Half a year has come and gone...

I thought it was time for an update.  I haven't been on here, didn't feel like it was necessary for me to share every detail of my life.  I wanted privacy.

My grandmother passed away today.  I haven't cried yet.

I am going to miss her, a lot.  Even though I knew this was coming, even though it was for the best.    It's hard.  I have to wait to see her again.
The hardest part is not that I won't get letters from her any more, or home made apple jelly for Christmas.  It's the fact that I am heart broken that Gideon won't get to meet/grow up with an amazing woman.
She is by far one of the most inspirational women I have ever known.  It saddens me that it took me until my later years to realize this.  She raised 4 children, 5 (and then spouses) grand children and 4 (almost 5) great-grandchildren.   She was married once.  To my grandfather for 60 years (it would have been 61 here in a few months).  Until her illness she had never spent a night apart from her husband in those 60 years, and every day of those years she cooked, clean, milked cows, went to work, maintained a garden, mended and HAND quilted some of the finest quilts, and took care of everyone.  She was selfless.  She was the hardest worker - and never asked for anything.

I have never hear her complain.  I never heard her yell or raise her voice.  I never heard her belittle or talk bad about someone.  She was always positive and polite.  She was a servant of God and took care of her friends, neighbors, and church families.

I hope that as I grow older, I can tell (and do justice) of telling Gideon stories of the farm - drying up the well, playing hide in seek in the loft of a barn, jumping on hale bales, picking veggies, fishing, cleaning chickens, sewing and quilting with her, eating off china from England with the same blue scene of horses and drawn-carriages.

I hope that as I grow up, and I look like her, that I can become as humble as she is.  That Gideon will one day ask me - who inspires you, and I can tell him my grandmother.     I don't know what else to say, other than that I love her and I strive to be as gracious and loving as her.

Change of story - my sister is going to have a baby this weekend (induction).  I am very excited to meet Seth here soon.  

Gideon is turning one in a week!  His party won't be but a few weeks after that.  He's gotten so big.  He has one of the best personalities.  

I am almost 3/4 done with my first year of teaching.

Jeremiah is a full-time stay at home dad who plans to go to a christian college in August for music ministry.

Jeremiah's brother moved in with us at the start of January to finish out school and hopefully get a job here soon.  He's been fun to have.

We are "purging" our life and plan on having our first garage sale here this year... ekk

My parents are selling their house and have already started building a new house within miles of us.  My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew will all be moving here this summer.

Here are some pictures to put a smile on your face.    Sorry if they are out of order.

Who doesn't love this face.  

Halloween - dragon baby!  He loved the ball pit.  

Thanksgiving!  Go football.  =]

Gideon loves to play in his crib now.  He's getting so big - will be walking soon.  

Gideon and Grandma this summer.  <3

Our Christmas picture.  

Gideon tried feeding himself applesauce.  He did make some of it into his mouth. 

I have no idea how he undressed himself in his sleep.?

This is an older one, but goodie.  

Grandma and mom, one of her last quilts. 

And, that's my boy! 

September...

First, I want to apologize for the absent entries as of late.  Our lives increased in crazy by ten fold when I started going back to teaching. I have now been in school, teaching, for almost a month. It doesn't seem possible.  When I look at my lessons, I think - I have only 5 weeks until the quarter is over... WHATTT??  At first it was rough.  I knew that my first year of teaching was going to be difficult, and it wasn't the degree of difficulty, but the fact that the gap between my expectations and what I had done (or passed to me) was very little.  I felt a lot of pressure from a lot of areas not only to do my best but to do EVERYTHING well.  I have since been find my rhythm as far as how I am teaching, grading (Standards Based Grading).  I need to thank my awesome family - mom, dad, Jeremiah and Gideon for being sooo amazing and understanding.  They bend over backwards to help make my life easier.   My schedule, although somewhat consistent, is all over the place.  Some mornings I have early early meetings, some nights I"m there till 5:30 working.  But, in the end it will all get done and I know I will do my best.  God is my rock and he has graciously given me a great support team. 

Jeremiah is taking Calculus, Chemistry and Psychology!  BLAH.    He's been doing really well with classes so far and then comes home to take care of Gideon so my mom can have some time to do her own thing.   We recently traded some of his music equipment around so he's getting back into that. He does worship music at our small group and that has been very enjoyable.  I have loved watching him and Gideon bond with each other.  At times I'd get jealous because I couldn't get Gideon to laugh like Jeremiah could.  

Please keep my grandparents, Lois and Dewey, in your thoughts and prayers - Happy Grandparents Day!  They are both in and out of the hospital - Lois just got done with chemo/radiation treatments for cancer.  They mean so much to both me and my mother.  It's hard to watch loved ones get older.  yet it is a joy when they are young.  

Sorry for the pictures being out of order.   

Gideon and I at my parents.  Toys are more fun in the basket. 

Gideon's knew favorite - eating everything.  At least he loves numbers like his mommy! He is six months old! 

Again, loves to eat - and music too! 

How can you not love this face!?!

Boxes are pretty neat toys! 

Going to great grandparents here soon!  Rockin' the monkey shoes! 

Playing bongos at guitar center. 

Gideon likes to play with James - telling secrets. 

Some of the greats came to visit us.  Jeremiah was taking the picture. 

Super baby! He steals my heart. 

I am very lucky for my little family. 

This pictures just makes me laugh.  Don't worry, we stopped him before he actually ate anything. 

If I don't get back on here during September, have a great month.  I am so excited that the temperature is dropping.  I love fall.  It is by far one of my favorite seasons.  If it could be October - December on a regular basis I would be a very happy camper.   Well off I go.  

It's August....5 month's old

We are in the 8th month of the year.  That means it is 2/3 the way done.  WHAT>!>!>!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mom and Gideon's amazing Grandma!  we are so lucky to have you in our lives! We love you very much and sorry we didn't do anything at all for it =[

Biggest news - Gideon has a tooth!  Our five month old is getting teeth.... oh boy!

These are a little out of order!:

Gideon got to meet the spectacular Heather!  We had a great lunch and catching up.  I told Jeremiah that if we have the money we are going to Florida next summer to see her (and the beach!).

This is 3 month old Mason, one of Gideon's friends!  

Gideon playing with Megan (she's almost 4!)  she's the middle kiddo!  

Here's Emma playing "Mommy."  She wanted to pick up Gideon and take him everywhere.  She's so strong, Gideon is almost 20 pounds I think!  She was so helpful with the kiddos.  

At the end of July we started cereal.  He really really liked it!  What a happy baby we have! 

Mid July Andrea and I hosted an open house for Rebecca and baby girl Elise (and brother Connor).  She's such a doll.  She's now a month old!  What a cutie. 

close to the end of July we took a little trip south to see some family.  Here's my cousin Grace, her son Milam, my great Aunt Sherry is feeding Gideon. 

While we swam Jeremiah got to do lots of golfing!

I went out once to be his caddy, and I was darn good at it too. 

Gideon showing off his swimming skills.  

Grace and Milam!  Love them. 

Cousin Stacy (she let us all stay with them, and cooked us so many yummy meals).  

Gideon loves to put everything in his mouth.  What a fun stage. 

Jeremiah and Gideon, just hanging out in this hot weather. 

We went to the drive-in!  We got to see Brave and The Avengers.  Gideon stayed awake for almost the entire movie Brave!  Silly guy.  Never fussed once.  

Before the drive-in, Grandma got him a new book to read/eat.  

We were working in my classroom and he had a lot of fun playing with the blanket.  Peek-aboo

Here's mom (Happy Birthday again!) With sleeping chunk and beautiful new baby Elise.

My parents hosted 2 international students for a summer camp.  Maria and Basak were a joy to be around and very much loved Gideon.

At Third Thursday - Gideon got to see a drum-line.  It was super fun. 

So, It is August.  What does that mean for the Jones' family?  I start going back to school/orientation TOMORROW!  Gideon will be with Jeremiah mostly, unless he has to work and then my mom will be watching him.  Jeremiah is still working at Walgreens, he would like to start giving guitar lessons again and possibly apply for a 'ranch' that helps troubled teens.  He starts school August 20th, Chemistry, Calculus, and Psychology.  Poor guy will have a very rough semester for sure.  Gideon is going to be crawling soon (he does it in his sleep) and gets frustrated when he can't get to where he's going.  He will have more teeth soon and I'm sure we'll start some new vegetables here as well.

Hope everyone had a great summer!  Fall and Winter will be here before we know it.

25 years old...

Tomorrow I turn 25.  Or as one of my friends puts it "at least 25% done"!  It's crazy to think that I'm a 1/4 century old.  But I am.

Today has been a great day so far.  Gideon has been acting well (he's been supppper fussy the past few days).  I got to see one of my great friends, Heather.  We haven't seen each other in 4 years - she was excited to meet Gideon as well.

We also got our book today for Gideon the one that I created the other day.  It looks great and I'm super happy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

I was really excited to see it on our doorsteps as we got home today from visiting with Heather!

Tomorrow, not for sure our plans but it's my birthday.

Thursday I get to see two of my best friends, Amanda (and her new son Mason and two daughters Emma and Megan) as well as my friend Rebecca and her two children Elise and Connor!

I'm surely blessed!

Gideon enjoying his book, turning pages and drooling! 

ABC

I completed a Pin today from Pinterest...

I create Gideon his very own personal ABC book.  All of the images are of him doing something or with the person.  On the back of the book I put a picture of the ABC asl version to sign to!

Got this for less than $9.00!!!  Way to be Mrs. Frugal!   Now, I can not wait for it to get here, a new book for us to read!

A is for your Adorable Awesome Aunt Amanda
B is for Beautiful Baby Boy in hi Blue Bathtub.
C is for the Cute Cool Cuddly Clever Cousins.
D is for playing Drums with your Darling Daring Daddy!
E is for Enjoying your first Entertaining Exciting Easter.
F is For Fun Funky Friends.
G is for  Gideon. You are loved by Grandma, Grandpa and all the Greats
H is for being Handsom, Healthy and Happy.
I is for International Intrigue and I Love you!
J is for Joyous uncle Jacob Jones,
K is for aunt Kendra Kisses and Kittens
L is for your Lovable Little Laugh.
M is for March when Mommy Met her little Monkey
N is for Never being a Noisy Newborn
O is for all Of Our Outdoor Outings.
P is for Precious Pirate Playtime
Q is for your Quaint Quiet Quilts.
R is for  Rolling while listening to Rock and Roll.
S is for Sweet Summer Sleeping and Special Spring Swinging.
T is for Tiny Teething Toys To Treasure.
U is for your Unique Unusual Understanding Uncle cliff.
V is for Very Vital Vacations.
W is for the Wonderful Wiggling Water baby.
X is for Xavier
Y is for Young Yawns
Z is for Zoos that we will Zip to.

First (and maybe only) post in July!

Where have I been!?!?
Sleeping?
Reading?
Playing with Gideon?
Decorating my classroom?
Feeling overwhelmed with my upcoming teaching year?
Running?
Pinterest?
T.V.?
Baby shower planning?
Running around doing errands?

Or all of the above?

If you picked all of the above you know how busy I have been!  The sad thing is, I don't feel like I'm that busy, I just don't use my time as I should (I should be spending more time working on classroom stuff than on pinterest for example).

Gideon is doing very well.  He had his 4 month check up about a week ago.  He is 16 pounds, 24.25 inches, and his head has a circumference of 17.5 inches.  He's very healthy!
He has found his feet, can roll (like across the room), doesn't talk as much, sometimes growls/grunts, eats more, stands with support, sits with support, laughs a little, gives kisses (all in my head), and likes having his teeth brushed (new development).  He plays well on his own and can hardly sit still.

Jeremiah has about two more weeks of school left.  He's going to a magic the gathering tournament this weekend.  It will be strange being alone.

I am doing well.  Just trying to get my life organized and school organized.  But I can make it!

We had a great 4th of July.  Had small group over to grill.  Gideon slept through all of it - the night before we tried to watch, he freaked out and was hard to calm down... so we didn't even attempt it.  the neighbors booms were too loud.

Even longer ago we had my grandfather's 80th surprise birthday party (the same day as Michelle's baby shower, Rebecca has those pictures).

Grandpa and his cake! 

Gideon was interested in the cake, grandpa actually stuck his nose in it!  He smiled, so we then put icing on Grandpas nose!  Too cute! 

My great Aunt Sherry could not wait to see him.  So she snuggled as much as possible. 

This group of beautiful kiddos go to my Grandparents church.  Their 7th sibling was only a week or so old!  All under 8 or 9! 

Gideon got to first encounter balloons.  He really enjoyed them and played with them for days after (until I was afraid he was going to pop them in his mouth). 

All smiles! 

Our family! Four generations! 

Please continue to pray for my Grandma (pictured above in the pink, but not my mom holding Gideon) she is battling cancer and is currently going through chemo and radiation treatments.  Also be with my mom as she helps out her family and prepares to take care of our kiddo.  I know that I'm stressed and hope I'm not stressing her out.  She is currently helping with the Lion's international camp (and next week will be hosting two girls for a week).  We are just very busy and need to keep positive! 

Everyone have a great weekend!

Up a head for us:

Rebecca's "Welcome Elise" shower is Sunday

Jeremiah is gone all weekend

Going to the drive-in with students (hopefully if all goes well)

Art walk with international students

Finish my classroom

Get my car's tags renewed

Get lesson plans done

Going to see Aunt Sherry and her daughter for the weekend (our cousin Grace and family is coming over too!)

My 25th birthday (getting so old!)

Getting to see my dearest friend Heather... it has been a little over 4 years.  

Fifth sunday at church (picnic lunch)

Hopefully some swimming! 

Continue weight loss

Make calendar of meals for when school starts?!?

August will be here before we know it!