Merry Christmas from the Simpsons

Merry Christmas, dear Friends and Family. We are taking the quick, painless, and inexpensive (actually free) approach at wishing you all a Merry Christmas this year via the internet. We are so grateful to know each one of you in our lives and are so glad that we've been able to keep up with most of you over the last year. Thank you so much for the emails, the pictures, the phone calls and the kind reminders that let us know we're occasionally thought of. The year 2007 has, of course, been a busy one. Seeing as I don't update our blog quite near enough for most of you, here is a quick look at our family for the past year.

Eden turned one in September. She definitely ties with Davis for the busiest and most energetic person in the Simpson household. She constantly keeps me on my toes as she empties cupboards, drawers, laundry baskets, shelves, garbage cans, etc. I don't think she even looks at what she's pulling out--she just pulls for the sake of pulling! She also has a very toothy grin that she flashes at anyone who flashes her one. She's adorable and we love her.

Davis started Kindergarten this year and really enjoys all the new experiences it is giving him. He is being introduced to the world of p.e., recess, and chocolate milk on Fridays--at least those are a few of his favorite things. His handwriting has improved and he is now sounding out lots of words and writing with mostly lower case. His coloring and drawing have also really taken off and he insists that he stays in the lines without any "peek-a-boo white" showing through. Last Sunday he gave an amazing talk in Primary about Jesus's second coming where all the people would be friends and all the animals would be friends.

Allen is finishing up his second year in the home theater business and things are still going well. He was able to wire our house for whole home audio and an intercom system this year, which is very fun and convenient. I think every home should have them! He enjoys playing with the kids, raquetball, playing the guitar now and then, and warm dinners.

Sara finished up her third year of the neighborhood Hobble Creek Boutique, plus contributed things to several others. It has kept her very busy this fall and early winter. As always, she enjoys reading and finds little nooks and crannies throughout the day to squeeze a few pages of a good book in. Her main goal for the year 2008 is to conquer her life from an organizational standpoint--so she can actually start "living" again. (I know many of you laugh knowingly--but I aim to do it!) She loves being a mother to Eden and Davis.

We love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas where ever you are. Please keep in touch and visit us again--I really do update my blog now and again! :)

Love, The Simpsons In Boise

In-ground Trampolines 101

Rule number one: Water and Wood don't mix. Wood will begin to deteriorate the minute it comes in contact with a liquid. Don't let anyone tell you that it takes years for that to happen.

Rule number two: Dirt must be the heaviest thing on earth! We thought we had a pretty good thing going here, but as soon as that dirt got set in, the pressure literally broke pieces of our "solid wood structure" in half.

Rule number three: Despite the weight, more dirt would have been the key. I'm going to tell you what no other website is going to tell you--I know, because I actually looked this stuff up! PACK THE DIRT AROUND THE TRAMPOLINE REALLY HARD AND KEEP PACKING IT IN THERE! The dirt itself will create a wall inside the wall and will then accept most of the pressure. That's just my own observation of physics in motion speaking--I could be way off--but I think that, had we followed that one simple procedure, you would not be seeing the sinkhole that used to be our trampoline.

Other than that, I love my backyard! It's finished...for the most part. Needs a few more plants, needs a new coat of paint on the fence (hint, hint, Allen,) but for the most part it is beautiful & functional. We put curbing around the backside of the fence with a really neutral rock. We got two maples and they're already starting to look a bit bigger. My favorite aspect is the play area.
The swingset is now set apart with some curbing and filled with wood chips. No more muddy grass under swings and the slide. No more wrestling with the glider for Allen while he's trying to mow the lawn. Everything is picture perfect... everything, except that darn trampoline!

She's a Princess!!

Eden turned one on September 28th. We had a few friends/family members over to celebrate. I did my best at being Martha Stewart with the decorations, although my vision of having it outdoors was dashed due to the inclement weather and the fact that our backyard was not yet kid-friendly (watch for an update on that whole scenario!) Eden loved her cake, though, and had a great time mashing it everywhere, especially in her hair. We love our little girl!

Davis's First Day of Kindergarten

So, last Monday was the big day for Davis--his first day of Kindergarten. His teacher's name is Ms. Skelton and I think, so far, the big highlights are recess and chocolate milk on Fridays! As you can see in the pictures, he had a bright blue shirt to wear on the first day. He was really excited when I showed it to him and made a big deal about cutting off the tag. It's funny to think back to all of my "first days" each year. I can very vividly recall, probably, each and every outfit such as the striped teal button up shirt with matching pants in 7th grade or the black leggings under the black-and-white polka-dot miniskirt in the 10th grade. Each outfit was carefully chosen, usually the most expensive portion of my new school wardrobe, and absolutely perfect to start out that new school year. And as I look back, they were all perfectly hideous! But, back to Davis.

He had a great time and took everything quite seriously, according to a reliable source inside. And, as any good mom knows, it is important to instigate the "after-school-snack" policy, so we dunked a few oreos to celebrate, even letting Eden join in. And how did I do with the whole transition? Did I bawl or weep or have trouble letting go? Not a bit! I'm just relishing this newfound freedom and deciding precisely what to spend it on.

Reconstruction of the BackYard

Since this is my first blog, I thought I'd start it out properly by introducing our family and what-not, but as I sit down to think, I can't think about much else except the overwhelming task at-hand of reconstructing our backyard. We've been in this house for almost 3 years now. One of the big selling points to me was the mammoth trees that lined the fence in our backyard--talk about shade galore. Little did I know that they're cottonwoods--fast-growing junk trees that are meant to grow by the river. They suck the water out of your grass, have roots that maneuver their way too close to the surface, and drop an unimaginable amount of leaves down in the fall. Long story short, this spring we had all 10 of them chopped to the ground and hauled away. This summer we've had to deal with chopping up and killing off the root systems, because they've been shooting up all over our backyard. (At one point, we had our own mini forest growing back there.) We even had to kill off all the grass to try and get to the roots below.

The good news is that it's starting to turn around! A few weeks ago we had a glorious cement patio poured that extends from our existing deck around the house to the garage. It will be a great place to entertain and let kids play, once we can get the rest of the yard looking presentable. It is still very overwhelming (especially for Allen as he looks out on all the roots and grass he's going to need to dig up,) but it's really neat to start from scratch and do the backyard the way we envision it.

When we are finished you will see:

• a landscape border that goes along the back and sides of the fence


• some new fruit and evergreen trees and shrubs


• concrete curbing to give it a nice clean separation


• new, beautiful grass!


• a fresh coat of paint on the fencea rock pathway that leads around to our future hot tub retreat


• a rock patio around the kids play equipment


• an area for gardening
  

Think we can get it all done in a month and a half? Our goal is to finish by September 28th! Wish us luck!