The Virginia Queen Bee: Father's Day

The Virginia Queen Bee: Father's Day


This is so what we would do for Matt. He always is expecting something like this and would be disappointed if it didn't happen. I love seeing how other families do things. Cool!

Rainbow

Rainbow
Originally uploaded by jonesrestoration

This is the beautiful rainbow that came after the bad storm yesterday. It did feel like our world was being swept away. I was overwhelmed when our neighbors ran to our door to show us the rainbow.

I could just hear God giving us His promise about not flooding the Earth again. It was so real like it was the very first rainbow.

Unfortunatly, our doggie Coltrane did not know about God's promise. Here he is after he managed to get into a car door that was left open in our garage. He wouldn't come out until about 2 hours after the storm.

Happy Wednesday!

Playing in the rain

Playing in the rain
Originally uploaded by jonesrestoration

After a horrible storm today, the kids had the best time running in the water. I couldn't bring myself to make them come in even though they were soaked. How often does this happen? Where we live, lately, not often.

Happy Tuesday!

OK, I am a little tired of the computer

OK, I now know when to say when. After spending way too much time trying to get our music to play on this blog, my back hurts and I have stayed up past my bedtime...by about 4 hours.

I think I may not get on at all tomorrow. I am making this vow. There is more to life than sitting in front of this glowing thing. I think I will go outside tomorrow and play more with my kids.

I did go to Paige's house earlier, though for a great time with the ladies. Paige cooked an incredible meal and then we had a Bible study and shared prayer requests. So, I guess my night hasn't been a total waste.

:) Happy Monday.....

Matt and Matthew playing guitar

Matt and Matthew playing guitar
Originally uploaded by jonesrestoration

Today has been great. Mamaw came up last night to see us. Today we went to see Surf's Up and then antique shopped, then came home and had some of my homemade chocolate cheesecake. I went to church to get the bags ready for tomorrow's fund raiser for the kids to go to camp, and then Matt and I went for a great walk around the square.

I have just seen all the peeps in their beds. They are all pumped about their new Bibles they got for bringing friends to VBS. They are all buried in their Bibles. I love it.

Now Matt and Matthew are playing guitar together. They sound so good. It is great to have something that you do with your teenager. I hope this will be something they will always have.

Anyway, God bless. Happy Saturday!

You have to check this site out

Matt and I have found our new favorite show. It is called Happy Slip. Check it out to see why we love it.

Matthew and the Simpsons

Matthew and the Simpsons
Originally uploaded by jonesrestoration

We went to the movies with Nana last night after taking the girls to choir camp. We had a great time, stayed up too late getting Nana her own blog and flickr account, uploading her pictures to be developed....lots of nerdy Laurie things. It was a blessing to be with her and then today with Mamaw. We went to Gravity with her before we headed back to Oxford.

Now we are back home, kids are playing, Matt is landscaping and taking Matthew to praise band practice. We are about to have the famous "family movie night". This is a ritual that involves popcorn, hot cocoa and a movie. I think the movie is going to be National Treasure after the kids pick up their "stuff" from around the house. I love 'em. I am so glad to be back home with all of us together. I think we are all home for a while until I go to get the girls again from camp.

They called me today and made my heart sink into my stomach. I want camp to be so fun for them. They were having rehearsals three times a day for 2 hours at a time. The girls are not used to this. Their electricity was off because of the storm that went through central MS. The bus driver had left them and they had to walk across camp to their cabin. Matthew and I prayed after we got off of the phone with them that their week would turn out great. I want them to want to go back next year and for mommas not to be mad at me.

Take care and have a great Tuesday!!

Wow....Science is so cool!

Matt and I found this site after watching our friend Bonnie's show. We thought this was amazing. Eepybird.com

Matt and the Ladies

Matt and the Ladies
Originally uploaded by jonesrestoration

We had such a great time with family at Nathan and Mindy's wedding. We were so honored that they asked Matt and me to sing two songs. It was so special because their family is so special to us, and any way we could be a blessing to them is great for us.

It was a great time traveling with JoAnna, Mamaw, and Grandma. We were a big caravan from Mashulaville. We got there just in time to get to the hotel, get ready, and fly to the rehearsal. The musicians we were around were incredible. What a treat!

The wedding was beautiful. Nathan's father was also the pastor who performed the ceremony. After the wedding we got to spend time with the family at Shane and Angela's home. It was our first time to visit their new home. Now we know how to get back there.

We traveled for about 12 hours today from Lexington, SC to Oxford, MS. JoAnna was so sweet to put up with Matt and me for most of that time. I know she was glad that we had a book on CD to listen to. :) Matt and I sometimes pick at each other like small children. Does that give away our maturity levels? :) I hope not....maybe it just means that we are young at heart. Hmmmm?

It was so sweet to get to be back with my people. They were at different camps last week. They all went shopping with Nana and bought Matt their own Father's Day presents for him. Awwww....

Tomorrow I will pick up three of my choir girls and drive them down to Roosevelt State Park for choir camp. I will stay tomorrow night and will hopefully get to see Mamaw and Nana.

Fun, fun week.

One tired doggie

One tired doggie
Originally uploaded by jonesrestoration

OK, I feel a little bad. I know he needs more excercise, but I think we almost gave him a heart attack. Maybe he and I will build up our stamina soon. (Can you hear the Rocky theme song playing?)

Go, Coltrane....Go, Coltrane......

Listen to messages from Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio

I found a great site that I can't wait to partake of. Here is the Northpoint website with online messages from these great speakers. Their messages will totally move your hearts.
Northpoint messages

jeff and jack

jeff and jack
Originally uploaded by suerigg2003

Do you think our boat would sink if we had our Coltrane on the top of it?
We've got to walk our baby. I mean he is on fat dog dog food, but....

Maybe that should be my challenge as well. Get out and WALK!!

Big Ears

Big Ears
Originally uploaded by khunglong83vn

Found this picture on Flickr. Wonder if this is what our Coltrane might have looked like as a puppy. Our kids are dying for us to get a baby basset someday. Someday......

Monday update

Well, basketball camp went fine today. All three went..Claire was a little hesitant at first. Matthew is probably in Panama City now. Matt and I have gotten drapes ready to hang and checked the bank account. I have been acting totally pitiful and Matt is waiting on me. He has gone to get me Rocky Road ice cream for us to watch Maltese Falcon.

He is so good to put up with me. :) We got a few run-throughs in on the songs we are singing for Nathan and Mindy's wedding Saturday. I tried to be strong and sing when I wanted to be lying down on the couch. OK....I know my whinyness is probably making you sick. Here Matt comes up the driveway with our ice cream. Take care....

Sick in the summer

It seems really strange to be under the weather when it is so pretty outside. Claire and I have gotten a little bug. Well, I shouldn't be shocked. Mine is....surprise....something having to do with sinus infections, and Claire's ( I am sad to say) is an ear-ache.

Now I am super sensitive about putting drops in their ears after they swim, but I wasn't diligent soon enough. Claire went to the doctor today and is on her way to getting right.

The kids left this afternoon to be with Nana. Basketball camp all week. We went out and had to buy three pair of tennis shoes. Ouch! With the kids wearing uniforms this last year, we had just about no need to get them tennis shoes. They mainly wore different types of brown shoes around the house. Now they are set for some basketball. I still love getting pink things. I don't know if I will ever get tired of pink tennis shoes, etc.

Having three boys first, it is different when you also get pink things. I am the baby of the family , and the only girl, so I relate to Claire very much.

Matt and I are going to have to just be by ourselves. :) Matthew is leaving at 4 in the morning. You think I am kidding, but something does happen when you put your life into your kids. We do need to make sure that we "date" each other. Maybe we will have time for a date this week in and amongst all of my total house make-over. I want to surprise the kids when they come home. I want to put up the curtains, paint Claire's furniture, get everything totally organized.

Not too much to ask...............

Now I just need to feel better. Matt got me the "Maltese Falcon" for us to watch tonight. Maybe we can watch it with Matthew before he leaves us and we have an empty nest. I need to discover who I am again...:) Just kidding.

Have a great week!!

We finally finished Bleak House

OK, Bleak House was great, but it ended too quickly. I don't want to ruin it for you, but if you love Dickens, Victorian movies, etc., you have to see it.
Now what?

Matt surprised me with "The Prisoner". It is a 60's show from England about a spy who resigned but was sent to a "village" and couldn't escape. He was given a number and if they tried to escape a big white ball would chase them around and smother them. I was starting to like it, but I don't think my hubby was too thrilled. I hope he keeps them coming.

I have been doing some really interesting reading lately. I will share more later, but a friend from my school gave me a book about how we Christians sometimes open ourselves up to attack by the way we live. It goes into much, much more, but I am not quite done with it yet. It is a little over my head now. We'll see if I understand it more the more I read.

Well, Bible school is over. It was really good. The kids had a blast and learned so much. I don't know if I will volunteer for the 3 year old class, but they did grow on me. They are cute little guys. They feel things very deeply. They are either very happy or very sad. We have our commencement Sunday night. The kids (my kids) will miss it because they are going with Nana to get ready for Upward Basketball camp on Monday. Matt and I are going to miss them greatly!

Well, happy Saturday!

OK, 3 year olds are a little scary

I know they are very lovable one on one, but as a group 3 year olds are down right frightening. We had at least 20 last night in one group. Last night was a little chaotic. Tonight they are going to split them into 3 groups with the groups rotating. I will do music 3 times. This is great for me. I haven't quite gotten the art of motivating 3 year olds. You would think that having 4 3 year olds of my own at one time or another would have taught me what I needed to know. Hmmm...

I guess it is a little different when they are yours. I asked one mom if she had any tips for getting her sweet precious to cooperate and she only said "Good Luck!" . This didn't encourage me. :)

Have a great Tuesday!

I love the pool, but.....

Having the pool is great, but there are a few little things that come a long with it. OK, we had to have the talk about pool behavior. Don't dunk, push, pull hair, call each other stinky, etc. We also have irrational fears of wasps. Not sure where this has come from (maybe that episode in Holly Springs where Jacob was stung a few times). Anytime there is any type of flying insect Claire gets out of the pool and wants me to sit outside and warn them if I see it. Ironically, Jacob isn't scared of the wasps at all.

I still like it, though. It keeps them in the backyard. OK, we do have a trail of footprints from the water (even though they all have towels outside and we have a mat right inside the door). It feels like summer.

Easy like Sunday morning

Today is Bible school kick-off. Should be exciting. Matt and some others in our family will be getting up and doing choreography. Thank goodness Jontyler is doing it with Matt. He is quite the dancer, etc. Very talented.

We just finished our second disc of Bleak House. Now we have to wait until the last disc arrives. I am totally captivated by it. I have to know what is going to happen to Esther,etc.

The pool is going well. The kids love it. We are are getting into the whole chemical, pool cleaner thing. I love the smell of chlorine.

Happy Sunday.

Pictures from Memorial Day