A Message to the Big Guy

Elliot received a video message, via email, from Santa today. Elliot watched the whole video in stunned silence. When it was over, in a small voice, Elliot said "That is the best thing I ever saw!" Then, putting his hands up to his face he said, "That was so good I think I could cry!"

Elliot was so impressed with Santa's personal communication, that he wanted to send one of his own. Not having a PNP Communicator (Portable North Pole Communicator) we had to settle for good old fashioned email. Here is what he wrote:

dearsantaitisielliotihopyouhavamerrychristmasandsantaireallylikedyourvideomessageloveelliot

It doesn't get much sweeter than that.

Inspiration

The other day Elliot was inspired to draw the can of play-doh.

Here's what he drew:

And this is what the play-doh can actually looks like:

The Final Product

Here's what the cave eventually looked like - complete with bats hanging from the ceiling and explorers checking out the dark corners. 

(I did help cut out the explorers - he's only five after all.) 

For more on the cave, check this out.

Are You Smarter Than A Five-Year-Old?

This, people, is a diorama of a cave.  That's right, I said DIORAMA.  Made by my FIVE. YEAR. OLD.

Complete with stalactites and stalagmites. 

That's right, I said STALACTITES and STALAGMITES. 

Did I mention that he's five years old? 

Holy cr*p.  My kid's going to be smarter than me in exactly 1.3 years. 

It's true.  Want to know how I know? 

I had to look up the spelling of diorama, stalactites and stalagmites. 

And, besides, he's FIVE. 

And he's making DIORAMAS of STALACTITES and STALAGMITES!

I'm in serious trouble when he starts to study calculus in third grade!

June Cleaver Would be Proud

Here's my daughter dusting the furniture in dress shoes and skirt.  Cute, huh?

And this is what happened when I turned my back:

She was "dusting" the bed.  Cute, huh?

This Day in Jones Family History

Still getting her sea legs under her, our one-year-old terrorized the house!

What I Imagined Motherhood to Be

Normally, after dinner, the kids are ushered immediately upstairs to pjs and bed.  But last night I let them play in their rooms for awhile.  Elliot spent his time creating rocket ships out of legos while Betsy searched the dress-up box for the perfect theatrical costume.  She decided on a pretty pink dress which, she told me, was going to be a Sleeping Beauty dress.  As it was nearing lights out, the kids asked to perform a play and have a rocket ship race in lieu of a bedtime story.  I agreed and the next 20 minutes of my life counldn't have been more perfect.

Already being in full costume, Betsy wanted to have a princess play about Sleeping Beauty.  But when I explained that she had to lay down on the ground and fall alseep she decided that a good costume wasn't nearly as important as a good storyline.  So she opted for the Snow White play until, of course, I told her that she'd have to lay down and fall alseep.  After working through her somniphobia, we finally decided on a Cinderella play. 

Using a triceratops puppet as her cleaning sponge, our play opened to poor Cinderella scrubbing the castle floors.  Luckily, Prince Charming quickly arrived to try the shoe on her foot.  It fit!  And the happy pair climbed onto their trusty toybox and rode off together into the sunset.  The narrator (me) played a key role in the speed and interpretation of the play, but the audience (me) still thought it was a rousing success!

After our trip to Broadway, we escaped into outer space where an inter-galactic race was taking place.  Each child quickly picked up their rocket of choice and joined the chaos.  A couple of laps around the upstairs bedrooms and two winners later, we were all ready for kisses, hugs, cuddles and bed.

The Scarecrow

My children create A LOT of artwork - both at school and at home.  I try to appreciate their scribbles as much as possible and when they create something especially artistic, I try to showcase it in our home.  Here is a scarecrow recently painted by Elliot during his Fall Party (the pc version of Halloween).

Pretty good for a five-year-old, don't you think?  Well, I did.  And as I was applying tape the scarecrow's back and preparing to display him on our front hall door, Elliot enlightened me with the scarecrow's gender.

ELLIOT:  "I drew a penis on my scarecrow."

ME:  "You did what?" (Not quite sure I heard him right)

ELLIOT:  "I drew a penis on my scarecrow so now you can know he's a boy.  See?"

Sure enough, there between the hay man's legs was a small but distinct male body part.  Thankfully, my son isn't into realistic-looking anatomy or I may have received a call from his teacher.  Regardless, we had a nice long talk about what you can and cannot draw on pictures.  And, for that matter, where your hands are and are not allowed to go when out in public. 

*sigh*  The joys of raising boys.

Slow Poke

Any mother will tell you that creativity is key to getting your children to do what you want them to do.  When getting Betsy into the car each morning, we have a race - I open Elliot's side of the car, she climbs in, walks to her side of the car and tries to get into her car seat before I am able to close the door, walk around the back of the car and open her door on the other side. 

She's quick and I am prone to distraction so, as it would happen, she wins our race every day.  One morning she was particularly proud of her speed and told me, "Mommy you're a slow poke and I'm a fast poke."  Sounds about right.

Mystery of the Universe # 3592

This, my friends, is the inside of my pant leg.  And that yellow band?  That is masking tape providing a new hem for my too-long pants.  Why do I have masking tape holding up my pants? 

The answer is simple:  1)  I am too short to wear pants directly off the rack, and 2)  I am too impatient to take them to a tailor and wait a week to be able to wear them, and 3)  I am too lazy to properly (i.e. with a sewing machine) hem them myself.

But, apparently, I am not too impatient or too lazy to carefully "hem" my pants before each wearing and "unhem" them before each washing.  And with 4 new pairs of pants in my closet, I am pretty much hemming (or unhemming) every day.

Chicken Little

Look at those drumsticks! YUM!!!!

Playing Around at Mia and Papa's

Snow White and the Dragon

Snow White With An Attitude

The Dragon

Trick-Or-Treat

With Halloween on a Saturday this year, we decided to spend the afternoon visiting some of our favorite people and showing off our costumes...

Pumpkin Carving

The weather this fall has been rainy and cold, which put a damper on our usual fall festivities. Joe and I were also busy with our own activities, so didn't get a lot of family time at home either. But the one thing we weren't going to pass up on was pumpkin carving. The kids were SO excited to do it, that I wasn't even allowed to shower before we put scalpel to orange flesh.

Watching TV With Friends

The kids got new puppets and the 10 of them have been inseperable ever since. The puppets have names (Betsy's are all named "Dawn," but it's still a name!). They sleep with them, eat with them and even watch TV with them.

A conversation from our dinner table...

ELLIOT: "Mama, are you going to be a grandma when I'm 20-years-old?"
ME: "I hope not."
ELLIOT: "Well are you going to be a grandma when I'm 14-years-old?"
ME: "I REALLY hope not!"
ELLIOT: "Yeah, cause then you'd be really old."

From the Archives...

February 2008


Untitled from Mrs Jones on Vimeo.

Next She'll Ask for the Car Keys

Today when Betsy pronounced her brother's name, she very clearly said "Elliot." I was so shocked, I asked her to repeat it a few more times. Each time she very clearly said "Elliot."

Normally correctly pronouncing another person's name is a good thing, but I'm really sad. It means she's growing up. She used to pronouce his name "Ahh-Yacht" (say it fast and you'll understand what I mean). And I loved that she said it that way - it was a sign of her babyhood.

Better enunciation is just another sign that my babies are getting bigger, learning more and inching closer to becoming teenagers (and wanting NOTHING to do with me).

*sigh*

Betsy Gets Glasses

Where did the time go?

On Playing Video Games

ELLIOT: "I'm a legend at this game!"
ME: "Really?"
ELLIOT: "Yeah, that's what my daddy calls me. But my sis calls me a master."

I guess he must be good at video games.

Elliot Loses His First Tooth

Digital Kids

Mr Q and Miss B playing on the iPhone.

Photo taken on another iPhone. Gotta love technology!

Anna's Wedding

photos courtesy of Anna's wedding photographer whose name I can't remember