A new runner in our family

For some time now I have been trying to gently persuade my husband to take up running. We have been in need of a joint hobby, preferably one that is cheaper than eating out and less time consuming than golf! After a recent "health check", Scott decided he wanted to take up some cardio because all that weight lifting he does is taking a toll on his body and not really helping his heart. So we started running a little at a time and eventually he was up to 2 miles on his own with hardly any urging from me. I was proud of him, but still trying to hold back, not wanting to push him too hard. (I cannot figure out how to get this black and not underlined. I am such a computer genius!)

Then our brother in law, Randy, who also recently took up running, registered for the U. City 5K while they were here this weekend. I told Scott I thought he could do it and on the last possible day one could register I signed him up! I decided to do the 5K too, realizing I had not ran a 5K in 5 years or so, since I have been doing longer distance races. The idea was just to do something active and have fun.

But then, Scott Smout found his inner ROCK STAR!! He beat us all...

Scott ran the 5K in 25:52 and I did it in 26:47! Here is where I point out how much taller he is than me :) Our kids did the 1 mile fun run and Sam and Claire crossed the finish line together in under 9 minutes! Emma did finish at a good clip although I did not see the time and she did not care. It really doesn't matter. I am proud of them for doing it!

And I am also proud of my brother in law, Randy, for finishing his first race. He was unprepared for the hills and heat of STL, but he finished. I kept telling him to just have fun, which is great advice that someone once told me :)

It's Summer Time!!

The official last day of school has come and gone and now it is officially summer time! The last day of school is full of sugar and variety shows so they made it a half day this year. Emma was soooooo excited about her CCS yearbook.

Here is our rising 5th, 3rd and 2nd graders. Sam is minus a tooth in the front!

As I look at this photo I realize they are all wearing jackets to school on the last day and it reminds me of the crazy weather we have had this spring in STL. But I do believe that once the school bell rang on Friday that the weather instantly turned hot and humid just in time for the Smouts to hit the pool :)

A love of the Bible

Sunday was a big day at our church. They handed out "Adventure Bibles" to the 1st and 2nd graders of the church during the service. We just happened to have one of each...a first and second grader, that is. It was sweet. They all got to go up front and accept them from the elders. Emma was VERY disappointed because she expected to get a pink cover like her sister got, but this year I guess blue was all that was in the budget. She only looked like she would cry for a moment. Then when she got home her very nice big sister gave her her Bible cover to decorate the hideous blue cover in pink daisies!! A picture of redemption for my Emma!

We have always had a number of Bibles around our home or in our cars, but there is just something so special about getting your own. Sam has been reading it and talking about it like this:

Me: Are you excited that school is going to be out on Friday?

Sam: Yes, but I sort of wanted to bring my Bible to school so I could read it at free choice time. And now that school is over, I won't get to.

Me: Well, we can read the Bible at home too!

Sam: Ok. I want to read Genesis and Psalms. Did you know that David wrote over 100 songs?

Scott: Yeah buddy, why don't you start with Psalms. That is a good book!

Sam: Well, what happens in Genesis?

Scott: A lot. Then whispers to me, " A lot of killing your brother, adultery, incest and more." Let's stick with Psalms, buddy!

Papa Chuck

Below is a picture of my favorite 3 bald men and my favorite red head, who will likely be bald too, so I am allowing him to wear his hair as long as possible until it starts receding! All joking aside, this post is a tribute to the cute little guy in the center, Charles Oliver Smout, 97 who passed away from this earth into the loving arms of our heavenly Father on May 13th.

This picture was taken in 2006 when we had all of Scott's family together in FL. It is a treasure to me. It captures his smile which is just as I remember him. Scott and I had the privilege of living in FL for 2 years and we got to see Chuck and Lois quite frequently. We started our family there and I remember many Sunday afternoons going to their house for dinner and watching Chuck hold Claire, she looked so little in his arms. Chuck was a man of few words, but when you got him talking about something he was interested in he was quite chatty and had an amazing ability to remember dates and specifics.

Here is what I know about Chuck:

He loved salad and desserts

He loved Oldsmobiles

He loved the game of golf

He loved rose gardening

He loved crossword puzzles

He loved Lois, his surviving wife and Greenville College sweetie

He loved God and served him until he no longer could

He loved Greenville College and served on their board for a long time

He was an educator/administrator, working in the Pinellas County school system

He used to drive a blue Cutlass, which Scott has owned for the last 13 years

He was one of 6 children

And I know we miss him already.

Mother's Day

I actually got a half way decent photo with my kids on Mother's Day!! Everyone was dressed up from church and finally we can get a photo where everyone is smiling. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. It was very relaxing. We had a picnic in Forest Park, my happy place. The kids played in the creek there while I was able to relax on a blanket. Then we went for a bike ride on the flat portion of the path. We were all together and that alone made for a great day!

Sam turns 7!

So while I was away in Nashville, I missed Sam's 7th birthday :( I knew he was covered because Daddy was home and Papa Bill and Grandma Lynne were in town! We had planned a little fishing party with his best two buds on Monday so on his big day he got a BB gun! This was a perfectly suited gift from his daddy while I was a couple states away! He loves it and has been enjoying target practice in the garage.

Sam, I love the purple crocs!!

Once I got back in town he got to open the rest of this gifts on Sunday evening. He got the LEGO Creationary game, a new Cardinals lunch box, the Sort it Out game, new cleats, more nerf darts and new soft tipped darts. Then on Monday we had his very small friend party and the weather was not great. It was sort of cold and misty, but it did not stop them from fishing.

Scott and Jonathon

Luke caught the first "fish"...okay it was a crayfish, but still!

Papa Dave (my dad) even made it up for the party. He likes to fish so he cast in too! He actually caught a real fish!

Emma enjoyed playing with the crayfish!

Due to the less than ideal weather, we headed back home for pizza, cake and presents. Sam had a Maggie Moo cake with banana ice cream and Snickers mixed in. His choice.

The candles were a little tricky to blow out. They were not trick candles, but acted like them.

Luke got Sam a cool glow in the dark basketball!

Happy 7th birthday sweet red headed little boy! You are such a joy and a huge blessing in my life! I love that your favorite word is "sure" and that you love your mama so much.

Nashville Country Music Half Marathon

I have not blogged in a while. Things are still happening around here, but I have not had the time to document all of them. I have instead felt bogged down by decisions and life! Maybe if I have time I will do a post about how the Smouts are HORRIBLE at making decisions...

And we are also obviously equally horrible at carrying a camera at opportune times which can make blogging difficult. I have to make a major disclaimer about the photo below. I did not take it, well originally that is! I instead took a photo of it off my computer screen which is why it looks so "pixelized"! I am absolutely positive this is illegal so if I disappear one day, you will know what happened. But come on, I do not want to pay for race images... I mean I just payed $80-$100 to run in the race. I think the images should be included to help you remember the pain!

So here is my friend Kim and me pre-race. Don't we look so happy? As I remembered Nashville is a killer race. All you people who complain about St. Louis should run this. It would make St. Louis look like Kansas!

If you have not heard about my friend Kim let me take a little time to let you know about her. I love her and respect her for her love of her family and Jesus. She is the picture of selfless. She is as horrible at returning phone calls as I am at making a decision about the fate of my dog! She lives in Nashville. She has 5 kids, home schools, trains for her first half marathon and beats me! Still not sure if I love her or hate her for this, but I continue to be amazed by her focus!! She did this race in 2 hours flat and I trickled in at 2:06. We ran 6 miles together and it was great. The race was crowded and at times we would lose each other only to reunite a few hundred feet later. It was a great picture of our friendship. We can always pick up right where we left off which is great considering we have been long distance friends longer than we were ever "in-town" friends. I love Kim's kids. We took all 5 of them to the race expo and it was so fun. They have fabulous southern manners and they have compassion on others and are constantly talking about Jesus. I did not get to spend much time with them because Jackson had a soccer tourney in Knoxville all weekend so we only had Annie (8) and Truett (1) for the weekend. We are hoping to get all the kids together over the summer!

I went to Nashville by myself this year. Kim and I did not have any race fans on the course, but Nashville is never disappointing in the fans department. This race is super well attended and despite the horrible hills that never stop it is a great race! I enjoyed the drive by myself more than I thought I would. I had a lot of time to think. I also had the opportunity to visit Tysha and Natalie, two other friends that live in Nashville and it was great to catch up with them and their families.

Racing is such a mental game. I think that is why I keep signing up. My times are continuing to improve. For example my time for this same race last year was 2:21, so I improved by 15 minutes. Even though my 2:06 was not a PR, I can still see improvement and that is enough for me to keep going!