Weekend Wrap-up

Hello my friends!

We had a week full of playtime and lessons and a weekend full of football. 

As I mentioned before, every Tuesday, our friend is coming over so I can watch him while his mommy works. The kids have really enjoyed having him come over, but like with any situation where there are kids involved, we ended up with some runny noses. The kids are fine now, but I hate it when the kids get sick!

Friday, was the first home game for the Mr.'s team and in true football family fashion, we were all decked out for the game. I wish you could see my bag, my MIL got it for me, and it is so cute! It has footballs on the side and a big S in the middle. I'll have to share it at some point. Sloane looked amazing in her little football dress. (I get the award for most awkward stance ever)

Sloane wasn't so happy to sit on a railing so I could't get her to smile!

But her facial expression summed up the night pretty well as the Ada Cougars lost, and the S family was not too happy about it!

We watched most of the SMU game on Saturday and since I was so tired from the late football game the night before, we decided to eat dinner at Chili's. Luckily, the kids actually behaved well and liked sitting at the booth playing with all of the sugar packets!

I got a good picture of Ford in his new OU jersey, we didn't get to watch the game since it was on Pay-Per-View, but were happy to hear they won. 

Sunday was a church day for me and the kids stayed home since they were still getting over their allergies/runny noses. Afterwards, we watched the nerve-racking Cowboys game and although I was impressed with how well they did, I was pretty disappointed that it still resulted in a loss. Ada, SMU, and the Cowboys lost, but I guess there is always next week!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend,

~Mrs. S

Tuesday

Hello Everyone!

So today is my first day to wake up before 7 am in a VERY LONG TIME.

Sometimes I have to let the dog out at some crazy time or Sloane wakes me up in the middle of the night, but actually set an alarm and wake up for the day, that has not happened in forever! It's shameful, I know, but I usually wake up between 8:30-9. I have always been one to get up early since I have worked or gone to school for so long, but I am really enjoying getting my 8+ hours of sleep a night. Today, and till further notice however, I am helping a friend watch her son while she works for the day (Tuesday's only) so that she can watch my kiddos on Wednesday afternoons while I teach at the University. It has worked out great so far, her son is only two months older than the twins so they play great together and are even napping together (halleluia)! 

I have been giving guitar lessons to a few students here at my house, and even though it is a pain to try and keep the twins entertained during the lessons, I find it very amusing that they are actually really interested in the guitar and want to be part of the lessons!

Ford will just come up to me and snatch the guitar off my hands to play it, good thing my student is very understanding!

Last Friday was the first game for the Mr. and unfortunately, they lost, BAD :(

Saturday morning OU lost as well, so it was not a good start to the season, but thankfully SMU came through with a win, and the kids were happy to cheer them on with their Mustang gear!

I think they were over the picture taking by the time I out them on the wagon!

No smiles, but if your kids are like mine, it is difficult to get them to both smile most of the time so I am used to it!

Sunday we went back to church and I decided to put Sloane in her new booties. It wasn't cooler by any means (80's, I think) but she enjoyed wearing them, nonetheless. Ford is a happy man with any kind of stick!

Monday was very low key as the Mr. had to work for a few hours and I just had my usual Monday lesson. We have never really celebrated Labor Day since it always falls during the football season, but we are excited for the holidays coming up the next few months and all of the football games happening here, at SMU, and beyond. Hope you all had an awesome Labor day weekend!

Yay Fall!

~Mrs. S

Thoughts for Thursday

Hello, people of the world!

I am finally sitting down after a super busy morning. 

We go to a playgroup every Thursday morning at our church and even though I try my hardest to do all the morning duties, it seems like I am always running out of the house with my head cut off! I guess it is the way it goes when summer is over and things get rolling!

1. I have been considering getting an iWatch for different reasons, but have yet to make up my mind. My old self would have purchased one (probably on credit) and not even give it a second thought, but my new budget-conscious self is telling me I need to rrreeeaaalllyyy think about how much I need/want it before I invest in something that is not a necessity rather a luxury. I am feeling the same way about new running shoes, but that is a whole other story! Either way, I am proud of myself for leaving my reckless spending self behind and learning how to manage my funds like an adult!

2. Speaking of play group and other kids close to the twins's age... There is another child who is saying SO many words, it is making me feel like F&S are behind on speech development! I am more concerned that I am worried about it, but the kids mom keeps telling me that the twins are doing great as long as they understand what I say, and can say some words (which they do).  It's part of parenting, but it is really hard to not compare the twins development to other children, AH!

3. Football season has started again and the Mr. is in full swing with practice, scrimmages, and so forth. It is an exciting time of year, but also a stressful time, as I don't have the extra help and it gets kind of boring by myself. The good thing is I know so many more people now than I did last year at this time, the bad thing is that it is difficult to haul the kids back and forth by myself, so I'm not looking forward to having to leave the house much if I want to get out. These are the times when I wish I lived near family :(

4. Is anyone else just not into the olympics? I get it that it is incredibly difficult to make it to the olympics and the talent these athletes display is remarkable, but should I feel bad that I am just not interested? I can watch a few minutes, but race after race, meet after meet, I just find it so repetitive, and BORING (please don't hate me if you disagree!). As much as it pains me to say it, I LOVE trash reality TV, give me some Bachelor in Paradise, or a Real Housewives of anywhere, and I am happy!

5. I recently read an article about gym "selfies" and how people who post them are narcissistic attention seekers who use working out as a way to gain acceptance. I follow an awesome trainer, Emily Skye, and she addressed the article trying to defend her hourly posts with workout tips and videos. The thing is that I am not bothered by fitness posts at all. I think the trainers who post are smart for business reasons, and people who sell fitness products (such as advocare/herbalife/shakeology) more power to them! As much as I wonder why some people post excessively for no purpose, in reality, I DON'T CARE!

So random, and probably kind of boring, but thanks for following along!

Hope to hear your thoughts!

~Mrs. S

Weekend Update

Hi!

Its that time of the year again, SCHOOL is here!

I haven't mentioned on here, but I am the new strings teacher at East Central University and even though it is a part time job, I am so excited to get some experience teaching at the college level. 

The campus is a jump, skip, and a hop away (literally a few blocks away) and last week I took the kids by to get to know the campus a bit.

It is a mid size school with the traditional "collegiate" look and the kids really enjoyed running around and looking at the fountain. I can't wait to take them to SMU's fountain!

Friday evening, we met up with the in-laws to celebrate my FIL's birthday at Smokin' Joe's. It is a BBQ place in Davis and it is our favorite here in Oklahoma. Ford got a hold of my sunnies and was looking pretty rad if you ask me!

This is the best attempt at a family pic, the Mr. didn't make the cut, and mine and Sloane's head barely show up! Over the past few years, it has become very difficult to get a good family pic since the Mr. hates pictures and I'm not really allowed to ask strangers to take them because he gets annoyed! Ugh, the struggles of being obsessed with pictures!

Saturday, we took it easy all day as the Mr. had a scrimmage and didn't get home till the afternoon. We watched the Cowboys game and I finally got to watch "Brooklyn" that evening. Greatly directed, great acting, but "C+" on storyline. It was not nearly as good as I was expecting and was kind of disappointed. 

Sunday, we went back to church for the second week in a row (yay us!) and despite our rough morning, we were so glad we went. We are currently attending Trinity Baptist and I really like it. There are a lot of college kids who attend since ECU is so close, but I can tell it will be a good fit for our family. 

After church shenanigans. 

I hope you all had a great start to your week, 

thanks for stopping by!

XO

~Mrs. S

5 for Thursday

Hello My Friends and Happy Almost Weekend!

I have been thinking a lot about amazing people in my life, whether they are close to me or strangers, it is pretty remarkable the ability some people have to be good people despite their circumstances. 

1. My first amazing person to showcase is my father in law, Michael. He is probably the best person I know. He has always been so loving and caring and the way he treats people is just something that is so rare and uncommon nowadays. He is so patient and supportive of everyone he comes across and last but not least he is the best care giver to my brother in law, Drew, he puts some parents to shame on what a good dad he is. For 11 years now, I have seen him put others before himself, and now that he is a grandfather to my kids, I appreciate him and love him even more. No words will ever be able to describe the kind of admiration and appreciation I have for this man, he is just one of a kind.

2. Although I don't see him often, I have always been inspired by my cousin Toñito. He was born with a condition called Prader-Willi Syndrome which causes obesity, intellectual disability, and shortness in height, symptoms that were all pretty obvious at a very early age for him. I don't remember the exact numbers but at 12 years old he was at least 250 pounds, and as much as he had trouble with controlling his hunger, he was the happiest kid especially when there were animals or music around. He always asked for some sort of pet for birthdays or Christmas and he learned to play accordion so he could play with my grandfather. Around age 18 when he graduated from high school, my aunt and uncle decided to send him to a rehab center where he was able to go down to 120 pounds and improve his health immensely giving him a better chance at living a long and healthy life. 

3. My whole musical life, I have always been in awe of natural talent. They say you shouldn't start a child on a musical instrument till they are 3, but really, they naturally start learning music in the womb. The case was especially so for Celeste Golden. who is now an associate concertmaster for the St. Louis Symphony. I met her when I was 13 years old and we were both playing in the New Conservatory of Dallas program as violinists. She was the virtuosi prodigy and star student of program founder Arkady Fomin, and she was the envy of every student there. She began formal lessons at 3 and was accepted into Curtis Institute (the hardest music school to get into in the US) at the age of 16. We later crossed paths at Aspen Music Festival, and eventually through FB I have been able to see her succeed in the music world and become a mom of 2 these past few years. She is not only a world class violinist, but is now an avid photographer on the side and has an amazing eye for family shoots. It is fascinating to me to see people who are good at everything!

4. I have had several hundred students over the past 10 or so years and parents are the key to every successful student I teach. Of the many students I came in contact with, few if any were ever as kind or supportive as my student's, Diana Zavala, mother and father Sofia and David Zavala. I have known this family for almost 8 years now and even though I don't teach Diana anymore, they are still in my thoughts and prayers. This set of parents were so supportive and adamant that their daughter (and son) get the proper well-rounded education to succeed that they sacrificed so much in the process. They always made me feel like I was their hero for teaching their daughter, and even though I don't consider myself a hero, I admired their appreciation for what I was doing for their daughter and made me feel like all the effort I put into teaching was worth it. Most people don't realize but it takes a lot of time and money to be a successful orchestra student these days and these parents made sure to help my student accomplish playing at the college level and hopefully getting a scholarship in the next few years. Diana is a great kid all around, but a even better musician and I can't wait to see what success her music brings her!

5. Women who birth premie multiples, WOW. I really can't imagine how you get through giving premature birth to your children. I am so lucky that my twins were born at 37 weeks which means that they are considered full term (rare for twins) but I thank God everyday that I didn't have to deal with NICU time or feeding/breathing tubes. I just took the twins to their 18 month check up and they are doing great in health and wellness and I could not be happier, but at the same time I am always thinking "what if?" the twins had come early, where would we be in terms of heath conditions and growing??? One of my best friends from college is expecting twin girls, but because she birthed 2 girls already, I am praying everything goes well for her! I guess since twins are more common now a days, there are more and more posts/info online about premature births and it breaks my heart to learn of tiny babies being born so early and having difficulties. My heart goes out to these moms and they have my full respect and admiration for being able to get through it!

Well, there it is, a little piece of my brain on what I consider positive and inspiring reading material. Hard to come by these days, so I hope you enjoyed it!

XO, 

~Mrs. S

Monday's Confessions!

Hi Everyone!

Today's post is all about getting real with y'all about a few things on my mind!

1. If you are not watching the show "The Night Of" then you are missing out on some great entertainment. I have always loved watching murder mysteries ever since my mom would let us watch scary movies when I was little (Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th etc, I know, I know, terrible parenting but she always gave us the option of not watching them!) so it comes to no surprise that HBO hooked us from the first episode where a young Pakistani college student gets accused of murder. We watched the 4th of 8 episodes last night and we can't wait to see what happens, the suspense is killing me! Side note: I was obsessed with watching Forensic Files when I was pregnant, I think I watched every episode because now every time I turn to it, I've already seen it!

2. Ever since discovering the amazing grocery store Aldi about 2 months ago, I am obsessed with eating their flatbread with which I make wraps with any combination of these ingredients: quinoa, corn, goat cheese, lettuce (arugula is my fav), avocado, red onion, boiled egg, and chicken. I swear it is the most delicious combination of foods ever, even though it is a bunch of different ingredients, and I eat them everyday for either lunch or dinner. My other go to dish is any of the aforementioned ingredients on Ezequiel bread. I think the Mr. is sick of me buying the same things at the grocery store every time, but I don't care!

3. I always think is is so funny when women claim to not be wearing any makeup or wear too much of it. I personally have a love/hate relationship with it as I have never liked the way mascara dries up my eyes (which are super sensitive due to wearing contacts my whole life) and the fact that women nowadays make it near impossible to feel good to wear it unless you go completely all out with the newest and latest makeup products and trends. I was a total sheep and invested big bucks on an expensive contouring kit that I think I have used twice. I bought a used Naked Palette which I love, but really the only three products I repeatedly buy are Clinique mascara, Stilla eyeliner, and Cover Girl clear mascara for my eyebrows (which is about once every 2 years...), other than that I never buy the same products and I feel like I am under such pressure to buy the newest concealer or the best lipstick (which I am horrible at choosing) so I give up! I just wont wear make up and when I do, I will use the products that I feel best suit me and are most reliable. Enough with the Instagram and FB posts and videos of beautiful, but unattainable makeup!

4. I have an incredibly nice neighbor who has a pool and even though I love me a nice dip in the water, I have become super lazy about doing it. The twins make a total job of it and it is quite the process to put them in bathings suits, carrying all of their floaties/towels/snacks over there so to sum it all up, we go about 1 time a week and I am ok with that. I always envisioned if I had a pool or access to one I would utilize it often, but maybe as the kids get older I will be more proactive about it.

5. I am dying to go back to Colorado for another rendezvous at least once more before the winter season. Everyday I look at least once at hotel deals and flights just to see if there's one I can't pass up. The Mr. is about to go into the busiest time of year (football season) and even though I would hate to leave him behind, I am totally willing to go without him! Anyone want to join?!

Hope you all enjoyed reading a little piece of my mind this AM, and I want to wish everyone a wonderful start to your week!

~Mrs. S

June 2016

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to do a June post since so many fun things happened!

June 1st we headed to Colorado which I wrote about here.

June 11th,  we watched my sister Nancy marry her best friend in Dallas.

We drove up that afternoon and stayed at the Nylo in Plano. The wedding was in east Dallas so we got ready and headed there around 3. The kids didn't really take an official nap so Ford ended up falling asleep right when we got there. Sloane was up for the whole deal and was well behaved the entire ceremony (while Ford was quite the vocal guest, as you can see from the pic below)

The ceremony was in the same building as the reception so after the chairs were moved and pictures were taken, dinner was served. My family is Mexican, so of course the traditional wedding dinner was served, meat-beans-rice! It was sooo delicious and to show you what an untraditional bride my sis was, she cooked the meal herself! I mean she is a professional chef (at Bob's Steak and Chop house in Dallas) but really, Nance?!

Anyway, Sloane devoured it as did I!

Unfortunately, the building's air condition unit was not strong enough to fight the 90 something degree weather as well as it should have, so I was super sweaty. I had fixed my hair down with waves, but had to eventually put it up in a bun as I was soo hot!

Either way, we had a blast and we are so happy for my sis!

June 19th, we celebrated the Mr.'s second fathers day with a short trip to OKC for dinner in brick town. We came home and watered the garden, the kids helped. 

June 22nd, we headed for our annual Simmonds family beach vacation to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We played in the sand, swam at the beach and pool, and ate at the all inclusive buffets and dinner the entire trip!

Our hotel provided photographers on the beach that just came up to you and took pics. I loved this one of Sloane. 

On the way there, and back, we were able to move to an empty row of seats so Ford was able to get his own seat! It was awesome in that I didn't have to hold him the entire 4.5 hour flight, but he was still antsy and we passed him and Sloane around quite a bit until they would both get tired. 

About 45 minutes away from Ada, we are lucky enough to have a natural spring river that has a huge waterfall called Turner Falls. We decided to check it out and we are so glad we did. The water is so clear and cold, but swimmable nonetheless and even though there are quite a few visitors during the summer, we were able to take a picnic and enjoy the afternoon. The kids were worn out so this was right before  we got in the car to go home!

This summer has been one for exploring what the kids like to eat. We have a pretty consistent rotation of meatballs, spaghetti, pizza, turkey/ham-lunchables, ramen noodles, bean/meat burritos, sloppy joes, and a variety of sides. I gave Ford a pomegranate popsicle and he was all about it!

Today the kids turn 18 months, if you can believe it!

We had a little photo shoot outside to document the day!

Hope you are all having a great summer!

~Mrs. S