<3 The Best Easter Ever~

First for those of you on the "special" list- you'll be getting a ginormous batch of Shutterfly pics today detailing every moment of our Easter weekend (I know how excited you are...lol).

This was the first time in a long time that Jon had the entire weekend off and we really didn't have anywhere to go (.i.e vacation). Saturday was fun- we started the morning off freezing our hiney's at the soccer field. It was Avalyn's first soccer game of the season and they won! Yes- we keep score this time around. The game was close and although Avi didn't make one of the two goals -she certainly helped her team out. For one of the goals she was the one to bring the ball down from the other team's goal side- at the last minute the other team tried to snake the ball but one of Av's teammates rescued it for the goal! GO RUBY RED MUSTANGS...lol

After our drive thru breakfast we went home to clean up and get ready for the Easter bunny. Avalyn and I colored a dozen eggs (with our homemade colors BTW that were so much brighter than the store bought stuff) and then the whole family made a silly Easter mural. Yeah - I know, we are a bunch of nerds but we had a lot of fun. All in all it was a great day!

On Sunday Avalyn got us up at the crack o' dawn and she wasted no time hunting down the dozen eggs that the bunny hid in the house. And regardless of the fact it was 20 degrees outside she couldn't wait to go find the eggs in the backyard. Piper on the other hand was only concerned with jelly beans... lots of them... all morning.

After breakfast and Piper's nap we decided (because the rain put a "damp"er on things) to go to the movies. Avalyn was itchin' to see the Hannah Montana movie. I must say the movie was alright but the coolest part was Piper sitting quietly and eventually falling asleep in Jon's lap. Her angel side was coming out!

Then we came home, had some dinner, put the kids to bed (the angel had left the building) and just relaxed (and wrote a paper on Buddhism) the rest of the night. I could not have asked for a better weekend (unless maybe we were all at nana's in Garden Grove).

We hope your Easter was just as nice. oxoxoxoxo

QUOTE FOR THE MOMENT: Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. - Don Wilder & Bill Rechin

It's been too long~

Hi guys-

I know you have missed your regular dose of Simard nonsense. So I'll catch you up-

*Avalyn has started losing her teeth like crazy. She's lost two so far and the tooth fairy is going to have to take a second job to afford her!

* Did I mention that Piper is finally walking? She started walking well a few weeks ago and is just starting to use it as her mode of transportation around the house. She still prefers to walk on her knees but she seems to be using her feet more and more.

*Oh yeah- an Avalyn's kidney update! A few weeks ago I had to take her in because we were concerned about broken blood vessels around her eyes (with passed broken blood vessels of the HSP- this is not something to be taken lightly). However, the broken blood vessels seemed to be caused by something totally different (TMI) but her kidneys once again came back clear... ; ) In my mind this means the HSP is gone for good and as the doctor put it "she's recovered completely." Always nice to hear.

*Meanwhile - is it time for her to go to college yet? We have been dealing with the type of attitude you often see in prepubescent teens... boy am I scared?

*And more Piper news is she's been sick the last week with a nasty cold. Happily this is her first cold! (Being 16 months- not too shabby, I guess the boobies do make them healthy.) Meanwhile, I thought sick babies were supposed to be sweet and cuddly - haha! My normally sweet and cuddly Piper has become a little snot-nosed monster! Weird!

*In case you miss the dog news too- Reese got fixed this week and Ween thinks she's an only dog again because Reese was gone over night. ; &

*As for Jon and I. Same old, same old. We are going to a concert this weekend (in supposed 3 feet of snow) and boy has it been forever?!

No time to chat...

Hi there- Sorry I have been neglecting this blog page but I thought I'd give you a link if you need your fill of us Simards.

http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=4460

These are a few of my scrapbook pages!

The Latest and Greatest!

First and most exciting is that Avalyn officially learned to swim. She was very excited and also very freaked out. It will certainly be interesting next week!!! She also got to go down the big slide by herself (something reserved for 7 and ups..lol)

Also I wanted to thank everyone again for all your help with the sales of Girl Scout cookies. Avalyn turned in a total order of about 280 and there are still a few coming in. That is excellent for the troop as they desperately need the funds being that this is their first year. Oh and she was almost the top seller but we got a few orders in late, no biggie though she is excited regardless.

As for Piper she has resorted to walking on her knees and may never walk on two feet. Ah... at least that is how it feels some days. She's a stubborn little bugger!

Let's see the dogs are finally all back to normal...that's nice. Jon and I are tooting along as usual, looking forward to going to California this summer, probably the tail end of May to the first weekend in June.

That's about it. Hope everyone out there is doing well! Oh yeah...

Happy Valentines' Day!!! @-->---

It's 2009 Already! Time for resolutions that will last all the way to March if I'm lucky!

I know, I know... I'm wayy behind on this blog thing. Oh well. I am sure if you are one that "needs to know" what we are up to than you have through other avenues, for everyone else- I am so sorry to have deprived you of my crazy, mixed-up blogs.

So back to life... Can I just write a list of all the recent events and upcoming ones for us?

Ok here's the recap since December 20th-

Christmas was wonderful! Piper and Avi both had a blast and it seemed we had the Christmas that never ended. Christmas Eve we spent with the Ramirez' (our extended family), Christmas Day we enjoyed the quiet morning with just us and then we shared dinner with the Ramirez' and then the day after we received a big package from Grandpa Wayne and Grandma B and it was Christmas all over again. But it didn't end there.... Grammy & Grandpa (a.k.a. Mom & Lance)- came in on the 30th and we had Christmas morning all over again on the 31st.

Enough about Christmas though.

So I FINALLY got to see Twilight and I am so hooked I feel like a 15 year old. Yikes!!! For those that liked it make sure you check out the Edward version that is posted on Stephenie Meyer's webpage (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/)... it was good. So needless to say my resolution of one book per month in 2009 is going well.

New Year's Day was great too. We took Grammy & Grandpa to Flat Irons to watch Avalyn (attempt to) ice skate. The day was nice (and cold) but Avalyn enjoyed having a chance at real ice to skate on. I'm not sure if she's the next Nancy Kerrigan though- it was a little rough.

On a more somber note, on the second, we said good-bye to our dear Mr. Ted. This has been a long time coming and what can I say, I just couldn't watch him be in pain anymore. Jon and I took him together and it was definitely bittersweet.



And in case I needed my life flipped upside down by these darn dogs any more than that, Reese decided it was a good time to go into heat. Bleh... I'm kicking myself (and possibly Jon) for not fixing her sooner, that's what we get for being cheap!!!

As for those two non-dog children we have- both are doing very well. Avalyn gets her urine checked next week again and starts selling Girl Scout cookies this week, along with starting a new swim class too. (No rest for the weary.) Piper still doesn't want to walk...well on her feet anyway. She can walk on her knees though! She is babbling more and more and imitating sounds like crazy- I think we have another chatterbox on our hands. Oh and as Piper is cutting her molars, Avalyn has her first truly loose tooth- so both of them are whiny and in pain!

Jon and I are hanging in there- just going with the flow that seems to have a mind of it's own these days. Although Jon isn't much for New Year's Resolutions (I think I sort of tell him what he should resolve to do so he'd rather not have them at all) I have a laundry list for myself. What can I say? I enjoy the whole "everything is new" theme. AND... 13 more days til Bush passes the torch so what's not to be excited about.

I will let you all know the good news next week as I expect Avalyn's tests will come back clear again. Hope everyone is having a great 2009 so far!