{Ahh..the little things}

gratitude

For the small things, and the big things. For ALL of the things I take for granted.

I heard of a good friend going through a divorce after 18 years, another friend is pregnant, and now a single Mom - of course she never planned it that way.

I went to the hospital FOUR times with a loving, supportive husband and came home all four times with healthy children to a clean, happy home. Who knew that wasn't what everyone did? Did I feel grateful, absolutely! But I also have grown to see my kids & husband as a normal part of my life, not as the GIFTS that they all are to me.

Today, I have a change in in perspective. I have such GRATITUDE for the life I live each day. For the things I consider normal, for the everyday stuff....I'm just so thankful.

can't stop pinning!

new start...Day 1

So, it has been months since I've written a post & over a year since I posted regularly. I know it is the ease of facebook that has interrupted me, but I have this feeling that facebook will someday lose it's excitement, and I will have wasted time there when I could have been posting here instead. I've mentioned many times how much I enjoy looking through my archives - it is exactly like a journal, showing me where I (we) have been, how things have changed, and how time just keeps marching on.

Right now, we are mid-summer - which for us means lots of POOL days :) We aren't camping near as much this year...it has either been rainy (spring) or hot HOT hot, so we've done some other fun things instead. One of the family faves was a water park - the kids are all (almost) big enough to enjoy all of the rides there. We went for Zander's birthday, and he was LOVING it. He is still so short, but there he was just a 1/2 in above the requirement for the big slide you can ride on the tubes. He had the best birthday ever :)

The kids are all growing up so much, I think I will dedicate the next few posts to share a little about each of them - it will be fun to think over each of them & find a picture to share. I know that i will enjoy having the posts to look back on too! Kaden is now 11, Ellie is 9, Zander is 7 & Ava is 4 - everyone but Zander has a fall b-day coming up though, so all of those ages will be changing here in the next 3-4 mths! Times goes by so quickly....

introducing you

to a friend of mine, and to her new blog & business. 

I am excited for her to have the chance to be a stay home Mommy becuase I know how much it has meant to me to be able to share these last 11(!?!) years with my kids. 

I wish she would have owned this site when me (and many of my blogging friends) were addicted to cloth diapering!  We could have kept her business booming, I bet :)  Thanks for checking her out!

And speaking of home based business, I am starting something new as well!  I am now selling Thirty-One gifts...I am SOOO excited about it.  They have such cute purses & totes for organizing your home.  And the kids line of stuff is ADORABLE - I love the little totes and aprons ♥  Here is a link to my personal website if you are interested in checking it out.

♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥

Christmas letter ...

 Merry Christmas 2010 to all of our friends & family...

 

 

Over the years, I have always enjoyed receiving Christmas cards. Even before I had a family of my own, I remember looking through the ones that would come to my Mom & I. I always loved the ones that had pictures & really enjoyed the few that had taken time to write letters. As I grew to have my own family, I always thought I would someday do the same. It was not until this year, when I lost my Dad, that I decided to finally do it. He had saved his cards & letters from the last 5+ years, and I enjoyed looking through the cards and reading the letters all over again (and some for the first time). So, here it is...our first official Jones Family Christmas Letter :)

Our four kids are growning up so fast, I can hardly believe that it has already been 11 years since Kaden was born. Ellie is now 9, Zander is 6 & Ava just turned 4. They keep us very busy with sports, girl scouts, and school activities - but we would not have it any other way. In fact, this spring we added to our family! We got a little shih-zhu puppy named Charlie Bear, and he has fit right into our family. He has become a big part of our lives already, we love him so much - he is very sweet little guy.

Like most summers, we spent our days at the pool, and our weekends camping. We made the trip back to Indiana Dunes once again this year. This is the 2nd year we've gone, and the kids love it so much that we think we may have to make it a tradition to visit each summer. This fall was the first year that we had three kids playing soccer (yes, I may have complained my way through the entire season...) and it is also the first time that all four of the kids are in school (5th, 3rd, Kindergarten & preschool). I thought that day might never arrive! Of course, I find ways to keep myself busy though. I am still the craft coordinator of my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group & I also do the Ladies Bible Studies (both offered at UVCC) and enjoy them both very much. Harry is still running his own construction business, and loves what he is doing. I am so thankful for his hard work over the years, as it has allowed for me to stay home with the kids - something we both feel strongly about. Our family is still attending Ginghamsburg church for worship each week, and we could not be happier there.

Looking back, this has been a very hard year, for obvious reasons. The loss of my Dad has been the hardest thing that our family has ever had to endure. Thankfully though, we are never alone in our grief - we've got our family & friends surrounding us, as well as SO many wonderful memories of what a great man my Dad was.

We hope & pray that this letter finds you all enjoying the Christmas season, and taking time to remember why it is that we are celebrating. Love & Blessings - Harry, Angi, Kaden, Ellie, Zander & Ava

 

"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen." Rev 22:21

...

memory quilt

First, let me say that I would never have dreamed that I would be writing this post. 

I have always wanted a quilt made from some of my kids baby things, and figured one day I might pay to have one made with the teeny little things I had been saving.  I imagined my kids looking at the quilt as adults and smiling at how tiny they once were, and being happy that I cared enough to save these things through the years.   Never once did I think I was able to make it myself :)

After my Dad had passed away, one of my Mom's best friends (so close growing up that I called her an aunt) sent me the book "Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul".  I found so much comfort in those stories...stories of loss AND overcoming. 

  Many of the stories told of how they were able to heal, and one of them mentioned a quilt made from the clothing of their loved one called a memory quilt. Immediately I knew I had to try it!  I did not get much of my Dad's favorite clothes like I had hoped (looong story) so I was worried about how I could use the ones I had & make it special.  Then I had the idea to add in fabrics that represented my Dad and the things he loved.

It took me only a few days start to finish.  Yes, it was ALL I did for those days.  I was so focused on the process & I know it was so healing for me to handle all of that fabric, all of which reminding me of him.  I am SO happy with it, and it gets alot of use around here :)  It is the perfect size & is backed with a very soft flannel.

                                                            

 

You can see some of the many things in the above pic... music, fishing, pool, bowling, the Browns, gardening, purple velvet for his love of Crown Royal, two pink squares for each of his 2 girls, hawaiian print for his shirts, and most of the plain fabric is his old t-shirts.  The pictures are also special - one is taken at work, one on his boat, one is 4 wheeling in his jeep & then there are the M&M's because he would always bring the kids some when he would visit.  Love it.

 

exciting stuff

There are quite a few exciting things happening around here, but there is one BIG thing...we're moving :)

We've lived here for nearly 10 years, and I am guessing for about 5-6 of those we've wanted a bigger house.  We outgrew this one much more quickly than we expected, but we've stayed much longer than I thought we could.  It is literally bursting with our things - there is not a space in it that is not filled with stuff.  Toys, books, craft supplies, photo albums, keepsakes, clothes (x6)...and you get the idea.  We need more room!

Like I said, we've been looking for quite a while but have found we are pretty darn picky.  There are things we need, things we want...but all of which I was likely to trade for MORE room.  So, when we found a house that had the garage, off street parking, a non-busy street (right now we live on a state route - ugh!), nice sized yard AND double the living space, we were beyond excited.  And even better?  This was a foreclosed property, and we got it for way below it's appraised price.  We are so excited & should find out in the next few days when we can close on it.  It needs some work, but we are also excited about that.  I love picking out paint colors, and am looking forward to new flooring, etc.  I will be sure to take some before and after pictures to share.

Such an exciting new journey...

thankful

As we approached the first holiday season without my Dad, I've been feeling VERY overwhelmed.  I was wondering how things would work without him here.  I was worried the family gatherings would be a sad mess.  I was afraid that some of my family (myself included) would not be able to face the day without him there.  Yesterday was the get-together for his side of the family, and just like the other milestone days that I have worried myself sick over...it went fine.  Of course, we all missed him, but we were able to talk about him without any major breakdowns (it sounds like we all had them at home earlier) and get through that first holiday.  For that, I am thankful.

It is sad to me how it is becoming "normal" to not have him here, but that is how it is starting to feel already.  I guess it speaks of how close we were though, it's only been 6 months, but we talked so often that his abscence was felt right away.  As time has moved on, it has become obvious that I can't call him, or that I will no longer talk with him on facebook or email.  And those things are still there.  His e-mails are still there, the songs & pictures that he would send me are still there.  His posts on facebook, his silly jokes, and more songs he loved (or dedicated to us) are still there.  For all of those things, I am thankful.

So today I have a renewed strength.  I feel strong to have made it through yesterday...and of course, the last 6 months.  I just keep going, and life with my kids makes that so much easier because I can't stop caring for their needs.  They still get up on the days when I'd rather not.  They still need me to bake cupcakes and host sleepovers and play and craft and be their Mommy, even on days when those simple things are hard to do.  For that, I am also thankful.

Today's busy work is Ava & I baking turkey cupcakes (probably the same as these) for her Thanksgiving feast at preschool tomorrow.  She has been such a  big helper in the kitchen, and can hardly wait until we can ice them :)

*I am going to try to come back for the next week and post the other things I am thankful for...I'm still hoping to get back to blogging, so maybe this will help!