Rosetta...

A couple quick pics of "Rosetta" from Tinkerbell...off to her Halloween School Party!

Fall Highlights...

Jollay Orchards Fall Festival - face painting
Train Ride at the Zoo

Cub Scouts All Family Picnic

Silly Faces

Sweet baby Lukas arrived

Lukas' Mommy...(2 days before his arrival) we got together to celebrate before his arrival

Apple picking w/ Charlotte's preschool, 45 degrees and rainy!

Outside picnic with friends

Baking Pumpkin cookies with the kids

Getting together a basket of goodies to take to the hospital to welcome baby Lukas...

Just a few of the highlights from the last few weeks...the Fall has been short but beautiful here in the Midwest, hard to believe Halloween is just a few shorts days away then we are facing November 1...I am really excited about Christmas this year and have already started some preparations...including cards, gift making, shopping, etc...

Be back soon with more pictures!

TWILIGHT Night with friends

Finally photos from my TWILIGHT Night Halloween swap with friends! Last year's theme was WICKED and this one was TWILIGHT - just a play on words, we did not incorporate the movie/book into the gifts or evening, well actually...there were a few 30-somethings who shall remain nameless on their Iphones calling and calling to order tickets to "New Moon", ha, ha...oh my...anyway the night was great fun! The gifts were sooo creative and beautifully and thoughtfully wrapped. Each gift needed to represent a letter of TWILIGHT I had a ball decorating the house for my friends and am lovingly reminded what special friends I have...everyone should make time for their girlfriends and nurture and love them and care for their relationships...they are truly gifts in my life! I'll just hit a few highlights - and just a warning, some of these pics are fuzzy and not so good...I have a new camera and am still learning!

Glitter skulls

My beautiful friend Kristin...isn't her hair gorgeous?


My swap partner...
Her gift to me:
T- treat tray
W-witch wine charms
I- icky worms (gummy)
L-pumpkin latte (Starbucks gc)
I -icy cube tray
G - ghost garland (so cute!!!!)
H - harvest scent candle
T-treats...homemade pumpkin muffins!

DW- it was all great - love it !!!

Girls and Gifts

A few of the gifts

Favors - a "candy bar"...fill a bag of candy to take home

A black crow perched upon the bird cage

The cage filled with cheese goodies, "mice" and birds!

Yummy treats

Yummy poison drinks ..also served a Vampire Kiss cocktail!

On The Mend

I think Miss Charlotte is on the mend...tomorrow her "quarantine" will be over although we plan to lay low through the weekend... Her dollies and calls from her Shoogie cheered her up alot this last week...thoughtfulness from her class, friends (and my friends too) were much appreciated
- thank you all!

We love you Charlotte and are so grateful to God that you are better!

Porch Envy

On a lighter and brighter note...isn't this porch great...?! Don't you see a fun Halloween party here or kids and parents gathered on the steps handing out Hot Cider and treat bags on Halloween night...? I love the bright orange door, door painting is not hard and it would be great fun to change your color for the Seasons and Holidays...Cherry Red for Christmas and the 4th, sunny yellow for Spring and Summer and this Orange would be great as you transition from Halloween into Thanksgiving, I just love the idea! PotteryBarn of course!!! I hope to "mimic" the look in the next week or so as we prepare for a busy few weeks of festivities...assuming everyone is healthy! - Fingers crossed.

H1N1

Our beautiful Charlotte tested positive last week for "the flu" - Influenza A, H1N1, or as most know it; The Swine flu!

After a 4 hour period in which she got really sick, really fast and was not at all interested in staying awake or lifting her head off the pillow or keeping her eyes open, I decided to seek medical attention right away. However, our Pediatrician was so overwhelmed with sick cases that they were referring out to the ER or Immed. Medical Clinics. After a 2 hour wait, Charlotte was seen and after a stern "nudge" from me (never doubt Mother's intuition), her nose was swabbed and her test came back positive. Because it was caught "early" she was a candidate for Tamaflu which definitely seems to be helping.

I am writing this post simply because there seems to be a good deal of mis-information out there within schools and communities alike. I am NOT a Doctor, nor do I profess to be one, just a concerned Mommy looking out for her baby. I have done quite a bit of reading and research since last Thursday and have learned some great facts...some good and some bad. But any new illness where no one has been vaccinated against it and there are documented deaths (especially in kids), one of the little girls was just a few miles up the road and its extremely contagious 5-7 days) well it is hard not to panic or over react or think the worst or believe "the hype"...when your child falls really ill, really quickly there is cause for concern, any illness, not just the flu, all that "stuff" you hear - well, it suddenly becomes personal.

So from my experience, I say again, MY experience, this is what we know to be the case.

Symptoms:

A sudden high fever that spikes without warning (Charlotte's went from 99.5-103 in a matter of a few short hours)

Headache and body aches

Extreme fatigue

Cold-like symptoms

Fever with a rash

A bad cough (although Charlotte did not have one)

Other Good Info:

A quick, painless nose swab can be done to test for Influenza A, H1N1

The 'flu" that is going around ...the flu that the Doctors are seeing right now are that of Influenza A, H1N1 - they are one in the same ...H1N1 is this year's strain

It is very contagious - spread via hands or mouth (the common ways)

It is contagious from 1-3 days prior to the onset of symptoms and 5-7 days after the onset

of symptoms

Visit the CDC's website for great info...www.cdc.gov

I also believe there are many people with the flu that don't know they have it...they continue to go to school, Church, social outings, etc...this is aiding in the massive outbreak. Our ER doc as well as our Pediatrician have said the same thing.

Again, this is just the state of our affairs here in the Jones house...but on a happy note, Charlotte is improving and she has been such a trooper! We hope and pray her brothers don't come down with it....we are washing, washing, washing, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!

Wishing you all a healthy, happy season!

Dreaming...

How would you like this for your scrapbook/craft room?!...or office... or heck, I'd love it for my bedroom! It.is.gorgeous! This is just one picture, you have to see the rest! She even has a bonus scrapbook/craft room off the deluxe version - more space when she needs it or for her friends and kids, oh and after you quit drooling from that, check out the pictures of their "basement", complete with thatched-straw roofed playhouse adapted form the story of Snow White and then since the "boys" needed a place to play too, they have their own indoor BB court! The excitement doesn't stop there...her post today is on making a Halloween countdown calendar for her kids - it is so adorable! She has a great blog and so creative, I have loved reading all her posts. Heres the adress: http://www.frommyfeatherednest.blogspot.com/ (click on scraproom on the list in the left too see all the pics)

In other news I have some great pics of late...our finished playroom, a Halloween swap with friends and a precious new baby that was born to a special friend over the weekend. He is tiny and sweet and perfect and another example of God's divine work. Congratulations Christie on your precious baby Lukas! I hope to get the pictures and posts up soon, lots going on here and staying busy! Hope your Autumn is off to a cozy start!