The Village

If you've never been to my house at Christmas time...you've missed out on a rather spectacular feat of Lego-building mastery. Each year Ian pulls out his (enormous) stock-pile of Lego and proceeds to create a festive Lego Christmas Village that surrounds, and even goes under, our Christmas tree.

The kids love it. They wake up each morning and run for the tree to spend a little time with the village inhabitants before readying themselves for school. No really...they run to it. The village include a toy shop, bakery, post office, train station, ice-skating pond, ski hill, farm (with animals), hotel (that's what I'm calling it), and a gazebo with live music (to name a few). Several of the lampposts actually light up. Oh, and there are two trains that service this particular village.

At any given second someone is usually begging for the opportunity to drive the trains around (and around, and around) the tree. And yes, that someone is usually Curtis.

Oh, I know...you're asking yourself "where are they supposed to put the presents?"

So am I. (Ian keeps reminding me that there's plenty of space. On the floor. Next to the piano. Downstairs...)

Don't tell him I said this, but...I kind of like it.

You may, however, tell him that the village needs a library.

Halloween

Halloween started off with the annual Costume Parade at the girls' school. They moved SO quickly it was nearly impossible to get a good picture...but I'll take what I can get. Here's our little witch, Ellie:

And Lindy, the Fairy Princess:

I'm also lucky enough to be neighbors with the room mom for Lindy's class. That means I get to help out during the parties. I'm not sure why Lindy looks bored in this photo...I specifically remember her having a blast! Here she is next to her BFF, Ashlyn, making noodle skeletons.

We had to get in a picture of Lindy's teacher. She has worked miracles with Lindy this year. We heart her!

After all the school hoopla...grandpa and grandma H. AND great-grandma R. arrived to join in the fun. While great-grandma stayed home to hand out candy to the neighbor kids (dressed in a slightly scary clown costume...) the rest of us ventured out to fill up those buckets. (Notice the Jedi stalking off in the background? Curtis had a great aversion to the camera that night. Jedi's have bad days too, I guess.)

My favorite costume? My hubby dressed as a police detective. The mustache made me laugh. Every. Single. Time.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Have I Mentioned....

that my husband totally rocks?

Yup. Tonight he returned from an overnight trip to Canada and brought with him...

Timbits. Little donut holes of DELICIOUSNESS from my favorite place.

What a great hubby, right?

Anniversary

We celebrated our 9th anniversary (a few days early) by leaving the kids with grandma and grandpa. It's been a long time since I remember enjoying some peace and quiet.

What a great gift!

Happy anniversary to my other half. Love you!

Seriously Awesome

Our family uses the term "awesome" quite liberally. All sorts of things are "awesome". I often wonder if, in our casual use of the word, we have lessened the awesomeness that is tied up in that one amazingly awesome word.

So, in order to avoid the risk of not adequately describing the awesome awesomeness of my husband, I have to provide concrete evidence of exactly how awesome he is.

You are looking at an entire wall of built-in bookshelves...constructed by my one and only Captain Awesome.

Awesome.

Winter at the Joneses

To answer your question: Yes. That is an igloo in my front yard.

Why is there an igloo in my front yard?

It's like this: Every winter my husband declares his intention of building an igloo. (I don't know where this ambition comes from because I, on the other hand, tend to hunker down, envelop myself in multiple, so many, layers of fleece, and vow to hibernate until the weather resembles something a little less...well, Canadian.) And every year his attempts have ended in less than perfect specimens. Until now.

This year Ian found the perfect tool: a square 5-gallon bucket. This acquisition led to a several-hour, sweat-inducing, back-breaking, production which has been the delight of his three children and neighbor kids alike.

Bets are being made as to how long this fine eskimo home will adorn my front lawn. Since it's in the shade and surprisingly sturdy, it might be here for the duration.

Not to be outdone by their father, Lindy and Ellie proudly assembled this beautiful snowman all by themselves. (Ellie isn't in the picture because she has a little more of her mother's blood in her and is inside the house, bundled and shivering.)

Happy winter, everyone!

My Poor Sweet Husband

Last night Lindy and I finished the last chapter of Anne of Green Gables. As a follow up we watched the first half of the movie this afternoon.

As we reached the tearful scene where Anne and Diana are saying goodbye to each other, fated to never be "bosom friends" again, Ian plopped himself on the couch, rolled his eyes, and proceeded to complain about the dramatics of women.

Poor Ian. In a roomful of overly-dramatic females he is not about to gain a flood of support. After giving him my version of the "stink eye" I suddenly had a vision of the future...and it was at that moment I experienced profound sympathy for my dear, innocent husband. In 6 short years we will enter the teenage years...with two daughters.

He won't know what hit him.

My Men

The handsome men in my life.

The Running Man

And no, I'm not referring to the out-dated, yet awesome, dance move I still can't do. I'm talking about my husband and his first ever half-marathon. Wahoo!

He woke up "bright" and early at 4:00am this morning and met his two little sisters on the way to the top of the course. They waited almost 2 hours for the race "organizers" (I use the term loosely) to start the race. At 7:00am, about 1 hour later than scheduled, the race was on. Ian went into it hoping to complete the 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours. He met his goal by finishing at 1hr 54min. That's about 8.5 minutes per mile...awesome!

Way to go, Ian. We are SO proud of you. And I'm so glad I made it in time to see you cross that finish line. You rock! We also need to give a shout out to Becca and Tizzy who finished the race only minutes after their older brother. You girls did great. Anytime you three want to run a race, let me know...I'll be there at the finish line with a camera and my diet coke. :)

(And yes, he really does look this nonchalant right after finishing a 1/2 marathon. Something in the Jones blood, I guess. Members of my family would all be red-faced and panting...regardless of the shape we might be in. We don't run. I leave that up to Ian.)

Happy 36th!

Today is my birthday.

Here's a little known fact: it's also my husbands' birthday. While this eliminates the risk of either one of us forgetting each other's birthday there are a couple of cons that come along with sharing the big day. For example, who plans the party? Who cooks breakfast in bed? Who takes the kids? Who gets the day off? Tough decision.

For the most part we've just handled our birthday like any other day. And this has worked well for us. This year, however, I wanted to celebrate Ian's birthday as much as possible...he's a great husband and father and deserves a little time in the spotlight.

With this goal in mind I put the gears in motion to have a surprise get-together planned for Saturday evening. And I was excited. Ian, however, seemed to be doing everything possible he could to thwart my plans. He woke up that morning with an itch for home-repair and decided that our "free" Saturday was a perfect day to paint our master bathroom. How could I say no without risking all my carefully-laid plans? But how could I spend all the time painting without risking my party-preparation time? Conundrum.

Luckily it all worked out. I was able to paint the bathroom, persuade him to shower, get him out of the house (thanks, Aaron), and get everything taken care of for dinner just in time. With help from family and friends we were set for the "surprise" by the time he walked in the door that evening. Phew!

We had a blast! It was a great dinner and we had so much fun visiting and laughing. It was nice to have an evening to celebrate Ian. Happy birthday, Ian! I love you.