ICUBS and a new BABY!!!

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. It was hot hot hot!!! and beautiful out.


As I am sure most of you have heard we had a new baby this week. Summer our paint mare had a little paint filly. The boys had gone to bed early one night this week and had wore me out. To relax I like to just go hang out at the gate and watch the timber and the animals. I was standing there for a good 20 minutes and Chris decided to do chores. He did the usual whistling for them and Summer hollered back (which is unusual). Then all of the mules including Don Key ran, I mean ran. They usually trot but all of them were at a dead run to the grain. Summer is usually the first to come to the feed bunk and tonight she was last just walking around the corner of the fence. Meanwhile I am still just head in the clouds watching when around the corner comes this beautiful little surprise!!

I was absolutely speechless, to say the least. I kept yelling for Chris but nothing would come out. Then finally I ran to the other side of the barn and was pointing. He looked up and out of his mouth came "what the hell??? How did that......??? One thought. Muck. She had been at Muck's house last year while we weaned Diesel from her. Muck has Maverick. Chris went ahead and called Muck sounding desperate for help and out came Muck. We showed Muck the new horse and asked him to explain this to us and all we got was hysterical laughter!! I'm glad someone found humor in this. It is pretty funny. She is a little cutie and now we just need to focus on giving her a name (and lots of attention)!!

Now onto our really exciting news, we finally finally finally got our new horse trailer. Chris, Gunnar and I went to go get while Grandma Jones took Hunter to his ball game on friday night. Thank you Grandma Carol. Needless to say we all love it. It will be so much fun and I hope we get many years of use out of it with the boys and trail riding!!

Saturday brought a ball game and more ball games. Hunter had his in the afternoon and did well. Then we packed up the troops and went down to Des Moines for and ICubs game. We ate at Mullets, a restaurant across the river from the ball park. Then headed out to the game. The boys had a BLAST!!! Hunter was glued to the game watching all the homeruns and all the great catches and plays. He really was taking it all in and learning which is important right now. Meanwhile dad explained the rules of Big Boy baseball and kept buying the boys treats and food!! Here are some pics of us all enjoying our night at the ball park.

Gunnar insisted on getting a picture with the slice of Casey's pizza! LOL Enjoy!

On Sunday we spent most of the morning sleeping while mom filled up the new trailer with everything out of the old trailer. Dad and Lumpy built shelves in the work trailer. When the boys got up it was so hot they wanted to immediately get out the slip n slide to play on. Although give them a 50 cent sprinkler from a garage sale and they will entertain themselves for hours. We had a visit from Chris's Grandma Audrey and her sister Carita and Carita's daughter Kim for a little while that afternoon. It was nice to see them again. They are all looking great!! Here are some pics of the boys enjoying the heat and cooling off!!

Well until next weekend. Sounds like we are going fishing with the boys and a ball game, heading to the Furman Aquatic Center on Sunday and perhaps take in a rodeo if we have time. Have a great week everyone!!

Hunter's Piano Debut and Memorial Trail Ride

I hope everyone's Memorial Day weekend was fabulous!! Here is what went on at the Jones's!!

Early in the week Hunter had his very first piano mecital. His teacher doesn't believe in recitals. She thinks that you are there for one person and shouldn't have to listen to 25 other kids play their songs. So only Hunter and his invited guests attend a piano mecital.

Hunter played 3 songs for us and did a duet to Yankee Doodle with his teacher. It was very cute and he did an awesome job. He was so proud of himself. He gave his teacher some flowers for being a great teacher and then Baba got him a little present. As you can see in the pics it is a bag to carry his books in for next year! He was very exicted!!!

All that excitement and the next day was the last day of school for the kids. They had a talent show and water play. They both had complete meltdowns when I picked them up! Luckily the ball games were canceled that night due to rain and we could get to bed early!!

Later on in the week we got news that Hunter and Gunnar have a new cousin Elizabeth!!! She is beautiful and we can't wait to meet her!! Congrats John and Amy!!!

The weekend brought camping and trailriding for all of us! Gunnar started out riding with Muck and then switched to riding with Talyn (his favorite babysitter ever) and then at lunch break he got on with MOM! Mom let him ride in front of her and have control of the reins (for the most part). He did really well and had a blast!!

But lets talk about riding!!! Hunter J started off by being ponied by dad. Did a wonderful job on his donkey teaching him to walk through the creeks and walk over logs and sticks. At lunch Hunter decided he wanted to try it by himself. He was very nervous and scared at first but when he saw his buddy Trevor doing it as well he cheered up. We went through a big field of grass and after that the scary tears were gone and there was nothing but a huge smile on that kids face the rest of the day. He did awesome!!!! Enjoy the pictures! Talyn's mom snapped these on the ride, at the lunch stop and through the field. They turned out good. Thanks Danielle!!

When we got back to the campground we had a crawfish boil and smoked pork loin with TONS of awesome food. The boys played baseball with all of the kids that were camping. I think this was the best part of the weekend. We all just sat around and watched this....it was pure entertainment. We had so much fun over the weekend.

We packed up and headed home on Monday to clean out the horse trailer. We are getting a new one this week so watch out for updates on this :) I think ALL of us are very excited about this!!! The boys spent the afternoon on the new slip-n-slide, it was a gorgeous day out!!

Next weekend we have 3 baseball games a trail ride and a trip to see the Icubs play!! We will update with those activities!! Until then.....

Gunnar's Lady Bug Graduation and Birthday!!

Greetings all, it has been a busy month!! The first weekend of the month we had a ball game, 2 graduation parties and a wedding to go to. We made it to everything but the wedding. We tried to get there but not enough time in the day!! The next weekend brought a trail ride to Prairie du Chien Wisconsin. Chris and I went on this while the boys got a weekend with Grandma Carol and Grampa Jim. We rushed home to go to an afternoon cookout to welcome a visiting scientist that is working with us from Brazil. Her name is Jalusa and she is fabulous. I look forward to working with her for the next 18 months!!

Meanwhile....that brings us to this weekend!!

Gunnar's Graduation

Gunnar has graduated from the Ladybug's to the Bumblebee's. YEAY!!! He had a concert where they sang "who let the A out" and Gunnar was the proud owner of the letter Q. When they would sing through the alphabet each letter was held up by a different child. When it was Gunnar's turn there was no Q. He claims to have dropped it :( Still cute though. Gunnar refused to sing any songs while on stage (typical) and when it was time to cross the stage and get his diploma he was the only one to start crying. Way to go Gunnar!! Obvioulsy doesn't like crowds :) Here are a few pics of the graduate.




He also had made a placemat for the table about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Here is his decision.

Please keep in mind that most kids wanted to be fireman or bus drivers. Only Gunnar!!!


After all that excitement, we went home and rested. Saturday morning was supposed to bring a ball game but it was pouring down rain and was cancelled. I squeezed in some garage sales before it was time for Gunnar's 4th Birthday Party!!

We held the party at Pizza Ranch (Gunnar's favorite place to eat) and had Dairy Queen ice cream cake (mommy's favorite)! It was yummy!! Gunnar got tons of cool stuff like a Jessie doll, and buzz lightyear sleeping bag, puzzles, movies, ds games, flashlights, baseballs with bases and a slip n slide, remote control digger and money!!!! WOW!! Here are some pics of some of his gifts.

After the party we ran to the park to wear the kids out so we could clean the shop here are a couple of pics of them at one of their favorite parks. I can't believe how big Hunter looks in these pics.


Here is Gunnar getting ready to take a nap after all of the excitement with his 2 favorite gifts! I don't think he has put that doll down for long.


When nap was over we got out our bases and baseball stuff and practiced hitting with the new pitching machine that a guy I work with gave us. That took us into dark and then finally to bed.

The next morning I felt a little sick so I stayed in bed and watch movies while Chris took Joe Feeney and the boys fishing all afternoon. They were so pumped when they got home they hooked up a stock tank for their pet fishes. Here are some pics of their haul.



Little do they know that these will probably be bait for the usual Memorial Weekend fishing extravaganza!!

Anyways, until next week. We have a trail ride this weekend and will be fishing and a crawfish boil. Should keep us busy!! Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Take me out to the ball park!!!!

Well the time has arrived!!! I thought I would dread it but I LOVE it!!


BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!





Hunter is on the Mets this year in T-shirt ball. For those of you not familiar with this it is 6-8 year olds with a parent pitching to them. Hunter's coach is a kid I went to school with and he knows Chris's family as well. So this is really nice. He is AWESOME with Hunter and Hunter really likes him!

Hunter played left and right field in his first two games. In his game on Thursday night he got 2 hits and got on base both times! YEAY!!!! In his game on Saturday he got a hit but got out at 1st and then struck out on the next time up. I think he did wonderful all times up! He has a smile on his face the whole entire game and he is paying attention and just enjoying everything. I couldn't ask for more! He is a picture of him fielding the ball on saturday and throwing it in! Great job Hunter!!!




After the game we headed out to a fish fry at Clyde Hull's and saw just about everyone we knew. Had a great time. The boys wore themselves out!! The rest of the weekend was spent building a new pen for the colts. This is going to be nice for us. It will allow us to work with the younger ones and get them used to us!! The boys were sick some on sunday so it was a rest day for them. Hunter helped me do a little landscaping that we will finish up this week weather permitting!!

This week brings ball games, I am chaperoning a fieldtrip to the Arboretum, getting the mules ready for riding (feet and hair),planting some more hostas, a graduation party for one of Hunter's daycare teachers, and a wedding if we can squeeze it in. Woooo!!


Until next week.......

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

OH A HUNTING WE WILL GO..........

And that we did!! Our weekend started off with the United Community School's Pancake Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt. We talked Grandma Carol and Grandma Baba into coming along with us and my boss, her husband and their 2 children. It was a windy but fun day!!! We were glad it didn't take too long!! Gunnar was with the 0-3 years olds so he had it pretty easy. Hunter moved up to the 6-8 year olds but we went off on our own so he got a pretty good haul. You could tell when the rest of the kids had found all the eggs they made a quick sweep through our area and that was that. Although Brad (my boss Shawn's husband) kept dropping the eggs we already had so the kids could keep going. Too funny. We had a good time.

Then it was time to celebrate Dad's belated birthday, we went to a couples massage, then out to lunch while Baba watched the boys!! YEAY!!!! We also grabbed 10 evergreen trees and brought them home to plant along our new fence line on the east side of the house.

Easter morning brought the Easter Bunny, the boys got 1 movie each, 1 DS game each and some books. Hunter got a Find IT with Hunting items in it. This is fun!! Gunnar got a really cool flashlight to take camping!! The boys decided to go the Hunt and Fish Club for breakfast while the Easter Bunny stopped by and deposited some eggs! Hmmm. Handy!! When they returned home the hunt was on. Here is a picture right before dad blew the whistle

Here is a picture of Hunter finding a load of eggs in the tunnel on his playground. I did't know that bunny could fit through there???

The boys stopped the hunt to pose for some pictures. Such good manners. :)








In the eggs was candy and money. I think they were more into the money than the candy!! That-a-way boys!! Here is a picture of their home haul!




After all that excitement we began planting the trees together. Gunnar's job was to put a scoop of mule poop in each hole, Hunter helped me move the trees and cut off the burlap. Pretty exciting. We got all the trees planted and were cleaning up when Gunnar decides he wants to go play in the garage and get some things out. It happened all to fast and like that he got himself pinned in the door. So that afternoon was spent at the ER getting a catscan, which he thought was the coolest thing ever!! "I was in a rocketship mom". GREAT!!! Everything is okay with Gunnar and he has promised not to go in the garage without a parent to open the door from now on!!

Until next weekend!! Hunter has his first ball game this week and Little League season openers on saturday!! I'm ready to sit in the bleachers and soak up the sun for the ball season!!

Mutton Bustin, Easter Bunny and The Case of the Missing Donkey!!

Greetings Everyone!!! I am sure you have heard by now that Hunter's new Donkey has vanished!!!! He is pretty upset but still hasn't been overly worried. While Hunter was at baseball practice Wedsnesday night, we realized Gordy had not come up to eat. Chris, Gunnar and I searched the timber looking for him.....no luck. CJ, Justin, and Chris searched the next 2 days searching every square inch of the 40 acres and nothing. Muck and his wife came out saturday and......nothing. They did find 2 spots where he could have gotten out. So Muck came out on Sunday and he, myself and Chris saddled up and went looking for signs of the escapee.......surprise......NOTHING!!!!! No tracks no signs again with the word nothing. We are convinced that he was stolen, WHY you ask, I have been asking the same question every ten minutes in my brain. NO CLUE. Meanwhile....Ma Jones watched the boys so we could go on the Great Gordy Excursion. She took them to Wal-mart, Mac Shack and then to see the Easter Bunny. She got a great pic of this!!! So as for the rest of the weekend you ask. BLAH!!! Our Easter egg hunt was cancelled due to rain, Hunter's ball practice was cancelled due to rain. We skipped going to VEISHEA because it was FREEZING out. So we just stayed inside all morning until about 1 o'clock when it started to warm up. Played outside for awhile until it was time to head to the Rodeo. The Rodeo was in Mason City Iowa. We headed up in the afternoon and ate at The Rib Crib with our friends Clint and Lorelee and their kids. Then off to the rodeo for just Bulls and mutton bustin. The boys got some new hats to support their cowboy way and then had the bull riders sign them afterwards. Hunter told them to leave room his uncle Wade Sundell needed to sign that hat too!! Gunnar pipes up "yeah our uncle Wade". They just looked at the kids in amazement! Too cute. They are so proud of Wade!! We are too!! Anyways here are a couple of videos of the Mutton Bustin. Hunter did pretty good. He was interviewed on the microphone before his ride. And I love the cockiness of his strut back to dad when its over.


Gunnar was cocky before hand telling everyone how he was gonna take that sheep on and give him a what fer. If you can't see in the video he was bawling through the whole thing. LOL!!!!



Enjoy here are some cowboy pictures. Too cute!! This weekend is United's Easter Egg Hunt and our very own Easter Egg Hunt at the Mule on Rouge Ranch. Followed by a visit from the Easter Bunny and coloring Eggs. Until then!!! HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!

Hunter Turns 6!!!!!!

We started off the weekend by picking Hunter and Gunnar up from school. Hunter's other front tooth finally shook loose!! He was pumped...again. He said to me that night before going to bed. "I'm tired of all this money the tooth fairy brings"......is this my kid???? "well what do you want the tooth fairy to bring then?" I asked. "A book would be nice" Fabulous, the tooth fairy just spent a butt load of money at the book fair here at work so that will work out nicely!! Anyways that night the tooth fairy dropped off a book and a couple of bucks for the tooth. Here is a picture of Hunter with his new prizes.He was so excited to find the book that he read the whole thing before coming in and waking us up to tell us the news of the tooth fairy's visit. He was also using the money the tooth fairy left him as a book mark in the book.....whatever works for ya!!

So that day we had Hunter's Baseball Team pictures. I will post these as soon as I get them, they should be good!! Then off to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the birthday party!! Home and to Dayton Iowa to watch a Ranch Rodeo. The boys really enjoyed watching this, they even practiced roping a chair while they watched. Then off to a party that night at an adult friend's house. There Hunter and Gunnar got to go for golf cart rides with the other kids that were there. We got to catch up with some friends we haven't got to see for awhile. I think we have been talked out of Daytona next year and into Jamaica!! Stay tuned for updates on this! Home we went and while I ate the boys took the 4 wheelers out to look for deer.

Up and at em the next day!! The boys wanted to ride the 4 wheelers to the Hunt and Fish Club for Breakfast so off we went. Back home to decorate and get ready for Hunter's Birthday Party!! I can't believe he is turning 6 already!!We had a Toy Story 3 themed party for him! And he got loads of gifts!! His Grandpa got him a new donkey named Gordie (I will get some pics of Hunter and post these as soon as possible), he got a new saddle and rope from dad! Baba and I got him books and games. Weasel got him a remote controlled Jeep, Clint and Lorelee got him a Truck and trailer with a motorcycle and Great Grandmas gave him money. CJ and Kahola got him a cap gun. Oh yeah and his most favorite gift of the day....Grandma Carol got him Super Mario Kart!!!! He had been wanting this ever since he visited his cousin Crystal and got to play it at her house!!! She got him a baseball bat as well to take and play with when he has games!! His first game is coming up soon!! April 28th!! Here are some pics of his presents he got!! Enjoy! I will post pictures of him riding Gordie ASAP as I said. He has been out to feed, water and brush Gordie everynight so far. He just absolutely LOVES him!!! I am not so sure how Gordie feels about all this attention???


The birthday party was a blast. Hunter read all of us his new book the tooth fairy brought him and then went around and thanked everyone for all of his wonderful presents! He played Toy Story Connect four with Baba while Chris and I were out admiring the new fence Clint and Lorelee put up that morning!! We got alot done and still had time to have fun!!

Next weekend brings an Easter Egg Hunt at my friend and coworker's house, VEISHA, and Hunter's first Rodeo of the year....oh and snow!! YEP snow. We might be snowed out of having a good time this coming weekend. I'm sure we can find something to keep us occupied!! We will see.

Until next weekend......


Tooth Tally- 4 out