We begin this random photo post with Lincoln and his good friend Johanna K. We've done a babysitting swap with the K family ever since we moved here. These two have grown up together!
Lincoln as a trumpet player (notice the rules above him on the wall - those are his creation), and Sammy as a "hippy-freak-nerd". Don't ask...I have no idea!
Gene and Ann really wanted a family photo of us in our Jones Family t-shirts. We finally got one at a Pack Meeting...
On the way to Oregon! What would we have done without our electronic devices??
Cookies and the sibling train. Goofballs!
Aunty M and Darci & co came to visit! We just live an hour apart, so this is the family I see most often. :)
And she looks healthy and like she might be a thumb sucker. :)
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When I was a kid, I remember having my little brothers pray with me and encouraging them to say two new things in every prayer they said. I never dreamed that one day my kids' prayers would include:
"Please bless A that her cancer counts can go down. Please bless B that he can be kind and helpful and do what he knows he should. Please bless C that the doctors can fix the hole in her heart. Please bless D that her kidneys can start to work again."
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While Stephen was away for 5 days at a conference, Sammy took over the "camel" duty. Every evening after family prayer he would give the little boys a camel ride in to bed. This is also my boy who asked me the other day, "What would you do without Daddy?" I replied that I honestly didn't know. He said, "I would do the things that Daddy does to help you out." What a sweetie!
A few weeks ago Elise and some of her classmates performed at a Mexican restaurant to help raise money for an orphanage in Mexico. They warmed up in the arcade...
We spend about an hour with a fire fighter touring the truck and asking questions that he had never heard before. People who take the time to answer our questions are gems in our homeschooling world!
Mason and Sammy finished up a fun summer playing soccer--Sammy especially loved it, and now has dreams of going to the World Cup (we watched a good bit of soccer this summer...).
We dogsat a friend's dog for a couple of weeks--what an angel dog! I think I could handle having a dog like Cooper! Trevor (and Lincoln) took great pride in taking him on walks.
Trevor stole Sammy's glasses...
What to do when it dumps buckets of water from the sky? PLAY TIME!!
Our original reason for going to Oregon for the summer was to take care of my mom, but just like homeschooling, once we got there there were so many other awesome reasons to be there--in fact, I wondered why we hadn't gone back every summer!
My favorite store (possibly of all time) is Winco. I'm a Winco stalker. The first thing I did by myself after we had arrived in Oregon was to go to Winco. And I took pictures. Behold the beauty of a real bulk foods section!
There are 4 or 5 of these 2-sided aisles plus walls lined with bins (and food-grade buckets to store things in). Winco has everything you could ever imagine wanting. Jelly beans, Swedish fish, 6 kinds of granola, wheat germ, oats, dried pineapple, nut mixes, baking soda, all sorts of pasta, bird seed, doggie treats...
And the spices! Who knew you could buy dried cilantro? Or pizza sauce mix?
Don't forget to grind your own almond butter and pick up different flavored honey or agave nectar! You can also buy the items in the bags they come in for an additional price cut. And I'm talking Bob's Red Mill whole wheat flour and Nestle chocolate chips--the good stuff!
Anyhow, I miss Winco. I'm grateful for Aldi, but Winco will always have my heart.
The other day Super-Mom had to make an appearance. The basement had gotten completely out of control, and I was afraid I was going to explode if I didn't make myself laugh first. So, I pulled out some capes...
...and started in the dreaded Lego bedroom. Meet the super-kids!
I am happy to report that no heads rolled, and we actually got a lot cleaned up. Thank goodness!
I'm getting the house ready to rent out over the summer, so have been going through the rooms with a heavy hand, throwing away junk (puzzles and games with missing pieces, old toys, dried play dough...) and organizing things that I really want to keep (drawings, etc.). I've taken bags and bags of things to the trash and recycling, and it feels so good! I don't know how we accumulate so much junk! The family room is (miraculously) not cluttered or messy. I feel pretty confident that it is at a point that it can stay that way, too! Hallelujah!
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I have learned two things over the last week:
1) While I love Ikea and love my children, I have decided that the combination of the two is simply too much of a good thing and I will try to avoid mixing them in the future. I'm sure Lincoln's 3-year-old fits were quite entertaining to all those around us, but they about did me in.
They look so sweet and innocent, right? (I actually took this picture in case I lost any of them--I never remember what they are wearing, so I thought showing someone a picture would be easiest.)
2) Next time I make play dough I'm going to make it the same color as my carpet. Blue on beige just doesn't work.
A month or so ago Trevor discovered the joys of kitchen stools. He has discovered my treat drawer (moved the chocolate chips), junk drawer (as if I didn't have enough rubber bands and screw drivers scattered around the house!), silverware drawer (watch out for forks on the stairs!) and general cluttered counters.
Last week he discovered that if he got a cup and moved the stool to the fridge he could make stuff come out. Fascinating things like ice cubes and water...past excitement has also included throwing gerbil food all over the kitchen, whacking Elise with a brush and me discovering him playing in the recycling and eating out of the garbage. Aah...18-month-olds are so much fun!
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Yesterday, while waiting for the sister missionaries to arrive for dinner, Mason, Sammy and Trevor were playing in the driveway with various bikes. I was rolling meatballs when Sammy came running in, "Trevor is hurt really bad!!" I called to Elise (who was already running from the front room) to run and grab him and to Mason to get a cold rag. Sammy told me the what happened as I cleaned and comforted my bloody baby...
Sam had been driving a little car they have and was going full speed when Trevor crossed in front of him. TD's feet were knocked out from under him and he fell on his face on the cement. Right about then the sisters arrived, so they went to work sweeping and setting the table. :) Trev just has a swollen gum and some road rash.
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In other fun catch-up news...
Trevor looooves the bathtub...and books. Why not combine two favorites?
He's also pretty into electronic devices. Notice the 2 iPods...
He's kinda into his tricycle right now, too. In fact, he brings me his shoes and coat many times throughout the day so that he can go play outside. Aren't those red Converse shoes awesome?!
A few days ago I got up early with Trevor (when will the child learn to sleep past 6:30 a.m.???) and was sitting in the rocking chair nursing him when Lincoln woke up. My sweet Lincoln pulled his chair over to my rocking chair and leaned his little head against my arm and started stroking Trevor's head. It made my heart happy to have my little boys snuggling up with me.
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One of the first things Mason did this morning was make clovers out of green paper for everyone to wear today. I pinned mine on my sweater and wore it to church, fielding many comments about it. In the car on the way home I told Mason about the comments, thinking he would be pleased that a) I wore it, and b) people noticed and liked it. His reply? "What's a shamrock?" I told him it was the green clover that he made me. His response cracked me up, "What clover?"
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Mason's Pinewood derby car is all finished--it's a police car (like Uncle Cookie's) with real flashing lights. He and Stephen have spent many a long hour working on schematics, trying the circuit on a breadboard, soldering the circuit together, cutting out the car (with a place for the circuit), sanding and painting the car and today adding the wheels. It's been a labor of love! Stephen said it was kind of strange to be the one doing the go-fer work, like stripping wires, while Mason put the circuit together. Stephen played an important supporting role, but Mason gets all the credit for making it all work!
Here it is in action!
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Sammy's birthday is in 10 days (he figured it out today) so Stephen and I asked him what he would like for his birthday. As is his custom, he took several minutes to think about it and then replied, "A bouncy ball." Several minutes later he piped up again, "Something remote-controlled." Again several more minutes passed by when he raised his hand (Stephen and I were planning our week) and requested a Nerf-type gun with bullets (as opposed to the ones he has found at the thrift store without bullets). He is so easy to please! We had fun looking on amazon and picking out just what he wanted. :) And I don't have to step foot in a store--yay!!
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I have my birthday present picked out for myself this year. Stephen is going to make me this:
Isn't it brilliant? I have just the spot for it in the family room. I don't think I've been so excited for my birthday in a long time!
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This next picture is just silly, but there was a picture of something that I've been wanting to post about...and not my silly girl (though she is pretty awesome!):
You'll have to click on the image to see it larger, but look just to the left of Elise's right hand. There is a piece of paper with a big black circle and the words "Black Holl baDge". A couple of months ago during a rough day when I was feeling under-appreciated Sammy and Elise each gave me one of these badges. They are awarded on Khan Academy for effort above and beyond the call of duty. They are extremely rare; I think only one of the kids has ever earned one. And I got 2 in one day! What sweet kids!
George (the she-gerbil) escaped again. This makes the 9th time. And Nancy has gotten out twice now (if you count this very moment). Guess where I found George this morning? If you guessed under my bed at 5 a.m., you would be right. Oh, how I hated to tell Stephen! He kind of hates the gerbils anyhow, but still the wonderful, wonderful man caught her--twice, since I dropped her when he handed her off. Oops.
You want to know what else? The lady at the pet store today told me I was lucky that she went under my bed and not out to the garage. Lucky?? A rodent is under my bed and I am lucky?!?!
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While sitting in the car with the babies while the older kids were in ballet the other day (big breath--that was a long introduction!), I realized that a part of me will miss car seats in a few years. It is nice to put the little ones somewhere and know that they can't get away.
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My dream house is going to have some white board walls. Then it will always be okay to draw on the walls. Doesn't that sound fun?
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Church callings aren't always about who will do the best job--sometimes they are about what a certain person needs to grow. We have the opportunity to let others learn on our time--just as we are learning on theirs. That thought helps me be a little kinder and more understanding, to my kids and to others around me.
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This last Monday was kind of a horrible day. The kind that makes me want to move to Australia. Someone was whining all day long. And I was grumpy and rushed and kept hurrying the kids from thing to thing. Tuesday was as good as Monday was bad. I'm pretty sure me getting up early and reading my scriptures and praying had something to do with it. I think the babies were as whiny as ever, but I was so much better equipped to handle it.
Also, we didn't go anywhere. It was wonderful. I had time to have bad, good and great moments with my kids--not just the bad hurry-get-in-the-car-I-TOLD-YOU-10-MINUTES-AGO-TO-GET-READY moments of rushed days. Wednesday, Thursday & Friday were also pretty awesome. Sometimes I need to scale back our activities so we can just be home together. And read my scriptures. And pray.
Mason is very quick to apologize. Sometimes he's so fast that you aren't through being upset with him before he says "sorry".
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Over the last couple of months I've turned the laundry over to Elise. She does a great job!
Saturday night I was downstairs and noticed that there were wet clothes in the dryer. I'd reminded Elise several times earlier in the day to be sure to start the dryer, so when I saw the wet clothes I sighed in aggravation and started to call to her in an annoyed voice. I checked myself, however, and scolded myself out loud for getting upset with my 10-year-old who does all the laundry. Still out loud, I said, "Elise is amazing. How can you get upset over something like this???"
I was glad I talked out loud to myself, because when I turned around Elise was standing there with her head hanging down. I apologized, gave her a hug and told her how wonderful she is. Because she is.
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Lincoln calls Sammy, "Mommy", so the other day when we were all hanging out in the living room together, I decided to try to teach him to say "Sammy".
Me: Can you say 'sssssssssssss' like a snake?
Lincoln: Ssssssssssssssssss
Me: Good! Try this 'Ssssssssssssss...ammy'
Lincoln: Ssssssssssssss...mommy'!
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Saturday I taught Elise how to make strawberry jam--and she did a batch all on her own! She was super proud of herself. At the same time (don't know what I was thinking!) I taught Mason how to make pizza/spaghetti/whatever sauce. I tell you what--fresh basil makes the sauce! Mason was really proud of himself, too.
I must say, I was quite proud of myself, too, because I was relaxed and even had fun through all the chaos! Dinner was a little late, but the trade off (of having fun together) was well worth it.
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Lately Sammy has been disappearing downstairs for hours at a time. When he comes upstairs he always has a new creation to show me. Yesterday he made a marble game out of recycling salvaged from our bin. He gave it to our neighbor for her third birthday.
Being sick and having to stay home from church results in my doing my family history...aka, blogging. This is the third Sunday in a row that my family hasn't been together at church! First Elise, Sammy & Lincoln had hand, foot & mouth. Stephen stayed home with them because I was playing organ that day. I left Trevor, too, because it is difficult to play the organ with a wiggly 7-month-old. Last Sunday Mason had hand, foot & mouth, so I stayed home with him and Trevor. Today I am sick, so kept the baby home with me. Yeeha.
Anyhoo, here's the fun we've been having!
We passed 100,000 miles on the van! It's all that driving to ballet and back...
I love walking in on scenes like this:
Here is my sweet baby Trevor! Yesterday we discovered that his two bottom middle teeth have come in! That explains the fussiness the last few days...
Sometimes I get preoccupied doing other things and so the 2-year-old has to step in and take care of other important responsibilities.
Lincoln is pretty sure that if he can't see me, I can't see him...with his binky in his mouth. Sometimes he walks through the kitchen covering his eyes so that I won't notice that he has his binky off of his bed.
Um...maybe I need to get some more boy dress up in our dress-up chest!
This kid is just CUTE!! His hair is getting so long that he has to brush it out of his eyes now. This morning Elise combed his hair and put a bobby pin in it to keep the hair away from his eyes. He wasn't very happy with me when I took it out. :) It curls so beautifully when it is humid out!
Meet Cassini, the spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn (notice Saturn on the table next to him? When the orange started to stink and drip juice I made him throw it out.). Mason is determined that he is going to create spacecraft using tinfoil and cardboard and then sell them based on their size. He has also made a model of the Messenger, the spacecraft orbiting Mercury. I'm not quite sure who is going to buy these incredible works of art...I'm not sure a "Spacecraft Stand" would do quite as well as a lemonade stand...but I did just buy him his own roll of tin foil, and you have never seen such a grateful boy!
He took off his front wheel after it finally popped...
And perhaps what makes me the most excited: He has discovered books! Not just product manuals, but STORY books! Hooray! He just finished "The Last Battle" in The Chronicles of Narnia.
