The No Nap Man

Noah thinks Aunt Robin and Uncle Chris are so much fun. So much fun that he hadn't taken a nap until this afternoon. He will fall asleep in the car and be reved up ready to PARTY! And then not go down for a nap. He did take one today finally, so hopefully we have broken the cycle. I had to take a picture of the little sleeping angel in the car today.

Five new posts below. And I am caught up for now and will stop bombarding you!

The Fort Worth Zoo

Today fabulous Aunt Robin took us to the Fort Worth Zoo. Now y'all know how I feel about the zoo... I love it!! This zoo was AMAZING!!! It was beautiful, shady, huge habitats, active plentiful animals, fantastic children's play area. I might move here to go to the zoo! And... get ready... they had SIX elephants.... and PENGUINS! My two favorites! I was as close to heaven as you get here on earth. I barely even complained about the 102 degree heat. It was that great of a zoo! I couldn't chose from my plethora of pictures... I did narrow it down to about thirty.

Noah loved the too! I loved using Aunt Robin and Uncle Chris' s camera to take great pictures of little man.

A baby Longhorn at the kid's petting zoo.

Noah and Daddy enjoying the petting zoo.

The Children's Zoo is designed to look like a Texas town. Its adorable and full of details!

PENGUINS!!!!!!!!!!

Adam, Noah, and Robin enjoying the lions.

Look Daddy, Giraffes!

Looking at the animals in the shade.

Lioness keeping cool.

Z is for Zebra.

Ariel view of a large Rhino! !

That??

Classic Noah and Daddy pic.

Spots! They had so many giraffes and they were moving around and showing off!

When he first saw the giraffes! He loves them!

Cute baby giraffe!

Big turtles! When he saw the turtles, he said, Nana? Nana? Last time Noah was at Nana's house she has had her class turtles home for the summer. He scrunches up his little faces to say "turtles". It is probably the cutest thing ever.

So sweet!

Elephants!

Look, Noah!

Flamingos.

We had so much fun today! Thank you Aunt Robin for a great day and sweatin' it out with us.

Three new posts below!

The Spaghetti Face

Aunt Robin made yummy spaghetti for dinner Wednesday Night. Noah loved it. Look at the evidence and judge for yourself just how much he loved it

Two New Posts Below!!!

The Fort Worth Stockyard

Adam is on a two week vacation! I am thrilled to have him by my side for two uninterrupted weeks. Our first week of vacation we have come to Dallas/Ft. Worth to visit with Aunt Robin and Uncle Chris. We had planned to drive but we received some airline vouchers courtesy the extreme kindness of Mimi and Papa whose vision of a ten hour drive with eighteen month old matched mine but not Adam who was blindly hopeful it would be a great drive. So we flew in on Wednesday afternoon. Noah did extremely well on the plane and only caused the guy in front of to down three beers in the hour and half flight. Then we were here!

Yesterday we were authentic Ft. Worth and went downtown to the stockyards to see the cattle drive. The Historic Chisholm Trail ended in Ft. Worth back in the days of the Wild West and to mark that cattle tradition everyday at 11:30 and 4:00 the drive the longhorn cattle down the street. I loved it and so did Noah! We ate lunch at Texas BBQ joint and did some souvenir shopping.

Adam trying on Western Wear!

Noah eating at Risky's BBQ

Posing by Big Jake

The Cattle Drive

Noah, Spots, and Bus watching the cattle drive.

Noah not wanting to sit on Big Jake the Texas Longhorn.

Texas Longhorns!

The Bad News About the Camera

I have bad news. The camera is gone. This our fourth camera in the past 18 months. The first one was a bargin camera that ran its short course. The second one was knocked over by Charlie. The third was dropped after only two weeks of ownership. And now... for some reason the camera is corrupting cards and overloading USB cords. So you may never get to see Farm Week, Zoo Week, VBS, The Barnyard, The Zoo with Ben, Becca, and John Henry, The Sprinkler with Brooke, and The First Airplane Ride. I know you are so sad. Cheer up because we are in Ft. Worth visiting Adam's sister and husband and I have been using their camera to document our amazing adventures in Texas.

The Pictures

I have not been blogging lately because I have so much to post but these posts need pictures. And right now we are having a problem with the camera and the computer connecting. And I am just so frustrated about not being able to show pictures I just rather wait until I can.

On another picture note.... A month or so ago we had Noah's pictures taken by Becky Abernathy (whose blog is listed on the right). I fell in love with her work when she took some pictures of our friends The Looney's. Noah session was crazy, he was everywhere. But she managed to work some magic. Noah's gallery is up. To visit, go to www.abernathyphotographics.com , click clients, and enter jones as the password. Help me decide!

The Busy Summer

Its been awhile! I feel even more busy now than when I was in school! Here's why:

1. Mom School- I put a lot of pressure on myself to make the most of the summer with Noah. I want to make sure that I am helping learn and doing all the activities I'd do with him if I were home with him year round. Last summer this was easier. He took two naps and was stationary. He moves now and says no. But he interacts more so we are learning! I am going through the alphabet with him and making the letters. Each week we do five or six letters according to a theme.We read books on the theme, do crafts, and make snacks centered on the theme and then top it off with a field trip. Last week was Farm Week and this week is Zoo Week. Doing all this takes a lot of time and energy but is very worth it!!!

2. VBS- I am teaching a kindergarten class at Calvary's VBS next week. I am busy planning and crafting and thinking of decorating ideas. Its Outback Express! Trains and Australia what more can you ask for??

3. The Firm- I am committed to working out this summer. I am on day six of the Firm workouts and loving it.

4. Premier Designs Jewelry- My sister Jenny has convinced me to become a PD Distributor. In the past two years that she has been with Premier it has changed her life by providing extra money for her family, giving her self confidence, enriching her relationship with God, and making new friends. She loves it. In the past two years I have earned hundreds and hundreds dollars worth of free jewelry from hosting parties for her. She knows that one day I'd like to stay home with Noah and whatever future siblings he may have so she has encouraged me to try this this summer just to see where God takes it for me. I am not a salesperson (my mom and dad were the only people I could ever sell fundraisers to in High School, which kind of defeats the purpose. But I like that there are no quotas or inventory with Premier. I can do as much or as little as I want. Plus the opportunity to get 200-300 dollars of free jewelry for hosting a party prevents me from having to twist anyone's arm into having one.Something that excites me is the potential for using this business for giving! I can do all sorts of fundraisers for organizations. If things go well, I'd love to get involved with The Dress for Success program that helps provide clothes and make up and haircuts to help needy women find jobs. And I would love to use some of my profit to sponsor a Compassion Child for Noah. My Premiere Premier Jewelry Party is this Thursday at my mom's. I'm kind of nervous. But I know that God will bless me in this if it what He wants to use in my life. And if not, this summer I'll get some awesome jewelry! Let me know if you need any jewelry or want to have a party for some free jewelry!

5. I am also starting Esther by Beth Moore. I'm doing it by myself. I just really want to dive into the Word with Beth this summer and couldn't find a Bible Study to join.

All of this has left little time for blogging. But I hope to get better! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as Noah and I!

The Anniversary

Thirty years ago today two people were married at a small morning service at a church in Ohio. Their courtship had been short but powerful. They had overcome many miles and obstacles. And God had shown them again and again that they should be together. Their love story inspired me to dream big dreams about true love and divine signs. Today I want to recognize and celebrate my parents and their love. I am grateful for the way my father loves my mother, it caused me to look for that kind of love myself. I am grateful for the way my mother loves my father, she showed me how to serve and love my own husband. I am grateful for the choices they made for our family. I am grateful for the marriage they have modeled... putting God first, each other second, us third and everything else last. Marriage is sacrifice, support, honesty, laughter, forgiveness, affection, compromise, hope, and trust. They taught me these things. Life has thrown them many curve balls and they cling together to God and encourage me to do so as well. In twenty four years when Adam and I are celebrating our thirtieth anniversary (on some tropical remote island) I will give most of the credit to the foundation my parents provided for me through their love for God and each other. Happy Anniversary MiMi and PaPa. Thank you and I love you both so much!

The First Day of the Rest of the Summer

Today Noah and I ...

woke up late

went to the library

went to Hobby Lobby to get craft supplies

went to Gstore

straightened the house

unpacked

colored with side walk chalk on the fence

took back the rental car

played with Brooke

made Adam dinner

took a bath

and read stories about farm animals

and it was glorious.

HELLO SUMMER!

The Weekend

I loved college. Every stinkin' minute of it. That may be an exaggeration but you get the point. And part of the reason I loved it was living up close and personal with my best friends in the dorm. We have so many amazing memories of practical jokes, dates gone bad (and good), getting dressed for formals, dance parties, cramming for exams, helping eachother through hard times and so much more we'd have to stay up till five am to talk about them all, which I did this weekend. I am so thankful that God created friendship. It is one of the best feelings to be surrounded with people who know you, the real you, the good and the ugly and love you anyway, support you, laugh with you and call you out. I spent the weekend with Taylor, Caroline, Lindsey, and Susan in Atlanta. Taylor was our hostess and showed us her life in Atlanta. She cooked for us, pulled out our old college videos (Greek Sing!!!), took us to the Cherokee Country Club to lay out and relax, took us shopping, took us to some fun Atlanta spots, to Jersey Boys and to church where her rockstar husband leads worship. I loved catching up to all hours of the morning. I loved Jersey Boys. I loved seeing Taylor's wedding video (I had to miss the wedding because I was so sick with Noah and ended up on bedrest shortly after making the attempted journey) I cried as if I was really there and not on a couch watching it on DVD a year and a half later. I loved the Flying Biscuit. They put sugar on top of their biscuits. Yum. Seriously. I loved sipping wine on the patio at the Buckhead Brio's with some of my favorite women watching Atlanta drive by. I loved bring out the old memories and discovering new things about each of my friends. I loved coming home to my boys who missed me! And even though after several hours of debating and discussions we still haven't solved one of college's greatest mysteries.... who I took to freshman winter formal and sophomore fall formal I thought the weekend was a perfect way to start the summer!