Thursday, January 8, 2009

Hockey Gavin

Today we bought Gavin's first pair of hockey skates. He loves them.
Kevin and I couldn't resist. They were too cute.
Here is Gavin trying out his skates. He's a bit shaky, but getting the hang of it.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Christmas to New Year's

Wow, what a crazy two weeks we've had. If anyone has tried to call me, I apologize, my phone is broken and I haven't had a chance to get a new one.
After Christmas, we took off to Palm Springs with Kevin's parents. It was nice and warm, my mother-in-law and I got manicures and pedicures at the most amazing place. They actually massaged your feet instead of just rubbing lotion on your shin with gloved hands. It was quality.
We spent the rest of the day swimming in the 85 degree pool...
The next day we went to The Living Desert. It was awesome. I don't think I'd like the place in the summer, but it was a beautiful day in December.
Papa Tee and the kids riding the Warthog. See Gavin's pirate sword? He carried that thing all day!Gavin loved the giraffes...and the zebras...
The cheetah was active, it's nice to see animals at the zoo that aren't sleeping.
The kids liked the petting zoo too.
We really enjoyed the zoo. Thank you Mamo J and Papa Tee for a fun trip, we all had a great time!
For New Year's Eve our family loves to go to the Rose Parade.
This was the first year we took Hannah and Gavin, we had not been for awhile. I bundled them up well. Some lady commented how I shouldn't have my kids out so late. I love unsolicited parental advice. I said, "Yea, I'm a cool mom!" I stole that line from my friend. Come on lady, it's New Year's Eve!
Jeremy was not excited to go to the parade. Jeremy is from Arizona, so he didn't know thought it was going to be lame. Once he saw the floats he LOVED it.

All the floats line up the night before, you can walk up right next to them. The details are amazing. Here are some of our favorites...
Hannah loved all of them, but she was excited to see the the Wizard of Oz float...
Gavin loved the zebras...
Kevin loved the Alaskan float's tribal masks and dogs...

And I loved the USC float!
They had dogs skateboarding on a float. So cute! Look how BIG this dog is!
The next day we slept in and enjoyed a day of laziness. It was much needed. Hannah rode her bike she got for Christmas, she is getting better every time. Gavin played hockey with Kevin.


That night Hannah got to go to Ohio with Mamo J and Papa Tee. They took the red eye (yuck) right after the Rose Bowl Game. Hannah was so excited. She packed 5 carry-on bags. We had to prioritize and fit everything in one suit case.When she walked into the airport with her grandparents she looked so grown up. She is such a sweet girl. She'll be in Ohio for about 10 days.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas Crafts & Recovery

We left Monday afternoon with a clean house, we returned last night and made a messy house. In my attempts to avoid unpacking this....I cleaned up all the Christmas decorations. I suddenly remembered, I didn't take any pictures of the stuff I made today, and I know everyone is dying to know what I did with that football field worth of flannel. Well, here ya go!
Here are Hannah and Gavin's Christmas blankets and pillow cases. These things are SO easy to make. See why I couldn't resist buying this flannel? The pink and blue snowmen, the pink and blue snowflakes, the cute blue penguins, and the pink Christmas trees! I fell in love at first sight!
My next blanket I made was a Christmas throw. My sister-in-law, Rachel, was over and I showed her my cute flannel, she liked it a lot. She twisted my arm, and I decided to make not one, but two... we both needed one. She cut, I sewed. It was a fabulous team. She also helped minimize the critical remarks from Kevin on how messy the house was getting.I made this pillow too! I love the red ball trim.
I wanted a wreath, but all the ones I saw I didn't like, so I made my own. I was really intimidated with the thought of making my own wreath, but once I got started I realized how easy it was.Remember my New Year's Resolutions for this year? One of them was to finish all my unfinished craft projects. This is one I finished. I got a custom mat, but bought a regular frame from Michael's (the mat was twice as much as the frame, but it makes the cross-stitch look so good). This one only took me 6 years to finish!Another one of my unfinished craft projects finished! My Christmas advent calendar only took me 2 1/2 years!I think Hannah has caught the crafting bug, maybe she was born with it? Nature or Nurture? Santa brought her a sewing machine for Christmas, she is so excited to use it! Unfortunately, the elves put the wrong sewing machine in Santa's sleigh, so Hannah can't sew on it until Santa comes back to bring her the right one. While she waits, she is working on her hand sewing.

Well, back to unpacking from Christmas and beginning the task of finding places for all these new toys Hannah and Gavin got.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Daddy Hockey Championship

Merry Christmas to me!!! I got a new camera! Thank you Kevin. Kevin and I never can wait until Christmas to give our presents to each other.
Last night was Daddy's Hockey Championship Game. The kids and I went. We watched them smoke the other team in the first period.
Then as usual, we all need a break, and go to the arcade for the second period.
We go back once the third period starts. Kevin is borrowing a jersey, he is #68 right now. It looks so weird to me because he has always been #22. I'll be happy when he gets his jersey. It's taking FOREVER!
Kevin played really well and scored some goals, but the best part is watching Hannah and Gavin get so excited to see him play.They are so proud of him. He is the coolest Dad! I'm proud of him too. I hope he keeps playing hockey.
Here is Kevin's team, the VIPERS!!! They are all trying to convince me to let Kevin go to Las Vegas on my birthday weekend for a tournament. We will see.
The season starts up again after the new year!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Finals Finale

Took my last final tonight. I almost had an anurism trying to finish my project that was due today. Luckily in crunch time Kevin totally pulled through for me. He sat there patiently cutting out tiny test tubes and petri dishes so I could paste, yes paste, them into my lab journals. Kevin would cut, Hannah would hand them to me, and I would paste and label. Then Hannah and Gavin picked up all the scraps of paper. I am so happy and very grateful for my family's help today. I would not have been able to finish it without them... well, maybe I would have, but then I wouldn't have gotten to take a shower before I went to school. YIKES!

I'm so happy to be on Christmas break now! I can have a life for a brief moment and be a good mother again.

Thank you Kevin for your support... this was a rough semester, but aren't they all? Somehow we get through it, we always do.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Touch Down!!

I'm still alive, but my camera isn't. I wanted to post pictures of Hannah's gingerbread house, but my camera went psycho and.... I just need a new one.
We have been crafting up a storm at the Jones house. It all started with my Black Friday outing.
I woke up at 6:00am and got to JoAnns by 6:15am. Total chaos. I pulled number 53, yes 53!!! to get my fabric cut. This was 6:25am. I bailed and went to another JoAnns. It was heaven there. I got all the flannel I ever wanted! It was on sale for $1.49 a yard. When I went to the register it all totaled to $149.00. I was so confused, did I really buy that much flannel. Oh crap!! When I told Kevin he FLIPED! He said (yelled), "you bought 100 yards of flannel!!! That's a FOOTBALL FIELD!"
I didn't realize how much I had purchased until he said a "football field." Ouch... I had the intention of returning some of it, but I keep using it. I made Hannah and Gavin Christmas rag quilts for their bed and pillow cases. Can't show you because of my camera. My sister-in-law, Rachel, came over yesterday and we finished off the last of the flannel making 2 Christmas rag quilts. We haven't finished the blankets, but they are turning out so cute. I love sewing with Rachel. She probably cut out 100 squares and I sewed them all. We just need to sew the squared together. So I have scored a touchdown, I have used 100 yards of flannel in about 2 weeks.
I would like to appologize to my husband. The house is messy, you are hungry, and running out of clean underware. I'm sorry. When you come home the house will be clean, and your laundry will be folded and put in your drawer. The house will be as it should be. And you can score a touchdown too!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Hannah is 4!

I'm a bit late with Hannah's birthday post. Many good excuses...
Hannah is at the age when you wake up on your birthday and it just feels magical. The feeling that goes away the older you get.
Hannah was a sweet baby, she always liked to sleep on my chest so she could hear my heart beat. We have always been buddies.
Hannah's birthday was last Friday. Although she insisted she was four since the day of her party. This past Monday was her school birthday party. I made the pinkest cupcakes ever! The kids loved the hot pink cupcakes.
Hannah and her "boyfriend" Jake.
Mrs. Lance is Hannah's preschool teacher. She is wonderful. Her class mates sang Happy Birthday to her and then dove into the cupcakes. Gavin had a great time in Hannah's class. After cupcakes he participated in practicing their holiday songs for their Christmas Program. He is so ready for preschool... I'm ready for him to go to preschool.