Casey and I spent last week in an intense, 24-hours-a-day, life changing marriage counseling session last week and it was tough!! We struggled, we fought, we laughed, we learned new things about each other, and we firmly positioned our marriage on solid ground for the foreseeable future. Thanks to a few (or five) little changes in our lives, it has been nearly 5 years since we had submitted ourselves to such a grueling effort and it was long overdue. We needed a refresher, a kick in the seat, a jump start, and a reminder of just how important our relationship is to our lives and to our family’s health and if you haven’t done the same for your own marriage and family in awhile, I highly recommend that you do.

Alright so maybe I’m not being entirely forthcoming here. What we actually did was go on vacation…just the two of us…NO KIDS ALLOWED!! Taking nothing away from marriage counselors and those who have sat in their chairs hoping to repair, revive, and restore their relationships, I must say that a couples-only trip to somewhere, anywhere actually, can go a long way to achieving the same goals…….

Our chosen destination was Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, the last strip of land that separates the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortes. We’ve been to Mexico a few times and absolutely loved it – the culture, the beaches, the diving, the people – everything about a Mexican beach vacation is incredible! But we have never been to Cabo, the most Americanized Mexican resort town, so we were a little wary of what we might find when we arrived. And I am happy to say that other than some overzealous timeshare/transportation providers at the airport who wanted us to defy the laws of economics, physics, and humanity in order to get to our resort, Cabo did not disappoint in any way!

We spent a day on an excursion to the famous arch and another day 60 feet underwater doing an open-water dive; we spent another day doing a whole lot of nothing and another on a fishing boat in the Pacific surrounded by porpoises as far as the eye could see. We went to the market, we went to the beach, and we went to the pool. We dined at the resort and we made our way to a few cantinas for some local flavor. I got pummeled by the massive waves, filling my shorts and my lungs with sand and saltwater, and I got stung by a jellyfish I never saw (on the face!), but neither fazed me a bit because the beaches were too grand, the sky was too clear, and the lady by my side was far too amazing!!!

All-in-all we just took the time to focus on each other without all of the distractions and responsibilities that all of you parents out there know all too well. It was fun, it was relaxing, it was refreshing and revitalizing, but most of all it was vitally necessary! All kidding about marriage counseling aside, I have to say that if you haven’t done something like this lately with your mate, you need to stop reading these words right now and start planning your getaway immediately!!

We have heard from so many people (most with far fewer children I might add) who say that they have never taken a parents-only vacation since their kids were born or that they can’t even find time for a date night or some other sort of thing like that. WHAT?!! Are you kidding me?? Sorry to be so blunt, but if you care about your marriage and you care about your kids then YOU MUST DO THIS!! Casey and I firmly believe that our marriage is the foundation on which this family survives and just as the foundation of any structure needs maintenance and occasional repair so does your marriage. And if you do not take the time to maintain your marriage then what are you teaching your kids about its importance? And what will be left of it when the kids are grown and gone??

Alright, I’ll get off of my soapbox now. And please don’t get me wrong – if you are one of those who hasn’t taken the time for a parents getaway, I’m not coming down on you. I know, it’s hard…it’s hard to plan, it’s hard to find the time and the money, it’s hard to be gone from the kids, and it’s hard to get things back in order when you get back. And it’s an easy thing to put aside when the daily demands of life deny you the right to relax…especially when your life is like ours – driven in the fast lane, your hands on the wheel of a car packed full of kids!! We just believe strongly that the marriage relationship has to be the first priority if any family is going to survive and thrive in this dastardly, devious, world of ours which is too often anti-marriage and anti-family. So in the words of Nike, the goddess of tennis shoes and other athletic apparel, “Just do it!”

Wait, one more thing…I can’t get out of here without a HUGE, GINORMOUS thank you to Nana, Summer, and Angel, Grandma, Grandpa, and all of the volunteers who chipped in to take care of the Six Pack while we were away!! We cannot thank you all enough for your love and support of our family!!

God bless,

Ethan

Remember those pictures from a year ago??  It’s amazing how things change in 12 short months!  Here is the Six Pack in a more recent picture from earlier this summer…

Wow, where is the summer going and why is it in such a hurry to get here??  I can’t believe it is already July 4th Weekend…and I can’t believe that due to the Texas droughts I am actually wondering if we’ll get to see any fireworks at all on America’s birthday!!  Even though we skipped spring and flew right into the dog days of summer – we have already hit triple digits more than 20 times – it still feels like summer just arrived and it’s almost over.  That’s right, it has been hot, hot, hot in Austin, Texas this year and the heat will not be letting up anytime soon.  All of the big area fireworks shows have been canceled, the fireworks have been pulled from the shelves at the local stores and stands, and there is a major media push to keep people from lighting up this holiday weekend.  It’s kind of a bummer, but we’ll figure out a way to make some memories in spite of the less than festive spirit!

As usual we have kept really, really busy this summer and it’s been a great one so far!  It all started with a family trip up to Denton for Casey’s parents’ annual Memorial Day Party and it hasn’t slowed down yet.  The kids did GREAT on the trip up to Denton…it was our most enjoyable, relaxing trip yet since the quints burst onto the scene and we are really excited that we seem to have turned a corner with the difficulty of family road trips.  They did not fuss much while on the road, they took good naps and slept well overnight, and they were much easier to handle at our parents’ non-baby-proofed homes.  What a welcome change from the last few trips up north!!

In the last few weeks, Casey has started taking the quints out with her individually to run errands, grocery shop, and other things like that…oh my gosh, the LOVE it!!!  It’s pretty hilarious to see how excited they get when it is their turn to go with mama to the grocery store!  As for me, I was able to sneak Britton out for a little outing to catch some indoor soccer action and we also took Jack with us one night to check out one of my remodel projects followed by a short dinner out. It’s a lot of fun to take the gang out individually and we’ve also been venturing out more as a family – to church (yes, finally!), to run quick errands, and we just got home today from our first family trip to Rudy’s Barbecue in a long, long time…it was awesome!!  The kids are so well-behaved when we go out which is great, of course, but we honestly think it is because they do not get the chance to be out as often as other kids.  Every little outing for them is a grand adventure!!! :)

Eliot has been bouncing from day camp to day camp and has more on the way.  She’s been to Vacation Bible School, gymnastics camp, and Mobile Loaves and Fishes camp…the girl is definitely spoiled!  And when she hasn’t been day-camping, she has been a little social butterfly, fluttering from play date to play date in an endless cycle of friends, fun, and summer sun.  And the fun isn’t going to stop anytime soon – she turns seven in just a couple of weeks and you know we’ve got a big day planned for our little girl!

And in between all of these activities we’ve found time to celebrate our anniversary, enjoy a fabulous father’s day, and squeeze in a whirlwind, less-than-24-hour visit from one of my Iowa cousins and her four kids…whew!!  Casey and I celebrated 12 years of marriage with a day-date thanks to a little help from our volunteer family and it was awesome!  We took the day to enjoy some of the little things that we do not get to do since the kids came along – like running errands, shopping for shoes and swimsuits together, and having lunch where we could just sit there, order food for only ourselves, not feed anyone or yell at anyone or clean anyone up or stop to change a diaper or…maybe I’ll stop now…yes, it’s the little things from our former lives that we miss the most!  The family of course made me feel extra special on Father’s Day with hand-made cards and lots of pampering, gotta love it as always!  And the visit from Deandra and her kids was short but super-sweet…thanks for making the effort, Deandra!!

Well it has been a fab summer so far for the Fab Five and the supporting cast here in the Jones house and we’re looking forward to much more summer fun over the next couple of months.  We hope that all of you are enjoying yourselves as much as we are!  Happy Fourth of July, everybody!!!

P.S.  Sadly, we still have no word from TLC on the future of “Quints By Surprise,” but we’re told that things are looking more positive than they were a few weeks ago.  We hope to send more episodes your way soon!!

God bless,

Ethan

For those of you who pay attention to our family updates on Facebook and Twitter – remember back in January when I posted something that said, “Y’all are going to think we’ve lost our minds…”??  I didn’t think about what I was doing when I posted that message as it stirred up some serious speculation as to what exactly we were up to!  And because we are forbidden from publicizing any potential show information, I was unable to quell the furor over what we had done…not that I really wanted to by that point…(insert Lila’s devious little laugh here)!!  Let me be the first to finally say that no, the news was NOT that Casey had gotten pregnant and let me also say, good lord, people, how crazy do you think we are???!!

You have probably figured out by now that the little secret that we were hinting at was that we had in fact welcomed home a new member of the family – a 7-week-old fluff ball named Lilly Belle!!  And yes, I for one think that we were completely nuts to take on this new challenge in life!  But before I dig into some more details about Lilly, let me first go back to where this apparent lack of judgment all began to take shape…

When Casey and I first started dating during the first semester of our senior year of high school, 18 years ago this September 25th (our first date was a Garth Brooks concert at Texas Stadium, by the way), our families both got Golden Retriever puppies – funny coincidence, I know.  The Kruegers got Scout and we named our new pup Maverick.  Though technically Maverick was my mom’s dog, it wasn’t long before he and I became the portrait of a boy and his dog – best friends.   A little less than a year later, I went off to college and had to leave Mav behind because of the school’s requirement that all students live in a dorm their first two years of school.  But as soon as those two years were up, Maverick came to live with me in San Marcos when I moved into the fraternity house where he became an instant superstar with all who came to know him.

A few years later, Casey and I tied the knot, bought our first home together, and settled into our new life together – just the three of us.  Maverick was our baby in every sense of the word – we loved him dearly, took him everywhere we could, and bored our friends and families with our stories about him.  Fast forward to 2006, Eliot had come into the world with a bang, and Maverick was an old man – 91 years old in dog years.  Our house was on the market to sell and the economy was beginning to slide.  And one morning we woke up to a crisis – Maverick was unable to get up from his bed – his hips had been losing strength for several months by that time and they had finally given out.  The vet explained that there was nothing that could be done for him that would improve his life in any significant way and we made the gut-wrenching decision to have him put to rest.  We were crushed and were in no way ready to think about getting another dog soon after Maverick had passed.  Eliot was 2 years old at the time and was pushing hard for another dog, but we resisted, promising her that we would get her one as soon as the home sold and we moved to another place.  (The picture above was taken the night before Maverick passed…Eliot was saying goodbye to her buddy.)

So now you know where “the promise” got its start.  We’ve talked about this promise several times over the last few years, but I haven’t thought much about the actual time that has passed since it came to be.  I can’t believe it has been 5 years since Mav left us and I can’t believe how much we still miss him!

Enter:  Lilly Belle…little girl has a lot to live up to following in Maverick’s wake!  Lilly is a Golden Doodle – we just couldn’t have another dog that wasn’t a golden, but we decided the Doodle part (she is half golden retriever and half standard poodle) was a good compromise since they are hypoallergenic and do not shed (Maverick was a year-round shedder, leaving a cloudy trail of fur everywhere he went!).    She came into our world weighing 8 pounds, basically fitting in the palm of your hand, and acting about as atypical for a puppy as you can imagine…she was M-E-L-L-O-W!!  And she was also an instant superstar in our house – Eliot was incredibly motherly, the quints didn’t know what to think so they just tugged on her ears and pulled her tail, and Casey and I were thrilled to see our kids so happy…even though I think we were both a little afraid of what this new little package would do to our sleep, our curtains, shoes, couch legs (you get the idea), and of course our sanity!

Lilly’s feather-light weight didn’t hold and neither did her mellow disposition.  Her weight doubled the first month she lived with us and then doubled again the second month…she now weighs nearly 50 pounds and she is only six months old!  And there is nothing…absolutely NOTHING…that is mellow about Lilly Belle!!  She has a pretty bad habit of nipping at pretty much every living creature that comes anywhere near her and she is extremely social and loves to give giant bear hugs to everyone she encounters!  And I think she somehow got some Ox blood mixed in when she was conceived ’cause little girl is incredibly strong.  Her sweetness is matched only by her brattiness – the latter characteristic will hopefully fade away as she matures past the juvenile stage!

In spite of her size and the sharpness of her teeth, the kids still love their Lilly Belle though their love has been tempered somewhat by Lilly’s constant nips and her oblivious-ness to the impact her 50 pound frame has on their not quite 30 pound bodies when the two collide (which happens quite frequently)!  Eliot is not quite as motherly as she was at first, she too has felt the pain of the nips and the claws…but at least Eliot doesn’t call her “The Monster” anymore… ;-)  Yep, Lilly has some growing up to do, but she is fun and smart and I know she is going to be a really good dog when she matures a bit.  I had forgotten how much work it is to raise a dog and I could do without the extra responsibilities that come with the joys of dog ownership, but it’s all worth it…really, I mean it! :)  No joking, the kids love her and they will grow to love her more as they get older and I can’t imagine raising a family without a dog being in the picture.  It’s the way I was raised, it’s the way Casey was raised, and it is the way we would like to raise our kids as well.  That being the case, there is only one thing more to say:  welcome to the family, Lilly Belle!!

P.S.  The picture above with Brooklyn is how our 50 pound lap dog likes to ride in the car.  She starts off in the very back of our Expedition and quickly squeezes herself up between the side window and the back seat, essentially riding in the lap of whichever of the five is riding in that particular car seat.  Brooklyn loved having Lilly in her lap on our way to Denton last weekend!

God bless,

Ethan

Alright, folks, this is it – the last chance (at least for a little while) to see new episodes of Quints By Surprise is upon us!  Watch tomorrow night on TLC for some serious Christmas fun and quint cuteness!!  Here is how TLC describes tomorrow’s shows:

A Quints Christmas

The Jones family goes all out for the holidays including the Quints’ second Christmas. Casey starts some new family traditions in this season of giving, while Ethan goes a little over the top with the decorations.

Dog Daze

The Joneses have a new addition to the family when Eliot finally gets her long-promised puppy. The whole family will learn that with a new dog comes a lot of cleaning up, responsibility and unexpected surprises!

Click here for the TV schedule:  Quints By Surprise TV Schedule.

And of course, we have new webisodes to share!  Click here:  Quints By Surprise Webisodes

Also, I have some exciting news to share for Tuesday – Casey filmed a short segment for The Rachael Ray Show!!  We actually filmed at our house for a few hours and then Casey flew up to New York City to film the rest of it.  We do not know how much of what we filmed will end up on the show, but check your local listings and let us know what you think of the show!

As of right now we have no idea if there will be more episodes of the Quints By Surprise.  Being a part of the show and everything that has been involved with it has been a ton of fun for us and we would love for it to continue, but TLC does a pretty good job of keeping us in the dark about their future plans.  We will certainly let you know as soon as we can of plans for future shows.

If you have an opinion of the show that you would like to share with TLC, click here:  TLC Viewer Relations.

In the meantime, keep checking in right here at JonesLife for updates on the family, pictures of our daily adventures, and as much love and good times as we can possibly share!!  Thank you so much for supporting our family and our show!!

God bless,

Ethan

TLC’s website describes it like this:

“The Joneses are headed to San Antonio to make a special delivery to a military family in need. On the way, they stop to visit the Alamo and take the quints to the zoo for the very first time.”

I describe it like this:

The Joneses head to San Antonio and Britton vomits before they get 5 minutes down the road.  By the end of the trip, our kids burn down the Alamo, scare away the animals at the zoo, and vomit all over our friends’ home.  In spite of the madness, we manage to have a good time, secure an invitation back to our friends’ place, and meet an amazing family to show our respect and love for the men and women of the U.S. military.  As always, life is good!!

And that’s just the first episode!!  The second episode of the evening takes the whole family out of its comfort zone all in the name of helping Casey regain her fitness routine and her sanity!  Five babies, grandma and grandpa, the wild child, Eliot McKenna, a 5K, mud, hills, bumps, and bruises all in one episode??  You bet!!

Also, before I let you go, I’ve got to tell you about the new little feature we have been working on.  We get tons of emails from people wondering where we get some of the cool/fun/funky stuff that we have for the babies.  So we put together a collection of all of the most asked about stuff and put it in one place for everyone to see.  Check it out here:  JonesLife Collection! The link takes you to the “As Seen on Quints By Surprise” category, but while there you can browse other categories such as Multiples Must Haves, Blogs and Websites, Eliot, Kitchen and Nutrition, and many others.  And just so you know, absolutely ZERO of the items you see are sponsored by the companies that sell the product.  These are items that we truly love and get a great deal of use out of.  If you see something you love, you can click through to the company’s site and check it out from the maker firsthand.

And last, but not least…new webisodes have been posted!  If you haven’t seen them yet, click here:  TLC’s Quints By Surprise Webisodes! You’ll see the Fab Five’s first haircuts, a baby date I had with Ryan, how to start a fire with six little helpers, and many more!  I hope you enjoy them and I hope you enjoy the show!

God bless,

Ethan

So everyone reading this right now has plans tomorrow night, right???  If you are not yet aware, Quints By Surprise returns to TLC tomorrow night for season 2!  The show airs at 10/9 central so check your local listings for the correct time for your area.  There will be two new episodes tomorrow night and don’t blink or you may miss the entire season – there will be two new episodes every Monday night, but it will only run for three weeks.  We hope you enjoy the shows and if so, please let TLC know about it!

Send your comments about the show to TLC by clicking here:  TLC Viewer Relations!

Here is the TV schedule for the show:  Quints By Surprise TV Schedule.