Keeping Up with the Joneses

A glimpse into the busy and very blessed life of the Jones Family!







Saturday, August 27, 2011

Strike a pose!

All 3 had the chance to model some precious clothing for a close family friend who is opening a new children's boutique. It was fun to get to see them dressed up and the final products are so cute! I'll be buying those clothes and the photographs for sure!

Just adorable! Love her little hands in this one.


My little fraternity boys in Vineyard Vines. I must say they look incredibly handsome!


Angel girl in white! Super sweet!


--all photos credited to Robert Shaw Photography-


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R-E-D red

R-E-D red,
R-E-D red,
I can spell red,
I can spell red.
Firetrucks are red,
Stop signs are red too.
R-E-D.
R-E-D!!
(sung to the tune of "Are you sleeping?")

This week was "red" week for all of kindergarten and they topped it off with everyone wearing red on Friday. I had the opportunity to volunteer at lunch on Friday and was in the cafeteria during Hunter's lunch time. He told me to pack "tricky things to open" so that I would get to help him. How sweet is that?? Someday he won't want me with 20 feet of him much less hovering around his table getting the scoop from 4 kindergarten boys. Such sweet days!

Here he is decked in red. This is at the Ford dealership where my car spent a good deal of time this week and yet is still not repaired. Fun times! At least there's a decent playground. :-)




She liked the playground too!



A little wiped out from a busy day.



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Thursday, August 25, 2011

On pins and needles

I think we will be better next week, but as of today, we are all on pins and needles for 2:00 to roll around and have all of our little people under one roof. We haven't ventured too far from home aside from Bible study and an errand or two. My excuse today is that my car is in the shop, so we are definitely homebound. I'm hoping next week we will resume our outings and feel more "at home" with this new normal of not having Hunter with us. Boy did the summer spoil us!
This morning, we took advantage of cloudy skies and played out back. Watch out for this guy when he turns 16! He's awesome at maneuvering this car and hilarious to watch!


And here is the little bitty daredevil! Look mom!! I'm standing!!


Wait! Now I think I'll take a spin in the Escalade! Or maybe just change the radio stations.



While we are switching places, let me have a turn in the baby swing! He was so tickled by how much the branch moved when he was swinging. Sorry oak tree!


Lady E swinging away! Love the simple things.


Now, they are both napping and I am nervously awaiting my pantry raider! Boy does he come home with an appetite!


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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The little lady

This lady plays hard!


She's one crafty girl!


When she's out, she's out!


She can really fancy up!


And take it down a notch too!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

When brother is away...

We are learning how to fill our time when big brother is away at kindergarten.... Today, we played outside, rode scooters, went on a rock hunt and even climbed a tree!


Once inside, this precious middle child had the luxury of story time all on his own- I think he picked 20 books once it was all said and done. It was a sweet time to get to do that with just Blake while Emily napped.


About 10:30, Blake looked at me and asked, "Where is Huntuh? Let's go get 'em."

I know buddy, it's not the same without your sidekick! We all know who's the most excited when 2:00 rolls around!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, August 22, 2011

I got myself a Kindergartener!

Wasn't it just yesterday that we loaded up our car on a blustery December day with the most precious cargo we could ever imagine. I remember despite the gray early evening outside, pulling up to our house and thinking home had never looked so sweet. From swaddling a delicate newborn, to cheering on a crawling baby, to filming spaghetti dinners and first steps, to watching a little personality emerge and loving every single bit of it, to watching him learn to ride his bike without training wheels and learn so stinkin' fast you can't believe it, to laying out clothes for his first day of kindergarten....how could it be so soon? And yet, I feel we must have accomplished something very worthwhile to walk alongside a confident, excited and eager little boy to his new classroom without a single hesitation. His little wings and early roots seem to be working just fine today.




As a matter of fact, when he walked out to my car grinning ear to ear this afternoon and I asked what his favorite part of the day was, he replied, "Everything!"

I sure hope he knows that's the same way I feel about him!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Life according to iPhone pics

Seems more and more I am relying on my phone to
capture the moments of daily life. So here's a glimpse of what has been going on with us.
A day at the lake at LBJ Marina going down the slide.


Eating chocolate chip cookies on the porch during an unexpected and very needed rainstorm.


A cute pic of hunter painted like a pirate in Watercolor.


Blakey and Emmy ready to ride the train.



All 3 sliding at the playground.


5 of the 7 grandkids in Austin.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Days 2 and 3


The first full day in Seaside was a blast! We made the most of the beach and the pool until early afternoon when Chris and I biked back to the house with the kids for naptime. We were not ever bored during that downtime- I read 3 books over the week and Chris had his laptop to do a little work from the house.

On Sunday, Hunter and I decorated his bike in Watercolor for their "4th of July" parade- even though it was only the 3rd. We biked through the neighborhood to the Camp District area and went to the kid's carnival. He had a blast! I took pictures and video on my iPhone so I don't have them to include here right now. He did water slides, bounce houses, major bounce slip and slides, a dunking booth, a boxing ring and this gladiator game (all on bounce house type deals). We had the most fun afternoon and ended the outing with the most incredible face painting- he was a pirate.

Later that day, we had to drive to the nearest pharmacy because Emily had come down with her 4th ear infection. Bleh! After grabbing yet another antibiotic for Miss Em, we drove back to Seaside for dinner at Great Southern- one of our family's favorites. Their signature dish- grits a ya ya- is INCREDIBLE! I had to order that, of course!
One half of the group at Great Southern
We let the kids run around in the outdoor amphitheatre after dinner and then enjoyed icecream at Heavenly's- a nighttime ritual.
On the 4th, the boys played golf in the morning, so the girls and kids rode bikes and explored, swam at the pool, ate an early lunch and took early naps and were ready to hit the beach when the boys came back. We enjoyed the afternoon at the beach and then came back to shower for the fireworks. As luck would have it, some of my parents' friends from UT were in Seaside and had a condo overlooking the Seaside Town Center. From their balcony, the fireworks were absolutely the most breathtaking I have EVER seen... EVER!

...to be continued

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Seaside.... here we come!!

A little over a week ago, we loaded up the car and headed east to Florida to a little slice of heaven... Seaside and Watercolor. We spent a week enjoying the beautiful surroundings, riding bikes, eating lots of ice cream, visiting the beach and various pools around the neighborhood, reading books, relaxing on porches, and just having a great time.
My sign on the boys' chalkboard in their room... we couldn't wait to get on the road.

It was Emily's birthday on July 2nd, so that morning, we had to pose the 3 kids for a birthday picture. Yay!! She's ONE!

Here we are at our awesome house!
No time to waste... first thing we did was load everyone onto bikes and trailers and take a bike ride around Watercolor.

It wasn't two minutes later that we had our first of many injuries from bike riding. He was all smiles and back on in no time.

The birthday girl!


...to be continued

Monday, June 20, 2011

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she wonderful?
Isn't she precious... just at one minute old!

I always listened to that song and wondered if I'd ever have a little girl to sing it about. How is it that a year has passed since that wonderful day when our 3rd little miracle came into our lives?

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST YEAR...
July 2, 2010 Emily Blair Jones enters this world and our lives

2 weeks old

One month old


AUGUST 2010- 1 month old


SEPTEMBER- 2 months old


OCTOBER 2010- 3 months old



NOVEMBER 2010- 4 months old




DECEMBER 2010- 5 months old




JANUARY 2011- 6 months old



FEBRUARY- 7 months old (crawling)



MARCH 2011- 8 months old



APRIL- 9 months old



MAY- 10 months old (Walking and first teeth)



JUNE- 11 months