The Highlights

I haven't been able to update the blog in almost 2 weeks.  Not much new is going on.  Aurora is doing great with her schooling.  Wyatt broke a full length mirror and made some great vampire killing stakes, but luckily all the kids were not harmed.  Trevor has been battling a fever for the last 2 days.  He is not 100% yet, but the fever broke early this morning.  That brings me to Landon.  Well, Landon is just being Landon.  (his brothers and sister know what I mean). And Russ' last 2 weeks can be summed up in 2 words: Halo Reach. :)

I can not believe that is going to be October on Friday.  I'm not sure where 2010 went.  I shall be back in the next couple of weeks with some Pumpkin Patch pictures and some Fall fun.

God's Pretty Rainbow

I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. -Genesis 9:13

This week in The Jones Academy, we were learning about obeying.  And the perfect Bible story to go along was Noah obeying God and building an arc.  Aurora's favorite part is the rainbow, so we did a Tootie Fruity (the generic name for fruit loops) rainbow project.  She calls it "God's pretty rainbow" and she loves to thank God for making such beautiful things. 

 *Note:  There is a purple fruit loop missing, because Wyatt decided it just looked good enough to eat, glue and all.  Aurora was devastated, but life will go on in the Jones' house.

Vitamin D

My favorite season is coming to an official start next week, Fall.  That means the sunshine eludes us for the next 6 months.  Plus we had a horrible Summer, that included June-uary.  So if I was a betting woman, I would say that all of us are low on vitamin D.  Vitamin D is very important for us Pacific North-westerners.  We have the highest rate of MS and depression, both linked to low vitamin D levels.  So here is my friendly reminder to take your vitamin D supplement. I will even go a step forward and tell you that Costco has a coupon for it this month, plus if you hate pills, they have wonderful liquid vitamin D.  Vitamin D also helps boost your immune system, which is great during the cold and flu season.   And in case you are wondering, your multi-vitamin just won't do.  You need a vitamin D supplement on top of your multi-vitamin. At least 1000-2000iu daily.  Now you have all the facts, don't let me catch you without your vitamin D. :)

Slow & Steady Wins The Race

A mere 14 months after giving birth to Landon, I have finally lost all the weight I gained during his pregnancy.  Now I have to regroup and battle the weight I gained during the twin pregnancy.  The good news is that I only have about 18lbs of that left.  The bad news is that after those 18lbs,  I probably have a good 30lbs to lose.  And at the pace I am going, I may be very old and very gray before I see my goal weight. :)

Unfailing Love - Chris Tomlin

Functional Murmur

Landon just got a clean bill of health from the pediatric cardiologist.  They gave him an ultrasound of his heart and the doctor said he had a healthy, strong heart.  The murmur will come and go and hopefully disappear eventually.  It is called a functional murmur, meaning that there is no medical reason for the murmur.  Now, we will see how Mommy and Daddy's heart does when the bill comes. :)

This was the first time we have taken Landon out by himself and all I can say is WOW!  He has such a personality.  We only see him interact with his siblings, so we didn't know the full extent of it.  I think he enjoyed being the only child.  He bounced from one wall to the other in the waiting room.  When we got in to the room, he had to explore every nook and cranny.  And when I told him to come back, he looked up at us and gave us a dirty look.  He is too young for the dirty look!!  I think Aurora was born giving us a dirty look, but that is to be expected with girls.  Trevor just started perfecting the dirty look and he is 2.  I am having flashes of 4 teenagers and my head is starting to hurt. :)

First Week Of School!

Well, we made it through the first week of home preschool.  We take Friday's off. :)  I had started out trying to follow a curriculum, but soon realized that Aurora was way too smart for the one I chose.  So we are going over our letters, writing, and starting to learn to read.  I would have to say that she is probably working at a first grade level, at least she is doing what I was doing in the first grade.  So I am just trying to reinforce the basics and build from there. We are also learning about character traits.  This week was respect.  We are going to dive into some math next week.  The most difficult thing has been finding time to teach, while the others demand attention. I am keeping the days short, 2-3 hours tops and spacing the time throughout the morning, so that helps.  So far it has been an enjoyable experience.  Ask me that next month, I may be singing a different tune. :)


Aurora's First Day of Homeschool:

Cutting Our Baby's Hair

Well, the time came for Landon to get his hair cut. It was growing out of control. We gave him and his hair a lot of nicknames. Some of my favorites were, Baby Chuck Norris, Baby Dierks Bentley and flowing locks of love. I love his new hair cut, but I am missing his long hair. And since it was our last, first hair cut, it was a sad occasion. At least for me. So all I have left are pictures of my little boy's flowing locks of love.

On Tuesday we started the day off like this:

Wednesday Night:

He sat still for almost the entire time.  He was so good. 

The end result:

Such a handsome little man!!

So Far So Good

My bargain hunting is going well. So far I have spent a total of $52 on 4 pair of pants, 2 pairs of Skechers, 2 Thomas shirts, and 2 Thomas PJ's. So that is an average of $5.20 per item. Pretty good, considering that the shoes regular prices were $42.99 and $35. I am still on the hunt for rain boots. I am hoping that they will go on clearance soon and they will still have the kids sizes left. I am sure in a couple of weeks I will be able to find some kind of deal.
I also was able to get construction paper, glue, a ruler, dry erase flashcards, and watercolors for free with coupons. You can't beat free!

Fall Clothes

The last couple days of crappy weather proved that the kiddos aren't ready for fall. I think the high-water pants Trevor and Wyatt wore yesterday sealed the deal. Fortunately the weather is going to be nice a tad bit longer, so that gives me a few weeks to find the best deals. I'm not sure if stores are hurting, but they seem to be offering killer deals lately. Every once and awhile Kohl's will send us a $10 giftcard and when used with their 15% off coupon and $5 off coupon I can get the boys pants for dirt cheap. I am also on the hunt for rain boots for the kids. They have outgrown their froggy boots and it is time to pass them on to Landon. It is fun watching the kids try to shove their foots in to them though. And what kid doesn't look adorable in high-water pants?
The only kid sitting pretty is Landon. The boys old fall clothes are a little big on him, but he is set. It was pretty cute watching him waddle around in pants that covered his feet.
So, off I go to hunt some deals. Wish me luck!