Michael Blake - 19 years old!

Thursday, June 9th, my baby boy turned 19 years old!!  WOW - where does the time go??  It was such a busy week with VBS, that I really didn't have much time to plan anything for his birthday - not that a 19 year old really cares about having a party.  My main goal was just to plan time to see him!  He has been working so hard lately, that I barely ever see him.  But...I couldn't ask for better company than those he has been running with, Evan and Lanny, who are both good influences on him!  He wakes up 4:30 every morning to meet Lanny at 5am to work out (P90X), then he usually works in the mornings and sometimes evenings with Evan (Evan and Melanie are building a new house) before going to work at the vet clinic around noon.   He is a busy boy, and enjoys going and doing and staying busy as much as I do :)

2 months

1 1/2 years

At Sea World - 5 years

Kindergarten

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Disney World - Age 8

Age 10

 Age 17 - The only thing scarier about my child holding on to a shark, is that I was in the water CLOSE enough to take the picture!!

And all I could think about in this picture was the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin... 

 Age 18 - Fishing off the coast of Belize

 Prom with Kelli

On Michael's actual birthday, I baked him a cake and we went to the Fish Fry (his choice) to eat with my mom. I used Maverick colors to decorate his cake - and it worked - they WON!

MawMaw, Michael, Courtney and my mom at my brother's house

 Seth's birthday was on Monday, June 13 (he turned 11), so we had lunch and cake again on Sunday for both Seth and Michael at my brother and sister-in-law's house. 

 Me and the birthday boy

I can't believe this will be his last year to be a teenager!!! Happy Birthday Michael!!  I love you to the moon and back - but I won't go on and on and embarrass you - not that you read my "lame" blog anyway! :)

Phillips Cook Out

This past Saturday night, Ben and TiffanyPhillips had their annual hamburger cook-out.  We always look forward to this every year.  It is a way to kick back and relax after a busy week of VBS.  Ben grilled hamburger and hot dogs, and several people brought homemade ice cream.  I'm not sure who brought the banana nut ice cream, but it was AWESOME!  And I am not even much of an ice cream fan.

Tiffany, Vivian and Britney putting the final touches on the food and making the tea

Kylee, Hailey, Courtney and Erin

I never did hear how many showed up, but there was a nice big crowd

The boy table

Is he not just adorable!

We were keeping Avery, so she got to go with us :)

She thinks Rod is funny

Hudson and Grady playing hide and go seek

Cute little Evan!

Benton loved this car!  All the babies are getting so big!

The kids hitting the volleyball around a circle

Vivian, Becky, Daphine and Mandy

Chuck, Lanny and Michael

Kenny was blowing bubbles and Jack was loving it!

Venita and Bettye

Now, the serious fun begins.  A good old game of kickball.  All the kids picked a number between 1 and 50, and the two closest to the number I chose were the team captains. 

This is the team that Ryan picked:

And the team that Bryce picked:

I went in to change Avery's diaper, and found Ms. Joan playing the piano very beautifully

Courtney wore flip flops to the cook out, so Kelli was nice enough to share one shoe with her

Sweet little Autumn Faith

Thank you Ben and Tiffany for a fun filled evening!!  We had a blast, and I am sure everyone else did as well :)

VBS - Believe It or Not...

I am starting to get behind on my blogging again, but wow has it been a busy couple of weeks!  Last week, we had our VBS and the theme was "Believe It or Not...It's in the Bible."  We decorated the auditorium and our classroom in a Museum type theme to go along with the Ripley's Believe It or Not museums.  Our lessons were focused on God's amazing power and some of the methods he chose to carry out His work.  Melanie, Leann, and I taught the K-2nd grade class.  Leann and I spent most of Saturday afternoon decorating our classroom, and then Sunday afternoon several of us met back up to decorate the auditorium.  It was a lot of hard work, but it was so worth it to see how excited all the kids were.

The puppets are always a hit.  Kelli and Michael were the voices again this year. 

One of the lessons I taught was on Ezekiel and the Dry Bones coming to life.  Our craft for the night was making skeletons with pasta.  The crafts were a hit every night with the kids.

Charles Fendley was the "magician" visitor, and tried to pull a rabbit out of his hat each night - and finally, on the last night, he was able to pull out a little blue stuffed bunny.  He does such a good job with the kids!

Little Miss Katie Sue came all the way from Quanah, TX to attend VBS

I just love this picture of Paul - he is such a sweet boy.

And Paul's sister and cousin- Grace and Caleb

Taking a breather after the second night of VBS

Leann and Melanie both did an excellent job teaching. 

I snuck over to the 3rd-5th grade class and got a picture of Mandy and Sandra teaching.  They had so many kids, they had to take the table out of their room.

The puppeteers - Kelli and Michael

The other reason I was so excited about VBS, is that I knew I would have house guests!!  Molly and the kids came down on Sunday, which was her 31st birthday (and through all the craziness, I accidentally forgot).  We celebrated with cake on Tuesday night.  We were SO HAPPY that they were able to come and stay with us.  We enjoyed every minute of it.  It worked out really good, because during the day while I was at Court's golf tournament or working, they would go and visit friends.  And then at night, we would get to visit.  Perfect!

Katie wanted her "feet" painted.  I did them one night, but it wasn't quite good enough to suit her.  So the professional had to re-do them the next night.

Jackson and Luke had a friend, Brooks, spend the night one night - well at least part of the night.  Brooks decided it was time to go home at 2am - luckily he lives right across the street :)

Katie brought two tutu's - one for her and one for Courtney, so they could play dress up.  Katie is such a sweet thoughtful girl :)

Everyone relaxing watching Megamind

When I left to go to work Thursday morning, there were 7 vehicles at my house - mine, Rod's, Michael's, Courtney's, Caleb's, Molly's and Jaci's (Courtney's friend).  That is the way we like it - the more the merrier!  We had a wonderful time with Molly and the kids, and a wonderful VBS.  Thanks to Lanny, Amy and everyone else that made this year another big success!

Graduation

Friday night we went to graduation to see Makynzi, along with the rest of the Class of 2011 walk across the stage and get their high school diploma - just a little something they have been working on for 13 years :)  I was WAY more relaxed at graduation this year, than I was last year. 

My mom and MawMaw

 A rare photo of both of my children together

Makynzi and my mom during the rose ceremony

One big happy Jones family!!

 

 Jaci, Courtney, and Makynzi

 And of course, I have to REWIND to a year ago, since I didn't have my blog at this time last year...

Me and my 2010 Graduate

 Michael talking to my grandparents before graduation started

  I miss him!  If only I would have known this was the last time I would ever see him....

 My honor graduate getting his diploma

 And look at these little cuties - who will be here TOMORROW for several days!!!

Wow, how time flies!!