The kids inside the castle

This shot was taken with my iPhone. Not bad huh? This is the kids inside the castle playing.

Boydee in the castle Santa sent

The kids love this castle. They're having so much fun coloring it and playing in it!

Celebrating a lost tooth

At Applebee's celebrating the loss of a tooth that was dangling for too long...

Best little girl ever

A few hours later!

Finally, the tooth is gone!

At Royal Crest Lanes.

Bloody tooth... A precursor

Today's outfit

Santa visits Eudora

We had a Santa sighting in Eudora last weekend!

He was at the city rec center, and he didn't even have a line! Evey was nervous going in, and told us she wasn't going to sit on Santa's lap. But then she saw that this wasn't a creepy Santa (like the one she met at the Abraham Lincoln museum a month ago) so she didn't mind getting close while he held Boydee.

Boydee? Heck, he didn't care. Red suit, big beard, weird hat? Ain't no thing for Boydee. Sat right down and smiled.


***

Sharp-eyed readers (four of you) have spotted the new poll on the side of the page. So... don't forget to vote!

Evey's birthday party pics

More photos from Indiana

Nice photo of Boydee and Bea on Thanksgiving.

Boyd and Keith Whitaker. Keith is Larry and Mary's son. When I was a kid, Keith was about the coolest person on the earth. Mainly because he'd take me fishing. But Keith didn't fish with normal gear, he fished with a compound bow and arrow. Yeah, he clearly wasn't into catch and release! Boyd thought Keith was pretty cool too, he liked hanging out with him. This photo is one of the first photos where I'd tell Boydee to "smile!" and he'd open his mouth wide like this. We'd all start laughing, so it just encouraged him to do it more.

Mom holding Boydee, as he "smiles" for the camera. That's Mary in the background.

Bubba ready for Christmas!

He loves the tree, especially the lights. We have the tree surrounded with furniture so he can't attack it. Evey is so happy we put up the tree... She just loves it.

Putting up the tree has always been a pain in the ass, in my opinion. I have thought this since I was about 13. But it is fun to see the kids react to the tree. And it looks festive in the living room, too.

Boydee with Bea and Junior

Here's my favorite photo from our trip to Wheatfield. On the left is Bea, in the foreground on the right is Junior. Adro's smile can be seen in there. And there's Boydee, hamming it up for everyone.

Boydee liked giving all these new people in Indiana kisses. That's what he's doing there in this pic, he's getting ready to lunge at Junior for a big smooch. And yes, Boydee prefers to kiss with his mouth open.

***

I just got back from a week in Orlando, where I hosted the second annual Golfdom Summit. What an event! I was the MC, a presenter, and even a member of a panel discussion (you can assign yourself all these responsibilities when you're the one writing the agenda!)

I think this may have been one of the most successful things I've ever done professionally. It just couldn't have gone any better. I'm so pumped! Not only was it a home run for your pal Jonesy, but I also cleared the bases.

Last year I hosted the event as well, but it wasn't the same. A year of experience helped in many ways.

Looking forward to next year's event, and to this event growing each year.

***

Evey's birthday is this week. She turns 6 on Friday. Six! Wow. Time is flying.

She's so tall... today she was wearing a sweater and pants, and she looked like such a big girl. She can stretch out and reach the mantle above the fireplace now. She a stringbean.

***

Evey was really excited to get the Christmas tree up. It was a big deal to her.

We thought about not putting up the tree, because we worried that Bubba would get in there and hurt himself. But Adro reorganized the living room furniture so it's blocked off from him.

He thinks it's pretty cool too, though.

***

How about this weather? Did it get to 70 degrees today? Our tree out front has buds on it!

It's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas, yet.

Evey at the Abe Lincoln museum

Wish we would have had more time... This was on our way from Wheatfield, Ind. -- but we did have some fun there in Springfield, Ill. OK, honestly, I was stressing because I was worried Evey wasn't the right age to learn about Lincoln, plus we still had a long ways to go.

But we were all smiles in the kids' area! Isn't she beautiful???

Jones and Jones

Me and my pal Rees Jones, the Open Doctor. Rees is awesome, he takes care of me. I do think he's the greatest living golf architect.

Spidey!

Perhaps the best gift I've ever found for the kids following a biz trip!

Back to the grind

Well, Thanksgiving went fast... now back to the real world. I've got one day in the office, then I'm off to Orlando for the 2nd annual Golfdom Summit. So much to do before I leave, though.

Our trip to Wheatfield was great. Saw everyone, from my Uncle Allen to Dave Birch, Larry and Mary and Mike and Marilyn, and of course Bea and Junior.

Boydee was a hit with everyone. He was in full-on charmer mode all weekend. We heard on more than one occasion that "Boyd is a great name" and we agree. All those folks in Wheatfield knew my dad since he was a little kid, so they enjoyed meeting his namesake, I could tell.

Evey's favorite thing about the trip was that she got to spend so much time with her cousins, including the 12-hour drive coming and going. They watched lots of movies, including disc three of the "Dungeons & Dragons" cartoon series from the '80s that I introduced her to (now all three kids are hooked!)

It's good to be home, though. We rode up in two cars, 10 people strong. It was correctly stated at one point that "you can't ever make 10 people happy." That was maybe even the motto after day two.

Maybe the best part of the trip was also one of the simplest: me and my family, Jessica and her family, and a mini-football. We walked about six blocks of Wheatfield, pointing out to the kids where Grandma Iris used to live, where Jessica and mom and dad used to live before I was born, where the haunted house was. The weather was nice, maybe 60 degrees. Me, Mark and Jett kept throwing the ball around while we walked.

Another great moment: Lary and Mary, Dave and Ginger, Mom, Keith, Mike and Marilyn, all sitting at a table together, chatting. I told Adro that that group probably hasn't all sat together at once in over 15 years. It was nice of everyone to come out and visit with us, and it was definitely nice of Mike and Marilyn to let us do it all at their house.

I've got photos of all of this, but I'll have to post them later, as the camera is currently more than 10 steps away, and it's late. Included here is a photo of me and Bubba taken a few weeks ago, moments after we gave him a haircut on the back deck.

Thanksgiving plans!!!

Man, I'm PUMPED for this year's Thanksgiving! We're road tripping -- the whole family -- to my birthplace, Wheatfield, Ind.

And when I say the whole family, I mean THE WHOLE FAMILY. My family... my mom... my sister's family... my M-I-L... even my sister's dog might be making the trip! I might go buy a goldfish, JUST SO I CAN BRING HIM TO INDIANA WITH ME!!!

I need to go to bed now, but I wanted to mention how excited I am for Thanksgiving 2012.

***

In other news, Boydee now blows kisses.

Also, Evey likes to pick him up, yell "Horsey!" and then run around the living room shouting "Giddy up! Giddy up!!!"

Boydee loves it. It's equal parts terrifying and adorable. Like most of parenthood.

Spider-Chairs

Spider-chair, spider-chair... does whatever a spider-chair does!

This is a photo of Evey and Boydee sitting in there somewhat matching Spider-Man chairs. Boydee prefers Evey's big Spider-Man chair and she will share once in a while.

Super Friends

Check out Boydee... he's even in character, just like Batman -- BROODING!

Trick or treat!

First parent/teacher conference, big head

Here's a pic of Boydee, looking a little stressed about the cake placed in front of him, on his first birthday.

***

I have the stats on B.J. here from his one-year doctor's appointment. I missed the appointment as I had to make a last-minute trip to Cleveland for work that week. Adro summed up the appointment to me by saying Dr. McKeon said Boydee was "perfect."

He weighed 20 pounds, 4 ounces, placing him in the 25th percentile of boys his age (a little light, eh?)

He was 30 inches long at his check-up, putting him a little over the 50th percentile for boys his age.

His head circumference was 18 3/4 inches, placing him in the 90th percentile for boys his age.

So, I guess you add all that together -- low weight, mid-range height, giant noggin -- and that equals perfect.

These stats mean very little, I get that. But they measure him in these things, so I'll document them here. I did the same thing for Evey, but in much, much greater detail.

Here's a guess: Boyd's going to be a tall skinny kid until he reaches his early twenties. He'll probably dunk by the 7th grade. He'll fill out after high school. He'll be an inch or two taller than his dad. And he'll be just as awkward with the girls throughout his teens as I was.

Sorry, son. Hey, at least you'll be tall. And you'll probably drive a bad-ass car, as is a Jones tradition.

***

Evey had her first parent/teacher conference this evening. Adro went to it while I watched the kids at home.

Mrs. Paul had nothing but great things to say about Evey. Said Evey participates in everything in class, that she's kind, that she watches out for other kids.

Academically, Evey was listed as "on-track" for everything except one; reading.

She blows away her classmates when it comes to reading.

Mrs. Paul said Evey tests at a "G Level" when it comes to reading. This is the level that they expect 1st graders to be at when they're finishing the academic year.

She told Adro that they recently changed the rules about kindergartners, so she's unable to promote Evey to an advanced reading course. So instead Evey must stick around with the kids her age... however, they are going to split into three groups, and Evey will clearly be in the top group. She promised Adro she'd document Evey's progress, so when she gets to 1st grade, she can be put in an advanced reading class. (Apparently it's the Wild West when it comes to reading once you get to 1st grade, and there are no rules. She'll probably be handed a copy of Slaughterhouse-Five on the first day of school.)

Another thing Mrs. Paul told Adro is that she doesn't think Evey is going to plateau... she said some kids come in ahead of their classmates, and they're ahead for a few weeks, and then they, well... slow down... allowing their classmates to catch up with them. She said Evey shows no signs of this, and that she wants to read more difficult things and stay ahead of her classmates.

Mrs. Paul also congratulated Adro and said that we have clearly done a great job of working with her on reading. Adro told her she'd like to take the credit, but the credit is due to Montessori School in Lawrence.

If I were there, I'd have added that there's also a thing called genetics that we have to credit. From Evey's reading to the size of Boydee's noggin, these kids have some good DNA, I'd say! OH YEAH!!!

***

Great job kiddos! Keep doing what you do. We're going to love you no matter how big your heads are, or where your reading level is!

 

The four cousins

Here's a nice pic of the four cousins at Boydee's birthday party a few weeks ago... Adro will probably not like being in the pic, but it's the best pic of Boydee, looking at the camera.

We had a Spider-Man themed party for Bubba. You can see the STEVE DITKO Spider-Man illustration on the front of his high chair. Only the best for the birthday boy! Todd McFarlane who? John Romita Sr.? -- never heard of ya. There is only one Steve Ditko, and my son will surely grow up to be a fan...

***

Evey was "clipped up" to silver today, meaning she was "off the chart" in terms of behavior. She showed me this little coupon that said she was "caught being good!" and apparently someone (not her teacher) gave it to her in the lunchroom. She told me she was being quiet when it was time to be quiet, and speaking softly when it was time to speak softly... and this is why she got the coupon.

I told her I was very proud of her, and I took her through the Dairy Queen drive-thru as a way of celebrating her achievement. (Evey ordered a small chocolate ice cream, I got nothing.)

It should be noted that there have been other times that she has been "clipped up" to silver, but it has always been her and her entire class... this, as far as I know, is the first time she's done this on her own, and not with the entire class.

***

I'm volunteering in the classroom tomorrow. Someone remind me, 2 p.m., I need to be there.

I have low expectations, as it sounds like I won't actually be working with the students. Who knows, I might be running the $%^&&@ copy machine, for all I know.

Low expectations is sometimes a good thing, though -- right, comrades?

***

Got to smoke a cigar with Neuty tonight. Also got a phone call from Lervy. That's a good night for a 35-year-old nerd... seems like me and my friends, as we grow older, see each other less these days. Good to see/chat with these two dudes and have a good conversation, give each other hell, etc.

***

If I were to get my choice of super-powers, it would be invisibility. The inspiration for this choice mostly comes from the movie "Memoirs of an Invisible Man," starring Chevy Chase. He seemed to have the right attitude about invisibility. It'd be better to be able to turn it on and off, but if you couldn't... well, there's still a good time to be had.

***

I'm reading the book "20," an oral history of Pearl Jam. Pretty good so far, although I'm only 60 pages into a 300-page book. I'll try to let you know if I read anything super-cool. I'm hopeful that there's mention of PJ's Day on the Hill performance, though I was too young to be there.

***

Quesadilla night at the Jones casa. KILLED IT! Oh man that was good...   

Happy Anniversary!

Me and Adrianne celebrated six years of marriage this past weekend. My, how time flies! I love you Adro, these last six years have been the best years of my life! How cool is it that we have a beautiful 5-year-old, the very cool Spidey-hat wearing 1-year-old above, a nice house in Eudora, own our three cars (as of one day now!) and a cold beer is always available on tap?

Now if I can just get the grass to grow in the front yard... Give me six more years on that one?

***

Boydee got sick last week, which included a rash over most of his body. But he handled it well, and aside from trouble sleeping, he really didn't fuss much.

Boydee is finally eating all sorts of real food now. He still dabbles in baby food, but he enjoys quesadillas, toast, Elvira's soup, cheese, beans, you name it.

He hollers and cries when I yell at him. He knows when he's doing something wrong, and he doesn't like it when I call him out on it. He wants to play with the cabinet we have in the living room, and I'm just waiting for him to smash a finger on it (don't worry, I'm blocking it with Evey's Spider-Man chair for now.) But I'll yell, "Boydee, NO!" and he'll shout and cry until he gets distracted by the next thing.

I told him the other day, while Evey was around, that he can't just get anything he wants. He's not entitled to play with everything in our house.

Evey looked at him and said, "Yeah, Bubba, you can't have everything you want! Only I can."

***

We played a tough team on Saturday in our K and Pre-K soccer league. It was the same team we played the first game of the season, and they stomped us then. I'm told by a fellow coach that this team practices twice a week (we're only asked to hold one practice a week) and that their coach obviously takes it very seriously. It shows in the way his team plays -- they're further along then any other team in the league for sure, so hat's off to these kids for that.

I wasn't looking forward to the game, but my kids played admirably, and we made a little bit of a game out of it.

I had one of my worst players start the game in goal (she was the first to volunteer, so what the heck.) The other team caught a break-away, and they also caught my goalie taking a break away from the game -- she was lollygagging about 20 feet away from the goal, just kicking at the dirt, looking for bugs or something. So they scored an empty-netter. That barely counts in my book...

We switch goalies every quarter, to try to get as many kids a chance to play goalie as possible. We put my best player in goal, and he let an OK shot slip by him. Halftime.

Third quarter, we dominate possession of the ball and the other team doesn't get a shot off.

Fourth quarter, Evey volunteers to be goalie, so I let her take over.

This team started bringing the heat. Shot after shot. I think maybe four or five shots were on goal, and Evey blocked or stopped each one! One of them even came in hot, and she stayed in front of it and blocked it with her shins.

As coach, I get to be on the field with the kids. I was having fun watching her play goalie. She denied those little kids for the entire quarter! It was awesome!

We had our last practice today, and one of the moms even congratulated Evey on the way she played goalie last game.

Nice job, EVEY!

***

After practice today, Evey came out of her room with a little circular piece of paper with a tiger on it. It reads:

DAD YOO R THE BEST SOCR COCH EVER!

Thanks, Evey! You're the best goalie on the Green Dragons!

Boydee's B-Day

Boydee enjoyed his birthday cake and his birthday party. He loved his cake and got a kick out of his presents, too.

He had his 1-year check-up and the doc said he was doing great!

More on Boydee's birthday, and lots of photos, coming soon. No battery power right now!

Happy Birthday Bubba!

Hard to believe -- this time last year, we were welcoming our son to the world!

That's right, Boydee, AKA Bubba, celebrates his first birthday today! Wow, did it get here quick! And, sorry, son... you didn't realize it, but last weekend at Spencer Rockhold's 1st birthday party? That was about as close to a birthday party as you're going to get!

But don't worry... you're still doing better than your Sissy did. According to this post from 2007, Evey spent her first birthday in the emergency room with a fever! So at least you're chilling in your own crib for your big day!

Sonny, you're an awesome little boy. I love your fuzzy hairdo, I like that you seem to enjoy sports on TV (especially football and soccer) but are indifferent to all other shows, I dig your cool super-hero themed wardrobe.

Most of all, you make our family complete -- I have a hard time even remembering what our family was like before you got here. Evey, Momma and me love you so much... You're the piece that completes the Jones family puzzle, and that's just one of the many reasons I love you, son.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE LITTLE BOY IN THE WORLD!

Head for the Cure 2012

I ran a 5K race this Sunday. It was the annual "Head for the Cure" 5K in support of brain cancer research.

Here's a pic of "Team Boyd":

Me, cousin Melissa, Jess and Stacy following the 5K race this Sunday morning.

We had a blast, surprisingly. I was dreading the race, mostly because I'm fat and out of shape. I also planned on being hungover. Fat, out-of-shape and hungover doesn't go well with 5K races.

I was happy to finish the race in 33 minutes, good enough to take 3rd in my age category. Not fast by any means, but I bet it was two or three minutes faster than my time last year. (Note: I ran it in 35:16 last year, so a two-minute improvement. I ran it in 32:29 in 2010, so, whatever.)

They even gave me a medal for third place. I was mildly amused by the whole thing.

Then I came home and showed the medal to Adrianne. Her response: "Oh, did they give everyone a medal this year?"

Thanks, babe.

***

Good news -- Evey's relationship with Parker or whatever his name was, lasted all of one day.

And Evey even announced it that way when she got home. "Good news!" she called out. "I broke up with Parker!"

We asked, what happened? She told us he told her he'd play with her at recess that day, and he did not, so it was OVER.

Plenty of fish in the sea, Evey.

***

If I look giant in that sweatshirt in the photo, it's because it used to be my Dad's. Typically my Dad's clothes are giant on me, but this one is too skinny.

This made my 33-minute 5K even more impressive, that a dude stuffed into a 25-year-old sweatshirt, who recently ate What-a-Burger for three straight meals, could complete the race at all was a victory. For mankind.

***

Boydee likes sitting in the Terror Dome and looking out our front window. He shouts at random things as they pass by, mostly cars. It sounds like he's shouting "I love you!" but I think he really just wants to be heard. It's pretty badass.

Boydee likes to play ball, and is decent at throwing the mini football. He seems to be right-handed.

One thing we can't figure out is that he often will hold the football to his ear before throwing it. I suggested today that a lot of NFL and college quarterbacks will hold the ball up near their ear when they're in the pocket, looking for an open receiver. Perhaps that's where he gets this.

Or maybe he thinks the football is also the phone. I don't know.

Updates from the world of Jones

** I'm running in the "Head for the Cure" 5K this Sunday. It's a fundraiser for brain cancer research. Come out and join us! We've got a team of four of us -- me, my sister, my cousin Melissa, and our friend Stacy are all running on "Team Boyd" in honor of my dad. Click here for details. Also, click through the photos -- you'll see a photo of me and Jess' calves with "In Memory of Dad" written on them, and a photo of my sister holding Evey at the end of the race. Kinda cool!

** Boydee is saying a lot more words now, including "Momma," "Love you," "bye-bye," maybe "thank you" and possibly "abuela," which is what he calls Elvira ("grandma" -- what her actual grandson calls her, so Boyd's latched on to it.) He's doing great... I was in Florida for four days, and he was really happy to see me when I came home, which was cool.

** Here's the big news of the day... Evey has met her future husband, she tells me.

Lately, when I pick her up from school, she comes out the front door holding the same boys' hand. Today they were just both smiling like crazy... and I almost thought this little boy was going to introduce himself to me.

"Who is that boy," I asked Evey once we were in the car. She smiled and said, "That's Jackson. And guess what? I think someday... I'm going to marry him!"

I didn't make a big deal about it. But Evey couldn't hold back. "Don't tell his mom or dad... and don't tell mom... but I think I'm in love with him! I'm in love with him, and... ta-dah! I'm going to marry him."

I told her that she loved me, and that was enough for now.

"But, Dad, I can't marry you -- you're already married," she told me. "Jackson follows me around the playground, and he's really nice. When I fell, he took care of me and made sure I was OK. Daddy, he's so nice!"

I whispered this story to Adro tonight. She laughed pretty hard. And I swore her to secrecy, too.

No one tell Evey's little secret or she'll hate me forever, OK???

my kids