Almost Time

Yesterday we had some HOT weather :) It finally felt like June. Today is cloudy and overcast but we are thankful for yesterdays sun ! The kids couldn't take the waiting anymore and claimed the pool at my Uncles was now warm enough to swim in !!!! Who here is with me and thinks that the water being almost 70 is not warm ?????

Hopefully the sun comes back out again because in 48 hours we are heading here !!! Our favorite spot in Maine :) Can't wait! Hubby hasn't had a vacation in a year ! We are due for a getaway :)

Remember ..... we are going to attempt to set up this tiny tent ? 

Looks easy enough right ?

I'll keep you posted !

Everyone needs a 22 foot long tent in their lives :)

We are camping with one of my besties and her sweet family :)

Three days and nights of catching up! 

This pic was 4 years ago - Cooper in belly  - if you hadn't already figured that out :)

Can't wait! We've had this camping trip planned since January !!!

The kids have their body boards packed and have made many plans !

See you there Joy :)

The Garden Is Planted ~ Finally !!!

It's that time of year ! When you either decide to put the work into planting your own food or decide to support the local fruit and veggie stands ! Our main problem is that we usually put the time and effort into our own food but it doesn't always grow the way you think it would and we end up supporting the local stands anyway ! We were deadset against doing a garden this year but just the thought of not being able to go out and pick the fresh lettuce or any of the tomatoes that happened to not be covered in blight .... well it made me a little sad ....
So this past weekend we started planting :) We have a good feeling about this years Garden :)

Here's what we are hoping will grow in the garden :

~ peas

~ corn

~ potatoes

~ zucchini

~ tomatoes

~ green & jalapeno peppers

~ cantaloupe

~ green beans

~ carrots

~ cucumbers

~ radish

~ lettuce

~ red & yellow onions

~ chives, thyme, parsley & lavender

This is a family job - not just Mom & Dad :)

I really did help !!!  I only took a two second break to snap a few pics ;)

All finished ! Can't wait to see everything popping up through the soil ....

Except the weeds .......

Last week we had to have this truck come ....

Don't even ask why ......

So the kids and the dog got an impromptu lesson on how the sewer system works !

Just be thankful computers are still unscented :)

Baylee

Today is my niece BAYLEE 'S 9th Birthday :)
She lives to far away for me to give her a hug and a kiss. A whole 2325 miles :( Thanks Google !!!!
 So since I can't see her - she's making the blog :) Also her Auntie Shan might have just sent her card and gift today - so it's gonna be a little late ..... sorry Bay xoxoxo

Bay 's the one on the right in the dark blue, standing beside her older sis Brooke :)

Happy Birthday :)

My Monkey at the Playground

Little Man is one of those boys :) You know - the ones with no fear ! The ones, who climb higher, jump higher just to see if it can be done! He's giving me grey hair and he's only 3 :) 

This is the high slide at the playground ... he hollered at me " Don't worry Mom, I won't fall on my head " ..

Ok, but I'm not taking my eyes off of you !!!

:)

Got Static ?

Coop's not one to sit in front of the tv - that's a last resort for him ! He would live outside ! 

In the rubber boots of course :)

I grew up with all sisters, then had two daughters before our son was born !

I always heard the expression " boys will be boys "

I never really understood what that meant - Until Now :)

This is how my Dad found Cooper one day at their house! He had scaled up the wall and was hanging from the clothes rod in one of their closets. 

Hair Dye and I are about to become very good friends :)

Our Week So Far

Some of Hubby's family have been up this way vacationing on a houseboat. So Tuesday night John took the kids for a little visit.

It was much bigger than I pictured in my mind ....

There was even a hot tub on the roof !!!

and of course since it's unusually freezing here for June, they had to warm up by the fire after ......

See how warm they look for June ????????

June means summer right ?

Well not here - not yet! 

The girls had their last swim lesson for this session. So last night was kind of a free night of playing in the pool ! I won't bore you by labeling every single picture. They are all pretty self explanatory : you know : jumping, splashing, swimming, water :)

What did Little Man do while the girls were doing their lessons? I know your thinking sat quietly and watched his sisters right ???? 

Nope, he built a train out of chairs :)

The girls both passed their levels :)

With Halley moving on to Level 7 and Maggey moving to Level 4 :)

This Cool Dude starts lessons in the fall, mostly because he has no fear and thinks he can swim no problem .... We will see :)

My Aunt Dot

Today is my Grampie's birthday. He is super young at just 71. I was born less than three weeks before his 37th birthday  - so you can do the math on my age. If you get anything other than 24 for an answer then you must start over cause obviously you did it wrong ;) Also can you just imagine becoming a grandparent at just 36 !!! I am so sorry Grampie ;) I blame my parents !!!

My Grampie is the tall handsome one in the middle, my Grammie is beside him in the blue.

On the left are three of my Grammie's four sisters, and on the right my Grampie's two brother-in-laws (Vernon & Dick) and his sisters Phyllis and Barb, missing is my Grampie's only brother (Bob) and his brother-in-law Jim (Aunt Dot's husband ).... ok and the brother-in-law right beside my Grampie is also my Grammie's first cuz .... don't get confused now ... we are from the country ! 

You see my Grampie and his siblings lost their oldest sister last week. My Great Aunt Dot. She's in the middle between my Mom's cousin Beth (left) and my Mom (right).

It's so amazing the way our memories work. The ones that flood back to you after someone passes on. The stocking she knit for me with my name on it. The Jones family reunions. The weekend visits to her house when we were growing up. The way she spoiled everyone with so much love. She never ever forgot my birthday, my children's birthday, my husbands birthday or any other family members birthday ever! That's who she was. She was love, she was kind, she was patient, she was thoughtfulness, she was what I saw of her ~ selflessness. She served beside her minister husband for 57 years. She was an example of how to live and love God. I can still hear her voice. I remember her not of someone who was sick at the end but I see her when she was healthy.

Aunt Dot is right smack dab standing in the middle, white shirt ...

I bet you can't guess from the hairstyles alone what decade this was ??? :)

Jones Family Reunion ~ Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts, 1990. I am second row , blue t-shirt. Please don't do the math on my age now :) At the time of this picture there were 48 of us, 8 missing from this picture, not including my Great Grandparents who were already gone.

My Great Grandfather, Rev. John Jones was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1904. He sailed from his home and his family in Auckland , New Zealand  in 1923 to come to Canada to attend McGill University when he was just 19 years old. Canada was where he met my Great Grandmother Bessie and Canada was where they stayed. They had five children. So because they had Dorothy (Aunt Dot), Barbara (Aunt Barb), Phyllis (Aunt Phil ), John (my Grampie), and Robert (Uncle Bob), there are now 92 of us. Most of us don't even have the last name Jones but whether married in or the babies born of those marriages - we are:

The Jones Family.

My Great Aunt Dot 1933-2012

Matthew 25:21