First Day of School Part 2

Anna is now officially a Kindergartener. She has been very excited about starting school all week, so off she went with anticipation this morning. This afternoon, after school, she said it was boring.... but she seemed rather excited about it either way :) And here she is all dolled up and ready for her first day of school!

Cough cough, sniff sniff....

Well - we managed to come back from Idaho with a few colds... Anna was coughing, but I think that was the dryness more than anything else. I thought Colorado was dry... Utah and Idaho are much worse. It was actually a relief to get back to CO. We have also had a cool summer here, so it was nice to get back to that too. Dan had Tuesday off, so we spent that day un-packing, and doing laundry and settling back in. Wednesday and Thursday I moped around the house while the kids went stir crazy and got into everything. Dan took Friday off to let me try and get some rest and try and shake the cold that has been hanging on for more than a week now. I finally gave up and made an appointment with the doctor... I just hope he can do something about this... I can't take another week of this!! Evie and Aaron have had some runny and stuff noses, but theirs seem to be clearing up, while mine just seems determined to hang around and make itself comfy.

Saturday morning we got to pick up the fruit we ordered from Bithell Farms. We ordered fruit from them 2 years ago and made lots of yummy home made jam with it, but we have run out and so Becky came up last night to help us make jam. We did a few batches last night and a few more tonight. Hopefully we will be able to finish it off tomorrow. I've been eating the foam we scrape off the top on everything I can find, there is just nothing quite like homemade jam on homemade bread... mmmmmmm. The best part is - that this year we ordered purees - which comes already ready (and de-seeded) to make into jam - so most of the hard part is already done! :)

Back to School - Part 1

Well Eileen started school this week. She started at the Quest Academy - and she is missing her old friends - but slowly making new friends. Anna won't start until next Monday, but she did get to go in and meet her teacher and see her class room this week. So here is my beautiful girl, all dolled up for her first day of school - Mommy was sick in bed still, but got up long enough to take a picture, and give lots of hugs and reassurances. Then Dan drove her to school. Good luck big girl first grader!! We LOVE you!

Back Home

Last Monday we left the wonderful hospitality of Paul and Candace for Idaho and Grandma and Grandpa Jones' house. We arrived in the afternoon - tired and ready to be out of the car, but happy to be with Grandpa and Grandma. Eileen quickly ran for the back yard to check out Grandpa and Grandma's new play house and swing set - in testament to the spotless house that Grandma keeps - she ran promptly into the transparent back door. Haha - she's never seen glass so clean! Thankfully that didn't dampen her excitement.

We got the girls hair cut - Eileen and Anna have been asking for shorter hair for awhile now - and so Grandma called a lady in her ward and let up a time for them to get their hair cut. I told them that they could have it cut however they wanted - they both look adorable!

The kids had a blast running around with cousins, playing with Grandma and Grandpa, going swimming and running around outside. Mommy and Grandma had fun sewing, and choosing out the fabric for Evie's quilt.
On Thursday more cousins started to arrive. Steve and Claire showed up and Eileen loved having an older girl cousin to play with - she and Elise got along wonderfully.

On Friday, the rest of the gang arrived - Paul and Candace, John and Melissa and Dave and Stephanie all showed up with their kids in tow and best of all - Dan got in from Florida. We all got together for a wonderful hamburger dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids all had fun running amok and playing together and even doing a bit of eating. It's amazing that SO many kids and people can get together and still have so few traumatic situations. I was excited to meet Stephanie finally - she's awesome - she fits right in with this crazy bunch!


Saturday we headed up to the cabin - but it wasn't "ready" for us - so we spent the morning and afternoon down playing in the river. The water was FREEZING for those of us spoiled by Texas water and weather - but it was a beautiful spot. The kids all had tons of fun - Eileen and Anna (and some of the other younger kids) were a bit scared by the current. Evie with lack of nap time and too much play, got a bit cranky at the end. Finally we were able to head over and settle in. We had a yummy dinner, played some games, put the kids to bed, played more games and crashed hard for the night.
Sunday we went to church near by and doubled the size of their nursery and primary. Then came back for an afternoon of crafts, and games and relaxing. The kids (and some adults) got their faces painted by some of the older girls - LOL - some of the paint really didn't want to come off though.... We had a family home evening together that night and had fun singing and learning together.

Monday morning, we loaded up the car with kids and stuff and hit the road for the long trip ahead. The car trip was uneventful and late that night we arrived back in Colorado and quickly went to bed.

On The Road Again

Monday and Tuesday this week were filled up with getting ready to leave again. We returned library books, ate lots of leftover food and stocked up on snack food for the car. Wednesday Dan took off for Florida and the kids and I packed the car (VERY poorly....) and took off for Colorado. The trip was a familiar one to me - having made it many times in college to visit my grandparents. It was also short after our trip down to Texas. We passed the hospital where Eileen was born and I pointed it out to the kids - Eileen thought that was really interesting and said "I guess I was born here - that's the hospital i was born at mommy said!" We arrived that evening before bed time and made ourselves at home with Paul and Candace. We have had a wonderful few days with them - playing at the park, playing outside in the sand box and just wreaking general mayhem - which was copious with 9 kids under one roof! The kids all had a blast playing with cousins. Aaron loved having boys around - and Cannon and Christian were great at playing with a boy many years younger than they are. Bianca, who is 11, is vying hard for position of favorite cousin with Evie and has spent lots of time holding her, playing with her and spoiling her! I promise i took pictures, but I'm too lazy right now to go get the camera. :) This evening we had a surprise visit from Logan and Ashley and family. (Candace's brother) I haven't seen them since we moved out of Utah - so it was fun to see them and meet their kids. They were as surprised to see us as we were to see them! But throwing 2 more kids into the mix could hardly increase the amount of craziness! Friday, I met up with a friend from college and we had fun playing and chatting. It's been a fun and busy week - and the kids are all tired! The girls kept wanting to stay up late the first couple of nights and play with their cousins, but now they can barely stay awake until bed time! Tomorrow we take off for Idaho and Grandpa and Grandma's house!

Another Week in Paradise... sorta

Well after the last few weeks of big events happening and big stuff to announce and fun stuff - this week seems downright normal and boring. But sometimes normal and boring is good. We spent most of the week being lazy. A couple of the highlights....

Tuesday was a free day at the Denver Botanical Gardens - so we met some friends there and walked around and played for a bit and had lunch there. It was nice, but a bit hot. They had a water play area for the kids - which they loved and mostly soaked themselves in, while I roasted... After, mommy (and the kids too for that matter) were just plain tired - so we rested and took it easy all afternoon.

Thursday morning we went to the library. The idea was to return the book and then just look at books - not check any out since we leave next week. However I am a sucker when it comes to my kids reading. So they ended up checking out a couple books anyway. Eileen had finished one of her Magic Tree House Books by one o'clock that afternoon. Then we went home, had lunch and waited eagerly for our friends to come. Becky came by with Adena and Zoe and we had fun playing and talking. Then Becky and Adena went home and Zoe spent the night. She is such a well behaved girl and she and Eileen get along so well together - you hardly even notice there is an extra person in the house.

The kids opened up the dress up trunk and have had a lot of fun this week dressing up and having their pictures taken. Then they would walk around playing games and chasing each other. It's so fun to watch them use their imaginations!

Friday night Dan took me out for our Anniversary - it isn't until August 2nd - but we will be in different states on the day of. We went to the Melting Pot - I mean honestly - cheese, chocolate - what more could a person ask for! It was my first time and I thoroughly enjoyed it - I think one of my favorite foods in all the world is a good chocolate covered strawberry! After dinner, we went to see the final Harry Potter movie. Loved it - of course - now I need to go back and read them again.... :)

Stories from Church

We had a couple of those priceless stories yesterday at church - not the "AWWWW how sweet" priceless kind - the "I'm gonna blackmail you with these stories" kind :)

I took Aaron in to go to the bathroom at the end of church, he is usually pretty good - and generally won't let me near him when he's going potty. So I was waiting outside the stall when I hear what sounds a lot like liquid splattering on the floor. I quickly open the door. He is sitting on the toilet happy as a clam, and on the floor near the toilet is a slightly yellow-ish puddle. I ask him "Aaron - what is that - is that pee-pee? He doesn't answer (which is his usual reaction when he doesn't like the answer he would have to give.) "Aaron - was that you - did you do that?" He looks at me and says "No - it was my peanut!"

I was sitting in Relief Society enjoying a lovely lesson when the door opens and i auto check to see if it is about one of mine. It is - my oldest is outside crying like she has suffered a mortal wound. I hurry outside, full of concern, to see what is wrong. I hold her and ask what happened. "Anna ripped my band-aid!!!" I ask "What? This is about a ripped band-aid???" She sat crying inconsolably for another 5 minutes with me getting less and less patient the whole time. I asked her if she was hurt, she said no. I asked her if she had lost something or someone really special, she said no. Then I told her that she was letting herself get really upset over something that wasn't really important. I told her that there are times when it's ok to be upset - but that ripped band-aids aren't worth the effort. She continued to cry and gasp and pant how upset she was. I finally made her look me in the face and said - "Eileen I don't really have any sympathy for you - this isn't worth getting upset over - you need to calm yourself down now" We took deep breaths together and I sent her back in. I talked to her teacher after church who had fortunately found the whole thing rather amusing. After I had sent Eileen back in - Eileen had apparently turned to her teacher and said "Sister Boyer, why doesn't my mom have any sympathy for me???" Sister Boyer had a very hard time not laughing.

SOLD!!

Well, we did it, we are officially rid of our house. Friday we signed all the papers and closed on our Texas house.

Other than that, we had a fun week - We went to the library - Eileen devours books, so we were hoping to keep her happy for a week or so. But we had a good time - this library is a lot smaller than the Frisco one, and has late fees, so we don't go as often as we used to, but still, it was nice.

Thursday we went to a Rockie's Game with a bunch of people from Dan's work. It was a lot of fun! The kids loved the fun and the atmosphere and the treat of getting to do something different. They didn't really get the game - but the Rockies were doing well (we left after the 5th inning to get the kids to bed) but they ended up winning and it's always fun when you get to cheer because they are doing well. :) So here's a big THANK YOU!!! To Dan's boss who set this all up for us, and even got the kids little souvenir Rockies balls! GO ROCKIES! It had been raining all day and amazingly it cleared up just as we parked and walked over - so it was perfect weather - not too hot and not too cold and not too wet!

Saturday was cleaning and errands day - but the kids loved it, because Dan took them with him to Walmart and let them spend their chore money (lot of coloring books) and Anna used a gift card she got for her birthday to get some dolls that she has played with non-stop ever since - THANK YOU TOLBERTS!!!

Home Again

We made it in safely late Monday night - and even got to enjoy fireworks for the last hour or so of the drive. It was a fairly enjoyable drive (more for me than for Dan since he drove) The kids were mostly very well behaved, and I got a lot accomplished - I promise I will show pictures once it's done - and it's getting close now which is exciting!

This week has been busy with re-adjusting and getting back to normal. On Tuesday my Grandpa came over and kept the kids busy all morning so I could get the car cleaned out, bags unpacked, laundry done, and stuff like that. All in all, it was a very productive day - so much so that I spent the next 2 days recovering :P


Thursday the kids were going stir crazy so we went to the park - and managed to stay long enough to have some fun before the sprinkling started. Most of the week has been sunny and beautiful in the morning and then turns to drizzly and stormy in the late afternoon and evening.

Eileen has been going through books like a starving man goes through food, so on Friday we tried to make a library trip to feed her insatiable appetite, but apparently the library is closed on Fridays.... oh well - we'll try again on Tuesday or Wednesday or when ever we get a break.


Saturday we cleaned the car and then spent most of the afternoon at the Bessendorfers. The girls just LOVE playing with Zoe and they had a little pool set up in the back yard which the kids just loved. We all enjoyed a super yummy lunch and great company. The kids all came home nice and exhausted so they went to bed a bit early and easily (YEY!!!)

Some exciting bits of news for our little family:

- First of all - we are expecting another little Jones - I join the ranks of pregnant Jones women again (and as usual, I'm not alone!) The due date looks to be mid-January ish....

- Second - we are under contract on our house and the closing date has been set for Thursday - the people buying the house are pre-qualified and all that is left now is for stuff to happen. At the risk of getting too confident - this is FINALLY looking like it will work - pray for us and keep fingers and toes crossed.

Ready to go Home

Well it has been a long, fun and exhausting week! We spent a couple days out on the boat and the days between 'recovering' but since the kids would sit at the window and say stuff like "It's a really nice day out mommy" (which means 'lets go swimming' in Anna-talk) recovering usually included afternoons spent in the pool. The kids have all had a blast and are already looking forward to a visit next year and already missing the friends they leave behind. Despite all this, we are all looking forward to getting home. Dan and I miss our bed as usual, Eileen says she is used to sleeping in her sleeping bag and will continue to do so at home, but we'll see... :) Evie is the most ready to get home as she has achieved a state of perma-cranky (defined as the state a child gets into when they have been gone from home too long and spend every waking minute wanting to be held) Perma Cranky state is only interrupted for eating. So tonight, we pack and get ready for the long trip home.

Monday was Anna's Birthday and involved a couple friends coming over to eat and swim. Anna loved it! Especially her all pink cake with yellow frosting....


We had a blast out on the boat, and on Friday, we took Dan's friend Chuck and his son Sam. The kids had a great time with them and Dan and I had fun showing off our mad wakeboarding skills..... well - maybe that was just Dan - I just had fun wakeboarding.


The older girls, and mommy and grandma all went out for manis and pedis on Tuesday - it was a nice morning of relaxing and pampering and the girls just LOVED it. Well, Momma and Grandma might have enjoyed it a bit too.... :)



Wednesday the adults went to Medieval Times and had fun eating good food and cheering on the yellow knight, who didn't win... but oh well!


Now it's time to pack up and head home. And believe it or not - the kids are still excited to watch the same barbie movies over and over again... here's hoping it lasts for all 16 hours. :)

Happy Birthday Anna

I can't believe my little girl is 5 now - the last year has seen her grow up a LOT. With Eileen at school for much of the day she has really stepped up into a responsible big sister in many ways. She is so helpful around the house. She is getting much easier to understand and picks things up so quickly. She is so creative - she comes up with creative solutions to things that are bothering her all the time. She is patient (generally) with her little sister and good at playing with her.

Warm Texas Welcome

Well we have had a hot and busy week. Texas is showing us summer in true southern style - hot and muggy. But also in true southern style we have been welcomed back to our old stomping grounds with open arms.

Monday we went and played with the Tolberts, and had a great time. It was just like getting back to normal routines. The kids ran amok upstairs with the toys and we sat downstairs working on crafts and talking. I love my husband - he is an amazing man and an amazing listener - but nothing quite replaces the friendship of other women. And there are some women that I really missed leaving here.

Tuesday we spent swimming in the pool and playing around the house.

Wednesday we went out on the boat. The kids had a blast going on rides in the tube with mommy and playing in the water. Mommy and Grandpa had fun wakeboarding - but both found to our chagrin that we are out of shape and tired quickly! Evie didn't much like the loud noises of the boat and spent the whole time either snuggled up to mommy or snuggled up to grandma. She wanted to get in the tube when she saw me out there with her siblings, but once out there she was eager to get back in the boat - with mommy of course.


Thursday, we headed down to the Dallas Zoo. We started off with a carousel ride and even Evie liked it - all the other kids at this age hated the carousel - but she loved it and said 'wheeeee' over and over. We strolled around the zoo seeing the animals, watching the new bird show and feeding the birds, riding the monorail, eating lunch and looking at butterflies. Evie loved anything to do with birds and spent most of the day yelling "BIRDIE!!!" When feeding the birds, she really wanted to see them and touch them - but as soon as they came near her she would panic and run away. At one point I was holding her and one landed on me and she panicked! Eileen couldn't get enough of the birds and didn't want to leave. All 3 older kids got to hold the birds and feed them. Even Aaron loved it! After a hot and long morning, we all went home and took long naps.
Friday was another fun day with friends. The Tolberts came over and swam with us and had lunch, we had a fun morning and as usual, we were all exhausted come nap time.

Saturday we drove down to Dallas Fair Park. We visited the aquarium there and played in the fountain for a bit. The kids loved the aquarium - They got to pet some horseshoe crabs and see sharks and eels and piranhas. Evie walked all over the place shouting "FISHIE!!" and squealing excitedly. By Saturday afternoon we were all waiting anxiously for Dan to get in. But his flight kept getting postponed. He finally got in nearly 4 hours after the scheduled time. In the mean time, the kids and I kept our dinner date with the Tiltons and loved spending time with friends. The kids had a blast and didn't want to leave and I enjoyed the time with Megan. We probably would have stayed later than we already did if we didn't have a daddy to get home to.

We went to church up in our old ward today. It was nice seeing everyone again and catching up on the news - lol - lots of new babies born or on the way. It's such a great and friendly ward and it was so funny to see people look at us - and then take a minute to realize that it's unusual for us to be there now. In a lot of ways it still feels like coming home.

Texas or Bust

LOL - well here's the promised picture of my Grandpa and the girls all dolled up for the Grandpa-Granddaughter dance at his church. Look at those beautiful girls and that handsome Grandpa of mine!

We spent Monday and Tuesday of this week up at the cabin - we had a great time hiking, playing in the dirt and picking dandelions. I was amazed at how well Evie did with the hiking - she walked most of the time all by herself and only wanted to be carried when Sophie and Mocha (Frank and Tina's dogs) ran near her. It was a nice couple of days - the weather was just beautiful and perfect for being outside.

Wednesday we headed back to town in the morning so i could get laundry and packing done to leave Thursday morning. Thursday morning we were on the road by about 8:30am and on our way to Texas. We stopped in a little no-gas-station town (at least not that I could find!) and found a park to eat lunch at. We made a bathroom stop or two and a dinner stop - but otherwise we just kept driving and finally arrived around midnight our time (or 1am Texas time) We quickly passed out from a long and tiring day of sitting in a car.... :)

We have spent the last couple days getting settled in. We have swam in the pool a couple times, went to the lego store at the mall and gotten me a couple pairs of capris - since all mine have mysteriously vanished.... :( I was able to find a couple pairs that i like though, and even managed to get them all on big sale - 50% or more off! We are looking forward to a week of fun next week too - and hopefully i will be able to figure out how to get the pictures onto my parents computer so that I can put some here for you....

Where did the kids go!?!?!

Well - I have a couple pictures for ya - but not a whole lot.... mostly because my plans for the week went a bit awry... I had signed the kids up for swim lessons, and had planned on lots of fun swimming pictures... well when i showed up at the pool on Monday morning.... the only person there was another person looking for lessons - the pool was totally barren. The other lady and I checked the times and date, tried calling the pool and could figure out NO reason why we had been stood up. We called and left messages, but received no answer - to this day - nearly a week later - I have not received an answer to my calls and messages. So swim lessons were a bust - as you can imagine - the kids were rather disappointed.... didn't really think you wanted pictures of grumpy kids sitting on concrete....


Tuesday we went to the park in the morning, then that afternoon, my aunt Tina picked the kids up for a sleep over at their house that night so Dan and I could go out. We went out to see the new X-Men movie, then for dinner (we had a late lunch and weren't hungry before). The kids had a great time and slept out in a tent that night. The next day Tina called and asked if the kids could stay a bit longer. They ended up staying most of the week. Dan and I went up for dinner on Thursday so Dan could say goodbye to them, then on Friday, I went up and picked up Aaron and Evie. Eileen and Anna stayed one more night with Frank and Tina - then on Saturday night they went on a Great Grandpa-Great Granddaughter date with Great Grandpa Francone. His church was putting on a Daddy-Daughter dance. The girls got to dress up, put on jewelery, got corsages, roses, and went to a banquet and dance with Grandpa, Uncle Stuart and Cousin Lucy. They had a wonderful time - They told me all about the dancing, the food, the chocolate fountain (yum...) and other small incidents like not being able to find the water fountain and going to the bathroom.... But they had a marvelous time - then they spent the night with Grandpa. The next morning - I picked up two very excited girls and we all went to church. Grandpa took a bunch of pictures - but I haven't managed to get copies yet....

Church was an adventure - as it usually is with Dan gone - thankfully our ward is forgiving and patient with my crazy kids..... Especially Evie when she realizes I'm not in nursery with her. The kids spent the afternoon "making stuff for Daddy" - but I'm not going to give details in case he is reading this. :) Now begins the insanity....

I've Got Music

Music is a big part of life in our home. The kids run around the house all day singing songs. Generally it starts out as a song they they know from somewhere - movies, church, kids CD's, me, stuff like that - then the song slowly morphs into a whole different creature about whatever they see and are doing at the moment. Eileen is taking piano lessons right now and as a result, she also spends a fair amount of time playing the piano, which has inspired me to spend more time playing the piano. Plus she has decided that she is going to teach Anna how to play also - so Anna spends a lot of time playing the piano now too. Even Evie often walks around the house clapping at me and yelling "CLAP CLAP" trying to get me to sing 'If you're happy and you know it'

This week has been even more full of music for me than the normal. I had my normal rehearsal on Wednesday, and then 2 concerts this weekend. I love to sing. I love music in most of it's varieties and any opportunity to sing is welcomed. So a chance to spend my weekend singing music from some of my FAVORITE Broadway musicals was an exciting opportunity - especially since it's out of the norm for me. Broadway isn't usually in my performing repertoire. But I love it all the same.

My Dad just happened to be driving through Colorado on the night of my first concert - so he stayed the night at Casa de Jones and came to my concert along with Frank, Tina, Frankie and a friend of theirs. The whole evening was a lot of fun - I sang "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady as a solo and I believe it went well. For the second concert - I got to sing to the man at who's house I was first really introduced to musicals. My Grandpa came on Saturday and as I was singing and listening to other solos, a whole flood of memories of watching musicals like "The Sound of Music" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" at my Grandparents house each summer came back to me. In so many ways - my grandparent's love of music shaped my own - which is in turn shaping my children's.

We also got to have Zoe come and spend the night - She and Eileen were thick as thieves all day and night - Anna was not feeling up to par - but they all have lots of fun together. Zoe is usually not even out the door before Eileen is asking when she can sleep over again.

As I was on my way to my second concert, I was flipping through radio stations and caught part of an interview with a man who was talking about how so often in today's society, guys aren't taught to be Men. He talked about how many of society's problems would be solved if guys were all taught by their fathers how to be men - real men - manhood as defined by our Savior. As I listened to the interview, I reflected on how grateful I am to have real Men in my life. Men who follow Christ's example, men who are responsible, caring, honest, kind, (this list could go on all night) I am so grateful to be married to such a man - and the father who raised him. I am grateful that I have uncles and a father and grandfather who are all real men. I realize it's a bit early for Fathers Day - but I don't know of a more fitting tribute - and I am truly blessed.

LOL - sorry no pics this week. :) I promise more next week :P