Mckenna and the never ending potting training saga

Everyday Mckenna and I have this conversation that goes something like this:

Mom: Mckenna let's go get some big girls panties on so you can go potty on the big potty

Mckenna: No mom I think I better wear my diaper....which she goes in and hand picks the correct character in the pampers box

Next day...

Mom:  Mckenna once we are done with this box of diapers we won't have any more and you will have to wear big girl panties.

Mckenna: After a long pause thinking....well you probably better go to Walmart and buy some more ( I am so serious she said probably)

Upon the kids returning back to school

Mckenna : When do I get to go to school?

Mom: Well you have to wear big girl panties to go to school so lets get rid of the diapers and you get to go to school

Mckenna: After a long pause thinking.....well I guess I probably better stay home with you then

UGHH!!!  These are just a couple of the conversations that her and I have had over the past several months. She refuses to think about it or talk about it. I am convinced that one day she will just make up her mind and start going potty on the big potty. Well....yesterday I came home from a Relief Society activity and Mckenna had decided that she was going to wear big girl panties. She had a couple of accidents, some almost made it tries and one time where she actually made it. Of course we made a HUGE deal about it. I thought today is the day...and I am almost out of diapers....when it was time to go to bed she brought me a diaper to put on her and she quickly fell asleep. 

This morning I said let's put on big girl panties, she said "um no I want a diaper mom". And so the never ending saga continues.....I am confident that she won't get married in pampers.....let's hope not anyway! 

Trunk or Treat

So after the family picture field trip it was time to go home and get ready for the annual Trunk or Treat at our church. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned to Mike that I thought it would be a good idea if we had a theme costume for our family. Really the possibilities are endless with a group our size. He wasn't too excited about the whole idea, he's usually a good sport about these things and I am the one that's hesitant. I was persistent about it and came up with several ideas to choose from. I thought we could be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Mike didn't want to be a dwarf....I really didn't want to dress up in a Snow White costume and wig but in the spirit of family unity I was willing to do it. Mike really wasn't buying in to it. So I said fine lets just be Snow White in the seven dorks.....the creative lightbulb went off and so we came up with Off Whyte and the seven dorks.... 

Off Whyte and the seven dorks starring Allison as Off Whyte, Mike as Daddy dork, Jessika as Pointless, Jessica as Hopeless, Cody as Knock Knock, Michael as Who's There, Danielle as Smartee pants, Mckenna as Perfect Dork.....

"What we aren't eating the cupcakes"

"I'm pretty bored by this whole thing when does the trunk or treating start?"

Yes, I really am with him and yes, I really do love him. But does anyone know a good dentist?

Mike walked around the entire night asking people if they wanted a kiss, he was quite disgusting looking, when they turned up their nose at him he quickly gave them a chocolate kiss. He's such the joker!!! Even though the kids at first were not too excited about being dorks we all pulled it off and it will be a memory we will not soon forget.....I have to start thinking about next year!!!

Family Pictures

I have been wanting to update our family pictures since it's been a couple of years. However, the thought of going through the whole process of coordinating clothes, schedules and everything else that goes along with pictures for 9 people needless to say is a daunting task. So we bit the bullet and I made the appointment at Sears. I figured if I did it on a weekday instead of Saturday we would be able to make it in and out fairly easy. Well we could get in easy with 9 people it's the getting out with 9 people that would be tricky. 

The kids didn't have school on Friday so I decided that was the day. I was really impressed that we all got out the door at the appointment time, no mishaps and were on our way. All the way there we got the usual "How long is this going to take?" or "When will we be done?" depending on which child asked the question as if the answer would change. My answer was always consistent...the faster everyone cooperates and smiles the faster we will be done. I kept remembering the last family portrait session and the hours it seemed to get everyone to smile at the same time. I was really hoping that this wouldn't take that long, so I could get them to do it again, ok so that I could convince Mike to do it again.

 We got to Sears and they took us right in. I will say that the very young girl, she just graduated from high school last year, was a little overwhelmed by ALL of the children. She was a good sport and took us back to her little photo room. 30 minutes later we were finished, yes I did say 30 minutes. Mike and I were beyond impressed that everyone cooperated, this means I will be able to do this again, with the exception of Mckenna who always cooperates and goes along with everything. To her defense, she did wake up with a terrible cold that morning and would only take a picture if she was sitting in my lap...until we got to the food court and she announced "It's time to take our pictures now". So here are the results of our field trip on Friday......

HELP!!!

Ok so I decided that I would take control of this whole blog thing since it was my idea to begin with. Mike is out of town so I thought I could take advantage of this time and try to figure it out. I thought how hard can it be to add some pictures WELL I can tell you that it has taken me 2 days to just make the slideshow and then when I finally figured out how to do that...then there was the whole process about getting it to our blog. I still am not sure why it's not under the column entitled slideshow?!?!? Doesn't it know that's where it's supposed to be??? There's no click and dragging on the slideshow to move it where it is supposed to be either! UGH! I am totally up for anyone who would like to come and show me how to make this whole blog thing work and help me make my page pretty...I will bake you any treat you want....

Anyway here are some random pictures of our family. Stay tuned as we try to figure this out!

General Conference

Another great conference took place this weekend.  

We're so proud of our kids for....being...awa...uh....alive during all 4 sessions.  We noticed it got a little harder as time went on for everyone to keep focused.  That's just room for improvement in the future.  

During the last session, someone snuck around with a camera and got some rather revealing shots of what was going on in the Jones home this afternoon.  

We of course, can neither confirm nor deny these pictures are accurate or are really of us.  These days you can photo shop just about anything.  We don't have photo shop though, which only makes this a bigger mystery.  But you be the judge.  Is this real?  Or is it memorex?  (that dates this author a little)

Meet the Fam

Well, this is the family. You have no idea the hello there! we went through to get these pictures taken. Let's just say, getting everyone to wear a long sleeved white shirt and jeans out on the beach in the middle of the summer was sooo much fun. We're thinking of what we can do to top this. Actually, we have an appointment to take pictures at Wal Mart next week. TOP THAT!

If you are reading this, you probably know us so rather than going through a long introduction and list everyone's talents so they feel included when they get around to reading this, let's get right to some discussion about food.

Mint OREO cookies are awesome (yes, this is Mike). Nothing beats 5 or 6 Mint Oreo cookies around midnight with a glass of milk with ice chunks in it. Except for Bryers Mint Chocolate chip ice cream. A bowl of that before Oreos is pretty good. Even better after OREOS because it gets those crumbs off your gums and teeth and leaves your breath minty fresh and your belly a little sickly. Soda usually calms that though.

I'm sure Allison will want to address how we deal with diet and nutrition in a separate entry. So, let's meet the family.

We are really a hard family to follow. Our motto is "Nobody said it would be easy, so zip it and and do what you're told." There's a plaque that says something like this, maybe I got it confused. Anyways, with so many people in our family, it is worth reviewing. So, starting from youngest to oldest we are: Mckenna, Danielle, Michael, Cody, Jessica, Jessika, Jayson, Allison and Mike. Almost 10. Not that we want to be 10. Nine is good. One was peaceful. After three your numb all the time anyways so it doesn't matter. We are a brady bunch of sorts but we are one big happy, screwed up at times, loving though moody, tender hearted yet moderately edgy, family. The good news is we can spread the chores around many people. What's that other saying, "Many hands make more work later for Mom?" Something like that. Anyways, now you know a little more than you wanted about us. If we really keep this blog up, we'll probably slip and reveal more than we should about our inner circle. Stay tuned.