New Photos and Vid on the Web

Hey everyone...check our new web gallery at http://gallery.mac.com/jrsimmons

You can see a vid and pics....sweeeeeeeet!

How to stretch a tub of water...

You'd be amazed how far a tub of water can go. Living in the desert, we are very careful with our water use. Water is life. Wasted water is not only culturally inappropriate, it states nonverbally that you do not share the values of your host culture. So, we have become very creative with a "tub of water."
About 10 am it starts to get pretty hot around here. Jon loves to play in the dirt, but this is hard on his asthma so...mom puts about 5" of water in the tub and lets him loose with some plastic toys. Later sister Cami may give her dolls a bath or Sam may give his dinosaurs a drink. It is used to wash feet when the kids come in from play. Mom then scoops some of it into a bucket to mop down the floors after the day's sand filters through the window screens and lands on the floor and furniture. Finally the kids help water plants around the property with whatever we can scoop and pour. That one very shallow tub of water has served to entertain, refresh, clean house and water plants. At bathtime we carefully clean it out and refill. Cami, Sam and Jon share the same tub of water cleanest to dirtiest. Again, the water is used to water plants or mop floors depending on what it can accomplish.
Our family lesson in conservation has taught us a lot about caring for our resources and respecting others. The kids naturally spill (no pun intended) this lesson over in other areas of their lives. A little water can go a long, long way. That reminds me of a story I heard about a woman at a well...
Pam and the Fam

Family Day and the Arab Calandar

So, the Simmons family day schedule is going under severe renovation.
The family day concept we learned from a close friend who lived overseas for years and had 4 children. It goes like this: Each family member gets a day of the week that is their day. On that day, they get to help choose the food for dinner, get a special treat or day out with mom or dad, and don't have to do their chores. I am also planning to start blogging here about each kid on their day, so you all can see what is up with them. It will be a challenge, but, hey, I think that we are up to it.

The difference here is that the weekend falls on Friday/Saturday, with the holy day being on Friday. So, in Germany, we had our Fam night Pizza on Fridays and the kids days were Monday through Thursday (from youngest to oldest). Pam's day was Saturday, and mine, Sunday.

Now we are adjusting to the local flow (and kids school schedules) where fam pizza night is Thursday and the kids go from Sunday to Wednesday. Pam stays on Saturday and I move to Friday. I guess this shows that Pam is the stable one in the fam. But, then, everyone who knows us, knew that!

Vain attempts at being contemporaneously synchronous

Okay....so I know it has been awhile, but, hey, we literally just landed. I took a bit of time to get the internet piped into the house and without a laptop (as you may know was stolen in Germany), access has been hard to come by. Everyone is doing well. The kids start school on the 29th and Pam and I will start language classes thereafter. This week we are busy buying uniforms (yes, the kids all have coats and ties and picture will be forthcoming), books, and setting up house.....still. Our crate from Germany is on the way, so we hope is does not take too long. We are also working on visas, acquiring the new business, and doing loads of government paperwork.

And, by the way, the schwarma here is to die for... it is like a jordanian version of a fajita....very tasty.

Peace.

Settling in, but no internet...yet

Well, I bet everyone is wondering where and what in the world are we doing? ...how, too, I guess.

First, we are all doing well and adjusting to new surroundings. Posting and getting on the internet is a challenge because we do not yet have phone or internet at home (it is coming soon, we hope. But this is the Middle East, not Suburbia, USA. Customer Service, real or imagined is both varient and spontaneous depending on: Who you know, How much language you know, and How much are you willing to pay for it in terms of both time and money.) The school situation has turned out very well and in our favor. Calla and Cami placed well on their entrance exams and will be starting their 7^th and 2^nd year, respectively. Sam will start in the K-2 class and we found an excellent Pre-K for Jon right around the corner from the school that teaches the classes in English to prep children for the Modern American School (which is neither ... running joke :) ...) The apartment is nice and we are attempting to outfit the house. We are getting to know the neighbors and the neighborhood and all seems to be going well. We have an excellent landlord who is very helpful and even took me around town to by hardware for the kids beds that I am fabricating on the front porch (aka Simmons Furniture company) So...we are here...all is well...stayed tuned. :)

There's nothin' betta' than waffles at Ama's

Here is Jon enjoying Easter Breakfast at Ama's. Milk, juice, waffles and syrup.... mmm mmm good. He is having a blast and trying to avoid any and all obstacles keeping him from jumping into the swimming pool in the backyard.

Cami loves the playground

I love my kids, can you tell? Cami is having an amazing time here in the US playing at the park and going to school. There's a reason we call her "pink dynamite". She's a power packed dynamo in a compact package. Cami also has an incredible capacity for caring about others and amazing optimistic powers of belief in herself. I think that she will save the world one day.

Sam the man and the amazing white water stick race

So, after dinner tonight Sam and I headed out onto the 'back 40' where there exists the 'creek of dreams'. We hung out and I skipped rocks while he munched on a couple of Reese's peanut butter cups. We then decided to throw some sticks into the 'raging' stream and spent the next hours racing crocodiles rocket boats and fiery chinese letter (i dunno either) down the creek. All I have to say is...beautiful.

j<><

Even superheroes can feel the pain of being over 40

Life imitates art...or is it the other way around? One thing is for sure, I can truly resonate with Captain America on this one because, some days, I am one tired avenger.
j<><

Sundays be for high flyin' kites

Today was one of those warm blustery days perfect for kite flying with the kidlings...

Here's Little Jon flying the "Bob-Bob-Pants"* kite.

*Jon-speak for Sponge Bob Squarepants.

Sam is contemplating the aerodynamics of spiderman as he readies his kite for action.

Here is Cami sporting the new spring line for exquisite high kite flying fashion. Tie-dye and visors are a definite "in" for this season.

Calla [not pictured] made vain attempts to fly her fancy new butterfly kite, but to no avail, it wouldn't cooperate. But that did not deter her from pulling a "Charlie Brown" by landing her small kite up the tree you see in Jon's picture. More later...

Hello World!

Yes, friends, it is about time that the simmons fam enter into the virtual cyberworld of blogging.
Here's a current pic of the fam with names...just in case you forgot.