This is a great craft I did with all my kids this afternoon. They all enjoyed it and it worked for all their ages. I thought they turned out adorable and decided it was worth sharing. Enjoy!

Pinecone Christmas Trees

Supplies
Pinecones (I used real but you can buy fake ones at a craft store)
Small puff balls
Wooden thread spools (I found these easily in the unpainted wood section of Michaels)
Glitter
Glue

1. Glue the puff balls to the "branches" of the pinecone. For my kids, I put glue in a dixie cup and they applied it with Q-tips.
2. Cover the wooden spool with glue and roll it around in glitter. (I put the glitter in a shallow bowl.)
3. Glue the spool to the bottom of the pinecone. I used my hot glue gun for this.

FINISHED!! I will finish ours off with a hot glued ribbon on the top and use them as Christmas tree ornaments.

Happy early Christmas! Is it too soon for me to bust our my Christmas song piano book?

When things go south

Greg and I both wanted/needed new cell phones. Mine was dead, his was mostly dead.

Our cell phone outing included all the kiddos, a change in cell phone provider, and picking out two new phones. NOT QUICK.

I ended up back in the van with the kids, feeding Johanna, while Greg wrapped things up. Which took an hour. No exaggeration.

During this hour Dane wet his pants and Johanna blew out her clothes. Plus I was stuck in the car for an hour with the kids.

On the way home Dane begged to hold my new phone and push some buttons. I put it on a program where he could do this. While happily pushing buttons he wet his pants again, getting urine all over my brand new phone.

I needed a chai tea. I got a chai tea.

We got home and while trying to carry in my purse/diaper bag/duffle bag and a baby carrier with a baby and my pee covered phone I spilled my tea.

It was dinner and bath time. I bathed Johanna. After her bath, while wrapped in a towel, she SPRAYED poop all over the floor. It was on my shirts, pants, all down her, and in puddles on the floor. While Greg ran to my aid she began round two. More on us, more on the floor. I whisked her to a towel on the floor to clean her up and DIAPER THE KID. She loves to play with her feet. She cocked her feet back, aimed, and fired round three.

I stood in my underwear starting a load of laundry that included three towels, my sweatshirt and jeans, and other various casualties of the great poop of 2010.

Johanna has a nasty cold and I haven't slept in days.

I must be in need of humbling today because I have been covered in bodily fluids for the past five hours. Lesson learned. I am a humbled mommy servant who is not too cool or wearing clothes too nice to be covered in baby poop.

I jokingly told Johanna that she had earned herself 100 demerits. Nathan looked stricken and said, "NO SHE DIDN'T MOMMY, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!!!!"

Folks, it's time for bed.

Singin' in the rain

If it's going to rain for days on end it leaves us no choice but to get out there and get soaked. I don't think the kids have ever had so much fun outside.

I threw these pictures in to show you what an insect/worm/creepy crawler lover my daughter is. We found this beast on the way home from school and named it Sammy the Freaking Huge Slug. It is note worthy that she was the only on in our house willing to touch the thing.

Samuel Montgomery Brandon

I kept putting this post off because I was waiting on pictures. However, since technical issues are keeping pictures from coming, I want to announce that I'm am auntie again!!! Samuel was born on Monday, October 4 at 7:28 in the morning. 7 pounds, 6 ounces, 20 inches, and already telling everyone that I'm his favorite aunt. I got to see him on I-chat and he is perfectly wonderfully precious.

My mom is with my sister this whole week, doing what our mama does best after one of her babies has a baby: cooking, cleaning, potty training, groceries, fetching pillows, providing nap opportunities, and making you wonder how on earth you will survive without her. KayLynn is doing awesome. She had Samuel at home with a midwife and has had nothing but good things to say about the experience. David is so excited to have a boy and it sounds as though Claire is ambivalent. She is far too excited to have Grandma around as her constant playmate to pay too much attention to boring new brother.

I will post pictures when the come. In the meantime, CONGRATULATIONS DEAR BRANDON FAMILY, and welcome to the world little Samuel!!

p.s. I think his name is fabulous. Montgomery is our maiden name for those of you who don't know and Samuel is a strong name and a worthy man of God in the Bible. I love it.

A whole lotta sheep

These are some pictures I took yesterday at a local farm. For a buck you can get a whole bucket of sheep food and feed the sheep. All you have to do is dip that bucket into the feed bucket and they come running. The "big bully sheep" (the boys with their big horns) like to try and take all the food so my kids will often chuck handfuls of it over their heads to the poor babies waiting in the back. Also, this farm is located by the Spokane Archery club so I'm not sure if they later become target practice and then Easter dinner. I haven't shared these musings with my children.

The last two pictures were just too adorable not to post.

To you, with love

A horror story

We have mice.

THE END

Kickin' it Jones style

A pictorial update, for your viewing pleasure

The kids did cute things like sleep on the floor camping style.

AUBREY TURNED SIX!!

THE KIDS TOOK AWESOME PICTURES WITH GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!!

ME AND MY GIRLS, BECAUSE WE ARE PRECIOUS

MAYFIELD LAKE, LABOR DAY WEEKEND 2010

BAUERSFELDS AND JONESES

Throwing rocks in the lake

A daddy and his baby girl

A mama with her baby and a really small lighthouse

Aubrey girl

A Danish monkey

100 watt smile Nathan

Big Dane and Little Dane

Sweet Baby Drew

Little Miss Anna

AUBREY STARTS KINDERGARTEN!!

WEEKEND VISIT WITH THE BAERLOCHERS

Baby Johanna and Baby Max (born one week apart)

The rest of our combined crew. Four kids for each family, all in six years or less.

Things I'm lovin' right now

I think the next post will be a picture post. I know that's what you all want anyways. But for now....

Things I am lovin':

1. That my precious six year old Aubrey ROCKED her first day of school!! She was confident, excited, adorable, and precious. On this here memorable day she also made her own snack after school AND discovered her first loose tooth! Seriously folks, wasn't she just born???

2. A labor day weekend with our friends the Bauersfelds. Nothing beats spending time with old friends and friends who have small children and don't judge your two year old with the chronic cough, runny nose, and whine. What a great time we had!

3. The imagination of my Nathan. He wants to be a "real knight" when he grows up. He also became concerned that he would have to live somewhere else once he grew up and became a knight. I assured him that he could live with his Mommy as long as he wanted. (Remind me of this comment when he's 30 and living in our basement.) He finally decided that he would get up, slay dragons in the morning, and come home and eat lunch at home. Repeat for the afternoon and dinner.

4. Our lights! After some electrical difficulties the lights in my kitchen and utility room are back up and running. It is imperative to have light in the utility room so that I can see if the blown out poop stains on Johanna's clothes have come out.

5. Our Danish tells me that he loves me, unsolicited, MANY times a day. I have never had a kiddo that is this affectionate. It KILLS me and he ends up whining, "Mommy, NO MORE SMOOCHES!" more than once a day. He also says "You're welcome" to all thank you's, even the sarcastic and rhetorical ones. For instance: "Dane, thanks for that great fit you just threw, really made mommy's morning easier." "Mommy, you're welcome!"

6. My husband's commitment to giving me workout time. After the big kids are in bed he takes over with Johanna, helps me clean the kitchen, whatever needs to happen so that I feel like I can work out. He's encouraging and inspiring and thanks to him I've only got 5 more pesky pounds to go. Thank you honey!!

7. Little Miss Jo. Johanna. Johanna Lynn Jones. SHE IS AWESOME. We were not a complete family without her. Her smile is head to toe and she is starting to giggle. Every last one of us is in love with her. We are so blessed to have her. She is sweet, charming, a great sleeper, adaptable, lovable, kissable, squeezable, and amazing.

8. Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. Okay, so I don't really love it but if you want to feel like you did something in 20 minutes I recommend it. Then again, this is my first day doing it and I may never walk again so ask me again tomorrow.

9. Four kids in less than six years. While not for the faint of heart it is so fulfilling to watch our kids become friends, learn, play, sing, act silly, and make this house a home. If you don't have a wall in your house dedicated to pictures your kids have drawn you are missing out.

10. Cherry Pepsi. As always.

11. Never checking a long blog post for typos.