Merry Christmas...

December started off on 'fast forward' to celebrate the holiday season early when Rob called from the slope to let us know he would be coming home for the holidays...SORT OF... but only for a week and then he would have to return back to work for three more weeks after that to finish out some 'end of the year contract jobs' for the company. So we moved up all our holiday festivities & celebrations and prepared to cram them all in the one week he could be home.
Tree & house decorated, (60=cards/family photo/family newsletter-printed, folded & stuff, shopping done, presents wrapped & labeled, holiday songs sung, Santa came, presents opened, massive amounts of goodies baked, eaten, and shared, girls happy with getting & giving, and most of the mess cleaned up. So that 'one week home for rob' has come and gone (we will miss him the rest of the year!), and I sent him back to the slope this morning, needless to say I'm just a little bit tired!
The girls still have one more week of school ,holiday concerts, another church potluck & a few dinner invitations and Christmas parties to attend to, an orthodontist appointment in Soldotna and helping me stay on top of the laundry, dishes and more holiday baking still yet to be done...so the festivities aren't completely over with, and the word "BUSY" still applies to the Jones household name for the month of December.
Next comes the other big project I do every year...the family calendar. It was put on hold while Rob was home and I will dive back into it as well as two other artwork deadlines this and next week. So I might find time to post again before the end of the year..but if not... here's wishing you and yours a very MERRY CHRISTMAS & a HAPPY NEW YEAR from the frozen chosen Jones clan up in the great white north of Homer, Alaska!

Climbing the hill...ROB 46! Jessica 19!

A tad behind am I for posting new news! Sorry about that. This time of year I'm running around with a zillion and one things to do and that list keeps accumulating & adjusting daily,... it's hard to keep up with everything. So to start off we had two birthday's at the end of November.
Robert's and Jessica's birthday was on the 27th of November (and on Thanksgiving day wahoo!), but due to the fact that Rob wasn't going to be home on the actual day (because of his work schedule up on the slope)...we celebrated it early and had a full blown Thanksgiving meal with all the fixin's with his Dad n Mina who drove down from Kenai to celebrate with us. GOOD company, GOOD FOOD! We ate till we just about burst! The day before we also had a Thanksgiving potluck at the church, so after two meals in a row to celebrate the turkey day..come the actual day of Thanksgiving, we were almost turkied out! Then the Clutt's family knew Rob would be out of town and invited us to their annual feast out at the Anchor River Inn where I was requested to bring my famous homemade crescent rolls and various pies (I think I made over 14 pies in all). After all that food and stress...it was nice to indulge in a little R&R with a side by side hour swedish massage at the Homer Day Spa with Jessica the following day. Jessica said it was one of the best birthday presents she had ever had!

Our Missionary, Elder Jones*(just under 5 months till your home again)

I don't know if you all keep up with the updated emails I post here of Elder Bobby Jones on his mission, but if you happen upon our family blog and scroll all the way down to the bottom that's where you'll find all the most recent scoop of whats going on with our Missionary. So for today I thought I'd share some recent photos he sent home in his last few emails to show you his great big smile, and for all of those who have asked about how he is doing ... see for yourself...He's busy busy busy... sharing the restored gospel with all the passion of his personality and LOVING what he's doing! and here's a quote from him in one of his previous emails ..."This has been a great experience to see the Lord mighty work through his servants (the missionaries) to bring about the eternal life & happiness of his children! I truly am grateful to be apart of that and for having an awesome family and great friends like you all back home cheering me on. I couldn't ask for anything more!" Elder Jones

She did it Again!

Wendy auditioned for Borough Honor Choir and All Sate Choir along with Northwestern Choir. She MADE it into Honor Choir and performed this evening,..singing 6 songs in 4 different languages (English, Swaheelee, Hebrew, Spanish) singing under a guest director from New York. We were very proud of her! Then she informed us that she made it into ALL STATE CHOIR! (*we wont know about her status of the Northwestern Choir for another month or so)
Here is a picture of her happy smile AFTER the concert was over.
CONGRATS WENDY BIRD...we LOVE to hear you sing!

FALL is in the air! And the girls were getting restless...So late one after noon last week a few of my girls decided to go for an Autumn walk, but by the time they got dressed and was done goofing off... it was starting to get dark. They took the camera and here are a few shots of them being silly!

And here are a few more pictures of the girls being silly...it must be something IN THE AIR~!

2 new clipart sets Released by Carolee Jones from PcCrafter

PcCrafter released two new sets from me. One last month called TRAVEL BUG OUTDOORS, and one just yesterday called PiRats
For more details...click on the links below and then the preview link under the cover page. There will be arrows to click forward to view all the images included in each set!
ENJOY!
TravelBug Outdoors
PiRats

I've been TAGGED!

My sister-in-law Tagged me and normally I don't do these sort of things...but figured I might as well ...but NO blackmailing or teasing of any kind afterwards!!!
Here goes:
What was I doing 10 years ago?:
My memory isn't what it use to be, but that would be 1998... the year we bought the CUSTOM LETTERING & SIGNS business.EVERYTHING changed after that and I became a stay at home working mom on top of everything else. If I did not know how to multitask or dovetail my responsibilities as a mother, wife,' professional do everything business , church & community.' person...I learned quickly to sink or swim that year! I DID BOTH!
Whats on my -TO DO LIST- for today?:
* Call and check in with Rob @ 5:30am
* Get girls up for seminary & school @6:00am
* Exersize (40 minute Turbo Jam Cardio tape) remembering to wear the weight gloves to add that extra umph of effort!
* Reheat soup from last night for girls to take in their thermoses for lunches ( Two of the 4 girls are suffering from head colds-poor things)
* Make breakfast: scrambled eggs, English muffins, sausage (*note, remember to defrost and cook up two vegitarian sausages for Brittany, who won't do red meat)
* Help with girls lunches if needed ( * If they have food for the day they wont be as cranky when they come home...saves me A LOT Of grief!)
* Check my emails, send off a few replies
* Take my vitamins & drink a whole bottle of water BEFORE my walk
* Eat my own scrambled eggs n sausage sandwich (on my walk)
* Go for a 2 1/2 mile walk with Janeal ( it's Pat's bowling day so she's wont be joining us today)
* Shower & Eat a snack
* Check emails and visit with Friends online briefly
* Check to see if Bobby emailed us so I can update the family blog
* Continue working on line art in prep for painting artwork for PcCrafter (* 30 images due with in a weeks time)
* Call Mom and check on her
* Be aware Wendy might call and need to be picked up from school not feeling well. ( she made a bargain with me she'd go..as long as I'd come get her later in the day if she couldn't handle it with her stuffy nose and congested sinus/head thing)
* Visiting Teachers coming to visit at 3:30 (*make sure Jessica stays put so she can be taught too)
* Check with girls about homework load and turn the TV OFF after an hour of down time after school
* Fix Tacos for dinner
* Eat with the girls and be SURE they all have something!
* Do two more loads of laundry
* Unload dishwasher and reload it
* Continue drawing/painting on deadline for PcCrafter
* Call Rob and report days events
* Have Prayers with the girls and get to bed before midnight...again!
* ... go over list of things to do in my head before falling asleep!
3 Things you might not know about me:
1. I love being in the SUNSHINE, feeling it on my face and soaking into my skin till it warms up my very core!mmmmm (*so YES I suntanning weekly and dream of far off white shores and bluegreen waters often)
2. I dye my hair every three months, under those pretty warm chocolate, brown sugar and honey colors are shiney silver strands that my kids like to call 'magic' which comes from stress and of coures my genentics from both my mom and dad's side of the family. Both my grandmothers were completely gray by the time they were in their mid 20's and 30's. I just turned 40...Yikes!
3. I always wanted to illustrate a childrens book ...who knows... someday it might happen!
3 Bad habits of mine:
1. Over annalizing things and forget to take time out to breathe
2. I fold my clothes..but often place them in neat piles on the floor, not in my closet
3. Talking too much in detail ( people don't always want that version)
4 TV shows or Movies I Love:
1. CSI (I'm always intriged by the trail of details that lead to the end)
2. The Mentalist ( a new TV show *all about noticing the details!!! and the main character is a hottie!)
3. So you think you can dance (I LOVE to watch and critque)
4. Rachael Ray (she has great cooking recipes and tips)
4 Books I love:
*gosh I don't make time to read very often but the few I have read are:
1. The whole 10 books from the "Tennis Shoes Amoung the Nephites" series, by Chris Hiemerdinger (his writting style is complicated with several story lines all going on at the same time and he leaves you hanging in suspense at the end of every single book. Plus I've never read anything that motivated me to go into the scriptures and read deeper about the details that might be inbetween the written words.
2. "Take Two Chocolates and call me in the morning", by Emily Watts
(*I just attended a TIME OUT conference where she was a speaker and WOW, she's better in person! LOVE how normal she is and how I relate to fighting that "GUILT Trip" daily!)
4 Jobs I've had:
1. Paper route (hated this one cuz I had to get up early and after rolling the papers it left INK all over my hands that felt dry, and... then at the end of each month I had to ask the people to PAY me...I still hate asking for money wether its due to me or not)
2. Busser at Jaspers (in Kent, Washington as a teenager)
3. Graphic Designer (self employeed with our Sign Business CLS)
4. Art Teacher at a Charter school for a year ( LOVED this job,but still got butterflies each morning worried I wasn't good enough to teach)
...and I know it only said 4, but...
the last one to note is my BE ALL/EVERYTHING JOB as a Mother & Wife. If I had to break down my specific jobs I'd have a resume that was endless, but typical of all the other mom's I know WE DO DO IT ALL!
4 Places I've lived:
1. Downey, Idaho
2. Kent Washington
3. Texas (not sure where and I was ony 3 months at the time)
3. Haines, Anchorage and Homer, ALASKA
5 of my Favorite Foods:
1. Kraft Maccaroni & Cheese, green beans and a green salad
2. Land's End- Clam Chowder & famous sour dough bread
3. Deep Dish PIZZA with the works (minus the little fishes and peperoni)
4. Those little oven roasted italian appitizer baggets with the tomatoe, spinich, motz and fresh basil with olive oil and meditranian balsmic vinegret on top YUM!
5. Creme' brule' * and when ever I go out to eat, if they have it, I order it first and enjoy every mouthfull as if it was heaven ( Rob always tells me to keep it down or the other customers will get jeleous!)

SO THERE YA HAVE IT! I did one! now TAG your it!....

a NEW doo for Jessica

I forgot to mention that after 5 years of growing her hair out, Jessica finally decided to cut her hair. Most of her friends were headed off to college and one of her best friends cut her hair too, so in the excitement of all that she got hers cut as well! It was fun to see a GROUP of friends all show up at the Elcipz Salon to watch & support Jessica as she had almost 12 inches cut off and trimmed to a new sassy style. Here are the pictures of it straight and naturally curly with the fun of being able to run her fingers through it and flip a few curls here and there.
I have to admit...she sure looks grown up in her new hair doo!

Gathering of the Jones family WINTER FUEL

During Rob's last week home, he managed to get all his girls but Krystal and go up to a friends place and load up the large trailer full of logs from trees Rob had previously bucked up.
So here are a few pictures of the family (minus Krystal who had to work that day) standing atop of the wood pile that will of course need to be split on Rob's next time home from the slope.
Our good Friend Nate L. and Rob share a splitter and take turns using it, so I'll have to be sure he can bring it into town and find time to get all the girls together and help cut up that pile of wood for our winter fuel. Everyone knows how MOM likes to be warm and when the momma ain't happy the whole house ain't happy, so the girls will willingly HELP, once I remind them of that fact.

What a beautiful Smile!

Just look at that pretty smile!
On Thursday last week, we drove to Soldotna (and hour and a half drive away from Homer where we live) and visited Dr. Justin Moore our family Orthodontist, where Krystal had her braces taken OFF!!! She was so excited and you can see it in her pretty smile! I see a slight resemblance to her older brothers broad smile as well. "Hey Elder Bobby Jones...what do you think?"
Wendy is next in line to have her brace treatment completed and we'll update you all when that event happens for her. But in the meantime as a proud mother of some knock out- dead- gorgeous girls I'm taking a few moments to spot light and show off the hard work of Dr. Moore & Krystal...and of course to say...
THANK YOU GRANDPA BATSON for your generous funding to pay for her pretty smile. Now the trick will be to keep the boys at bay, its a good thing Krystal doesn't know how cute she is or we'd REALLY be in trouble!
CONGRATS to a happy healthy smile sweatheart!

HAPPY 40th Carolee

On the 18th of this month I turned the big "40", I can't believe I'm that OLD already!
It all started out with an early phone call from my mom who was down in Idaho helping out my sister after just having her 5th baby. Mom n my nephews, Mitchell & Logan and niece Mykala all sang Happy Birthday to me. Then Rob called and managed to rope all the 'guys' on the slope he was working with to sing to me as well. Next I headed out for a extended walk from my house to the end of the spit (*about 7 miles) with my walking buddy Pat Evarts. Then I went to the Homer Inn Day Spa for an hour body massage by Adam, YUM! (*was nice to have the knots and tight spots worked out after that long walk and stressful work week). Then I went to my tanning appointment and soaked up some quick vitamin D and heat! In between all that I received a few more Happy Birthday wishes via the phone from other friends while lounging in the sunshine on a public bench in front of the family theater in town.
Then I walked down town and met Brittany Bug my youngest daughter for lunch. After which we walked over to Sunny Service where JJ, our neighbor and mechanic had just finished working on the fuel pump on the Suburban so I could drive home and pick up Wendy and be back in town for an afternoon matinée at the movies ( we saw GET SMART). After that we went to Jessica's work place and waited till she got off so she could come home and join the party where Krystal had just got off her work as well (she biked home from the spit and was resting). Then we had a little family celebration with white roses from my girls, ice cream & chocolate & caramel syrup, cheese cake and strawberries for gifts and some nice cards. Then we all got dressed up and headed back out to Land's End (a nice restaurant, but also the place where Krystal works...we had to drag her back out there for some reason), and had dinner together! YUM We took some pictures and videos and then headed home to snuggle up in pj's on my bed and watch some TV/movies together.
All in all it was a GREAT DAY with beautiful sunshine (*of which I was in desperate need of) my lovely girls and a day full of recreation and relaxation! The only thing it was missing was Rob, who just got home early this morning and missed the celebrations by a few days. (*He promised to make it up to me and I wonder how he'll do that...*wink*)
SO now that's over...I wonder what the next 40 years will bring.

FINALY...some organization to my work space!

FINALLY,... I have some order & organization to all my 'stuff'. This has been an on going process but as I've accumulated I haven't really designated a home for all my tools and a space to actually WORK or PLAY as I call it. So with the help of my husband to build some shelves and some much needed plastic containers and drawers I put almost everything in a permanent space. I still have a few remaining piles of supplies to go through and put away in the living room where it was temporarily stashed till I could get to it, but WOW what a good start hu! Now I have a drawing/painting work area and a crafting/scrap booking/stamping work area and if i have a project I shouldn't have to move it or put it away so the space can be used for something else, which was the problem before and my projects just kept getting moved from place to place never having a real home. NOW MY STUFF HAS HOMES! ha ha ha..don't we all need a place to call our own! So with out further a dew.. here are some pictures to show off what I did so far. I still need to add some lighting over each area but again.. I'm excited to just have gotten this far! Now for the rest of the office...ugh thats going to be my next big project and hopefully it won't take me so long.

Some get made, some get even, some clean, some go Bike riding!

Well it's been a while since I posted whats been going on in our family so I thought i'd post and share some recent pictures of it all. To start off our family celebrated the 4th of July with the Carol Family up in Soldotna as Coltin's mom ( the boy that Jessica is seeing) invited us, and even though both Krystal and Jessica had to work till almost 4pm we still took the drive and joined them. I managed to bake two large pan full of homemade crescent rolls, one wheat one white, a large pot of calico beans, and a raspberry Jell-O dessert with us. The weather was nasty so none of the girls dressed for water sports, unfortunately when we arrived the Carol's were sporting rides on the tubes and boats. We just visited and ate! Then we stayed late to make smores by the fire near the edge of the lake at their house. It was peaceful but we sure wished we had better weather. Anyways Coltin thought we were leaving (since Jess had to work early in the morning) and took off to hang out with some other friends and left Jessica wondering, so needless to say she was a bit steamed. So the next day afterwork she conned Wendy into a long 20 mile bike ride to blow off some steam ( hence the title of this post!)
Here are some before and after pics of the two girls.