The Jones Journal

in class

i got to be the parent helper today in kayla's class. we also brought in cupcakes to celebrate her upcoming birthday. it was so nice to be able to share today with her.

as he sleeps

i just love how he still likes to sleep in a fetal position. isn't he the cutest?

while he's sleeping, it's time for me and kayla to spend some time together. just the two of us. usually, we play a game or color or do make-up. but today, we got a little antsy.

she is so silly! leave that boy alone! let him sleep! don't you know that number rule of parenthood? never, ever wake a sleeping child.

hey! who took this picture?

exercise

they like to watch my recorded exercise shows and actually do them.

i like to sit on the couch behind them and take pictures.

what?!? i'm just trying to keep this site going.

buddies

2-4-6-8

who do we appreciate?

:)

in case he didn't know

since daddy wasn't home yet, she wanted to call and ask him if he'd be home before bed.

she got his voicemail and her message went something like this:

hi daddy. i just wanted to give you a call back. this is kayla. your daughter. i wanted to see if you are coming home. you have lots of love from your daughter. okay. bye.

the day after

small group, we all get off to a slow start.

been pondering

this quote for a couple of days.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson

homeschooling

i'm considering this. i forgot kayla was given homework on monday. i forgot to have her do it on tuesday. it wasn't until 15 minutes before we had to leave the house on wednesday that i remembered. needless to say, we didn't finish it.

it was kinda weird standing in line waiting to go into class with everyone else ready to hand in their homework, but not us. oh, what were we going to say to the teacher? she was going to be so disappointed.

k: mommy, what if i forget to do my homework when i go to kindergarten?

if i can't keep up with preschool, how will i ever handle kindergarten?

:)

i spy

a racetrack. coloring books. paintbrushes. balderdash. flashlight. mangadoodle. hello kitty. noah's ark. a paper roll. and the cutest little boy all in the toy cabinet.

very orderly

i had put the shoes away twice before i realized what he was actually doing.

sunday afternoon

so, we didn't make it to the church picnic on sunday. but that's okay. everyone took a much needed nap. we still went to our little neighborhood park and enjoyed some time outside.

birthday wishes

sorry i've been a slacker.

on thursday at small group, my good friend jamie brought over a carrot cake to celebrate tom's birthday. OH! MY! that was the BEST carrot cake EV-AH!

also, tiffany flew in that day too. the kids have fallen in love with her. she watched them when i went back to work on friday. she took them for pizza, rented movies, and bought them toys and clothes. she's basically spoiling them and they are eating it up :)

and today is tom and tiffany's 35th birthday. to two of my favorite people, wishing you both lots of love and laughter in this year!

the truth is

after the day i had on monday, i should get the best ( or is it worst? ) tantrum by a 34 year-old award. i was terrible. i admit it.

i sometimes laugh when one of my friends tell me i look like i have got it together. if only they knew. it isn't always Mary Poppins and teaspoons of sugar and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious over here.

and i'm trying not to beat myself up for that :)

do i really?

i was trying to explain to her my thought process while we were playing the "Dora ABC Game."

m: blah, blah, blah...you know what i mean?

k: mommy, why do you always say "you know what i mean?" whenever i hear you on the phone, you only say "you know what i mean? you know what i mean?"

please help me

she's 4 going on 14.

and...well, he's 2.

please.

come.

quickly.

no exaggerating here

m: what should we get daddy for his birthday?

k: transformers.

m: do you think he'll like that?

k: well, all the boys in my class like them.

m: what do you think we should get aunt tiffany?

k: maybe a pretty dress.

m: that would be nice.

k: and high heeled shoes.

m: does she like high heeled shoes?

k: well, i think so, because i saw a whole bunch in her room.

m: how many did you see?

k: 60 million a hundred 60.

$24.99

the price of a bag of rice, which i gladly paid for. we haven't had rice for over a month and i have been craving it like crazy. when you grow up eating rice every single day, you'd think once you grew up you'd never miss it, but i do.

it looked so good on my plate, that i scooped up a good heaping in my hand and shoveled it into my mouth.

k: is that good?

m: (moaning) mmm, mmm... this is so good.

k: but can you be polite? ( as she passes me a fork )

she obviously does not know what i've been suffering through.

----

coming home from school.

catching up

on posting pictures.

from april 8:

and playing around with reflections, from april 9 and 10:

hellooo

his new favorite word.

not hello, as in hi. hey there.
but helll - oooh, as in dude, are you listening to me?

what started off as kinda cute is quickly becoming annoying.

remind me to never, ever, ever giggle at anything they do. ever. never.

kids nowadays

last night, tom and i talked about some plans to go to san diego next month, mostly about where we would stay.

k: mommy, why didn't the hotel we stayed in when we were sick have a couch?

(while the floor was laid, we all had the flu and stayed in a local hotel.)

m: not all hotels have a couch. most hotels just have a bed and a bathroom.

k: and a kitchen?

tom and i both laughed. we've always preferred to stay in suites when we go on vacation. we like having the extra room and making some of our own meals.

back when i was a little girl, we'd drive for 20 hours to get to our destination. the car would be packed down and my mom would bring a cooler with food to eat. we'd stay at our relatives' home and sleep on the floor.

these kids...they have got it made, i tell ya.

:)

little piggy

at preschool, the kids had their face painted with pig noses.

when she comes home, she looks in the mirror and says, " i'm taking this pig nose off of me. i look ridiculous."

much trouble

while dad was out mowing the yard and i was in the shower, someone decided he would get in the tub and take a bath.

without supervision.
a definite no-no.

after i pulled him out and put him in the corner, i went to blow dry my hair. when i was done, i went to get him, only to find that he was gone. i looked all upstairs, then heard the doorbell. i flew down the stairs because i could hear tom mowing in the backyard. thomas was knocking on the front door.

without supervision.
bare-naked.
a double whammy.

besides fearing for his safety, i couldn't help thinking, "just great! now what will the neighbors say?"

so in love

with this little boy.

a favorite

from last month

i'm worried...

kayla was playing with the basket of balls in the playroom. next thing, i know, she says, " i want bigger nipples."

me, being the documentarian that i am ( is that even a word? ), run and get my camera because i know somethings about to happen. and i return to find this.

she says, " i look like a wife." who! what! you must be talking about some desperate housewives !

then she needs to make some adjustments.

and she checks her side just to make sure she's presentable.

but, wha..wha..what in the...

he came running to show me his chest, with 2 balls in his shirt, and i just about dropped my camera.

this is just not good, people. i'm scared. i mean, i'm really scared.

:)

friendly neighbor

while we were outside playing this morning, my neighbor asked me if we had been on vacation or something, which we haven't. then he said, "oh, i guess i haven't seen all the toys in the driveway or heard you guys out here screaming."

and only because i know he meant it in the nicest way, i had a good chuckle. yes, we are THOSE neighbors! :)

does anybody want this?

this little spree ball/game/toy/machine thingy has a really loud voice that says, "keep it up, hot shot!", "you're on a roll!", "3 points", etc, etc. thomas loves this thing and continues to press that button over and over and over again.

if anyone would like to try this toy out, i'd be so, so happy to send it to you, next-day, postage-paid, express, fed-ex, UPS, priority mail or pony express. i'm telling you, you'll really, really thank me :)

taking a break

so, i'm going to take a break from posting pictures for awhile. i will try to post something from our day, because although we don't do much around here, the kids always do or say something that i think may be good to share.

thanks for peeking.

he misses his daddy

the past few days, he has been crying when his dad leaves for work.

as tom was leaving to go to church earlier on sunday, thomas yelled out, in his sweet little voice " daddy, wait (for) me, please."