March 2018

The biggest news to come out of March is that Stephen accepted a job at the University of Washington-Bothell, so we are moving to just north of Seattle this summer!

March 15, beautiful snow!

My favorite toothless boy

Trevor and Lincoln can really get on each other's nerves sometimes; it's always nice to see them doing things kindly together!

I love all my children so much, but I really, really love them when they are snuggled up, asleep in my arms

Our traditional awful picture of the birthday child with birthday donuts--Sammy is 12!

Camping! The boys are working with their Boy Scout troop on getting their camping merit badge (20 nights of camping) and a camping certificate, which is at least one overnight camping trip for 12 consecutive months. March was campout #5.

My beautiful Ezra

Braces on...

Braces off!! Elise has spent over half of her life with some sort of orthodontia. She is excited to be free!

I've been wearing Ezra often, because he always gets fussy right at dinner time (my mom always called it "the witching hour"). Here Ruthie is wearing her bison, Olivia.

No babies will fall off of the bed with big brothers on the scene!

Try as I might to provide Sable with a sanctuary from the chaos, Ezra still manages to slip in occasionally. Sable is an angel dog!

3 days after Sammy turned 12 he, Elise, Mason, and Stephen met up with Grandma & Grandpa Jones at the Fort Collins temple to do baptisms!

Sammy, learning the proper angle for selfies from a pro.

Sammy also turned 12 just in time to get to go to the Priesthood session of Conference with the big boys. Mason concentrates better when his hands are busy.

We had the house painted, and our painter left his ladder here when he wasn't working. Stephen took advantage of that ladder to get some jobs done...dusting the fan (30' up) & changing lightbulbs were at the top of the list. I'm just glad he wasn't using his other...more creative...ladder extenders.

Trevor, hard at work

My niece, Emmalee (who is camera shy) came for a quick weekend visit from BYU-Idaho

I absolutely love this picture--it captures a side of Ruthie that the camera doesn't often see, but the family does. :)

Twinners!

Elise has her besties over for homemade pizzas and movie night. Leaving these friends is going to be so, so hard.

As Ruthie gets older and is talking more (happy day!!) she and Trevor actually play together. I love seeing them love each other. 

Bath time in the sink!

As a surprise, Sammy cleaned the entire kitchen--it's so wonderful when the kids get old enough to actually be helpful!

New goal

Last fall we started a new tradition: letters to family on Sunday. Actually, if I think about it, writing letters (actual letters that go through snail mail) on Sundays dates back to when my older brother, Trevor, and Stephen's younger brother, Daniel, were on their missions. Soon after Stephen got home from his mission we discovered that we both had brothers on missions that we wrote to, so we started writing to them together on Sunday evenings. (I should add that I, at least, became much more regular about writing!) Fast forward 17 years and the tradition was resurrected.

Almost every Sunday we gather around the table and write. Some of us (ahem, Mason) take longer than the others, and Trevor and Lincoln get tired quickly, so just write a few sentences. Once we even made water color cards! The kids grumbled at first, but that all changed with the first response letter--who knew that people write back?? Apparently not my kids! Total game changer!

Anyhow, my purpose in sharing this is that I actually do have time set aside every Sunday to do stuff like...wait for it...update my blog! So that's my new goal. I can't be profound, clever or witty every week, but I can, at the very least, post some captioned pictures. I can totally do that. I can. Eventually I'll get all caught up from the last (cough, cough) 20 months, but I shouldn't let the fact that I am soooooo far behind keep me from posting current events, amiright?

October 2016

For FHE one night, we recreated the Nephite empire with blocks and beanie babies. 

Trevor turned 5!

We canned lots and lots of applesauce to go with the peaches, pears and corn.

Picking out a pumpkin. At Walmart. Because we are that awesome.

God's gift to women (he just went along with what I said he should be), a ghost, half evil/half beauty queen, lion, knight. Money spent: $0.

His school Halloween costume. Isn't he cute?!

Our rooster, Rusty, proved his worth yet again. His loyalty saved the rest of the flock, and we will sorely miss him. We have two  cockerels in our younger flock who will hopefully grow into wonderful protectors. RIP Rusty, we'll miss you.

(Side note: I finally got the 22 unlocked, but took no pleasure in killing the fox.)

I learned how to make apple cider vinegar! It's come in super handy in the care of animals.

Just another day--June 6, 2017

Stephen left this morning for a quick work trip back to Minneapolis, leaving me solo with all 7 kids. Everything was going fine (thanks to awesome friends at church) until I started feeling not so great. Like I stayed in bed all afternoon until I remembered the miracle that is ibuprofen. Anyhow, Elise took care of the little kids while I rested, but also while I rested I had a chance to talk with almost all of them.

Elise brought me lunch and we talked about summer plans--things she wants to do and things I want her to do. Trevor came in after playing in the water and told me all about it (until I realized that he wasn't wearing anything under his towel!). Lincoln talked with me about today's primary class--he loves to talk. We all read scriptures and prayed together. I "tucked in" Lincoln and Trevor from my rocking chair, first praying with them, then rubbing their backs while they stood next to me, leaning against my shoulder while I sang "Army of Helaman". They asked what the song meant, so I reminded them of the story and how the song reminds of to be obedient and faithful to what is right.

Ezra has been fussy tonight, so Elise and I took turns helping him, but finally, finally he slept during scriptures. I tucked Ruthie in, reading a book, singing "I'm Trying to be like Jesus" and kneeling by her little bed and praying with her.

The table is covered in breakfast, lunch and dinner mess, the sink is full of dirty dishes, the dishwasher full of clean dishes. But as my mom's poem (which Ruthie has me read every time I put her to bed) says,

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow...
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep...
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

Tired

For the last 3 or 4 weeks I haven't been sleeping well. I'll get a few good hours in, right at first, and then wake up, gasping for air or just wide awake. I can't get comfortable and feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen. So I sit up in bed, or more often go to the couch, and sit and sit and sit, waiting to go to sleep again. It's not that I'm not tired, I just can't go to sleep. It's miserable.

My doctor told me to take a sleep aid, but so far that hasn't helped at all--it's not going to sleep that is the problem, it's staying that way beyond a few hours. I've started exercising, hoping to help my heart not race so frequently, and maybe help me sleep better, but nothing has helped so far. We're getting a new mattress next week, so hopefully that will help...I just don't know. I'm just so tired.

But for now, I wake up tired, go through the day tired and go to bed tired. I"m even tired when I wake up in the middle of the night, over and over. The combination of tired and pregnant lead me to cry. All. The. Time. There's no telling when I'll start crying--someone is nice to me, someone is grumpy to me, I remember tomorrow is the 2nd anniversary of Mom's passing, I talk to my doctor, a song comes on the radio, something in a book stands out to me....I am glad, however, that I get sad instead of mad. I hate being mad even more than I hate being sad.

Stephen and the kids are great--they really take care of things when I'm out of commission. Doing the dishes, preparing meals, reading to the younger kids, tidying up, running errands, taking care of the animals, making me laugh...I am very blessed!!

Eventually I'll sleep again, and hopefully not remember these few weeks of fatigue...most likely just in time to welcome the newest Jones to the family and not sleep all over again!

An October update, or, the Cuteness of Ruthie

First off, a health update (mine). After weeks and weeks (and weeks) of lying in bed, hardly able to function, I had my blood tested and discovered my thyroid is under producing (hypothyroidism). It was so wonderful to have a reason for my constant fatigue and inability to accomplish anything. I've been on a medication for it for the last six weeks, and it has made a world of difference to me. I've been able to make bread, granola and yogurt again, as well as perform basic household duties like making dinner and doing the dishes. Heck, I even cleaned my room! We go in on November 18th for the ultrasound--most of us think this baby is a girl.

Here's some fun pictures from the last month...

The story is that my Grandma Lagerstedt made this dress for my own mom when she was a little girl. It fits Ruth perfectly, and she loves wearing her black shoes with it. Actually, she loves wearing ANY shoes at ANY time. It just happens that I hid her shoes that don't match. :) I'm sneaky like that.

Enjoying a daddy daughter date to Dracula, the ballet.

Helping make/eat granola. I finally found a granola recipe that I love, and it with homemade yogurt (which I also made this day) and frozen fruit is a favorite snack/breakfast at our house.

Helping with bread (I was having a really good day!)

Time for bed--all aboard the Daddy express!

Ruthie insisted on carrying the egg basket all by herself. Miraculously, there was only one casualty.

Going for a horsey ride--this little girl pretty much gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it. I don't know how long Sammy was trotting around the house with her like this!

 

The littlest DJ

A girl and her dog--our Sable is a pretty amazing dog!

Sammy and Lincoln have really been enjoying going to the Montessori school part time, but some days I just keep them home. On this particular day I kept them home because Lincoln was starting to act up and not be kind to Trevor. I decided we needed some good time to be together. This is how they spent much of the 2 days home together.

Helping in the kitchen

One of our foster cats, Elaine, sleeps in the funniest positions.

Sundays are our favorite days because we are all home together. It's especially nice to have Elise home as she is gone all day every other day. The boys love to play with her, and she loves them dearly, too!

Having animals has been so wonderful for our family--the kids learn gentleness brings great rewards when the kittens choose to come to them and snuggle. Our animals are also great for reducing stress--who can stay angry while taking the dog for a run up the hill or petting a purring kitten? None of us!

Our family helped clean up a section of the road adopted by UWyo's College of Business. The little boys and I made it about a quarter mile before their complaining got to me and we turned back to the car. I have to admit, the ups and downs and squatting to pick up trash were beginning to get to me, too. And I was packing Ruth on my back...this was one of the first indications that my thyroid meds were kicking in--I couldn't have done this a week prior!

Mom always loved flowers--I have great memories of hiking at Iron Mountain, collecting wild flowers and pressing them. This press is one that we used to use--I think it was made by one of my brothers in Scouts when Mom was a leader. It was fun to pass on the tradition to the next generation.

One of our favorite Family Home Evening lessons is on the law of the harvest--what you sow, you reap. This year the big kids got involved by "planting" fruits and vegetables where they didn't belong--an apple hanging on a bean vine, a pear in the corn, a cucumber in the cherry tree, a tomato with the (dead) watermelon plants, etc. The little boys loved it!

How we watched the General Women's Conference. Another day I could hardly get out of bed. :/

Ruthie has discovered how wonderful books are. She doesn't usually like us to read every page, but does love being read to...just on her own terms. Which totally describes this child! Currently she has 4 favorite blankets. At bedtime they must be placed on her in the correct order. At least I don't worry about her getting cold!

Mason puts sticky notes on his computer to remind him to get certain things done before he starts coding. 

We went ice skating with a homeschool group in Cheyenne. I tell you what, it's hard to break into an established group! It was really fun to be out on the ice again, tho. We've missed our Minnesota park rinks.