Date Night!

As Colton gets older, he's starting to get pretty opinionated on how he wants to spend his birthday.  Much to Evan's chagrin he's learning how to milk it, if you will.  I have no idea where he is learning this behavior from.  No idea.  Lucky for me, to celebrate his 7th birthday, he was pretty emphatic that he wanted to go on a date with yours truly.  I was more than thrilled to accommodate his request since I know the days are numbered that he's going to want to be seen with me in public, especially on a Friday night.  Pretty sure for his sweet 16 he's not going to be begging for a date with dear old mom.  I was also loving the fact that he chose me to go on a date with since my eldest worships the ground his father walks on.  Even when I was the sole source of nutrition for this kid, he still preferred the arms of his father.  So yay for our date!  Colton started out his birthday with a date to Taco Bell and Toys R Us with his Nana before she headed off to the airport.  When I got home from dropping her off, we headed to the bowling alley.
 

  

We had a good time, especially Colton, since he proceeded to beat me and this boy does love to win. 

Then it was off to Red Robin, which included some singing and a hot fudge sundae which Colt was gracious enough to share.

Finally, we were headed home to the rest of the fam, some carrot cake, and presents.

I love Cade's face here.  These boys can fight like nobody's business so I'm all for catching a little adoration here and there.  Happy birthday to my seven year old boy!  Colt is sweet, sensitive, a hard worker, a great date and a good example to his brother and sister.  We love him something fierce.

The most wonderful time of the year...

This holiday season was the first time since Evan and I got married that we decided to stay home (not including the year Colton was born, since he was due on Christmas day and slightly hampered our traveling plans).  We kicked off the Christmas season with a visit to Santa, to verify that Santa was up to speed on Christmas wish lists.

This picture cracks me up.  Is this the Christmas card, thug edition?  Seriously the boys' faces are too much.

And cue the classic Santa picture.  Oh Delaney, she was so miserable and devastated that we left her on this strange man's lap.  She's not a huge fan of men in general and one with a huge beard and red hat?  No thank you.

For Christmas Sunday, Evan's mom was nice enough to sew the kids matching outfits.  Delaney's dress was seriously too cute and as someone who struggles sewing on a button, I'm beyond grateful to Oma for using her skills to dress the kids up.  Not the best picture of Delaney but again, Colt and his GQ pose could not go unposted.

Since all of my siblings were at their in-laws or staying home this year, my parents decided to not spend Christmas alone and come to Chicago instead.  Lucky us!  I had a list of traditions I wanted to start for our family and my mom was nice enough to head up sugar cookies with the kids.  I used Our Best Bites recipe (I'm obsessed with their cookbooks lately) and they did not disappoint.  I have a lot of great memories of making sugar cookies when I was a kid so it was fun to pass that on to my family.

I also decided we should try gingerbread houses.  I was busy baking in the kitchen so I asked Evan to take charge with the construction.  After some failed attempts (something about watered down icing and collapsing houses) Evan announced that this tradition was off the list.  For the record, after a new batch of icing that did not include a drop of water, the houses turned out just fine.  We'll see if I can convince Evan to add it back to the list for next year.

How Delaney spent her house making time.  I'm not sure if the boys had any M&M's left to decorate with.

I can't remember the last time that Evan had time off and we didn't travel somewhere.  It made for some fun days hanging out around Naperville.  One of them was spent as Cade would say, "Climb rocking."

Christmas Eve dinner.  My parents were nice enough to buy a prime rib and I felt a tad bit of pressure not to mess up such an expensive cut of meat!  Another Best Bites recipe and a fancy meat thermometer and luckily for me, a success.

Here the kiddos are in their Christmas Eve pajamas, milk and cookies for Santa set out, Christmas story read, nativity scene acted out, and on their way to bed.  And my Christmas present?  Having all three kids looking at the camera at the same time smiling!  My own little Christmas miracle.

The Fall Round Up

Oh how I love fall in Naperville!  I know I complain with the best of them, pretty much nonstop, from January till April but there is nothing like fall in the Midwest.  Growing up in Texas there really isn't a fall or seasons for that matter and when we lived in Colorado you never really knew if it was going to be nice and sunny or a howling blizzard.  But fall in Illinois has been everything I ever thought the season should be.  Especially when it's sunny and all the trees are changing to gorgeous colors and there's a crisp in the air and all you want to do is bake apple crisps and drink cider.  So onto the documentation of how we spent my favorite season!

We have loved going to the pumpkin patch we discovered three years ago, our first fall here.  As we tried to get it on the schedule we realized that our Saturdays were crazy in the month of October and we were going to have to re-adjust.  Evan took off early from work one Friday and we picked Colton up early from school.  He had no idea we were coming and it was fun to surprise the kiddos with a trip to our favorite farm.

Hard to believe that when we visited this time last year, Delaney was a tiny little thing I was carrying around in my baby bjorn.  I don't know what it is about visiting this farm but every time I do, I decide I want to move out to the country, buy a farm, have Evan milk cows and drive around a tractor, and me make apple pies (that I've picked from my apple tree) in my farmhouse kitchen.  Strange confession, but there you have it.  If only I knew how to make an apple pie.

Cade was lucky enough to visit another pumpkin patch, this time with his preschool group.  We had a great time seeing the baby animals, taking a hay ride, and buying some apple cider donuts (yum!) with his friends from preschool.  It's been such a good year with a great group of kids and better yet, the moms rock too.

Onto Halloween night!  Evan had school that night and I was seriously bummed at the thought of doing Halloween on my own.  My mom, who was already in town for the BYU game, was nice enough to change her plane ticket so that she'd be in town for Halloween.  It was absolutely priceless having her here to help with trick or treating.  She even stayed out later with the boys so I could take Delaney home and get her into bed.

Delaney figured out pretty fast what all those strangers were giving out and went door to door as fast as her little legs could carry her.

We had a snake, a ladybug, and a grasshopper.  Ironically enough, all things I'd prefer not to encounter in real life.  Another great Halloween night, trick or treating with the leaves crunching underneath our feet, and me successfully sneaking all of the Twix out of the kids' pumpkins. 

Odds and Ends

Here's a smattering of pictures to catch y'all up with what the Jones family has been up to...

Doing something with Delaney's hair.  Seriously it's a mullet that would make the reddest of rednecks proud.  But throw some pink bows in her hair and you have adorable pigtails.  Now the challenge is just keeping her from pulling them out!

At the beginning of the summer, I convinced myself that somehow I could join the Summer of Seals competition about 40 people from my church were doing.  I don't know if I was momentarily delusional or just a glutton for punishment, but here's the proof that I did it!  The competition consisted of working out four times every week, a 500 meter swim in under 15 minutes, as many situps, pull ups, and push ups (not the girl ones I prefer) you could do, and a 1.5 mile run in under 15 minutes.  When I started training, I could barely do the doggie paddle much less actually pull myself up on a bar.  Seriously questioning my sanity but I'm proud to say I survived.  Completing the thing was an accomplishment in and of itself, though I was the farthest thing in the world from an actual Navy Seal. 

This guy however won the whole thing.  He rocked it and would be waaaaay too shy to actually admit it so we'll leave that up to me.  He was so embarrassed he could barely take this picture and actually looking at the camera was just out of the question.  A huge thank you to Evan's sisters, CJ and Denise, who came into town for a visit and ended up watching our children for half of the day so we could compete.

One night our water heater decided to break and leak all over the floors, seeping underneath our laminate flooring, warping the floors with the full assurance of a mold outbreak if we didn't rip everything up.  After a few weeks of a construction zone in half of my downstairs, dipping into our savings, and finally convincing Evan that the scope of this job warranted hiring a handy man, we have new tile floors.

This summer I discovered the book, Divergent, and fell headfirst in love.  I found some of my friends who were fellow Divergent lovers and we headed to the local bookstore to get our copies signed.  As luck would have it, the bookstore had a rule that we had to buy the book from them to actually meet the author.  So we settled for a group photo and taking the handy dandy quiz we discovered at the back of my book.  Score!

My parents flew into town in October so that we could head down to South Bend for the BYU vs Notre Dame game.  We checked out the beautiful campus and watched BYU lose.  But we had a great time with my parents and loved having them here.

Evan and I in the Notre Dame stadium.  Rudy anyone??

 

Ushering in fall with the leaf blower.  And really, how could I leave this picture out?  I laugh every single time I see it.  

Our day of no labor

Over Labor Day weekend we did everything but labor.  It was seriously the weekend from heaven, a perfect way to close out our summer.  We were invited (thanks Katie!) to Lake Michigan for a day of playing in the sand, jet skiing, swimming in the lake, and soaking up the sun.  When we first pulled up to the beach, there was not a cloud in the sky, sailboats dotting the sparkling blue water, seagulls circling the sky and a beautiful lighthouse.  A lighthouse!  Can we say picture perfect!?!  It was amazing and in that moment I thought, I will live in Chicago for the rest of my life.  And then I remembered January in all of its icy tundra horror and scratched that thought forever from my mind.  But back to the best Labor Day ever.  The kids had an absolute blast.  They had lots of friends to play with and sand to bury themselves in.

My kiddos have always had the hardest time keeping pants up over their tiny bottoms.  Call it the Bohannon bottom curse (which hails from my sweet grandma).  Seriously Cade's swimsuit had 2 safety pins holding it tight around his waist and still no dice.  Thanks to Stacy for capturing this moment that was too cute for words.  After a full day of playing we had some tuckered out kids. 

 

So wiped out that my boys couldn't even eat their sandwiches sitting up.  They had to loll about in the sand to get the job done.  And in typical boy fashion, with a few calories in their system, they had the energy to run around like crazy again.

As for Evan and I, we did the jet skiing thing.  If you put my paranoid self with high speeds and a large body of water beneath my feet, I tend to get a wee bit nervous.  Luckily for all those I rode the jet skis with, I warmed up and was reminded just how fun that kind of stuff is.  Add in some good food and great friends to chat with and you have everything you need to bid summer farewell. 

School is Back

This boy was ready for first grade.  A little nervous too, but mostly ready.  Let's keep things real and say we both were.  Colt absolutely loved having eight hours of his day during kindergarten planned out.  He was on the go all the time and reveled in it.  Fast forward to summertime when Mama doesn't plan out every second of your day and I think it's safe to say we were both frustrated.  So come the first day of school, this boy was ready to take on the world.  Or at least the first grade part of it.

In true mom fashion, when it came time to actually say goodbye to him, I wasn't ready.  It must be in the mom part of my DNA.  When all is said and done, it's hard to let go.  Not kindergarten hard, but still.  You know what I am ready for?  The open mouthed crazy smile to go.  Guess he loved seeing his crazy T-ball picture so much, it's sparked a new fad.

As soon as I was on my way out the door though this boy was focused and ready to get down to business.

The traditional after school cookies.  Since I didn't have a two-week old this year, I baked the requested M&M cookies.  And of course, Delaney was there to beg for her share.

A week later, it was Cade's turn for his first day.  He's going to a Pre-K program at our local presbyterian church which he absolutely loves.  He comes home singing, "He's got the whole world in his hands...." and "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." to name a few.  I'm also doing a joy school with five other moms from church twice a week.  I think it's safe to say we have preschool covered this year.

Here he is after his first day.  For the life of me, I could not get him to stop squinting for this pic.  Guess having lived in Chicago for most of his life, he's not all that used to the sun.  Can't believe this boy is going to be in kindergarten next year!  Good thing I have my Delaney girl to keep me company.

Happy birthday to little miss!

While Evan was on his trip, we celebrated our sweet girl's first birthday.  We definitely missed having her daddy around to celebrate, but were lucky enough to have the rest of my fam there ready to party. 

Delaney's first birthday gift was from my dad when he walked in the door from work at 5 pm, which I think is the first time I've ever seen that happen.  Delaney was pretty thrilled about it.

After dinner we broke out the pink cupcakes and seriously, Delaney didn't really know what to do with herself much less the cupcake.  With some serious prodding, she decided to take a test bite. 

And realized that cupcakes were definitely one of the better things in life.  We considered it a success.  Some pizza, cupcakes, presents and Papa home by 5?  Not a bad way to celebrate your first year.

We love our sweet Delaney something fierce.  She is such a happy, content girl who pretty much never complains, unless she's hungry.  I, of course, have no idea where she gets that from.  Her favorite foods are peas, beans, and oranges.  Weird, I know, but true.  And of course anything even remotely in the cupcake family.  She's adored by her brothers, spoiled by her dad, and my little sidekick.  She's been such an easygoing girl I know I've been forever spoiled.  We consider it a true blessing when she joined our family a year ago.  Happy birthday to my girl!

Roadtripping, Part II

After our week of fun in San Antone, the kids and I stayed in Austin to hang out while Evan headed to Utah to do a little of this...

Every couple of years, Evan meets up with some of his longtime best buddies to have a "mancation" as he calls it.  They do all sorts of manly things that, though I'm sure Evan would have a blast doing with his ultra daring, thrill seeking wife, are a little more enjoyable with his buddies.  This year included: cliff jumping, jet skiing, rock climbing, water skiing, four wheeling, getting dirty, and since they're all from Cali, saying the word "dude" about a million times (trust me, I've seen the video footage).  So while he was off getting his much needed, well deserved man time on, I stayed in TX with my girls and let the cousins run wild.

This included baths in Nana's tub.  Look at all those cute, white bottoms!

Poor Delaney.  Girlfriend can't take a real bath yet because of her kidney issues, but she had fun watching.

Some serious cousin bonding.  We live so far away that I loved watching my boys get to know and become friends with their awesome cousin, Gavin.

Blue Bell Ice Cream factory tour.  At the end of the tour is free ice cream so needless to say, an enjoyable time had by all.

Since we were in TX, most of the boys' days were spent here.  Nothing says summer like popsicles in the pool and I loved soaking up every bit of it.  After the kiddos were in bed, I spent some quality time hanging with the fam, eating my Tex/Mex, cheering on Team USA.  We left for home the week before school started, with some wonderful summer memories made.  I think I'll go ahead and toss the memories of the drive back.  Thanks to all my family for a great vacation!