Keeping up with the Jones'

Disney World - Day 1, travel day and Magic Kingdom

2017-02-03T14:07:00.001-06:00

Every night before bed on our trip, I took detailed notes of the day on my phone. There were so many things I didn't want to forget and figured that was the only way to remember. I am so thankful I did...you will see lots of details!

The day was here!! We were so excited and ready to get out of town!

Our flight was at 7 which means we were up before 4am, too early! Kids were happy to be up and talked all the way to the airport. They were super excited to get on the plane, no nerves. Adam got the "easy" kid for the flight, while I was sandwiched by these two...

Lucky me! Clearly I didn't get much sleep the night before, hence the bags under my eyes.

The girls were so good on the plane! We had a nonstop flight and they kept busy. Laney watched a movie and colored everything we brought with us. P slept for over an hour. She was a bit restless during landing, but overall-so smooth!

In the background is what I mean by Adam getting the "easy" kid. The kid that will sit and watch/play on iPad while Adam naps.

Our circus going to pick up our bags...yes, all of that stuff was carried on the plane. The joys of flying with little ones.

Woot Woot! We got on the bus to the hotel around 10:30. Laney fell asleep on Adam on the bus. Piper said, "we on a bus like pawpaws." We got checked into the hotel, ate lunch at our resort and then hopped on the bus to magic kingdom.

The girls were ecstatic to see Cinderella's castle.

Aladdin, their first ride. Typical Cooper fashion, he was needing to take it all in before he was ready to jump in. He sat on sidelines with me while Dad and the girls rode.

It was so fun to watch them smiling!

And she decided to crash again. She did this a lot at the parks, would nap in stroller or Adam's arms while we went about our day. We were in line for Pirates of Caribbean ride. Kids were nervous because they knew it was water ride but we couldn't see what the ride was. Well, it was dark-told the story of the movie. There was a drop...nothing huge but got a little wet...big kids crying, Adam and I laughing and Piper sleeping thru it all.

We walked around just trying to get a feel of the park. No one wanted to ride Splash Mountain with me. We decided to take it easy and ride the train to the front of the park so we could head to dinner. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to P in underwear (she had been potty trained for over a month at that point). After nap, I picked her up to get on the train. I said a couple of times, "tell me if you have to go potty, don't pee on me." And then I felt something warm on my side. I told her to stop and we went to the nearest restroom. About 20 steps from bathroom, she peed all over me and the ground...I just kept walking. So after the bathroom we got on the train, both soaked in pee. Of course I had change of clothes for her...not me, so I went on the rest of our evening soaked in pee. It's funny now, not so much at the time.

We took a ferry from Magic Kingdom over to Wilderness Lodge where we had dinner reservations at BBQ place. At dinner, Laney peed herself before I could get her to restroom. What was happening to my children!?!? No change of clothes for her either, so we were stinky pee sisters. We got the bus back to our hotel around 7:30, we were all delirious at this point.

We showered everyone when we got back to the room and went to bed. Piper cried herself to sleep in the pack and play-this was the view from my bed. Cooper and Laney shared a bed. We heard Cooper say to Laney, "let's cuddle." Laney abruptly said, 'no." Pretty fitting of their personalities.

Out of order but, this was us headed out of Magic Kingdom on day 1. You will notice that Piper's pants don't match. Thankfully I was wearing black so you can't see I am pee soaked.

Next up was a full day at Magic Kingdom!

Wrapping up February before we headed to Disney World!!!

2017-01-30T13:54:00.003-06:00

Hard to find Piper among all her sleeping buddies.

A warmish night by the fire

We had a couple warmer days in February so we took advantage and got outside! We read books,

played in the backyard,

had waffles for breakfast in the sunshine,

created forts out of patio furniture,

and played some more. Man, I am really hoping for a few of these days this February!

She celebrated her 1/2 birthday at preschool!

Cooper was really into ArtforKids on YouTube. I was really impressed with his illustrations-better than I could do!

This girl always loves when we take Lola on car rides with us!

Next up-Disney World!!!!!!!

Cheer Camp for Laney

2017-01-30T13:42:00.003-06:00

Last year Laney did this cheer camp and loved it! Here is the post from last year, http://adamashleyjones.blogspot.com/2015/02/cheer-camp-for-laney.html and I can't believe how little she looks!!!

She was really excited to do it again and much less hesitant.

Adam was unfortunately out of town again this year-bad timing! We got to sneak away for some one-on-one time for dinner before going to her performance.

Look at that big girl!

She had fun was so stinkin' cute!

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch the cheerleader!

Here are a couple of videos from her performance,

https://youtu.be/cWJZXpfORt4 and https://youtu.be/IcalyYW9NiE

Coop's 1st Basketball Season

2017-01-30T13:20:00.004-06:00

I was so excited for Cooper's first basketball season! It's my favorite sport to watch and he loves it too.

Most of these boys have played baseball and/or soccer together, so they were a great team from the beginning. Their 2 coaches are the head coach of soccer and head coach of baseball so the boys were used to them as leaders and they know the boys so well.

One part of his cheer squad.

We always sat near the door because the girls were usually running to the water fountain/bathroom.

Coop was really fun to watch, in fact-the whole team was!

He caught on quickly and was a good team player!

We loved watching our superstar this season!

Valentine's Day 2016

2017-01-29T16:35:00.000-06:00

We stretched Valentine's Day out all week.

This is what Cooper took to class.

Laney working writing her name.

And Pippi doing her thing-feeding a baby.

See his forehead-that's the aftermath of the run in with the wall.

They had an assignment to create a heart full of things they love. We brainstormed together and then I found pics.

I love what he chose and the family pictures.

Laney's finished product.

A cute 2 year old at breakfast!

Her Valentine's party was a PJ party!

Checking out all her goodies after school

I randomly found these 2 underneath Adam's sink.

A few little Valentine's graphing with candy hearts. Of course they didn't any ;).

I love to catch him napping which isn't very often.

Cash and Quincy came over to play one afternoon and evening. These two had to potty together.

They were building masterpieces out of marshmallows and toothpicks.

She joined in.

We did some fun little games. They were trying to drop a quarter from their forehead into that bowl.

Relay races-she had a spoon in her mouth with a candy heart on it.

Cousin Fun!

One more time on the potty.

Valentine's Day for the kiddos!

Another weekend means another sleepover for these two.

Adam and the kids brought me breakfast in bed on Valentine's Day morning.

After church we went out to lunch as a family. Piper sat with Adam and I.

These 2 sat at their own table.

Laney tried to carry on a conversation while Cooper watched ESPN.

We wrapped up the weekend with some jumping at Urban Air!

A little bit of everyday life in February

2017-01-29T16:18:00.001-06:00

Random life moments in February...

While I was out on date with Laney, Piper started not feeling well.

This is a sure sign of a sick Pippi, she had fallen asleep on the couch with Adam.

These 2 always wanting to sleep together.

Another day, more couch time with sick Pippi.

She ended up in our bed early one morning.

Is is weird that I have so many pics of her sick and sleeping?? She is never this peaceful so I just kept snapping away!!

Some paper bag creations that Coop made.

Who knows? I probably wouldn't let her have ice cream for breakfast.

Cooper was running circles around our living room, turned a corner, slipped and put a dent in our wall! When I heard him hit, I was sure we were headed for stitches! Luckily, it was just a goose egg.

Doing what they do best, playing babies.

Piper was missing and we found her in Cooper's shower conditioning her hair.

Dress up at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Mommy and Laney Date Night!

2017-01-29T16:01:00.002-06:00

Cooper had been out with Adam/I a few times in January so I decided it was Laney's turn. I took her out on a special date, lucky me to spend some time with that girl!

She got all dressed up for me and fixed her hair! We went to Jalapenos for dinner, her choice.

Then I took her to Barnes and Noble to get a couple of books.

KU Basketball Game...back in February, as in 2016!

2017-01-29T15:44:00.003-06:00

What better way to break up the Winter February blues than Allen Fieldhouse for a basketball game with my favorite guys!!

Reading up on the history of basketball.

We have been to a few games since this one and this is what he does everytime. He is our statistician. He tracks every basket, free throw and foul for the Hawks.

At our happy place!

Perry! Whoop Whoop! I resisted hopping in the picture myself ;). Kidding, kind of.

Always such a fun night!

An hour drive home usually means he's sound asleep by the time we get back home.

100th Day of School and Dance Class

2017-01-29T15:34:00.003-06:00

Here I am 6 months later-yikes! I refuse to let this blog die even if it means posts are months apart and posts are a year behind...must document this life!!

4 1/2 years old and loving dance class!

She does tap and ballet and I chase Piper around the waiting area.

The 100th day of Kindergarten...how did that happen!?

Disney Reveal!!!!

2016-08-29T07:25:00.002-05:00

Back in January/February 2015, Adam and I were talking about taking the kids to Disney in September of 2015. Then Urban Air came into the picture and we decided to put it on hold. Last Fall when the craziness of Urban Air started to die down a bit and we were sleeping again, I was ready to book our trip. Adam wasn't so sure but I was so sure so I managed to talk him into it. We booked our trip for end of February 2016. I booked our trip thru http://mixandmatchmama.com/travel/. They were awesome! A first trip to Disney World is overwhelming to plan and they took care of it all!!! We booked it in November but we didn't tell the kids until the end of January. I wanted them to know ahead of time so we could read/talk about it but we didn't want to give them too much time to ask about it ;).

I found a cute scavenger hunt on Pinterest.

Each clue had a word that created this sentence...

Each day we wrote how many days, it was pretty exciting!

And they're off! They were so excited, loved the scavenger hunt.

Cooper would read the clues and they took turns finding them.

Putting the clues in order.

When he realized what the sentence said...he had guessed it earlier during the scavenger hunt.

He asked if we had to fly on an airplane and started crying when we told him yes. This is why I told him in advance, this kid needs time to think about this kind of stuff. For the record, he was awesome flying, no problems at all!

These arrived a couple weeks later and everyone was pumped!! The kids were so excited about the bracelets.

Royals FanFest

2016-08-23T15:15:00.001-05:00

When your team wins the World Series and you have a baseball obsessed son, you must go to FanFest! Even if you know it's going to be a complete nuthouse with long lines and lots of people! I took Cooper out of school, left the girls at home and we headed downtown for some baseball fun.

He was in awe and I was too - it was an awesome setup.

Some players were speaking, couple were doing autographs (with crazy long lines) but he chose to do all the interactive baseball things. First up, the batting cages. He looks so little in that baggy sweatshirt and jeans...he's grown so much since January!

Taking it all in...as usual.

He waited awhile to get to play baseball on a small field. He was hilarious to watch, never stopped moving - he wanted badly to get the ball.

After all that anticipation and waiting, he and another kid collided and he ended up with a bloody nose/lip...nothing bad but enough to sit out for a couple batters.

The last thing we did was the virtual pitching machine.

I love nothing more than taking the kids to things they truly love and baseball is definitely this kid's number 1 love...besides me of course ;).

We had brought his Royals book/sharpie and just happened to run into David Glass as we were walking out!

Potty Training - round 1 in January

2016-08-19T15:18:00.001-05:00

In January Piper decided she wanted to start going to the bathroom on the big potty. This was totally led by her, I was dragging my feet. I thought she was too young but she persevered so I jumped on board.

Lots of these pictures ;)

She was naked quite often in January.

We ran into a roadblock at Cooper's basketball game one day in January. The toilet flushed before she got down and she was petrified. For quite awhile, she would not go in public toilets, so we would put her in pull ups. She would say she had to go, I would get her to bathroom and she would cling to me saying "no, no, no!!" That was fun ;)

We kept the little potty in our guest bath downstairs since that's where we are the majority of the time.

I am sure Adam will appreciate this ;). When she was potty training, she always liked to have a buddy in there with her.

Disney World came in February and we put her in pull ups for the trip after she peed all over me the first day. When we got home we just regressed and went back and forth between underwear and pull ups...basically what they tell you not to do! Definitely a 3rd child thing, I never would have done that with Coop!!! However, she has pooped on the potty since January, never went in diaper or pull up! We recently jumped back on the potty training bandwagon and at 2 1/2, she's totally rocking it!

Marvel Avengers Live!

2016-08-19T14:26:00.001-05:00

One of Cooper's Christmas presents was tickets to see Avengers Live in January. He was pumped!

I spy an Urban Air wristband ;).

He was so happy when he got home! He loved showing off his Spiderman cup from his snocone.

They got home late and he was talking a mile a minute all about the show!

Clearly he had a great time!

Open Gym and Arts/Crafts

2016-08-15T14:36:00.000-05:00

Cold January means indoor activities!

My kids love to hit up open gym. Funny thing...one of their favorite parts is the 2 trampolines!? Hello kids-I know a place that has a few trampolines ;).

She's was just getting comfortable doing the balance beam on her own.

Watercolor creations!

Cutting and gluing practice.

This is Cooper's idea of art...

He practiced these plays over and over again in our living room.

Hearts for Valentine's Day!

The kids loved creating these hearts!

Beginning of January

2016-08-15T14:27:00.001-05:00

How's that for a boring title?? It is what it is. Here's a peek into our January.

Mamaw Jones was in town and the gang hit up Scheels. Laney rode the ferris wheel for the first time and loved it!

Most Saturdays we were at the gym watching Coop play basketball!

They were fun (and sometimes funny) to watch in their first season.

We celebrated my mom's birthday!!

A rare moment where they are sitting still.

These two starting to perfect their baby playing...it's kicked into high gear throughout 2016.

I sent this to Adam one night from upstairs, he was downstairs...I was so cold I couldn't see straight. I.Hate.Winter.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

We had a rare warm January morning so they played playdoh in the garage.

It was a grill set so we were grilling hamburgers, hot dogs and making french fries. It's a hit!

Hello 2016-we started with a visit from the Zicks!

2016-07-26T15:22:00.003-05:00

Hello 2016!

The Zicks started our year off on a good note by coming to visit for a couple of days! Somehow, this is the only picture I have. We played at Urban Air, watched Ava-Grace dance in competition and just hung out.

My sister sent me this pic and the next morning Maggie and I drove downtown to buy it for Laney's room. She went 2 years with not one piece of furniture in her room! The girl deserved it and was over the moon excited.

They often choose to sleep together.

Sweet matching sisters in some new Christmas outfits.

This is a rare moment-you don't find Pippi sitting still for very long. She was loving her new mermaid blanket.

We worked all school year to get Laney writing her name the right way.

She brought in the new year with some teething.

KU played OU in a Big Monday game and it was an instant classic. Seriously! 3 overtimes! It was so intense! Of course Cooper stayed up to watch the whole thing. I couldn't put him to bed during an overtime!

The morning after-we were pretty pumped!!

It was also the big kids first day back to school after break. Good thing Cooper had afternoon Kindergarten-he needed to sleep in.

We took a bike ride while the big kids went to school

Lots of time playing with new Christmas toys.

This is winter in my house...always a mess! These projects make Adam cringe. I gave the girls some beans and bowls to play with while I made dinner and of course they created a disaster.

Cute little bum and high heels!

The last week of 2015!

2016-07-26T14:51:00.002-05:00

We left Wash, MO just in time to get back for our UA employee Christmas party.

These kids make me smile and want to poke my eyes out, all at the same time ;). Actually, they have restored my hope in teenagers. I am thankful for their commitment to our business.

We brought in Jalapenos, got them all fleece pullovers, did some fun giveaways and bought/put up a Volleyball net for them to play on employee nights.

The old guy got injured and we all were laughing!

Our holiday crafting!

We decided to end the last day of 2015 with breakfast at First Watch.

I am usually sandwiched between the 2 girls!

I thought he looked so grown up here but now that it's 6 months later...he looks so young to me!

These were my top 9 pics posted on Instagram in 2015! I agree-they each hold a special memory. That Halloween picture may be one of top pictures of all time.

Still insistent on potty training herself while we were discouraging it...3rd kid.

The girls went to my parents for New Years Eve. Coop went with us to a neighborhood party and stayed up past midnight partying with his buddies!

2015-you were a good one!

Christmas In Wash, MO

2016-07-19T21:50:00.002-05:00

We arrived at Adam's parents' house around midnight, got the kids settled and woke up ready to celebrate with everyone!

Laney got right to beauty work, painting nails and doing makeup. Her first ~~victim~~ client was Mamaw.

The first night we were there we celebrated Christmas with a delicious dinner and of course, gifts. It is mass chaos -12 Grandkids all opening gifts at the same time.

They all got matching jammies!

And then had a dance party!

It rain non-stop! It was insane. Main roads/highways were shut down in Washington and St. Louis.

Laney was put in time out...can you see her?

There is a closer look...if I remember correctly, she fell asleep here in this little corner.

Silly girls put themselves in Lulu's kennel.

Yep, still raining!

Brody and Piper had many dinner dates...she often was stealing his food.

The Jones' grandkids...minus the 2 big kids, Braeden and Ava-Grace.

It was a fun week full of family-Cooper and Laney have the BEST time with their cousins!

Christmas Day 2015

2016-07-15T23:26:00.001-05:00

Christmas Day!!! Our kids are at the truly magical ages for Christmas. I was wanting to freeze time this past Christmas!

This year we opened stockings first (I think ;)). They always love their stockings! Coop was looking at a new Royals magazine.

Laney was pumped about her Doc McStuffins bandaids.

We left their main gift unwrapped from Santa and wrapped the rest from us (again, I think that was how we did it ;). Really should have taken some notes! Coop got a bat, glove and World Series Champs hat. Laney got a Bitty Baby and Pippi got a tent (which has already been trashed due to so much playing and rough housing in it-poor tent couldn't survive).

This girl was happy as could be eating the M&M's in her stocking.

Already using her stampable markers!

He got baseball cards in his stocking-was reading Adam all the facts about each player. That boy loves him some baseball!

We went to my parents for breakfast and more present opening. It was chaos...as expected.

Cousins!

I love this picture and all the people in it!

After lunch Adam took the kids to Urban Air for some jump time! The park was closed so they had the place to themselves, turned on the glow lights and had a blast!!!

See Laney up there?

We spent the rest of the day at my Grandma's eating and playing games. Yes, that's my grandma playing Twister :).

Laney wanted makeup for Christmas so she capitalized on it Christmas day. She painted just about every female's nails. See above ;).

My grandma was a very good sport.

Cousin Love! Pippi and Jules (just a week apart in age) watching Curious George on the couch.

More Twister

We came home from my Grandma's around 6pm. We were going to Washington in the morning to celebrate Christmas with the Jones. When we got home that evening we decided to pack up and head out Christmas night instead...yes, we are crazy. Our justification was less traffic and our kids would sleep the whole way. Piper isn't exactly pleasant on car trips so it was totally worth it. It was a busy day but in the best way!!

Christmas Eve 2015

2016-07-13T22:38:00.002-05:00

I will be honest-I don't remember what we did at all during the day of Christmas Eve! That's what happens when it takes you 7 months to blog-yikes!

Ok-let's go with the pictures I have and my little memory ;).

Cooper was annoyed-if I remember correctly, we had to wake him up from nap to go to church.

Ha! I remember now! He was mad because he had to wear pants and a shirt that buttoned! That boy does not appreciate getting dressed up...and by dressed up, I mean jeans as opposed to Nike pants ;). I remember one more thing and this is a big deal-the 5 of us were early to Christmas mass. Early! Did you hear that?! That's a big deal for us.

After church was dinner at my Grandma's house.

We came home and caught up on the Santa tracker. I LOVE the magic in this night-so much anticipation!

Adam read Twas the Night Before Christmas in bed to the kids.

The reindeer food was out and ready!

Adam put the kids to bed and ended up putting himself together.

So Mrs. Claus rocked Christmas Eve on her own sipping hot cocoa and watching Elf.

Cooper's Christmas Party and More

2016-07-05T20:54:00.001-05:00

Lots more pre-Christmas fun...

I got to go to Cooper's classroom Christmas party. Kindergarteners are so cute!

They are the sweetest group of kids!

The baby playing the baby.

Nineey the Elf up to no good.

We met the family for dinner at Jalapenos-the kids' fave is always the fried ice cream.

Then we took the kids to Urban Air to burn off some more energy.

We came home, had peppermint ice cream punch, and worked on crafts.

The kids "elfed" themselves-they turned out so cute and the kids loved creating them.

She decided to start potty training herself.

One night we loaded up the kids and drove around to look at Christmas lights.

We took Lola along and the girls were ecstatic!

We got out at one point to walk around a yard full of Christmas inflatables.

They even had fake snow!

It was quite the experience.

We are almost to Christmas Day!

Christmas Celebration at Church

2016-06-26T22:25:00.000-05:00

Our church had a Christmas celebration with crafts, cookies and of course, SANTA!!!

We met the cousins there.

Laney and Jules

Pigtail sisters!

And then Santa Claus arrived!

Santa arrived and she was petrified!

Laney went to visit on her own first-she was just so anxious!

This was as good as it got this year. Laney has a mouth full of cookies, Pippi is screaming and Cooper missed the memo on the Christmas outfit. Aaannndd, they lied thru their teeth about always listening to their mom and dad.

Best Friend Christmas Luncheon and Deanna Rose Christmas Lights

2016-06-26T14:39:00.002-05:00

Every year we have a lunch with my best friends, Ali and Stacey, all of our kids and our moms. We have been doing it since high school...so a lot of years ;).

Yep-Cooper is still the only boy in the midst of all those cute girls!!

Emery was so excited to love on Piper, however P wasn't being very reciprocal.

Of course my girls and I couldn't get enough of sweet baby Harper. Seriously-they wouldn't let go of her! We take pictures like this and send them to Adam...and then he doesn't respond ;).

Random picture...we took advantage of free milkshakes at Chick-Fil-A!

Our annual visit to Deanna Rose to see Christmas lights. The kids enjoy it for about 10 minutes and then they crawl all over us, each other, and the car.

She didn't like it and wanted to go home.

We snuck in as much Christmas fun as we could when not at Urban Air.

Pippi turns 2!

2016-06-25T21:41:00.002-05:00

Our baby turned 2 on December 12! Yes-that's 6 months ago ;). We spent her last night as a 1 year old at Urban Air...of course!

It was Friday night glow night and she was loving the air bag.

And then at 9:00pm-one of our party hosts decided she needed a cupcake which she devoured.

And there slept our baby for her last night as a 1 year old.

2 years ago, this sweet 9 lb, 7oz baby girl came into our lives!

We started the celebration at breakfast with muffins!

Then as a true 3rd child, she part of her day at Coop's basketball practice.

Then we continued celebrating the birthday girl!

Oooohhh-those sweet little toes!

Her favorite - a new baby!!!

Happy Birthday Pippi!

We had our families over for dinner and cake. The other KC Jones' with the birthday girl!

Oh sweet Pippi!

And in true form of Summer/Fall/Winter of 2015-Adam walked in the door mid-party after working at Urban Air.

We all love our Piper Marie so much!!!

Enjoying her cake!

Then she opened her presents with lots of help from cousins and siblings ;).

Another baby-woo hoo!!!!!

Some Great Grandma love

Admiring her new babies.

End of the night pics with her Grandparents...should have done these pics earlier-she was over it.

It was a good day celebrating our favorite 2 year old!

Laney's Christmas Program

2016-06-01T14:38:00.002-05:00

It was time for the preschool Christmas program! It was just Laney this year since Cooper has moved on to Kindergarten. She was so excited! See last year here.

Gunner is always a ham!

She sang her heart out and belted that bible verse!

Oh Nineey!

It was a beautiful December day so the girls and I went for a walk.

Here are the videos from her program,

https://youtu.be/G72hpLpaYSQ

https://youtu.be/v4CZg1vznCw