Destination: Snow, the video

Video: November 28, 2007

Another fine home video, again with me laughing off-camera at Jonas. I seem to do that a lot in these videos. He's just so darn funny.

Destination: Snow

Photos: November 28, 2007

We decided to go find some snow to play in today and do a winter photo shoot. We thought we would find a decent amount of snow just outside of Sisters, but ended up going all the way to Suttle Lake. Even there the snow wasn't more than a couple inches. That didn't stop Jonas, though. He spent his snow-time finding hills to slide down, making bunny tracks in the snow and (trying) to make a snowman. Unfortunately, the snow was so dry that it wouldn't stick together enough to make a snowman, but that didn't faze Jonas. He just moved on to the then next hill to slide down. Maybe next time we'll take a sled.

Tips on Comments and Fashion

Photos: October 20, 2007

It seems some visitors to this blog are having trouble leaving comments. I think the problem might be that you have to do the word verification thing (where it has some funky looking letters and say "type in the letters that you see") AND you have to choose whether you want to post as a Google member, as anonymous or as other. If you choose Google member you just have to sign in with your user name and password. For anonymous you don't have to leave your name at all (but you could just include it in with your comment) and with "other" it will have a place for you to type in your name. So choose how you want to leave your message first and then type in your comment and click "publish your comment". I hope this helps.

The photos above commemorate the first day Jonas really showed an interest in picking out what he wanted to wear, or rather, how he wanted to accessorize his outfit. I'm sure it's quite evident the items that he picked to put on. I quickly snapped these photos just before we headed out the door to Wal*Mart. Jonas proudly wore this glorious ensemble for all to see.

Searching

Photos: October 2007
Here's my latest digital layout using this year's photos from the pumpkin patch. I messed around with the colors and I love how they came out.

Autumn, Happiness is Bliss

Photos: October 2006
Journaling: October 2007

I had so many photos from our visit to the "farm" last year that I had to do two two-page layouts to get even a fraction of the best ones in. 27...that's right, count 'em...27 photos on these two layouts. (I must have at least 40 more photos leftover that are just as cool/funny/sweet.) So for you die-hard Jonas fans, you can now compare 3 years of visits to the farm at the following posts:

Age 1: Investigating on the Farm
Age 2: Autumn, Happiness is Bliss (this post)
Age 3: Horses, Burros and Pumpkins, Oh My! and Autumn Outing

Color RED!

Photos: September 2006
Journaling: September 2007

Wow, Jonas was really in need of a haircut when these photos were taken. It looks like he stepped right out of the 70's.

The Toy Basket

Photos: September 27, 2007

It is so hard to take photos in our house at night. Not enough light and the camera flash makes everything look weird. But despite being less-than-perfect, these photos are keepers because of the reminder of one of Jonas' favorite games: Toy Basket. Ok, maybe that's not the actual name of the game but that's the most important item you need to play the game. I think the game started two winters ago and the basic format is as follows.

1. Jonas hauls the toy basket over to the area rug.
2. Jonas demands mom or dad "sit on pillow!" beside the basket.
3. All toys are dumped out of basket.
4. Jonas climbs in basket and sits down (which is getting more and more difficult to do as he gets bigger.)
5. Parent is expected to hand Jonas toys one at a time until all toys are piled on Jonas.
6. Jonas hands all toys back to parent one at a time until basket is empty.
7. Repeat 100 times.

A variation of the game would be after step 5, Jonas tries to stand up with all the toys on top of him. Try this at home and you too can experience the endless hours of fun.

What's a Puggle?

Photos: September 26, 2007

A Puggle is a baby platypus and Jonas has recently become one. Our church has Awana Club on Wednesday nights that Tony and I help with and now Jonas gets to go, too. He and 7 other preschoolers make up the Puggles group. They are all so incredibly cute in their matching t-shirts. Jonas was really excited to go on the first night...and that was the last time he was excited to go. He always protests and cries a little when I drop him off but he soon forgets about being unhappy. Ultimately he loves to sing songs, color and join in the Puggle fun with everyone else.

Horses and Burros and Pumpkins, Oh My!

Photos: October 12, 2007

Jonas always seems to like animals until he actually encounters them in real life. We were surprised that he was brave enough to gather up some hay and throw it (from a distance) in to the horses and burros (his word). He must have decided they were not too scary if they were behind bars.

The bottom photo is the best (and only) pumpkin we found to take home.

Autumn Outing

Photos: October 12, 2007

As usual, I took tons of photos in hopes of getting at least a few good ones. Here are a few of Farmer Jonas at work.

Autumn Outing...the videos

Videos: October 12, 2007


We went out to D&D Ranch in Terrebonne for our annual encounter with rural life. I put a camo John Deere tractor shirt on Jonas so he wouldn't be the obvious "city kid" at the farm. He could actually pull the wagon out to the pumpkin patch this year instead of just riding in it and it was hilarious (yes, that's me laughing on the video.) He really needed a 4-wheel-drive wagon for where he wanted to take the it. Jonas would have loved to go 4-bying out through the pumpkins and cornstalks for as long as we would let him. He couldn't BELIEVE it when we told him we had to leave...10 minutes of tears and sobbing. "But I need to get more pumpkins for my wagon!!" So fun.

Sandbox Boy

Photos: September 26, 2007

Autumn is a great time for the sandbox. Not too warm and, usually, not too cool. Jonas is really into driving his trucks on paths in the sand. I was World's Best Mom, at least for the rest of the afternoon, when I used the hoe to make a path around the entire perimeter of the sandbox, which included four giant hills. (Giant is Jonas' description. The hills were approx. 4 inches high. Apparently that is quite impressive by 3-year-old standards.) Sandbox time is great for wearing him out and guaranteeing a long nap.

Comments Made Easy

Photo: September 1, 2007

For those of you who would like to comment on this blog, you can now do so without having a Google account. A fellow blogger (thanks, Sarah) gave me some tips so I could change my settings to make it a little easier for people to leave comments. If you have a Google account and want to sign in to leave you comments, that still works just the same. Or you can leave a comment by doing a word-verification. Word verification is simply a way to prevent spam comments...similar to the dreaded spam email that everyone gets. If you do leave a comment without signing in, make sure to include your name so I know who is being so nice as to take the time to comment (I'm keeping score you know...)

The photo above is of the world's longest on-going bathroom remodel (technically going on for over 5 years now.) This was the day Tony and our friend Jamey (thanks, Jamey) moved our claw-foot bathtub back inside after being on our back porch for 3 years. Jonas was so excited to see that big tub he insisted on getting in it immediately and played in there for about 20 minutes. He a great self-entertainer when he wants to be. For those who don't already know, I work at a ceramic tile place where we produce hand painted tile. Over the last six years I've collected tile that was going in our junk pile and ended up using it to tile the bathroom. Kinda crazy but it was free, and free is a very good price.

Oh, and those two dark spots on the floor in front of the tub are Jonas' footprints painted on the tiles...so many cool things you can do with tile.

Oops, He Did It Again

Photos: September 20, 2007

Yes, if you are keeping score this is head trauma #4 in young Jonas' 3 short years. Just to recap:

#1 @ 18 months old; fell while walking and hit top left head on door trim, split head open.
#2 @ 2+ yrs; fell while walking and hit head on metal edge of bed frame, split left cheek open.
#3 @ 3+ yrs (two weeks ago) fell while in shower w/ me hit head on edge of tub, huge goose egg.
#4 @ 3+ yrs (see photos) fell while on toilet hit head on mystery object, medium goose egg.

Accidents #3 and #4 were just two weeks apart and he hit his head in exactly the same spot. He recovers quickly though, no concussion or anything. If someone asks if he got an owie he responds "Yep. But I'm OK!" It's interesting that all four of these accidents have occurred within 6 feet of each other, two in the bathroom. Isn't there a statistic about the huge percentage of falls/accidents that occur in the bathroom? I think that percentage is even higher simply due to our 3 year old. "I'm OK!!!"

Bandages

Photos: September 3, 2007

We've been potty training with Jonas for a few months now. He came up with his own reward system of getting a cool bandage (not band-aid, he will correct you if you say that) when he successfully uses the toilet. He also gets 3 Sesame Street stickers on his "Toilet Chart" (a piece of paper on the back of the bathroom door w/ a picture of a toilet and his name on it) which he loves almost as much as the bandage. Jonas was extremely excited when Auntie DeAnne, Big Uncle and Cousin Cody included a tin box of cowboy bandages as part of his birthday present. There were 30 bandages in the box and they lasted less than 3 weeks. As you can see in the photos, at one point he had his entire left leg covered. Usually the bandages last a day or two at the most since they come off in the bath...not so with the huge brown cowboy bandages. Apparently they were made for cowboys who like their bandages extra sticky so they stay on forever. After several days Tony made Jonas take them off which, not surprisingly, ended in tears. But, never fear, there's an infinite number of opportunities to earn more bandages. We've already been through a box of Backyardigans bandages and Peanuts (Jonas says Snoofy) bandages and now we're halfway through SpongeBob Squarepants. The best part is that Jonas always has some scrapes and scratches on his legs and lots of bandages but never bandages over the scratches...they are just for decoration, not medical purposes.

Everywhere that Mary went...the video

Video: August 2007

This is my first attempt at using the new video upload feature of Blogger. I had a better/longer video here earlier but it took a hour to "buffer" (whatever that means) and I didn't think most people would be into an hour wait for a 60 second video. So this one is super short, 9 seconds, but you'll get the idea of Jonas' non-stop singing and running with his balloon. Would love to hear if everyone can view it. Sorry about the shaking, swerving camera ...this is home video at it's best (or worst.) I hope everyone can hear Jonas singing, and panting...hilarious.

Crazy Green Diggin' Machine

Photos: September 2006

Love how this turned out...the super-bright green is my fave.

Sweet Smile

Photo: May 2007

I'm sure you all recognize this photo from our vacation pictures. I was just messing around with Photoshop Elements and came up with this. Kinda cool.

Make Me a Tiger, grrrr

Photos: July 27, 2007

Jonas had opened his gifts from Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Jim while we were at their house celebrating Auntie DeAnne's birthday (the day after Jonas' bday.) He got a really cool alphabet book that works like a dry erase board that he can write in and then wipe off and reuse. Auntie DeAnne is so clever that she discovered the markers for that book come off your skin really easy and so she and Uncle took over the markers and painted Jonas' face. Jonas was so into it. He wanted to be a tiger, grrrr. After awhile he decided to make Auntie a tiger (grr) and make Mommy a yak (yak, yak....I don't know what sound a yak makes.) After we got home he referred to me as a yak several times and at one point said "Oh, you silly yak."

More Cool Headgear

Photos: August 10, 2007

Scene: getting ready to go for a walk w/ Jonas in the stroller.

Jonas: Hey. Mom. Should you wear a hat?
Me: I have a bandana on so I don't need a hat.
Jonas: Welllllll......(incoherent muttering)
Me: Do you want a bandana, too?
Jonas: YES!!!!! I WANT ONE, TOO!!!

Everywhere that Mary went...

Photos: August 18, 2007

Jonas got this orange balloon when we were at Home Depot one weekend. He discovered that it was the-coolest-thing-ever to pretend it was his pet lamb. Yes, most kids would have decided it was a dog but Jonas chose a lamb, as in: Mary had a little lamb. He was near collapse after running around our backyard for close to an hour dragging that half deflated balloon and singing non-stop "And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went, that lamb was sure to GO!!" That was the only part he sang but he sang it with gusto.

TWO

This is Jonas' 2nd birthday party...like I said before, I'm about a year behind with my scrapbooking. I took so many photos that I had to do two, two-page layouts to get all the good ones in. I love seeing the difference between his first birthday and his second one. A lot changes in a year.

Birthday Lunch

We took a break from all the activities at the Children's Museum to have some lunch at Red Robin. It's a great place to go with kids since it seems like one big ongoing party. We, of course, told our server that it was Jonas' birthday so they would bring balloons and a nice big sundae with a cherry on top and sing their crazy Red Robin birthday song. The top photo is Jonas' reaction to their singing...he was really amazed at the whole thing. Next photo is him delicately removing the cherry to give to Kelly...he's not a fan of cherries. Then you can see Kelly waiting patiently for Jonas to enjoy the first bite before (next photo) she dives in with him. I had to put the camera down and grab a spoon too, before they scarfed it all down.

Children's Museum, Vet Clinic

Kelly and I thought the Vet Clinic was very cool with tons of different (stuffed) animals to choose from that you could "doctor" on. They had scrubs to dress up in and stethoscopes and x-ray machines to use. It took several tries to get Jonas to even go in the vet clinic and once he did he bandaged a monkey, stuffed it in a pet carrier and he was outta there. It was maybe just a little too realistic and reminded him of his trips to the doctor.