Christmas for the Big Kids!

Now for the Big Kids, ie. Jon Paul and me! We are kind of weird in that we usually buy our gifts for each other when we are together. And we go ahead and open them up and play with them. Then, we wrap the empty boxes and put them under the tree. We've done this almost every year we've been together. We still buy a few small gifts for each other that are a surprise for Christmas morning. So, what did we get this year? Well, Jon Paul got Guitar Hero World Tour and Jennifer got an iPod Touch! Exciting! Here are a few photos of Jon Paul and the girls enjoying being in the band!

We moved the Wii into our bedroom, which proved to be a great decision. So, here's Jon Paul on the guitar.

And our little drummer girl, Rebekah. We had to prop the bass pedal on a pillow so she could reach it!

And lead singer, Rachel! She couldn't wait to get that microphone in her hands! We are all really loving it!

And here is a photo of my iTouch. I LOVE IT! I really would have liked an iPhone, like Jon Paul has. But we couldn't justify the extra $50 per month to have the phone service. So, with the iTouch, I have can do everything that I did with the iPhone except make a call and take a picture! I can live without those things! Right now I'm hooked on playing iFarkle on it.

Christmas morning, Jon Paul got some new lounge pants with Coca-Cola all over them and an iTunes gift card. Jon Paul surprised me with a small speaker set that I can hook my iTouch up too to listen, LOST season 4 on DVD and some delicious candy! It was a great Christmas and was so much fun celebrating it in our wonderful new home.

Christmas Morning

We woke up just before 6am to the sound of two little girls whispering in the family room. We jumped out of bed, to which they ran back to their rooms. I went to the hallway by their rooms and the following conversation took place:

Me (jokingly): Go back to bed! Santa hasn't come yet!
Rachel: Yes he has! He ate his cookies.
Rebekah: And he drank his chocolate milk too.
Me: How do you know that?
Rachel: We saw the plate.
Me: Ohhh...you've been in there!
Rachel: I didn't look at anything the first time!!
Me: The first time! How many times have you been in there?
Rachel: Three

So, they were up early!! Anyway, we quickly made our way into the family room to check it all out.

Yes! Santa did come and eat his cookies and drink his chocolate milk!

He brought Rachel a Build-a-Bear Wii game and a Tinkerbell DS game. He brought Rebekah the baby doll that goes pee pee and poo poo and washes her hands and brushes her teeth!

Here are the girls with their stockings - stuffed full of surprises!!

And here is Rachel with all of her stocking stuff! She loved her Tinkerbell DS skins!

And Rebekah with her stocking stuff. I think she kissed every item as she pulled it out! She really loved all her Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! figures.

Jon Paul got the Super Dooper Reindeer Pooper! He and the girls got a big kick out of this.

He is the before shot of Rachel and her presents. She could not wait to tear into them!

And the before shot of Rebekah and her presents. She wasn't interested at all in opening anything. She just wanted her baby doll free from her packaging so she could play with her.

So, we didn't rush Rebekah and let Rachel tear into her gifts. She was surprised to see this. We thought it was perfect for her, she wants to be a dentist when she grows up!

And the one other thing she most wanted. An Easy Bake Oven. I have fond memories making many things in my own Easy Bake Oven. A little back story on this gift. Jon Paul and I went shopping for their gifts while on our Anniversary Getaway. Upon getting home, we didn't unload them from the van since the girls were awake and all that. Well, forgetting they were back there, we went somewhere. As Rachel was getting into the van, she looked into the back and guess what was sitting right on top of everything? Yes, the Easy Bake Oven. She told me the next day that she saw it. She was so excited, but I told her to she better act surprised on Christmas morning!

After much work, Rebekah's baby is free from her packaging! And she is still not interested in opening anything else. But we manage to slowly get one opened every five minutes or so.

Nana got Rachel and Rebekah matching newborn baby dolls. They are so realistic looking and might I add, they are anatomically correct! We now have to more little girls in the house. :-) Here is new Mommy, Rachel.

And new Mommy, Rebekah. She loved both her babies that she got for Christmas. She calls this one her, "Born Baby" - instead of newborn baby! And don't forget, this baby's new bed is the washer! And speaking of washer...

Rebekah got a new front loading, My First Kenmore washer and dryer! After she had opened a few, she decided she wanted to open the gigantic present. She really loves is and has it doing double duty...laundry and sleeping quarters.

And last, a picture of Rachel with all her gifts after they are opened. This was the only after photo I got. Rebekah wasn't interested at all in sitting for a photo and I wasn't going to force it! I hope you enjoyed this look at our Christmas morning. Come back for a look at our Cabot Family Christmas and photos of the big kids Christmas presents!!

Intellectually Challenged Car Dealership

So we are shopping for a new van. We've been looking all over online for a used Honda Odyssey, hoping to find one we like and hoping to find it relatively close. They aren't easy to come by. So, imagine our excitement when we found a used car dealership nearby that had TWO in stock! So, after cleaning up our current van, we headed to the dealership on Saturday. Here is a break down of what happened after our arrival.

We find the two vans, they are unlocked and we begin to check both of them out. After over twenty minutes, no one has come to help us. Finally, a man comes over. He doesn't have much to say, the conversation goes like this:

Jon Paul: What can you tell us about this van?
Salesman: It is a 2005, never been wrecked, never been repainted...
Jon Paul (interrupts): I don't think so, look at that bumper, it's not the same color as the rest of the van. And those seems, they don't match up.
Salesman: Uhhhh, I'll have to check on this.
Jon Paul: What about this other van?
Salesman: It is a 2007.
Jon Paul (after some silence): You have some keys so we can drive it?
Salesman: Sure, let's go inside and I'll get them.

So, we go inside and into his office. He sits down with a sheet of paper and asks some questions. This is where the salesman and dealership reveals itself as intellectually challenged.

Salesman: Are you planning to pay cash or finance?
Jon Paul: We will finance and we have a trade.
Salesman: What is your trade-in?
Jon Paul: 2005 Chrysler Town and Country Limited
Salesman: Do you owe or is it paid off?
Jon Paul: We still owe on it.
Salesman: Let's call and get your payoff amount.
Salesman: (gets Jon Paul's SS#, calls bank, they aren't open, starts to ask some more questions)
Jon Paul: Hey, before we do all this and waste your time and my time, can I take the van for a drive?
Salesman: Well, not yet.
Jon Paul: Why not?
Salesman: Well, the way we do things here is we like to get the sales price set and agreed upon, get the trade in amount agreed upon, and get your payments where you want them and agreed upon. If we can't get all of this worked out and set in place, then we don't see the need for a test drive.
Jon Paul (completely shocked!): You're joking, right?
Salesman: No, we want to work all this out before the test drive.
Jon Paul: What if after driving it I don't want your d*#@ van?
Salesman: That's just the way we do it.
Jon Paul: Well, that is just plain stupid. Let's go.

We leave. They let us. We get a few miles down the road when we realize that the salesman wrote Jon Paul's SS# down on a sheet of paper and we wanted to go get that back. So, we turn around and head back.

Hmmm, will they decide to give in and let us drive it when they see us come back? No. Jon Paul hunts the guy down and tells him that he wants that paper. They guy says, "I can understand that." They head back into his office, where he then proceeds to dig through his trash can for the wadded up sheet of paper! Jon Paul then tells him, "Dude, you know you could get sued for not disposing personal information properly?!?" To which the salesman had no response.

Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!!! They let us walk out TWICE over a TEST DRIVE!! How ridiculous is that?!?! I don't feel too bad for their economic situation if they were willing to let someone walk over a test drive. Guess they didn't need our money. And we take it as a sign that we don't need those vans either!

Christmas Eve

Here are some photos from
Christmas Eve at the House of Jones!

Jon Paul giving Rebekah
a ride on Cupid the reindeer.
She cried when we had to
put him back up in the attic!

Trying to get a good photo of the girls.
Nana bought them matching PJ's for Christmas.
Rebekah didn't want to let Cupid go.

Here is a shot of them yelling,
"Hurry up Santa!"

We almost forgot, but at the last
minute we remembered to set out
our milk and cookies for Santa
and carrots for the reindeer.

Santa got
two candy cane cookies
and chocolate milk.
The baby carrots are for the reindeer.

Rebekah Napping...

I snapped this photo of Rebekah
taking her nap on December 21st.
Do you think she has enough
animals in her bed with her?

Sunset Behind Our House

This was a beautiful sunset picture was
taken on December 21st, 2008,
from our deck at the back of our house.
I have it set as my desktop background.
Beautiful...

Scenes From Before Christmas

Just wanted to share a few scenes
of our Christmas preparations.

Here are the girls with Santa.
Rachel asked for Tinkerbell and
Build-a-Bear DS games.
Rebekah asked for a baby doll that
goes pee pee and poo poo,
washes her hands and brushes her teeth.

Here is our fireplace and mantle.
This was one part of the house that
I could not wait to decorate.
I love the way it turned out.

These are mine and Jon Paul's stockings.
We received these as a wedding
present and have used them every
year we've been together!
Jon Paul is Santa - I'm the Snowman.

And here are Rachel and Rebekah's
stockings. We got these two years
ago and I love them!

And last, Nana and Kathy's stockings.
Kathy loves her stocking more
than what's usually in it.

Here is our Christmas tree.
This was fun to put up this year in the new house.
We put it in the corner of the dining room,
and you could still see it in the window from the street.

Jon Paul and I received the starting set
of this nativity as a wedding present.
Over the years, we have added to it.
My grandmother, Dandy, was also a collector.
The pieces are beautiful and I love
how they have the "old world" look.

This is the Gloria angel.

The shepherds were watching their flock by night...

The kings came to visit him, bring him gifts...

Come back...more photos to come!

Funny Captcha

Yesterday, after I posted my lemonade award, I sent my recipients notice of their award. This one made me laugh out loud. Check out the captcha, maybe it will make you laugh too!

The Lemonade Award

It's called the Lemonade Award and I received it from an old friend, Wendy. Wendy and I go WAY back to my teenage years and even younger! Thanks friend and I appreciate your kind words and your thoughtfulness of thinking of me.

Now, for the rules:
First, you should give link love to the person who gave you the award. You can click on her name above or click here to go check out her blog. It's a great read and her kids do some of the funniest things!

Secondly, nominate ten of your favorite bloggers to receive the Lemonade Award! Be sure to let them know via email or a comment on their blog that they have been nominated!

Here's my ten, in no particular order:

1. The Mother Letter Project - This is Seth's blog, another old friend from my teenage years. He has grown into a wonderful man, husband and father. Check out this blog to see the incredible gift he gave to his wife this past Christmas. Love ya Little Buddy!

2. Elliott's Excellent Eats - This is a second blog of a new friend, Sarah. I like this one because she share's some yummy and easy recipes.

3. Hutchinson Happenings - This is my sister's (Cynthia) blog. I am giving this to her in hopes this will encourage her to get back into the swing of posting again. Her last post was an exciting one though!

4. The Run-A-Muck - This is Seth's (from above) wife's blog. I was just recently introduced to it and I have quickly come to love it. I want to spend more time reading some older posts.

5. My Little Korner of the World - This is another old friend, Janie's blog. She is new to the blogging world and I hope this encourages her to keep it up!

6. Rx of Life - This is my friend, Michelle's blog. We met through of kids Mother's Day Out program, became friends through scrapbooking and now get to be blogging buddies too! I don't get to see her as much anymore now that our kids are getting older, but I love to read and be encouraged by her words. Also, we both married around the same time and had our kids around the same time. She had two boys and I have two girls!

7. The Brewers - This is my friend, Jennifer's blog. She lived near me for a short time while she was stationed at the Little Rock Air Force Base. She never liked it here in Arkansas, she was a Texas gal through and through. But we found one interesting thing we had in common - we both met our husbands online!

8. PediaScribe - If you have been around here a while, you have heard me talk about Karen. She and I have never met in person, but we have come to know one another pretty well online. I hope to meet her in person soon. She also has some really incredible neighbors. Next time we go visit her neighbors, we hope to meet Karen and her family!

9. The R House - I don't know Mrs. R personally. I was introduced to her via a podcast I listed to called Mommycast. She writes a lot about her struggles with infertility and her journey into adopting two of the cutest boys you will ever see. She is a strong person and I love to read her posts. Although I personally never struggled with infertility, I have friends who have. I have passed her blog onto many people that I thought would benefit greatly from it.

10. Signing Times - Rachel's Blog - Another person who I don't know personally, but I love her blog. I was introduced to Rachel by my sister, Patty. My niece who is autistic was thriving while watching Rachel's Signing Time DVDs. My sister gave my girls some of the DVDs as a gift and we quickly became to love it too. Check out her blog and check out Leah's story and Lucy's story. These are Rachel's kids and you can see where Signing Time originated.

There you have it! Enjoy and thanks for the lemonade, Wendy!!

Another Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 35 today and it has been a great day so far. If you want to see some nostalgic photos of me, check out my post from last year on my birthday. I can't believe another year has gone by. It was interesting to go back and read my post from last year.

This morning started off great with me getting to sleep in until 9:45 a.m. I probably would have slept later, but Jon Paul's phone woke me up. I was still in bed, being lazy when Jon Paul and Rachel came in and brought me breakfast in bed. It was so yummy and sweet of them.

So far I have received some wonderful gifts. With some of our Christmas money and for my birthday, I got this. I love it and it will make it so much easier to transfer video from the camera to the computer. I'm sure this means there will be many more videos to post on here! My three wonderful sisters bought me the first three seasons of LOST on DVD. I also got this - on sale with an additional 20% off coupon. It is really warm - Jon Paul says it is too warm on his feet! Rachel surprised me last night with a scrapbook that she made with Granna. It was really precious. This morning I opened up this gift. I love it and can't wait to really look/read it. Jon Paul also gave me a Mom's Coupon book. Can't wait to start redeeming those! Betty gave me money and I'm sure I'll have something to open tonight from my parents.

Speaking of tonight...my aunt and uncle are in town. My uncle and I have the same birthday. So, my parents are treating us to dinner at Benihana's! My sister, Michelle and her husband Stacy are going to join us too. It should be a fun night filled with GREAT food! I can already smell the fried rice!

One of the things I wanted to do today was get some photos organized and ready to blog about. I have already done that and I have about ten different things I want to post about. So, much more to come in the days ahead. I hope to see you back here soon!

Happy Blogiversary and Happy New Year!!

Today almost came and went until I realized it was my one year anniversary of blogging!! I couldn't let today slip by without me posting something!

Sorry I have been neglecting you all this past month. After posting everyday in November, I guess I got a little burned out. Also, December is a busy month for me and everyone else on the planet! So, I promise to get back into the swing of things and post here more often. I do have a lot to blog about!

So check back and look for posts about our Christmas celebrations, my upcoming birthday and many other things I'm sure!! Sorry this is short, but I must head to bed soon. Our New Year's Eve celebrating has caught up with me. We didn't do too much. We did travel to Arkadelphia to put flowers on Jon Paul's dad's grave. Then we headed over to Garvin Gardens in Hot Springs to look at their 1.7 million Christmas lights on display. It was really beautiful. We got back home around 9pm and we stayed up to watch the ball drop and goofed off until 1am. Rebekah didn't make it, she went to bed around 10pm - she still needs her sleep or she is GrUmPy!! Rachel made it and she and Jon Paul "camped" out on the living room floor, a tradition they have had for three years now. Only this year we didn't get the tent out. And I completely forgot to take a picture! Oh well, there is always next year!

So, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. And may you all have a blessed upcoming year.