Day in Seattle

We spent the King holiday on Monday at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle (KING county. How apropos). The kids had fun doing all the fun hands-on stuff there is to do- and everyone's science interests were entertained- Charlie saw the bugs and dinosaurs, Henry saw the space stuff, Soph went in the butterfly house, and Annie, well, just took EVERYTHING in (she's our science girl...). We walked around the Seattle Center- saw the International Fountain (very cool) and then ate a YUMMY dinner at Buca Di Beppo. A fun family day, all in all. Best part, everyone fell asleep at 7:00 on their way home and transferred RIGHT to bed- no bedtime wars! Wonderful!

New Bed!!!!

To try to satisfy my insatiable need to redecorate and reorganize the house, I had Jim put together the boys' bunk beds- theirs will be bedroom makeover #1. We bought paint (though we haven't painted yet-one thing at a time). Here's the bed. The boys are ecstatic- and it's the new hot spot for everything at the Jones house...

By Popular Demand.

The Diarrhea Debacle of '05.

(In the interest of time, censorship and well, personal challenge, I have decided to share the story in the form of an extended Haiku. enjoy. )

children are pooping

filling diapers, soaking towels

under their bottoms.

children are rashy

bottoms need airing

(home teacher is coming by).

baby is standing

removing diaper, pooping

into playroom vent.

new carpet ruined.

mother is crying aloud.

children are pooping.

FIN.

(I know, it doesn't look like a Haiku. I wrote it in three stanzas, but it won't publish that way. Bummer. Pardon the pun.)

Welcoming in the New Year. (not for faint of heart...)

So, I finished my post last night, just as I hear Annie at the top of the stairs screaming at the top of her lungs and crying.

I RUN upstairs to find her, vomiting, at the top of the staircase.

Granted, the day before, Annie had two puking episodes, but she was feeling well enough on New Years to be up and about and do some family stuff. (I figured it was a 24-hour thing, and it had been well over 24 hours since the last episode...you know...). My poor little girl.

I follow her to her room to find that Sophie had (unfortunately) snuck into bed with Annie (as is often her custom). Sadly, poor little Soph, still sleeping, was entirely covered in vomit. Face, hair, chest, everything.

I showered both girls, had them brush their teeth (yes, Sophie too... ugh.) and put Soph down for sleep on old quilts sprawled on her bedroom floor (expecting her to do it in the night as well- though she didn't... yet) and put Annie in her make-shift bed. Her carpet will probably never fully recover, even with Ammonia, carpet cleaner and everything else. It's orange.

I have fingers CROSSED that we will not have a repeat of last night- with the other four Jonesies. I have become a germophobe- bleaching, Lysoling and sanitizing EVERYTHING and everyone, hoping it will soften the blow. I suppose it's a good thing that these things happen gradually- five puking at once would be, well, not fun. (Ask me someday about the Diarrhea Debacle of '05- my playroom heater vent has only now recovered...)

So this one goes out to all my Puke-cleaning Sistas and Brothas- especially the newly initiated like Candi- who are all praying with me that we don't have another night like last night.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'd have to say, I think 2008 was pretty good. A quick recap, for anyone who missed anything- and for me to list a few things I forgot to mention: (really, this list is mostly for me, but read on if you'd like... I'm realizing it's kind of like one of those BAD "year in review" letters you get with Christmas cards- listing obscure people's names and weird things you don't care about... so sorry if it's dullsville- like I said, for me and posterity...)

January:

Maggie turned 1 month. Spent a LOT of time inside, acclimating to life with 5 kids. That's pretty much it.

February:

Turned 31. Had the cutest Valentine's dinner with Jimbo and the kids. Swimming lessons for the four. Read Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Re-read Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Read everything I could get my little fingers on about Twilight movie, books, Stephenie Meyer, etc. (Fed the frenzy, basically). Read lots of other stuff. Wrote some stuff.



March:

Read LOTS more stuff. (See Good Reads list) Wrote lots more stuff. More swimming lessons.



April:

Read lots more stuff. Wrote lots more stuff. Easter. Went to Idaho for niece Jenni-Leigh's wedding. Spring Break. Neglect of blog begins.



May:

Tenth wedding anniversary! Had tasty dinner at Salty's. Neglect of blog continues. Lots of reading. Memorial Day hike with kids, Charlie gets glasses! Father/Son campout.



June:


School is out! Craziness ensues. More reading. Plant sorry excuse for a garden. Ashley visits with the cousins! Neglect of blog continues. Discover used bookstore in Sumner- oh happy day!



July:


Trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Fourth of July at Barkers. Day Camp, Annie's play, lots of busy stuff. Still reading, and neglecting blog.



August:


Trip to zoo. (Lose Henry. Last year- Charlie. Next year, Soph?) S,H &C birthday carnival extravaganza. Hello Blog! We're back! Breaking Dawn midnight release! (Yes, reading.)

September:

SCHOOL and PRESCHOOL (and my new lease on life begins... :) No soccer, dance etc. this season- we're simplifying! Reading!

October:

Jim is 34! Oktoberfest with the Gma & Gpa. Pumpkin patch(es)! Cutest Wizard of Oz costumes ever. Make lots of bows.

November:

We elected, who? Annie is 7! HSM on ice! Tallulah Twinkletoes launches with fun party! Thanksgiving. EXCELLENT Black Friday shopping with the ninjas. TWILIGHT movie! HSM 3 with the kids. Re-discover love of creating/crafting after Ward Fabulous Friday.

December:

Maggie is 1! Cutest Christmas nativity program ever (Henry- Wise Man, Soph- Cow, Charlie- Stable boy). LOTS of snow. Lots of wrapping. Christmas tree hunt in Mtns. Jones Family Shopping day! Wonderful Christmas Eve/Day with loved ones. Begin insatiable and relentless search for fun, economical home-improvement projects for new year!



WHEW! And that didn't even include pictures - or all the loads of laundry, diapers changed, toilets scrubbed, windows and cabinets washed, meals prepared, children bathed, prayers said, tears cried, timeouts taken, miles driven, boo boos kissed, songs sung, trips to the library, phone calls made, medicines administered or calls to grandma! (among other things!)

Yeah, I think 2009 is going to be pretty awesome too.

Cute, Dancing Christmas Jonesies.

Merry Christmas, Jonesies!

Our Christmas was wonderful this year!

We started a new tradition- Jones Family Shopping Day! On the 23rd, we got everyone ready and went out for a fun day of shopping for each other! We took the kids to a really huge dollar store and let them each have a turn picking out gifts for their siblings. This proved to be a really fun thing to do- they were so proud of their selections- and they even wrapped them themselves! Then, we went to lunch and finished the day doing a little last minute shopping for other gifts. The kids were pretty great, all things considered. And the snow kept coming.

Our Christmas was WHITE- an unusual occurance for Washington, but very lovely and fitting for the holiday. We were blessed to spend Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Obray and Eric. Grandpa made the YUMMIEST Prime rib dinner and we followed the meal with a Christmas story with Grandma and some carols. The kids were tired and anxious to get in bed for Santa (weird- I wish EVERY night was Christmas eve...) so we went home and donned our Christmas jammies, laid out Oreos for the big guy (Santa's favorite cookie, you know...), and went to bed praying Santa would come after a day full of threats that he wouldn't if behavior didn't improve... (I'm not sure what it is about Christmastime- they could be angels the rest of the year, and during the most logical time to be really good, they are demons... hm.)

Christmas morning we awoke to the pitter patter of little feet, running around our room. We all went downstairs and very systematically opened our presents. (We were organized this year- mess was very minimal!) Highlights included a pink guitar for Annie, Two-wheel scooters for Charlie and Soph, a CD boombox for Henry and another ride-on toy for Mags. Each kid received what they wanted and everyone was happy...

Then came Christmas Number Two. Grandma and Grandpa Obray edition.

They arrived around lunch time with insane quantities of gifts for the kids. We have so many new games, puzzles, toys and books that I think we could successfully run our own Boys and Girls Club. It was wonderful. The kids are in heaven. Thanks G & G- we are so so excited about our new things!

It really was a wonderful holiday. Everyone was happy. Jim was home with us most of the week, which was a lot of fun. I'm always a little sad when the holidays are over, but I'm already thinking of my list of home improvements to start in January, so the sadness is minimal! :)