Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I am Thankful for this year

1. Michael. He's home, he's healthy and he's happy..we all are!!!
2. Mac & Lily Kate. They're healthy and thriving!
3. My health
4. My extended family's health, especially my Dad this year.
5. My friends. I am one lucky girl!!!!
6. Our safety. We had a safe trip to the mountains and as it stormed here last night I thought of all those on the road and prayed for travelers mercies.
7. Bible study. I am learning so much and it is making a huge impact on my spirituality and relationship with God. I am sooooo grateful!!!!
8. Relations. In the past, relationships with others may have been in a rocky place. I am grateful that this year all is well with everyone...such a good feeling!
9. A roof over my head, food in my belly and a log in the fireplace. I am so very grateful for the provisions God has given our family. We have all we need.
10. Laughter, simple but true, we have so much to laugh about and it is the best medicine!
11. Our freedom. Something we all take for granted, myself included. Michael reminds me often of how lucky we truly are to be living in this great country of ours.
12. Hobbies. Sounds silly, but without them we would drive those around us crazy!!! I am so grateful to have learned how to sew!!!
13. Those things that went awry...odd as it sounds, without things going awry, we wouldn't be where we are today. I have no regrets about anything, as ALL things have made me who I am today. Thank goodness for the peaks as they give us the valleys!!!

Eclectically dining

So it has been a week since Daddy has come home and we are all finally getting used to each other. We have been busy trying to make up for lost time by taking "adventures" at least every other day (adventure: an outing of any sort; can be as simple as out to dinner or a walk around the block!). So yesterday our adventure for the day was playgroup, i.e. to the park to play with our best buddies. Afterwards we headed out to dinner at the Eclectic Chef (or, as we like to call it, the Electric Chef), a fave of ours. Tuesday nights kids eat free there and we are all about a deal in the Jones household. So after we bust in the joint we see the Lee's are also dining. They are staples to this establishment. I mean when they make their grocery list, Eclectic Chef is on it. I wasn't surprised as they are there without fail every Tuesday evening, but I didn't want to crash their family time either. So, they were cool to have our company and we had an extended playdate!! It was great b/c Jonathan was late, so Virginia got to be graced with our adult conversation while she ate!! We hated to go, but did find out before we left that it would be the very last kids eat free event at the Eclectic...WHAT?? Shame shame. They sure are gonna miss us!!! Hehe!!

Wordless Wednesday

She was crying so hard and when I grabbed the camera to document the meltdown she tried to say "cheese!" and smile through her tears!!!!

Thursday Thirteen

Okay, so it isn't Thursday and I am late, but oh well!!!

Thirteen things we have been doing since Daddy came home....

1. Wrestling on the floor!! What fun!! Daddy wrestles the best!!!
2. Sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. Daddy had jet lag, but besides that he is really good about going to bed at a decent time and waking up at a decent time. So, he has been a good influence on Mommy, who's sleep was really out of whack while Daddy was gone.
3. Talking. Michael and I were incredibly fortunate to get to talk just about every day while he was away, but not about everything. Since it wasn't a secured line, he couldn't talk about all that was going on over there. So, he and Mommy have been catching up and talking about different things with the kids and family. Daddy has also been getting lots of calls from family and friends who just want to hear his voice and know that he is home safely!!!
4. LAUGHING!!! Michael is getting to hear Mac use complete sentences and say really silly things that 3 year olds do. He cracks us up!! Lily Kate is really starting to talk, so he gets to hear all that he has been missing for the past four months!!
5. Eating. Daddy had some really yucky food over there and has missed so many particular foods. Today we had Chick-fil-a for lunch, at Daddy's request. He said that he saw a commercial for them only one time while he was over there and has been dreaming of a #1 combo ever since!! I also made him a german chocolate cake for his birthday and a couple of his favorite dinners. We are really just getting started!!
6. Laundry. Michael's clothes stunk..not like body odor stink, but just a musty kind of smell. Poor thing. They definitely didn't use Tide or Gain over there. So, I have been washing all of his things to get a good smell back into them. Some things are hopeless and they are going in the garage...
7. Being outdoors. Daddy is so glad to see trees!!! He is also so glad to not be breathing in so much dust and sand. He has commented several times that "that sort of air quality just can't be good for you". I know he is enjoying the intake of some fresh air by taking walks with the kids and playing with Jack (our dog). Plus, the weather there was horribly hot and it is really nice and crisp here. It just so happens to be his favorite time of year!!!
8. TV. Michael asked me the other day, "has the new season started". Um, yeah. He has a LOT of catching up to do. PLUS, he gets to watch football tomorrow!!! He is pretty psyched!!
9. Drinking lots of water. In Iraq, their only water source was the Euphrates river. They would get water from here and treat it so that it was "potable". This meant that it was safe to drink. However, Michael said it was still nasty. May explain the odor in the laundry. Anyway, he has been drinking lots of water since he got home, simply because it tastes good!! He also commented that it was nice to actually take a shower and have the water not stop in between rinsings. Apparently the water there was in such a shortage you could only turn it on to rinse.
10. Reading. We have been reading lots of books to the kids...its quality time with them and Mommy isn't splitting her time between the two of them. They each get our undivided attention.
11. Potty training. Now that Daddy is home, we are really trying to buckle down on Mac's potty training. Who knows, Lily Kate might not be that far behind. She constantly goes up to her brother when he is on the throne and says, "potty!"
12. Scratching. Okay, I know this sounds weird, but Michael's back is CONSTANTLY itching and always in need of scratching. Especially when he wakes up in the morning. He gets it from his Dad. I always see his Dad rubbing up against a door frame like a bear against a tree. Anyway, it back to normal for us as I am constantly scratching his back!!!
13. Thanking God every day that Daddy is finally home safe with us. PTL!!!

Wordless Wednesday

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!

We can hardly believe it ourselves, but the day has finally arrived!!! Eight teeth, a diaper and clothes size up, a new season, many, many photos and blog entries, endless long distance calls later, Daddy is home!!!! We had Mr. Frank meet us at the airport to videotape Daddy's arrival with us and we got there early!! As soon as we saw Daddy coming up the corridor Mac began to run to him and had to stop just short of the TSA agent who stopped him. Really? I mean he IS only three years old!!!! Daddy ran up and Mac couldn't get enough. Lily Kate took off to Daddy too, but got distracted when she realized she was the center of attention and no one was actually chasing her!!! We are so happy to have him home with us and are diving into that readjustment period just swimmingly!!! Everyone has been so sweet to keep us in their thoughts and prayers over the last four months and we all thank you so much!! We also received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Leslie, Dena, Sugar and Claire...I guess they heard me yap about missing Michael so much on the cruise that they were looking forward to his coming home just as much as I was!!!! Thank you!!!!Our family is once again complete!!!

Weekend!!!

What a weekend!!! And it isn't even over!!! We have been busy here at the Jones house. Between the fair, birthday parties and preparing for Daddy coming home, we're a hoppin' household!!!
To start our weekend off, we headed to the fair. With the crazy week we have all had, Mommy really wasn't itching to go, but am soooooo glad that we did! Mac had a blast!!! We went with Emma and Anna and Claire. It helps Mommy to go with another Mommy because sometimes juggling Mac and Lily Kate are hard to do in such overstimulating situations. I made the mistake of buying a handstamp for Lily Kate when I bought Mac's, but oh well. She was just too little to ride any of the rides except for the carousel and I couldn't very well do that with her all night long. She was quite the trooper though, she loved watching brother ride the rides and giggled every time he came swinging around. Mac had fun on EVERYTHING!! I think Anna loved the roller coaster the most. They all begged to ride the ferris wheel, but the one for the kids was broken. The kids even learned how to milk a cow!!! We all had fair food...Mac had his first taste of cotton candy!! It was perfect fair weather too, cool and a little windy. Mommy was so glad that we all went!!!







Saturday came and it was time to head over to the Kemble house for Baylee's 2nd birthday. Just a few friends and family came and we were honored to be invited!! The weather was perfect for an outside party, but a little windy. At one point a gust came and blew the umbrella off of the table!!! Watch out!! Thank goodness no one was hurt!! Mac and Lily Kate were too busy playing to eat any lasagna, but of course rethought eating when the cupcakes came out. Before I knew it Mac came to me boasting, "look Mommy!! I on number free!!!". He had eaten only the tops off of three different cupcakes. I was so busy making sure Lily Kate didn't eat the paper with her cupcake that I hadn't even noticed. When it was time to open presents, Mac really put up a fight when I told him he couldn't open Baylee's presents. Couple the left over exhaustion from the fair the night before, ingestion of only three cupcake tops and you've got a perfect recipe for a meltdown. That was exactly what everyone got to see and Mommy got to feel if you get my drift. I high tailed it out of there with my tail between my legs. It was just one of those days!! Needless to say we are laying low for the rest of the weekend, counting down the minutes until Daddy is home!!!