Thanks Lexi!

Last time I attempted to cut the boy's hair - it didn't go so well. So I decided to enlist some help this time and called wonderful Lexi. Well, he was a rat for her too - but at least I could wrestle him while she chopped.
She was so nice and tried everything she could to entertain him. Didn't work as you can see - but we got the job done. Thanks Lex!

Kids Christmas Tree!

Every year my kids think that they should have their own Christmas tree in the basement - that they can decorate how they want. Our family tree upstairs is artificial and Rae, the lumberjack that she is, thinks that this is no fun. It's funny but the older Kelly gets-- the more tree-huggerish he gets. He is always telling Rae the lumberjack - do you know just how many years it took that tree to get that big?! He is fine with artificial - just because he doesn't want to be a tree cutter.
But this year we sacrificed a tree for the kiddos. I bought them a tree tag and left them to it. After school they put on their snow clothes, jumped on the ATV and headed up the canyon. They found a tree, cut it down, towed it home, set it up and decorated it. They even cleaned up after themselves!
It is truly their very own tree. Pretty cool that they did it all themselves. I guess that is one advantage to living in the boonies!
So here they are with their awesome sacrificial Christmas tree. They really had fun getting it - and really, as I look out the window, there isn't a tree shortage. I feel no tree guilt. Kelly or not!

The Broken Arm Saga Continues!

In his few short 21 months on planet earth, Bran has already classified himself as "that kid" in our family. You know, the kid who is always making messes, causing problems, and just making more work for those around him. I mean this in a truly loving way of course. He is a wonderful baby - and so much fun - but so FULL OF IT! Rae has up until now held the title of "that kid" in our family. But I think everyone around here would agree that Brannen just passed her up.
Notice the newly wrapped purple cast on his broken wing. Yes, we went for Vikings purple - because they were out of Incredible Hulk green. Got the cast on monday. The doc and I were both sweating by the time we got him all finished up. I had to secure the special needs wolverine (Kelly's new name for the boy, when we decided that calling him the retarded wolverine wasn't very appropriate!) while he quickly created the cast. All was well. So we thought.
Brannen was even pretty good at playing up the "poor baby" factor - and has mastered the sad face. Yep. He's pretty much getting what he wants around here. Notice the sad eyes, and dimpled eyebrows. That takes talent, people!
Now, cut to Wednesday - Kelly and I are in Idaho Falls - with Rae the super sister at home babysitting. She walks in Bran's room to find him - playing on the floor with cast sitting on the floor next to him! That turkey bird pulled the thing off!! Wish I had a video of the little bugger working away on that! He only had that cast on for two days! Ahhh!
Rae, the accomplished babysitter called us and then called Grama Chris who swooped in to save them all. She and Rae took Bran to the doctors office to get a new cast put on. The doc wisely suggested an above the elbow cast this time. Let's see the crazy rug rat rip this thing off!
"I promise, I promise to be a big boy and be good and keep my cast on this time. I will turn away from my wolverine ways and be oh so melow and good. " Well, I know that is what he was saying in his mind. Of course it came out like - "uhhhhuhh". Actually everything he attempts to say sounds like "uhhhhuhh". But I am so sure that his attitude is one of repentance! : )

You heard it right here - he's turning over a new leaf! : ) Silly kid.

He's supposed to be keeping me young right?!? I try to remember that platitude while I am physically wrestling him in the doctors office, chasing him down the road as he runs away, apologising to the nice older lady behind us in church whom he has just hit with a truck, sweeping up all the spilled rice on the kitchen floor, and giving him one of a million kisses during the day. Best time of my life!

Tree Time

Don't kids just LOVE to put up the Christmas tree?!? Reese has been my enthusiastic decorator of the season. Thanksgiving is officially over so she thought it was high time to get the tree up. We began the process before church this morning and plan to finish up after home evening tomorrow.
Here we go! Can you see the evil twinkle in his eye? The happy squeal of delight? He is so excited to torture us all for the next month by messin' with this tree until we are all out of our minds! I have a small tree downstairs that stayed decorated for one whole day before Reese and I just gave up and took all the decorations off of it. He had tipped the entire thing over twice. He may not live through the big tree upstairs. Or we may not.
See - - evil twinkle!!
Any Christmas tree party would not be complete without the requisite "lets pounce on each other" afterward session. No one walked away with any lasting bruises though. So I think we are okay. Sheesh! What's the matter with kids today? I'm sure I never pounced on my siblings on a boring Sunday morning. I was far too mature and wise for that foolishness!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a fun and enjoyable Thanksgiving we had! We traveled to Eagle Mountain, Utah to have a bit of a Jones gathering at Aunt Jen and Uncle Kyle's house. It was so great! We all had a really nice holiday.
Brannen LOVED their bunny Max in the back yard. He loved feeding him and he loved chasing him with a stick! I think Grampa Jonesy even caught him trying to kick him while chasing him once or twice! Crazy kid. I think he mostly enjoyed being outside in the nice warm weather -hey - fifty degrees IS warm when you live in Wyoming! There was even grass to frolick on!
Max was a good sport!
Cousin time! We love Juder Bug! He was so fun to play with. He is growing up so much. All those kiddos are. It was so fun to see them.
So Rock Band was the hit of the holiday. Old and young alike. We had a fantastic time rockin' out! Uncle Kyle was great to let us all play his games. Notice the groovin' song we have going here. Aunt Jen got the giggles - big time. I think she may actually be wetting her pants in this picture.
I guess she is so very skilled on the drums that she can drum and laugh at the same time. Good show! Way to rock!
Notice Grampa's arm in a sling. He has been having trouble with his shoulder, so he wasn't up for much drumming or strumming. However, he did kill some vocals. He was a pro at Beatles Rock Band - and really screeched a few ABBA numbers on ABBA Sing Star. I hope he is better for Christmas time so maybe he can give Uncle Dave the guitar pro a little competition!!
Brady had us all in stiches with his singing. He was just so very loud and unreserved. Which is NOT like Brady at all. He really got into it and had a great time. He made it so fun for everyone. Especially Aunt Jen!!!
Jude on drums, Rae on vocals and Brady rockin' the guitar. They all had a blast!
Two cutie boys. They sure liked playing gamecube together.
Halle is growing so much too! Not to mention the adorable Colin! Brannen had fun trying to play with him. At this age they mostly just walk around each other and try to figure out how to interact. I am afraid Colin was the recipent of a few shoves now and then too. Bran really likes you - he just can't figure out how to show it.
Don't know where Reese and Blythe were during all the pictures - I know they were around some where. Mostly they just disapeared and played like crazy. Those girls sure do miss playing with each other all the time.
We had a great holiday. Thanks Aunt Jen for hosting a great dinner and a fun couple of days! It was fun to go your way for a change!

Broken wing!

Cutie boy! We had an interesting weekend - Bran broke his arm! Saturday night he was playing downstairs with the kids - running around and having fun - and fell off of kelly's weight bench. Yea, he has fallen many times, off of numerous things but this time the ouch lasted longer. We debated and couldn't decide whether he needed to go to the emergency room or not. Stayed home that night and it turned out to be a long one! Took him in Sunday morning and yep - it's broken all right. The doc put a splint on it for now until the swelling goes down and it gets a cast on Tuesday.
He felt much better when we got home from the emergency room - that split really has helped. We have gone to the emergency room too much this year! Kelly, Rae and now Bran! We are done with that place! Seen it enough!
Mama Reese has worried and worried about the little guy. She is doing a great job of looking out for him - and helping him.
He was posing for me this morning in his nakedness. Helping me get some pictures.
This is the pose you get when you say, hey buddy - show me your arm! He is a smart one - this kid! What a fun guy.

Oh I hope we survive the next month - with a rock-hard weapon attached to him arm. All my kids are nervous about being pummled to death. He is a rowdy one!

WE LOVE REESE!

Happy Birthday Reese! The girl is officially an all grown up nine year old!
She had a fun birthday! Bran and I took her to lunch - she brought ice cream cups for her class - and we had a fun family party that night.
She was so happy and excited for all of her presents (and she wanted to wait until everyone was home to open them and celebrate with her. She waited until 7:30 pm! Way to go Ms. Patience!) And no, Grampa Jonesy - she didn't get graham crackers. That wasn't the excitement! Food boxes are basically the only boxes that I have around!
Nine Things We Love About Reese
1. She is such a kind, kind girl.
2. She is the best babysitter around! Her baby brother loves her like a mamma!
3. She is one smart cookie! What a reader! What a good writer! Math whiz!
4. We love her smile! She is ALWAYS happy!
5. She is grateful for everything she has - and never complains about what she doesn't have.
6. She is so talented. She is getting to be a great pianist, and a beautiful dancer.
7. She is silly! She has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh.
8. She is so obedient. She chooses the right, and does what she is asked to do.
9. She has such a great spirit and and a great heart. She is one special girl! I am so very proud to be her mom.

SYTYCD!!

So, if you understand the title of this blog entry - you are a REAL FAN! And in this house, we are REAL FANS! Well, the girls of the house are anyway. You know, the men watch the golf channel and football!
That's right folks - we journeyed to SLC this past weekend to go see So You Think You Can Dance! Live! In person! Squeeeel!!!! It was beyond awesome. So much fun, so very very impressive. Rae and I had a great time. We went with our friends the Schwabs and the Woodfords. Aren't these girls beautiful?!? Rae and her two friends Jessica and Shay.
Here are all the kids in our motley group - Tyson and Kalin decided they were men enough to tag along too. Very fun guys - we were glad that they came. (Well, maybe the sisters weren't as glad that they came - when it was pool time and they got dunked a lot by their brothers! Rae has never been so glad to not have an older, pesky brother in her life!!)
We are there! You bet! See the actual stage??? Janine, Brandon, Kayla and the whole top 10 from season five were there - plus Phillip (amazing) and Kaitlyn (best solo of the night). It was really a great show and we are so glad that we went.
The kids ended the trip by goofing around in the very awsome pool (water slide too!!) at the hotel. We had such a fun weekend. SYTYCD ROCKS! Almost as much as the Fullmers!

Happy Halloween!

Here are our Halloweenie kids! Reesie the beautiful witch and Bran boy the dragon. What a pair. Reese really wanted Brannen to come to the trick or treat parade at her school - so we did and he had a great time. On Halloween night, he was seriously confused by all this trick or treating stuff. He really wanted to know what was going on. We had fun dragging him all over though. He got seriously scared-and screamed his highest pitch scared for his life scream- at one really fun spooky house and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! Great entertainment. So glad I have a couple more trick or treaters at home! Fun! Fun!

I think he is a little sugar-drunk!
What does a dragon say? RAAAAAAARR!
Striking a pose! What a runway witch!
At Reese's school

Sippy Cup Tower

We finally got smart and took the time to put baby locks on the drawers in the kitchen. Wow! How helpful is that. Shoulda' done that long ago. However, we did leave one drawer accessible to the little pest - the sippy cup drawer. He loves to root around in there to see what he can find and how many things he can throw onto the floor. Great fun! Recently, he has started to build amazing things! He has figured out how to build towers. I was kinda impressed because he figured out this great entertainment on his own. No one showed him how. Way to go buddy! Entertain thy self! Without destroying anything!!

Pumpkin Guts!

Happy Halloween 2009!

Food Storage!

It is that time of year - the case lot sale. Time to stock up. Good thing I have lots of helpers to haul all of that heavy food! Just look at their muscles bursting through their shirts!
What a helper!
The old "bucket brigade". Truth be told, I think they had a lot of fun unloading all of those cases of food. They made the work fun. Even conned cousin Jeff into "having fun". They got it done in no time flat! Good job guys!

Now, if someone could just schedule a disaster at the end of fall, when the pantry is full - instead of the spring or end of summer - that would be nice! Not that I am asking for one- mind you! Great. I think I just jinxed the world. Better get that food storage!!!