Maris Farms

Yes, it's Pumpkin Patch take two. This time, it was Sophie, Henry and Charlie's preschool field trip to local Maris Farms. What FUN it was for the kids! We rode a hayride, went in a corn "maze", picked out pumpkins, rode a cow coaster, played mini golf, saw cute animals, played in the corn room and had delicious cookies, courtesy of Miss Christy! What a fun day for the littler Jonesies.

(P.S. No, we did not do all the activities of the three most recent posts on the same day. We are getting very good use out of our Halloween shirts this year! :) And yes, the completely ADORABLE bows seen in the girls' hair? Totally made by me! More about that later...)

Leavenworth

Oktoberfest was in full swing in our favorite Bavarian town in the Cascades. I had dreams of being in the mountains, hearing the oompah music, eating a brat covered in sauerkraut and brown mustard, watching the kids frolic merrily on the hills, having Jim lead us in a rousing acoustic rendition of "Edelweiss", while skipping about to the quaint stores and street vendors, laughing gaily, full of joy and delicious German pastries.

My Sound of Music fantasy (minus the whole Nazi thing, of course), was only slightly tarnished by the reality of the situation. We listened to the audio book (favorite Jones pastime, of late) of "The Wizard of Oz"en route for the duration of the 2.5 hour drive. The kids did well in the car, whining was minimal, fighting infrequent, all things considered. We arrived and met up with Grandma and Grandpa Obray and Eric and went about finding lunch. Sadly, the bratwurst line was insane, so we settled for McDonalds, which the kids were not unhappy about. We divided to conquer the stores, traded the stroller for the backpack (much better) and the kids had a blast buying ornaments in the Christmas store, looking at nutcrackers and cuckoo clocks, picking out a small toy at the toy shop with Grandma, and relaxing with ice cream near the end of the day. By five o'clock, the crazy college kids, some clad in their lederhosen and St. Pauli Girl look-alike finest, had overrun the streets with their steins, and we knew it was time to go.

Ahhh... Leavenworth. 'Till next year...

Scholz Farms

I LOVE FALL!!!! I don't know if it's the gorgeous colors on display, the crispness in the air, the excuse to eat copious amounts of comfort food, or the opportunity to get out and do fun, festive things with the kids- whatever the reason, I look forward to it every year! I took the kids, along with our friends the Barkers and Leonards, to Scholz farms, our pumpkin patch of choice in the Orting Valley.

Jim's blog

By the way, Jim has a blog as well: www.cantwealljustblogalong.blogspot.com

It's pretty funny too.

Inspector Deloris

I read an article in Family Fun magazine recently, written by a frustrated mom with a messy house. She had a brainstorm, and decided to employ a fictional character she invented named "Deloris" to come in and "inspect" the kids' rooms and email her findings to her. It was a total hit, the kids were more conscious of their messes, and Deloris got to be the bad guy, listing all the things that needed to be done- being as nitpicky as she wanted to be.

I loved this idea, since we battle with the same problems.

Jim decided to take everything a step further and actually create a blog for Deloris (www.inspectordeloris.blogspot.com) and an email address. It's hilarious.

My kids are waiting for the results of Deloris' first visit today. We will email them to ourselves from her account and read them after dinner. Our "Leavenworth dollars" will be dependent on how we react to Deloris' findings. My kids are totally excited- and a little weirded out ("how is she going to get in our house if nobody's home?") etc. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Inspector Deloris will make a splash at our house. If anyone out there wants to try it out, show your kids the blog to lend your facade some legitimacy, and let the fun begin. :)

Reminders.

I have a sign in my kitchen that says "I child proof my house, but they still get in." I thought it was pretty funny. Truly, considering the substantial amount of childproofing necessary in a house with five kids under six, it is pretty funny. I was thinking about this today, about the sense of humor that is seemingly prerequisite to living my life- and how, often, I find myself desensitized to the negativity that comes with the daily exhaustion of doing the routine. People ask me all the time, "What's it like to have triplets?" "How is it to have another little one after that?" etc. My answer to all of these queries is consistently, "crazy." I think that is the most commonly used word in my vocabulary.

Somehow, in all of this, I find I forget, occasionally, how precious my little family is- how unique and important each "crazy" little spirit is and how much I have to teach them and how much I hope they are learning from me.

I reflected on this today as I sat in a funeral for one of Annie's little friends, Mara Adams. Little Mara returned to live with her Heavenly Father Monday after an eleven month battle with a brain tumor that was supposed to have claimed her life after six months. She was the dearest little six year old girl. Her mother, Heather, wrote the "Life Sketch" (eulogy) in a letter format to Mara, relating all the sweet memories she has of her short life. It was heart wrenching. It was so touching and so impressive the number of people, both members and non-members of our faith that were touched by Mara's life and in whose lives her impact was felt. (The chapel and adjoining cultural hall were full- it was standing room only.) Read more about her at www. maraadams.com

I am so blessed to be the steward of these dear little spirits of our Heavenly Father. I know I need to hug them a little tighter, talk to them a little more, be a little more patient. Watching what the Adams' are experiencing right now is a confirmation of that. Truly, we never know what the Lord's plan is for our little ones- we need to love them every day like it's the last day we have them in mortality. I know this is something I need to try a little harder to do- move past the impatience and bite my tongue- make a greater effort to teach with love. Today was just a really good reminder of that.

First Day of Preschool! 9/8/08

Henry, Soph and Charlie started preschool at Lake Tapps Christian Preschool on Monday. They were SO excited to go to big school and have some big kid time of their own! (Mom and Mags are excited for our newfound three-day a week bonding time as well!)