"Mommy, come look!!!"

"Don't laugh!!! They are doing their exercise!!!"

Her name is Lovedy......

for she creates such lovely things....but I like to call her "Love" for short!
I am over the moon excited about my new machine. Thank you for my new machine Honey!!!

I call the back seat!!!

Because I will now be living in the car!!! Mac LOVES soccer and wanted to play again this fall. It was such a successful venture last fall that I didn't think twice about signing him up. This year, Lily Kate is eligible for extracurricular activities too and if brother gets to do one, so does she. She chose dance. While all of this sounds uber exciting in the summer (i.e. when you are required to sign up for these activities AND when the kids are busy doing NOTHING in the lowcountry heat), you are surely thinking to yourself, "WHY didn't I let them do the same activity???". Well, it is all gonna work out. After all, within the last 7 days we have had our first day of school, day of work, soccer practice and dance practice. All I can say is, I am glad gas isn't $3 a gallon. I know for sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg, so I need not vent for long. I am thrilled to do it; really I am. I consider myself lucky to be able to tote them from here to there! I give it a couple of weeks and we'll have it down to a science...just in time for Lily Kate to decide she hates dance or for one of us to come down with the flu...just kidding karma.
These pics are Lily Kate rich..I know this. I apologize! At Mac's soccer game I felt so sidetracked with keeping her off the field that I didn't get to snap any pics of Mac practicing. Without prompting, she struck a pose next to our friend Mr. Mark, and shot the breeze. Ms. Ashley grabbed the camera and captured the moment!

Nay, Roar, Quack Quack Quack!!!

The time has arrived!!! School has begun for ALL of us!!! Mac has been talking incessantly all summer long about being in the "Pony" class. For those who have no idea what this is, let me borrow from the vast vocabulary of Mac-speak and say it is the "big kids class!". Mac is officially in the pre-K class, sniff sniff. It is his last year at home before starting kindergarten and while I am trying to make this time count, he is already talking about all his desired career paths (first a soldier, then a police man; just in case you were wondering).
Lily Kate is in the Tiger class; ROAR!!! She has incorporated this new milestone in her life as part of her actual self. I know this because she was asked yesterday if she was three years old and she said, "no, I not three, I a tiger". She is quite proud and already in love with Ms. Sonya who gives her a lollipop each day.
Mommy went back to school too! I am in the Ducks class...as an assistant, not a pupil that is. I work two days a week and am very overwhelmed with gratitude for this incredible blessing. I couldn't ask for a better place to work AND I am right there with my babies!!! I won't be following them all the way to college or anything, so don't worry. Mac is a little too cool for me now though...on the playground he informed me he was now a "pony" and ran off. Here is a quick snapshot of the kids on their first day....

A perfect day for an applique....

Today was a sewing day..surprise. Leslie and I let the kids run wild in the house while we buckled down to accomplish some applique work. She is so generous with her machine as I don't yet have one with this capability. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to get one soon. The kids did so good and were so exhausted that they were asleep within ten minutes of going to bed!
In other news, Mac had a small dental emergency on Thursday. I was cleaning the bathtub so I didn't here what preceded the screams, but he and Lily Kate were playing in his room and he hit his mouth on his headboard. There was lots of blood so I was panicked at first, but after visiting the dentist to make sure all was fine I was okay. He was okay too. The tooth was loose and may fall out, but may not. It was a tooth that was dead anyway from a previous fall when he was two. While we were at the dentist office, Lily Kate could not leave the hygenist alone. She was so curious! Finally, she suggested Lily Kate get in the chair with Mac to get a birds eye view and he agreed. I had to snap this picture...

Just another day in paradise....

Daddy sent pics!! For those who don't know, Michael recently left for Afghanistan for a little while to do some work in "the sandbox". We miss him terribly but are hoping that he will stay super busy so that the time goes by fast. Nonetheless, we are lucky to be able to keep in touch by emails and frequent phonecalls. Here are some pictures he sent to show us what his life will be like for the next little while. If anyone would like his email address over there, just let me know as it is different than the one he uses on this side of the world! Back soon for sure this time...we are totally up and running now!!!


Before he was in Afghanistan, he was staying in Kuwait at the Kuwaiti Hilton for a few days. This is the view. The beach is man made and manicured daily with a rake by the staff.


I don't want to know what that black smoke is....

Kinda looks like M.A.S.H. to me, except khaki interior. Maybe I could sew him up some nice home dec stuff now that I know his color scheme...

Michael's bunk. When the kids saw this picture they said, "look! there's Daddy's shoes!!"

Where you been???????

Tail between legs, here I am.

It has been the usual amount of busy at the Jones house, but with a few complications and human defaults. Old, slow computer. Old, tempramental camera. Cell phone dropping in the toilet. Potty training. Eight baby gifts to make and a slightly tremendous increase in my sewing creations. All of these things are my excuse. Well, and a couple of other things that you really don't care about, but anywho...

Got a nifty new little cell phone that I am a tad addicted to. The camera is working for the moment and when it isn't, the cell phone will do. My new phone has allowed me to do a lot more, therefore I am feeling a little more organized and back on track. Plus, summer is here!!! Hey!!! We all feel a little better about things when summer arrives!!!

I have been running my own little sweatshop here at the house, and want to show all of the pics but am having trouble with uploading the slideshow that I created to the blog. So, I guess I will just upload a few pics at a time to posts as I go because you don't want to spend your whole day scrolling.



Oh, the kids!! Yes, they are still here. School has ended at it was a really good year. Mac has mastered the alphabet and their sounds and we are just going to work on some word recognition over the summer. He also has shown a great interest in geography, so Michael has been working with him diligently on learning all the states. He is up to 48!! I am so proud of my little pumpkin!

Lily Kate was potty trained over Christmas and is doing really well except for a pull up at night. I'm fine with it but Daddy feels otherwise. She is just as sassy as ever. So animated...our little actress. The arteest.

Jack is hanging in there...just wants to sleep all the time so we do all we can to make him comfortable. He is healthy as a horse though!

Michael's work has kept him pretty busy. Between him cleaning up the crime brought on by the economy and stupidity, and an office that is a few men short, he stays quite tied up. He is gearing up for his annual camping trip at the beach with some guys. Did I say gearing up? I meant counting down. Seriously counting down.

We also just finished a 13 week Dave Ramsey class through church. We met one night a week, but it felt like that one night took 3 days off our week. It was really great though...we saw a huge difference in our finances within the first few weeks of the class.

I'll post more later, but hopefully this brings things up to date!!!

Sassy Do for a Sassy Girl

It just got ten times harder to tell her "no". That girl...I was toying with the idea of chopping off her hair and boy am I glad I did. I am way biased, but she's so cute..I can't stand it. I almost wrecked coming home from the kids' hair appointment because I kept turning around to look at her. The pictures aren't good because she will NOT be still for a second, but hopefully you get the idea. I am still sewing away...hope to post more about all the things I've been making soon. Most of them are gifts, so I can't yet! Otherwise we are just LOVING the weather here and looking forward to "balemtimes" day!!! Happy hearts to you!!!

He's Home!!!!!!

Our sweet dog is home!!! The surgeon had no reservations about doing the surgery and did so yesterday afternoon. He came home today and isn't himself because he is so groggy and exhausted, but that's okay. His incision and stitches really scared Lily Kate, she cried a lot to be exact. We told them that his hair would grow back and he would be back to normal in no time. Thank you to everyone who had him in your prayers!!!!

Well, well, well....

Hmmmm, let's see. Straight shooter I am, even if it takes me ten minutes to get there..so here it goes. Our computer is so slow....so slow that I dread checking email, facebook, anything. I haven't felt like posting a thing because of this and many other reasons which are to follow. Our camera is pretty much dead..I've been relying on the photos from others and we all know that is frustrating...well frustrating for us who have blogs. The holidays...they were wonderful but like everyone else's, busy. The new year has been quiet until recently. The kids have been sick off and on with various things. For a month a tummy bug was in our house; we all took turns having it. Seasonal depression; yes..it's here. And last but very much so not least is the current situation with our precious and very loved dog Jack. He's old...twelve in May to be exact. I had a strong feeling just after the new year that this would be his last. He has had trouble lately with getting winded very easily. We took him to the vet last week and as I write this post he is being seen by a specialist. I have prayed numerous times today for him and ask that if you are reading you will say a prayer too. He has a condition called laryngeal paralysis...it effects his breathing and sounds horrible...like he's a victim of emphysema or something. It can be fixed, but he has to be a candidate which is what we will find out today. Bless him...bless his bones. He's our baby...Michael and I have had him since before we were married. I just keep thinking of my babies and how to make them understand should he not be a candidate. Such a mixed kind of a day...not only is today a big day for the family puppy, but it is also my sister's birthday (shoutout AMU) and God reminded me that today five years ago I found out I was pregnant with my precious little pumpkin pie...Thank you God for a ray of sun in such a cloudy day.
Speaking of cloudy...would the sun just come out already?? I mean seriously...we can't help the emotional grayness of our problems...be it Jack or the economy or the world, but could we just have a little light??
Mama's been sewing a lot...got a new toy for Christmas...a SERGER. Yummy! I've been tackling projects left and right since I love it so AND I happen to know of like 8 babies that will be here by April. Wish it were in my water!
We've been working hard with Mac on learning letters and sounds. He is doing well..last night we let him watch Wheel of Fortune. We try to keep the kids guessing on our teaching tactics around here....hehe.
Lily Kate could care less about colors and shapes...God help here and us. She is so sassy...shaking that finger and everything. She really would just like to learn about fashion and makeup.
So...I will try to upload some pics today to go with the post, but don't bet on it. We are alive and could use your prayers...we covet them. Blessings to you all.








By the way...the pictures of the kids in red pj's was from a ride on the Polar Express...complete with hot chocolate, a bell and a visit from Santa. Mac realized in all the excitement that he had forgotten to give a hug to Santa...which explains the picture above! The kids are still talking about it! Thank you Nanna and Pawpaw for the trip!!!