A few facts about me...

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and posting a few facts about me... Tom and I have laughed all morning about what to add, so some of these may be embarrassing!

1. I'm very visual....can sense directions by their surroundings, notice when candy is missing (oh yes Tom- I catch you all the time!), and everything has their "place" at our home

2. Hate cleaning the house because I have to do it ALL (the whole house) at one time, can't stand to have the bathroom clean and not the bedroom, etc.

3. Really didn't think I would breastfeed Winnie this long and still shocked that I even do it at work!! Trust me though, I won't do it a day after she turns 1 (memories of the lady at the kids exchange sale b.feeding her 3yr old daughter still bring me nightmares!!)!

4. I am very scared of the unknown and death...and can remember the first time I thought about actually dying (at my Grandma Saylor's home in her living room) and have to kick Satan out of my head everytime the thought comes up.

5. On a better note... I LOVE checking the mail!! I race out after the mailman pulls away!

6. As a child I really wanted glasses and braces, and would definitely try and make my own retainer out of paperclips. Unfortunately, now I wear glasses/contacts and on my second round of braces (thank heavens for invisalign!).

7. I am following my mom's footsteps in loving to cook...and hating to bake. I really do try to bake but 2/5 tries fail.

8. Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies and get so excited to see how my hydrangeas are growing!

9. I grew up on a farm and really took it all for granted. Wish I had horses now....but would probably still try to get out of scooping manur, like I did as a kid (sorry Eben and mom!).

10. When I was a kid we had a goose Jake and he would chase us around the farm. He didn't last very long....can't recall but I think we ate him...haha.

11. Walked 1/2 mile up-hill everyday after the bus dropped us off. Would run home most days b/c Eben would chase me with something or on an embarrasing note, I had to poop (haha- one day I didn't make it and did the deed on the front stoop while opening the front door).

12. I LOVE the beach BUT hate the sand, it gets everywhere!!

13. I'm an open book (#11 case in point) and will talk about (almost) everything.

14. Shopping makes me happy, especially a good sale...and when I get home I can't wait to wear the new piece of clothing and will before it gets washed.

15. Oh, I hate confrontation and still regret my confrontation with Michelle Drenning in high school... maybe I should apologize after all these years, we are friends on facebook...hmm.

16. I love calendars and schedules, my palm desktop is always open and can't wait to plan a date/trip in advance.

17. In the morning I walk around the house barely clothed and sometimes have to duck behind things if Tom has already opened the blinds (entry by Tom, it drives him crazy!).

18. Love taking pictures and always looking for the "perfect" shot. Really need to sign-up for some photo classes asap!

19. Really hate to be by myself (always have).

20. In high school I was the girl on the track team who would match her entire outfit...oh yes, shirt, tights, windbreaker, and shoes! I still do love me some "matchy matchy"!!

21. I must wash/dry/curl my hair everyday....my hair is like corn silks if not.

22. I'm always singing in the car (which Tom loves) and sometimes will get caught making up the words.

23. At 9 I found out that I have a half-sister, Kristen, who I met then once.....and she still doesn't want to know my family (or my dad's). Weird thing is that we look a LOT alike.

24. I have a passion for Jr High girls walk with Christ and am terrified of moving up with my girls to High school this year!!

25. You'll never see me jump in a pool, for some reason I torture myself wading in and usually only go up to my chest.

Alright, that wasn't too hard....hoping someone actually reads that...haha.

A Visit, A Wedding and Lots of Miles...

This past Thursday the Jones' embarked on a long trip to the north... We put Winnie to bed in her carseat and headed out to start our journey. A speeding ticket, lots of coffee and 11 hours later we arrived at Josh & Emily's home in Fort Wayne, Indiana tuckered out. Oh yes, I got a speeding ticket in Virginia...grrr...supposively I was going 76 in a 65 but I KNOW I wasn't, the truck in FRONT of us WAS (can you tell this is still a sensitive topic!!)! It was the early morning when we arrived so Tom headed to bed and I got Winnie ready for the day. She was excited to meet Josh, Emily and their cats....squeeling everytime they gave her attention. We spent the rest of the day touring around Fort Wayne and meeting Emily's parents (and dog, who I could've guessed..slobbered on me...to funny). One interesting fact about Fort Wayne is Vera Bradley's products are made very close, close enough that they have Vera Bradley only stores and hold an annual sale at the convention center (Emily- let me know if you go!). For dinner we headed to the much-talked about Flat Top restaurant...what a treat...we (like everyone else) thought it was yummy!

their home

Josh, Emily & Winnie

Early Saturday morning we piled into the truck and headed up to Grand Rapids, Michigan for Ben & Pam's wedding. After changing our clothes in the car and parking lot we jumped on the trolley to the wedding site. The wedding was very special...they both glowed with joy and emotions. Their love for each other was so apparent...

Ben did get all choked-up preparing to see his bride...

It's official!!

Saturday evening we headed downtown Grand Rapids to celebrate some more with Ben & Pam. Everyone enjoyed snacks and games...oh yes, Ben is a Guitar Hero fan so he entertained his friends with playing some music. What I loved most about the evening was watching the newleyweds truly enjoy each others company...even boxing on the Wii. While we stayed at Ben & Pam's house we got to know their crazy cats....I have NEVER seen a cat scale a wall as far as theirs!! Now I know what Ben talks about during our daily team meetings...

After grabbing some breakfast at a dive in Lowell we started our trek home. On our way we drove through East Lansing to check out the MSU campus and Ann Arbor to see Michigan. At the last minute we got in touch with some old friends, the Swenson's. Their daughter, Alissa, was in my WYLD Life group when I lived in State College and we were always very close. It was a treat to see Betty, Chuck & Kyle on our quick trip through...they are such loving people!

So, after hours of driving we arrived back in Raleigh at 4:30am Monday morning....and my Tommy was exhausted....

Bargains...Bargains...STEALS

Wow, am I exhausted....what a morning! I could hardly sleep last night (only got 3-4 hours in) as my mind raced with thoughts of finding good deals today! Well, the Kids Exchange consignment sale did not disappoint!! When I got there at 8:30am the line was already about 200-300 people deep and these women were prepared! I couldn't resist taking these two pics of the get-ups they had to carry their goods... Good ideas for the next sale in January!

This was the scene....insane! There was stuff from wall to wall, and up to the ceiling! So overwhelming and SO fun!

Here is Stephanie with all of our clothes...in the shopping cart! These are HARD to come by so we were so excited when Jennifer snatched one on our first check-out. Oh yes, we checked out twice...first was all the toys and second was clothes. Ok, time to go pack to drive to Indiana tonight...

Baby Noah (in Stephanie's belly) was a good sport the whole trip...there is NO WAY I will take my children to that sale. We stood in front of a kranky one during the LONG 1 1/2 hr checkout line!!!

Ok, time to go pack to drive to Indiana tonight...

A "Who" and the Outer Banks

We have a little "Who" in the house.... Last week while we were giving her a bath I tried to put her hair in mohawk, but it with the little curls at the ends she looks more like a "Who" (from the Grinch). She LOVES laying on her tummy so we can wash her backside, "kick kick kick" is one her favorites too!

This weekend we made a quick trip out to the Outer Banks to visit my Aunt Mary Ann and her family during their vacation. She had 4 of her 5 children there, along with their spouses and 6 grandchildren..... 16 in all!! With all the bedrooms taken, Tom and I pumped up our handy air mattress and set-up Winnie's pack 'n play in the laundry room (she slept so good all weekend!). Winnie finally got to meet some of her cousins and loves them so much.

On Sunday we enjoyed the pool and hot tub as the tropical storm fluttered in and out of the area (thankfully the storm didn't gain momentum). Winnie had so much fun kicking and splashing in the pool with Treyson. In the afternoon we set-out for a beach favorite...crabbing.... We came home with our nets empty but hopes that someday we will catch some! Sunday night we had a treat.... Tara and Boo made us all some Thai cuisine for dinner...absolutely amazing! Luckily the weather Monday was clear so we headed down to the beach with the family. Winnie had her first enounter and taste of sand.....she wasn't too sure what was on her hands at first, so decided to taste it...good thing we had some water near by! My cousin, Georgia, had an idea this year to have people do presentations to the group throughout the week. First up was my cousin, Stuart, who gave us a presentation of our ancestory. Tracing our family has always been on my "to do" list, so I was SO happy that he did it while we were visiting, he gave us hand-outs and all! Now I need to trace my dad's side....and talk to Uncle Chuckie about Tom's...

For only being at the beach for 2 days we sure did fit a LOT in and had some good QT with family. Winnie loves them all and it meant a lot to me that she finally got to meet her cousins. Some how she knew that Treyson was a kid and watched his every move... He wanted to hold her all the time and she would just curl up in his arms, even resting her head in the nook between his head and shoulder, adorable!!

Check out that hair....its getting so long! If only it would grow more on the sides, haha!

Fun Day At The Park...and 8 Months Old...

Last night our couple's small group headed to Pullen Park.....it was a hot one but we all still enjoyed ourselves. We had 6 couples come out with their munchkins to fellowship. Once we finally found some good shade on the patio we let the kids play and had a chance to catch up. Of course the cookout was yummy....can't go wrong with burgers, dogs, salads/casseroles and dessert! After dinner we headed out to ride some rides. I had never been to this park and was pleasantly surprised that you could ride a train/carousel/boats for $1/person or play on their playground for free. Winnie and Caroline rode their first "real" ride...the train was first. On our way over to the carousel Winnie fell fast asleep in Tom's arms...of course I couldn't waste our tickets so we still got on the carousel. Still not sure how she slept through going round/round and up/down...she sure was tired.... (more pics to come)

Emma playing with her daddy...

The Mumford's....

The Wright's on the carousel...

Winnie asleep on her first carousel ride...how sweet is that!

How could I forget...Winnie turned 8 months old today!! She is growing so fast, its hard to keep up with (ah reminds me, I need to write in her baby book!!). Here are some pics of her this morning in her big girl pjs (tshirt and shorts). She was wild today, only slept 30mins for her afternoon nap at daycare, so didn't get any pics tonight...maybe tomorrow...

Just A Little Camping...

On Friday we headed over to Falls Lake to camp....we were all so excited to get everything set-up and spend the weekend together. It took a few tries to get the tents (esp Mom & Tony, they were hilarious) up where we wanted and everything unpacked (literally truck-loads...haha...both Titans were packed). After being overheated from unpacking everything we headed down to the lake to take a dip. The kiddos loved playing in the water, and the boys tried to swim on their own a bit. After dinner the day changed drastically...the rain started. What a night of thunder, lightning and rain...lots of rain... Luckily we heard it coming and had a chance to throw everything in our tents and shelter. We had a rough night in the Jones tent as water started coming in the seams of our tent...oh yes....we moved everything into the middle of our tent hoping nothing would get wet. After moving so much around we woke Winnie up so she ended up in bed with us for the rest of the night. It was a special time having her sleep with us (first time too), she was so cute cuddling up to us and always having to touch one of us.The next morning we awoke to realize that not only was another bad storm coming but a lot of our stuff had gotten wet througout the night (and sadly ruined some of the board books I bought for Winnie at the sale last weekend). So we scrambled the next morning to make s'mores and take the boys on a boat ride before our camping trip came to an end. They LOVED their first s'mores!!Our camping didn't really end as we moved everything back to our home and "camped" out there together. The Lord worked through it all though....Tom ended up having to work on Sat and Sunday so was able to spend more time with us all being at home. He did have a break or two, this time he was grilling up our chicken kabobs for dinner, yum (hilarious- it was still raining Sat night!)...

Winnie is making some funny faces lately....here are a few....

On another note....

Argh, did Deanna (the Bachelorette)really chose Jessie!?! Man alive I hope it lasts!!

Hot Hot Cars...

The Today show did a piece on this today and thought it was a great reminder to us all...scary stuff!! I remember hearing of the lady they speak of first when I was pregnant and it broke my heart. Its such an easy thing to do as we all get caught up in rushing around. When either Tom or I drop Winnie off at daycare on our own we check with the other to ensure we remembered to drop her off. I like their idea to put a teddy bear in the seat when she is not in there and put it in the front seat when she is there....may try it with one of her blankies or something.