Rich's Marathon

Well Rich did it. He finished his first marathon in under 5 hours. I cannot even imagine running 26.2 miles. The runners were impresive...

Our Eggs are Hatching!

The egg is cracking and we can hear a clear peeping from the chick inside which gets louder if we touch it with our cold hands.


Very soon after - the chick inside gives a push with her legs and wriggles out of the shell.


It was hard work and now she has to rest.

Springtime

Well it is spring in Oregon which means crazy weather. Spring just seems to tempt us with so many beautiful days followed by these crazy days of cold and rain. Yesterday it actually hailed in the morning but by noon the kids were swimming in the lake - go figure. Our family is doing really well. We built 3 huge garden beds and have filled them with lots of veggies and we planted 3 bluberry bushes that the kids are really excited about. I still want to plant a few fruit trees. Can't wait for the harvest.



We are also in the middle of increasing our chicken flock. We have 9 chicks that are just getting ready to join our older laying hens and we are incubating about 12 other eggs that should be hatching soon. No "peeping" from the eggs so far - I am just hoping that I didn't do somthing to kill them! It is just amazing to me how hard it is to duplicate the natural process that hens do so easily.
We have also discovered a new hobby - Letterboxing.
Check out www.atlasquest.com
You look up your area in the serch engine and find clues to a hidden letterbox stashed somewhere in a park or on a great hiking trail. This has been a great way to discover new trails and swimming holes in our area and great parks and nature walks in town without having to go on the more extreme trails associated with GPS treasure hunts. When you find the hiden letterbox you sign in using a rubber stamp and then you can stamp your own book - kind of like a passport. It has been fun.
Our family continues to homeschool - this year has been a lot of fun. The kids are in the middle of Homeschool Hogwarts, a magical 8 weeks of science classes with a Harry Potter theme. This is our 3rd year of Homeschool Hogwarts and if you do not already know - or haven't guessed - we are totally addicted to the Harry Potter books. (Rich too!) This year the kids will be mapping mars, creating all sorts of potions in chemistry, learning about plant and animal biology as well as playing muggle Quidditch. We love it!
Here is a picture of Micah and her girlfriends - all in Ravenclaw House:



We are also continuing with the Eugene School of Karate. Eli and Kyra just advanced to a white belt with a black stripe, Gannon just got his black stripe on his yellow belt, Micah has her yellow belt and I just got my 1st blue belt!

new pictures

These are a few pictures from our last Letterbox hike





This is a photo from the Star Wars exhibit at OMSI in Portland

"Blackie" by Micah

BLAKIE
by, Micah


11 yr. old Lilly had gone on a short walk after church and was now walking back. It was a lovely summer day and Lilly liked it were she lived. It was quiet. No cars came down their road, but it was still close to a town and stuff.
Lilly hummed to herself. When she heard footsteps behind her she whirled around, making her black hair fly in her face. It was a little black puppy.
“Oh your so cute,” Lilly exclaimed. “You must be one of the neighbors pups.”
She pet it for a little bit, then told it to go home.
When Lilly got home the puppy was still following her. Lilly decided to see who the owner of the puppy. Lilly told her mom where she was going, then went to her neighbor’s house. Since he had no collar Lilly had to go to all the neighbors houses, and none of them owned the pup.
Lilly walked home thinking. “Maybe you’re a stray,” she said to the pup. “Maybe I can keep you.”
When Lilly got home she raced inside, with the puppy close behind her. “Mom! Mom! Can I keep this puppy? Please!”
“What puppy?!! I want a puppy!! Why does Lilly get a puppy and I DON’T!!!!!! shouted five yr. old Mike.
Lilly’s brother and sister, Mike and 7 yr. old Hannah were watching a movie with Lilly mom.
“Quiet Hannah!” said Lilly’s mom. “What’s all this about a puppy Lilly?”
‘Oh, this puppy followed me home, and he’s not any of the neighbor’s. Can I keep him?” Asked Lilly.
“We’ll see,” said Lilly’s mom. “But first we have to make sure he doesn’t have an owner, we’ll put up posters tomorrow.”
“What are you going to name him?” asked Hannah.
Lilly thought for a second, then said, “Blackie.”
The next day Lilly went down stairs for breakfast with Blackie on her heels.
“Hey, mom!” shouted Lilly, “look what Blackie can do!”
When everyone was in the living room, Lilly said, “sit Blackie,” “speak Blackie,” and so on and Blackie obeyed.
“Isn’t Blackie smart,” said Lilly.
After breakfast Lilly got a phone call.
“Hello,” said Lilly.
“Hi Lilly, it’s me Rachel.”
“Oh hi Rachel.” Rachel went to church with Lilly, and they were really good friends.
“Hey Lilly I got a puppy.”
“Oh, you did ?”
“Yep, and it got away yesterday.”
“Oh, I’m sorry Rachel what did it look like?”
“Well he small, black and he had a brown spot on his ear. Lilly are you still there? Lilly?”
Lilly stared at the phone. Rachel had just described Blackie!
“Rachel, I, um, got to go. Bye.”
Lilly paced the room. Finally she sat on her bed and sighed, then she went on her knees and prayed.


“Oh, thanks again Lilly,” said Rachel.
After Lilly had prayed, she decided to tell her mom who was the owner of Blackie. All most immediately after that, they drove to Rachel’s house. Right now Lilly and Rachel were outside playing with Blackie.
“No problem,” Lilly told Rachel.
“Lilly! Time to go!” called Lilly’s mom.
Rachel was walking Lilly to the car when she said, “um, Lilly, I haven’t named the pup yet. What do you think I should name it?”
Lilly smiled and said, “ Blackie.”

Had to show you all this photo...

I found this photo and just had to put it up on the blog... This was taken a few years ago. As a Young Men/Young Women activity Rich (on the right) , our BISHOP (middle) and Paul (left) dressed up and "got lost" in the mall. The YM and YW had to find them - Like "Where's Waldo?" - only - "Where's Bishop?" It took the kids forever to recognize them. They were scared of Paul, couldn't believe that it was Bishop and just did not recognize Rich - even after he walked up to them!
I just think the photo is hilarious.

Fall 2006

We are well into the fall season. I have boxes and boxes of apples on my counter waiting to be processed. There are mountains of schoolwork stacked next to the apples - And - last but never ever least - there are projects that just might turn into Christmas gifts piled there too. Uggh! Life never ceases for a moment - even if you are a busy mom much in need of a vacation AND a pedicure. But this is the season of my life now...chaos. My goal is to simply enjoy the ride and attempt to make a little order along the way. Come see what we are up to... Rich was recently released as Young Men's President and is now serving as the Scout Master in our ward. He just came home yesterday from a campout at Neptune's Beach. There he camped with the boys and a few dads in a huge cave over looking tidepools. It's a pretty awsome place although I wouldn't want to actually sleep there myself...
Micah is in 6th grade now. We are still homeschooling but she takes classes 2 full days a week at a private homeschool center in town. She is taking a 7th grade advanced math class and band/orchestra where she is learning to play the flute. I already have her signed up to play the flute in the Primary Children's program next month. She has also started doing volunteer work twice a week. She reads to seniors who are in a nursing home. She is getting so good at the piano and is sightreading music well. She is turning into such a beautiful young lady - I cannot believe it. This Summer she will be old enough to go to girls camp! Then it's Young Women's, dances, EFY, driving, dating , university... aaaaccckkkkk! make it stop... Kyra is now 8 yrs old. She was baptized this past summer and just recently saved up enough money to get her ears pierced. She is doing so good with school this year. She is already more than halfway done with her math text (we are going at a really fast pace) and is working hard with her language arts and history. She writes stories all day long and when she is not writting a story she is out with the chickens in the backyard coop. She is taking Karate, is in girl scouts and doing well in piano too. Gannon is so full of energy. He continues to do well in math and science but he really loves history. He is reading the story of Beowulf and is just loving all of the over the top blood and gore. (That is one epic poem just made for 9 yr old boys...) He just finished his Bear and will move into weeblos when he turns 10 in December. He loves Karate and he loves to run. I am thinking of putting him into the homeschool trialthlon class at Logos Academy next year. He tolerates piano but is actually getting very good. Eli is still crazy. He is 6 and is learning to read and do basic math. He takes homeschool Karate with the rest of us. He is the most hyper kid in the class - always talking to his neighbor... He has been dressing like a pirate ever since we came back from Disneyland. As for me - well - I am being run ragged by these hooligans running amuck in my home 24/7. But I have to admit that I actually like the craziness... most days... depending on the cycle of the moon... I am still teaching step at the gym in exchange for a free family membership and a miniscule check twice a month. I am also taking Karate with the kids so watch out... I figure if I stick with it I will have my balck belt in another 5 years. There are many homeschool black belt mamas in our group that I so admire - so it is a possibility... we'll see. That's all for now check in again soon - Donna

More Pictures --Disneyland & Midieval Times

Okay, okay - Here are more pictures from our fabulous trip! (I knew you were just dying to see them!)

Disneyland Trip

Our trip to Disneyland was magical. It really was the best time we have had as a family. We got to just play for 5 whole days at the Magic Kingdom. There was no fighting, no whinning and and there were maids to clean up our rooms. We went on every ride at least once and since there were no crowds in late September (gotta love that homeschooling thing...) the kids got to do things like bake cookies with Alice and the Mad Hatter, dance in the Block Party and join in the Pirate fights in New Orleans Square. Our favorite ride was Grizzly River Run. It is a wet ride but since the weather was perfect we must have ridden it 5 or 6 times. Star Tours was a close second and of course the newly remodeled Pirates of the Caribbean.


We got to see many of the characters out and about. Micah bought an autograph book and filled it up by the end of our stay. We were able to see the last showing of Aladdin the Musical before in ended its season. It was fantastic. We stayed in So. Cal for over a week and got to spend time with my family and some friends. Ahhhhh... it was a wonderful vacation. The kids are already starting to save for next time.

Welcome to another addition of “Keeping up with the Joneses.” Mother’s day is just around the corner and our lives are more than busy. We are right in the middle of 8 weeks of Homeschool Hogwarts and at night Donna and the 3 older kids are participating in our Stake Musical - The Secret Garden. Rich and Eli are busy hanging out during rehearsals.
We had a snowy beginning to our season but aside from that our Winter and Spring have both been rather dry (by Oregon standards) and beautiful. The lake is full and the kids and I are enjoying daily walks and picnics on the lakeshore. I can think of no better way than to spend the day out by the lake armed with snacks, field guides and art supplies, reading and keeping up our nature journals. It has been simply pleasurable. Read on to find out what we have been up to.

Kyra is our resident “Chicken Whisperer.” If you haven't noticed - that is a baby chick asleep on its back in Krya’s hands. Kyra is going to be 8 soon and is excited about being baptized. She is already planning the program and plans to sing a solo.



A Poem by Kyra age 7
“I like animals.
I want to be a vet.
I like kittens most of all-
It’s great to have a pet"

History Reports

Gannon participated in his 2nd Pinewood Derby. His car was the fastest the first 2 races but then his wheel s froze for the rest of the races. Next year we will NOT be using the liquid graphite.

Julius Caesar
by Gannon age 9
Julius Caesar was so powerful that he became a dictator. Then he said two things that made the senators mad. He told the senate that he was the dictator but others kings would be amazed if you call me king and when I die then my nephew Octavian will be the next king.
Brutus was Caesar's best friend and one of the senators. Now he was scared and then one of the senate said to kill Julius Caesar the next time he comes and everyone agreed, even Brutus. Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the senate. Before he died he said, “Et tu Brute” and died.

Micah has been very busy this year. She was is a play called “East of the Sun & West of the Moon.” She is currently in the children’s chorus of “The Secret Garden” and is writing a short play called “Penny Pan and the Adventures in Everland” to be performed at local libraries this Summer. She is still playing the piano and will begin junior band in September. She still has not decided between clarinet or flute.

Julius Caesar
by Micah age 10

The Caesars were a very important and rich family of Rome. One day the Caesars had a baby boy, they called him Julius Caesar. Julius’s father said, “My boy will do great things“. I wonder if he knew that Julius Caesar would become the most important man in Rome.
When Julius Caesar was an adult he wanted to be a consul, one of two people who rule Rome. Julius threw parties, helped some people out and he even defeated pirates! Everyone wanted to vote for Caesar, but there were already two consuls. Julius convinced them to let him be a third one anyway. They were called the triumvirate.
One day Julius became so popular and important that he said he would be Emperor and that his nephew would be Emperor after him. The Senators didn’t like that, they were suppose to help the Consuls rule Rome. They wanted to choose the next Emperor. So they planned to kill Caesar on March 15th.
Julius Caesar was killed by his old friend Brutus.
Julius Caesar was born in 100 B.C.
He was killed on March 15, 44 B.C.

Kid Stuff

Jokes by Kyra age 7
What does the car say to the nut?
You’re diving me nuts!

What does the penny say to the quarter?
We make cents!
(get it? - like sense...)

Recipes by Eli

Cheesecake:
First you get a crust and then you put cheese on it and put it in the fridge - just for a while - and then it turns into cheesecake!

Cells
by Micah Jones age 10
Cells are all over your body. They help you grow and move. Most cells you can’t see with out a microscope , but some , like an egg , you can see with out a microscope. A tissue is when cells group together to perform similar functions. Cell reproduction is called mitosis. That is when one cell splits apart into two cells. All cells need energy to live. Cells come in all shapes. God made every single cell for you and me.


A Gladiator named Servius
by Gannon Jones
Servius was captured by Roman guards. Then he was forced to become a gladiator even though he didn’t want to. They took him to gladiator school and he learned how to jump over weapons and fight. His match was in one week. He didn’t want to fight but he had to or else he would be killed. When he was in the battle he realized that his opponent was just as scared as he was. He almost killed him but then he refused and went back to his trainers. He was probably killed for not killing his opponent but he didn’t, even though he knew that he might die for his behavior.
The Roman philosopher Seneca said: “The show was even better to watch ...because the men in the audience learned that it was more decent to die than to kill.”

In the Moonlight
by Micah Jones

In the day with all the sunlight
Boy, it’s bright
But when it’s night
Oh, what a sight
Stars shining with all their might
In the moonlight.

Christmas at the Joneses

Meet Our Family

This is our family. Going clockwise from the top is Rich, then there is his lovely wife Donna, our beautiful 10 yr old Micah, our talkative 7 yr old Kyra, the clown of the family 6 yr old Eli, and last but not least the analytical 9 yr old Gannon.
Last July Rich completed his first 1/2 Iron Man in Sun River Oregon. A 1.5 mile swim, 58 mile bike and 13 mile run! Wow. He is already preparing for it again in 2006 and planning on doing a full Iron Man (twice the above distances)on his 40th birthday.
You know - he has been doing these sprint distance triathlons for many years now and they are so inspiring. They look like a lot of work (please note that as I type this I am sitting on my rear eating a chocolate chip cookie) but also a lot of fun. The 1/2 Iron Man did not inspire me - it looked like torture! I saw more that one person in amazing shape practically pass out after the swim. I can't imagine what the full Iron Man will be like - we shall see...
As for me - well I keep myself busy homeschooling 4 kids, running the Veneta Home Education Network - a local homeschool support group for West Lane County Oregon
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/venetahomeeducationnetwork/
I teach step aerobics, am re-learning the piano after a 20 year break and in my spare time read, write and take any art class I can possibly fit into my already overscheduled life! Needless to say with 4 kids, 2 cats, 1 large dog, a rather talkative bird and a hamster housework occasionally takes a low priority... We are happy amid the chaos.
Micah is crazy about Harry Potter. She has read all of the books at least 3 times and can beat anyone at Harry Potter trivia. She also loves to read anything by Gayle Carson Levine and the Eragon series. She loves to paint, is very witty - a bit sarcastic - and is most beautiful when laughing. She loves horses and singing. She takes piano lessons and wants to learn the guitar to start her own band. She takes karate and can be dangerous so watch out!
Gannon is an amazing 9 year old kid. He is a Bear Scout and loves everything about Cub Scouting. He too is crazy about Harry Potter and Eragon and is often busy contemplating life and its idiosyncrasies. He loves to cook but will rarely eat. He is a very skinny kid. He loves to run and finished his first 5K in just 32 minutes. He loves to play chess and soccer. History is one of his favorite subjects but he could do without the Latin.
Kyra is our firecracker. She is passionate about animals and wants to grow up to be a vet. She loves her friends and siblings and is a very responsible 7 yr old. Kyra loves to swim and jump in the deep end. Kyra does not tread water too well and has had to be rescued more than once by the life guards - I think she likes it...
Eli is just entertaining. What can I say? He is a bundle of energy and fun. His favorite (and I asked him...) thing to do is eat. The kid can out eat anyone in our family and still be hungry, it is amazing! Eli has a very magnetic personality and makes friends rapidly. He has a crush on his former primary teacher and is always flexing his muscles for her at church. Her husband better watch out!
Well that is our family - read on to learn more.
Donna
PS - This is our newest family member: Kyra's kitten who she named Alisa Lala Jones