week, Layton’s chicken “Jasmine” died. The next month something caught one hen and the next month Reece (kind of) killed Dave’s rooster. After all the fatalities, we were  down to 3 hens. In July, we decided to get more and to build a bigger coop. Once we finally got the coop built, we bought 6 more hens and 1 rooster, giving us 10 chickens total! We have 3 grown hens now and have been getting 1 egg a day but yesterday we got 2!! (big day in Layton’s world!!!) Now the girls won’t have to fight over getting that 1 egg in the afternoons. Hopefully soon, we will need a basket to go out and gather eggs!!! J

 

 

 

 

 

 

Layton LOVES the chickens, Lydia likes them but not near as much as her sister. The picture below is so pitiful. The 2^nd morning after we got the other chickens, Lydia wanted to go out and see if there were any eggs. Layton heard her and went running out after her. Lydia came to the door with an egg, poor Layton was SOOOOOOOO upset that she didn’t get it. I don’t know how they didn’t break it getting back to the house!

 

 



 

She strikes again.....

Lydia decided she wanted to play softball again this past spring. I feel like a total failure as a mother because 1) I didn't get that many pictures because Dave and I helped coach & 2) I somehow have lost the pictures I did take. :( But I'm telling myself that I will find them one day and add them then......

 Lydia hasn't played softball since she was 5, so I really didn't know what to expect, she has always been so timid when it comes to physical activity.But she did GREAT and improved as the season went on. She hit really well but she gave me a heartattack each time she would hit the ball and run, she is SO SLOW running! It is like watching someone in slow motion. She did get a few doubles and one triple. She played 2nd base all season. She did really good and by the end of the season, she was moving better with the ball in play .(basically doing what a 2nd baseman should be!)

 As a mother, (I think) I’m calm in a lot of situations but sports are my weakness! I am a very competitive person and in the past, I’ve been known as the one hollering, not in a bad way but in a loud way, at their children!  Lydia doesn’t like anyone hollering for her, good or bad! So at the beginning of the season, I promised her that I would just let her play and have fun. (I think) I kept good on my promise! Her poor little team didn’t win but 1 or 2 games but we had a great season and made lots of new friends.    

The ball games wore little sister out! Bless her little, talkative heart....I think she spoke to every person at the ballfields each game. She had so much fun, walking around talking!