Christmas Activities

We thought it might be fun to try our hand at decorating a gingerbread house.  John fell asleep, and Mark was not interested, but the girls had a blast.

Cindy baked a Happy Birthday Jesus cookie cake.  We all took time to recognize the greatest gift ever given,  Jesus Christ!

Santa brought us a Wii.  Can you guess which one is mine???

Even Princess Buttercup got into the holiday spirit...

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Holiday Happenings

Let's start the season right with a visit to see Santa.  Bass Pro Shops in Leeds has an awesome Christmas display, with Santa looking better than ever.

I think that is Dancer and Prancer.

Beware the new outbreak of Bluetongueitis.  Elizabeth seems to have come down with this strange infliction.  We hope she is not infectious.

Mrs Jane did another wonderful job with this year's Children's Choir production of Something's Up Down in Bethlehem!  The kids did a great job.  Of special note was the spectacular performance by the Jones Clan.

Some of the sheep were happy, but others disappointed at the sudden disappearance of Ruben.

Roll Tide Roll

 2009 SEC Champions

13-0

Halloween update

Just an update to add a picture of the kids...

Pumpkin Time

Well, as October 31st nears, we decided to try our hand at pumpkin carving this year.  Normally, we would have the children just paint a few, and that is what the twins have done here.

Mark chose a rather complicated bat against the night sky scene.

Caitlin chose a much simpler cat.

Final Results...

First Performance

Today was the twins first choir performance.  Although they were not the stars of the show, they were my stars!  John, at least, stood on the stage.  Elizabeth went a little further by moving to the music and putting on her "I'm pretty" smile.  All of the children were adorable.  Hope you enjoy the show.

Vacation Time

Usually an annual occurrence, we recently packed up the van, and headed out of town. We have not been to the mountains in several years, so decided it was time to visit Ol' Smoky. This year, we invited my Mom for the first time. We also agreed to spend a little more, and upgrade to a condo. This proved to be a wise decision, as the washer/dryer made Cindy happy, and the kids loved the indoor water park.

One of our first treks was to Cades Cove. The off season proved to be one of the best times to go, as the traffic was very light, and we did not feel rushed. Here are a few pictures...



Always fun, but expensive, Dollywood did not let us down. We started out in the 1950's section, where us older kids enjoyed helping the FBI chase down a moonshiner. Our next stop included John and Elizabeth in a run around the local race track in vintage era cars. On our way, we paused for pictures with a Southern Bell, and the Dolly Imagination Station Train.



Moving on to the Fair, we played a few carnival games, rode the Veggie Tales roller coaster, and few other rides for the twins. A 5 mile trip through the mountains on one of the authentic coal powered trains provided a nice break from all the walking.



Mark, Caitlin, Pop, and I broke off from the others to visit the Blazing Fury roller coaster, and the newest coaster, The Mystery Mine. Cindy, Mom, Jane, and the twins decided to hit a few shops. No trip to Dollywood is complete without getting a fresh funnel cake, so we all reconvened in the middle of the park to partake.

Our last excursion was to the Rainforest Adventure Animal Park. There was a show where we got to pet a live porcupine, macaw, alligator, and hold a tarantula and boa constrictor. The small petting zoo out back was fun for the kids.



Six days of fun must have been more than we could handle, as we packed up and headed home. I'm still asking myself why we made that decision.

A lot of firsts....

With the summer winding down we have started back to all our running around. The last week of August we started back to school. This year Mark and Caitlin are both homeschooling so I decided to try a unit study with them. After looking at several different ones we chose Adventures in Our Father's World. Let me just say I love it. The kids beg me to do school work. One of our first lessons was for the kids to learn what their names mean and we got to make a cake for our fun craft.

Sept. 9th my babies started back to "school". I decided this year that I would buy them backpacks that they could carry themselves. They love them. When it is time to go somewhere Elizabeth asks where her backpack is. My babies are growing up too fast.

On Sept. 10th we started back to Community Bible Study where we are studying Genesis. This year all 4 kids get to go with me.

And last but not least, on the 15th the girls started dance. This is Caitlin's 3rd year and Elizabeth's first year. As soon as Elizabeth put on her leotard she was dancing around the house. She was so excited to be able to go to dance just like Caitlin does that she didn't nap that day.

Yesterday was one of the most important days in the Jones household. George and I celebrated our 14th Anniversary.

Our story begins the summer of 1993 when I started working at Office Depot during my senior year of high school. We became friends the first year I worked there and didn't start dating until August 19, 1994. George took me to the movies to "Lion King". After that we were always together.

On Dec. 25, 1994, George went to church with me for our Christmas Day service. At the end of the service the pastor always had the invitation for anyone who wanted to join the church or accept Christ. That day George went up to join the church and to ask me in front of everyone if I would marry him. Of course I said yes.

So we decided that we wanted to get married on the anniversary of when we started dating. On August 19, 1995 I walked down the isle with my Dad to where my best friend stood waiting on me. Now 14 years and 4 kids later we have made it through a few storms and we are still going strong.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MASSIVE Update

We have been so busy the last month and a half that we haven't updated the blog. So I am going to try to do a HUGE update starting with May.
Lets see, May 14th was Caitlin's school Spring program. The kids were all so cute dressed in their western outfits. After the Spring program was Caitlin's K5 Graduation. She was so cute in her cap and gown.


Then two days later, May 16th, was Caitlin's dance recital. All of the kids did an excellent job! Caitlin's class was dressed as Mary Poppins for the song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and then they did "Shake a Tale Feather" (which was her favorite song this year). After the recital George's sister, Sarah, came and spent the week with us. That next weekend we went to Grandpa and Mimi's house for Memorial Day.


After the recital I had 2 weeks to plan Caitlin's birthday party which she had decided on a "Camp Rock" theme. Caitlin had talked my friend Janet into hosting the party at her house. (Thanks Janet!!) I had a hard time finding a cake decoration so I ended up using part of a banner. It turned out really cute. Caitlin had a blast at her party playing air hockey, riding scooters, doing karoke, and watching the "Camp Rock" movie.


On May 31st was awards night for Awana's. Mark and Caitlin each recited a Bible verse that they had learned during the year and then they received an award for completing their book.



Now onto June. June 8th - 11th we had Vacation Bible School at our church. I worked in the "Market Place"/craft room. We had fun making different crafts everyday. The kids had a really good time singing, playing, making crafts and learning about life back in Rome with the underground church. Caitlin is still talking about the underground church.

That Thursday, June 11th we headed to Foley after VBS to go to Daniel's, George's brother, graduation and to spend time with family there.

Birthday Girl

Today my first little girl turned 6. Lets see 6 years ago my labor started on Wed. night (5/28) just as we were leaving church. I didn't think much of it at first because my lower back was hurting but it would happen every 5 minutes. We went home and I labored at home until around 10:30PM when we finally decided to call the doctor. It wasn't my regular doctor who called me back so he didn't believe that I was in labor but he said since this was my second pregnancy to go ahead and head to the hospital. So we packed up Mark, who was 2 1/2 years old, and headed to the hospital. We arrived around 11:30PM and George decided that he was going to drop me off at labor and delivery this time. Good thing he did because when they checked me I was dilated to 6 already. They told him after they had me settled he could move the van to the parking deck but Caitlin had other plans. After the doctor broke my water I started pushing at midnight and Caitlin was here 15 minutes later. So at 12:15 AM on May 29th we welcomed our first daughter weighing 8 pounds 6 ounces. Big brother Mark stayed awake the whole time so he could be one of the first people to hold his little sister and to welcome her into this world.

Welcome Princess Buttercup!

Please welcome the newest member of The Jones Clan. Princess Buttercup.

Cindy and I have been wanting another chihuahua for several years now to replace our beloved Shadow. He was missing after we returned from vacation, and the side gate to the back yard was standing wide open. Cindy's sister recently adopted a chihuahua, which renewed our desire.

After several weeks of browsing the local adds, Cindy came across this beautiful little girl on craigslist. We arranged to go visit her in Calera, fully prepared to also see her brother, but he had already been scooped up. We fell instantly in love. She is fairly well house trained, and loves the children.

It's funny watching her try to play with Boots, the cat. She wants so bad to wrestle with him, but is too darn scared to get that close. Boots keeps looking at us with a "May I eat it?" expression on his face, but he has been very supportive of encouraging her to play.

A Day at the Zoo

Last week, we decided to spend the day at the Birmingham Zoo. They really have been working on improving the exhibits and providing a more interactive experience. We started off the day by playing in the water garden in the Children's Zoo. Mark and Caitlin jumped right in, but Elizabeth took her time. She eventually made it to the water's edge to splash in the puddles and play with bubbles. John never got up the courage, which is odd for him.


From there, we made our way to the Lorikeet cage. You can buy little cups of nectar to feed the birds. One in particular must have enjoyed the taste of my sunscreen lotion, as he proceeded to lick me from the tip of my hand, all the way up the arm, onto my neck, closing out the taste fest on my ears. John was particularly enthralled with them, and another bird nibbled and licked his fingers.

After a visit to Kangaroo Country, and a trek through the mines, we took a ride on the train. We finished out the afternoon watching the monkeys and apes. By this time, exhaustion we setting in on us 'Old Folks', so we decided to drag the family back to the van and call it a day.