Merry Christmas, Wisconsin!

Merry Christmas our faithful followers! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend celebrating the birth of our SAVIOR and had some time to just enjoy the company of loved ones. For us this year was all about trying to explain who baby JESUS was and making sure Levi was as thankful as humanly possible. We also were hoping he would be equally excited for each gift in order to not make anyone feel bad... and oh yeah, TIGUE'S FIRST CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Here's Levi just tryin' to be cool with his Uncle Drew (aka Unk Dew). Christmas Eve was spent with Jenny's family - Papa, Nani, Unk Dew, and Jah-nee (Uncle Johnny). We had a great day that included going to the Elmbrook Christmas service and hanging out at Jenny's parents all day (I got some much needed Christmas shopping done too...).

It was funny seeing Levi have just as much fun with the boxes as the gifts. I felt he did a great job balancing between the two (yes, I will get to Tigue too).

Oh there he is! Little MunchyMoo had his own way of being excited about gifts... making sure they felt good on his gums!

Christmas day as spent with my immediate family - G-Woo, Bonka, Sinny (Aunt Sammi), KyKy (Aunt Kylie), DoDo (Aunt Mykalanne) and Di-in (Sammi's boyfriend Dylan). We got there early in the morning, exchanged gifts, had an amazing breakfast, played games, took an amazing afternoon nap, and watched the Packer game... a great day!

That would be Kleenex holding up that stocking hat... thanks girls.

Here's Levi making sure the wrapping gets its share of his time.

"Tigue, I'm not really in a sharing mood this morning..."

Christmas PART III - Today was spent at my mom's parents - Goggy and Bompa. Levi was very excited to show Bompa his new bath toys!

As usual, the boys made a gift killing as the only grandkids on either side. I appreciated that our families stuck to our wishes of not overwhelming us with more toys, which lead to quality gifts like this adorable hat and mittens!

And in unrelated news Levi is really starting to come around to the potty training things! The big boy undies are a big hit and will hopefully replace chocolate as the main motivator. This evening it seemed to do the trick...

And so ends the 72-hour marathon that was Christmas 2011. Now I realize that was not a lot of pictures. Think of this as an appetizer to the main course which will be coming out later this week. I have to get all the pictures from my mom's camera. Shockingly Jenny and I spent more time caring for the boys and my sisters and mom did more of the picture taking... until then... "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"


"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a CHILD. While they were there, the time came for the BABY to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a SON. She wrapped HIM in cloths and placed HIM in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the LORD appeared to them, and the glory of the LORD shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a SAVIOR has been born to you; HE is the MESSIAH, the LORD. This will be a sign to you: You will find a BABY wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising GOD and saying,

“Glory to GOD in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom HIS favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the LORD has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the BABY, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen HIM, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this CHILD, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising GOD for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." ~ Luke 1:1-20

My iPhone Thanksgiving Recap

Well, I promised I would go through our iPhone photos and put together a recap from Thanksgiving and boy am I delivering! Yes, it is a few days late but I wanted to get back on my Monday update schedule to line up with the day after Christmas... Ok, it wasn't that believable but now we're here so let's move on.

Levi and I are engrossed in the technology age and we had to make sure to update our teams for those sneaky Thanksgiving day games!

It is great that Levi is now in a big boy bed as it makes going to friends' houses and traveling out of town much easier. He shared a room with his uncle Drew while we were up in Wisconsin. Jenny's dad moved the top bunk down onto the floor so that Levi wouldn't have to climb the ladder... very thoughtful ;)



Sometimes a regular punishment just doesn't get the signal across...
actually he put himself in Tucker's kennel at the Broglis...
SUCH A GOOFBALL and GROSS!

After a tough morning of preparing Thanksgiving meals Levi and Auntie DoDo took a well deserved nap in Auntie KyKy's room.

MunchyMoo is cute - just sayin'

This picture is a little out of order but here we are back at the Broglis' and Levi is helping "Clown Lady" (Aunt Carli) feed little man Cayden.

"Yes, this bottle is more interesting than the Packer game Bonka"
(Levi calls my dad Bonka and recently it's just Bonk)
(We'll also work on Tigue's Packer appreciation)

Jenny's amazing brined Turkey - simply amazing!
Jenny basically prepared Thanksgiving dinner at her parents' by herself.
It was very impressive and delicious!

Not your typical Thanksgiving pie...
but much better!
(Jenny's Molten Lava Cakes)

Happy to be relaxing with my boys after a great Thanksgiving dinner!

It wouldn't be a visit to my parents' without some quality cards...

And that was Thanksgiving week in a nutshell. It was a great time with family and friends and the iPhones definitely came in handy without having our camera on us all the time.

Lastly, this past week can be summed up in this: Jenny made a headboard for our bed on Saturday. She's getting pretty crafty. With her medical career on hold she's found some pretty great outlets for her intelligence and hands-on ability. And now we're one step closer to having an actual adult bedroom...

Have a great week everyone and with only 13 days until Christmas make sure you find time to get some shopping done or just go online and name a star after everyone you have to buy a gift for - it's hilariously disappointing and will show you who really knows the meaning of Christmas... Good night all and God bless!

"For to us a CHILD is born,
to us a SON is given,
and the government will be on HIS shoulders.
And HE will be called
Wonderful COUNSELOR, Mighty GOD,
Everlasting FATHER, PRINCE of Peace." ~ Isaiah 9:6

How's it Hangin'

Well, I said there would be a hiatus but this was a little pathetic on my part. So, three weeks have passed and our little munch is getting HUGE! Levi is getting big too but it's more drastic with Tigue. With that in mind time for a Tigue pickup week on the picture front. He's officially passing his big brother as the focal point for now. So, let's get to it!

Ok, I couldn't just start out with two pictures of Tigue in a row! So, here's our big two-year-old enjoying him some Angry Birds on Jenny's fancy 4S... and yes, Siri is very cool and this phone is a lot faster than my iPhone 4.

So, the munch... what can I say - it looks like his eyes are going to go through the same bright blue phase as Levi before turning something else, he's getting his girly eyelashes in and it appears that his hair is going to stay dark... for now.

The first week of missed blog posting was due to me being in Dallas for training, which I believe I mentioned. Tigue spent that time learning to hold his head up straight, improve his arm movement, start gibber-jabbering, and learn to eat his feet :)

There's those pretty Jones boys' eyes -
He's also started eating rice cereal as a key part of his diet.

Jenny did an awesome job of keeping these boys happy and entertained as I was gone! It helps that they love spending time together. Where's your pants, Levi?!

Another solo Levi spotting. He's gotten so good at independent play AND he LOVES cars, trucks and trains. And they have to be in certain orders and usually lined up :)

It's been a while since there was a Jenny and Casey cameo and this was a first since we have been a couple so it needed to be documented. The winter retreat where Jenny and I really got to know each other was the last time we went rock climbing (8+ years ago) and now a marriage and two boys later we got to again! We look like pros... right!?

Jeans and a fleece is appropriate!?

About the same...
At least we can climb!

And here's our lovely wonderful friend Roxy, who gave us the awesome chance to rock climb over Thanksgiving week. Thanks Roxy, it was great seeing you and SO MUCH FUN!

Ok, it's been documented - back to Tigue!
Time for some yummy rice cereal!

Thanksgiving is over and we're back home - time to get in the Christmas spirit!

We are so blessed.

"Who me?"

Starting to sit up....

There's a picture of Levi when he was about this age that looks crazy similar. Tigue definitely has some unique features but there is also for sure a Jones/Dwyer boy style!

Just hanging out with Mama

This is an outfit that my aunt Jeni and uncle Frank gave Levi a couple years ago - still in style!

Just another little ham!

So, that's it people. I apologize again for the hiatus and now looking back... no Thanksgiving pictures. You know what, they're on our phones! Ok, next week will be phone update week. I'll go back over the past month and get all the primo shots from our phones to post. Have a great rest of the week all and good luck to all those fantasy footballers out there fighting for a playoff spot this week!

" I thank my GOD every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that HE who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of CHRIST JESUS." ~ Phil. 1:3-6

The City of Brotherly Love!

Welcome back to another awesome week at TheJonesPod - I know you all wish you were here to be with these awesomely, cute, loving little boys... with the potential to mess up your day or sleepless night pretty quickly :) But just look at those little faces; we are truly blessed!

Some mornings Levi wakes up with me early and sad to admit it but in order to let Jenny and Tigue stay asleep a lot of times I'll let him watch TV to stay quiet. He loves his Disney moves and this morning felt the need to sit back and enjoy his Elmo chair as well.

Yes, after I took these pictures I moved him back to health distance from the TV. And nothing chills this boy out like a quality animated flick and a cup of juice!

We have a book that is called the Tickle Monster and comes with tickle gloves. We got it for him for Christmas last year but he's finally old enough to properly enjoy it (Levi is wearing the gloves which kind of defeats the purpose, but if that's how he wants to do it, fine by me)!

The gloves are like big monster paws and this is one of Levi's many "camera ready" faces...

When you wake up from a nap some times you just have to sit back under your leaf canopy and enjoy a refreshing drink... ahhhhh...

"Me too!"

Levi's hair is getting SO long!

"Just enjoying some chocolate milk Mama"
(Looks like some other liquid was spilled on his shirt earlier)

And here we are a third of the way through NOVEMBER 2011! CRAZY!? Levi is getting so talkative and his personality and sense of humor are really starting to shine. Tigue is five months now and is a rolling, rice-cereal eating, teething machine! We're having tons of fun between tantrums and late night cries but it is TOTALLY WORTH IT and I wouldn't change God's plan for us in the slightest. Have a wonderful week every one and please keep Jenny in your prayers as I'll be in Dallas for training next week (which mean no blog until Friday night). Take care family and friends and God bless!

"For we are HIS workmanship, created in CHRIST JESUS for good works, which GOD prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." ~ Ephesians 2:10