Dad is the funniest

The kids show off some of Dad's Amazing Spider-Mans.
I told Boyd, "smile like you're the Chameleon!" He nailed it.

You all know this to be true. Dad... me... Seth -- I am the funniest Jones.

But there are some Joneses (all of them) who think they are the funniest. Which is kind of cute, because at least one of those Joneses (we're not naming names) actually isn't funny. 

But, OK.

***

Rocky the Goldfish died today. RIP Rocky the Goldfish.

You were the first and only fish the Jones family has ever owned. It was by happenstance -- a school project sent home that Mom couldn't say no to -- that brought you into our lives.

You fluttered around your 2-liter bottle for about a month or so. You bonded with Koko. You blinked a lot.

You were... a Jones.

And you made everyone in the family -- for a few weeks, anyway -- not the least funny Jones. 

RIP Rocky the Goldfish.

***

Evey's play, "Murder at the Malt Shop" is Friday and Saturday at the middle school. 7 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are $5. Don't miss out!!!

***

We had battle of the books today. It was actually kind of fun for once.

I go to have lunch with Evey and three classmates once a month, and I encourage them to read books. I'm not much of a motivator. Evey and her classmate Connor read books. The other two? Well...

Today we were eating and chatting, and Evey mentioned that something was "spicy."

"You think everything is spicy!" her classmate cried out. "The other day we ate this, and you said, 'it's spicy!' and then we ate that, and you said, 'spicy!'"

The other kid chimed in, "I don't think you know the difference between spicy and minty," and everyone nodded. I had to laugh, and gave the kids knuckles.

30 minutes later I asked the kids to each tell me about the most recent book they read. When it was Evey's turn, she said her book was "SO SAD! This character died... and then this bad thing happened...!"

And I said, "yeah.... but was it spicy?"

The kids all howled. Except for Evey.

***

I grilled t-bone steaks, baked potatoes and corn on the cob for dinner tonight. We ate like kings!

Midway through the meal I got up from my chair to grab some butter, or something. 

Bub jumped in my seat and started impersonating me. "I'm the daddy! I'm the boss. You do what I say!"

It was a weak impersonation. However, one thing was spot-on.

"Boyd, I don't sound like that," I said. "But with that piece of potato stuck to your forehead? At least you look like me."

This caused one Jones to laugh so hard she tooted.

Dad is the funniest.

A Monday night out!

Well this was fun! Will was in town (he lives in Nairobi now) for a few days, and Judy watched the kids so we could take him to KC to see Jess and Sean. Here's a great pic of the five of us together at Turn 2, the upstairs bar at Hollywood Casino. That's the Kansas Speedway in the background.

***

Evey is working hard, getting ready for her performance next Friday and Saturday. Murder at the Malt Shop... 7 p.m. next Friday, 3 p.m. next Saturday -- mark your calendars!

***

Boyd's soccer team had its second practice. Boyd has a few classmates on the team. My first impression: they're going to be pretty good! We'll see how the other teams grew up since last fall, but the kids we got, a few of them look a little stronger and faster. Definitely taller.

League play begins March 31st.

***

K-State advances to the Elite Eight! Wow! Didn't expect them to hang with Kentucky, but instead they kept a small lead most of the game. Happy for the Wildcats!

***

I wish I was funnier this evening, but I'm exhausted from a LONG day. We take the magazine to press tomorrow. I told the family, soccer practice was good for me today because it allowed me to get outside and clear my mind a little. Too much focus on magazine pages today.

I'll be ready for the KU game tomorrow!

Boyd's first comic book!

 Boyd is doing a good job reading... he's not as advanced of a reader as his sister was at this age (but I mean, c'mon, seriously), but he's doing good.

If I'm going to give Evey a compliment on something she did great in comparison to her brother, than let me also do the same for Bub. I'd say he's get a better sense of humor at this age. Kid can bust you up out of nowhere, you won't even see it coming.

Take for example his comic book he created. He was working on it this morning without any prompting. Asked for the stapler. Then he was done.

"It's going to be kind of weird," Boyd said, "because it's about Dad tooting."

Sure enough, Boyd's two-page comic is about his dad's bad gas. It's called "When Dad Toots."

Thanks buddy! But I got to admit... it made me laugh.

Justice League visits Eudora Elementary School

EUDORA, Kan. — After an intense battle with the three-eyed menace known as Despero in Kansas City's warehouse district, four founding members of the Justice League of America made a visit to Mrs. Cunningham's kindergarten class at Eudora Elementary School.

"We wanted to let the kids know that we're not going to let the forces of evil disrupt their learning," Superman said. "Also, we have a friend locally who has an awesome garage office along with a pretty sweet comic collection, so we stopped by to say hi. Unfortunately, his Shinobi arcade game was busted, but he says he'll have it fixed for next time."

Eudora kindergartner Boyd Jones noted that the super hero visit was "pretty cool," but got a laugh when he told the heroes that the "Guardians of the Galaxy movies are way better" than any of the films about members of the Justice League.

Local parent Seth Jones said he was happy the heroes took the time to say hello to some local fans.

"I told Bruce — I mean, uh, Batman — that it wouldn't kill him to see some kids that weren't sidekicks," Jones said. "Also, Green Arrow owed me $50, so now we're even."

5th grade student Evey Jones was seen angrily walking into the 5th grade pod. It turns out she is not a fan of Despero, but instead was upset that the heroes didn't visit her class when she was in

kindergarten.

"Just like Mom and Dad never got lunch with me... did Wonder Woman ever pop into my class?" she asked. "No way! Just Boyd's class!!!"

Picture day!

Check out how cool my kids are... it was picture day today, and they looked GOOD!

Boyd insisted on wearing a tie, so I helped him with his clip-on a little this morning. Evey chose her own outfit, but then it was cool that she had mom help her curl her hair. Both kids looked dy-no-mite. When I went and picked them up from school today I had to tell them to chill for a second so I could get a photo. Boyd struggled with the sun a little bit, but I got a decent pic.

***

We got the garage mostly put back together on Saturday. Foosball was back in effect. Then me and B.J. played mini-pool. Then we invited the girls down to play Uno on the felt table.

Someone suggested we make it a team game, adding a new spin to the game. Parents versus kids. The only problem was we were sitting Adro, Boyd, Evey, me. So inevitably someone would have to do damage to a teammate. 

As cute as Boyd is, this concept failed him. Next time we'll sit parent, kid, parent, kid.

And yet... the kids won. Boyd 5, Adro 2, Seth 2. 

Boyd wasn's as excited about winning all 5 of his team's games as he was that him and Sis won overall. Evey was chill and happy to hang and listen to the music.

I'm glad the garage is back.

***

New dish tonight. Shredded barbecue chicken sandwiches.

A new dish is a big deal around here because I've been playing it safe for the last few years. We might have a new winner, people!

Next up: soul food style mac n cheese, in these amazing new soup dishes we bought.