JodySimmer.com

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am not the greatest cook in the kitchen....but that is changing!!! Now that I have a family I am trying really hard to become a better cook. I want to prepare nutritional meals for my kids so they will grow up to be healthy and strong... and I think it's gross that Jacy's favorite breakfast is frozen Eggo waffles...literally, still FROZEN! She gets upset when I try to heat them up or toast them for her. I recently got a cook book titled "Deceptively Delicous". It is a great cook book full of yummy recipes that hide "mystery" ingredients from your family. They will never guess what HEALTHY food they are actually eating! Jacy invited her Aunt Janell over for a sleep over so I thought I would give it a try. PINK Pancakes made with pureed BEETS and grated apple! They were beautiful and delicious!!! Jacy really loved them. She took 1 bite and said, "These are DELICIOUS!" It may have helped that I told ...

Finally , after several years the 4th of July fell on a Friday! We were so excited to be able to celebrate the weekend in Show Low with Grandpa Zeke, Grandma Debby, Grandma Greta and Pardner. My brother Justin and his family were also there! We had so much fun with everyone! On Friday morning the parade started at 9:00am sharp! It is so fun to see the WHOLE town come and line the streets to watch the parade go by! This was the first parade for both Jacy and Jake. Jacy was so excited, especially to see all the horses. Jake enjoyed the parade from the comfort of Grandma Debby's shoulder. After the parade we had lots of family friends over to my paren'ts house to BBQ and enjoy the perfect weather! We just sat outside and enjoyed each other's company while the kids ran through the sprinkler (the same clown sprinker that my brother and I played in as small kids!), played croquet, and helped Grandpa Zeke make homemade ice cream! YUMMY! The firework show started around 9:00pm Frid...

The week of June 23rd was our annual trip to Roosevelt Lake with Grandpa John, Grandma Linda, and all of my brother's and sister's and their families. As usual, we had a GREAT TIME! This was Jake's first time to the lake. As you can see in the picture he didn't let the water interfere with his nap time at all! Jacy had a blast swimming with her aunts, uncles, and cousins too! We got her a new floatation device that really helped her be able to swim on her own. It wrapped around her waist and had two arm floaties on it. She loved it and was a good little swimmer by the end of the week. It was the first time that we had REALLY used our new (old, but new to us) boat on the water. It ran great and made some fun (painful for some) memories of water skiing and tubing. Thanks Richardson family for such a fun week!!! We are already looking forward to next year!

This past month has been an exciting month for Jacy , full of fun milestones that show how much she is growing up. The most exciting news is that Jacy is (almost) POTTY TRAINED! This is huge for her, considering that we never knew if it would be possible. We have determined that she doesn't have a lot of sensation or feeling in her bottom and down through the back of her hamstrings. We didn't know if she was going to be able to feel the sensation of needing to go potty or not. We are so excited that SHE CAN! She is really doing a great job and having less and less accidents each day. She is already at the point where she goes all by herself without any help from us. I actually tried to help her the other day and she wouldn't let me. She went running down the hall for the bathroom so I went running after her saying, "Com on..let's hurry!" She stopped dead in her tracks, turned to me with her hand up in the "stop" position and said, "Don't co...

Jake is growing up so fast it is hard to believe. On July 2nd he turned 9 months old... really, where has the time gone! He is such a good baby and most of the time is very happy! He is so handsome with his red hair and blue eyes. He is starting to change so much and we are enjoying watching him make new discoveries and accomplish his milestones! During the end of May and the first week in June he finally got some chompers, his two front bottom teeth. He has quickly learned how to use them and now he loves a graham cracker every now and then. He is a great eater and hasn't refused anything we have offered him so far! He especially loves it when Jacy sneaks him food that he really should be eating yet! The other day she tried to give him a piece of gum, because really, who doesn't like a good piece of gum! He is lucky to have a sister that loves to share. =) Jake is really finding his voice and becoming quite the chatter box. He loves to chatter and babble and, even though mayb...

May 29th was a special day for Grandpa John and Grandma Linda. Grandpa celebrated the BIG 6-0 and together it was their 26th wedding anniversary. The following weekend we threw a party for them at SanTan flats in Queen Creek. We celebrated with a cake for my dad that read "Older Than Dirt" and presented him with age appropriate gifts, such as a magnifying glass and a cane! We also had a special cake for the two of them to share for their Anniversary. It was a great night spent with family and friends. All my brother's and their families, some extended family and some friends were there to celebrate with us. Jennifer and Janell were busy in Europe, so they didn't get in on all the fun.

Every year we had to our family's cabin in Christopher Creek to particiapate in work weekend with the cabin community and to have a family birthday celebration. This year it feel on Memorial Day weekend.... what a fun time we had! The weather was a little crazy...in fact there was SNOW on the ground when we arrived! The "work" part of the weekend was cancelled so the only thing left was the FUN! The kids had a great time playing together.. .some of the highlights included playing beauty salon, making mini snowmen on the back porch, making bubbles with Grandpa Zeke, and enjoying the outdoors on Sunday when the weather was so nice! Jacy got to sleep in a sleeping bed next to her daddy near the warm fire. She loves her princess sleeping bag! Before bed she loves to read a book. Grandma Debby tried to tell her that it was too dark and too late at night to read, but Jacy quickly took care of that as she grabbed a flashlight to help Grandma Debby see the words. =)