Alyssa Renee

I've been kind of hesitant to write this post because I don't want to have any set backs even though I know it can and might happen. Alyssa is potty trained! Well almost anyways. Of course she chose this last month to do it when we have all been down and out.

I'm not even sure how it all started but for whatever reason she ended up in the bathroom sitting on her potty chair and she went. We made a big deal of it and ever after that's how it's been. Now she did have a few accidents the next few days but it's been three days now and no accidents. When she goes down for a nap I haven't been putting them on her either and so far so good! I can't bring myself, at this point, to let her not have one at night right now. I'm just very proud of her, she has done incredibly well.

It might have begun by me saying that if she wanted to go to school she had to be potty trained. She wants to go so bad and can't wait. We have a bus stop in front of our house and every time she sees that bus or any school bus for that matter she gets so dang excited. I only hope it stays that way!

We have found a preschool for her to attend in the fall. I'm so excited about it. I went and had a tour, met the director, and teacher all who I couldn't be more pleased with. I remember my days in preschool and had so much fun I know Alyssa is really going to enjoy it too!


She is turning into such a little girl. I feel I went to asleep and the next day I woke up and my baby was gone! We started getting into a habit that we weren't very good at before but cleaning her room! For those of you who don't know her room could be a mess at times. Alyssa can be very particular about where stuff goes. If you don't get it exactly right she gets kind of upset and will go move it. I think she inherited her father's ocd.

This year Alyssa is going to be having a very busy February. There are a lot of activities that she will be doing but she is having her first Valentines Day Party. I'm excited for that and hopefully there will be a good turn out.

Seattle Fun

I have been wanting to take the kids or I should say Alyssa to the aquarium for some time now and last week I bought a Groupon for there. I actually bought two because the deal was so good! On Cory's day off we ended up heading down there and spending the day.

I'm glad we picked the day we did because it was perfect! There was great weather, although cold, and hardly any crowds. Something that is very rare for down there. We spent about an hour and a half in the aquarium and Alyssa really seemed to have a lot of fun as did Knox. I was a little disappointed in it because it wasn't what I remembered it to be but it was still nice to go.


Afterwards we headed over to the Crab Pot for some lunch and than we had to go to the bakery and get a treat and ride the carousel. I can't wait for Knox to get older to really partake in these activities! We also read that they are going to be putting a Ferris wheel at the end of the pier. While I think this is cool I'm not so sure about it. It's going to be so cold on there, but oh well.

Once we were done with the downtown activity we headed up to Magnolia and spent some time with Grammy. It's so cute because Alyssa has been talking non stop about
wanting to see her Nanny and was very excited. Grammy and I have been talking about family pictures and how I want to start getting copies of them so she let me take one of the albums to start this big project I'm undertaking. I love old photographs of almost anything but especially family! Now I need to figure out how I'm going to incorporate some of the pictures into the house. After a few hours of visiting we headed back north to pick up Harley, who was at daycare, and head home.

The kids were exhausted after a busy day and were both out by the time we hit the freeway.

Move Over Martha Stewart

At the beginning of the year almost everyone resolution is to eat better, lose weight, and exercise more. Of course those are on my list and another one that I have been working on is being more creative in my meals I cook. I believe that anyone can be a good cook since all you have to do is follow a recipe and if you can do that presto.

What puts you above that is your creativity with those recipes. I'm trying. So far I haven't done anything but have tried several new meals that we all have enjoyed. When I say all I do mean the kids as well. I think our kids are some of the most spoiled as far as when it comes to eating. I wish I could just make a PB&J for them and call it good but I can't. I shouldn't say that because not every night is a gourmet meal and there will definitely be times when they get cereal for dinner. You get the point.


Some of the good treats this week were the sweet potato gnocchi, sauteed peppers onions and cherry tomatoes, and the pesto chicken wrapped on pancetta, and my "homemade" taco bowl with my own taco seasoning mix. It was a good week to eat in the Simmons household!

Organization is another must in this household. With two kids I'm sure everyone can only imagine how ugly it can get quick! What I love about some of these ideas is that not only are they functional but they can make life easier. More on that later. I hope you can endure a few posts here and there about randomness but this is our life.

January Blah

So far the New Year hasn't been great. Everyone has been sick at our house. First Alyssa came home from her Grandparents with it and than gave it to me, followed by Knox, and Cory. She also spread it to our house guests! Sorry guys. For the last two weeks we have been pretty much cooped up! I can not wait to get back out.

This has given me an opportunity to work on some of my resolutions. One is reading at least twenty-four books this year. I'm already on book two so I would say I have a good start. The one I'm reading right now is so good. It's called The Glass Castle. A woman wrote it about her childhood growing up pretty much homeless and how her parents raised her and the siblings. It's so far unbelievable.

My other big goal is saving money. Who doesn't want to do that? My biggest area where I want to save is grocery's. I have been becoming obsessed about it too. If I go to the store I normally haven't been buying something unless I have a coupon for it and I usually use two. I'm also lucky that I have three grocery stores right by each other so I don't have to stray. For those of you who think couponing takes time or that "they" never have what you want on sale. It really doesn't take too much time and you just have to be kind of smart about when you use the coupons and where to go. For me it's turned into a game and it gets fun seeing how much money you have saved and if you can beat it! If anyone is interested in finding out more send me a message and I can email you links of websites that I use.

One thing that I'm very happy about is a year round farmers market is going to be opening up near us soon. They are going to have everything, meat from local butchers, dairy, and vegetables. I can't wait! I'm sure I will be there frequently!! We are also continuing on our diets which hasn't been fun when your sick but we have hung in there. With the saving money and eating better I'm back on track to planning menus. You wouldn't think that something as easy as this would help but it truly does. I've also stopped doing my shopping for the month at once and instead I'm doing it about every three days. This also helps with sales and such.

I've started planning the kids' birthdays. I have Knox's all figured out but still not sure what to do for Alyssa's. She keeps saying she wants to go to hockey but there are now games. I also keep debating if I should have a kids party or just family. Decisions, decisions. We have had snow pretty much since the beginning of January and although I'm not one who gets sick of the weather around here, I continue to do things, I'm actually looking forward to spring!

New Years

We had a great time bringing in the New Years but I'm not going to go too much into that but more of a reflection of the last year and a look to the upcoming instead. On New Years Cory, Knox, me, and some friends ended up going to a hockey game and came back to the house afterwards for music and drinks. It was a great night and the pictures posted here are from that night.

I can't believe another year has already come and gone. New Years is for some a night to just go out and get intoxicated and although I enjoyed a few cocktails, for me the last few days has been about reflection of the year. Again, a perfect way to put it, the days are long but the years go by quickly. As I sit hear and think about this last year it brings a smile to my face on everything we have accomplished and done as a family. I look back at my blog and realize how lucky my family really is in everything we are able to do and share especially with our children.

One of the biggest things that happened to our family was the birth of our son Knox. We had pretty much just got comfortable and in a routine with one child when we welcomed Knox into the world on March 16, 2010. Now with two kids, twenty-five months apart, our lives were once again in chaos. After a few months everything
settled down and we got back into our new routine. Although this is constantly changing with the change of the kids I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. The kids are two people in my life that can bring a smile to my face by doing absolutely nothing. Today we figured out what day we would be celebrating his 1st birthday. I can't believe it's almost upon us!

The family had lost a great man, George Hughes, on March 1, 2010. It was a great loss to all of us for he was a pretty incredible man in everything he was and accomplished in his life. He is always in our thoughts and conversations. This year while I was doing Christmas cards I came upon his address and stopped and thought of some good times we shared. On February 1, which would have been his 97Th birthday, I think I will have one of his signature cocktails a martini. I will say and he would probably roll over for this but it has to be a girly one. Sorry George!

We made it through another grueling Mariner season. As crazy as those months are I'm so thankful for my husbands job opportunities that keep us living in a lifestyle we enjoy and the kids experiencing stuff that they wouldn't get to as often as they do otherwise.


For this next year I have again made several personal goals. Some of them are silly bad habits like putting laundry away when it's done. I despise putting it away. Other's are a little bigger and more personal. Needless to say I have some, goals, as I think everyone should. We will see how well I do through the year and might adjust as I see appropriate. My main thing is to enjoy my family and keep on creating the great memories with them! Which is partly why I do this blog. I use this as my children's baby books and I recently got the last two years printed out into a book. It's beautiful! I'm so glad I did that. I plan on printing out the year in January and giving one to each of the kids for them to have. If any of you have a blog or want something published it's a great way to go.

Now it's off to start planning two very special birthdays that are coming up! Happy New Year to all!