Easter Turkeys

It’s Friday the 13^th.  Not really the luckiest day.  I’m getting ready to go turkey hunting tomorrow morning with a friend from work.  Luckily, he’s taking me to his place, since our place is covered up in water.  That water has caused me major trouble when it comes to being able to hunt turkeys there!  From the reports I’ve heard, the house on the land in Millington is okay, but the land all around it is a lake.  Now, if we can just get the rain to hold off (or at least just drizzle) tomorrow morning, we’ll have us a hail mary on the last day of the season.

The kiddos seem to be changing like crazy.  Trey, more so than Haley.  They’re loving these longer days and are spending plenty of time outdoors.  Laura’s planning on trying to potty train Trey in a few weeks when Haley gets out of school for Summer.  We’re thinking he’s on track and ready because he points out to us when he goes potty in his diaper.  We’ll see.

Easter’s come and gone.  Not sure what our tradition is going to be for hiding baskets, but this year didn’t work out so well.  We were in St. Louis for Easter and we managed to give 3 spankings between waking up and getting Easter Baskets.  (which incidentally was just 10 minutes).  So much for good behavior…

Trey tickled us opening his candy.  He was SO serious with it.

Outside of that, it is life as usual.  Busy.  Crazy busy.  And only going to get busier.  Laura’s due on July 5^th so baby number 4 (Avery) is right around the corner.  Laura’s in full bore nesting mode which means I typically come home to a pretty clean house, a fabulous dinner and an exhausted wife.  The clean house is good.  Especially since I found out I’m highly allergic to dust.  SOOO, allergy shots will be starting up soon.

Birthday Girl

Toy Story is reality at our house!  Haley chose to have a Jessie party to celebrate her 4th  birthday with her friends and family.  We went to Shelby Farms and had the Round Up near the stables.  All of the girls were given Jessie shirts to get into the Cowgirl spirit.  The girls (and parents) all had a ball feeding the horses at the stables and having a nice picnic in the sun.  We were blessed with a window of great weather.  I was so happy that the adults got into the theme and were all wearing cowboy hats, bandanas, and/or sheriff badges.  Haley felt very special all day and can’t wait till Sunday when she is OFFICIALLY four.  She asks me every day how many more days, then says, "that’s not too long to wait!"  I could not be more proud of the little lady that graces our house.  She is truly a princess and loves to dress up to prove it.  Tomorrow is "community helper" day at her preschool and she is supposed to dress up- she kept trying to talk me into letting her dress up like a princess because they help out.

Trey had a blast at the party and loved singing Happy Birthday to his sister and being one of the girls at the picnic.  He dressed up like Woody and loves Toy Story too.  His favorite character is Buzz, but he was saying, "WOODY!" all day.  So cute.  He is fearless, energetic, and a ball of fun.

Hayden and his Dad have been very busy working on the house in Millington.  The progress being made is amazing and we can’t wait to use the house and the land to make some family memories.  Once the house transformation is complete, Hayden will post pictures of before and after.  The best pictures will be of our future cookouts, camp outs, and hunting endeavors.

We still have no name for Baby Girl Simons, but we’re getting close.  Haley can’t wait to be a big sister and talks about all the ways she is going to help.  The baby is moving around like crazy now and Hayden was able to feel a kick for the first time last night…she is getting strong!  We are half way through and I am getting very attached and excited about having our third baby join our family.

Bring on Spring!

Life is good around the Simons house.  Spring is in the air, which means longer days, warmer weather and a lot more time outdoors.  Haley and Trey LOVE the outdoors.  Haley’s got a big birthday coming up.  4 years old!  Laura’s been planning like crazy to get ready for it.  We’re going to go to a place that has horses and she’s going to have a Jessie Toy Story birthday party. 

We were only able to invite a handful of people to that location so we’re going to have another small get together on March 6th – Haley’s real birthday.  Yours truly did the invitations:

I know what you’re thinking.  Wow, Hayden…you’re a whiz in photoshop.  Yes.  I know I am!

Haley’s really excited to finally be more than three and three quarters old. 

Trey has been a handful and is getting to be more and more fun.  He’s all over the place and tries to go outside every time the door opens.  Cold weather hasn’t seemed to bother him.  He just wants to go out.

We had a photo shoot the other night for Haley.  She chose to dress up in her Pocahontas outfit.  Haley wanted to dress Trey up a little so she put a bow in his hair.  Poor guy, between Haley and the new girl that is on the way, he won’t stand a chance. 

I don’t think I’ve posted any pictures of it yet, but when Trey is tired or sleeps, he sucks his middle two fingers instead of his thumb.  It’s really pretty funny.  Towards the end of the night, he was getting tired…so I got a few pictures of that too.  Cute guy!

Laura’s doing well with the pregnancy.  She’s finally over the nausea.  From here on, it will just be a waiting game.  We haven’t decide yet on “bud 3’s” name, but we’ve got one that we’re gravitating towards.  Not sure if it is going to stick though.  Only problem is, 2 of our friends have a daughter with the same name.  Oh well.

Snow Days

This past week we had a little snow here.  Maybe 3 or 4 inches.  I say a “little” snow, but in Memphis terms, that’s a pretty good bit.  Enough to officially shut down the city!  In the days before the “blizzard” was to hit, I was commenting to Laura about how funny it is that so many people rush out to buy milk and bread.  Really…how much milk and bread do you need?  Of course in our house, with two kids and a wife who is a milk maniac, we always have 2 gallons on hand.  But I was sure those two gallons would last the two days we were expected to be “snowed in”. 

As fate would have it, as we were leaving church last Sunday, Laura asked me to pick up some milk from the grocery on the way home.  Apparently, we’d finished off the last of the milk we had that morning.  So…I braved the madness and stopped in Kroger on the way home.  Much to my surprise, they still had milk.  And, it was pretty funny seeing a couple of folks from our Sunday School class either in the store or cruising through the parking lot waiting on their spouse. 

The snow was a lot of fun.  A few of the 8th grade girls from the class Laura teaches came over and brought an assortment of storage bin lids and cooking pans.  I took a break from work and we all headed over to the hill by the fire station near our neighborhood.  In case you didn’t know, a rounded bottom turkey pan is the best makeshift sled.  Cookie sheets leave a lot to be desired. 

We only spent about 15 minutes in the snow, but managed to sled a couple of runs and Haley and Trey had their first snowball fight.  It was hilarious.  They stood about 2 feet apart and took turns throwing snowballs at each other.  (last picture below)

The snow managed to continue the next day and although the roads cleared up, we still had some snow in the yard through Friday. 

Happy New Year

Man, time flies.  2010 is in the can and now we’re looking ahead to 2011.  I’d heard the older you get the faster time goes.  And with kids it goes even faster.  Those words are ringing true.

Christmas was a blast.  Haley TOTALLY understood Santa this year.  Trey knew he said Ho Ho Ho.  I really think we’ve got two of the cutest kids in the world.  And yes, I know I’m biased.

Kids are so funny.  With all that Trey got for Christmas, his favorite toy seems to be a second-hand plastic tee-ball set that Laura found at a consignment sale.  Funny, because that was probably the cheapest thing we bought him.  So far, Haley’s favorite seems to be a talking Toy Story Jessie Doll that I got for her.  That’s funny because when she opened it the only words out of her mouth were, “I didn’t ask for this”.  And she put it down.  I guess what she meant was that she was surprised she’d gotten it since she didn’t ask for it.  Who knows what she meant.  She uses words that make my vocabulary sound like a 3 year old.

I’ll try to get a video posted on here soon of Haley singing some of her Christmas songs that she did in her Christmas program at school.  Quite possibly the sweetest sound in the world.

New Years Eve was probably our most uneventful yet!  We were in bed by about 10:00.

As I look back over the past year, it seems like it’s lasted an eternity.  It also seems like it lasted only a couple of days.  So far, Laura’s managed to be pregnant in each of the last 5 calendar years.  I guess that’s no small feat.  Haley turned 3 last year, Trey had his first birthday.  Laura turned…well, I won’t say.  And I turned 32.  32.  32.  Wow, I actually had to do the math on it to figure out how old I am. 

One thing I’ve realized this year is that life is short.  Really short.  I know that kids are part of the reason for this realization, but a handful of other events have contributed as well.  I don’t guess I have a New Year’s resolution per say, but I guess if I had to have one it would be to pay attention.  To everything. 

• I need to pay attention to the little things that Haley and Trey do that are so cute…they won’t be doing them for long.
• I need to pay attention to my wife.  She’s my support, my strength, my best friend.  I should treat her that way.
• I need to pay attention to what I say.  Words can build up or cut down.  Just because they can be used quickly doesn’t mean that the impact doesn’t last a long time.
• I need to pay attention to the blessings received rather than focusing on the next obstacle ahead.
• I need to pay attention to the end goal.  My goal for life isn’t to be good at what I do, be in shape, eat right or even to have fun.  These are things that (if unchecked) can actually get in the way of the goal.
• I need to pay attention to the minutes and the seconds.  These turn into the hours, days, years and legacy that will be left behind when I’m gone.
• I need to pay attention to the example I set.  There are little feet following in my footsteps and solidifying their expectations on how they should act throughout the rest of their lives.  They are basing this not on what I say, but what I do.

Christmas Time is Near

It’s been a busy month since we’ve written last…obviously because we haven’t even posted our biggest and most exciting news: We are having another BABY!!  Bud #3 is growing big (about an inch and a half to date) and will be arriving in July- hopefully avoiding Kathleen’s wedding date.  We are all very excited and Haley talks about the baby a lot.  I actually got to see the baby today at my appointment on ultrasound and it was the highlight of my day.  This pregnancy was a bit of a surprise.  We were going to start trying next spring or summer, but we are thrilled and can’t wait to see what life with 3 will bring.   

Christmas is almost here and we have been enjoying the preparations.  Haley and Trey LOVE all the Christmas decorations around town and in our house.  I haven’t felt all that great but was very motivated to get all the decorations out because of how excited the kids got over EVERY single thing we pulled out of the attic.  The Christmas trees are definitely the favorite and I luckily had foresight to put the non-breakables on the bottom half of the tree because the kids can’t keep from re-hanging all the ornaments on a daily basis.

The presents have already started rolling in and the kids are enjoying their new toys.  We had Hayden’s parents here this weekend for a nice visit and then we all went to Tupelo to see the rest of the Simons family on Sunday afternoon.  It was a great visit all around.  Trey got a new train table that has been keeping both kids entertained and Haley got several new games we’ve been playing.  Her favorite right now is Kerplunk.

Hayden has been spending a lot of time with his renewed hobby of hunting ducks.  I’ve learned a lot about the sport since he’s been busy building a blind for his boat and cleaning all the decoys he’s recently acquired.  (I know you are impressed with my hunting lingo!)  He’s really enjoyed getting up before dawn with his dad and other buddies to find where the ducks are flying/landing.  His buddy Jeremy has a dog and Hayden’s got a boat so they are a perfect duck hunting pair!  I can totally understand wanting to wake up early and get out of the house to be on the hunt….garage sales help me relate to my husbands recent passion. 

This is going to be a great week of wrapping presents, making cookies, and spending quality time with friends and family.  Even though we’ve had hectic days, I hope we are showing our kids that Christmas is about giving more than receiving.  Haley’s got several things for Trey on her own Christmas list so I’m encouraged that she’s not to wrapped up in “wanting, wanting, wanting”…at least this year!  We hope to make a cake on Christmas to put some true focus on Jesus’ birthday- the best gift- and true reason for the season.  I hope you have a wonderful holiday.  We’ll be putting an additional post by the end of the week to share our Christmas moments and pictures.

Missouri Hunting

About a week ago my Dad took me and Ryan on a hunt in Missouri.  It was AMAZING.  We went to a place that really knows whitetail genetics.  They breed about 120 does each year and release the offspring.  The first picture below is one of the breeder bucks they brought in.

The trip was fantastic.  We stayed at a ranch house that could handle 10 people, but we were the only three there.  The downstairs was all bedrooms and bathrooms.  The upstairs was a massive open room and a kitchen.  The weather dropped off cold for us and right as we were getting there, the rut was starting.

I saw more deer than I’d ever seen at one time in my life.  I saw the biggest deer I’d ever seen in my life.  The place was great, the wildlife was great, the food was better than great.  But best of all, I got to spend some much needed time with Dad and Ryan.  And we had serious downtime as well, which was also much needed.  I literally did nothing other than sleep, eat and hunt.  Oh, and I did watch about 30 minutes of football as I drifted off to sleep in the lazy boy on Saturday.

All in all, a fantastic trip.  Not only did we have an good time, I took my biggest buck yet (and possibly will ever get.)  It was a 151 3/8 inch 13 point.  Still not sure whether Laura’s going to let me hang it on the wall.

Fall Pictures

The weather has been AMAZING the past few weeks.  Laura and I have been trying to take full advantage of the weather lately and been going on walks after work.  It is starting to get dark earlier and earlier so we haven’t had a lot of time, but we do what we can.  Before we know it, the time will change.  The kiddos have been getting along pretty good on the walks.  As good ask can be expected for a 3 year old and a 1 year old to sit in a double stroller for a half hour.

Haley and Trey have been a TON of fun lately.  Haley is her sweet self.  Very protective of her brother.  And the proudest sister ever.  She is constantly showing Trey off to her friends.  Trey’s personality is growing too.  He’s so much like his daddy it isn’t funny.  I think I got a spanking at least 3 times a week growing up.  I’m not talking as a toddler…I’m talking all of my childhood.  I think I got my last one when I was a sophomore in college.   Although, I probably deserved to get them on through my senior year.  Trey is just as hard headed as I was.  I wouldn’t change it for anything!

We’ve got 3 big frames hanging in the living room with pictures in them that are about 2 years old.  From back before Trey was born.  We’ve been wanting to change them out for a while, but haven’t gotten pictures we really loved of the kids.  We set out this weekend to My Big Backyard at the Botanic Gardens to change that.  Below are the three we decided on.  They should come in in the next few days.  Can’t wait!

Lonely, I’m so lonely

Bachelorhood has been in full effect.  Well, partially.  The wife and kiddos are at the beach this week and I’m hanging out solo in Memphis.  I hate it that I’m not there with them.  It is especially bad today because today is Laura’s birthday.  She’s turning…well, let’s just say she’s having a birthday.  It seems like we’re apart for her birthday more than we’re together.

The reports I’ve been getting from the beach are that they’re having a good time.  The kids are apparently loving the beach.  Thanks to cooperative weather, they’ve been spending most of their time actually down by the water.  Guess that’s a lesson learned for us.  Better to take young kids to the beach when it isn’t 105 degrees.

So my time at home has been pretty good so far.  I’ve gotten some things done that I’ve been wanting to knock out.  And a few things done that I haven’t wanted to do…like laundry.  To be fair, I’ve done a grand total of one load.  Well, to be really fair, I’ve gotten a load through drying, but haven’t folded it yet.  But still, I’ve done laundry.

It’s always mixed emotions when the fam’s away.  On the one hand, I get some much needed “me time”.  On the other hand, I realize how much fun it is to have them around and just how much they mean to me. 

They’ll be home before I know it.  Till then, I’ll just keep hanging on …eating meals from the freezer every night!  I was running through some old pictures from the other night and I’ll leave you with these two.  One is of me at 1 year old.  The other of Trey at right around one year.  He’s my boy!

New Orleans

A few weeks ago we went down to New Orleans for my cousin’s wedding.  I had the honor of being the photographer.  It was a spectacular event.  She was beautiful and the location was amazing.  Not only was the wedding fantastic, Haley and Trey got their first taste of New Orleans.

And, by first taste of NOLA, I mean they got to eat at Cafe DuMonde.  We started talking about beignets weeks before we went down.  Haley was pretty fired up about getting donuts with powdered sugar on them.  AND hot chocolate.  You can’t forget the hot chocolate.  I was just fine with the coffee to go with my beignets.

One thing that I learned on this trip (well…reminded of, anyway) is how awesome it is to have parents to help out with kids!  I love my kids…don’t get me wrong.  But you put the four of us into one hotel room and you’re asking for trouble.  Haley’s naptimes NEVER corresponded to Trey’s.  Luckily, we were able to drop one with my parents and the other could nod off.

We also got a chance to visit our good friend Jimmy Shires while we were in town.  It was nice to be able to catch up with him.  Jimmy’s one of those “count on one hand” type of friends.  The type that you can go without talking to for a few months, but pick right up where you left off.  I hate he moved from Memphis, but I’m glad we got a chance to start that friendship while he was here.  And now…a couple pictures of the kiddos.  More of the wedding to come later this week.