I've been around long enough now to realize that every family I know has a certain prevailing quality about them. Sure, each individual is different and special in their own way but when you mash everyone together in that family unit that there is no escaping...there is a defining characteristic of the group. You can sum up the whole lot in a couple of words. (You know you've done it.) Take the original Jones family. They are sporty and extremely confident. The original Scribners are story-tellers and social. You look around at your friends and you get different titles, "Classy, smart, athletic, kind, creative" or of course it can go the other way, "Mean, aggressive, lazy." And without a doubt, they can be a whole slew of different things but what is the first thing that you think of when you think of them?

Today I have realized that the Robert/Christy Jones family has emerged as a Silly and Goofy family. Look back at my blog. Have you ever heard of such silliness? I can put all my dreams of being the 'classy' family right out the window, 'cause let's face it, it ain't gonna happen. And who needs it? The Silly family has so much more fun. We aren't rocket scientist, we aren't going to the Olympics or the national spelling bee, however, we are going to have a good time. So come on over. Sit back and put up your feet. Enjoy the show. And bring on the silliness.

Here is what we do around the kitchen table. We try out different expressions in case we find ourselves in dire need of one of them...we'll know just how to act.

Oooo. I'm so angry you ate the last brownie! (hey, don't mess...I know ka-ra-tay)

Oh my goodness, I am seriously, extremely, surprised. Jaw-droppingly surprised. Apparently.

Victorious! (or bringing disco back...can't tell. We'll work on that one.)

Dad joined in the fun. Here is his "I can't believe I just won the lotto" look. Also known as "a dentist's dream patient."


Here is Alaina helping me make dehydrated apple slices. And yes. The snow goggles are a necessity. What if an errant apple seed suddenly popped up and shot her eye out? We are very cautious around here.


And olive fingers at dinner. Austin had eaten his by the time I took the picture. Olive fingers has always been one of my favorite amusing dinner activities. Hygienic? Probably not so much. The smiles on their faces? Priceless.


Every dinner time, after someone says the prayer, each person at the table goes around and says something nice that we like about the person who said the prayer. (A tradition stolen from the Jones' family.) We hear things like, "I like how you played wall-ball with me. I like how you cleaned your room. Alaina always comes up with the most creative statements. She'll say things like, "I like that you've got a good heart." or "I like that you are so creative." However, one night when we were visiting G-ma & G-pa Jones, she came up with, "I like your body." Uh. Awkward. After a few more appearances of "I like your body." comments over the next couple of weeks, we had to sit down and tell her to only comment on actions. (Because we already know that we are the 'gorgeous' family. No need to dwell on it.) That girl always knows how to get the room's attention, that's for sure.

Here are my babies, 1st, 1st, and 2nd graders.

On the way to school, Alaina has the nerve to say, " I want you to take me to class but don't look like you are walking with me." "Do you want me to walk a few feet behind you?" I quip. "Sure." The girl is smug. Let it be known that I walked 1 inch away from her, hand on her shoulder, spouting as much mushiness as I could muster. That'll show her.


Guess who turned 36?! ME!!! Here is the cake that I didn't even bake.

The kiddies had worked really hard on their presents for me. From left to right these lego masterpieces were made by Ethan, Laina & Austin. I loved them!

And thanks to Dad & Mom Jones & Dad & Mom Scribner, Robert and I got a babysitter and went out to Sushi and a movie. It was so nice to get out and break out of our normal routine. Thanks!

To leave you completely awe-inspired, (I'm not going to rely on my fabulous wit.) I will show you these awesome pictures.

First, Robert took this picture one early morning. Gorgeous.
And these next two pictures are not so amazing...but the actual sight was. I couldn't get it all into one picture but this is a complete double rainbow out back. The three kids and I couldn't believe our eyes. We talked about all the amazing things that would be at the bottom of each rainbow. (I've been in the middle of a two-week long story about 'rainbow city' and two unicorns who live there. It is full of fairies and elves and this made the perfect backdrop for our imagination.) It was really magnificent.

The pictures don't show the second one as clearly, however, it was really vivid and the first one was just brilliant. I've never seen anything like it (even in Hawaii.)


pssst. I've been sewing lately. A whole lot. Laina helped me out on the last project. My little seamstress. (I first wrote 'sewer' --meaning sew-er---but didn't think it was a nice thing to say about my cute daughter.)

Ethan has a new love for the camera. He is always begging to take pictures when I have it out. But the most impressive pictures I've found are the ones he has taken on the sly. I keep finding them when I download my camera. So the pictures that you see on this post have come from the Collection of Ethan. (A rare glimpse into the mind of a genius.)

To start with, a posed picture of Alaina and Ethan's best friend, Colon. (Yes, spelled correctly...I know you were wondering.)
Ethan's prized possession. His T-ball trophy.

During the Jones Reunion, Ethan was especially taken with baby Ella. One day I was holding her and he was fawning all over the poor child. After making faces and acting the clown, he started lightly tickling her under her chin.

"Ooooh. you like that don'cha Ella."

Ella giggles.

"Yes. I think you like that. She likes that doesn't she mom? That feels good!"

Ella smiles and looks up expectantly. Nothing happens. Both Ella and I look back over to Ethan only to see him scratching under his own chin.

"Oh. Yeah. That DOES feel good! Hmm. I like that."

And off he walked, tickling his chin, leaving his little Ella alone with only me left to amuse her.


A portrait of the Artist as a young man. (What? James Joyce and Ethan are kindred spirits.)
While we were driving home one night I must have said the word 'awkward' in a sentence. "What does awkward mean?" Alaina intensely leaned forward. "Well, I it means that you are doing something that makes you feel uncomfortable or embarrassed." Later that night I was changing Austin into his PJ's. Laina bust through the door and plopped herself down, with her usual disregard to personal space, about 1/2 inch away from us. With great gusto she whipped off her shirt and shorts. Then, just as suddenly, she slaps one arm across her chest and the other over her undies, and laughing nervously, whispers, "This is SO awkward." Austin and I stare at her, slack-jaw for a couple of seconds before Austin looks forlornly downwards and with a slow, resigned sigh mutters, "I am always being awkward." And with those two simple 'awkward' sentences both of my twinnies personalities were exposed. Laina, the brash jester and Austin-The Shy. Who knew one little word could do such a trick.


Ethan caught the twins on a day that they decided to 'dress like twinnies!' all in blue.


And here...look at the way the light frames the all important, solitary shoe. The contrast. The deep, clearly intended, meaning behind the single shoe. Ah yes, it is as if the artist wanted you to feel like you were about to walk somewhere important. Destiny awaits, oh weary traveller. (Do I have a future in the art history field? No? Weird. )

Sunday brings out the pageantry in children. We scrub them until they smell sweet as soap, smooth down their hair Dress them up all respectable-like. Sweet-faced and shiny-shoed we parade them into church. (Hear the crowd oooh and ahh.) The compliments fall like manna from heaven. "What sweet angels you have." "So adorable." Well, at least before the meeting starts...

The after-three-hours-of-church march goes a little bit differently. For my children, we have fallen into a bit of a rut. Alaina floats down the hallway, spinning and grinning. She chats away to her friends and runs up for a hug. Ethan comes down the hallway, cheeks packed with the latest treat that his teacher bribed him with. A puffed-cheek smile only broken by the occasional proclamation. "I was good in (slurp) class again!" And to the twins, "I was good and you weren't in my class so YOU don't get any candy." Not exactly reverent however it still falls in category of behaving himself. Mostly. And sweet Austin. He usually comes straight to me with his blue eyes flashing adoration and black lashes fluttering, "I love you!" "I missed you !" in Morse code. Although, last Sunday was a bit of an aberration. Alaina pranced up to me as usual. Ethan, with fists full of candy and on an instant sugar high, came bounding over. But Austin was walking down the hall in his own little world. He was obviously thinking about something important, with his scrunched up nose and serious eyes. His step had a mysterious little bounce to it (as opposed to the more guarded walk he uses when he thinks someone might be looking at him.) So serious. So reverent. And then, mid stride he slow-motion punches the air in front of him. First one fist, followed by the second, perfectly coordinated with his feet. And with this strange choreography comes a fairly loud outburst of, "I like a Boom (punch) Boom (step/punch) Pow! (Punch.) I Like the Jack in my Style!" Ah yes. We like to end the Sunday Pageant with a spirited Austin-version of Black-Eyed Peas' "BOOM BOOM POW!" (Who knew he knew so many of the words? I guess they really do listen to the words when the radio is playing.)

Of course, the moment he finished his second line, our eyes' crossed paths and he immediately stopped short and did his shy smile up at me. Who could resist this child?

And we'll end today's post with Ethan's greatest masterpiece. Tell, me, has anything ever moved you like this next photo?
Speechless? Yes. That is what true art does to a person.

We got home from our Summer of Family and had a couple more fun visits and activities to squeeze in before school started. (Tomorrow is the big day...) We got to visit with Spence for a couple of hours before he went off for his surfing trip. Can you imagine anything colder than the Oregon coast? We were so excited to have him that we forgot to take any pictures. What? A moment in my life not digitally recorded? How is this possible? Alas. It happened...and I can't prove it. But we did get some pictures of our visit with Hillary Hippen and her girls. I can't believe how long it has been since we've seen her. Her girls are so sweet and just beautiful (just like mama.) Serenity, the oldest, taught all of the kids some crazy, complicated dance from a Hannah Montana movie. Even the boys were learning the moves. It was fun to watch them play together and catch up with Hillary. Come again soon!

Cadence, Hillary and Serenity.


And then, to polish off Summer, we went blue-berry picking. Ethan and Alaina were all business and although Austin got the work done, I believe he shoved more berries in his mouth than in his basket. We spent the next week making blueberry shakes and topping off ice-cream. Now, yesterday we went to a different U-pick farm and actually started talking to the farmer. He is mostly organic using only minimal pesticides on a couple of plants. He talked to us about how many ways you can naturally protect your plants (like spraying them with clay instead of pesticides.) He was also talking about how much some of his neighbors spray with toxic chemicals, citing one neighbor especially. He didn't name him except to say that everyone calls him Mr. Chemicals. At the end of the conversation (about an hour later) I asked who that was. Yup. The same guy that we picked all those blueberries from. Farmer Ray (not a crazy, by the way...college educated and in the family business that goes back 4 generations and used to be an farm inspector for the Oregon Agriculture Coalition.) did tell us, though, that many of the pesticides are the same that you will find in frozen berries at the store. (Does that make it better or worse?) He also added that his neighbor was sometimes forgetful and didn't always spray regularly. I think I'm still going to eat the rest of our cancer promoting berries...maybe if I spread them out we won't die immediately :) It does make you think though. Also...just to further bum you out. Those perfect potatoes that you buy...huge without any blemishes, are covered in chemicals that are saturated into the skins. So eating the skins is actually the worst part you can eat...not the best. Sorry Mom. I'm not eating the skins anymore.

Toxins or no toxins...we did have a good time picking those blueberries.

More fun with the Jones.

A day at Scandia Miniature Golf. This is Austin's absolute favorite place to go. Ethan loves it too, but it is Austin who talks constantly about going.





Here is Austin testing the wind before making his shot. Silly goose. And can you see Alaina, his biggest fan, looking on adoringly?


Helping Grandma out.

At the Redwoods.
Holding up the tree with only their brute strength.

Apparently it only needed the right touch.



And the rumor goes that Robert has never left the Redwood Forest without finding a 4 leaf clover. Lucky guy.

After the Redwoods it was determined that we would head out to the beach. As usual, the day was gorgeous and warm until we were 10 minutes away from the coast. At that point we drove through the perpetual wall of fog that covers any glimpse of the sun. Annette and I passed on a trip down to the water and, instead, took a nap in the car.

Here are the very happy kiddies by the beach. Look how hard they are trying to smile.

Grandpa Jones seems to be enjoying himself immensely. I know Robert had the same happy grin when they came back up. A learned appreciation, I'm sure.

And finally we headed home. One whole complete summer of travelling. Alaina turned into quite the metropolitan traveller. Fashionable as ever, toting her essentials: a purse, a roller suitcase and of course, Jamima, her bear. We were happy to return home but we were reminded how much we miss when we are away. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, huge family!

Our "Summer O' Fun" continues with a visit with Gina. Her kids have grown up so much since we last saw them. The babies are now toddlers and the big kids are now teenagers. So crazy.

Hunter

Gina, Chey & Shyden
Bryant & Thatcher

Kids on the tramp with the sprinkler underneath.

Bella and Laina.

The little girls.
The crew.