202 Morningside...

202 Morningside is going to be our new street address. I really like it. It's nice and refreshing. I definitely like it better than my current address. They didn't tell us, but I'm assuming there might be a Cove or Circle at the end since it is a cul-de-sac. Guess we'll wait and see! The above picture is a photo of our lot, it stretches all to the left of the street light.

The survey is complete and hopefully we'll be breaking ground very soon. Thought I would share a few photos to show you where it all will begin.

This is the artist's sketch of what our house will look like. We are actually mirroring this image, so imagine it with the entryway more to the right, instead of the left like in the photo. There is a side entry garage that you can't see in the sketch. It's an open, split floor plan with almost 2,700 square feet. We will have four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen, playroom and a great sized family room. And the backyard...is enormous! The girls will love it!

One of our first decisions we had to make was the brick. We drove around one weekend and found something we all love. It's from Acme Brick and called Mossy Rock. Here are some photos of the brick:

This is a photo of the house we found with the brick on it we like.

And here is a closer shot of the brick on the house.


So, one decision down. 99,999,999 to go! Wish us luck.

Until next time...

Another Meme!

1. What is your occupation?

Mommy and part time virtual assistant

2. What color are your socks right now?
Barefoot

3. What are you listening to right now?
The TV – Extreme Home Makeover

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Pigs in a Blanket.
The girls loved them and Rachel said she was
renaming them “Mommy in a Blanket”

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Yes, my 1st car was a 69 VW Bug – baby blue

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Green ~ it’s just me!

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Ann, my best friend (and boss!)

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yes, both of them!

9. How old are you today?
34 years and 24 days

10. Favorite drink?
Sweet Tea

11. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Don’t really watch sports, like to watch ice skating
and the gymnastics on the Olympics

12. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes, in high school and college

13. Favorite food?
Steak or Fajitas, it’s a tie

14. Last movie you watched?
27 Dresses – Hilarious!!

15. Favorite day of the year?
Christmas or Thanksgiving, another tie

16. How do you vent anger?
Get really quiet

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
My baby dolls

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring?
Equally both, spring for the refreshing newness and
fall for the crispness in the air and the leaves changing colors

19. Hugs or kisses?
Both

20. Cherry or Blueberry?
Blueberry

21. Do you want your friends to email you back?
Yes, of course

22. Who is most likely to respond?
Who knows!

23. Who is least likely to respond?
Who knows!

24. Living arrangements (Family)?
Husband, two daughters, and my mother-in-law

25. When was the last time you cried?
When my grandmother, “Dandy” died

26. What is on the floor of your closet?
Carpet! I just totally cleaned it all out.

27. Favorite smell?
Babies fresh out of the bath or cookies baking

28. What are you afraid of?
Something happening to Jon Paul or one of my kids

29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
Cheese

30. Favorite car?
The new VW bugs – we have one!!

31. Favorite cat breed?
Any, the small, fluffy kittens are the cutest!

32. Number of keys on your key ring?
Two

33. How many years at your current job?
Five and a half years as a Mommy, nine years as an assistant

34. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday

35. How many states have you lived in?
Two ~ Arkansas, Missouri

36. How many countries have you been to?
14 ~ USA, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Brazil, Venezuela, St. Thomas, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Aruba, Puerto Rico

37. What was your favorite country?
The Good Ole US of A!

You Might Be A Redneck...

If you camp out in the living room...
in a tent...
on top of two mattresses...

Yep. That's Jon Paul and Rachel.

We started a tradition last year when we rang in 2007.
We let Rachel stay up until midnight, if she could make it.
She made it.
We roasted marshmallows in the fireplace.
We drank eggnog.
We played games and watched the ball drop.
And she and her Daddy slept in the tent.

Last year, we put the tent on a memory foam mattress pad.
This year, the mattress pad is on our bed.

So, what to do?
For Daddy, the floor is just too hard to sleep comfortably.
The solution is in the photo.
We took the mattress off Rachel's trundle bed for Jon Paul to
sleep on and we blew up our travel air mattress for Rachel.

There you have it.
Confirmed.
We're rednecks.

Who Do Our Kids Look Like?

Karen from over at Pediascribe had this on her blog. I thought it would be fun to see what it said about our family. Most everyone says that Rachel looks just like me and Rebekah looks exactly like Jon Paul. Let's see what the Look-alike Meter says...

FOR RACHEL:

FOR REBEKAH:

Well...it looks like we make perfect blends of children. Maybe I choose back pictures to compare. I still think Rachel looks more like me and Rebekah looks more like Jon Paul. Oh well, it was fun! Until next time...

We Work...and We Wait...

It's almost done. We met with our real estate agent tonight. We signed all the contracts. Our house was picture perfect. The house officially will be in the MLS system on February 1st. The only part of this house that didn't get cleaned out and straightened up was my Creative Memories closet. I plan on tackling that this weekend. All I can say is I am extremely tired. Our new house? Well, we're in waiting mode. Waiting on the survey. Waiting the find out the name of the brick we like. Waiting on our builder. And I'm too tired to even think of anything else to write. So, I'm going to get some sleep, rest tomorrow and hopefully refresh my body and my brain. Until next time...

My First Meme

Karen over at Pediascribe tagged me for this meme.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours
3. Post the rules on your blog
4. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog
5. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post
6. Include links to their blogs
7. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven random or weird facts about myself? This may take some time to think...

1. I love peanut butter and cheese sandwiches, with mayo on the cheese side.
2. My husband and I met over the internet. (Something I'll have to blog about later!)
3. I'm hooked on listening to audio books. I just started my fifth book and I've only been listening to them for about four months. I haven't read a book in three or four years and I love to read! This is a great way for me to get to read without having to keep up with a book. Check out Audible!
4. We have five working computers in our living room. (Desktop, Rachel's desktop, Jon Paul's laptop, my laptop and Betty's laptop!) Crazy, I know.
5. I'm addicted to my Nintendo DS. Jon Paul gave it to me on Mother's Day in 2006. Right now the game I'm obsessed with is Luxor. I play it every night and am up to 64 million points!!
6. My mother-in-law lives with us and I love it! Really, I do! I have the best mother-in-law in the world and we are great friends. We've been a great team on getting the house ready to sell. I couldn't have done it all without her help.
7. I'm really organized. I don't function well when things are in chaos. I feel best when things are in there proper place. Doing this mass cleaning, decluttering and organizing has made me feel great!!

OK, 7 people to tag:
Faith at Blue’s News
Aimee at The Fannin’s
Michelle at RX OF LIFE
Sharon at Walk a day with Sharon
Becca at Joyfulnoyz
Dana at Wife...Mommy...Sister...Daughter...Friend...
Carrie at The Varnells Deeper Side

A Childhood Obsession...

A little something not moving, packing, cleaning, sorting related...

My youngest has become obsessed with Spiderman. I have no idea where this came from. She has never seen any Spiderman cartoons or the Spiderman movie (neither have we for that matter!). We think it all started when the Christmas catalogs started coming out. She would ask who that was, so we told her. It got to the point that she could find the smallest Spiderman on any page. Then she noticed it at stores. Then she wanted some of her own. You know where this is going, right?!?

First she got a small Spiderman figure and Spidey pajamas, which were made for boys. Doesn't matter, does it? She wore them for two weeks straight. Then Christmas came. Word had gotten out about her new obsession. Santa even heard about it! She got lots of Spiderman things.

A small Spiderman doll
A large Spiderman doll that talks
(which she was afraid of at first)
A Hallmark Spiderman ornament
A Spiderman towel
A Spiderman blanket
Spiderman stickers
A Spiderman phone

She is so happy. It's fun to see her so excited about something. Her daddy is enjoying his little girl liking something not so girly. Rachel is funny about Rebekah's obsession. Rachel is a girl's girl. Everything is princess, dress up, make up, etc. She was even afraid of anything boyish...until now. She says she likes Spiderman too...only because Rebekah does! Until next time...

Sickness and Stairs

Today we got some work done, but not as much as we had hoped. I was awaken at 2:30am by Rachel. She wasn't feeling well and I took her temperature, it was 103. I gave her some Tylenol and she went back to bed. A little after 7:00am, she woke up again. She was crying, not feeling well, so she got into bed with me. She went back to sleep. Around 8:00am I could tell she was on fire. I took her temp again and it was 104.7! That's the highest she has ran since she was seven months old and had RSV. I called the after hours line and they recommended taking her up to AR Children's Hospital. Ears were clear, throat looked okay, strep test negative, but she has a nasty cough. The doctor ordered a chest x-ray. He said there was a specious spot that looked like the beginning of pneumonia. Yuck! So, she is now on an antibiotic. Her fever stayed around 104 when the Tylenol wore off. Poor baby.

Rebekah didn't like it one bit that her sissy was sick. She was so sweet. She was getting Rachel's blanket for her, getting her stuffed animals to sleep with, getting her water. It was precious. At one point Rebekah said, "I love sissy. I was her play with me." Rebekah got to spend some one-on-one time with her Granna while we were at the hospital. That made her real happy!

Jon Paul stayed here to get the U-Haul and my step-dad came over to help him load it and unload it at the storage unit. By the time we got back from the hospital, they had started working on installing the attic ladder. It took them a while, but they got it done. We cleaned out the garage (swept and re-organized), cleaned one more window and played some games on the Wii.

Tomorrow, some more work. Clean more windows, trim some bushes, rake the yard, install new back-splash in kitchen and maybe start on my Creative Memories closet. We'll see. Hopefully Rachel will feel better. Until next time...

Weekend Work

We need a new water heater. I don't know what it is with this house, but this will be the third water heater installed here over the past 6.5 years!

The plumber that came out gave us this quote:

$899 to replace and install new water heater

OUCH!

Our next move was to call Sears and get an estimate from them:
$510 for water heater, installation and removal of old unit

And to give it a third try, we priced them at Home Depot:
$740 for the water heater and installation

So, I guess it's Sears. I will call them tomorrow to set up an appointment. Hopefully we can get one before February 1st!

Yesterday was not as busy as the days before. The trip to the dentist wasn't fun at all. I had to have a crown put on the tooth. Yuck! My job had been neglected the first part of this week, so the past two days I've been playing catch up! After Jon Paul came home we cleaned four more windows. Only seven more to go!

What's up for tomorrow? We're getting a U-Haul and taking all the boxes and stuff that's in the garage to our storage building. We're going to install the new attic ladder. Clean some more windows. Install new back-splash piece behind the stove. Fix the siding on the front porch. Trim the bushes and rake the front yard. And....who knows what else?!?!

I better get myself to bed. We'll be hitting the ground running in the morning! Hope everyone has a great weekend, ours will be busy! Until next time...

Living Room...Done!!!

Today we completed the living room. Betty packed up seven boxes of books and breakables. We packed four boxes of miscellaneous stuff. We threw away three large trash bags of junk. I managed to clean up the desk, get everything off the top of it and Betty cleaned everything off the top of the entertainment center. I moved out the bookshelf into the garage and when Jon Paul came home, we all moved Betty's chest of drawers to the other side of the room.

I remembered in the middle of the clean up to take a picture. I took one of the desk. The last three photos are after shots. It may not be the perfect living room, after all, we have a bed and chest of drawers in it. But...this is why we need a bigger house! Nana needs a bedroom!! So, everything can't be showcase perfect, but we're doing all we can to make it appealing! Although, I don't think there is anything you can do to make paneling appealing...one thing about this house I will NOT miss! But hey...it was popular in 1980 when the house was built.

Tomorrow...we're taking the day off. No packing. No sorting. No cleaning. Betty is planning on doing the shredding and I am going to the dentist. Other than that, we're going to rest. And, I have some work for my part time job to do. We're almost done watching American Idol...very interesting (Sing it with me...I am your brother, your best friend forever... :-)) Until next time...

We sort! We pack! We rearrange!

Another hard day of sorting, packing and rearranging! Rebekah has had three great nights in her toddler bed. But, last night, she said, "I want sleep in baby bed!" We knew we had to break down the crib. She cried at first. We disassembled the crib and put her toddler bed where the crib was, she was happy and ready to go to bed.

Today we hit the ground running. Debbie came back and cleaned the kitchen. It looks great!! Betty and I started working on the toys. We sorted and sorted and sorted and sorted some more. Here is what we ended up with:

3 boxes for Duck Duck Goose
5 boxes of children's books to store
2 boxes of toys for the garage sale
1 box of books for the garage sale
4 boxes of toys to store

Where did all this stuff come from? Even with all this gone, they still have tons of toys left. Good thing now from the clean up, they are seeing some toys they haven't seen in a long while. During the sorting process, we managed to clean up and organize both of the girls rooms.



Rachel lost the kitchen to Rebekah's room. This freed up some space in Rachel's room and we moved her cubbies to clean out the corner. Now her room looks more spacious and her closet neat and organized.












Rebekah lost her bookshelf, glider and crib; and gained the kitchen and cubbie shelf from the living room. I kept out one tub of books and they are in her room along with all her baby doll stuff.

As you can tell, the pictures are the after shots and before the mess hit tonight. I can't believe how spacious Rebekah's room is now! I am glad we did this. And, to my surprise, the girls have been great about the packing up of half or more of their toys!

What's on the agenda for tomorrow? Well, I'm glad you asked. We're going to tackle the living room. With the toys gone, we now have one bookshelf to pack up, top of the entertainment center to clean off, shred a bunch of papers and clean off the desk. Sound like enough?!? And when Jon Paul gets home, we need to measure the attic opening and go buy the new ladder. Oh, and did I mention that I had a filling come out while I was eating a piece of cheese? Yes. It did. Which means in the middle of all this, I need to go see my dentist! Fun...NOT!

So...again, I take my aching back and feet to bed, as soon as we finish watching American Idol. Until next time...

Kitchen and Laundry Room....DONE!!!

Today, Betty and I tackled the kitchen and laundry room. We spent all day working and packing. We cleaned out every cabinet and shelf. We packed about fifteen boxes of stuff we didn't have to have. I was able to pack away enough stuff to make room to put most all my appliances in the cabinets and not on the counter tops. My counters are practically bare!! I guess that's good when you are planning on selling your house! The laundry room looks bare too. Our garage on the other hand, it's starting to get full of boxes and stuff...all to go to the storage building. Debbie came today and cleaned all of the house, except for the kitchen - wonder why!?!? She is coming in the morning to clean the kitchen, dining area and laundry room.

When Jon Paul got home, we quickly cleaned out the storage building in the backyard. We took a lot of stuff out to put in the other storage building. We rearranged some of the things left and made plenty of room for us to put our garage sale stuff and Duck Duck Goose stuff.

Tomorrow, we tackle the living room. There will be a toy clean up, a bookshelf packed up, desk cleaned off, and papers shredded. One room at a time and the house will get ready! I think today was the toughest. So that means, things can only get easier!!

Now it's time to put my aching back and feet to bed. Until next time...

My To Do List..

OK, I'm making a list. More for me, but if it's here, I have a little more accountability and save a tree for not writing it on paper. :-) We are planning on listing our house on February 1st, so we have about 20 days to complete the following list!

Things to do to get the house ready to put on the market:
1. Get window fixed. New window installed 1/11.
2. Measure attic opening/purchase new ladder stairs.
3. Install new attic ladder stairs.
4. Make appointment with Sears about water heater.
5. Decide about POD or mini storage building unit.
6. Clean out storage building in backyard.
7. Talk with Debbie about cleaning house. Coming 1/14.
8. Make a cleaning list for Debbie.
9. Get boxes. Thanks The Arnn House!!!
10. Fix siding on front porch.
11. De-clutter kitchen and laundry room.
12. Clean out medicine closet.
13. Clean out master bedroom and closet.
14. Reduce toys (separate storage & Duck Duck Goose).
15. Clean out Creative Memories closet.
16. Make appointment to get carpets cleaned. 1/23 at 8:30am
17. Take pictures of front of house.
18. Get Rebekah sleeping in toddler bed. First night, 1/12!
19. Get new light bulbs.
20. De-clutter desk.
21. Clean all 13 main and storm windows.
22. Rake and trim bushes in front yard.
23. Get new winter flag for flag pole.
24. Make a list of all improvements made on house.
25. Clean oven and microwave.
26. Power wash deck?!? Not going to get done right now.
27. Remain sane and patient with my children!

Check back. I'll update by marking off and commenting!! Wish me and my mother-in-law luck!! I'm just glad I have someone to work with, I work better when I have a partner!!

Until next time...

Edited: Jon Paul just called me. I'm sorry babe! Yes, Jon Paul will be helping out with A LOT on this list. I really didn't mean to leave him out. He's a great husband and a big help to me. Wish ALL of us luck. We're going to be busy!

My Baby Is Sick!

Yes, my baby is sick. Not Rachel and not Rebekah, but Jon Paul. Sunday he had a bad headache. It went away, but the fever set in. And it is still here. He hasn't slept well for the past two nights, me either. He didn't work yesterday or today. He is either extremely cold or extremely hot and his fever hasn't dropped below 100.4 since Sunday. We decided to go ahead and see the doctor today. We knew there was probably nothing to be done (we were right!), but we went just in case there might be something more serious going on. He was tested for strep and flu, both of which came back negative. The treatment? Alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen and try to get the fever broken and gone! He was instructed to stay home from work for the next two days or until he hasn't had any fever for 24 hours. Hopefully it will break soon.

Rachel was sad tonight. She prayed last night for her Daddy to get better. After we prayed tonight, she got tears in her eyes and said, "I prayed last night and it didn't work." I explained to her that sometimes we have to keep praying, but that Daddy will get better soon. She started to cry and said, "I want Daddy to be better right now!" So sad and so hard for a five year old to understand. Rebekah couldn't understand why Daddy couldn't play with her. But she was content to sit in the chair and read books with him.

You prayers are appreciated! Until next time...

So Tired...I Forgot The Title!

I'm tired! We spent most of the day yesterday in Arkadelphia. This is where Jon Paul grew up. We have sold his old house and property and spent the day gathering up anything we wanted that was left at the house/storage building/cabin. We came home with a van full. We brought back a rocking chair that belonged to Jon Paul's great-grandfather. It's in perfect condition and Rebekah has taken it over! We also now have a mounted deer head with 22 points. Jon Paul's dad killed it in 1968! The girls aren't too sure what to think of that. Jon Paul found his original Nintendo system with a Duck Hunt and Zelda game. He's planning on hooking it up to see if it still works.

Betty and I spent the most of this morning and early afternoon washing up glasses, crystal, china, tea cups and saucers. We have quite a collection! We have chosen to keep some, given some away and will probably eBay what's left. Everything that we decided to keep, we have packed in nice U-Haul boxes, most to unpack when we get a new china cabinet once we are in the new house. Our closing date is set for the 15th of this month. Perfect timing with the breaking ground of our new house!

My feet hurt from standing on them all day yesterday and all morning today. Think it's time to go take a Sunday afternoon nap. Until next time...

Happy Birthday To Me!

Today I turned 34. It's been a good day. The girls are still out of school, so we stayed around the house all day. We did schedule a babysitter to come and Betty, my mother-in-law, took me, Jon Paul and my mom out to eat at Benihana's. Yumm-O!! My steak was cooked to perfection and I ate way too much. I even have some rice left over to eat for lunch tomorrow!

Jon Paul was sweet and sent me roses with two balloons (for the girls!). However, when they came, they smelled strongly of cigarette smoke! I hate the smell of cigarette smoke and he plans on calling tomorrow to complain. They do smell better since they've been here a while. They are really beautiful. I also got a new game for the DS, Luxor, and Monopoly Electronic Banking, some money, and a gift yet to arrive from my best friend, Ann. :-) And last month, my cell phone broke, so I got an early birthday present, a new phone!

**Edited: The mail came today (1/4) and I forgot about a gift that was ordered! I got Planet Earth: The Complete Series on DVD and my gift from Ann was a wonderful cookbook!

It's been a great day. I don't feel older. Sometimes I have a hard time picturing myself as an adult! But, that I am. I am an adult. I am a wife. I am a mother. Rachel asked me before she went to bed, "Mommy, are you 35 yet?" I said, "No baby, don't rush it, I'm only 34!!!"

I've gotten some great feedback on my blogging start. I hope you enjoy it. Jon Paul was quick to inform me when he saw it, that it was too feminine looking for it to be about the whole family! This was when I had the template with tulips on it. I should have said, "Well honey, you are outnumbered 3:1 on that!" But, being the wonderful, complying wife, I changed the template. Well, actually, I had to change it, the tulip template wouldn't load properly, so in order for it too look good, I had to change it. Guess Jon Paul jinxed it!! It's not as pretty and I'm not crazy about the new look, but at least I got to keep the green...my favorite color. I'll change it up from time to time, but this will do for now. Until next time...

Happy New Year!

One of my goals for 2008...create a blog to keep family and friends updated on The House of Jones. Well, here we go!

The House of Jones will soon be moving from our first home to a brand new home we will be building. We should be breaking ground on our new home very soon. A survey has been ordered and once it has been completed, the building will begin. And that means, the first of a million decisions will have to be made! Another reason for this blog is to keep a record of all our decisions and share the process of our house.

To update everyone, here is a recap of 2007...

Rachel turned five last July and started Kindergarten this fall. She loves her new big girl school and her wonderful teacher. She was tested in reading and scored high enough that she gets to attend first grade for reading. This keeps her challenged. She still loves everything princess, playing on her computer and the Wii, tormenting her little sister and helping Mommy.

Rebekah turned two last March and has been a joy to watch grow up. Recently she has found her voice and discovered the question, WHY? Rebekah loves horses, penguins and cats, especially our cat, Kathy. She adores her big sister and wants to do anything she is doing. She loves to watch Caillou, Little Einsteins, and Annie.

Jon Paul continues to work as a computer programmer. He has also started a consulting business with two friends called Kreative Logic, Inc. Jon Paul still enjoys working/playing on the computer, playing with the RC car he had as a child, and playing on the Wii. He received Guitar Hero III for Christmas and is addicted to it!

I am still staying at home with the girls. I still sell Creative Memories and scrapbook with friends and family every chance I get. In June, I started to work as a Virtual Assistant for my best friend, Ann and her husband, Eric. They are real estate agents in Northeast Arkansas. I help them with their website, marketing, and anything else they need that can be done remotely. It has been a lot of fun for me to learn something new!

Our house grew by one this fall. Betty, Jon Paul’s mom, is now living with us. When her lease ran out, she moved in with us. She has her own little corner of our living room. Once the new house is built, she will have her own room and bathroom. It has been great having her here and she is so happy to be out of the apartment.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you come back and visit often. Comment and subscribe if you want. I would love to hear from you. Until next time...