Just the Girls

Grandma sent some photos from the girls' weekend in Florida.

Brett is getting so OLD. Look at her - she's not a little girl anymore. Here she is being lazy ;-) sitting around letting all the adults sell the soap:

And here is a photo of Indigo sitting patiently waiting for us to get the soap stuff set up. (Oh good, at least Indigo is still a little girl):



Brett and the sister she waited so long for:


And here is proof that I was there too (I have no idea what I was laughing about. But some of the "wrinkle city gang" - as John calls them - can be pretty funny):

It was supposed to be just Brett and me that went to Florida. But Brett cried so hard about leaving her sisters that Grandma flew Indigo down too. I'm glad it was the three of us. It was some very nice girl bonding time. :)

PJ

My Etsy Shop

Are you familiar with Etsy?

If not, it is a website where you can buy and sell all things handmade. I've been working on my etsy shop and banner for a few months now (in all my spare time). Here is what my banner looks like:



What do you think of it?

If you get a chance, hop over and take a look at the store and let me know what you think - or if you find any mistakes or typos.

My shop is at http://www.goatmilkstuff.etsy.com/

Thanks!

PJ

I Thought YOU Were Watching Her

Generally as a mom, I don't like to hear the words - "I thought YOU were watching her." It usually signals trouble. What kind of trouble? This kind of trouble:



What is that? I'll tell you. It's half a jar of peanut butter all over Jade. It apparently makes you very thirsty:


Then it makes you happy:


But it still makes you messy. :)

PJ

Not Bad for 3:00 AM

Grandma flew me and Brett and Indigo to Florida a few weekends ago to sell soap at her community craft fair. Since she got the tickets she got us a "nice" early flight so we could spend as much time with her as possible.

Of course, that meant we had to get out of bed at 3:00 am!!! Here we are. We definitely don't look as tired as we felt. (Except for the fact that I can barely keep my eyes open! :)

PJ

Are They Clean Yet?

Our hunter friend brought us 4 deer and we processed them all in 1 day! Wow - was that a long day. :)

The children were great helpers. This was their reward:

I think Emery went a bit overboard with the bubbles. Needless to say, the bathroom was a bit messy when they were done. But at least the children were clean. :)

PJ

Real Help Needed

Emery was making sweet potato fries to go with dinner. He enlisted some help...

And then he had to help the help he enlisted.

They were good fries!

PJ

That Was Stupid

Generally as a rule, we are not allowed to say the word "stupid" in our house. But sometimes, the children do things that can only be described as stupid.

Colter was washing dishes the other day and got his hand stuck in a water bottle. He tried for at least 5 minutes to extricate his hand before giving up and asking for help.

As I grabbed the bottle and he pulled his hand out (yelping the whole time), all I could think to say was, "Well, Cole, that was really stupid."

Yep, sometimes that's the only word that works. :)

PJ

Fun at the Harvest Party

Since I am traveling and am on super fast internet, I thought I'd upload a bunch of pictures from a recent harvest party.

Me and Indigo:

Brett and Emery and friends on a hayride:

Fletcher with a gun (aren't guns essential hayride equipment?) on the hayride:

Jim, Hewitt, and Me on another hayride (do you think the hayrides were a hit?):

Greyden catching the football:

Hewitt and Jade playing corn hole:

Jade really enjoying playing corn hole:

Well, I think I got a photo of everyone except Cole. Which isn't really my fault, since he spent most of his time running around with the guys. It was a fun party. :)

PJ

Have Soap Will Travel

We had a craft fair the other weekend. Afterward we were invited to a Harvest Party. Jim set the soap up in the back of the Sprinter for anyone who wanted to buy some.

He had to get a photo of his handiwork. :)

PJ

Who Looks Sleepier?

Jade was getting her molars when I took this photo. She was a bit fussy and just wanted to be with her Daddy.

Jim did a good job getting her to sleep. I think he almost got himself to sleep too. :)

PJ

Technology Can Be So Cool

In a former life (that means before children), I used to be a Systems Engineer. I was fairly up to date on the latest technology. But in this lifetime, the newest technology has left me in the dust. I'm completely clueless about most stuff that the average teenager takes for granted.

But that is completely beside the point.

The point is this. I am riding down the highway at 70 mph (yes, that is the speed limit in Indiana) and blogging. How cool is that! And no - I'm not the one driving. :)

We got "cell phone" internet with my laptop. So Jim is driving and I am blogging. And surfing the web. And I have 4 bars! This is the fastest internet I've ever had!

Yes, technology is very cool! And you can feel free to laugh at me if you've been doing this for years. I don't mind. :)

PJ

My Husband, My Hero

Jim asked me last night why I hadn't posted to the blog in a while. I told him it was because I had lost all my photos and didn't have any "inspiration". (We won't mention a lack of time).

He reminded me that there were a bunch of new photos on the camera. I knew that, but I told him that the camera card did not fit into any of the slots on the new computer. To blog about any of the photos, I first had to download the photos onto an old computer. Then I had to transfer them to a thumb drive and then load them onto the new computer. While that was doable, it wasn't simple and I hadn't gotten around to it yet.

I then said that I wished we still had that "doo-hickey" that you could put the camera card in one end, and the other end was a USB that could go into the computer. I used it all the time when I first got my camera. But then I got the computer (the one that died) and my camera card could be inserted directly into it. So I got rid of the "doo-hickey" because I didn't need it anymore.

Jim then said the magic words, "I saved it."

Me: "You did?" (I don't know why I was surprised - Jim never throws anything away. It is the funniest thing to me that my packrat husband became a garbage man).

Anyway...

Jim: "Yep."

Me: "But do you know where it is?"

Jim: "Somewhere in the barn."

Me: "It's no good to save something if you can't find it when you need it."

Oooooooooohhhh those were fighting words. (I didn't intend them to be, they just slipped out).

Jim gave me a look, got up, and headed out to the barn. He returned in a surprisingly short amount of time, with the doo-hickey in his hand.

I was SO impressed and told Jim so! :)

So now my photos are on my computer and I'm able to blog again.

I will admit that Jim's packrat tendencies often drive me crazy but occassionally make my life easier.

You see, Jim and I operate under two different principles. Let's say that for every 100 things you get rid of, you will later need 1 of those things.

I'd rather get rid of the 100 things and have to buy the 1 thing later. Jim would rather hold onto the 100 things so he doesn't have to buy the 1 thing later.

The solution? I throw away a lot of things when he's not looking. Of course, that has become a lot more difficult since he's become our garbage man. ;-)

PJ

I've Never Been Called THAT Before

Friends of ours have 4 children. Their youngest is named Paul after his father. They often call him PJ (Paul Junior).

Well, apparently there was much confusion in their family because when Emily (the mom) said "PJ", her children didn't know whether she was referring to me or to their PJ.

So the children came up with a solution. Their PJ is now "Little PJ" and I'm "Big PJ".

I about fell over laughing. At barely 5 feet tall, I have never in my life been called "big". (And I don't want to hear any pregnant belly jokes, thank you!)

Too funny! :)

PJ

Guess Who?

Remember glow sticks? My children had used them back in New Jersey, but they hadn't seen them here in Indiana (so it was new to most of them).

Last weekend, we were setting up our soap for a craft fair and the organizer gave our children a bunch of extra ones.

My children then spent the majority of the set-up time in the dark bathrooms playing with them. They thought they were the coolest things.

They begged Jim to take a photo of them - so here they are:

Remember when I asked if anyone could name each kid based on their feet? I'd ask you to name each kid based on their glow stick jewelry, but I'll be honest - I don't have a clue who is who! :)

PJ

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am SO thankful for friends.

Especially friends who invite us over for Thanksgiving.

And cook the turkey. And a ham. And the stuffing. And several vegetables. And cranberry jelly from scratch. And apple pie. And brownies. And fresh rolls.

Did I mention I didn't have to cook a turkey? Or a ham?

So thank you God for Kelly and Kim and Michael and Hannah.

And a cooked turkey. :)

PJ

Hello to Old Friends

Jim has discovered Facebook. He's having fun with it. He's found a lot of his high school and college friends (some of whom are also my friends).

Apparently he mentioned my blog and I think several people have looked at it.

So a big "Hello" to everyone!

Yes, life here on the Jonas homestead is fun. And loud. And crazy. And loud. And busy. Did I mention it was LOUD?

I don't think my children know how to be quiet. I really don't. I think it is a gene that is missing from their DNA.

Oh well, there could be worse things, right?

PJ

Computer Woes

Aaaahhhh..... It's been a long week.

My computer crashed. I lost most of my photos. :( All of my emails. Most of my files. :(

Such a bummer.

After the first time it died, we took it to our local teen computer genius. He managed to get it up and running again. I was in the middle of downloading files off of it when it died for good. Nobody has been able to get the rest of my stuff off of it.

Last I heard they were freezing the hard drive in the hopes that would do something??

Anyway. I have a new computer - a laptop. I love it. But it is taking me forever to set it up. Mostly because my dead computer was old and all the programs on it were old.

I didn't post on the blog for so long because the new computer wouldn't let me get on blogger. Jim took some time and fixed that for me. (Thanks, honey!)

I still need to get new website software - apparently they don't make microsoft frontpage any more. And I'm only on a trial verson of MS Office. But other than those, I think I might be almost back to normal.

Now, if they could just get my photos off that frozen hard drive. :)

PJ

I Love Books!

Not just a little. A lot. Other than chocolate, it is my biggest addiction. :)

I was completely amazed when we moved to Southern Indiana - there are no book stores here! Well, there is a little one in the little mall. But there are no Barnes & Noble or Borders mega book stores.

So depressing.

I admit to going to Louisville a couple of times to visit their book stores, but I soon gave that up. I now mostly order my books through Amazon or homeschooling catalogues.

Anyway, I had to share with you a book that I just got the children. I read it the other night and thought it was such a great story. It is called Frindle by Andrew Clements.


Brett had already read the book and told me it was good. She was I right. I picked up the book and didn't put it down until I had finished reading it.
The basic storyline is that Nick - a smart fifth grader - meets his match in his language teacher, Mrs. Granger. After having to do a report on where words come from, Nick gets a great idea to make up a new word. Soon, he has the whole school (and town) calling pens by Nick's new word - frindle. How far will the new word go? Well, you'll just have to read the book to find out.
This was a really cute story and would make an excellent read aloud. In fact, I plan for it to be the next book I read to the children. As soon as Jim finishes reading it. :)
PJ