It's No Longer "All About Jack..."

Hi! We are moving everything over to a new blog. When I created this blog I wasn't thinking about the future....now we are a family of four! (Or will be in 6 1/2 months!)

For some reason blogger won't let me link the new blog on this post.
You can look on the Blogs I Follow List to the left and it will be The Iles Family blog.


It is www.ilesfamily.blogspot.com
If you have me on your "Blogs I Follow List", please change the website.

Jack eating a lemon

This is hilarious. The kid has always liked lemons!

Iles Family Vacation

This is going to take several posts. Clint, Jack and I went to Baton Rouge for a couple of days for a family vacation! We stayed with Jenn and Drew (thanks, again guys!) who were the perfect hosts. Thursday night we ate at Acme Oyster House, which was fabulous! Friday we saw Mike the Tiger and went to Blue Bayou, and Saturday we went to the aquarium. It was so good to just spend three days together having fun!

Blue Bayou

On Friday we spent the day at Blue Bayou Water Park. Oh my goodness...that is the most fun I've had in a long time. We will definitely be back next year! Jack was a champ on all the water slides (that he was allowed to go on). They have a section called "Pirate's Cove" that is just for children under 50" and their parents. We were able to go down the big slides with him. He was so much fun! That evening we went to eat then went back to the rides part of the amusement park. Again, they had a section just for little kids and Jack was able to ride several rides. He wasn't scared at all - in fact, he was laughing at yelling and having a blast!

Aquarium

e

On Saturday we went to the aquarium in New Orleans. We spent longer in line outside than we did in the aquarium. It seems that Jack doesn't want to stop and read about the fish or take his time! Haha! He would rather run from tank to tank yell "WOAH!!"

Jesus Loves Me

You might need to turn your volume way up to hear this!

Grandma's Dishes

Before I got married, I inherited my grandmother's china from Germany. My grandma was moving out of her big, beautiful house to go live with my aunt and had to get rid of a lot of beautiful things! Of course, all the McCullin's (including myself) were more than willing to take all of these wonderful things off her hands. I was very excited to receive her favorite dishes. They have been in storage at the Iles' house for five years (I know - I'm a terrible daughter-in-law) and we went and picked them up this weekend. I couldn't believe HOW MUCH it was!! I was heart-broken knowing that I'd just have to get rid of it because there was no way I could fit all of this in my kitchen.

But, the more I unpacked, the more determined I was to keep it. And, it all fit!! I can't wait to have a big, nice dinner on my grandmother's china!

The whole set, including glasses and matching pots!

6 different size plates - 12 of each!

Salad bowls and serving ware, including pots and pans - I didn't keep those.

Four different sized glasses - I was only able to keep 3 sizes.

Can you believe it all fit??

Intense Love for Trains

Everything in Jack's life is about trains right now. He carries Thomas with him everywhere - he has several Thomas engines so in case we can't find one we always have a backup! Yesterday he was playing in his room by himself and put together these train tracks! He was so proud of himself and played with his trains for half an hour!

Jack will not go to sleep unless his trains are in the bed with him. This afternoon I went to check on him during naptime and this is how I found him. So cute!!

Summer Adventures

If you asked me what I did this week, I'm not sure I could tell you. That is the beauty of summer! Many times people ask me if I like working and would I want to stay at home. I will admit that there are some weeks during the school year when I would love to be at home. I get stressed, the students can be obnoxious, and I'm so tired at the end of the day. However, I do love my job. And more importantly, I love Jack's daycare. He learns so much while he's there! Jack is very social and talks about playing with friends all the time. AND, I'm there by 3:00 most days, and never after 3:30. Teaching really is a wonderful job for a mother. I only work 37 weeks of the year, I can call in anytime Jack is sick, and I have wonderful benefits.

But, oh, I do love summer. August 5th, the countdown will begin for summer 2010!

This afternoon, Jack and I ventured outside for a while. A wasp nest took over his swing. I got stung a few weeks ago and I'm not going near it again!


Clint's boss gave us some ferns from his yard (don't you love free plants?) and I decided to put them on the shady side of the house. After getting two ferns in the ground, I looked up and saw this HUGE wasp nest! The pictures are terrible because I was SO FAR AWAY when I took them.


Clint's parents are gone to Liberia for the month of July, and we have the privilege of keeping their dog, Ivory, while they're away. She's very old and can hardly move, so she sits on the front porch all day and snores!

Mother's Day Out

Jack is attending Mother's Day Out on Thursdays for the next couple of weeks. This gives me a few hours' break and allows Jack to play with friends. Today I painted my lab tables at school. They look so great! They were wood-colored with tons of lovely grafitti from equally lovely students over the years. Today the tables are all a flat black and look so modern! I forgot to bring my camera to school today, so I'll take pictures whenever I finish the second coat.

I got a new camera this weekend to replace the one I ruined at the beach. I thought I'd love it because it's so small, but the pictures are almost always fuzzy!! Does anyone know how to fix this??

Jack had a great time at MDO! They asked me to put him in red, white, and blue. He also made a firecracker that he thinks is an airplane. Whatever. Here's a couple of pictures from today. Sorry they're all sideways. I forgot to rotate them!

Florida or Bust!

Jack running away from the waves.
Taking a break eating animal crackers and drinking juice.

Jack watching the waves for the first time.


Last week Jack and I headed to Destin to spend time with my family. My dad was generous enough to rent a condo on the beach for a week and we all had a great time together. Jack was absolutely not afraid of the ocean. It was a little scary! He would run out into the water at full speed and would get taken over by a wave and would come up spattering and screaming "No, no water!!"

There are many more pictures, but most of them include me in a bathing suit. Those aren't getting on the internet. For good reason, too....you would all be blinded by the "white!" Also, my camera broke halfway through the trip! So sad.

I love this age with Jack. He is so full of life and learning new things every day. We really had a great time in Destin. Thanks, Dad!

Swim Party

We are blessed to be part of the New Parents Sunday School class. We had a moms and kids swim party last weekend and had 13 moms and 20 kids show up! We had a blast letting the kids play in the water, slip and slide, and baby pools. We ate hot dogs afterwards, then all headed home for a nap! Great time that we'll have to do again! Please ignore Jack's pink floaties. I didn't bring his and our host only has granddaughters. HA!

Officially Summer

This is the first week that I'm considering officially summer because Clint and Jack have recovered from surgery and VBS is over. And, baby, we are livin' it up. Teaching has its many challenges, but a huge perk is that I only work 9 months of the year. Every time I'm overwhelmed with life during the school year, I just take a deep breath and remember, "Summer is coming."

Clint is out of town most of the week, which stinks, but Jack and I are having a great time. Monday I worked out while Jack played with friends and then we went to the zoo. Jack loved the monkeys and the train. We went back home for a quick lunch, then headed to DeRidder to hang out with Amy Shillingburg and her precious son, Ben. Then we ate supper with Mom at New Life's VBS. After we put Jack down we watched Marley and Me. I cried, and that's a big deal, because as my sisters would tell you, I have a cold, cold heart. (Well, at least when it comes to movies). Sad movie! However, it was so refreshing to watch a movie where the husband and wife stay married through thick and thin.

Tuesday we went to Dry Creek for lunch at the camp and visited with Dee and PaPaw. Then, we headed home. Jack fell asleep in the stroller while we were taking a walk, and I just put him in bed and haven't heard from him since!

AAAhhhhh.....cleaned out storage building. You can't beat that.


Jack's expression riding the train.

Happy mommy and boy.

Seriously, why do I cook spaghetti?

ABC Hip Hop

Right now there are three things making Jack happy: Thomas the Tank Engine, popsicles, and this ABC Hip Hop video. Very fun!

Kiss them Bye Bye!

Jack is having his tonsils and adenoids out and tubes put in tomorrow. YAY!! And I'm not saying that with sarcasm. We've had so many ear infections over the past year and I'm so tired of seeing Jack feel bad. We have to be at the surgery center at 5:45 AM and we can't give him anything to eat or drink after midnight. That is not going to be fun! We should be back home in the mid morning. I'll update tomorrow or Thursday!

Check those suckers out! They almost touch each other!

Sweet, happy boy that has no idea what's about to hit him!

First Swim of the Season

Jack got a swimming pool for his birthday and today was the perfect day to break it out! The water was freezing, but that didn't slow him down. He came down that slide 90 mph and would scream and shout "Oh WOW!" when he hit the cold water. He's such a fun boy. I cannot believe he barely has any trace of baby about him anymore!

Rudy

We have been wanting a kitten for quite some time now. I just love cats! She is definitely going to be an outside cat once she gets a little bigger and can defend herself against Flapper. She's only six weeks old now and just precious!

Jack loves her. He loves to hold her (which she doesn't love) and has given more kisses than Clint cares to admit. He runs around the house screaming "Find cat! Find cat!" The poor little kitten hides from him most of the time. You can see in the second two pictures that he is letting her play with his train. So sweet!

In other news....Terry and Sara got married on Saturday. They had a beautiful spring morning wedding and we are so excited for them! They are currently on their honeymoon to New Orleans, but Clint and I look forward to having the newest Iles family over for supper when they get back.


Clint is having hernia surgery Thursday, so please keep him in your prayers as he recovers!

LSU Graduate!

My sister Jennifer graduated from LSU on Friday. We are so proud of her! Not only did she complete college in four years (difficult for an education major), but she also got married during those four years. Also, she got a job on Thursday! CONGRATULATIONS JENNIFER!!

Laura's boyfriend Bob also graduated with a degree in Landscape Architecture. We were able to spend some time with his family on Saturday, also. We love you, Bob! Laura and Jack played on the slip and slide in Jenn and Drew's backyard. She is such a fun aunt.