not my kid part 2...or is he?

When I was about 5 years old my dad took us to Disneyland. Four children (2 age 8, 2 age 5). We ate at this really fancy restaurant in the park and everyone was so tired that they all fell asleep at the table...but me (well, and my dad and step-mom). As the story so fondly goes, I sat and picked at every ones dinner and ate just about every morsel of food I could get my little hands on while they slept at the table. This is us at the park today....
Gilly, just picking through every ones food. I would say that maybe the apple doesn't fall so far from the tree but the next post would contradict that.

not my kid..

There are several times that I think in my head "where did he learn that?". This is one of those times. Yes he is peeing at a pubic park. I won't name the park however.

Having a 'moke

'tis the season! Its that time of year again where we are all starting to gear up for cold weather and to us that means nightly asthma treatments for Gill. Only he doesn't call them treatments, to him it is "having a 'moke (smoke)".(I actually just wanted to post this picture so you could see how my kitchen table is all cleared off)

He actually asks to have a 'moke because he thinks its cool to put his finger over the little blue thingie so it sounds like he is having bowel problems. Or maybe he's just asking for one because he is having a hard time getting oxygen to his lungs.

tagged

okay, I was tagged. Yipee! Now you get to read 7 things about me that you probably already know.

1. I am a 16year survivor of Crohns disease. Survivor is putting it boldly because not many people die from Crohns but trust me, I feel like slitting my wrists every morning. What is Crohns disease you might say...well my immune system gets its signals mixed up and attacks my colon causing ulcerations throughout my digestive track. I won't go into detail about what those ulcerations do but a song comes to mind from my childhood days when we would go up to the library and put marbles in our pants and dance to the BeeGees singing....Diarrhea ptttt ptttt! There is no cure but reduced stress helps.
2. I am an avid reader. I love love love books. If I could picture the perfect day it would involve a really good book, a bag of chips and my fantastic king size sleigh bed. My library card is sacred to me since I'm too cheap to actually buy books. My favorite quote by Emerson is "Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them". (I even have a sweatshirt that says that).
3. I am a Pisces. I love astrology. Now, I don't live my life according to what the newspaper says a Pisces is but I like to read about personality characteristics. Maybe they are right, probably not but its fun.
4. I love old people. There has always been a soft spot in my heart for old people. When I was a kid my step brother and I would ride our bikes to the nearest rest home and go visit some of them. Now, I don't love all old people, just certain ones. My carreer in the Heathcare industry kind of jaded me on old people but now that I don't have to watch them walk down the hall while their depends falls off I really enjoy being around them, listening to stories.
5. I am all about laughing. Because of my #1, laughter is important to me. I can't take life too serious. That is why I love my husband and my kids so much, they make me see life in this light where laughter is much more important.
6. I hate politics.
7. I have a dog but I am not one of those people that goes to Petsmart to get pictures with Santa and their dog. In fact I don't really like my dog too much, we just keep her because the kids are attached.
So there you have it. 7 things about me that will probably change the minute I post this. I guess that could be #8, I can't make decisions.

Is it over yet?

Em in the Halloween parade, trotting by Hermoine with her book bag
and the finished product of all our carving
Now I am going to go raid the candy and gorge myself until my blood sugar shoots through the roof. Happy Halloween (and thanks to all my fantastic neighbors who gave Twix).

Halloween Halloween.....

I think the only "redneck" thing about us that I go along with is....(note:Jeff has lots of redneck in him...right now he is watching a video on black powder guns, something I am highly opposed to.)we carve our pumpkins with an electric saw!
Everyone hard at work
the bottom one is mine, Abby's is smiling happily above it
Jeff's(top step), Garrett's (half happy, half sad, kinda like him), and Emily's (it took her 20 minutes to draw that mouth)

Batman, Hermoine, and the Horse

the Yard Boy

Gill wanted to help out with yard work.... by putting leaves into his truck and dumping them in a pile

He is just so handy around the house!

Maxwell Lynn Richards

I am dedicating this post to Maxwell, its his Birthday today and our thoughts go out to the Richards family. If you don't know about Maxwell, please click here and watch the video "Remembering Maxwell" http://www.sugaryfrogs.blogspot.com
Warning: get a kleenex first!
We love and miss you Maxwell!

The Jones Family

Bat Man vs. the T-rex Fireman

As most people know, Jeff is a kid at heart. So when Gilly wants to play Bat Man....

Jeff takes it about as far as he can.

This is a small glimpse at what we will remember of Bat Man vs. the scary T-rex/Fireman. Bat Man won, obviously.

Dinner at the Jones'

I actually caught Em doing this with the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray (ick) Dinner at our house is always a struggle....for my children that is. If it is not a complex carbohydrate with spray butter they don't like it. Tonight for example....we had roast.
My three favorite complaints, right after one another were these...
1. The cauliflower is too juicy, you know, wet (Abby)
2. The meat is just too meaty (Em)

3. I don't like it (Gill, but thats what he says at every meal)
Now I can take criticism, especially about my food because its a work in progress, a talent I am constantly working on but sometimes I just want to grab the loaf of white bread, put spray butter on it and call it a day. Then Jeff and I will go to Cafe Rio.

My genetic pool

So this is the family Halloween party. This is how we kick it on my side. Emma and Keily
Michele....or is that Chad?
Emma
Emma again
Michele
Meg

As you can see I did not partake of the evil mask. Call me dull. I just wan't feeling it I guess.

Larry

I have this Uncle (Larry) who is by far the greatest Uncle anyone would ever want. He helped me get my first car (a nissan stanza) and he is contantly taking ridicule from us because he looks and acts just like my Grandpa Ru. Plus he has this love of sweets, he is always sneaking them just like a little kid. I get all misty eyed when I think of him because he is like a dad to me....Anyway, I digress here. Uncle Larry owns an office supply company where we hold many family parties. This year we had a halloween party and it was really fun to see the kids all dressed up....Em as a horse (surprise!). She clearly stated that she is not the person riding the horse, she IS the horse. Don't mix it up.
Abby playing a game that was kind of hard for her. Remember...a fisherman she is not.
ahhhh Hermoine
Gill as his usual self at any party. He is just a ball of fun!

The Pumkin Patch

Every October we go to the Day Farms pumpkin patch, its a fun tradition that started when Abby was in preschool. This year as the weather was topsy turvy and October is fastly flying by I suggested to the kids that we could go to Dans and pick out a pumpkin, maybe even two. Well they would have nothing of it! So here we are at the pumpkin patch, waiting for our tractor to arrive... While on the tractor there is a "spooky" that jumps out and really scares the kids. Here is Braxton comforting Gilly. Since Gill doesn't have an older brother we've asked Brax to stand in sometimes.
And he's off!
Abby found the perfect pumkin!

johnny hotdog

This is my favorite brother John and his darling wife Monica. My kids absolutely adore these two. Sometimes if we are lucky the newlyweds like to spend a fun filled evening with us. I think they call it "birth control".

Hermoine and...er...Harriett?

We recently bought Abby her Halloween costume, Hermoine, and she loves wearing it around the house...

Em just likes wearing the Harry Potter glasses when she does her homework