Long time no see

It's been awhile since I've been here. Christmas is a busy time of year. Here's a short update...
Dillon has been busy with Sophomore BB season. He worked at Broadway Used Furniture after school Tuesdays-Fridays 3:15-6 up until BB started. He didn't have much time for practice but is practicing hard these days. He often goes from BB practice to the YMCA. He's on the B Team this year and every game he seems to get better.

Cole recovered well from H1N1. He dropped down to 93 lbs. and just the other day hit a milestone 100 lbs.! He's been enjoying his iPod Touch and loves his down time after school. He's been hitting the YMCA a little more lately-getting ready for his BB season starting in January.

Brock has been enjoying Dad's time at home...that often means he gets to stay home when he's not in Preschool MWF mornings. He is completely addicted to XBox - Halo and Call of Duty 6. He often gets in trouble from his brothers for playing when they want to play and playing Live!

Christmas came and went and it's soon time to go back to school. We had 24 inches of snow that started Christmas Eve. We had some fun driving our snowmobiles around Minot city streets!

Our 2007 snowblower broke down again, and Donnie spent many hours on the phone trying to get something from Sears/Craftsman. He does not really enjoy the Christmas Season. He never thinks we need gifts/have too much stuff already, does not like the mess of the gifts in the house or the added decorations that clutter up our home, does not like putting up lights and then having to take them down when the snow piles up on the roof so that he can shovel off the roof. I know he'd rather take a trip somewhere than have to deal with Christmas.

We did have a good Christmas. Dillon got pickup stuff, Cole got Patriots and Duke and other sweatshirts, and a nice Duke blanket (also his iPod Touch), Brock got a Nerf Shotgun and RC Monster Truck and DS games.

Cole is sick

It's been a rough 6 days for Cole. Last Tuesday afternoon he got a headache and started to feel sick. He then stayed home for the rest of the week with a fever, sore throat, cough, headache. He thought he was feeling better Saturday - still weak and tired, but by evening he was declining and had a fever again. His fever has been up to 103*.

Today, Dad took him and Dillon to the doctor. Dillon was put on Prednisone for having stuff in his lungs. Cole was tested for all sorts of stuff (dr. didn't think he had H1N1). She thought it was mono or strep, but not. It's some sort of virus that his body is fighting off. His short-term iron count is depleted so he's supposed to take a vitamin with iron.

I hope he getsbetter soon.

Notebook Quizzes

Cole and I were looking at his grades online today. Cole said, "I hate notebook quizzes." I asked him why - because the answers should all be in the notes. He said, "Because I can't read my writing!" Isn't that sad?!

XCountry

Cole ran in the largest Cross Country race in the US on Saturday. The 8th Grade Jim Hill team placed 1st! Cole placed 52/300 runners! Great job, Cole!

Another Motorcycle rider

We have another motorcycle rider! Brock can now ride the Suzuki 50 motorcycle at the age of 4!! He loves it and does quite well. Dad had him going over the little ramp even!

Hunting

Dad took Dillon and Brock goose and duck hunting. They had to get up at 4:30 - in the night as Brock would say. Brock did really well, for his first time hunting. Dad said that he could see the ducks coming before anyone else saw them. After a little while, he got bored with it and then was playing with decoys and not lieing still. This went on for about 10 minutes and then he lied down and fell asleep! He slept for about an hour - through all of the shooting that went on!

When they got home, we took some pictures. Brock didn't want to touch the ducks (no geese came) for awhile, but he eventually did and then he wanted a picture of everyone that wasn't bloody!

Dillon learned how to flick an empty shotgun shell from Collin. He was standing at the garage door when he flicked one. I was standing on the steps to the house and the shell hit me in the lip. I got a fat, bloody and eventually black lip!

Geometry

Dillon said, last night, that he thinks Geometry is easier than Algebra was last year!

Dillon deer hunting

Dillon went with Dad to Grassy Butte for youth deer hunting. They hunted in hot weather so it wasn't much fun walking. They left on Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, Dillon shot a nice deer.

Dillon sick again in less than a week

Dillon threw up again, this time all over his bedroom floor and on his XBox! He stayed home from school, so I went to Central Campus to grab a book. He told me the combination to his locker, and I repeated it. He said that was right. When I couldn't get it to work, Collen Hodenfield tried a couple of times then grabbed a custodian. As the custodian was trying I called Dillon back and he said that was the combination. Just after I hung up, Dillon calls me back to say, "The first number is 45 NOT 49"! That makes a big difference!

Darn gnats

Brock and I went for a bike ride tonight and the gnats were biting really bad. Brock had not been bitten by them before. He had to stop every few feet to scratch himself. When we got to Green Acres park, we went over the bridge. Brock stopped to scratch his leg with the other foot, and he kicked his croc off and it landed in the stream! I had to break off a branch from a bush and lie on the bridge to fish it out.

Patriots Win!

Cole's team, the New England Patriots, didn't look like they were going to start off this year with Tom Brady back and a win. But in the final minutes of the game, his Patriots won! What a happy kid he was! We were all cheering!

Nice talking to you...

When I ran into Colleen Hodenfield this week she told me what a nice time they had when Dillon was over at their house. She said they visited and it was fun to talk to Dillon. Even when the other boys went in the house to play XBox, Dillon stayed by the bonfire with her and Scott and talked! That was so nice to hear!

So Big!

Dillon has officially past his mom and dad in height! He now measures 5' 10-1/2"! Now he looks down at his parents!

Labor Day Weekend

Our Labor Day weekend this year did not involve camping. Donnie got the flu bug Friday and Cole on Saturday. So we stayed home until Sunday when we headed out to Lake Sakakawea. We had a great day on the water. The winds were high, but we hid back in a bay where it was calm. Dad let Dillon take the boat out with the kids and he managed to get EVERYTHING and everyone in the boat wet. All of our dry clothes and towels and everything inside the bags were soaked!

Monday we went to Raging Rivers Water Park in Mandan. The weather in Mandan was warm 85* and windy. It was a great day.

Tuesday, when I went to wake up Dillon, he said he wasn't feeling well. Shortly after he threw up. I hope that's the end of that!

Labor Day Weekend

No plans for this Labor Day weekend. Friday, Donnie was sick to his stomach and didn't move much all day. Then Saturday after Cole had been up for an hour or so, he got sick. I had started packing for camping, but we decided it would be best to stay home in case someone else got sick.

Cross Country

Cole had his 2nd XC Meet in a hot 85 degree day at Wildwood Golf Course. He ran a 3K in about 12:21. Cole said this one was harder than the Dickinson meet. I asked if he still liked XC and he said, "Not really." He doesn't know if he's going to do this year - maybe soccer. He's already worried about being able to handle the 2-a-day practices for 2 weeks before school!

Fishing

Dad took Brock out of daycare and took him fishing at Roosevelt Park. They caught lots of fish in a short time. Two of them were Perch. Dad cooked them and Cole gobble them up!

Brock's 1st Day of Preschool

Brock started preschool today at Children's Garden Preschool. He was a very brave boy. He was anxious to go and didn't even want to wait for Daddy to get there.

When I picked him up, he told me "I cried a little." His teacher he had a little rough moment but was good the rest of the time. What Brock didn't know was that he wanted to go back to daycare. He thought he got to go home for the day. When I tried to explain it, he said, "That doesn't make sense."

Back to School Days

School has started. Dillon & Cole are off to a good start (10th & 8th grades). Both think Math is going to be hard. Brock starts Preschool tomorrow! He seems excited now...we'll see how he feels when we leave him there!

BRACES

Dillon & Cole got braces the day before their 8th & 10th grade school year!

Fire Bugs

Why do my boys like fire so much? One night we let the boys have a bonfire in the backyard while we were watching a movie. A short time later, I got up to get something. I looked outside and all I could see in the black of night was flames of fire dancing around the yard! The boys and neighbor boys were running around with newspaper torches!

The next day I bought a magnifying glass for Brock. As soon as the big boys saw it they wanted to see if they could burn something! They started a smoke bomb AND a match with the magnifying glass!

Dillon got a JOB!

Dillon got a job! He took over a friend's job moving furniture at Broadway Use Furniture. Since Dillon is not playing football this Fall, he will do this until Basketball season. Dillon loves his new job = he gets MONEY ($20/day Tuesday-Friday, Hours: 3-6pm). He likes his boss and gets free and cheap stuff all the time!

Bless You

When I had sneezed several times in a row, Brock said, "Bless you." Then I accidentally sneezed on him, and he said, "Mom, you just bless you'd on me!"

Winter never ends

We had our 4th storm day of the school year. We actually went to school, and then were all sent home at 11am. Minot got another 8" of snow. It took me almost an hour to run the snowblower in our driveway - the drifts covered half of it and were as high as the snowblower.

Dillon and Cole had fun in the snow and with the snowmobile until Dillon decided it would be fun to drive through water. He got the back end stuck in almost 2 feet of water! It took 3 grown men to wade in the water and pull it out!

Mr. Basketball!

Cameron was chosen as North Dakota's 2009 Mr. Basketball!

I couldn't me more proud if I was his mom! We had a great week/weekend. His team place 3rd, I spent time with my family - even went out with my niece and nephew for a celebration!

Cole also won his basketball tournament in Jamestown. Dillon had fun with the air horn at the basketball game, and Brock stayed home and played with Trevor and Katie (with his 1st babysitter other than his brothers!)

Now, it's back to school, work, and reality of daily life. I just hope we don't get the blizzard and 12" of snow that's predicted!

Busy Week (But what's new?!)

It's going to be a busy week. Turtle Lake is going to the State BB Tournament in Minot! Tournament is Thursday-Saturday. That means I have 3 days to clean house, bake some goodies, and make some posters before the family comes! Good thing Donnie took a week of vacation - I've got a "honey do" list for him to help me out!

We're all excited to go watch Cam play! He's got 47 or 48 points to go before he hits his 2000 career point!

This is Cam after winning the Region 5 Tournament.

Lots of snow to melt

(Our Region says: "Unhabitable"!)

Check out this snowman! 3 guys spent about 5 hours to complete a 12-14" tall! The buttons, eyes, and mouth are beer bottles! It'll be awhile before he melts!

It's sooo cold!

I don't like -31* windchill - especially in March! But it doesn't stop the boys. They went to kinetics and are now off to the YMCA. I would prefer to stay indoors, but have to venture out tonight for a middle school meeting. At least we didn't get the blizzard the eastern part of the state got!

BJ and I are going to have indoor s'mores! It'll be awhile before we can enjoy the outdoor kind!

Speaking of keeping up...

Do you know what can't keep up with the Joneses? Our clothes dryer! It surely can't keep up with the washer. The poor thing runs daily - often times several times a day. I think it ran all day yesterday...

If anyone has any comments or recommendations for a good clothes dryer, I would welcome them.

Time Change

The time change caught up with some of us today.

BJ, who never sleeps in, almost had to be awakened today! He didn't get out of bed until 7:30am, (which isn't sleeping in if you remember that just the other day that was 6:30am). I wonder if he'll still be sleeping in when the weekend comes - I venture to guess "no".

I woke up early, but as the day went on, I just wanted a nap! No time, though. CJ had Basketball practice, DJ and I had a Baseball meeting, and then there's always homework.

It's only Monday, but the week is looking busy...I needed to gain an hour, not lose it!

I love Saturdays!

This is my first attempt at a blog. I am not sure what I will use it for. I've titled it "Keeping Up with Jones Boys". I am so busy trying to keep up with them, that I don't know if I'll have time to keep anyone else up-to-date on them. But it's worth a try...

DJ had a big English project. He and his partner created news segments on Romeo and Juliet. Now I am going to try to help put the segments together and create a DVD for their class.

CJ has a Book Review due on a book he read, so he needs some help fine tuning it.

BJ sees everyone else doing homework, so he's been doing his own homework.

Saturday is "catch up day". I better get busy.