Jones Family

Water Balloon War

2011-07-27T15:39:00.001-07:00

My fingers hurt from filling 100+ water balloons, but my to hear their little laughs as they threw them, I would fill 1000 balloons.
We invited the neighborhood kids and had a blast!So much fun!

Ohio 2011 Day 1 & 2 (Detroit)

2011-07-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

Instead of our normal week long stay at a beach house, we had a "staycation" in Ohio. Kevin and Luke flew together and I took Hannah and Gavin on a red eye. They did really well, they are great little fliers. The Pittsburgh airport had a giant skeleton of a T-rex.
Joyce drove the 2 hours home and we slept like babies the whole way. We went swimming at Mamo J's pool and then went home to unpack and pack for our weekend trip. We drove to Detroit that night. In 24 hours, Hannah, Gavin and I had been in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.

That night, in Detroit, Kevin and I went exploring while the kids got busy with their spoiling. We found the Joe Lewis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings (hockey), Comerica Park, the Tigers (baseball) and Ford Field, Lions (football). On the way home we drove down a street that you make sure your car doors are locked when you stop at a red light. We later found out that the strip club and rim store littered street was "8 mile." Always an adventure.

Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast. The kids ordered chocolate milk, check out the sprinkles and fancy chocolate syrup.
We went to The Henry Ford.
I loved this museum, it had all kinds of cool American history items. The car Kennedy was assassinated in.
The chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated.
The Rosa Parks Bus.
Air Force 1

The most hilarious part of the day was when Gavin hopped the 6 inch barrier and decided to drive a car Henry Ford made in 1899! It was the second car Henry Ford ever made. Gavin had the steering "stick" (not a wheel) and moving it side to side made the wheels move side to side. We all almost had a heart attack! Poor Gavin... he was just trying to have a bit of fun and the way he said, "hey Dad! Look!", you could tell he was so proud of himself for getting in the car all by himself. Kevin caught this pic just after. He looks so deflated.
Here's Henry Ford's first "quadricycle" ever made. See it protected by glass and not a 6 inch barrier!

The biggest train I have ever seen in my life. It was a coal train. We learned from the security guard, the 600 ton engine is supported by 20 feet of concrete underneath.

*and Kevin says I'm always on my phone...

A giant snow plow.
Henry Ford was very interested in flying as well. As an inventor, he was great friends with other genius inventors of his time. The Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, etc.
The museum had a paper airplane making station. It was a highlighted attraction for the Joneses.
Testing our inventions. Gavin hit the bulls eye of the target on his first try. Learning about barnstormers.
Generating enough power to light a light bulb. I will vouch for Kevin, he lit all the light bulbs, I'm just a lousy photographer and kept missing it. I made him keep doing, but he had enough. Everyone took a turn.

*still the strongest man in the universe, according to the kids

The Oscar Meyer Wiener mobile was there and we made a Daddy-Gavin hotdog. I get such a kick out of this picture.
Gavin wanted Papa Tee to buy him a $20 Wiener mobile... what a random want... he wasn't happy with the small, less expensive one, he wanted the biggest!We had a great time at this museum. We could have spent all day there but we had to go to the next activity. I will always remember dancing to 80's music making our own music video and all of up piling into a photo booth to take pictures... "BFF at the THF"

Greenfield Villiage was next. Surprisingly, the kids loved it.
It was really hot, but we still had a good time... frozen custard!Thomas Edison's laboratory. It was moved to Greenfield Village along with the Wright Brother's home and store (from Ohio) in time to celebrate Edison's 80th birthday. The EPA came through a few years ago and made the museum get rid of all the hazardous elements and chemicals.
The original Ford Motor Company
We went to the Detroit Tigers game that night. First, we had to eat at Hockey Town.
Kevin got to see THE "Cup" Ok, not the real one, but still.
Kevin at his 9th ballpark, Comerica Park. (He has 20 left, he went to the Pittsburgh Pirates game a few days after the Tigers game)
We had a wonderful trip to Detroit. I really loved the city and the museums. It was a perfect way to spend the Fourth of July weekend learning about great American inventors.

Hockey Practice

2011-01-18T20:17:00.000-08:00

The captain on Kevin's hockey team rented out the ice rink in Temecula every morning during Christmas break and invited us to join. It was good for Gavin to practice skating while on his break and Hannah started skating too. She is going to join Gavin and start playing hockey next week.

Kevin is getting Hannah some of her own hockey skates soon.

Lukie loves being a big boy like Daddy and Gavin.
Luke loves his big brother.
Practicing his slapshot

I can't get enough of how cute they are on the ice!

Christmas Baking

2011-01-16T22:07:00.000-08:00

I spent about 3 whole days baking goodies (and protecting them) to give away. The kids were pretty helpful. They made pretzel treats all on their own, rolled cookie into balls and the usual adding ingredients to the bowl for me.In the end... A yummy plate of goodies
All done up and ready to go. Merry Christmas from the Joneses!

Polar Express

2011-01-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

The Kindergartners designed their own train car and choo chooed around the school. There were some over the top trains. I thought we did a good job gluing 100 sparkly stones all over Hannah's snowflakes.Hannah and her friend Ava
Choo Choo!!

Christmas Cookie Decorating

2010-12-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time making Halloween cookies so I wanted to do it again. I invited all the Pfizer moms this time.We had 8 kids total. 1-6 year old, 1-4 year old, 3-2 year olds, 1-1 year old, 1-7 month old, 1-2month old.

The kids had fun. While the cookies were baking, Meghan had a cute craft for the kids to do. They made tube sock snowmen. My kids love their snowmen.Hannah helping Gigi...The boys... Luke is now a big boy hanging out with the other big boys.
The cute babies... Wyatt slept the whole time and Allie looked cute the whole time watching everyone. The moms ended up finishing the cookies, which was ok since toddlers and frosting aren't such a good mix.Some of our cookies. I made three batches of dough and we burned through it fast. Next time I'll make 4 or 5.Hannah and I made gingerbread cookies the next day. She is such a good little helper in the kitchen, well, a good little helper all over the house. She loves her new apron, we picked out the fabric together.

Hannah's Christmas Program

2010-12-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

The afternoon kindergarten classes had a really cute performance. Hannah was adorable.

Marilyn and Marlon were able to make it to support HannahGavin stayed with a neighbor so I just had to chase Luke. Marilyn took care of him most of the time and I was able to enjoy the show.
Hannah had fun showing Marilyn her desk.

Christmas Celebrations

2010-12-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Gavin had his preschool party last week. His teacher did a really nice job putting on a little performance. Gavin was a king.After the show a special visitor arrived.
Off to the dentist for a teeth cleaning.We got our Christmas tree! I wasn't in the mood to spend a small fortune on a tree so we got a small one.
It ended up being a little too small in our living room though, especially since we don't have any furniture in there yet.

We went to La Mirada for our old ward's Christmas party. It was so nice to see all our old friends. What do you know... Santa was there too!
I think this totaled two Santa visits so far.
On Sunday we had our monthly dinner in Burbank with Kevin's grandparents so we made it a little weekend trip.

Hannah's School Party

2010-12-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

It's always fun to celebrate your birthday at school! I brought 100 calorie packs since you can't bring cupcakes to he school. They have all these requirements to bring things into the classroom, which I guess is good. Hannah sporting her new backpack that matches her new lunch box (inside the backpack)

Hannah's Birthday

2010-12-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

On Hannah's birthday we went to the Yo Gabba Gabba Live show. Thanks to a family friend we got back stage passes and the whole nine yards. It was such an awesome show.Hannah got picked to do the Dancy Dance...
We had a great time dancing. Luke loved it.We saw Gigi and Lance (Lance is Kevin's work partner)After the show we met Kevin's parents in Old Town San Diego for a yummy Mexican food.
Hannah requested breakfast in bed on her birthday, but mom and dad totally dropped the ball so we made up for it the next day with sugar cereal... what a lucky little girl!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

We hosted Thanksgiving at our home this year. I had been excited for quite some time to make Thanksgiving dinner in my big new kitchen. Thank goodness for the Konold family who gave me a step by step of turkey cooking. I made a brine (my first one ever) and soaked the turkey in it over night. I followed Byron's instructions meticulously
and a wonderfully moist and tender turkey was the end result. You could cut your turkey with your knife. This is really my first ever cooking success. The Konold's even gave me the turkey booties to complete it!
I made turkey hand print napkins with the kids. I loved how they turned out.
Our table we bought just for Thanksgiving it fit everyone perfectly.
Gavin still likes a drink of milk on his Grandma's lap.
I gave Luke his first bottle of cow's milk too, well Grandpa did.
Hannah helping Marilyn with the relishes. She is such a good little helper. I like the perfectionist side that it coming out of her. She is a pretty crafty little one.
Look at me cooking the gravy! Check me out mom!
Taking a break from all the cooking...
It is hard to move a 325 degree 23 pound turkey...
Marlon's daughter, Allison, joined us for Thanksgiving. My kids loved her and her dog, Sunny.
Kevin carved the turkey...
We had a lot of pies.
It was a nice Thanksgiving. I didn't realize how much work it was to make all that food! I feel like a real mom now that I've made a Thanksgiving dinner.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY! DON'T RAIN ON MY BIRTHDAY!

2010-11-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

My kids birthdays...
10/29 Gavin turned 4
11/17 Luke turned 1
11/28 Hannah turned 6

Three birthdays in one month is a little intense. I didn't want to have 3 birthday parties every other week, so I opted to have a triple the fun triple birthday party. I reserved a bounce house and rented some tables and chairs. Marilyn and Marlon even planned on bringing their horse down. I watched the weather forecast denying the inevitable... it rained on the day of the party. The forecast said, "steady, soaking, showers"

Uncle Marlon and Aunt Marilyn brought their horse. He was the star of the show.
Kevin lighted all the candles with his butane torch...Hannah's cake...
Gavin's cake...
Luke's cake...

(Someone, who will remain nameless, started eating Luke's cake before we had a chance to sing to him. It's missing the whole back side.)

Luke loved his toy from Grandma Brown.
Gavin, Little Murphy, and Ally destroying Gavin's cake.
Grayson and Jayde made it to the party.
I think everyone had a good time. It was a crazy and intense party but, at least it's all over and I don't have to think about another birthday party for a whole year!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I figure out what the kids are going to be and usually have their costumes done by September. Since my parents moved, I was on my own for the first time. My mom has always helped me/made the costumes. With moving, however, I was a little behind schedule. Rachel, my sister-in-law, took pictures of the kids for me. They turned out so good. Thank you, Rachel!
Hannah was a witch. I made her costume with help from my mom via text messaging pictures. Hannah designed her costume, she picked out the fabric. I thought she did a really good job. I had to stop myself from over embellishing. You can't see, but I hand sewed spiders all over the dress and hat.Gavin originally wanted to be a ghost, but once he saw a picture of Frankenstein online he was hooked. His jacket is a long sleeve black T-shirt I cut up the middle and sewed two pieces of felt for the lapel. I made his head from the bottom of a gallon milk jug. Painted it green and added the hair.
Luke was a black widow spider. I wanted to put a little black cap on him, but he would not keep it on, so I didn't even bother. I was nervous about his costume, but it was pretty easy to do.We carved pumpkins with Kevin's parents. Steve got really into it!Kevin taking it seriously...The best part was turning out the lights and singing the Halloween song... so spooky!
We had so much fun Trick or Treating. There were so many kids out in our neighborhood and almost every house gave out candy. After we were done Trick or Treating we went to our "super" neighbor's house and the kids traded candy.
Gavin and Brennen were sliding the pumpkin bucket back and forth and Luke was trying to catch it. He was cracking up.
I need to make my house more spooky next year. I had my mums and Jack-o-lanterns in front. I think I'll add some spider webs, ghosts in the window, and some orange lights.
It was the best Halloween!

Gavin's Birthday

2010-10-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I woke up to Gavin saying, "Hi Mom and Dad, I'm 4! It's my birthday." He was so excited, I think he felt so grown up.
What better way is there to start off your birthday than going out for breakfast?Gavin got his first "Bideo game"
After breakfast we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. When we were walking into the Park, Gavin said, "Are we going to see 'vild' animals?" He pronounces all his w's as v's.
We went on the Safari tram ride first.
Luke bonded with Mamo J (via the pixie stick)...
I always love the Safari Tram ride.
Gavin loved looking at the Daddy lion. The lion was sleeping on the other side of the glass, so close. I had never been so close to a lion, it was amazing to see his huge paws and thick legs. Kind of weird to see a little baby so close to a giant lion.
Looraket Landing was a huge hit. We bought nectar 4 times! Gavin wanted to be like a pirate.
It was amazing to see the birds all over you if you had nectar. Hannah, Steve, and I were the first ones to go inside. Hannah was a little surprised to see all the pretty birds land on her.Kevin got a thrill out of it too...
Luke got pretty excited and kept giggling and kicking his legs.The Mercats were so cute!
We saw a couple of zoo keepers walking a cheetah. Yes, walking a cheetah through the park. They didn't stop at all, you couldn't pet it, but it was pretty cool to be that close to one.
Hannah and some Australian bird...Luke playing on the giant rhino statue...The San Diego Wild Animal Park has the best carousel. We took advantage of a slow day and rode it A LOT!
It was so much fun picking our animal to ride on. Kevin's favorite was the otter.
Luke was so tired, I put him in the sling and rode the carousel, he quickly fell asleep. I loved cuddling him.

After the Wild Animal Park we ate at the Taco Shop and the boys (minus Luke) went to the Duck's hockey game. What an awesome birthday! Breakfast, Wild Animal Park, and a Hockey game!

Nature Hike

2010-10-27T12:26:00.001-07:00

We have a riverbed a couple blocks away from our house. I thought it would be fun to go on a "hike" since it was a late start day at Hannah's school. We took our friend, Little Murph, with us. He just became a big brother 3 days ago, so a little adventure would be good for him (and his mom). What a luxury it is to sit and nurse and not have to chase anyone.Ready to take over the river bed... sword, gun, and attitude...Murphy found a tunnel with a bear in it. He had to shoot him with his gun too.
We found an olive tree full of olives. I didn't know if we could eat them though, thought it was better to error on the side of caution.Of course, what is a hike without finding a big huge stick?
Taking a little rest...
Getting a few last wiggles out before we headed home.
Everyone had a great time, even Deiter! I can't wait to go back.

Pumpin Patch

2010-10-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

We went to the Pumpkin Patch with our super neighbors (the Konolds) and Little Murphy (his mom went into labor so he got to have a fun day with us until Grandma could get here).
This is how we roll... crazy! From 14 years to 11 months.
Luke loves Brennen. He gets so excited when he sees him. Brennen is probably the only person Luke will let hold him when I'm around. The kids are getting so big! Can't believe in one month they will be 1, 4, and 6!
There is something that is so cute about babies and pumpkins. I could watch him play with the pumpkins all day. Our family...Hannah, Little Murph, and Gavin playing dead in a grave...messy fun...
AND.... the pig races! I always get such a kick out of the pig's names. "Pig Whitmen" Hahahaha... "Brad Pig" hahahaha
We did the corn maze too, but no pictures :(

Gavin's First Hockey Practice

2010-10-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

Gavin's first hockey practice was a much awaited for event in the Jones family. Not sure who was more excited about this day, Kevin or Gavin.

Monday night they drove to the ice rink to pick up the hockey gear. Gavin already had a lot of his own gear; skates, helmet, shin guards, gloves.Kevin "taught" me how to put on all the gear. For someone who is used to putting on a swimsuit and jumping in the pool, all this gear stuff is so foreign to me.

Gavin was just so thrilled...
So was Kevin...
They were both in heaven. Finally, all suited up.
Tuesday came and Kevin had a meeting in La Jolla, so I loaded up the three kids and drove to the rink, I wonder how many times I will make that drive.
Kevin's meeting ran late so that left me, yes me, to put on all that hockey gear on Gavin. Luckily, I met a very helpful hockey mom. She showed me how to tape what and where. After about 30 minutes he was all dressed and on his way.
Kevin still wasn't there so Gavin was on his own. He walked onto the ice and fell. Poor guy, he was happy though. A coach swept him up and dropped him off in the middle of the ice with other kids falling all over the place. The coaches started teaching him how to stand up on his own. He was getting it. Kevin came about 10 minutes late. I felt much better once he was there.

(I know, I'm out of focus. I'm not a photographer. I was proud of myself for figuring out how to turn the flash off)

He really started getting the hang of it. Here they are practicing rolling onto their bellies.

Gavin was exhausted by the time practiced ended. His little under armor shirt was so sweaty and it smelled. When we got home I couldn't make dinner fast enough. He ate probably three times as what he normally eats. I love my little hockey man!
I think I'm officially a... HOCKEY MOM!

Primary Program 2010

2010-10-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hannah and Gavin had their primary program yesterday. They practiced their parts so much and did well. I thought Hannah was going to have an anxiety attack though. When she got to the microphone to say her part she was breathing so hard. Gavin, on the other hand, was sitting right in front shooting people with his guns (hands). He remembered his part though, and did a good job.

Halloween Cookies and Crafts, Oh My!

2010-10-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween. So every year I try to do fun things with the kids to celebrate. I try to scale back but I always seem to take it over the top, but I can't help it... It's just too much fun!

Marilyn saw this craft in a magazine and got all the stuff for the kids to do it. Spray paint a straw wreath black and then glue candy corn to it. Hannah used the hot glue gun for the first time and did really well. She burned her little fingers once or twice, but so do I.
We invited our new friends over, Faye and Murphy. Faye is going to have a baby in a few weeks and Little Murphy LOVES hockey. He and Gavin play in our empty living room and dining room whenever he is over for a play date.
We made sugar cookies and decorated them.
They turned out a bit scary, but it goes with the territory (kids making food and Halloween).

Oregon

2010-10-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

When I heard my cousin, Whitney, was getting married I knew I would be there no matter what. With a crazy summer I never got around to purchasing a plane ticket, so that left one option... driving. I really wanted the whole family to go, but it was the end of the quarter so Kevin was unable to miss work. That left me and the three kiddos.
I tried to break up the drive as much as I could.
Wednesday: we drove to Burbank and spent the night.
Thursday: We got a good Grandma breakfast complete with fresh squeezed OJ. We drove to Modesto to visit the Divis Family, some old friends from our Lakewood days. The kids had a blast with their kids.The Divis family converted their 3-car garage into the ultimate wrestling training facility. It was a great place to get all the wiggles after a long drive AND before the second leg of our trip.
We had a great time reuniting with our old friends. It was nice to have so much help with the kids. I actually got to enjoy my dinner while Andy and Didi played with Luke.
Friday: Our trip from Modesto to Myrtle Creek had some challenges. I got a speeding ticket going 80 mph in a 70 mph. Urgh...
I thought I was going to kill my kids at Subway...
But we made it in one piece to my Grandparent's house in time for some berry picking.
Picking blackberries is one of my FAVORITE things to do and I think my kids love it too.
It was a bit challenging because Luke kept trying to pick the berries, I learned the hard way when his shirt got stuck on the thorns. I had to try to keep my distance.
Gavin picking berries...
Straight to the mouth, no need for him to carry a bag...
Hannah looks so grown up...
We returned with purple mouths and hands...
Only a small bunch of berries that we ate with some whipped cream for dessert.
Saturday: Drove to Salem, checked into the hotel and got ready for the wedding. When I checked in, I asked if I could be near my grandparents. The lady put them in adjoining rooms. Such a blessing.
The Wedding:
The BrideLuke kicking it with my Grandpa.
My Uncle Chris
Sunday:
We had a late lunch with my Aunt and Uncle. My kids got to meet my uncle and see how fun he is. I had a nice visit with my Aunt and got to talk about grown up stuff.
We drove down to the Lake of the Woods to stay at my other Grandparent's place. Luke got to spend some more time with my Grandpa.
Gavin bowled with their diet caffeine free pepsi 2L bottles and equate weight loss shakes.
Hannah checked out my Grandma's jewelery and fabric stash.
Monday:
We left in the morning...
And drove all day arriving home at midnight from Ashland to Temecula.
It was a great trip. It had it's ups and downs, but I really enjoyed my kids. Hannah was such a great help with Luke.

Catch Up: 4th of July

2010-10-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th of July Lots of fireworks and friends. You can have fireworks in La Mirada so a bunch of families contributed and we bought our own.
Out of all the kids there were only 4 boys.
There were 2 Hannahs, 2 Emilys, 2 Sydneys, and 2 Haileys

Sparklers were a huge hit as always.

Our Crazy Summer: June

2010-09-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy summer for the Jones family. We sold our first home. Luckily it went fast so we didn't have to keep our house "show ready" for too long. The 5 days was bad enough. To leave the house we had to get three kids and two dogs out the door and in the car. Then Kevin and I would run around spraying our creamy nutmeg air freshener, turn on the smooth jazz music, and make sure every toy, dish pillow, etc... was in its place.

June:
On Father's Day, Kevin got breakfast in bed. The kids were able to help me a lot more this year and Hannah was pretty excited and stayed busy making decorations for the tray. Kevin got bacon, eggs, chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, and hot chocolate with whipped cream, cocoa powder, and mini chocolate chips. What a lucky Daddy!

Hannah's Zinnias are growing so big! She planted a seed her first year of preschool and we took the little flower to Grandma's house to plant. Here it is two years later. They are so big!!! I'm talking about the flowers AND Hannah.
Hannah had her end of the year performance, her Junior Kindergarten class danced to "Under the Sea." This is her friend Cole. We became good friends with his family. Everyday after school the kids would play and Tori (Cole's mom) and I would talk for an hour or so. It was so nice and carefree to not have to do anything after school It was a good way to wok on our tans too!She was so adorable, unfortunately, I didn't get very good pictures because I was so far away.
Hannah finished Junior Kindergarten and received some awards. We are so proud of her, she is such a good student and loves school!She got one for being Student of the Month, Outstanding Citizenship, and Excellence in Math and Reading.
Gavin finished his first year of pre-school.
He loved his teachers. He learned all his letters and the sounds. You can ask him, "what letter does night start with?" He says, "night, nah, nah, nah, nnnnoodle, N!!! It starts with N!" I loved bringing his hockey lunch bag to school and playing with all his friends.
This is Gavin and Cruz, they were friends at preschool. Cruz's brother went to Hannah's school, so the two boys got to play together while they waited for the bell to ring at the Elementary school.
We decided to give Emma away. Hannah had a hard time with it, but we told her Emma went to "Doggy Disneyland". Luckily, we had such a busy summer that it kind of distracted her. Here is our last picture of Emma.Beach
I wanted to start a family tradition of going to the beach the first day of summer vacation. I loaded up all my stuff
and took 3 kids to the beach by myself. It was actually awesome! Luke took a big nap under the umbrellaand I got to lay out and play with Hannah and Gavin in the sand. I met my friend Kazia (middle/high school friend) there. Our kids had a fun time together. Hannah and Bryton had fun playing in the sand
Gavin playing in the sand
Tahi and Luke had fun eating the sand
One of the best parts of a fun beach day... the quiet ride home.
Concert in the Park:
Our friends, the Williamsons, invited us to a Concert in the Park. They have 4 little girls who are obsessed with Luke.

Palm Springs:
We met Kevin's Aunt and cousins in Palm Springs. We had fun golfing, swimming, eating, and napping.Happy Birthday Kim!!

We are still alive

2010-09-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

We've moved....

We're settling in. We've gone on vacation to Hilton Head SC. Hannah started Kindergarden. Gavin is on vaca in Ohio. Luke has tons of teeth.

We'll fill you in on the details in the future.

-Kevin & Courtney

Waiting and Wanting

2010-08-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... it has been a long time. I just wanted to share an update.
We are still homeless and living in Burbank. We move into our house on Thursday!!!! I know it will all be worth it, but it feels like the last week of a pregnancy. I just want it to happen right now!

Hannah is in Ohio on her Mamo J vacation. We are trying to get her into school, but that has been a big pain. They laid off a bunch of teachers last year and now the school is full. They have 15 too many kindergarteners... Sounds like they almost have enough to have a whole new class. She might have to get bussed to a whole other school for a year. I don't like the idea of my 5 year old riding on a bus with older kids.

Gavin is excited for his trip to Ohio. He gets to go there all by himself after our trip to South Carolina. Yes, we move on Thursday and then leave for a week on Saturday.

Luke has 3 teeth and is crawling. He is such a happy little baby when I'm holding him. He's completely off schedule. I'm looking forward to sleep training him when we get into our new house.

There you have it... We are still alive.

House Selling & House Hunting

2010-06-09T12:08:00.001-07:00

I have been consumed with selling my house. We put our house on the market a week and a half ago, within a few days we had some offers. We started escrow 6 days later.

House hunting with little kids is exhausting. Luckily, we have an awesome agent who my kids adore and will listen to.

As for now... It looks like we will be homeless by July 19!

6 Months

2010-05-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Luke is 6 months!

X

2010-05-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

It's official (meaning Kevin said I can tell everyone)

Kevin got a promotion!

This means we are moving... again... this will be our 10th move since we've been married. Yes TEN!!!!!

We are moving to Temecula this summer. We are hoping to be there for awhile, well with our track record... who knows?

Legoland & Dodger Game

2010-05-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Kevin's parents came to visit us for Mother's Day weekend. We had a great time. Hannah got to miss a day of school on Friday to go to Legoland! It was our first time and a great activity for the kids. They LOOOOVED it.The best part was definitely the pirate ship ride. Kevin and Joyce took the kids and Steve and I found giant squirt guns to shoot them when they rode by. I don't know who had more fun, Gavin or Papa Tee!

Gavin loved shooting the ships. He got pure joy out of it!

Another big squirt "gund"
Hannah and Papa Tee
A shocking boat ride...
Luke and Mamo J

The next day the girls got pedicures then we went to the Dodger game. We got all-you-can-eat seats. Unlimited Dodger dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, and soda... big time tummy ache. Gavin pounded the Dodger dogs!

Kevin was exploiting his cute son to get a baseball from one of the players.
Gavin took his hat off for the National Anthem. What a little patriot. He watched Daddy do it so he did it... pardon the hat hair.
Hannah had a great time with her Mamo J.
It was Luke's first Dodger game. He did pretty well.

Thanks Papa T and Mamo J for the wonderful weekend, we had a blast with you.

OC Marathon 5K

2010-05-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Luke and I ran a 5K for the OC Marathon. I can't say I've been training for this event. I've ran a few times, but I've been pretty lazy/busy/sleep deprived/exhausted, etc...
I went to support my friend Cyndi. Cyndi has been working out with me for over a year, I am so proud of the improvements she has made in her life.
Luke woke up at the end of the race.
Her whole family ran together!
Next year maybe I'll try the half marathon, WITHOUT pushing a kid!

Pup-Lees

2010-04-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

My parent's dog had puppies, 7 of them! I made the trip up so my kids could see them. Boy, they were so darn cute!
Hannah and Gavin were so careful and sweet with them.

Princess Hannah with her baby puppyGavin loves dogs. He cracks me up with the way he talks to them. He was authoritative, but loving.

Luke doesn't know how to be soft yet. Baby and puppies, it doesn't get cuter that this!
The puppies are almost 6 weeks old and ready for adoption.

Jogathon

2010-04-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hannah had her Jogathon this morning. She's been training for it, well, as much as a 5 year old could train. Here she is stretching.
Gavin joined in. He ran 10 laps! He just kept going and going. I think he felt like a big kid.
Luke watched from the stroller.
Hannah ran 17 laps! The laps were 1/8 mile. I am now out $17!

Go Hannah!! I am so proud of you.

Ohio

2010-04-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

I just spent a wonderful 10 days with Kevin's parents. Since Kevin was in New York training, I went and visited my in-laws all by myself with 3 kids. I got a lot of "you're crazy" looks, but it was actually really good. Hannah and Gavin are old enough to walk and carry their own mini suitcases stocked with all the fun toys and snacks they needed for the flight. Luke slept for about half the flight and the kids quietly colored and watched the new movies I got them.
When we arrived, Joyce was there to greet us and get the suitcase (I only packed one!). Allison let me borrow her extra car seats so I didn't need to bring any. Thank you Allison!

Thursday: We went to the Farm Park with Allison, Sam and Elise. I love that place! We went there about two years ago in the summer, but when you go in the spring you get to see all the baby animals. There was a baby goat that was born at 9am that day! It's so amazing to see all the animals up close. Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so no pictures. That night Allison went to the hospital to have her baby.

Friday: Allison had her baby! It was a girl, Claire Marie was born around lunch time. I was at home watching all 5 kids. It was a bit intense, but we went for a bike ride down the street and had a good time together.

Saturday: We brought the sun with us to Ohio because the weather was amazing. We (Steve, Joyce, all the kids and me) went to an Easter Egg hunt. We met the Easter Bunny... kind of freaky if you ask me!
It was ridiculously crazy.

All the kids had a good time though.
Joyce took me to JoAnns. Not just your normal JoAnns, but the headquarters!!! Hudson, OH is about 20 minutes away. I know, I'm lame, but I had to take a picture.
That night we dyed eggs. Here are Sam and Gavin getting ready.
Sunday (EASTER): The Easter Bunny came and left the kids notes!
It couldn't have been more perfect of a day. The kids were hunting for their eggs in all the daffodils.

A little competitive guy

Mamo J and her girls (except Claire)
Luke and Papa T really bonded, Luke was so content with him.
Luke has really grown up. He's 4 1/2 months now and really interested in food. He is rolling over and doing so well sitting up. He had his first "baby cup" (that's what Gavin calls them) at Mamo J's house.
Hannah enjoyed one of her favorite activities with her Mamo J... cooking. Hannah is quite the little chef.Luke is eating everything. I loved his face when he found Hannah's box of crayons.
The kids ate a lot of popsicles, but hey, that's what you do at Grandma's house... eat candy, cookies, ice cream, and popsicles!
My last night in Ohio I went to the Cavalier's game with Steve. I had a great time with him. It was a Daddy-Daughter-in-law date. Luke was so good at the game. He loved it! He got a bit fussy during the second quarter, but after a quick snack he was ready to finish the game. He lasted the whole game!*Luke has a clogged tear duct, it's starting to clear up. Hopefully, it will open on its own and he won't need to have it punctured.

Steven and Joyce went to South Africa in February and brought home a rhino from Build a Bear for Gavin. He finally got to stuff it. He loves his rhino.
We had some time to kill before our flight home so Papa T splurged for the Mini Bungee. The kids loved it!Hannah was crazy with the back flips!

More happy Luke with his Papa T!
We had a great flight home. Luke slept for the first half and the lady next to me was just dying to hold him, so she held him for a good hour, they were singing and talking to each other and he was giggling. The flight attendants all wanted to hold him and took him on walks. It was awesome. Gavin got tired, got his blanket and rhino, and went to sleep for the last hour and a half.
Hannah and I watched the Princess and the Frog together. I had so much help getting off the plane too. It was really easy traveling with 3 kids alone.

I had a wonderful visit with the best in-laws anyone could ask for. I was able to relax and actually enjoy my kids because I wasn't worrying about all the things I had to do. I am so grateful for Steve and Joyce.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hannah and Gavin like to sleep together. They go to sleep and are so good, so I don't mind. I walked into Hannah's room last night, to figure out what she was going to wear today (he's got lots of pink, but not a lot of green) and saw this!

This is why I don't like sleeping with them in my bed.

I made Hannah a "green" lunch. The color green, trust me, I use a lot of zip lock bags. I made her a quick green flower bow too. I just didn't want her to get pinched.
Next year I'll make green bread too. The green cookies were all I could do this year.

Grayson & Jayde's Wedding

2010-03-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

When I was 6 or 7 years old I pushed my little brother down, he was 3 or 4 at the time. As I saw his little chubby hand on the ground, holding himself up, and I felt HORRIBLE. Ever since then I always had a special place in my heart for Grayson. I saw him as my baby brother and I wanted to take care of him. When he was 12 or so he was so "adorkable" a little akward as boys are at that age. I smuggled him into church dances at 13 and he slow danced with all my friends who were older and a head taller than he was. He loved dancing with them. He danced with the hottest older girls. I think it was a huge confidence boost when all his friends were jealous. Grayson has always been my baby brother.
As I sat across from him at the restaurant I got a little teary eyed. He had just gone through the temple with his bride-to-be a week before the wedding. (I couldn't go because I had a prior commitment with a cute little 3 month old, I joined them for dinner). Grayson looked so grown up. My baby brother looked like a real man. I'm sure this is a fraction of what a mother feels as she sees her children grow. I know.... so cheesy

This past weekend the wedding festivities began at the Old Spaghetti Factory the night before the wedding. Sisters!!!

*Courtney, Jayde, & Kairistiona

Luke grabbed his toy and started eating it for the first time at dinner!Grayson and Jayde were married at the Newport Beach Temple the next day.

Mr. & Mrs. Lee!! I love her dress!

Michael, Grayson, & Kevin

The new Fami-Lee

This is such a cute picture with all the little kids.
My parents hosted a luncheon at Jayde's aunt's house. My mom made over 100 individual carrot cakes and her best friend, Carrie, decorated them. So cute!Saturday night was their reception in Bakersfield. Which brings me to the biggest reason why I haven't been blogging....

I have spent every spare moment of my life making two pink, sparkly dresses. My house has been covered in glitter. Kevin was such a good sport, he only complained once about going to work covered in pink glitter. The pediatrician and the babysitters at the gym have commented on my glittered baby... poor Luke.
The little boys dressed as "Newsies" I just love those hats!
We had a great time that night. We are so excited that Jayde is in our family now! She fits in so well.

Our February

2010-03-12T16:10:00.000-08:00

It has been too long, but I have several good excuses.
January was a quiet month, I finally started to feel like I was getting back into a good routine. I had adjusted to having a new little baby. My house started to get cleaner, I was getting the laundry done!!!
Hannah got into Junior Kindergarten the beginning of February. She goes to school Monday-Friday, from 8:15am-2:32pm. We leave the house at 7:45 so we have plenty of time to get to school and she can play for ten minutes before the bell rings. She brings her lunch to school and has a backpack and everything.
Hannah had "Crazy Day" at school. She wore a crazy outfit. When I dropped her off I didn't see any kids in crazy outfits, I started to panic. I dropped her off and ran into the office to ask. I didn't want to scar her for life by making her dress this way for no reason. Thank goodness it was "Crazy Day." When I walked out I started to notice other kids, but none of them had Hannah's school spirit!I enrolled Gavin back into Tiny Tots through the Parks and Rec program. He loves it. He goes Tuesday and Thursday 8:30-2:00. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are quite busy at our house. They love school and I love both of them in school. It's crazy to think I have 2 kids in school. I get so giddy sometimes on Tuesday and Thursday. Just one baby, it's soooo easy! I like to do my running around during this time and I have even gone out to lunch a few times with old friends.

Palm Springs:
My parents took us all to Palm Springs the first weekend in February for my birthday. It was a fun trip! We took the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up to the snow. It was amazing! In ten minutes we went from the desert to the tops of the snowy mountains. The ride was beautiful and pretty exciting. Every time you switch to a new line the tram sways and you are suspended in air for a moment.
It was a 10 minute walk from the lodge to a suitable place to play in the snow. Hannah and my Dad had a blast. The first thing Hannah did was throw her bundled little body on the snow and made a snow angel. Poor Gavin was freezing and miserable. He didn't last long. Luke was bundled in his infant carrier. Luke fell asleep in the car on the way to the tram and slept the whole way up the tram, down the path, playing in the snow, walking up the path, down the tram in the car and didn't wake up until we were in the restaurant eating lunch!

We had fun swimming in the 85 degree pool and I won the Scrabble Tournament that night! Kevin taught Gavin how to play ping-pong. He was able to hit the ball a few times. It was so nice to spend some time with my family and so nice to spend some time with my husband alone! My mom watched Luke a few times so we could go for a walk or sit in the hot tub.

I can't wait to go back this summer and try out the Lazy River (hint hint.... mom)

Valentine's Day:
Kevin and I like to celebrate Valentine's Day a few days earlier. Since my mom was visiting (more on that later) Kevin and I went out to dinner to a fancy restaurant. I left Luke with my mom! When we returned home, our toilet was leaking water. It turned out we had a clogged line. Our first problem with our house. The next morning the plumber came and $125 later we can use our plumbing again. It turned out to be baby wipes. I love my children!

Bikes:
I have always wanted to do a triathlon, but I never had a bike. Kevin bought me a bike for my birthday! I enjoy riding it, but I am very uncomfortable riding it on the street with cars. The bike path along the riverbed is just fine for me. We signed up for our first tri! We are doing a short one in June in Redondo Beach and a longer one in September in Malibu. I'm excited!

Happy Birthday Courtney

2010-02-24T22:53:00.000-08:00

Today, Feb 25, is Courtney's birthday. I wont tell you how old she is, but I'll tell you one thing, she looks 21.

I love you Courtney. Happy Birthday!!!

2010-01-25T18:21:00.001-08:00

Life with 3 kids is hard, real hard actually. Courtney is doing a fantastic job at juggling 3 little ones as well as a needy husband.

You're the best Courtney!!

Pedicure Place

2010-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Hannah has always loved getting money and filling her piggy bank. She asked me how to get more money and is learning the concept of work. She asked Grandma Brown if she could do work for her too.
This morning Hannah decided to start her own business, PEDICURE PLACE. Kevin asked her what makes her pedicures special and why should people go to her when there is so many other places they could go. Hannah decided she would give the "goodest" massages and make cookies for everyone.
She made signs... I just love them!
She has all the colors you could ever want, 30 different shades of pink!
Gavin provides the music
Hannah is open and waiting for customers. She shouts at the top of her lungs for all the neighbors to hear that she is open. She gave me a manicure and Gavin rubbed my back and shoulders, it was actually pretty good.

My Mom is 50!

2010-01-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

My mom turned 50 this past Friday, or as she likes to say, "I'm 25 with 25 years experience." She just couldn't bring herself to say the "f" word... "FIFTY!"

I drove up Thursday night to my parent's house. She didn't know I was coming so when I walked in the door she was estatic! It felt good to give her the best present for her birthday, her most favorite thing in the world... a baby.

Someone "bra-ed" her house. Bras everywhere.

We went to her favorite restaurant for dinner with some of her best friends.

Luke loved watching the onion volcano.

On the way home I asked my mom if she had a good birthday. She said that it was a pretty good one, she was happy. Little did she know that when she got home...

SURPRISE!!!

Actually, to everyone's surprise, my Dad threw her a surprise birthday party!

She was so shocked, she had no idea. All the kids contributed to buy her a ticket to see Wicked, my Dad has to buy his own ticket, take her, and pay for their hotel. My poor Dad.

My Mom and all her girls...

-Happy 50th Birthday!

My Workout Girl

2010-01-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

Love my little clone...

Luke's Blessing

2010-01-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

Luke was blessed today. It was a wonderful event and so many family members were able to make it. It was a great day to reflect on all the wonderful blessing in our lives. Having this little baby is wonderful.*I can't believe how many kids I have!

Four Generations! Grandma Brown, Joyce, Kevin, and Luke
Marilyn is like another Grandma to Hannah, Gavin, and now Luke.

Grandpa Brown holding Luke... they share the same middle name!
I'm so grateful for my in-laws who helped so much! They are the BEST!

Our family friends came, the kids love playing with each other. I thought this was too cute to not blog it.

Christmastitis

2009-12-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

We've been going up to my parent's house and celebrating Christmas on the 23rd and 24th. It was nice this year since we all made it, except for Justin (he's on his mission).
My parents love being grandparents. I love to see them enjoy my kids.
My sister (Lauren) got Hannah the coolest present. She Looooved it.
Christmas Eve morning I woke up to open presents and had a clogged milk duct. By the time we were done opening the presents I had full blown mastitis. Misery and flu like symptoms set in. I tried to sleep it off, but nothing helped.
I had to drive from Bakersfield to Glendale, it was the worst drive. I was miserable at Kevin's family's (his Dad's side) party. Some kid kept playing a drum and I thought my head was going to explode.
I finally got my antibiotics that night, I was still miserable Christmas morning and missed my kids open their presents.
We went to Burbank to spend the day with Kevin's Grandparents (his Mom's side). I didn't start feeling better until Christmas night.
Every year I am amazed at the mess all the Christmas loot makes. We spent all day putting it away, along with the Christmas decorations. We are ready for the New Year and our fresh start. It's time to start thinking about our New Year's Resolutions now.

Christmas Fun

2009-12-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Not much has been going on at the Jones house except trying to adjust. Kevin went back to work last Thursday, it was something that needed to happen to get our life back to normal. On Friday I decided to go to the mall, yes I went all by myself. I talked to Hannah and Gavin Thursday night and told them the plans for Friday. On the way to the mall I told them exactly what we were doing and there were a lot of bribes (or incentives) for them. I had Hannah and Gavin in my jogger and Luke in the sling. It was a success. I ran in and out of three stores looking for an outfit for Luke since I was taking him to Kevin's work Christmas party. Luke slept the whole time and Hannah and Gavin were so good. They played at the play place and we got Hot Dog on a Stick... yummy!
Saturday night we went to Kevin's party. It was a lot of fun!
One of my favorite memories of a little kid is getting cards from my Granny Fitz (my dad's mom). She would send cards for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, just about every holiday you got a card with $1! At Christmas you got $5! Now that I have my own kids I don't get cards anymore, but my kids do! They were so excited to get mail with "dollars" in it.
We have been singing a lot of Christmas songs around here. I love Christmas songs. I even try to get to church on time just so I can sing them!

Cousins

2009-12-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Hannah and Gavin have two cousins, Sam and Elise (Kevin's sister's kids). We don't get to see them too often, but when we do, it's as if they were never gone.
Between the four kids, every toy we own was pulled out, even the ones shoved deep under the beds and in the back of the closets.
The kids had so much fun playing in the leaves. They were all giggling, it was priceless.
Poor Allison got her own personal leaf shower from the kids!
Then the four helped put all the leaves in the trash can.
We were sad to see Sam and Elise leave. They have grown up so much since we saw them in the Outer Banks. Thanks for visiting guys! AND thanks for cleaning up all the toys too! Hopefully, we'll see you in the spring!

2 Weeks

2009-12-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

Luke is 2 weeks old. His umbilical cord fell off yesterday, he's already growing up so fast! He's a pretty good little baby. He sleeps with me and for the most part I get decent sleep. He wakes up to eat and the next time I wake up it’s time to eat again.

It’s hard to get him down for a nap sometimes, but when he does finally fall asleep and stay asleep, he’s a good sleeper.

Hannah and Gavin are big helpers, especially Hannah. Gavin does a little baby talk and has thrown some tantrums that are out of character for him, but other than that there hasn't been much regression from the two of them. I'm looking forward to getting Luke on a schedule.

Hannah is 5!

2009-12-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Hannah is 5. It seems like the time has flown by, but then so much has happened.

Birth: Hannah was 9 lbs. 13 oz and was my hardest labor and delivery, 28 HOURS! I remember feeling very overwhelmed with the responsibility of taking care of a life. The third baby is so much easier! Hannah was a sweet little baby, but a bad sleeper. I enjoyed her very much. I was so eager for her to be able to play. I talked to her all the time.

1 Year Old: Hannah likes to share that she turned 1 in Hawaii. She is dying to go back to Hawaii because as she says, "Hawaii is the beautifulest place on Earth!" Hannah took her first step in Hawaii too! Hannah was my little buddy, we did everything together.

2 Years Old: Hannah became a big sister. She was so good with her little baby brother. When Gavin would cry I would ask Hannah what he needed. She would always reply, "He needs Mommy."

3 Years Old: The beginning of the Princess phase. Hannah LOVED Cinderella. She started pre-school too. She continued to be my little helper. She really grew up and was so independent.

4 Years Old: Hannah became such a big girl. She became totally self-sufficient. She likes to pick out her clothes and dress herself. She is more interested in make-up and asked me for a cell phone. I asked her why she wanted a cell phone, she replied, "So I can call Mamo J whenever I want!" (Kevin's mom). She is such a creative little girl. She is excellent using scissors. I can't believe how well she can cut out shapes.

5 Years Old: This is Hannah building a rock fence along the side of our driveway. She moved about 30 rocks all by herself and put them in a perfect straight row. She got creative half way through her project and tied a rope to a storage container lid. She would put 3 or 4 rocks on the lid and pull them over to her project from the garage. Such a smart little worker. Hannah is able to do things so well that I feel less and less like I need to "fix" it because it's not done well enough. I'm starting to see her controlling personality (wonder where that comes from?) come out. She is particular with how she likes things done, for example... when she brushes her teeth she wants her toothbrush wet, then toothpaste applied, and then wet again (wonder where she gets that too?) My brother, Michael, calls her the mini Courtney. It's wonderful to see your good qualities and scary to see your bad qualities come out in your child.
Happy Birthday Hannah! My sweet little baby girl! You keep our house full of life and energy.

Luke J Jones

2009-11-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

Luke is one week old today so I think it's time I finally sit down and record his story. Everything went exactly how I wanted it to. I made it through Kevin's business trip when I was 38 weeks pregnant, and then finally until Kevin's mom flew in. I had a scheduled inductions, which I love because it's predictable and under my control. I had been having inconsistent contractions for a couple of days, but on Monday they started to get more consistent and stronger. As we drove to the hospital that night, my contractions started to intensify.
I had the most wonderful nurse, I was her only patient!

(I hate all those monitors, they get so itchy!)

One of my favorite parts about Cedars is the view from the labor and delivery rooms, so beautiful!I was all hooked up by 11:00pm and got my epidural around 12:30am and about 10 minutes later, rolled over and my water broke! I fell asleep, when my nurse came in at 2:15am she checked me and I was already 10cm! She told me I was going to start pushing soon. I wasn't ready, I wanted to sleep some more. My doctor walked in at 2:30, I pushed 6 times and Luke was out at 2:44am! Easiest delivery ever!Since my delivery was so fast, he didn't get squeezed enough so he had a lot of fluid in his lungs and tummy still. He was really grunty.

Luke weighed in at 9lbs. 5oz. A BIG boy! He was 20 inches long.

It always amazes me when I hold my new baby. It is amazing that their body was inside mine, how on Earth did they fit?It feels so good to see Kevin hold our new baby. I have a picture just like this one of him holding Hannah and one of Gavin. I can't believe I have 3 kids! Our family feels complete now.
I'm trying to soak up every moment with Luke, he is changing so fast. My recovery has been very easy thanks to an easy delivery and probably all that exercising I did.

Now, on to the name... Luke was one of our favorite names when we were picking Gavin's name, we had a little conflict with the spelling though. J is Grandpa Brown's (Kevin's Grandpa) middle name. It was supposed to be "Jay" but the person who filled out his birth certificate spelled it "J." So in honor of Grandpa Brown, we chose "J" as Luke's middle name. When we told Grandpa Brown he teared up.

Settling In

2009-11-19T20:18:00.001-08:00

Together for the first time.

Luke is here

2009-11-17T07:06:00.000-08:00

This time it's for real. We got into the hospital on Monday night at 10:30 PM and by 2:30 AM we were pushing. 2 contractions later, or 6 pushes, out he came. 9lbs 5oz, 20" tall.

Courtney is doing well and recovering quickly. More to come at a later time.

Update

2009-11-16T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hopefully, tomorrow I will be holding my new baby boy!
I'm having contractions about 10 minutes apart, not close enough to go to the hospital yet. Looks like I'm going to keep my 10pm induction appointment tonight. Hopefully, I can go in at 10 and not have to wait because there are too many mommies.

SHE'S HAD IT!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

With me that is....I think Courtney is cranky.

Baby Update

2009-11-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

I had my last doctor's appointment today! YEA!
I'm 3 cm. I think I'll pack my bag tomorrow.
I just need to last until Sunday morning.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hannah wanted to be Sleeping Beauty

(singing at the La Mirada Senior Center with her Preschool class)

Gavin wanted to be Shamu... ok?
I love making their costumes every year. I had to get creative with the Shamu costume...
Thursday morning was Gavin's Halloween party, Thursday night was the YMCA's party,
We took Deiter and I made him a red cape...
Friday morning was Hannah's party, Friday night was our church Halloween party. By the time Saturday night rolled around, Kevin and I were so tired of celebrating we stayed in. Kids didn't know. Instead we worked on the house. I think we finished our last project before the baby comes.

Gavin is 3!

2009-10-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

I get super sentimental on my kids' birthdays, I try to soak up every little thing about them that day. I love to see how much they've grown and developed.
Gavin had a good birthday. He had his preschool Halloween party, went to Daddy's work (Kevin found me a flu shot at one of his doctor's offices), went to lunch (with Daddy, Hannah, and Mommy), took a nap with Mommy (my favorite part), went to the YMCA Halloween party, and had dinner at Chick-filet with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Rachel. Aaron and Rachel gave him a nerf gun, he is sleeping with it right now. Perfect present for Gavin!

Baby Update (late)

2009-10-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

I went to the "baby doctor" last Thursday for a check up and ultrasound. I took the kids the past two visits and they behaved well so I decided to take them again. They were excited to see their baby brother with the special camera. The same ultrasound technician has been there, well, since I got pregnant with Hannah. I told them Julie (the ultrasound tech) was the first person to see them when they were in my tummy. She was super kid friendly. She made a big happy face with the ultrasound gel on my giant tummy, the kids enjoyed that. We saw his femur (my poor children know way too much about the human body than other children their age) and heart. Hannah counted the chambers. Julie gave them stickers at the end.
By the time we got into the exam room the kids were done. Then I got the bad news, I had to do my GBS (Group Beta Strept) test. Then the questions started coming....

Hannah: "Mommy, why are you wearing a big paper towel skirt?"
Gavin: "I can see your butt!"
Hannah: "Is the doctor going to see your butt?"

I didn't know what to say so I just tried to change the subject. The kids left the room during my exam, thankfully the Medical Assistant watched them. I heard them running up and down the hall laughing the whole time. It wasn't too awful, but it did suck! We survived.

So at 36 weeks, Baby Boy Jones was estimated at 7 lbs. 2 oz. I was dilated 1 1/2 cm. My doctor thinks I won't make it until 39 weeks, but this baby still has at least 2 more pounds to gain. We'll see...

Hannah's Primary Program

2009-10-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Today was Hannah's primary program. She was so beautiful up and on the stand singing her songs. She did such a good job saying her part into the microphone. We talked about how she had to talk slowly and "medium" loud so all the grandmas and grandpas could hear her well.

"As I forgive, I will be forgiven."

She is growing up so fast!

Happy Birthday Gavin!

2009-10-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Gavin's birthday last night with our family. Instead of going big this year, I decided (with a little persuasion) pizza and cupcakes at Grandma's house was just fine.

I made pirate cupcakes, unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of them. I melted white chocolate chips to make the skulls, they ended up looking like scary old school hockey masks. Oh well, Gavin likes hockey too. Gavin made the blue frosting and I rolled them in blue sprinkles.

(Thank you Melissa for taking these pictures so I could protect the candles from Hannah)

Gavin really got into opening his presents. Kids start to grasp the concept of a birthday around 2 1/2, so their 3rd birthday is really their first real birthday.
My mother in law found some pirate stuff on sale and sent it to me. Gavin loved his pirate badge. He's all ready for the drive home! Kevin and Gavin are going to Hockey Giant to get his hockey helmet today! He loves going to the hockey store.

Fly Lady

2009-10-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

My friend introduced me to Fly Lady. Basically, it's a motivational/organizational cleaning website. I think I might be hooked, perfect timing for all my nesting impulses. My bedroom (zone #4) is now de-cluttered and de-dusted. I finally cleaned out all the things I've been procrastinating doing, like that random bag of stuff I packed when we moved 5 MONTHS AGO!!!! It had just been hanging out next to my bed.
Now I'm trying to think of all the other things I've been procrastinating...
What have you been procrastinating?

35 Weeks

2009-10-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to decide what is worse... Being pregnant or having a newborn. Up until lately, I've decided I'd rather be pregnant forever than have a newborn. I'm starting to reconsider my decision as my belly gets bigger and bigger and bigger. In about a month I will be able to bend over, sleep on my stomach, and not have to pee all the time.
I've definitely started nesting these past few weeks. Starting to panic that I'm not ready for this baby to come yet.

Here you go Anie Jenkins!

I'm looking forward to:
My ultrasound on Thursday to estimate the baby's size. I'm taking the kids to it. They behave well at my appointments aside from calling my OB "Dr. Cheetos" (where do they come up with this stuff?)
My Baby Shower! I was touched when my new friends in my new ward offered to give me a baby shower. It was totally unexpected and I'm excited for all the yummy food and of course presents!!! Baby showers always have the best food!
My mother-in-law to come into town.
AND of course.... my pre-labor pedicure. The only time I DON'T feel guilty spending money on a pedicure. I think I'll get that extra 10 minute foot rub!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

2009-10-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Part of having a baby is nesting and if you are having a fall baby, nesting includes Christmas preparation! I made this rag quilt out of left over fabric from last year. So bummed that the white turned pink. Hopefully, with a couple more washes the red lint will wear off and it won't be so pink.
Here's Hannah Christmas stocking. I think I'll get her name embroidered on it and add a trim or something. I saw the fabric and knew it was perfect for her. I love the little pink snowflakes!

Monday

2009-10-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Kevin takes great pride in his lawn, he brought it back from the dead when we bought our house. Gavin is following in his Daddy's footsteps, quite literally. I had to grab my camera when I saw this.*Kevin has thrown away his crocs several times and I keep pulling thiem out of the trash...
They are perfectly good for yard work! Sorry Kevn

The forecast predicted rain today so we spent the day preparing for our first rainstorm in our house. We have a lot of wood scraps from various projects and I asked Kevin if we could have a fire. I'm not sure if that was such a good idea. As I was loading the dishwasher I saw huge flames in the reflection of the window in front of me. I turned around and saw him feeding fuel into our first fire. It's been such a warm and cozy day with a fire, I've loved it.
Gavin is pretty good at building guns and airplanes with his legos... here he is showing off a "gund" he made. Poor little guy busted his eye open today in our front yard. I cuddled him, gave him an icepack and told him it was like Daddy's hockey boo boo and he was ok.

Dodgers!

2009-10-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

Dodgers! Dodgers! Dodgers!

Hope you all watched the end of game 2.

Mind you the Dodgers were down 2-1 with 2 outs and nobody on base. Miracles do happen.

New Year's 2008 Resolution Complete

2009-10-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

My New Year's resolution last year was to complete my unfinished craft projects. I finally finished just in time for Halloween. I started this cross-stitch when I lived in Hawaii, right after I got married. I've taken it so many places, on so many vacations. Now it's finally done!

Busy Weekend

2009-10-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hannah's preschool class participated in "Celebrate La Mirada" Day. Her class sang all the songs they have been learning. These are the Months of the Year, the color songs; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and Magic Words. Hannah was right in front of the microphone so I could make out her vibrato. She has such a sweet voice. She has always been a good little singer. Unfortunately, there were two disruptive boys who shouted most of the time. It was a cute little performance. She is getting so big!I decided to paint the house this weekend too. I dragged Kevin away from all the football games on the TV. I told him we would only work for an hour. It turned out to be more like 6. The kids were excited to help paint. For the most part, they were pretty helpful and productive. They got paint on the wall and Kevin went over it to even it all out.
Before...
Different Stages...
After...
Should I paint my door red or black? HELP! I can't decide.

It's Spooky Time!

2009-10-02T16:53:00.001-07:00

Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday. I like to get my kids excited for it and try to make magical memories. I saw some spiders made of egg crate cups and thought they were so cute.
I invited Hannah and Gavin's friends, the Fishers, over to make the spiders with us.

It was a little crazy with 5 kids and paint, but we all survived and managed not to ruin anything. This is Gavin's spider, yes there are only 6 legs. We ran out of pipe cleaners.

Super Daddy???

2009-09-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

I've been grocery shopping alone lately. I find that I am much more efficient because I can focus on what I'm doing. I told Kevin I was going shopping today and he wanted to come. So we all loaded up in the car and went family grocery shopping. Kevin took care of the kids the whole time.
Who knew? All I had to do to keep my kids entertained was get one of these...
I love when he does stuff like this. It's so funny.

Hockey Ballet

2009-09-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hannah has been dying to go ice skating so our family went. Luckily with Kevin's connections at the hockey rink, we got to go for free!
I opted not to get skates. Can you imagine me 8 months pregnant trying to skate? Walking on the ice was enough excitement for me. Hannah did really well. She was able to "walk" around the whole rink on her skates. She "skated" quite a bit on her own.
Gavin just wanted to skate with Daddy and take breaks to watch the hockey game on the other rink. Hannah and Gavin's favorite thing to do was skate with Kevin. He would carry them and skate so fast and then stop and spray me with ice. They got a big kick out of that.

Bathroom

2009-09-08T18:22:00.001-07:00

I have been looking forward to this post for the past 2 months. It means my bathroom is finished! Well, except for the door (kind of important to have a door in a bathroom).

BEFORE:
(Glad my Sister-in-law told me to do this, or I wouldn't have had any)
Our lovely pedestal sink
How on Earth did I ever part with this beauty?
Just a nasty shower. My camping mentality really helped me out with this one.

DURING:
Hannah stated, "I don't want an ugly bathroom" as Kevin and I destroyed our bathroom. It started last Friday, July 10.
I had my day planned... Get Grandma's b-day present, make the b-day cake, make a good dinner since my brother was coming over, poor guy eats military food all week. So when I got the text from Kevin at 10am that we were "demo-ing today" I was a little confused. What are we demo-ing? No reply... I was a little concerned. He finally replied... "the bathroom." Ok, I knew this was coming, but I didn't know so soon. So that weekend we spent our time ripping our bathroom to the studs. Bathtub, floor, drywall, linen closet... everything GONE!

The beginning. If only I knew what I know now. I seriously thought we could do this in one week. Yea, I feel like an idiot saying that now, but it's true.
Taking advantage of my brother coming over for dinner. He came with us to Lowe's and helped us get all the drywall, hardybacker (drywall for the bathtub area), and the bathtub. We got 10% off with his military discount.
I didn't realize how much trash you acquire while remodeling
We found this newspaper, along with a Toys R Us ad from 1989. Nintendos were on sale for $99 and a Sega was on sale for $199!

Starting to take form! We covered the walls with stuff to prevent the moisture from damaging the house and put the window in. Kevin did it all!
Got our bathtub in!

Walls started to go up!
I really wanted a tiled shower, so I did it myself! I'm crafty, I like to sew, how could tile be any different from making a quilt? Rachel (my sister-in-law) helped me pick out the tile and got me started.
I really LOVE how it turned out.
Since I wanted a tiled floor, I did that myself too. I don't think I would ever tile a floor again while pregnant. That part really sucked, but I love how it turned out.
Kevin did the baseboards and the molding around the door. The last step was the crown molding. Kevin got so frustrated trying to figure out the angles. So, for the first time ever... we paid someone to come over and do something to our house, $50 well worth it.

AFTER:
Now, I have a beautiful bathroom that I absolutely love! It took 6 weeks to get it functional and another 2 weeks to finish it (except the door)

First Day of School

2009-09-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hannah and Gavin started pre-school this week. Hannah could hardly contain her excitement. We were counting down the days for two weeks. Finally, Monday, her first day of school arrived. That morning she couldn't eat her cereal, when I asked why she replied, "I'm too excited for school to eat!"
Gavin and I were going to take a mommy and me class because he barely misses the deadline to start pre-school. You have to turn 3 by the day the class starts. Yesterday we went to our class that my pregnant brain thought started at 11, but actually it started at 10. Luckily, I started talking to one of the girls at the front desk and asked about Gavin, she waived the age requirement and enrolled him for the Tuesday/Thursday class. I was so happy!
So, this morning Gavin woke up, I told him we had to get ready for school and he said, "I need to eat cereal." He was so excited. When we got out of the car he told me, "I won't be shy!"

It feels so good to drop my kids off at school. I love picking them up and hearing about the new things they learned and what their friends said. I can't believe Gavin is actually in school, he is such a big boy now.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

2009-08-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend we have been celebrating Kevin's 28th birthday. On Friday we took the kids to the $2 Theater to see "Up". It was the first time we took them to the movies. Perfect idea for a really hot day.
That night Kevin had a hockey game at 9:50 pm. Usually, I don't go to his game if it's that late, but I wanted to surprise him with a little party. I gave the kids a really late nap and we were ready to party!
I made Kevin's favorite cupcakes. Yellow cake with chocolate pudding inside and chocolate frosting. While Kevin was playing his game the kids and I broke into the locker room and decorated it. Hannah and Gavin were totally into helping me. They did a really good job cutting the ribbon on the balloons, giving me tape, and spreading the balloons everywhere.
I think we surprised him!
Saturday, Kevin's actual birthday, we went to the LA Kings Fest. I don't know who loved it more, Kevin or Gavin? Gavin loved playing hockey with all the other kids.
Check out the smoke from the La Canada fire! Pretty scary.
We met Luc Robitaille. He is one of Kevin's favorite players. He was a really nice guy and took his time chatting with us. Kevin told him that we were thinking about naming our son after him. He was a little embarrassed, but flattered.
The kids got to meet Bailey, the King's mascot.
Gavin met a lot of "hockey guys"
All in all, we just had a lot of fun doing everything hockey.

At night we met my brother, Grayson, and his fiance', Jayde, for dinner in Huntington Beach. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Duke's.
We love their Hula Pie!
We enjoyed walking down the pier since it was only 80 degrees there compared to the 104 at home.
When we got home, the kids gave Kevin their birthday cards. They really loved making it a special day for their daddy. It was just a fun-filled family weekend!

The End of Boot Camp at 27 Weeks

2009-08-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed teaching my boot camp classes since January. There have been days when I didn't want to do it, as with any other job and working out, but once I got started I ALWAYS loved it. With the growing belly it is quite hard to do "burpies" or squat jumps, let alone any ab work at all (I did my last sit-up the end of May).

I wanted to document how big I was when I taught my last class... So here I am at 27 1/2 weeks, after teaching my last class... I'm so sad! At least I'll still do personal training, I can just sit there and tell other people how to work out.

Hopefully, I'll be ready to start teaching again the end of January or February. That seems so far away.

The Virgos

2009-08-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

We spent this weekend with my family. Justin is getting ready to leave on his mission and it was Kairistiona's 18th Birthday today, Jayde's (Grayson's fiance') on the 25th, and Kevin's on the 29.
I made my ice cream cake... it was a hit. It is the perfect combination of ice cream and cake.
Happy Birthday Kairisti, Jayde, and Kevin!

Discovery Cube

2009-08-14T13:33:00.001-07:00

After grouting the tile floor I decided that I wanted to take a shower, put make-up on, and wear normal clothes. I needed to get out of the house, the kids needed to get out of the house, and Kevin needed a break from working on the house. I decided to kid nap him and take him to the Discovery Cube Science Center.
They have a "Science of Hockey" exhibit and every time we drive past it we always talk about how we need to go there... we finally made it!
We all had a great time. Gavin was in heaven (and Kevin).

(Gavin's shot is 11 MPH... He's got a lot of work to do)

Kevin wanted a turn too...
Hannah had a good time. It was nice to spend some one on one time with her while Gavin and Daddy explored all the hockey stuff.

(Hannah could climb to the top all by herself... with a spotter)

Kevin was a little worried about me trying the bed of nails, but it looked so cool.
The Dinosaur exhibit was fun. The kids liked putting the dinosaur skeleton puzzle together and riding the "rhino dinosaur." Gavin calls it a triceratops now.
We all had a good time at the museum.

Surpise Birthday Party in Oregon

2009-08-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning I left EARLY with the kids and drove up to Oregon. It was my Grandpa's 80th birthday and my dad wanted to surprise him with a visit. Unfortunately, Kevin was not able to go, so I made the trip solo.
My grandparents are caretakers of a church camp during the summer months. Basically, they retired and now work half the year. The camp is just outside of Ashland, Oregon. It is absolutely beautiful!
When we arrived my Grandpa was surprised to see us, but he quickly hid his excitement because he's a manly man. We had a nice dinner with him and my mom made his favorite carrot cake (from scratch... it's is sooo good!)

(blowing out his candles with Gavin)

My family and I camped at a nearby campground since my grandparent's camp was hosting a girls camp. It was 47 degrees in the morning. It was so dang cold!

Friday we drove up to my other Grandma's house (my dad's mom). She lives about 100 miles north of the California boarder. My kids loved running all over her property. We went to the pasture and picked blackberries. Blackberry season isn't quite at it's peak, but we were able to get enough berries to make a cobbler. Picking blackberries was one of Hannah and Gavin's favorite things they did in Oregon.(I didn't get a picture of the cobbler)

(the ultimate flower crown)

Saturday we spent the day with my Grandpa back at the camp. The kids went out on the canoes, we had dinner, a campfire, and s'mores. The kids and I were able to stay in the nurses cabin with a bathroom and heater.
Sunday I left the camp at 8:30 and drove ALL the way home with the kids. I have no complaints about the drive. The kids were wonderful. We had a little quarrel about the DVD player, but we made it home safely and sanely.
I told the kids at 4:00 we would stop at the gas station and they could pick whatever two treats they wanted. Hannah got a popsicle and skittles, Gavin got cheetos and skittles.

Our Doggies

2009-07-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

When Kevin and I were married we temporarily adopted Duke, his parent's chihuahua. Duke was a really good dog, but we had to give him back when we moved to a different apartment. I've always know that we would have a dog in our house. Kevin loves dogs. We adopted Keralla from the pound in February and had to find her a new home because we couldn't take care of her at our last apartment. It was pretty devasting for Hannah.
When we moved into our house last month, the first thing we did was go to the pound and adopt Emma (Hannah named her). Emma has been a wonderful dog and is so good with Hannah and Gavin.Kevin has wanted a Weimaraner for a long time. We saw one while we were beach camping and it really made him want one more. Being Kevin, he got on the internet and found a Weimaraner puppy that he really, really wanted. I hesitantly agreed to join him to see the dog. I fell in love at first sight. Seeing Kevin so happy, I couldn't say no. The whole way home we tried to figure out what to call our new puppy. I wanted something German since it is a German breed. I don't know how, but we settled on Deiter. Some other contenders were Hans, Cyrus, and Dodger.
Kevin was taking a nap with both dogs today. I wanted to sneak a picture, but the dogs woke up and started jumping on Kevin.
Kevin tried to escape, but Deiter followed (sorry about the construction mess in the background, we are mid bathroom remodel)Deiter is completely attatched to Kevin
Now I have a house, two dogs, two kids, and a baby on the way. I'm feeling like my life is a little crazy.

Beach Camping

2009-07-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

Beach Camping at El Capitan has been a Jones family tradition since Kevin's dad was a little boy. It is a tradition I want to carry on in my family. I love seeing Kevin share his childhood memories with Hannah and Gavin. I just hope when my kids are older they aren't making out with other kids under the lifeguard tower like their daddy did.
We went with Kim, Jim, Jeremy, Melissa, and Michael (Kevin's aunt and her family). We always have the best time with the Dicatos.
It was a bit of a challenge to keep Hannah's foot clean since she had stitches. I bought her some cheap rainboots and along with a band-aid, tape, and a sock, her cut stayed pretty clean.
Gavin pounding about 10 marshmallows at once...
The monkey tree... Hannah and Gavin must have spent hours playing in this tree. They got a few scrapes, but it didn't seem to stop them from climbing it again.
Wanting to play with fire... Just like his Daddy...
Roasting hotdogs for dinner. We even cooked our baked beans in a pot over the fire... it doesn't get more camping than that!I can't wait to go next year!

Orange County Fair

2009-07-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the Orange County Fair with Kevin's family. We had a great time! Hannah sat on Grandpa's lap most of the day and got pushed around in the wheelchair. I think Grandpa was the oldest person at the fair that day.After lunch we headed for the kiddy rides. Hannah wanted to go on the dragon ride. Gavin went along, it took a couple of trips around the track for him to feel comfortable. I think he was scared, but didn't want anyone to know because we were all looking at him.Gavin LOVED the airplane ride...
Marilyn went on the hot air balloon ride with the kids. Hannah had it spinning so fast! I think she's been on the teacup ride too many times at Disneyland.
This was my 10th trip to the fair with Kevin's family. One of the highlights of the day is seeing the baby piglets. We've seen piglets only a few days old and we've seen a mommy pig in labor, but this day we actually got to see a baby pig be born! That was pretty exciting. Here's Gavin and Grandma looking at the piglets, these ones were about 10 days old.
Marilyn took the kids on the last ride. They rode across the fairgrounds. We had to sprint to the other side to get them. They had to stop the ride so they could get on and off. Oh well...
After the chocolate covered bacon (I just couldn't bring myself to eat it), a deep fried twinkie (couldn't eat that either), and a deep fried s'more it was time to leave the fair. We had a great day and I look forward to going again next year!

First Stitches

2009-07-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

As a mom it's important to record your children's firsts. Today, Hannah had her first stitches. She slammed the back door shut and it ripped the skin off on the top of her foot. Luckily, Hannah's doctor was available to do the stitches and there was no nerve damage. Kevin was able to meet us to watch Gavin.
Hannah was so brave, she didn't even cry. It was quite painful for her, but she toughed it out and held completely still.
She got an ice cream cone when it was all done.
Poor little thing... 4 stitches

Happy 90th Birthday!

2009-07-13T00:28:00.000-07:00

Kevin has the most wonderful Grandma ever. We lived with his Grandparents for two years while he finished school and I became pretty close to both of them. We celebrated Grandma's 90th birthday yesterday. I can't believe she is 90! She doesn't seem old enough to be 90. Here are my reasons why;
... most 90 year olds (even younger) start to lose their mind, not Grandma. She is up to date on the stock market, her politics, and even the Lakers (she has to be with Kevin and Aaron as grandsons). Not only is she up to date, she will argue with Kevin over topics such as politics and Kobe Bryant. Grandma HATES Kobe.
... she makes fresh squeezed orange juice every day... and strains the pulp
... doesn't need a cane or any walking assistance, or perhaps she is just too stubborn to use it.
... She gives GOOD advice, we have asked her her opinon on a various range of topics and in the end I always end up saying, "Grandma is always right!"

(Hannah always has to help blow out other people's candles)

I made this icecream cake. My layers aren't perfect, but it tasted RRRRREALLY good. I used to boxes of chocolate cake mix, 1/2 gallon of chocolate chip, 1/2 gallon of mint n' chip, and made chocolate frosting (without creamcheese, for Aaron and Kevin).

Hannah is Growing Up!

2009-07-11T00:28:00.001-07:00

Hannah got her ears pierced! She was so excited and I used this event as leverage for days!
I was her age when I got my ears pierced and she has just been dying to get her's. I let her pick out what ever earrings she wanted. Of course she picked out one of the more expensive kinds. They are pick sparkly flowers.
Her face is priceless. She didn't even cry! I told her it was going to be a little pinch and then her ears would get really warm.
Hannah wanted Mamo J to be there.
After her ear piercing we stopped by the makeup counter in Nordstroms. What a perfect day for Hannah! Ears pierced and a makeover!
You can tell she feels SO pretty!

Kevin's Porch

2009-07-04T15:01:00.001-07:00

"We are the half tan, half olive green dalmatian poke-a-dot house." That is how I described our house to a friend who was coming over as I gave her directions. I didn't process that until after it came out of my mouth. Yes, I live in the half tan, half olive green dalmatian poke-a-dot house.

This is what our house looked like when we bought it.

(Gavin in his pajamas)One night while I was at the gym, Kevin decided to rip the rock off the house. He also put a huge hole in the wall in the laundry room (another post). And... the birth of the olive green dalmatian poke-a-dot house!(Gavin's bedroom window Kevin put in)
This weekend Kevin built a porch fence. I think it looks awesome, he did a really good job. Once again, I am totally impressed with his handyman skills!

I think I need a nice Nag's Head Hammock for the front porch... or just a white rocking chair from Lowe's.

Our New House

2009-07-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

I thought I should do a few before and after pictures of our home. Kevin has been working very hard on our home to bring it up to our standards.
Our bedroom
before...
Kevin fixed the closet, we painted, changed the electrical outlets, carpeted, and put in new light fixtures.
After...

(I love my light, it looks like a big fat candle)(We need to finish putting the hardware on the closet)

Kevin's office... AKA "The Man Cave"
before...

(Gavin was such a good helper)

The "4th Bedroom" had lovely mauve tile and an orange peel texture on the wall that was just as lovely. Kevin busted that nasty tile out in about 15 minutes. I guess he had some aggression built up and took it out on the floor with an 8lb sledge hammer. To take care of the orange peel texture Gavin and I skimmed the walls with over 100 lbs of "mud." After skimming, we sanded, primed, painted, carpeted, and Kevin put the baseboards up.
After...

(Kevin got lucky because I did not want the TV in the bedroom, every man cave needs a TV)

(All Kevin needs is a big leather chair to complete his man cave, unfortunately for him, I am demanding a dishwasher first)

I should have done a better job of the before pictures, but to be honest I didn't want anyone to see it! My sister-in-law, Rachel, came over and told me to just get my camera and take pictures right now. I did and I am really happy I listened to her because now I have all the ugly before pictures to show when we have our after pics!

Baby Boy Jones (round 2)

2009-06-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it's time to announce that I'm pregnant. Yes, number 3. I have to remember what my old boss told me, "Babies are ALWAYS good things." Yes they are.

In the beginning, I was not thrilled about being pregnant, again. In fact I was pretty depressed about it. But as my tummy has grown and I feel this little baby boy move around, I am totally excited to have a new baby in our family.

Last Monday, Kevin and I went for the "gender determination ultra sound." I had a dream, before I knew I was pregnant, that I had a boy, so that was my guess going into it and....

Clearly a boy.

Kevin has another son to teach hockey to, Gavin has a little brother to play hockey with, Hannah doesn't have to share her princess dresses, and I get to buy all new baby stuff.

(6 months ago I got rid of our crib, highchair, infant carrier, and all the baby clothes I hadn't been able to part with)

Can we find a pair of skates this small?

DC Part I

2009-06-14T20:47:00.001-07:00

I am a month behind on blogs... so here goes the Jones Family update!

Last year we had a great time in the Outer Banks, so we were excited to go back. Kevin and I decided to fly into Washington D.C. and visit some old friends from Burbank, the Jenkins.
We had an uneventful flight, no drama and no poopy diapers on the airplane.
The first day we rented bikes and toured all the sights. We enjoyed the Smithsonian Museums. We went to the Natural History and American History Museums. Aside from all the middle school kids running around, it was fun to see everything.

Hannah was mad we made her wear tennis shoes with a twirly skirt

At the American History Museum the kids helped make the "Star Spangled Banner." Gavin made sure his star was perfectly laid out.
The kids were excited to see "Barak Obama's House."
The Washington Monument and the World War II Memorial.
Kevin and Hannah at the Lincoln Memorial.
The next day Kevin went back to Washington DC and I stayed at the Jenkins' house to hang out with Anie and let the kids play with each other. Hannah liked to pick out Madi's clothes and she treid to find outfits that matched her own.

We fed the ducks,

went to Barnes and Nobel, and took naps.

*Madi is Gavin's new girlfriend

That night Kevin, Gavin, and Spencer went to a Baltimore Orioles game. Anie and I planned a girls night, but we were both too tired to do anything and ended up chatting all night instead. Our trip to the Outer Banks is next!

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

With our big trip just two days away, Kevin and I wanted to stay close to home for the weekend. Sunday night we drove down to San Clemente to spend the night at the Bank's house. We were planning on going to San Onofre early for Memorial Day. We woke up at 4:00am! Got in line to park by 4:45am. At 6am when the beach opened, there was a HUGE line of cars waiting. Getting up super early really paid off because we got our favorite spot. Fire pit, picnic table, close to the bathrooms and showers!
Hannah and Gavin at 6:00am ready to play in the sand.They literally played in the sand for about two straight hours. Around 8:45 I got Hannah's wetsuit on and we walked to the water and waited for Kevin. Hannah is really getting the hang of surfing.
Gavin was dying to go too. He could not contain his excitement while I put the wetsuit on him. This was his first time out. He looked so little out there.
We are in the middle of potty-training Gavin... Somehow he figured out he could just pee anywhere at the beach. He would drop his shorts to his ankles and fire away. I was so embarrassed. Kevin taught him to pee on the plant. Stinkin' little boys.
More playing....

And a bonfire to cook our food!
Around 2:00pm, Kevin was out for his 3rd session and the kids were cranky. I made a "beach bed" and laid down with them. In about 5 minutes they were both totally out. They slept there until 4:00 when it was time to go.

They got a drink of water and a snack in the car and went back to sleep until we got home at 6:00.
Felt good to take a shower and get our PJ's on, we are going to bed early!

Our Amazing Hawaiian Vacation

2009-05-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Kevin went deep sea fishing. He had a good time, but didn't catch too many fish. He caught a yellow fin tuna and what I consider a "cute" Mahi Mahi.

I decided to not go fishing and get a facial instead.
That night we attended the awards dinner.
Fliet mignon, lobster and Polynesian dancers...
The next morning we ordered room service. Can you believe it was my first time ordering room service? It was so fancy!
Kevin and I went on a helicopter ride that morning. We were pretty excited. Oahu is beautiful, but from a helicopter... it is breathtaking.

Hanama Bay

Sacred Falls-can only be seen from a helicopter

North Shore

Pear Harbor Memorial

The "Utah"-a battleship that was destroyed during the attack on Pearl Harbor

Unfortunately, I got sick and needed a "comfort bag." That was not pleasant. I was so embarrassed, but no one knew I threw up because we all had headphones on.

Kevin and I went to Waikiki for dinner. We ate at the coolest hotel. The Moana is one of the oldest hotels.
We were stealing decorating ideas for our new house. It's just beautiful.
The next day was the most anticipated day for me. It was the day of our shark excursion! I've wanted to go shark cage diving for a LONG time. It was only a 15 minute boat ride and the water was glass. I was a bit nervous because I didn't want to repeat what happened the day before. On our way out to the dive site we saw two humpback whales, a mommy and a baby. I just finished saying that I had never seen a whale jump out of the water (except for Shamu) when the mommy whale breached, followed by her baby. The baby was so cute, it just kept mimicking it's mommy.
When the boat stopped, the sharks immediately started to circle. There were some pretty big ones!
Kevin jumped in the shark cage first. It looks a little pathetic to have so many people in a little cage. Kind of like we were the animals in a cage the sharks were looking at.
It was amazing to see the sharks swimming around us. They are such beautiful animals. I felt completely safe in the cage. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Maybe next time I'll dive with great white sharks off the coast of South Africa.
We were so close to Matsumoto's, the best shaved ice in Hawaii the bus driver was nice enough to stop so we could get one... just as good as I remember!
I can't wait until Kevin wins another trip. This was the most amazing vacation I've ever been on. I think we only spent $100 the whole time we were there, and that was on souvenirs. Everything was covered, we even got gifts every night! My favorite were the Maui Jim sunglasses. To sum up this trip in one word... AMAZING!
Thank you Kevin for working hard!

Welcome to the Aloha State-Day 1

2009-05-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hawaii is just how we left it. The sweet smell of plumerias still fill Honolulu airport, the trade winds are still refreshing, and the sounds of the waves are still relaxing. Being in Hawaii reminds me of a phase of my life, the phase when I started my life with Kevin. Carefree and kid-free.
The hotel is amazing, this is the view from our room.
I've heard of fish ponds, but when I saw this I was shocked. The hotel has a hammerhead shark pond. The sharks are about 3 feet long, and beautiful to watch.
Kevin and I laid out and met some friends. The beach is awesome and the water is warm.
Luckily his friend Cory is here and they can be A.D.D. together while I can lay out with Cory's wife Jonelle. They are a lot of fun.
We had the "Aloha Welcome Dinner" last night. With a "Contemporary Luau" menu. Sounds too fancy right? It was just a luau dinner. I got my Hui Hui chicken and Kevin got his kalua pig.

Father & Son Camp Out

2009-05-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

Kevin and Gavin went on a Father & Son's Camp Out last weekend. I was so excited for Gavin to go camping and talked about it all week. Hannah and I made plans to go to Disneyland, just Hannah and Mommy!
Gavin loved camping. He ran around with sticks "shooting" birds and trying to stab gofers in the gofer holes.
He loved the campfire and made s'mores with daddy.
Gavin said he was tired and wanted to go to sleep, so Kevin set up their bed in the back of my car (no tent, chance of rain).
Gavin had a really good time camping with Kevin. I'm excited for our beach camping trip in July!

What the.....?

2009-04-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

So now I'm a jerk? After all the hard work and love I've shown my wife, I'm a jerk? Anyone interested in an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii? Shark diving, fishing, and helicopter rides. I dont think Courtney wants to go anymore. :(

No Such Thing as a Free Breakfast...

2009-04-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

We ran out of milk yesterday (Sunday) and didn't have milk this morning for breakfast.
So I thought, "I'm going to be a cool mom and take my kids to get bagels!"
We left for preschool 20 minutes early to hit up the Starbucks drive thru for 2 bagels, toasted with cream cheese... mmm...
Since I'm not a frequent Starbucks customer, I was unaware of the trap ahead of me.
I turn left into the shopping center, and then... I see lights in my rear view mirror! Oh no!!!
What did I do?
Cell phone.... nope
Seat belt... yes
Kids in carseat... yes
Registration up to date... yes
I couldn't figure out why I was getting pulled over!!!
Well, apparently I crossed a double yellow line to turn left. The cop had to explain it to me because I just didn't understand what he was talking about.

You see... I pulled into the suicide lane and turned left. But in actuality, the suicide lane ended and then I turned left.
My kids were very interested in why mommy got in trouble from the police man. They were absolutely SILENT while the cop was at my window listening to everything.

To make matters worse, after the ticket was written, I got back in the drive thru line to find... they just sold out of bagels!!!! AHHHHH!!!
We went to a different coffee shop down the road, and they just sold out too! I told them my sob story and the guy who just bought all the bagels gave me one.

So all in all... I got a ticket, a free bagel, and a life time of sweet reminders from my children every time we drive by the crime scene, and the best part... one jerk of a husband.

The Best Husband Ever!

2009-04-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I have our ups and downs like any other couple, but for the most part, I have the best husband. He is supportive of my academic pursuits, and likes to make me happy. I could give a long list, but I'll get straight to the point...

Kevin won a trip to Hawaii!!!

He was one of the top 2 people in Southern California! What can I say??? My husband is good at selling drugs! So in 3 weeks we will be packing our bags and leaving! Thank you Aunt Mar Mar (Kevin's aunt, Marilyn) for watching Hannah and Gavin.

We can pick one excursion a day while we are there. The first day, Kevin will go deep sea fishing. I decided not to go, my last deep sea fishing experience was 8 hours of puking and I only caught ONE fish! So instead I opted to get a facial. The next day we are going on a helicopter tour of Oahu. The last day... diving with sharks off the coast of the North Shore (in a cage). I'm most excited about that!

So thank you Kevin for working hard and winning this trip! You are the "bestest"!

Home Sweet Home

2009-04-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I have bought our first home! It still seems so surreal, I thought we would never be able to buy a home in Southern California.
It's a foreclosure in La Mirada. It needs A LOT of work, but Kevin has always been pretty handy so I'm not too worried (no pressure Kevin!). It will be a "fun" family project to make the new house our home.

I can't wait to post our before and after pictures. We should close escrow mid-May. After we get home from Hawaii and before we go to the Outer Banks.

Once a Marine... Always a Marine

2009-04-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we joined my family in San Diego for my brother, Grayson's, graduation from Boot Camp. The first day was family day. People are just plain CRAZY! The parents were 100 times worse than pre-school parents. We kept getting shuttled around the base waiting to see our new Marine. Hannah playing on a "big huge gun" while we waited

Here is the first sight of Grayson we got. It was right before the "Moto Run" (motivational run). They had to run 4 miles before they got to see their family.
Then they changed and marched out for us to see them...

Grayson is the 2nd row, second person

Grayson looked really good. I had been warned by several people that he would be totally different. They were all wrong. He was a funny as ever.

The Branch on base hosted a nice luncheon for the families. It was Mormon cooking in its finest. Pull-pork sandwiches, I think Grayson ate 6 of them, along with a couple of hotdogs, and other side dishes.
The next day was the real graduation. My whole family made it! My mom was REALLY proud of her son!
Congratulations Grayson! I look forward to hanging out with you while you are at Camp Pendleton.

Pre-Easter Fun

2009-04-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hannah got to wear her Easter dress to school for her Easter Party. She was so "tsited" (excited).

(Hannah and her "boyfriend" Jake)

That day we decorated eggs and made sugar cookies. We never finished the cookies, but they had fun rolling the dough and cutting it with the cookie cutters.

I was a little stressed during the egg decorating. Two little kids with dye that can ruin anything does not sound like my idea of fun, but they did really well keeping everything clean.

Now what do I do with all those eggs? I figured since I got a dozed for .99 cents (Fresh n' Easy) I'm not going to stress too much about it.