Some Changes

We've had lots of changes around the Simpson abode! 

When I started this blog, I was a stay-at-home mom with just two tiny little boys.  Henry was two and David was three.

They are now going to be in second and third grade in the fall.

Also, since I started the blog, I've gone back to work full-time at a job I adore, while my husband has left his job and now stays home with our children, which he loves.

And, speaking of children, we've added a couple more since the blog started.

Jack is four now and is always ready for a party.  He is a wild, cuddly little love, and he is the center of attention wherever he goes.

And sweet Katie is finally here!  Katie is the child we never knew we were supposed to have, but she is an amazing blessing and fits right in.  Katie was adopted from Moscow, Russia and is bringing us more joy than we ever could have anticipated.  

Because of all of these changes, I think it's time to close the book on the Real Housewife of Bedford County.  I will continue to blog at The Simpson Six, because that's who we are now.  I will not remove this blog, because it has captured so much of our lives for the last five years, but I will not post here anymore.  I hope you will follow me at The Simpson Six!

Happy 7th Birthday Henry!

Today is my sweet Henry's seventh birthday.

Thinking about this special boy being seven years old - SEVEN - literally makes me want to cry.

I wish every parent could have a child like Henry.

Since the day he was born, he has been a complete joy.

He came out fat and happy.  

As long as he was with his mama and had a full belly, life was all good for my love.  And that's pretty much stayed the same.

Henry never cried when he was a baby.  This could likely be because I carried him in a Baby Bjorn for the first year of his life.  He slept with me because Chris worked third shift and Henry ate every two hours for a year.  He was my little snuggle bug.  He was born just barely twelve months after David, and I was terrified of him at first.  Terrified that I wasn't enough for two babies, that I wouldn't love him as much as I loved David, and that we were going to be in way over our heads with two tiny little humans to take care of.  

Henry was everything I needed.  

He has always been the sweetest boy.  He's so happy to do pretty much anything.  He's a good listener, curious, smart, and good at pretty much everything he tries.  He is a total love.

The thought of him getting older and older makes me so sad.  I wish I had some way to freeze time and keep all of my boys exactly where they are right now.

Henry, at seven years old, loves Legos, making movies with his camcorder, playing Brickbuilder on the computer, Lego Ninjago, riding his bike, playing outside, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, arts and crafts, writing stories, drawing pictures, Harry Potter, Willy Wonka, and reading.  He's a Cub Scout, in the science club, and on the baseball team.  He's been on honor roll every semester since he started school and he loves every minute of every day.

His favorite foods are pizza, turkey sandwiches, cheeseburgers, smoothies, waffles, ice cream, Clementines, string cheese . . . let's be honest.  He's not real picky.  

He's considerate, sweet, generous, and thoughtful.  He's sensitive and has an enormous heart.  He wants to help people, and I know he will do big things in his life. 

Henry has been a complete delight since the day he was born.  Please don't be mistaken - he can crank it up and have a fit like every other child.  However, ninety-nine percent of the time he is the easiest child ever.  He is an amazing little person, and I am so proud and lucky to be his mama.

Happy birthday my sweet boy!

We Are The Simpson Six

We did it!

After one hour of court and seven minutes of deliberation by the judge, it was ruled that we are now the parents of Katherine Ruth Simpson.

We are The Simpson Six.

Love won.

Tuesday Ten

1.  Henry hasn't been feeling well for two days.  I'm not a run right to the doctor mother.  He went this morning and has strep.  Poor buddy.
2.  David's play is in two days.  It's quite possible I'm more nervous than he is.  In fact, I know that's the case.
3.  Katie will be home in less than ninety days.  I think I'm nesting, because I'm sewing like crazy and cleaning out everything in our house.  I've made her four bibs and have the patterns cut for a dress, a skirt, and a pair of pants.

4.  The Opry Mills Mall reopens this week after being closed for two years.  There will be a Lego store.  We're going there this weekend for David's birthday treat.  He has no idea, and he's going to be so surprised.

5.  Hello.  David is going to be EIGHT tomorrow.  I cannot believe that.

6.  I seriously think my children are geniuses.  Look at Henry's bonus word on his spelling test:

I'm not sure why it's turned, because it's not like that on my screen until it uploads. . . Regardless, PEOPLE! The word is predicament.  He's in first grade!  I know lots (and lots) of adults who can't spell predicament.  

7.  I am in a cooking funk.  I don't want to do it and have no ideas for things to cook.

8.  I really want to do a CSA this year.  And buy half of a cow.

9.  Our weather has been fantastic.  70s and 80s every day.  It makes me a little nervous for what the summer will be like.

10.  I love Cadbury mini eggs.  Too much. . . 

Beautiful Weekend

We've had a fabulous weekend!  We celebrated David's 8th birthday yesterday with a bounce obstacle course and several friends.

Today we ran some errands, David used some of his birthday money, and I planted our flowers.  We're planning to have a Welcome Home/5th Birthday party for Katie this summer when our family from Massachusetts is here.  I want our flowers to be big and full when we have our party, so I planted this weekend.  Our weather has been fantastic, and I hope I haven't planted too early!

I LOVE these big pinwheels.

I put them in the urns on my front porch.

I'm going to fill these in with a tall something in the back and a trailing something in the front.  The selection at the store is pretty limited still.

We planted a zucchini plant and a yellow squash plant too!

I hope your weekend was great!

Long Overdue Update

I cannot believe I haven't updated this blog in over a month.  Eek!  We've been busy!

Chris and I had our long awaited first visits with sweet Katie Ruth.  We had a bit of difficulty actually getting to her country,  but once we got there it was so worth the trouble.

Katie is amazing.  Smart, sassy, fun, energetic, happy, and full of life.  She is little for almost five years old, but she's not nearly as tiny as we anticipated she would be.  She is so, so much more than we could have hoped for.  We are incredibly lucky, and we cannot wait to have her home.  Our court papers were filed two weeks ago, and we will have our court date sometime within 8 weeks of filing.  Katie will then be home 30 days after court.  Soooo, that means that she should be home sometime in the next SIX WEEKS!  That is absolutely incredible.  I can't wait to get back and see her again, and especially can't wait to have her home with us.

I thought the waiting would be horrendous, once we had actually met her.  It hasn't been that bad.  Certainly, having three other children makes that waiting a little less daunting, simply because I don't have time to think about it.  David and Henry have started baseball again.  They have a new coach, and we are in the very start of the season.  They both recently got report cards and did exceptionally well.  We are so fortunate to have them in a school that we love so much, where they are exceeding any expectations we had for them.  

We got this chair for Katie at a consignment sale - $7.00!  I'm going to paint it a bright, cheery color.  She's too little to reach the table in a regular chair, but I don't want to do a baby highchair.

Big boys got haircuts and frozen yogurt.  

We started shopping for new booster/carseats for Katie and Jack.  Jack can move up, but I just don't feel like he's big enough for a seatbelt only seat - I know he's legally big enough, but I don't feel comfortable with it, so we're exploring some other options.

We've been playing a lot of "chef".

And, as always, building a lot of lego creations.

Now that we know how big Katie is, we've been able to shop for some "girl laundry".  And it's so fun!

We also cleaned the dryer.  And I mean cleaned it.  This is 10 years worth of lint inside the machine.  We Chris took the whole thing apart and cleaned it out.  He had to empty the vacuum three times.  

We've played pirate and climbed trees.

And we had a visit with Gigi and Grampy's new chickens.

They've all been named, and a chart has been developed so Gigi knows who is who.

And we're very excited for some fresh eggs!

We've played more legos. . . this is never ending.

Jack has been dressing in some serious Harry Potter gear.  Constantly.

We've had some gorgeous weather and had our first outside dinner of the season.

David is in a play at school this week, and he's an Oompa Loompa.  He's been practicing and I think his costume is a riot.  I'm so, so proud of him for trying out and sticking with it, and he's very excited for his theatrical debut!

Not a Great Moment

I was on the phone with Michele last night when I heard a HORRENDOUS crash.  Like, furniture falling, glass breaking, children screaming crash.  I hung up and went running upstairs - I thought that it was a bookcase tipping over and our aquarium falling.  I knew this couldn't be the case, because the bookcase is attached to the wall, but that was the first thing I thought of.  I realized that wasn't it, and I could still hear children screaming.  Like, I thought someone was going to have to go to the hospital screaming.  It was not upstairs. . .

Before.

During. . . 

Nobody was hurt!  They were so scared of the crash and the glass breaking that the boys were all hysterical.  And I mean HYSTERICAL.  David and Henry cried until they threw up.  That pushed Chris and me over the edge, and we were cracking up laughing.  Perhaps not the most appropriate.  And, of course, I wouldn't let Chris clean anything up until I took a photo!

After

The glass in the doors didn't even break - this is a solid piece of furniture!  We had a Rock City birdhouse on the top that was a casualty, and one old glass milk bottle.  Nothing else broke!