Holiday Festivities



Christmas just wouldn't be the same without a few pictures with Santa.  Luckily, this year, he came to our ward party and it was easy to get the cute shots with him and my kids.

Jacob

Kyle

Dallin

Santa even offered to take a picture with all 3 of my younger children.  He really does spread cheer!  :)

Even my older kids got in on the act, with their friends of course.  (Eric's in the green sweatshirt in front)

And Brandon.....who wouldn't smile, is the front right.

It was a fun night and there are more fun days and activities to be had.  Christmas is coming!!  Are you ready?

Kyle turns 9!

Kyle turned 9 on November 19th. He was so excited for his birthday to come. All week he kept asking if he could open his present early.....but the begging didn't work. He had to wait. Poor kid!

He got a Bakugan Arena, which was a ton bigger than I thought it was going to be. It "pops" out into a flat, round monstrosity. :) It's actually a pretty cool toy! (I might want one)....

His great friend, Spencer came over to play for a little while and he was in heaven. They had their millions of bakugans all over the arena, complete with a place for the cards and everything.

He also got a new "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book and a few silly bands. Birthdays just wouldn't be complete without a few of those.

I couldn't help but take this picture when he was asleep. This little guy is growing up, but he still hugs his teddy bear when he goes to bed. What a sweetheart!

We love you Kyle! Our family wouldn't be complete without you. We're glad you had a super-duper birthday!

Halloween 2010

Halloween came and went and it's almost Thanksgiving. I figured I'd better hurry up and get these pictures posted before I forgot all about them....

Jacob was a skeleton. There was a mask to this costume somewhere, but he wasn't interested in wearing it, so I didn't worry about finding it. Oh well, if he had a mask on, then we wouldn't be able to see his cute, smiling face!

Kyle was Harry Potter and I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a picture of him with the glasses on. They were hilarious. I don't know why he didn't have them on for this pic.....darnit.

Kyle and his friend, Spencer. The dynamic (and sometimes destructive) duo.....

Dallin was a ninja this year, complete with his very own homemade nunchucks.....made out of construction paper. You can see them hanging from his belt in the picture. What a creative kid.....

Brandon was a nerd! I don't say that to be mean.....he really wanted to be a nerd. And what better age to be able to pull that off, right? (No, he's not really a nerd.....at least I don't think he is)....But I've got to admit, he played the part well..... :)

And Eric....well, he was....um.....I'm not sure exactly. The man in black, I guess. He went to his first party on Halloween this year, separate from the family. He got together with a bunch of friends on the east side of town.

I'm not ready for these grown-up activities. Why can't we all just go trick-or-treating as a family? (even though he IS 16)......

The whole family, minus Eric, who had already gone to be with his friends. (See what I mean about Brandon "playing the part well?") hee, hee

It was a fun night, even though it was freezing and it rained some. Why can't Halloween be in the summer? I don't get it!

Tantrums

Jacob has been having a few tantrums lately. When he doesn't get what he wants, he falls apart. Last week, Jacob and I had a serious talk about his behavior. We talked about how sometimes we don't always get what we want. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes life isn't fair. He seemed to understand and told me he would try and do better. Since our talk, every time I could sense a tantrum coming on, I reminded him about our discussion and tried to get him to settle down. This hasn't always worked, but it has helped some.

I couldn't resist a few pictures of Jacob's most recent tantrum. Poor guy. It probably didn't help that his mother was snapping pics..... :)

And Eric couldn't resist sticking his face into one of the pictures.....he is a teenager after all. And it's always funny when it's not YOU throwing the tantrum. (Oh, and he got his braces off....what a good looking kid, even if he is making life worse for his little brother).

A few days ago, I got this letter from Jacob. Keep in mind he's in 1st grade and this is exactly how it was written....punctuation and spelling, even spaces.

"momy I am sory for thowing a tandshroum and I like appls and I like bunanus I hop I dont get in chrubl. I hop you have a grat wekend

frum Jacob"

Awww, it melted my little heart. What a sweetie! I'm so proud of him. And while I don't think the tantrums are completely over for my little Jacob, I think we're making progress.

This is the way I like to see him.....what a cute smile!

Today he gave a talk in primary on missionaries. It was sweet. Here is a little bit from his latest letter to me after his talk. (He wrote it during sac. meeting)....

"We can bey mishanerezz rit now I can bey a gud mishanre I now that jesis love's me sow mch..."

I just can't get enough of it. Tantrum or no tantrum, I just love this little guy!

Brandon's Post

Brandon keeps telling me that I haven't posted enough about him on my blog, so in honor of my secondborn.....here are a few pics of him.

Brandon has been playing the flute for a few years now and suddenly during the summer, he decided he wanted to learn to play the Alto Saxophone. He'd never picked one up before, but for some reason it looked fun to him. So his jr. high band teacher let him borrow one of his saxophones for the summer. Brandon immediately started practicing. We could hear him belting out the notes throughout the house at random times during the day. He was so excited. Then one day, we found out that someone in our ward was selling her alto sax. We immediately called and made a deal. And Brandon became the proud owner of his very own Alto Saxophone.

It's been a few months now and can I just say that this instrument is quite LOUD? We can hear it upstairs when Brandon is in his room downstairs. But it sounds so awesome and he loves it. He's become quite the little jazz player. And it's pretty much been all self-taught. Brandon also loves jazz music. He has a jazz CD that he frequently plays in the kitchen. Personally I've never been one to listen to jazz music, but it's so fun to see him "love" it. He listens intently and wants me to listen as well. He reminds us all about his upcoming concerts and even made me schedule his orthodontic appt to get his bottom braces on AFTER his November concert. "Because, Mom, it might mess me up." :)

Here he is with a friend of his and their twinner saxes.




And here they are trying to sneak up on Eric and then playing it loud right behind him while he's trying to watch TV. Eric didn't even see it coming.....it was pretty funny. And then Eric just tried to ignore them. Typical teenage behavior.....

Here are a few pics of Todd showing Brandon how to tie his tie. I love this ritual and I don't think it will ever get old as I watch each young man in my family learn this great skill. They are growing up so fast. I can't hold onto their childhood like I want to....

Brandon is totally "skilled." Apparently that's the new word these days....he and his friends use it all the time to describe themselves. (so funny). We love you Brandon!

The Pinewood Derby

The pinewood derby......what do I say about that? It comes upon us every year and while Todd is not one of the "crazy, competitive" dads out there, there's still this underlining "hope" that our children do well.....

And while every year, we go home, proud of our children for "doing their best," pat them on their backs and say, "good job, sons," we've never come home with a trophy. We feel good, yes, but the kids know, darnit, that someone else won the coveted prize.

I've never been one for competition. I'm not really a competitive person. We're all winners. We should all be proud of the efforts we've made. And even though our children's cars don't go as fast down the track as other kids' cars.....well, it's okay. Life goes on and we're happy.

This is the mentality of the pinewood derby for me. And a couple of weeks ago, it was with this same feeling that we entered the building for yet another pinewood derby.

Kyle and Jacob (even though Jacob was too young to compete.....he still wanted to race his car after it was over) drew their designs of their cars on paper and Todd brought the block of wood to our neighbor's house for a good ol' cutting. They were simple. They were back in five minutes. The cars were ready to be painted. They each picked out a color.....Todd spray-painted them. This year we actually bought rub-ons for the cars. They looked awesome.

This is Jacob's car.....



This is Kyle's car.....

This is Dallin's car.....from last year, though he added a few little things this year (the shiny metal sheets). He wasn't really planning on competing since he just turned 11, but they talked him into it when we got there and he decided to do it.

We got there plenty early to register and weigh in. Kyle was the first one to register. His car was #1. He was among the first group to race. When the cars came across the finish line, to our surprise, Kyle's car was first. Todd and I both looked at each other in shock and amazement. It's not that our kids' cars have never won a race (among the group), it's just that in this particular race, Kyle's car was pretty far ahead of everyone else's. Crazy!

As the races got going, the first 4 different races Kyle was in, he came out first each time. We couldn't believe it. And Dallin was doing well also. He wasn't winning them all, but he was doing okay. 1st, 2nd, 3rd.....about what our kids always do.

By the middle of the derby, we knew Kyle's car was pretty fast. We don't know how.....and we're pretty sure we couldn't repeat it, or give any secrets as to why (although Todd seems to think he has an idea.....), but each race, Kyle came out ahead. He was either first or a really close second. By the end of the first round of races, they tallied up all the scores of all 17 cars and narrowed it down to the final 6. Kyle's was one of those cars.

I've got to admit. This was kind-of exciting. We've never been in this position before. We've seen other parents and children get excited over having "the fastest car," but we've never experienced it first hand. Never. And we have a lot of boys. We've been to quite a few pinewood derbys in our time.

The last races were a little intense for me. By the end of the finals, Kyle had tied with one other car. They each had the same amount of wins and losses. So they decided to race the two to see whose car would win. They used tracks 1 and 2. Kyle won the first race. Then they switched the cars to each other's track. The other kid's car won. They were tied again. They switched the cars to tracks 3 and 4. Kyle won first. Then the other kid won. They were tied again. They did this for all 4 tracks, alternating each race, and each time, taking a turn at 1st place, then 2nd place. Talk about stress!

The final race they decided to race them individually on the same track and time them with a stop watch. Kyle's was first. His car's time was 3.1 seconds. It was FAST. It was exciting. Then it was the other kids' turn. He let go and I swear my heart skipped a beat. I held my breath. The guy timing yelled out.....3.1 seconds. It was very exciting. The two kids had tied and they decided to have them share the first place title. It was the perfect ending for me. I would have felt bad for the other kid if Kyle had won and I would have been disappointed for kyle to have him come so close and come home with 2nd place. In the end, it was the perfect way to go home.

Jacob with his car......

Dallin with his car.....and by the way, he was only one point away from being in the finals. Way to go Dallin!

The four kids who placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd.......Yes, that is Kyle in red pants! :)

It was a pretty exciting night. One I never expected or anticipated......and never will again. But it was fun. Good for you Kyle! Not bad for your first pinewood derby.

Now we have a title to defend......YIKES! (I hope that's really not true).

Battle Ready Sword Cane

I haven't updated on Todd lately and I need to. So here's the latest.

Todd got his PICC line removed on Thursday, September 9th. It was a scary and exciting moment for both of us. Scary because those anitibiotics were what was keeping the infection under control.....what was saving him. Scary because what if the infection wasn't completely gone? His numbers were good, but the doctor said there was a 5% chance that the infection could still be in a pocket somewhere and that eventually it could grow and we'd be exactly where we started in the first place. SCARY!

But of course, it was exciting because NO MORE PICC LINE! It was a pain to work around and to shower around (we had to cover it completely with saran wrap and tape before he showered). It started to bleed the week before he had it removed and I pretty much freaked out. We found out eventually that one of the stitches had come lose and had caused a sore, which is where the bleeding was coming from. But it was really scary at the time. So it was such a nice feeling to be rid of that thing.....that life-saving thing! Sort of contradictory, isn't it?

But it's been 2 weeks now and so far things are okay. He has improved quite a bit. He began this journey with 2 crutches......eventually went to just one.....and now he uses a cane. He can limp around without it, but not for very long. He is very stiff in the mornings, very similar to arthritis pain. Once he gets going, he does okay, for the most part. But by the evening, he is tired and sore. I'm still hoping for even more improvements.....

He returned to work last Monday, the 13th, so tomorrow will mark his second full week. We are so grateful for the progress he has made and life is good!

In honor of his "cane-filled" future, he recently made a cool purchase online.

Introducing the Battle Ready Sword Cane! It arrived today and Todd wouldn't let any of us open it until he got home. He wanted to open it himself.....I guess I can't blame him, but the kids were dying.

Out of the cane-sheath....

Biggest grin ever......fight me. I dare you!

Admiring its craftmanship......just like a true swordsman.

See the point on that thing? I wouldn't try and fight him if I were you. He is armed....and....dangerous!

It's actually a really cool "toy." Although it's more than a toy. It's actually a real orthopedic cane and the sword is made of pure, bonafied, 1055 carbon steel. The only down side? It's a little tall.....it's more like a sword cane for a giant. But Todd still loves it and is ready for battle! So watch out!

I wouldn't challenge him to a duel if I were you......just saying.

Dallin turns 11!

Dallin had a birthday last week....exactly 1 week ago today, in fact. And here I am finally blogging about it.

The day started out with a few presents. He got a DVD called Planet Earth because he loves science stuff. And a science kit with all kinds of cool tools. He also got a gift certificate to the Army Navy Store.....that way he can pick out something he wants for camping. He was pretty excited and thankful.

Around 5:30 we headed to Leatherby's for an ice cream/french fries dinner. That does count for dinner, doesn't it? On this day it did, and it was a lot of fun!

Even Dad got to come! That was exciting too.

In true Jones fashion (for our family anyway), you don't get away without the Leatherby's crew singing to you on your birthday. And today was no exception. So we told them, and they brought Dallin an ice cream scoop with a candle in it, and then they sang to him. He was so cute. I wonder what he wished for.....

Kyle, Eric, and Grandpa Johnson.....

The family.....

Brandon and Grandma Johnson......

Mom and Dallin.....

I can't believe Dallin is 11 years old. He is a very sweet, tender-hearted kid. He is quiet and a serious thinker. He is smart and talented. He is my biggest helper! He doesn't complain (mostly) and does what I ask the first time. I am so grateful he is a part of our family. He is a good example to his brothers and every Fast Sunday, he fasts longer than any of his brothers! He is such a cutie!

Happy Birthday Dallin! We hope you had a super terrific day! We love you!