Christmas is Over!

Can you believe it? I can't. It seemed to fly by quickly. It was a busy time, and if I was being honest, it was not relaxing. But, even though it was hectic, we still found time to have fun and appreciate the season. I can say that next year, I will work harder to slow down and manage my time better! For now, here are some pictures from our holiday...

Because dogs celebrate Christmas too! (Although I left her gifts at Vicki's house! Bad pet Mommy!)

Smiling and getting along because Santa is coming soon...

Reindeer Food! The reindeer need a pick me up during the long Christmas night!

Nana watching the children spread reindeer food in the yard.

Sitting down to dinner. It was yummy!

Christmas Cards

We didn't send them out this year! Time got away from me... I was sick and so busy at work! But I did actually write one! Here it is...

Twas the night before Christmas in the Simon house; not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, with the hope that the dogs would not eat what was in there.

We fought with the children and finally got them in bed; then we collapsed on the couch while memories danced in our heads.

Brady’s in Fifth grade and he acts so old. He ran cross country and got a medal of gold.
Although he works hard in school and gives it his best; he’d rather be playing his Nintendo DS.

Christian’s in Second Grade and he’s behaving well. We ask him if he likes it, but he’ll never tell. He wants to eat spaghetti all of the time; if we fix something else, he says it’s a crime!

Leah’s in Kindergarten and she’s doing great; she gets upset if she’s even late! She loves to read and especially write; we tell her daily that she is so bright.

DeAnn is a counselor, she helps people galore; but on Monday mornings, it feels like a chore! She spends a great deal of time at Berry Elementary School; she thinks being with the children is just super cool!

Scot likes his job, although he’s always busy; he runs around so much, he often gets dizzy. He plays with the children and is such a fun dad; but when he wins, the children get mad!

Spirit and Piper are part of our family too. Piper barks at anyone new. Spirit is old, but he’s still fun; his favorite thing to do is lay in the sun.

What a year it’s been here in this place we call home; we’re humbled and blessed to not live it alone. We have people who love us and who truly care; without them it would be too much to bear!

From our home to yours, may the season bring you a smile,And time with loved ones you haven’t seen in awhile;We wish you health and happiness, may your 2009 be bright,Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Scot, DeAnn & family

Lego World

What could be better than Darth Vader? A life size Lego Darth Vader!

This really puts those hours that I spent attempting to put those little Bioncle lego robots together in perspective. Clearly, I would not be qualified to apply for a job at Lego world being that the Bioncle robot ended up being deformed. My child finally looked at me and said, "Nevermind Mommy. I'll just do it".

A close second to Lego Darth Vader is the Egyptian Mummy here...

Can you imagine putting this together? Do you think they had a plan to work by or was it some work of artistic genius? Whoever did this is totally wasted working at Lego. They should go and work for the government or something. And do you see the little Lego pod man behind the mummy? How cute is that? I'm fascinated. Maybe I'll quit my job and become a Lego builder. It may be a thankless job, but it would be fun! Then again, looking at the handicapped Bioncle... maybe not.

And to All a Good Night...

Here is the way I found Leah asleep last night when I went to check on her...

Here Comes Santa Claus...

We recently went to a party at The Movies at Mt. Berry Square. Scot's company hosted it and we really had fun! Scot, Leah, and Brady went and watched Bolt. Christian and I watched Madagascar 2. We had fun. Santa was there...

Leah listed off some things that she wanted. Then, Santa and Mrs. Clause posed for a picture...

We had lots of fun!

PS- Brady and Christian wouldn't go near Santa. I guess they're getting coal this year...

All the Who's down in Whoville...

Our little Who (Brady) recently participated in a Grinch play. He performed this a total of 4 times and lets just say, he's really tired of the Grinch. Or at least I thought he was until I heard him singing that Grinch song "Welcome Christmas, bring your joy...." in the shower last night. I laughed....

J Week!

This week was "J" week in Kindergarten. It was a multicultural experience! The children wore kimono's, ate sushi, learned Japanese words, and spent a lot of time with their shoes off (Leah's favorite part!). The week ended with a trip to the chinese restaurant where they ate only with chopsticks. No silverware allowed! I was fortunate enough to get to go on this trip and we really had fun.

Leah: "Hmm, now how do I get this rice on my chopsticks and in my mouth without it falling off?"

Leah: "Oh, wait... I think I actually got some in my mouth that time!"

A good time was had by all. I, myself, got into the spirit and used only chopsticks. This was an interesting experience and I think I definitely ate less than I would have normally. Maybe I should use chopsticks at every meal! I was going to go back (it was a buffet), but then I decided it would be too much trouble.

I love that Leah gets to experience other cultures at this age. I know that it will give her an appreciation and respect for others who may be different from her. She stated at the end of this week, "Mommy, I wish J week was every week. I loved it!".

Happy Birthday Christian (yesterday)!

Happy Birthday Christian!

Yesterday was your birthday. We were not only thankful for all of our blessings, we were also thankful to have spent another year with you!

You are so spirited and passionate and we love that about you. We love that you get excited over the smallest toy and carry it around with you for days. We love that every time Daddy and I hug, you run to get in the middle of it, no matter what you're doing. We love that every time we see you after being gone, you run up and hug us like it's been days since you've seen us. There are so many things we love about you that there simply isn't room on this blog to write it all down. We just love you so much!

I hope you had a good birthday. It's hard trying to do Thanksgiving and a birthday all at the same time. But you seemed to enjoy your smoked turkey and all of your presents. You were surrounded by people who love you and that's what is important.

We are so excited to spend another year with you. Although you challenge us every single day, I really wouldn't have it any other way. I can't wait to see your true personality grow and emerge. I know you will continue to be someone special.

So, happy birthday baby boy. You're a big 8 year old now. This is going to be a great year!

One Word

I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun! It is a list of questions and you are only allowed to answer them with one word.

Where is your cell phone? dresser

Where is your significant other? home

Your hair? blonde

Your mother? sweet

Your father? tough

Your favorite thing? family

Your dream last night? school

Your dream/goal? professor

The room you're in? bedroom

Your fear? regret

Where do you want to be in 6 years? college

Where were you last night? Twilight

What you're not? outgoing

Muffins? love

One of your wish list items? cellphone

Where you grew up? Rome

The last thing you did? laugh

What are you wearing? sweater

Your TV? old

Your pet? hyper

Your computer? laptop

Your life? stressful

Your mood? changing

Missing someone? Buck

Your car? dirty

Something you're not wearing? shoes

Your summer? hot

Love someone? Scot

Your favorite color? pink

When is the last time you laughed? today

Last time you cried? months

Being Thankful!

Well, it's that time of year again. It's time to count your blessings. That's the name of my favorite hymn... "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done...". Anyway, I digress. Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. Not because I'm not thankful, but because it's become a segue way into Christmas. I'm going to try to be more thankful this year and really appreciate my blessings. I'm always aware that we are blessed, don't get me wrong, but I have discovered that there are things that I miss. For example...

#1- I recently went into Leah's kindergarten class to pick her up. Mrs. Niedrach came up to me and said, "I just want to tell you how happy this child is. The 5th grade teacher remarks all the time that she is just full of life". I was surprised by this statement! My first thought was "really?" How sad! My entire job is to study human behavior and this surprised me about my daughter. I started noticing her and watching her and discovered that yes, she truly is an extremely happy child. All the time. She's full of life and wonder and loves to just be around us. She seeks us out and wants to sit with us and play. She would rather talk to us than play with toys. Everything excites her... even a trip to the store. She is giving and loving and she endeavors to help people. Amazing. I can't take credit for this.. it's the way God made her. It's part of who she is and we should be encouraging and appreciating it more. I'm thankful that it was pointed out to me.

#2- Let's talk about Christian. He's a challenging child, to say the least. But when I think about him this year as opposed to last year, I am so very thankful. This year, he is happy. He likes school, he has friends, and he has matured so much. He recently got into trouble at school and he was issued a punishment. This punishment was difficult, but he persevered through it. It impressed me to see him take responsibility. He is working daily have more self control. We are so thankful for him.

#3- As I've stated before, this school year has really been all about Brady for me. I think about him and worry about him and sometimes, I'm just amazed at him. He has really shown me his personality this year and has grown up tremendously in the past few months. He has shown that he has integrity, perseverance, and compassion. He is studious, helpful, and responsible (almost to a fault). I can start to really see the person that he is becoming. This is both exciting and frightening. I realize that the time where he will be without me is quickly approaching and I hope that we are giving him the tools and support he needs to face new challenges. I am so thankful that I get the opportunity to share in his life.

#4- I'm thankful for Scot. He is an amazing husband and father and he supports whatever we want to do. He gets out and runs with Brady. He plays the PlayStation with Christian. He sits down and lets Leah fix his hair or watches her draw pictures. He turns on my electric blanket at night so it's warm when I get into bed (this may seem like a small thing- but it's HUGE). He's thoughtful and supportive and we're so lucky to have him. We take him for granted sometimes, but we are so thankful to have him.

#5- We have a large support system of family and friends. We have a great family and wonderful friends who we consider family. They share our joy, our outrage, our sadness. I rarely think about this, because I just know that they are there if we need them (and vice versa). However, we are so thankful that they are there and we should appreciate them more!

Ok, I'll stop now. It's the top 5 of many blessings. I could go on and on, but these are the ones I feel that I don't appreciate enough. I hope that this year, you will look at your blessings and see the ones that go unnoticed day to day!

Running!

Ok, so we're about a week out from my epiphany that my son has followed in my footsteps with asthma. We've been to the doctor and obtained an inhaler and we are scheduled for a pulmonary lung test on Wednesday. Tonight we broke out the inhaler to test it out. Cross country is over (can you say "a day late and a dollar short"?) but Brady and I are determined to keep up the running. So, we taught him how to do the inhaler and off we went. Brady claims he has been getting instantly tired and out of breath when running. Tonight we took off and I thought to myself "Hmm... we're running at a pretty fast clip, no wonder he gets tired". I expected him to turn to me and slow it down. He didn't. He smoked me!

I couldn't be more happy to come in last! Love it!

Hiking

We went hiking this weekend. It's part of my "new healthy family lifestyle" plan. I started an exercise plan this past January and now I've decided to force the children on the bandwagon! Yay! It's all a plan to get them away from video games. You can imagine how thrilled Christian is...

So, we started close to home to see how the children would do. Having a 10 year old, 7 year old, and a 5 year old, makes it difficult to choose a difficulty level. We chose Berry as our first destination. It was familiar, close to home and of course, gorgeous!

Leah was so excited to go on a hike and see all of the leaves. She has been looking for "signs of fall" in her Kindergarten class and this was the perfect opportunity to show us what she's learned. She even took my picture at one point! I think we have a photographer on our hands (of course, she needs a better subject)...

Brady loves to hike and he found the perfect spot for pictures...

A boy and his dog. Yes! We took the dog!! She needs exercise as well. She's been eating too many treats lately. My goal in getting the children a dog was to take the dog places and let them learn responsibility. Plus, dogs are just plain fun. If they are well trained, that is. Piper did great and spent most of the time off the leash. We were impressed!

The next day, we decided to go to John's Mountain. I haven't been here since I was 17. We went with Nana and Papa. We had a lot of fun, but this trail was decidedly more difficult.

Daddy got a better workout than all of us...

Even though we had some stops along the way, the view was perfect and worth it!

Happy (Belated) Halloween!

We had fun this Halloween! We did a little less Trick or Treating and went to a festival at our church instead. I felt like Brady needed to have some fun since he wasn't dressing up. Festival 31 was fun and different and we really enjoyed it! I learned my lesson about not taking pictures, so here they are...

Brady made it all the way to the top of the rock climbing wall. Go Brady!

Christian did some sort of body Tug of War thing. He really enjoyed it. I think it was the Clone Trooper outfit that gave him the edge.


Leah went on a pony ride. It was more challenging in her ghost costume, but still fun! After the festival, it was on to Trick or Treating. We got plenty of candy and Mommy and Daddy even stopped at Starbucks for their own treat!

Christian the Clone Trooper!


Leah the Friendly Ghost!



Brady the "I'm too cool to dress up" kid!

A fun night was had by all!

Being a Mom/Cross Country Update!

So... this has been a rough week! Yesterday we went to Menlo, Georgia to a Cross Country race. I watched Brady suffer through another race. This is the second race I've been able to attend. I thought that last time was bad, but that it was maybe just a fluke. Um, no. This was excruciating. I seriously hope nothing truly bad ever happens to my children, because I can tell you that I won't be able to handle it. I was in tears. I pretty much recognized instantly what his problem was. Asthma. Geez, where have I been? Why was I at work when he had ALL of his cross country meets? Why didn't I help my poor child? You know, sometimes, you just drop the ball when it comes to parenting. I feel like I'm an average parent. Somedays I'm better than average, and some days I don't quite hit average. But overall, I'm average. But if anyone could recognize his problem, it's me. And I was at work! Nice. This poor child has been suffering for weeks!! So, we're sad. I'm sad for him and I'm sad that he's inherited this from me. I know exactly what it feels like and I don't wish that on anyone. I'm also a little relieved to know the problem. He has an appointment on Tuesday to get an inhaler. He's not happy about it. It's only for exercise, but he sees it as "geeky". I've tried to explain, but oh well. I'd rather him have it if he needs it, than not at all. He has decided to sit the Pumpkin Race out on Monday. I can't say I blame him. Brady has shown more grace and character during this cross country season than most adults. He has blown me away with his dedication and commitment. He deserves to spend this race having fun and not struggling to breathe.

It's interesting because I feel like last year was all about Christian. I spent so much of my time with him and being consumed by his needs and issues. This year has really been all about Brady. From his struggles in Cross Country, to him going on his first overnight school trip, to all of the "lasts"; my thoughts have been consumed by Brady. I guess that love goes where it's needed. Being a Mom is tough. You try your best, but sometimes, it's just not enough. You love all your children, but they need you in different ways at different times. And then sometimes, you just miss the mark no matter how hard you try. I guess all you can do is hope and pray that the next time is different. And that's the thing with children... there's always a next time.

I'm Sad!

I'm sad today! It's shocking, I know... I'm moody on a good day. But really... Brady announced this weekend that he was not dressing up for Halloween! Now, I don't want to hear any comments about how I waited until the weekend before to go and buy costumes. No, I don't make the costumes. No, I don't have someone else make the costumes. No, I don't go to a lot of trouble for Halloween anymore. No, I don't spend a lot of money on the costumes. I am so over that. When the children were little, I spent an enormous amount of time planning their costumes. For the past several years, I have really dropped the ball. But that's okay, because at their age, it's all about the candy anyway. However, I have to confess that when Brady announced he was not dressing up and then stuck to his convictions, I was sad! He revealed his plan for not dressing up a few weeks ago, but I was sure he would change his mind. I was looking through some of my pictures and came across some of Halloweens past. I don't have any of him when he was a baby because I didn't have a digital camera then. But I did find these...

It's Darth Brady! (I was a little sad this year because it was the first EVIL costume that he chose. Although, Darth Vader is pretty cool...)

It's Buzz Lightyear Brady! (You can see here that I spent the money on Brady's outfit and really skimped on Christian's. Christian refused to wear ANY type of hat and so that drastically cut down on the effect of his costume.)

It's Dinosaur Brady! Grandmom made these costumes and they were SO cute!

It's the Princess and the Power Rangers! (It doesn't exactly have the ring of a fairy tale, does it?)

Sigh. My baby is growing up! It is going by too quickly. If I had known that last year would be the last time he would dress up, I might have put a little more effort into it. Or maybe I wouldn't. It's hard to say. But I will say this to all of you who have young children that revel in Halloween... enjoy it. All too soon, they will look at you and say, "Mom, I'm too old to do that"...

Going to the Grocery Store!

Last week was "G" week in Kindergarten. That can only mean one thing... Grocery Store Week! The Kindergarten went on a field trip to Piggly Wiggly on Monday and learned how to set up their own store. Parents had been sending in empty boxes of everything from cereal, to eggs, to drinks, to you name it for weeks. I couldn't go on the field trip because I had to work, however, I decided to stop by on "Shopping Day" to take a few pictures.

All the children took turns with different jobs in the store. Leah's first job was as a person giving out "samples". She took a tray around to the shoppers and offered samples of food. I think that the hardest part of this job was not eating the samples herself. All those yummy treats just waiting to be eaten... whew! It was tough!

Leah then went on to become a shopper! Yay! She was very excited about this job. I thought it was because she would go and pick out food and just love the role playing aspect. But no! It was because she could then eat the samples. And believe me, every single time a sample person came up to her, she readily stated, "Yes, I would like a sample please". At one point, there were three sample people around her at once and she was just munching away. She was forgetting to shop!

Finally, it was time to check out. Leah dutifully unloaded her cart and was happily on her way.

Oh, if only all shopping was really that fun. I hate going to the grocery store!! The Kindergarten certainly did make it look fun. The only thing that could top "G" week is "H" week and that's because it's Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving 101

Yesterday, we decided to carve our pumpkins. These are the ones that we dilligently and lovingly picked out a couple of weeks ago at the pumpkin patch. For the past 2 years, we have not carved pumpkins; we have painted them. I couldn't remember why we chose to paint instead, so I told the children that this year we would be traditional! Scot went out and bought a pumpkin carving kit and the children carefully looked at each picture in the book to decide what they wanted to carve. It turned out that Brady and Christian were going to share a pumpkin and Leah and I would carve the other one. Scot was just going to be floater and help out wherever he was needed. Brady and Christian picked out the picture of the haunted house. Leah picked out a picture of the spider web and spider. I looked at these pictures and thought, "Hmm... that looks a little complicated...." but then I decided "Why not? It'll be fun." (Just so you know: anytime you think that as a parent, you are in for a bad time...)

So we started. Here are our pumpkins....

Scot started on his pumpkin first. I think mine senses that the end is coming and is scared and trying to escape.

The children were all excited at first. Scot cut the top off and began to remove the "guts". I'm not sure if he should have described them as guts because the children immediately became squeamish.

Brady refused to put his hand in the pumpkin at all; but Christian gave it a try. Once. And that was it. He then stated that he had to go wash his hands. (This is the child that I have to BEG to wash his hands normally). Scot pretty much had to remove the rest.

Then we were on the patterns. I sat down and began to trace the spider web. It was here that I began to get a clue. A clue that this was not going to go well. My pumpkin was thick and hard and that spider web was complex. There's a reason that the traditional pumpkin face consists of triangles and straight lines, people... and it's because you can't make a curved line on a big, thick pumpkin wall no matter what trendy little tools are at your disposal. Scot was helping the boys with their house and started to trace his pattern. He took the pattern off his pumpkin and looked at basically what consisted of a bunch of holes. I started to work on the spider web. I decided to take some creative liberty with my design (looking back, that was probably not the best idea). The boys began to argue. My hand started to cramp. It was here that Leah stabbed me with a pumpkin tool and I began to bleed. Wait, wasn't this supposed to be fun?

Scot decided to intervene and turned Brady and Christian's pumpkin around and began to carve what he deemed a "goblin face" (i.e. the traditional triangle face- no fair! I was too far along to do that!). It turned out pretty good.

I had gotten through the web, although I'd been told it really didn't look like a web, and moved on to the spider. I contemplated having a 6 legged spider. After all, it was Halloween and that spider could have met up with some sort of tragedy. I decided to do all 8 legs, but the spider looks like he met up with some sort of radioactive material. I declined to take a picture. It's one of those pumpkins that you have to stare at for a while and everyone seems to see something different. I could blame my helper...

In summary, I now remember why we have painted pumpkins for the last 2 years. And I believe that we'll be painting them again next year.