Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Shuckin' we will go!!!

It's Oyster Roast time at Boone Hall and the Jones family like an oyster!! Well, more specifically Michael loves them. So, we went last year and loved it and made the trek again this year. We took along the Kabine's, secured a sitter and met Frank and Jennifer. It was a grand time!! BEEautiful weather, good food, good friends...it all equaled a good time!!!

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Saturday, January 26, 2008

Well, I have had better days....

..but everything will be okay. I should have known that it was going to be a rough day when the alarm didn't go off, thus leaving me to sleep late. I was entered to run in a race over in Sullivan's Island (a good little hike from where I am). Anywho, then I couldn't find my running shoes. I finally figured I must have left them at Dena's on Thursday, since that was the last place I had them. Still okay since I have a 2nd pair that I never wear. So the weather is sooooo yucky. We are even under a winter weather advisory watch!!! I make it in time, but when I step out of the car I realize that I never factored in that coastal breeze I would be getting!! My eyes immediately teared up from the wind!!! No backing out now, and the race actually went well.
So afterward I call home to tell the fam the details of the race and that I was stopping at one store (since I was on that side of town and never am) and then I would be home. I head home and am about halfway there, cruising on I-26 in the fast lane with my cruise control set (such a favorite feature of mine). All of the sudden, BAM!!! Someone completely slams into my rear. I didn't even hear breaks squealing beforehand. I look in my rear view mirror to see a car right behind me turned sideways and immediately say a prayer that I am not hit again.
Let me stop here and say that I am fine. A little sore today, but fine. I also want to add that this is the very FIRST time I have ever been in an accident that WAS NOT my fault. I have always said that whenever this day came, I would get out and do a cartwheel. Alas, I did not perform this gymnastic feat; I was way too freaked out!!!!
Long story short, some dude was a fulyin' mach 10 up the highway and came around a corner and there was me, doin' the speed limit. He had nowhere to go but into me. So he hits me, then flies across three lanes of traffic into the woods hitting a fence. When the ambulance comes he won't cooperate. When the police come he won't cooperate AND becomes combative, assaulting a police officer. He is arrested and taken to jail.
Michael is frantic; I mean frantic!!! He is at home with the kids. I have the minivan which has the car seats, so he can't get to me. He can't get a hold of anyone to come and watch the kids nor is he really able to think of who to call. Bless his heart, he was truly more a bundle of nerves than I was. He sends Frank (a coworker and great friend of ours) to help me out. Luckily Frank knows this kind of drill and just tells me what to do. I can't say enough about when it comes to how blessed I am to have relatives and close friends in this line of work. When something like this happens, you need all the support and direction you can get. I totally wasn't thinking straight and Frank was so helpful. This is why Michael was worried...he knows what happens when accidents occur. The right questions don't always get asked and people get taken advantage of. The moment is gone and it all happens so fast. I am so grateful and yes, even in the midst of this horrible incident, I can say God is Good, even when things are bad. There may have been an even more horrible accident further on up the road involving fatalities had my accident not occurred..you just never know.
So, here we are safe and sound. I am so blessed that my babies were at home warm and happy on the couch and that this is behind us. It was just one of those days. It's over and on to the next!!! Lesson learned today: NOTHING is in my control. No matter how many rules I follow (i.e., speed limit, defensive driving), I can't control what someone else does. I pray that young man is okay.
Oh, and by the way, Michael says the pictures really don't do it justice. We are hoping that the frame of the car isn't bent! I was so happy I had my camera with me...total bloggie material!





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Sunday, January 20, 2008

I Voted...did you????


What a little cheeser I have!!! Maybe it's the hat on backwards...anywho. Yesterday was vote day here in SC and when Mommy said, "Daddy and I have to go vote" Mac said, "I want to go get on da boat too!!!". So we went separately (the weather here was horrible yesterday, so we didn't take Lily Kate out in it) and Michael took Mac with him to get the full experience. I think he was just excited to get to use all his rain gear and get a sticker. Since this was the first primary for us ever, Michael and I were excited to be able to participate. Woohoo!!! What an interesting election this is. Thank goodness we are into politics, cause the TV these days just isn't that good!!!


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Monday, January 14, 2008

All swole' up....

Poor Lily Kate. She has had a rough last couple of days. Daddy and I woke up to her early Sunday morning screaming with a super high temperature. I knew right away it was teeth. She is expecting her eye teeth (Michael says canine, but I think that sounds like she's a dog, so I am saying eye teeth) and I know this because they are the only ones she hasn't gotten in and her nose has been running lately. So, she kept a high fever all day Sunday and was so whiny and mopey when she wasn't sleeping. Then today at lunch her tray came off of her booster seat unexpectedly and she went flying forward hitting another chair on her way down. The result was a shiner, a big one. She has bruised and scraped under her eye and even on her cheekbone. As I write this post, her eye is so swollen still, almost swollen shut. I gave her some tylenol tonight (thinking she must have a headache from the fall!) but I am quite sure it has had the opposite effect. She and Daddy are having a party in our bed right now!! Maybe we should call Annie (certainly she's awake!!)!!!




Other than that, things have been a little uneventful at the Jones house. Mac did take his first trip to the movies this weekend with Daddy. It was a reward for doing so well on his star chart for potty training. He and Daddy went to see the new Veggie Tales movie. Daddy really wanted to be there when he went to his first movie (so did Mimi, and we are terribly sorry about that!!!), but by the time they came home I could tell Daddy had had his fill. Oh well, it's over and done and didn't seem to be that big of a deal to him. He was more interested in the video arcade area. Shocking.



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Sunday, January 6, 2008

Deceptive? YES

Delicious? Not so much. I got this cookbook for Christmas (at my request). It is full of recipes that are mostly kid friendly that have vegetables hidden in them. Who doesn't want their kid to eat more vegetables? I dove in to this cookbook head first and spent most of last weekend steaming, roasting, pureeing and freezing vegetables.



Over the last five days I have seen my children gag and even throw up more over their meals than ever. I am really not kidding. Michael and I have laughed so hard watching Mac gag (it only sounds cruel...wait until you try to make your kids eat something they don't want to!) I mean anyone who knows me knows that I love to cook. Love to. Yes, there are tons of corners to cut here like low-fat this and low-fat that. I skipped all that, used the real thing and this stuff is still pretty yucky. I will be making a couple of more things this week as I have already planned the meals and bought for them. They did eat a couple of things. I made the pizzas hiding pureed spinach under the sauce. Well of course it became visible after a bite or two. "Eat your pizza Mac!" "But Mommy, there's grass on it". The kids and I did eat the chocolate chip cookies with chickpeas, but so far that's it. They took like two bites of the brownies, two bites!! I'll definitely post if anything changes, but Michael went ahead and told me to take it to our garage sale pile. I also can't help but think about those poor Seinfeld kids. Do they seriously like this stuff? Bless their little hearts. They should come down here and visit. I'll make em' somthin' with bacon, butter or mayo and they won't ever want to go back!!! Hehe!!! Oh!! I almost forgot. My apologies Paula Deen!!! I should have known better than to stray!!!




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Thursday, January 3, 2008

THURSDAY THIRTEEN!!!!!

Thirteen things going on in the Jones house right now....

With the new year, we haven't slowed down one bit. Here is a glimpse of what is currently going on with us.....

1. POTTY TRAINING!!! Lovely. Oh what a ride it has been. I was sadly mistaken to think it would take two weeks of hardcore, n leaving the house, running around naked, 100% focus on potty training. I thought I would take the two weeks the kids were out of school to do it. Mac is doing fabulous. I really cannot complain. He responded really well to treats if he went in the potty. So well that he was able to "hold" himself so that he would go a little each time and therefore accumulate more treats. Therefore it is a battle of the wills. So, yesterday I began a star chart...stay tuned.

2. Football. This is it. No more college football after this month and the NFL will end either this month or next. If it weren't for this, January would be my least favorite month of the year.

3. Toys, toys and more toys. We are swimming in them. Daddy is threatening to take 1/2 of them to goodwill and Mommy is constanly looking for parts of this and that. In between battery changes we are wondering why in the world we ever got them as much as we did for Christmas...they had plenty to begin with.

4. Running. I am going to sign up for two different runs within the next three months and really give it a shot. Therefore, I am going to be training!!!! Anyone want to join me??

5. Decepetion. Hmmmm, not really, but yes. I got a new cookbook for Christmas that I requested, Deceptively Delicious. It's recipes that have vegetables hidden in them so that you aren't running after your kids screaming, "just one bite!!!". Tomorrow we are having brownies with spinach in them...again, stay tuned.

6. Decorating. My new years resolution, to finish what I began over the summer. I will be painting and sewing when I'm not running, flushing or pureeing.

7. Dating!! No, not what you think. Michael and I have started something new, a date night once a week. I have a couple of friends who do this with their husbands and I must admit I was a bit jealous hearing about it. We are going to do our best to stick to it and you know Mama is excited about a night out!!

8. Shopping. I know it sounds crazy, but Michael and I of course got money and gift cards for Christmas and now is the time to spend it baby!

9. Downloading songs onto my new ipod!!! I am so in love with this thing...my own little computer!!

10. Sewing. It seems that my pile of mending is getting deeper and deeper. Not to mention the curtains that aren't finished (see #6).

11. Drooling over clothes. I have gotten about five different childrens clothing catalogs (for spring/summer) in over the last 2 weeks and they all are just adorable clothes!!! Plus Dena is getting Easter dresses in already!!! I thought her buying the store was a good thing, but I am sure to go in debt just knowing her...hehe!!

12. Weaning...oh the holiday food. It was so wonderful, but now it is time to get back to reality, the baking is over. sniff sniff.

13. Smiling. I am so happy...I have so much to be thankful for and it is going to be a wonderful year!!! Hugs and kisses to all!!!


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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

My little pixie.....

Today Lily Kate got her first haircut! I was so excited. It has gotten to the point of being so stringy and unmanageable. I had told myself I would wait until Michael came back from Iraq before I did anything. I wanted him to be here for her first haircut and I also was putting it off because I was afraid that once the curls got cut they wouldn't come back. As time has gone by, I have become more confident that the curls are permanent, so I finally made an appointment. Here is her before picture.....

She did great!! Chip (the kids hairdresser) said he wished more kids sang while they were getting their hair cut!!! As long as she was in my lap and had something to play with she was happy. He wet her hair and pointed to a specific amount to cut off and I said "that's fine" not really being able to tell because it was wet!! Oh my!! My little girl has a pixie cut!!! I know it will grow and it is already curling again, but all of her hair is gone!! I guess as long as I can still get a hair bow in it, I am fine.









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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Tis' the season!!!!!!

It was a WONDERFUL Christmas here at the Jones house!!! Daddy was off of work quite a bit, and when he did have to go in to work he was home early, so it was nice to have him around more!!! Mimi and Aunt Anda came in for the holidays and we had a blast singing, baking, exchanging gifts and laughing all the while. The kids loved having them here...they played nonstop!!! Mommy and Daddy loved having them here too!!! We are holiday-d out, but had so much fun!!!!!










I have taken a while to get some pics up and my apologies for that! As you can see, my two monkies were all smiles about Santa. Mac got a tent with a backpack, sleeping bag and flashlight. He also got his coveted garbage truck and double helicopter that he talked to Santa about so many times. Lily Kate got a kitchen, her own table and chairs and a tea set. All of the toys were a hit...Mac went running right to his things and Lily Kate to hers. They both also totally loaded up on Georgia gear from Aunt Anda and Mimi. I mean totally loaded up....Daddy just mutters under his breath when they wear it! Daddy got lots and lots of clothes for work, at his request. He also got a lot of gift cards to go shopping with. Mommy got a nano!!! She is absolutely thrilled with it and having so much fun. She also got some great new shoes, cookbooks, serving dishes and the coolest bookmark for her Bible.
So, overall we had a truly wonderful Christmas. Good food, good family, good times!!! We wish everyone a happy happy new year!!!!






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