NUTSHELL

I’m not even sure what that means.

So Mia started a one day a week program called Ready To Learn. She had her first day on Monday and she really loved it. She was a little shy at the beginning but once I left she did great. Her teacher said so. So she also had a monster packet of homework. Which is fun and cute and all… but that means I needed to help Kalea and Mia do homework at the same time. With both of them asking questions and  wanting my attention the entire time. I’m pretty sure Mia likes the fact that she can do something “big” like her sister. Landen sometimes comes and sits at the table and colors a picture like it’s his homework. What’s funny is he likes to constantly chatter in his baby talk. So if the girls are talking, he talks louder but incoherently. He’s THE man. The other day he crawled around on the floor and barked like a dog. This particular day I hadn't swept so there were pieces of pretzel laying around and this little doggy got a treat. It was pretty funny yet disgusting at the same time. He also likes to call his car’s his “bye-bye’s”. Makes sense, really.

Incase you didn’t know, I’m an all-or-nothing kind of girl. If I’m into something, nothing can pry me away. If I don’t care… well, then I really don’t care. So I started reading leisurely again. But I’m I like to read things that can keep my attention… like I said, all-or-nothing.  So I started reading Hunger Games.  These books are soooo good. If you’ve never read them, you need to. Don’t let the fact that their in the “Young Adult” section deter you. These books are super awesome and once I dove in I didn’t come back up for a week and a half. I heard they are thinking of making the trilogy into a movie. Which irritates me since most of Hollywood screws up anything it touches, so I’m sure they’ll be terrible. We’ll see.

 

We found a mouse in our house. And I’m not talking a Cinderella, Jack Jack and Gus Gus- help me clean the house and sing about it- kind of mouse. I’m talking squeaked ( yes I said –ed… cause the sucker is gonzo), left pellets in it’s tracks, and found crackers that were in our 72 hour kit and gnawed the heck out of them. It wasn’t the first time that these little “helpers” have made their way into our house. But I SWEAR… AS YOU ALL AS MY WITNESS… It will be the last. I consider us pretty clean people. Sure my kids drop Cheerios on the floor, that I don’t sweep and vacuum everyday, and I don’t have cleaning ladies coming in to do the dirty work. But this ENDS NOW!! On the plus side… We cleaned out behind our refrigerator, behind and under and beside the oven, and our downstairs coat closet (which tends to become the black abyss for 1/2 of the things we own). I feel somewhat accomplished in those areas. Not to mention the kids toy room has become less of a cluster because today we (Mia and I) went and made 3 boxes. Stuff we’re keeping, stuff we’re boxing and putting in the attic, and stuff we’re giving away. We were very accomplished in this area. My cousin, Kahea, gave me the idea a few years ago to box 1/2 the toys and then when they got bored with the ones they had, to switch them out and then it’d feel like they were getting new toys all over again. It’s a good idea.

I got my hair cut today which is an accomplishment in itself since I usually wait every 4 months or so to do it. And by the time I get around to it… it feels like straw on the ends. The funny thing is I have a really good friend I used to work with who does it for free. We usually make an afternoon of it. She cuts my hair and then we chow down at lunch. So I don’t really have an excuse except I have kids which tends to take up my whole life. Anyways, I am proud to say that my hair no longer has an ounce of dye in it. It’s been 11 years. Seriously people, I dyed my hair for 11 years and this is the first time my hair has been it’s natural color. I’m kind of excited and Christian likes it which is even better. I think it might make me look more foreign but hey… that’s not a bad thing.

Please don’t take note at how much older I look. Which brings me to my next point. I just turned 27. My mom asked me if I felt 27 and the answer is YES. I chase kids around all day, I clean my mouse invested house all day, and I sleep like a rock at night. So yes, I feel old. I mean, all of my insides are still working the way they’re supposed to, but I’m not as spunky feeling as I used to be. I asked Christian one day if he thought I was still as pretty as I was when we met. He said yes, I’m just not as “fresh faced”. I tend to focus on the first part. On the YES part.

My mom sent me these pictures that she scanned on the computer. The first is me around Landen’s age. I look so much like my kids, it’s scary. The second are my mom and dad back in the day. They’re gorgeous. How could you go wrong with a gene pool like that…

More Throwbacks…

*The day Lane was born*
*The day we were sealed as a family.
(Kalea wore the same dress when we were sealed to her.)*

Well I better go and pay attention to my kids now. Landen just brought me the movie UP and wants to watch “a dogs”.

BACK ON TRACK

I’m baaaaack… I’ve been a little unmotivated to blog. And then as I add up more and more that I HAVEN’T blogged about it gets even more overwhelming to even think about blogging. Thus my absence.  We’ll start with the simplest of things and then if more hits my brain, I’ll add it… So this may be just a big blog of stuff that has nothing to do with anything. You’ve missed me, I know.

We officially have a 1st GRADER on our hands! She’s back in action with a new teacher, new classmates and a new lunch box. Kalea’s enjoying her new class… I think. Actually, it’s kind of like pulling teeth for her to tell us anything about her day. I thought that started in middle school where they had nothing to tell you. But she’s advanced, what can I say. I forgot to snap pictures when she left on her first day back. But I got some of when she got off the bus. Things have fell right back into step with her. The homework is a little harder (it’s no longer “color inside the lines” or “write 1-20 on a sheet of paper.”) She’s a little more challenged, which is good.

Mia will start up pre-school one day a week on Mondays. Then she does a fun reading times on Tuesdays at Barnes and Nobles. And lastly, on Wednesdays they have “More than a Story” at the library for ages 3-5. So, 3 days a week we are slammed with stuff getting Mia ready for Kindergarten next year. She is much more social then she used to be. Landen on the other hand. He’s Mr. Aggressive. Today he pretty much beat a kid with a Thomas the Train engine at B&N’s reading time. Some days he’s super sweet and then other days he’s crazy. Welcome to Terrible Two’s. Everyday is a new day with those two. We went out and took a little walk before we picked up Kalea. The weather is cooling down and the humidity is bearable. So we went out and since I haven’t taken pictures in what feels like forever… I snapped a few.

 

 

 

 

 
      
                                                                          

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After picking Kalea up…

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OH FEARLESS ONE

I wanted to give a special shout out to our little man who turns 2 years old today!!  Landen Makoa (“fearless”) Simpson was born on August 18, 2008. He graced our presence and we all fell in love instantly. He has made our home super exciting with all of his exclamations. He has had an excitement for life as soon as he could start moving about. He has added some much needed testosterone to our family and we absolutely love every minute with him. Thanks Landen for choosing us as your family! We are all so blessed have you and so thankful for eternal families. We love you, oh fearless one.

 

 

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

What an amazing story of faith. This is so powerful and amazing. To see the work of our Savior through someone who's gone through such tragedy... what a great example to all of us. (Don't forget to pause the music on the side.)

PURE BLISS

I took a few pictures while at the beach that I love. So I wanted to do a separate post of just those.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THE THE LOOK OF PURE JOY ON YOUR CHILDREN’S FACES*

SALT LIFE

Well hello there! It’s been awhile. I have an excuse… life.  That’s a pretty lame excuse, but we have been so ridiculously busy around here. I’ll start with 4th of July Weekend. Since it was on a Sunday this year we were on the fence about going to see fireworks this year.Plus they don’t get started until around 9pm which is way past bedtime around here. However, it was a great family activity to just sit and enjoy each other’s company. Landen decided to steal anybody’s ball who came remotely close to us. It was all fun and games until he realized he couldn’t keep them. Then the tantrums and devastation set in. Finally the fireworks began and they kept Landen’s attention for a little while. But he was so tired that he wanted nothing to do with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was able to take some cool pictures of the fireworks this year. My awesome teacher, Steve, taught us how to set up a tripod and what camera settings to use. The pictures turned out pretty cool, if i do say so myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that Monday morning we were planning on leaving for the beach for the week. We only had one obstacle in the way. Mia needed some dental work done and the only day available for it was Monday. So bright and early Mia and I woke up and went to to get some fillings at 8am. Kalea and Mia have soft teeth, like their Mom. Which sucks for them, and for us financially. Mia did great and was ready to leave the dentists by 10am. We made a side trip to get a chocolate milkshake (since she couldn’t eat anything before or after her appointment) and headed home. Christian had everything ready, so we loaded up the car and off we went. The trip to the beach was relatively easy. Landen passed out for the first hour and woke up super happy. The girls wore headsets for their “in-flight movie” and Christian and I enjoyed a little peace and quiet. We showed up a little early before check in and ended up shopping and swimming before we got in our room.

The girls are champs with their water wings and are pretty fearless with them on. A few things we learned while swimming:
Landen- is also FEARLESS with water wings on. Which is terrifying to me and I had to keep chasing him around the pool.
Kalea- is super skinny and so if Christian throws her up in the air. The wing comes flying off her skinny arm when she lands in the water.
Mia- does not trust her dad nearly enough to jump too or from him in the water. Smart Girl.

The girls found a tree frog in the pool and we got him out. They enjoyed carrying him around and petting him. The tree frog died of shock or chlorine. One of the two. The girls were wondering why he wasn’t moving anymore. I told them the tree frog was sleeping and needed a rest from them. Sorry Tree Frog.

Obviously we didn’t spend all our time at the pool. The beach is our families haven. We all love it. Christian and I have always loved the beach, so we’ve always taken our kids when they are rather small. Kalea and Mia both went at 4 months old. Landen’s first trip was at a year old. They love the sand, the water, and this year the minnows. The kids LOVED trying to catch little minnows that would come up with the waves to the shore. We were able to catch a few in buckets, but those little suckers are fast. Christian was the first to catch one. I caught 3. Cause I’m awesome. However, at one point Christian caught another one, and of course I berated him and he said, “I actually just caught 13 but I let 12 of them go.” Dork. It must be hard when your wife shows you up.
  
Landen loved the water. He went out with Christian once or twice in the waves. He quickly realized he likes the water when his feet are firmly planted in the sand. But nevertheless, this kid was made for the beach. Mia is a little more like me. Kind of a worrier with the waves. I’ve never been super comfortable out in the waves. I don’t like that I can’t see what’s under the surface, and the waves are so powerful that I have a terrifying respect for them. Mia would get pretty worried at Kalea or Landen. At one point she picked up Landen and went running with him because a big wave was coming up onto the sore. She of course tripped and fell and smacked his head and her onto the sand.
Christian and Kalea found their true calling together. They ride waves. Christian did mention that “She makes me sink.” So until she can do it solo, daddy will have to be her surf board. She did LOVE it though. She has always surprised Christian and I how adventurous she can be. She loves to do things that most girls her age wouldn’t dare try. I’m pretty sure she has Salt Water in her veins.

On one of the last nights I wanted to get a family picture. Of course it would be the evening the clouds would roll in, the humidity would go up 310% and I think you can tell by the pictures how ENTHUSIASTIC everyone was. (Especially Christian.)

  


 

WE DID FINALLY GET A COUPLE OF GOOD ONES. BUT I’M PRETTY SURE I THREATENED THE LIFE OF EACH AND OVERY ONE OF THEM.

By Friday I told Christian that I could have stayed longer. Usually I’m ready to head home and start my routines again, but this trip was so relaxing and care free that I could have stayed forever. I’m pretty sure I know where we will be retiring one day… with NO forwarding address. :)