Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to Everyone! We had a wonderful Christmas with lots of family, good food and fun presents. Saturday the 23rd, we went to Barry's grandmother's house for the Jones family Christmas. We had dinner and then opened presents. The boys had fun playing with cousins and sharing their new toys.

Christmas Eve we spent at home. We were glad to have Jamie, Uncle Bill, and Mom and Dad with us. We had lots of fun food to eat, we watched "Mr. Kruger's Christmas" and opened up new pajamas.



Christmas morning we finally got the boys awake about 8:30. Santa had brought lots of presents and it was fun to see everyone so excited.

Little People's Circus

Tanner got a set of puppets from NaNa. I am sure we will have lots of fun making up puppet shows.

Corey got a Nicktoons Racing Computer Game. He was very excited. Now we will never get him off the computer.

One of Kannon's favorite presents was "Hullabalu". You have to hop on different shapes and colors. Then you freeze and find out if you are on the winning space. The winner has to do a "funky monkey dance". We all took turns playing with Kannon.

Tanner got a Cowboy and Indian set. It came with Teepees, canoes, covered wagons and lots of plastic figures. Tanner and NaNa had fun setting up the villages.

I think everyone just had fun hanging out with each other. Christmas is truly about being with family. We missed not having all of our family here but loved all the presents, cards and phone calls that we got.

Christmas Parties

This was the week of Christmas Parties! Kannon had his Nursery School party on Monday. We made a christmas ornament, ate goodies and opened a gift from a friend. Kannon got some "tools" from Lake.

Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. Tanner had his Christmas Breakfast party. They ate goodies, made an ornament and then opened a book from a friend. Tanner got a book about dolphins. Tanner's teacher, Mrs. Schulte, is a wonderful teacher and she loves to gives all of the kids lots of hugs - which Tanner likes.

We left Tanner's party early so that we could get home for Preschool at 10:00. We had class until 12:00 and then we started the party. The moms brought goodies and planned a craft. The kids opened a present from a friend. Thank goodness for our basement. During the party, I counted 18 kids under the age of 8! Then add all of the moms to that. It was a busy place! Tanner joined in on the fun also since he was finished with school.

Corey's party was at 2:00 that same day. They ate goodies and watched a Christmas movie. They brought money to get a gift for the lunchroom ladies instead of exchanging gifts themselves. Corey's teacher, Mrs. Bradsher, has been so great with Corey.

Barry had his Christmas party today at work so he was up late baking cookings and making his famous baked beans. I think we will all be glad when all of the parties are over and we can just focus on some family fun!

Corey's Basketball

Corey played in the Valley View 4th Grade Intermural League. All of his teammates were very nice and the coach seemed to really like Corey. His team went 8-1 in the league. Corey scored a couple of baskets, made a free throw, blocked a shot and got several rebounds. We loved watching Corey play.

Since Corey was the tallest on his team, he was the one that faced off in the opening tip off. He got the tip most of the time.

Great Season Corey!

Pre-Holiday Tournament

Dustin's basketball team won the Junior High Pre-Holiday Tournament in Rector this past weekend. Last year they got beat in the finals so it was great to win it this year. They beat Bay, Nettleton and then Rector (the host team) for the title. So far this season, their team is undefeated. Trophies were handed out and then they got to cut down the net. All the players and their families went out for pizza on the way home. It was a fun tournament.

The Christmas Trip Farm

Each Christmas, we look forward to going to the Christmas tree farm in Goobertown to pick out our tree. Yes, there really is a town called Goobertown. Last year, it was really fun because our good friends, the Calvins came along. Dustin didn't get to come this year because his basketball team was in the finals of a tournament so they had a practice earlier in the day.

The Search Begins for the Perfect Tree

All of the trees are perfectly shaped so it is easy to find a nice tree. This year we knew that we could get a taller tree than usual because our new house has taller ceilings.

I think we found it!

The boys favorite part of the whole tree farm experience is drinking the hot chocolate and eating the peanuts while waiting for the tree to be cut down.

Check - Christmas tree up and decorated

Now on to the rest of the things on my "to do" list!

The Christmas Card Picture

Every year I like to have a picture of the boys for a Christmas Card. Well, every year it is a huge ordeal to get that picture. Dustin hates getting his picture taken, Kannon can't sit still, and we can never get Tanner and Corey to just smile naturally. Anyway, here are a few tries from this year.

Oops, Kannon is not looking.

This one was pretty good but we decided that Dustin needed a haircut.

So next Sunday comes and we try again. This time the weather is about 70 degrees so all of the boys have on short sleeve shirts. I hated to have a Christmas picture with short sleeve shirts so everyone grabbed a fleece and put it on. I know that some people carefully plan the wardrobe of each person in the picture but I am glad that the boys were dressed and their hair some what combed.

Oops, Dustin is not looking.

I guess this is what Kannon thinks of the Christmas picture.

Actually, I think I would have used this one if Corey hadn't had his eyes closed. This picture is so Kannon, always trying to be silly. Well, you will have to wait until Christmas to see the picture that made the "Card". I hope that everyone is having has much fun as we are getting ready for the holidays :)

Thanksgiving at Big Island

Barry, Dustin, Tanner, and Corey went to Big Island for Thanksgiving. Big Island is actually an island formed by the Arkansas, the White and the Mississippi Rivers. Barry's dad has a cabin there where the Jones men all go for Thanksgiving. There is not a lot of hunting that goes on but all the guys have fun riding four wheelers and jeeps, fishing, eating, watching football, and a little hunting. Corey loves it and always comes back with all kinds of stories to tell.

This was the first year that Brett got to go to Big Island. He is Bart's little boy. I guess that means that Kannon can go next year. Don't worry about the gun in Tanner's lap - it is a toy gun. The boys did shoot a BB gun and try to hit cans off the fence. That is the only gun that I want them to shoot.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Craighead Forest Park

This has been the prettiest Fall in many years. The leaves have been so colorful. We spent last Saturday afternoon at Craighead Forest Park. We hiked over 2 miles, had a picnic and played at the playgrounds.

Tanner and Corey are signed up for the "Kids Marathon" (inspired by their Aunt Kristen) which is a program to encourage kids to be healthy. They have from November until April to log 25.2 miles and then on April 14th they are having a big celebration at the ASU track where the kids will run/walk the last mile at the track. They will all receive t-shirts and certificates. After our hike, they were excited to go home and write down their miles.

Lost Tooth

Tanner lost his first tooth! It fell out on the playground at school and he never found it. His kindergarten teacher called me and told me what happened and said that they looked and looked for it. The teacher on duty wrote a note for Tanner to give to the tooth fairy explaining what had happened. He looks cute with his missing tooth! Tanner has "Indian Paint" on his face from school. They have been studying Indians all week. They painted shirts, made macaroni necklaces and headbands with lots of feathers. He loves Indians so this was the best week ever.

PlanIt Play

Dustin, Corey, and Tanner all had straight A's on their report cards this nine weeks so we went out for a fun family night to celebrate. Corey had told us how much fun PlanIt Play was on his field trip so we decided to try it out. It was FUN! There were only two other kids there and their parents so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The place was filled with big inflatable things to jump, slide, and crawl on. Barry and I got in on the fun too!

Dustin sticking on the "Velco Wall"!

Dustin and Corey Jousting

Kannon loved the BIG slide.

We all had a great time and were pretty worn out after all that jumping and climbing.

After PlanIt Play, we went out to eat at Colton's Steakhouse which is a favorite place for everyone. Thanks to a gift certificate from Mom and Dad for my birthday the dinner didn't cost us a thing. Now that is a good dinner!

We sure are proud of the boys for working so hard in school and making such good grades. They are already planning next nine weeks night out.

50th Day of School

Tanner had a big 50's Day celebration for the 50th day of school. They dressed up and had a sock hop at the skating rink. They had root beer floats and there was a special guest that performed for them - Elvis! Tanner thought it was all pretty cool. Imagine though, one hundred 5 year olds trying to roller skate - it was a little crazy.

Tanner's teacher - Mrs. Schulte

Tanner started off with just one skate to get the feel of it. Then he moved up to both skates. After a few times around the rink with me helping him, he was ready to ditch the skates and go run around. I guess Tanner won't be hanging out at the Skating Rink anytime soon.

Happy Halloween

Yeah, Halloween! I really am not a big fan of Halloween but the kids did have fun dressing up and getting lots of candy. I AM a big fan of the candy though. We trick or treated all of the family in Bono and came home with our buckets full. Kannon had practiced all afternoon knocking on the doors in our house with his bucket saying "trick or treat". So he was ready to hit the streets by the time we all got ready to go.

Kannon the Bobcat

Tanner the Indian

Corey the Baseball Player (Again)