sick

This is how Joshua has spent the last 3 days..

He came home from school on Monday feeling terrible. Today he is feeling much better and we are hoping he goes back to school tomorrow.

he really needs to start piano lessons again

After being gone for a couple of hours one day I came in to the house to find this....

NOT EVER

I listened to this talk a few days and ago and it's been on my mind. If you're curious you can listen to it here

success

Cooking for my kids is not fun. They are very picky and it seems that all three never agree on what's good. If I can get 2 out of the 3 of them to like something, then it's a success.

I tried this crock pot recipe about a month ago and Joshua and Braeden loved it. Kate not so much, but it wouldn't be a normal Jones dinner if somebody didn't like it. Anyway, I made it again this past week and the boys gobbled it up. It is super easy and quite yummy.

2 lbs. boneless, chicken breasts
1/2c. Italian dressing
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkt ranch dressing mix
1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tbsp. ground cumin

Place chicken in crock pot. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on high 5 to 6 hours or on low 8 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Place shredded chicken back in to the crock pot and combine with liquid. Serve in tacos, burritos, salad, quesadillas, etc.

Joshua likes to eat it on flour tortillas. Braeden and I like it on white corn tortillas that have been charred just a bit. We also like to serve with black beans and I love it with homemade guacamole.

lunch break

The virtual school kids on their lunch break..

shrimpin'

Braeden had his frist science lab the other day. It was pretty cool. He had to grow shrimp. He was sent a bag full of shrimp eggs. They looked like dirt. He had to put them in a jar full of water, stir them around every few hours and wait for a few days for them to hatch. So, we waited. And on the 3rd day they still looked like dirt. But, this was also the day Braeden was to do his case study. So he put them under the microcope and it was awesome. Seriously. They had arms and legs or tentacles or whaever. We were all amazed...at least I was.

I think I am going to enjoy Braeden doing his Biology at home as much as he is...

she's in-love

This is Sammy...

he is ALL Kate thinks about lately

I think he might be the most loved puppy ever

She waited for him for a very long time

she's definately in-love....and I think he's in-love with her as well

yep, i'm still excited

First day of school 2012

School officially started on Aug. 27th, which is also Kate's birthday.

Kate is now in 4th grade. Ms. Sutphin is her teacher. She also taught Johsua in the 4th grade.

We had to get a picture of these very cool new shoes. She said everyone LOVED them.

Joshua is now in the 6th grade. He is at a new school and is loving it. His favorite classes are Band and Social Studies.

Braeden is a freshman this year. He stays home with me as he now attends Texas Virtual Academy. This is how he started the first day of school..in his pajamas all cozy on the couch.

Kate is 9 and and feelin' fine

Kate celebrated her 9th birthday a couple weeks ago. We had a small party with just 2 of her closest friends. She wanted to go swimming so that's what we did.

She got some pretty cool gifts...

This girl has always been picky about her desserts so there was no cake here. She wanted red velvet dessert waffles piled high with ice cream and every single topping you can possibly think of.

This was just the beginning of her birthday weekend. She was super excited for the next day to come because we were going to pick up her gift from mom and dad.

She was just a little bit excited..