A lil' of this, a lil' of that

Missed me, didn't you? You didn't realize what it was like to have to go so long between blog posts, huh? Tough, I have to wait a LONG time on some of you so this was a taste of your own medicine. Summer vacations make lazy bloggers.

We returned from the annual Stephenson Family (Greg's mom's side of the family) camp out. It was three days of perfect weather, terribly delicious eating, and great family. Greg really has a wonderful family. They are reverent and irreverent, pop drinking and whiskey drinking, hilarious and unintentionally hilarious, hard working family people. I love them. There are millions of children, most of them blond boys under 3 1/2 feet tall and there is never a quiet, tranquil moment. Just right for a not quiet, not tranquil family.

All of this fun was preceded by Greg's sister Julie and her son Jonny spending the week in Spokane. It was great hanging out and doing normal things with them. We hung out for a day, had lunch, Julie went to lunch with Greg, she came to Aubrey's gymnastics and Nathan's t-ball, and we all got some much needed Jonny time. She is hoping, as are we, to make it an annual event.

We got home just in time to wash every shred of clothing we own and repack for the Montgomery Family vacation to Seaside. We'll be gone for 9 days so once again you will have to live without my blog. I'm sure I'll have a picture or story to share when we get home. Now, for some pictures of the festivities.


All this way to go camping and all we want to do is play in Dane's playpen.
Mom, I'm busy playing, no time for pictures.
The big boys took all the water guns. I will just have to stand here and look cute.
My new favorite looks is this boy in a baseball hat. His curls rock my world.
That man sure knows how to shake those hips!
This mud puddle rocks!
Aubrey and Nora, being the cutest of friends.
Julie and Jonny. Jonny feasting on Julie's glasses.
My favorite part of the water is throwing the rocks. Catch Mom!
She takes after her daddy.
Greg introduced the fam to speed chess and it was a hit.

And now, a parting story. As you know, I do love a good story.

Once upon a time Greg was put in charge of watching his three darling offspring. His lovely wife was busy preparing food for the Saturday night potluck that was about to commence. Sara, the innocent preparer of food, was not only bringing a salad, but also a batch of her world famous "Bad News Brownies" that are an annual tradition and much requested treat. As she busied herself with her culinary chores, Greg "watched" the children by allowing them to roam free in the van while he read a guitar magazine. Suddenly, Greg emitted a gasp and an, "OH NO DANE!" while Sara wheeled about in anticipation of blood. Worse. CHOCOLATE. EVERYWHERE. Dane, grinning like a wild man, had feasted upon the brownies in a spree of sinful indulgence. The brownies, now a smashed mess, were no longer presentable. Nathan peered around the seat, all innocence, as a smear of chocolate on his face and hands told the real story. Sara did what any normal mother would do. She took pictures and managed to polish off all the brownie remains with Greg the following morning.



The story had an auspicious start but a very happy ending.

Happy week to you!

Squirrel Food

Can you almost hear the rushing water in the background? The smell of campfire smoke on their clothes, sticky s'mores on their fingers? Do you need to know that they are climbing our planned community, association required yard tree that Greg curses weekly as he mows around it or that he finally attacked the thing with a machete and decimated all of its lower branches in a fit of pruning rage? No no. Let's focus on the really cute kids and the rustic wonder of a housing development. Happy weekend to you!

If you're needy and you know it call a friend

I thought about if I was going to post about this last week at all. Then I decided I would, not to talk about myself but about every other giving person I have in my life. So although it may seem like a story about me it's really about everyone else. Because everyone else is who deserves the blog space and your time.

Let's not beat around the bush. I had a miscarriage this last week. It started a week ago today and finally ended on Wednesday night with a D&C. It was a crummy day that stretched nearly into a week. Please, don't feel out of the loop if you didn't know I was pregnant. We were waiting until my ultrasound this week to spread the news. Sadly, this isn't as fun of news to spread. However, it is behind us and today we are doing well, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Frankly, if you need a spiritual kick in the butt tell God you need help and see what happens. He knocked my socks off!

Monday our teenage baby-sitter agreed to just sit and be on call for when the doc could get me in. When I called her she was here in 15 minutes and watched the kids for hours.

Tuesday was when the real fun began. My friend Megan Deines not only watched my kids but came to my house, loaded all my car seats so that she could DRIVE ME downtown to my appointment, then take my kids back home with her. This allowed me to not have to drive since I felt like crud but it also let Greg and I come home together since he met me at my appointment.

Wednesday, when I couldn't get a hold of anyone else, my sister KayLynn left work (with her awesome boss's no questions asked permission) and showed up at my house 20 minutes after my phone call. She brought dinner and watched the kids with David and Claire until 5:30. At 5:30 my mother-in-law Marian showed up, coming straight from work and watched the kids until we got home at MIDNIGHT. No hesitation, just showed up and did it.

I have had countless calls from the best of family and the best of friends checking in on me. I have had two phone calls from people I don't know well, who didn't know about my situation, that were EXACTLY what I need to hear at that moment. It's been awesome.

And then about Greg. I have never doubted the devotion and care of that man but he has been a giant among men this last week. He has taken sick days to take care of me and the kids. He has dropped everything at work at a moment's notice to be there for me. He has come to every appointment and held my hand. We cried together at the unhappy ultrasound. He has driven anywhere I asked to get me the exact food I wanted. (Yes, I ate spicy gumbo and a lamb sandwich in the recovery room Wednesday night.) He has surprised me with chocolate which he knows is better than flowers. He has made bad jokes when it was right and stroked my hair when that was better. I hope you have a guy like Greg. He enhances every part of my life. And if he ever reads this his head will explode from the sheer growth of his ego.

It's cool how life works. I wouldn't have chose to miscarry. However, we have seen God's love through every individual that cared for us and that is a gift in itself. Plus, I take great comfort in knowing that while I didn't meet the baby I was carrying, God sure has because he "knit me together in my mother's womb." At the end of the week, I can look back and say that we are happier and stronger for it all. Thanks to EVERYONE who makes that statement true!!!!!

p.s. Cat's out of the bag too I suppose. Yes, we are trying for a fourth. Stay tuned, there are more Jones babies yet to come!

A horribly amazing post

Some of you may recall when Aubrey believed the word "soaking" to mean "very." You know, I'm soaking hungry, I'm soaking tired, etc. Well, the land of soaking misused words returns. Let's play a little game. I'll give you some sample sentences you tell me what my daughter is trying to say.

"This is my bear dressed up for school. She is horribly and happy."

"What if I horribly have to go to the bathroom?"

"WHOA! That thunder horribly shook the house!"

(Laughing) "Nathan, you are a horribly three year old!"

Notice a pattern? Neither do I. Am I correcting her? Heck no! It's makes me horribly happy to have a funny little girl.

It's not everyday that Spiderman turns three

I am here to tell you that my third birthday was my favorite. Not that I remember it but judging by how much fun our kids have turning three it must have been a riot. Nathan, aka Spiderman, was the happiest boy alive this last Saturday. He proudly rang in his third birthday with Spiderman everything, pizza and macaroni and cheese per his request, bubbly juice (our term for sparkling cider), a mound of presents, a killer Spiderman cake that I did not make, and a boat load of sugar. He asked me today if it was still his birthday. Tough lesson to learn, that birthdays come but once a year. Have no fear though, it was a memorable one. I think I love the kids' birthdays as much as they do. The sheer delight of having a whole day to honor only you is perfectly perfect. We love you so much Nathan and are thankful for everyday we get to be your mommy and daddy. Happy Birthday little man!

Sunday, after Nathan's birthday, we had a "surprise" party for my sister KayLynn. "Surprise" because she totally knew what was going on but we all pretended like she didn't. KayLynn didn't turn three but made 27 look fun nonetheless. Have I mentioned before how much I love my family??

p.s. Yes, there are an obscene number of pictures.

p.p.s. I hate to label pictures. Hopefully they are self explanatory.






























Are your retinas bleeding yet?

I've got moves you've never seen

The Joneses sure know how to rock it. Prepare to be amazed.

A new way to shop

I haven't been mentioning my latest obsession because quite frankly, I can't imagine people really care. Today however my coupon shopping has taken me to a level that is just too good to pass up.



Using a combination of manufacturer coupons, doubler coupons that Albertsons puts out occasionally, and a promotion Albertsons was having (buy $10 worth of participating products and get $3.00 off automatically) I bought everything you see above for $2.49. Go ahead, take a second look. I DID buy two extra newspapers for the extra coupons in it so you can add $1.00 to that total. Still, the hot dogs alone were $4.00 full price. I figure $3.49 is still a respectable total. My total savings was $75.92.

I have seen posts like this before and thought, sure, that's great, but how do you feed a family on BBQ sauce and pudding? The more you do it though the more you realize you are just stock piling things for future meals. Pudding goes in a fruit salad I make. BBQ sauce for pulled pork and chicken. Thousand Island Salad dressing for our favorite taco salad. Boca burgers and hot dogs because it's summer! (With those two things I figure I can feed our family for around $2.00 for the meal. Not per person, the whole meal.) That way next time we have a hankering to BBQ I already have everything, it was ridiculously cheap, and there is no last minute grocery shopping to be done.

Coupons have changed the way I shop. They have halved out grocery bill and I'm getting way more stuff. You pay with your time but I figure as a stay at home mom it's a way I can financially contribute to our family. Plus, it's fun and addicting!

p.s. If you want to get information about local deals, go to www.frugalchicliving.blogspot.com. This is a Liberty Lake gal with three little boys who will do about 90% of the leg work for you. She is my new personal hero. I also have her button on my side bar.

You ought to know that while I am dedicating a post to heart warming images of heart warming children, in real life I have locked all three of them behind the upstairs baby gate because they are driving me batty. Just keepin' it real baby.