Happy Father's Day!!

I have a great dad.

He has always been there for me. He attended every piano recital, band competition, and play that I was in. He cooked me breakfast and let my sister and me do his hair! (I wish I had pictures of that!)

He and my mom took me on great vacations every summer!

More importantly, he instilled faith and values in me that I hold to this day.

I never had to look for love in the wrong places because I knew that my dad loved me.

Don't get me wrong- we fought like cats and dogs (especially during high school!) But now that I am a parent, I understand why I had to be in at 10:00 (when the rest of my friends could stay out until whenever,) and why I couldn't date until I was 16 (even though the rest of my friends starting "going together" in fifth grade!) All of his rules safeguarded me against getting into lots of trouble!

And for all of those reasons (and more) I am so thankful for my dad!

In the same way, I am so grateful that my girls have a great dad.

From the beginning, he has been wonderful. He has changed as many diapers as I have, has given more baths than I have and has been spit-up on just as much as me!

Even though he claimed he couldn't hear the baby monitor, he would get up in the middle of the night when I gently nudged him (or kicked him as I screamed, "GET UP!!")

Nowadays, he can sing all of Madison's steel drum songs, knows all of Madison's lines from her plays, and greets Ella's endless drawings like they are expensive masterpieces!

He is better at slowing down and playing with the girls than I.

He doesn't sweat the small stuff. He knows what is important.

Just like my dad, he is instilling in the girls faith, love, courage and compassion.

The girls will never question his love for them because he tells them literally over and over each day. More importantly, he shows them that he loves them.

For that, I am eternally grateful!

So, to the two best dads I know- HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I love both of you!

AHH... Hot Springs

So I am very relaxed tonight. We just returned from a weekend with my family at Hot Springs. We did... NOTHING!!! And it was so much fun! We talked, ate, played games, ate some more, watched the rain on the lake, played some more games and stayed up way too later! It was a blast. (See below)

I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful family!

Look at What Grandma and Grandpa started...

Here are my grandparents. This is their engagement picture.


I love this picture!

My grandparents had four children. Those children had 11 children.

And those 11 grandkids have produced this... (and we're missing at leat 8 kids!)


Wow!!

Jason...

My brother-in-law has perfected the art of messing up Christmas pictures. Allow me to prove my point.

Exhibit A


Exhibit B


Exhibit C


And so on...


Apparently, he has been working with my sister...


The girls (and the rest of us) love him, so I guess we'll keep him around. :)


Plus he is the only one who can get into the itty, bitty chairs to make Clipos!

Thanksgiving in 60 seconds

Here we go...

My family came to visit. Aunt Tamra set the table.

Call me Martha... actually I am a Rachel Ray fan, but dinner was not ready in 30 minutes!

Dinner was wonderful. Even added two new recipes this year!

Tried to take our family photo outside, but it was too windy.

Decorated for Christmas. (Yes, Ella is in her Tinkerbell costume. That's not odd is it?)

Danced with a star (Grandpa...)

And each other.

Shopped for Christmas dresses.

Got new glasses. (More on that in another post.)

Hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours!

The Simpsons go to Springfield

I know... I know. My last name is Simpson and I'm from Springfield. I'll go ahead and give you a minute to laugh...

Anyway, we had a great time visiting my family. It was a much more relaxing trip than last time! Here we go...

We always celebrate the summer birthdays- me, Madison and Ella- with a dinner. My mom made the biggest chocolate cake I have ever seen! Seriously, 8 people ate on it at 3 meals and I'm not sure we finished it! I didn't take a picture of it, but it was delicious!

My dad retired (suddenly) from Missouri State University this year. When my mom retired a couple of years ago, Tamra, Dad and I were able to throw her a surprise party that really surprised her! My dad didn't get that however. He got this digital photo frame with pictures of his retirement parties. (Notice the lovely cross-stitch piece on the wall behind him. I made that in jr. high!)

Don't feel too bad for him. We really surprised him on his 60th birthday!

My parents kept the girls a couple of nights and they had sooo much fun. They went swimming, watched Disney channel, played and played and played! They also took them to the Butterfly Palace in Branson for their birthdays! Madison got to go through twice because Ella was too scared to go in. Worked out well for Madison!

Steve and I really enjoyed staying up with Tamra and Jason (without little girls walking in trying to come up with ways to stay up with us!) Tamra and I watched So You Think You Can Dance, Days of our Lives, Jon and Kate Plus 8, etc., while Steve and Jason played X-Box until all hours of the night. We also dyed each other's hair. Did we do a good job?

We also worked on Tamra's blog. If she gets it up and running, I'll put a link to the side of mine! No pressure Tam!

On Sunday, we went to church. We usually have to be at Creekside on Sundays, so this doesn't happen very often. This quilt names the founding members of the South National Church of Christ in 1931. My great-grandparents were founding members and the girls are standing under their names.

We went to lunch after church. We wanted our waiter to get a picture of all of us. Mom gave him her camera first and got a great picture. I gave him my camera and got this...

Meet Jennifer, the waitress who dropped a fork and was picking it up while our waiter took the picture! :) Also, notice Ella on the end!

After lunch my mom took me shopping for my birthday. I'm like the homeless person you give food to instead of money because you want to make sure they use that money for food. She won't give me money anymore because she doesn't think I will spend it on myself. (She's right- the girls look so much better in their clothes!) Anyway, it was tax-free weekend, so I cleaned up!! She kept saying, "You haven't met your budget yet. You can get something else!" I have no idea what my budget was, but I had fun! Thanks Mom and Dad!

On Monday, Dad took Tamra and me to lunch. This has become a tradition for us. We get some time alone with Dad and he gets to enjoy a good meal at a girlie restaurant! :)

Ella was in rare form while we were there. She only got about 6 hours of sleep the night before we left and she refused to sleep in the car. She also missed her nap several days, so she was really tired. She spent a great deal of time looking like this...

We had a great time and look forward to seeing you all soon!

We Owe You!

We had a great time with my sister and brother-in-law this weekend. We packed about 3 days worth of events into a day and a half.

First, Tamra and Jason drove in just in time to catch Madison's big drama production. Tamra even sped through the entire state of Oklahoma to get here in time!

This picture will serve as a reminder to Steve and me to drive to Springfield to see your child's band performance or football game or dance recital or track meet- whatever the case may be! We owe you!!!


On Saturday, we took in two Zoe group worships, swam, shopped, ate and watched an entire episode of "So You Think You Can Dance." Whew.............


The next picture is another reminder of a way that we will "owe" Tamra and Jason.

That's right, Ella is playing another musical instrument given to her by Tamra and Jason. Fortunately, this one has a volume button and an off button, however, this is something we will remember in the future! :)


All in all, it was a great weekend and you all can visit anytime! See you at your house in July!

I have great in-laws- here's proof! :) Yesterday while I was cooking myself birthday brownies from scratch, not a box (Mom would be proud), the doorbell rang. I was greeted with these beautiful flowers from Dave and Pat. They are absolutely beautiful and smell great. You were so thoughtful and I appreciate it! Love you and see you in July!