Penguin Family

The penguin family (that’s us) is in full effect.  We are iced in here in Memphis.  I mean really iced in.  I took a little drive this morning to check out how icy it actually was.  But, before I could drive, I had to let my heat run in the truck for about 45 minutes to get the ice melted enough to scrape it off the windshield.  Schools were cancelled Friday.  They’ve already cancelled church for tomorrow.  So we’re just hanging out.

With the weather as cold as it is, we don’t plan on leaving the house anytime soon.  In fact, Haley thinks it is too cold to even go out and see the snow.  Since we’ll be indoors for a while, we figured we should find something to pass the time.  What better to do on this Arctic day than take some penguin family  pictures.  Hope everyone is staying warm!

Alive…Barely

Wow, this past week has been a doozey.  A week ago today, Laura went to bed early feeling bad.  She thought she was just tired.  About halfway through church on Sunday, she ended up going home.  She felt miserable.  Laura was completely out of commission on Sunday and Monday.  I worked from home to help with the kiddos.  They were SO good for me.  Although I did feel guilty for putting Haley in front of the TV for a good portion of the day. 

Tuesday, Laura was feeling a little better, but the kids weren’t doing so hot.  Laura decided to go on to the doctor.  The result – there wasn’t much the doc could do.  Laura was just to get some more rest.  I still felt fine so I went on to work that afternoon.  As the day went on, though, I started losing my voice.

I came in and went straight for my universal remedy…NyQuil.  That stuff does wonders.  It wasn’t quite powerful enough though.  I tossed and turned all night coming in and out of fever.  I felt decent when I woke up on Wednesday morning, even though it sounded like I’d swallowed a bag of sand.  I started getting ready for work when my loving wife told me that I had to be insane.  That there was no way I was going to work if I’d had a fever all night.  I couldn’t speak above a whisper so I got her to do the dirty work and call in sick for me.

I’m glad she did.  I started to set up my laptop and I got smacked in the face with tiredness.  I spent the entire day Wednesday in bed.  I popped Mucinex, NyQuil and Tylenol all day.  Fever came and went.  Luckily, Laura was feeling better and dealt with a sick Haley and Trey.  Thursday was a little better, but I was up nearly the whole night on Thursday coughing.  I finally decided on Friday morning to go to the Doctor.  Diagnosis, Sinus Infection gone mad.  So now I’m a day and a half into antibiotics and all is well.  Still a bit coughy, but doing great.  Kiddos are out of the woods too. 

You know, you never realize how much you take your health for granted until everyone in the family is sick. 

Trey had his 8 month birthday this past week so we had a quick photo shoot for him.  Pictures came out pretty good.  He’s getting to be such a big boy.  Its a blessing to have two of the most content kids in the world.

Christmas in Brandon

What a quick week!  Crazy busy, but quick.  Part of the reason it was so busy and so fast was that we spent last weekend in Brandon with my parents.  I took Monday off so we could stay an extra day.  One of the reasons we went is to celebrate Christmas.  We did the regular for Christmas…visited, opened presents and ate.  And ate.  And ate.  I kid you not, I had 1 and 3/4 chocolate pies.  All by myself.  They were amazing!

Haley seemed to have a ball.  She started out a little leery of sleeping somewhere besides her room, but it didn’t take very long for her to warm up.  I laughingly told Laura that I was ready to go home so that I could see my daughter again.  She had absolutely nothing to do with us the whole time we were there.  Everything was “Mamaw and Papaw”.  Mostly “Mamaw”. 

If you sat down beside her, she’d tell us to get up, that it was mamaw’s seat. 

Trey, on the other hand, didn’t have such a good time.  Not sure what the deal was.  I think it was teething.  But he did NOT want to sleep.  He wailed when we put him to bed.  The only thing that would stop it was getting him back up.  Strange thing was, he wasn’t tired.  When we did get him up, he giggled constantly.  Usually around 11:30 or midnight he’d get tired and go right down.

I spent a lot of time with dad hunting.  We went duck hunting a couple of times and deer hunting once.  The hunting was fun, but I think I most enjoyed the time of talking in the car.  One thing I realized is how much I enjoy duck hunting.  I used to go a lot when I was younger, but have been on a hiatus for the past 10 years or so.  I can probably count the number of times I’ve been on two hands in the past ten years.  I hope that changes next year.  I’ve got to find a place close.

Happy New Year!

Well, its that time of year again.  Another year has clicked by and we’re on the verge of 2010.  Its about this time every year that I take a look back at what has happened over the past year and start getting ready for next year.  It always amazes me when I think about how much has taken place in just 365 days.  Makes me wonder what we’re capable of if we really live intentionally.  My goals for 2010 will come early next year, but for now, here’s a high level look at some of the things that happened in 2009.

• Trey was born
• Haley turned two
• Haley wears big girl panties and was potty trained
• Haley moved upstairs to her big girl room
• We crossed the one year mark of living in Lakeland
• Laura started teaching Sunday School
• I’ve started teaching Sunday School again
• We “officially” joined Bellevue
• I’ve performed in the Passion Play and a couple of Soul Mate Live’s at church
• I’ve joined a discipleship group
• I’ve started a discipleship group
• Laura and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary
• I completed a triathlon
• We built a deck and shed in the back yard
• I’ve managed to keep my weight the same as it was a year ago (which still isn’t ideal)
• We joined a gym that we periodically visit
• We’ve watched MSU football get exciting again
• I’ve had the same job role for a year (which hasn’t happened in a while)
• We’ve made a lot of fantastic friends
• We’ve fell out of touch with a lot of dear friends
• I’ve gotten closer to being the father that I want to be
• I’ve gotten closer to being the husband that I want to be

See you all next year!  Until then, have a cup of kindness for auld lang syne.

Christmas Day

We left off our last post with what happened Christmas Eve.  So here’s Christmas Day.

Laura and I made it to bed around midnight.  It took us a while to get all of the gifts out.  And, one thing I failed to mention in the previous entry was that we definitely took time before putting Haley to bed to read the Christmas story and put some reindeer food out.

So, I think I’m more excited about Santa than Haley.  I’d set up a couple of flashes in the corners of the room so I can get some good pictures (after all, I’d have no natural light since Haley would be up before dawn in excitement).  I had a camcorder set on a tripod so I could record everything.  I set my alarm for 6 and hoped I wouldn’t be late.

So, 6:00 comes.  I drag out of bed.  I don’t hear anything so I quickly check my lights and double check the camcorder.  Good.  I make me some coffee.  I wait.  I wait.  I wait.  I wake Laura up about 7:30.  We wait.  We wait.  We wait.  8:30 passes.  Trey’s up and eating.  No sign of Haley.  9:30, no Haley.  We put Trey back down for his morning nap and decide it would be best to go check on Haley.  We thought that maybe she was afraid to come down in fear that Santa might still be around and wouldn’t leave her gifts.

When we got to her room, she stirred a little.  I laid down beside her and asked if she was ready to come downstairs.  She burst into tears.  Hysterical.  I asked her what was wrong.  No response.  I asked if she was sad.  She said no and kept wailing.  I asked if she was scared.  She said no and kept wailing.  I asked what she wanted to do.  She said, “I want to take a nap.”  We said okay and she laid right back down and shut her eyes.

So FINALLY, about 10:30 she comes moseying downstairs.  The wait was worth it, though.  She had a ball opening gifts and playing with the things Santa brought her.  For some reason, she kept asking for stockings.  She didn’t get real stockings, but she wore the stockings hanging from the mantle around and appear to be in heaven.  After we opened gifts, I made pancakes for a nice family brunch.

Haley spent the entire day with her new dollhouse.  At dinner, Laura and I were talking about how nice it was to be “home for Christmas”.  I missed being with my family and she missed being with hers.  But, there was something special about starting our own family Christmas.  For the first time since entering the working world, I went back to work rested and relaxed after Christmas.

Pre-Christmas

Photos from Christmas day will be here soon, but until then, here’s the lead up to Christmas.  To start with, we did something rather “un-Christmas-ey” on Christmas Eve.  We went to Chuck E Cheeses.  For some reason, we thought it would be a good idea.  I’m sure you are thinking that it would be packed.  After all, it’s done nothing but rain for days.  So if you were thinking that, you’d be wrong.

It was DEAD.  Which was awesome for us.  There were literally 10 cars in the parking lot.  We had a great time and managed to win enough tickets for cotton candy (a personal fave).

After visiting Chuck, we came home.  Haley did a little research on the computer.  She wore her Mr. Potato Head glasses.  In fact, we had to pry them off of her before going into Chuck E Cheeses.  She looks so funny wearing them around.

We went to some friends’ house (the Littles) and had a Cuban Christmas that night.  We had pork, rice and beans, plantain, avocado with balsamic and some sort of Cuban egg-nog.  It was fantastic.  Even more so was spending time with them and doing something a little out of the ordinary for Christmas.

By the time we got home from the Littles, it was around 9:30.  Time to tuck the little ones in.  Laura and I spent some quality time together putting gifts under the tree.  We really had a great time.  Then it was off to bed.  We were so excited when we thought about those little feet running down the stairs.  A least we were hoping they would be running down the stairs.  We weren’t sure though.  As I tucked Haley in, I asked her if she was ready for Santa Claus to come and bring her presents.  I got a solemn, “No, Daddy, I don’t want him to come.”  I knew things would be different on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas Eve

The creatures are stirring around here, and we are getting ready for Santa to come.  Last night we had a great time with the Plattens eating dinner and opening gifts.  Haley’s already been up this morning playing with Mr. Potato Head. 

Laura and I have started trying to get the house clean and a little more organized in preparation of the explosion of gifts that have already started appearing.  Between what Santa brings and what our family gives to the kids, we may need to rent a storage unit.  Wish us luck!

We’re excited about spending time at home with just our family and starting some new traditions.  However, we’re presented with a slight challenge…we need to figure out what traditions we want to start.  I guess we’ve still got a couple of hours to make that decision.  One thing that I do know is that our new traditions will involve putting out reindeer food for Santa’s reindeer and reading the Christmas story.

Here’s a photo of Laura in her new Fancy Nancy hat that she got last night.  Isn’t she cute?  I’m a lucky guy.

The Children Were Nestled, All Snug on the Stairs

Just two days until Christmas.  I can hardly wait!  And Haley can hardly wait.  She’s ready.  I mentioned something to Haley yesterday about us going to get a gift for Mommy.  It was really a ploy to get her to follow me to the car.  I didn’t think she really cared.  Little did I know, she talked about going to get a present for Mommy for the next hour.  Guess that means I’ll be taking her to get Mommy a present!

This past Saturday we took gifts to a family that our Sunday School class adopted.  We made sure we brought our kids.  On the way down, Haley was pretty excited.  Laura was trying to figure out how to tell Haley exactly what we were doing.  Before Laura started the conversation, she asked Haley what she thought we were doing.  Haley said, “We’re bringing presents to the kids.”  Laura asked if she knew why we were bringing presents to the kids.  Haley quickly responded, “Because they are sad and we want to make them happy.”  Sounds like Haley already knew exactly what was going on.  No economics lesson needed.  There’s a reason that God talks so much about faith like a child.  Its refreshing to see how simple life is through a child’s eyes.

Below is what I found when I went up last night to make sure Haley was snug in her bed.  She was asleep at the top of the stairs with a plastic ice cream sandwich.  Not sure what she had in mind, but I got her back in bed.

All I Want for Christmas…are lights and stockings

I’m loving this time of year! Christmas is in the air. It is hard to believe how quickly the past 6 months or so have gone. Things are good around the Simons household. We’ve gotten the house decorated. Well, the inside at least. The outside looks the same as it did a month ago. I know it sounds bad, but I opted out of doing the outside. The lights on the outside of the house are always a lot of fun to put up, but taking them down is a nightmare. I’m thinking that we should do wreaths on the windows with lights pointing up at them. We’ll look into it. Next year.

Trey and Haley are doing great. Haley’s been getting ready for Christmas. Her main items on her wish list are pretty easy. Stockings and lights. I’m not sure why she always says those two things when we ask what she wants for Christmas. Trey has been as happy as a clam. He finished up his last dose of antibiotic for an ear infection today. I’m telling you, that kid doesn’t have a bad day. The only way we knew he had an ear infection is because he wasn’t sleeping much and had a fever. He wasn’t fussy a bit. He is starting to smile and laugh a lot. And, he’s reaching out for things. If you get anything near him, he’s going for it. That includes remote controls, cups and faces.

We took family portraits this week. We needed something for the Christmas card. I think they turned out great. I got a new tripod, which seemed to make it easier. Of course, I’m sure it was all in my mind. What really did seem to help was the remote I bought a few months ago. It allows me to have the camera snap a shot at a pre-defined interval. I set it for every 3 seconds. So, once the lights were set up, focus adjusted and exposure nailed, it was just a matter of sitting with the kiddos in front of the camera until a we got a good picture. Easy Peasy.

Cute Kids

That’s all.  Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.