Long time No POST!!!

Guess we all have abandoned our blogs of late. We keep up more quickly on Facebook or through our phones! That is sad! Even our blogs are outdated and have been put aside for the quick and dirty.

End of Summer

Well, Katie is in her last week of camp. I have been cleaning out her closets in preparation for her arrival home this weekend.. Lots of "little girl" stuff going to be given away or thrown away. You know. . .one Barbie shoe, miscellaneous beads, lots of school work, stuffed toys, etc. Life was simple when getting a new toy was an exciting thing.

I've been doing lots of cleaning out this summer. Not as much as I hoped but a lot.

Here are pictures of Katie at camp that were taken this past weekend. Sunday was Horse Show weekend and we always host a cabin picnic with two other families. This year the girls had the flag ceremony, Deb waterfront and cabin picnic but no Horse Show.

The camp got almost 2 inches of rain at midnight so the arena was too muddy for the girls to ride safely. They held the show on Monday afternoon instead. The pic with the blue bandannas was taken at horse show with Katie's cabin mates, Brittany and Kassie.

I promised a picture of the house so here is before and after. I'll try to take some better pictures later. This will give you an idea though of how it looks.

We washed all the windows and our next job is to paint the porch and to cut down most of the shrubs that have gotten so overgrown. On the left side of the porch you can't even see the shutters because of the shrubs. It has been soooooooooo hot that working outside during the day is almost impossible. Early morning is best because the nights are still in the 90's and still not pleasant for working outside. Think we are all looking forward to Fall!!! Adios from the Kerrverts!!!

Summer Doings

Well, the Simones have been busy! Some running Katie around but she is in camp until August 8th so it has been quiet here. I've had a request from Aunt Donna to post pictures of her grown up "baby" on the blog so here they are. You can also see more family photos on my facebook page - Chris Johnson Simone. The above pictures are all from Katie's stay at Camp Honey Creek in Hunt. You can go to the camp website for more information and pictures.

Another annoucement - we will be adding another grandbaby to the mix at the end of September. Lisa and Jason are adopting a little boy who is due the end of September or first week of October. We are so excited for them (and us) and are trying to help them get anything done on their list that we can possibly do.

The other pictures I have posted are of Katie at Baylor University Middle School Orchestra camp in Waco. (Aunt Donna's alma mater) As you can see it took all five of us to unload Katie for a week at camp. Katie is playing cello and really wants to attend again next year. The camp improved her skills and gave her the opportunity to play more difficult music as well as concentrate on her music for at least 5 hours a day. Being on a University campus in a dorm was pretty exciting too.

Here we all are at the Comfort, Texas Old Fashioned Fourth of July parade. We had a wonderful weekend that started on Friday at the Rockbox Theater in Fredericksburg, the parade in Comfort on Saturday, a party that afternoon and then another cook-out/swimming party at a friend's house on Sunday. We had to get to Monday in order to rest.

AND last, but not least, I've posted a recent picture of Barrett Thomas who turned 2 months old on July 20 th. He saw the doctor who said he is now officially the size of a four month old. Sounds like a middle linebacker to me!!!

Love you all~~~~~Happy Summer!!

ANNOUNCING. . . . .(drum roll please.....)

We are joyfully announcing the birth of our grandson, Barrett Thomas Simone, on May 20 at 6:15 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long.
Mom, Dad and baby are at home in Hunt and doing great! Paul Jr. is taking some time off to be with Barrett and Martha as well as Martha's mom, Suzanne. We hope to see them again on Memorial
Day!

Otherwise, Katie and I are winding down at school - anxiously looking forward to the end.

Katie will be attending the Baylor University Middle School Orchestra Camp at the end of June for a week - right after seeing the Jonas Brothers in Dallas. Then she will be home about 8 days before she goes to what she calls "her second home" at Camp Honey Creek in Hunt.

Paul is busy with his business. He finally got a new truck!!! Yeah! He is also ramrodding painters. We are starting to do some work on the house and next the barn. Can't wait to have some extra room for guests!

End of March - Spring Post

Well, Hi All! Thought I was going to get this posted sooner but Spring Break was busy and I really just don't know what happened to my time. Well, I do, sort of! Paul had surgery on a torn rotator cuff the Tuesday before our spring break. He has done very well but helping him bath, dress and eat took up some of our time the first days. We had to work out a system to get him bathed and at the same time, keep his brace and dressing dry. The instructions said not to bath (except sponge bath) and we both thought, "E-UWWWWWW"! So we showered him daily with some interesting manuvering.
Katie was busy - she went to San Antonio with Lisa and Jason (and the Durr's - Jason's cousin and his family from Oklahoma). They shopped, ate out and did Sea World and Magic Time Machine. Katie came home with the loot from "Big Sis-tur" Lisa and Evie Durr - Ed Hardy tennis shoes, new clothes etc. They all had a great time and Katie gained a new BFF in Paige - Evie and Brad Durr's daughter.
Before Spring Break, Katie was involved in UIL Orchestra where the combined Middle School and Tivy High School orchestra earned a 1. Destination Imagination competition where her team won 3rd place and she was inducted into the Junior National Honor Society. Tomorrow night the orchestra is being recognized by our school board. Mix in tennis practice, challenge matches and tournaments and you can imagine what our schedule was like.
Paul's business is steady and I did lots of driving him around to check on jobs during spring break. Thank goodness for my iphone - with games, email, facebook, texting and internet - I can wait around for Paul and Katie forever if I have to.
Some friends held Martha's first baby shower and Paul , Katie and I went out to help set up the crib (Katie's ) in the new nursery. She is about 9 weeks away from having our first grandchild - a boy named Barrett Thomas Simone! We are excited and there is another shower this weekend. All that fun baby stuff! Better close. Have to get Katie from Hill Country Youth Orchestra. Happy Spring Everyone!!!!!!!!

End of February Update

Hi All! Just a quick update on the Simone family doings!! We have had a busy month with a trip to Corpus Christi for Paul's college fraternity get together during Texas A&M Corpus Christi Homecoming and a trip to Amarillo to visit our dear friends, Donna and Trent. Donna and I painted while the guys hung out. Plus, Paul and I had the added benefit of driving in the car together for 8+ hours, able to talk uninterrupted. Katie joined us in Corpus and stayed with her big "stister Camy" while we ran from one event to another like a couple of teenagers. Boy were we tired after that weekend! During our Amarillo trip, Katie stayed with friends in Kerrville who were gracious enough to run her around all weekend for her activities.

Now we are mostly busy running Katie here and there. Tennis season is gearing up so we are looking forward to weekly tournaments and mid-week practices now through the month of March (and probably longer). She is also involved in Destination Imagination but that will end once competition is finished this weekend. Sooooooooo, we've had lots of time sitting around in parking lots waiting for Katie. Thank goodness we have cell phones, text messaging and I have lots of games and internet on my iphone for the times that the wait is longer than expected. ("Just 10 more minutes Mom!!!") Katie is also playing cello in both the school orchestra and the Hill Country Youth Orchestra. Regional competition is coming up so that will take the place of DI this next week.

Paul is busy - which is a blessing in this uncertain economy. He has three jobs going at once and several more that are waiting in the wings. Home show is a week away and then his shoulder surgery is scheduled for March 10th. I will be taking off that week to help him but it sounds like it will mostly consist of driving him around to check on jobs. Spring Break is the following week so I am really looking forward to the time off from school. School is good - busy - as we are finishing up all the Federal paperwork for the current year while getting ready to register children for next school year.

Haven't heard much from our older "kids"! Their lives are busy, too! Katie has plans to spend some time with Lisa and Jason at Fiesta Texas and Sea World during Spring Break. I'm sure "the boys" will stay with Grandma (ME) while everyone is in San Antonio. For our Yankee family and friends - the temperatures in our part of Texas have been in the mid to high 80's. The weather has been glorious and the plants all think it's spring with lots of things already blooming. We've even had a little bit of rain but not nearly enough for a good Spring!

Better close. It is late and we all have a busy day tomorrow! I'll try to post some pictures soon! Everyone take care! Bye for now!

New Year's Eve - The End of 2008

Well, I can't believe that 2008 is almost over and 2009 is about to begin. Also, can't believe that it's been 3 months since I've updated our blog. Time flies, yada, yada. Not sure what I am doing updating it right now. I have 30+ people coming this evening for a New Year's Eve party and I should be getting ready for that but nope! - I am sitting in my pj's updating our blog.

We've had a good 2008. Paul's business has been steady and he will be without a partner in 2009 so will have more control over the direction of the business. Katie finished 6th grade and is half-way through 7th and loving every minute of it. I've cut my hospital work from 64 hours a month to 32 hours so I'm enjoying a more normal life with a couple of weekends off so with my real school job - I'm still staying busy.

As I reported earlier this year, Katie had a wonderful month at Camp Honey Creek for Girls in Hunt and was chosen Dream Girl (outstanding camper for her age group) by the director and best Cabinmate by her cabin.

Katie's in 7th grade now and turned 13 in November. We had an outdoor birthday party with all of her friends and a new cellphone as the big present. Unlimited texting, of course.


Katie is staying busy with tennis, cello at school and she also plays in the Hill Country Youth Orchestra. This picture was taken on stage at our new Cailloux Theater during Katie's Christmas concert. This was much more formal than her school concert the week before - black velvet gown and all! With MILES of hem that had to be taken up before it could be worn!


Our BIG NEWS for 2008 is that Paul and I will become grandparents around May 20th of 2009. Paul and Martha are expecting and we found out a couple of nights ago (after the sonagram) that it is going to be a boy! Paul and Martha want us to think about what we want the baby to call us - any suggestions? I think he will call us whatever he can pronounce.

Our other news for those of you who have been waiting YEARS to stay in our barn/guest house (you know who you are - Donna) - is that we are actually many steps closer to completing that project. After many moves, my mom's death, Shelton Ranch's demise, we accumulated a ton of stuff. This summer, I asked our older children to give us two days of their time as their Christmas gift to us in order to get the barn cleaned out so we could start the remodeling process.

At first they didn't want to participate but I told them it was fine - they could wait until Paul and I died and they could clean it out then. (Was that blackmail???) Anyway, they all made good on their promise and spent two long days going through boxes, sorting, threatening, cajoling us into getting rid of stuff. THEY WERE RUTHLESS!!! The result was 4 1/2 tons of junk went to the landfill, a car load of teacher materials was donated to my school, another load went to Salvation Army and a huge pile of old papers were burned. Paul and I were allowed to keep a few things but each item was examined by the "Wrecking Crew" for it's worthiness to be kept.
We have been threatened with our lives if we put ANYTHING in there until we get it remodeled. My daughter scares me and we have been warned. It was hard work, physically and emotionally but fun to be with all of our children and their spouses. We laughed alot and we know Paul and I will be the subject of joking for years to come. I have to admit - I couldn't believe the amount we had accumulated. BUT, it is done and it has prompted me to do the same in the house. Here are a couple of photos from THE EVENT!!! This was one of four loads that went to the landfill.

That is about all to share right now. We miss all of our family and friends who are far away and just know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and best wishes for a bright 2009!

**For those of you who haven't seen the family in a while - Left to right: Camy, Katie,
Paul Sr., Jason & Lisa Johnson, Martha and Paul Simone Jr.