The Johnson Bugs

Shoes...

2011-04-13T09:30:00.000-06:00

November 2010:

Buddy LOVES shoes! He really, truly loves them! He is always carrying some around, whether they be the girls or ours. One day, I was looking for him because he was being a little quiet, and this is what I found...

Putting on some Mommy shoes! He was holding himself up so he didn't fall over!

Such a cutie! Cheese Buddy!!!

Daddy was in charge!

2011-04-13T09:24:00.000-06:00

November 2010:

The day after the syrup incident, I left to take the girls to school. Buddy was still eating, so I had Jonathan stay and hang out with him. Well, he decided that Buddy was still hungry and he knew that he liked jelly, so...

he learned that he shouldn't let him feed himself jelly... time for another bath!!! Silly daddy!!!

Got syrup?

2011-04-13T09:21:00.000-06:00

November 2010:

I made pancakes for breakfast. After I got the kids food on the table I ran upstairs to change my clothes. When I came down, I looked over at Buddy to see how he was doing. Well, he had finished his pancakes... and this is what I saw...

Do you think he likes syrup? He had licked that plate CLEAN of any trace of that sticky goodness.

Lets just say he wasn't thrilled that I took his plate away from him... but look at his face/hair! What a mess! But a cute, sweet mess... so I guess it wasn't as bad as it could be!

At one point, the plate covered his whole face, and he had a hard time moving it down. We had to do an emergency bath tub with daddy because the smell was just TOO much!

What a stinker!

Halloween 2010

2011-04-13T09:13:00.000-06:00

Halloween 2010:

We love Halloween! This year we started in September and decorated our house... inside and out! We had two graveyards, a skeleton ghost, a scarecrow with eyes that lit up at night and lots of other really cool things. We had people coming by and complimenting our decor until after we took it down. It was our best yet!

But, here were the highlights for us:

Daddy, the master carver about to create a masterpiece!

The final masterpieces! The girls were thrilled!!

The Johnson's can't have Halloween without going to Macey's to start off our Trick or Treating for the day!

Look at those crazies!!! This was the first year that Jonathan and I went all out! We loved it and the kids had a blast with us all dressed up.

Beene the Spider Witch and Julles the Pretty Pink Kitty! So Cute.

T- I- double G- er! That is the cutest little Tigger I've ever seen!! (I might be a little biased though!)

Keeping up with tradition, we went to see Miss Amy! We love her, and she loves these kiddo's! She loads them up with loves and sugar and then we go home for the night! She is ALWAYS the last stop!!

Jason had a Marching Band compitition at USU that afternoon, so we took the kids to my nieces for a few hours because it was POURING rain! We didn't make it last year and we never heard the end of it... so we made sure we were there, screaming our hearts out! They took 3rd place. They sounded amazing and their form was spot on! It made his day that we made it. He called us later to quiz us on what had happend. I also had to tell him what coupon was on the back of the ticket... like we would lie about it! Geez!! We're glad that it was in Logan, so we could go! Thanks to Sarah for watching the kids too!!

We hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Buddy and his Nemisis!

2011-04-13T05:39:00.000-06:00

October 2010:

This is what happens when Buddy see's his Nemisis...

Because you don't have audio photo's... I will tell you it is a blood curddeling scream!

He is deathly afraid of...

His nemisis... he doesn't even like to be anywhere near it even when it is off... he really HATES it!!!

Joseph and Laurie get married...

2011-04-13T05:30:00.000-06:00

September 17, 2010

Oh how we anticipated this woderful day. Our hard work paid off! It was a gorgeous sunny day, not too hot... not too chilly. We had it at Birch Creek Golf Course in Smithfield, and it was beautiful. The sun came in through the window's and at times was a little too bright in the eyes (while we were walking down the aisle), but it all came together well.

I will spare you all the details. But, I wanted to share these pictures with you. Pictures were taken by Joseph's uncle Don Muirhead. These are not the edited (by him) ones, just by me... :) Enjoy!

Joseph looked so handsome! Made us a little teary!

Cute little April was cheesing it up for the photographers and all the people around the table trying to get her to smile! She was so cute and fun!

April walked her Daddy down the aisle... well, actually he walked her down... but it was precious all the same!

Laurie and her Dad, Mike walking down the aisle. He's about to give his little girl away!

The Best Men... Jason (l) and Jeremy (r)

Holding hands! Cute!

"You may now kiss the bride!!" Yay!!

Introducing Mr and Mrs. Joseph Johnson

April and the rings (in her flower... that I made :))

The cake...

Cutting the cake. They were nice when they fed eachother!!

Joseph, April and Laurie Johnson!!!

We love them oh so very much and loved celebrating with them!

Congratulations!

Jared and Meagan get married!

2011-04-13T04:28:00.000-06:00

August 2010:

On August 14, 2010 Jonathan's nephew got married.

This handsome guy is Jared... he's our nephew!

This is Meg... she is GORGEOUS and we are so glad to have her in our family!

They got married in the Oakland Temple and it looks like it was beautiful! We weren't able to make it out there, but we celebrated here in Utah a few days later.

I loved their cake... the little picture on top and then... CUPCAKES!! Yum!

After partying it up with family and friends, they rode thier bikes to a B&B just down the road. Everyone lined the walk holding sparklers! It was sooo them! Beautiful!

The girls were asked to be Flower Girls for the reception in Utah. They were so excited to be apart of such a special day. Jonathan's sister, Lori got them these beautiful Cinderella dresses, and they looked amazing! Here is Meg with our niece Jaclyn and then Beene and Julles. Such a pretty group of girls!

Congratulations Jared and Meg!

Buddy turns 1!!!

2011-04-13T04:02:00.000-06:00

August 9, 2010:

My sweet little Jaxson Boxley Edward Johnson, better known to everyone as Buddy is ONE today!!! So bittersweet for me. But, so exciting!!! The girls were planning his birthday for weeks. Their friends even brought him gifts, most of which we had to give back to them, because they belonged to their families...but it was the thought that counted... right?

Our day was so fun! Sorry, there are lots of pictures, but he only turns 1 once!!!

We made his cupcakes, and decorated this one just for him!

We went to the Bluebird Resturaunt and sat at the soda fountain and had ice cream... well, the girls and I had ice cream... Jonathan and Buddy had a Cherry Ironport (old fashioned flavored drink) and a horhound candy stick! He must be an old soul... she likes all the "olden day" flavors! But, he was in HEAVEN!!

After Bluebird, we headed home for the much anticipated presents. The girls were very insistant that they pick out thier own presents for Buddy. They were so thoughtful, and it took FOREVER for them both to decide... but they were great and he loved them!

Present #1: a Turtle shape sorter from Beene

She was more than happy to teach him how to use it, and he was more than happy to play with it! Love that tongue!

Present #2 was from Julles...

Can you FEEL the excitement!!

Present #3 from Mom and Dad, and he is excited about it...

A Lego (Duplo) Toy Story Train set complete with Woody, Buzz and Jessie. He loved it and the girls had fun building it with him. It is tradition that the boys get atleast one Lego for thier bday's every year.

After presents and letting our Bluebird stop settle in our stomachs it was time for the Buddy Birthday Dinner! He LOVES noodles... so we made Mama's (Jonathan's mom's) Mac n' Cheese! It was a huge hit... he had two plates of it!!!

Lovin his mac n' cheese with his new Cars plate and spoon! He loves any kind of car or truck... so it was only fitting to get his very own plate with his very favorite things on it!

Then came the CUPCAKE!!

I got a great video of him eating it... it showed how freaked out he was by the frosting, and not wanting to touch it, and then him devouring it!! But, it was in my old phone, and it is BROKEN!! So, I am hoping I can find it somewhere... it was so cute!

What a wonderful day for a spectacular little boy! He is the Buddy and we love him!!!

Quiet, too quiet!

2011-04-13T03:23:00.000-06:00

June 2010:

I was doing dishes, and the girls were being very quiet... to quiet, so I went to check it out. This is what I found...

Beene doing Julles make-up...

which turned into Julles doing Beene's...

which turned into some giggeling girls!

Me with my Glamour Girls!

Monkey Day!

2011-04-13T03:16:00.000-06:00

June 2010:

I was reading my friend Jessica's blog (you can link to it on Lovely Reads), and saw that she does these great actvities with her boys once a week. She makes a theme of it. There is a story, an activity, and a snack. I LOVE the idea. So, the girls and I made a list and this is the one they chose to do first!

Monkey Day: Curious George

We started our morning off with Banana Muffins, of course! Monkey's LOVE banana's!!

Then, we made paper plate monkey masks... which were super duper cute, but I didn't get a picture of them... dangit!

Then we read a Curious George story! The girls love to read, and it makes it more fun when we make a whole day out of it!!

Then, for our snack we made Chocolate dipped Banana pops! They were fun to make... the girls loved dipping them in the chocolate and seeing how fast it hardened because the banana's were frozen.

They were not as tasty as we hoped, but they were definatly FUN!!!

We can't wait for our next one!!

Jessica has great ones that she has done, but she got a lot of her idea's from ww.homemakingfun.blogspot.com. She has links to publisher's where you can download activities to go with different books. She has some super fun things you can do with your kids this summer!

Last Day of Joy School...

2011-04-13T03:01:00.000-06:00

May 2010:

I was lucky enough to teach the last unit of the year with these cute kiddo's. We talked about families and had some serious fun. We had a baby day, Muffins with Mom, and lots of fun times.

Our last day was spent talking, laughing, learning, eating, crafting, singing, dancing...

and did I mention LAUGHING???

These kids are CRAZY! They all became such good friends.

I had such a great time teaching Joy School for the last three years! I am grateful for the friendships that my kids made. I also treasure the friendships I made while teaching all these wonderful kids.

OH BOY!

We have...

2011-04-13T02:51:00.000-06:00

May 2010:

Firebelly Toads... 2 of them to be exact! The girls have been asking for a pet for a long time. So for one of their belated birthday gifts, they chose to go to Petsmart and pick a pet. We looked at fishes and birdies, and those weren't going to do it for them.

Instead, they picked these:

Meet Cricket! She is Julles' toad. She is bright green on top and bright orange on her belly. She is definatly the more hyper of the two. She is very hard to catch and hold. She actually tried to escape from the cage the first day. She somehow got out through a small opening in the lid, and Beene found her sitting on top.

This is Samanda! She is Beene's toad. She is much more mellow than Cricket and is much easier to hold. She is brown on top and blends in with the drift wood we have in the tank, she too is bright orange on her belly. She is the "piggiest" out of the two when they eat, I guess size doesn't matter in toadville.

Jonathan and I are both trying to get over the eww factor. I don't mind the toads, but the crickets that they eat, they give me the eeby geebies and I can't hold the bag that they come in. It makes me feel like they are crawling all over me. I would rather get the toads out of the tank.

The girls love them some toads! We were lucky that they wanted the same kind, since we only had one tank, and other types of frogs and such can't be in with eachother. These are great started pets, and I am glad that we have them. They make really cool sounds, but only at night and it is very quiet.

Welcome to the family!

Miss Melanie came for a visit!

2011-04-13T02:37:00.000-06:00

May 2010:

Together again!

Miss Melanie was diagnosed with Lukemia and left school in October. The kids and parent's were very sad to see her go, and it was hard to see her go through such a yucky fight. Her family started a blog so that people could follow her progress. She is a very lucky gal, because she is beating this deadly disease and that makes us all very happy. Beene had us follow the blog, and she made sure that we prayed for her and her son every night. Miss Melanie definatly made a mark on our little girl.

Miss Melanie made a surprise visit to the school (without her dr's knowing...), but these kids are her life and she missed them so badly. When I picked Beene up from school, she was bursting at the seams to tell me about her special visit. She said that she looked different (she had lost her hair, and had to wear gloves and a special mask to keep her safe from any germs, but that she wasn't scared because of Miss Melanies eyes and voice, they were the same as she remembers and that made her feel safe. The whole school was beaming that day because of the fun surprise.

What a fabulous woman Miss Melanie is and what a fighter! She is a miracle!

Beene's 6!!

2011-04-13T02:22:00.000-06:00

May 12 2010:

Today my Jillian is 6 years old. She is such a smart little girl, who has an amazing amount of charm. 6 years ago, I was a mommy for the "first time" and she was perfect and amazing. She still is both those things, and then with age comes other fun things.

She is a nature lover and can be found looking for bugs, flowers, rocks, and other "treasures". If she could play outside all day she would. She loves to create... drawing, coloring, making books, and puppet shows. She loves to play with Julles, who she consider's her best friend. She adores her big brother's and Laurie and April. When people ask her how many people we have in our family, she proudly says 10!! She loves spending time with family and she can't wait for Sunday's to come every week to see her brothers. She is a fantabulous helper with Buddy and takes great care of her Daddy. She is in Kindergarten and is reading. She is blossoming into such a beautiful young lady!

She asks me every year if I am sad that my baby is growing up... because my mom always pretends to cry when she talks to them on their birthday's about how she doesn't want them to grow up... I always tell her, that I am glad that I get to watch her grown and learn.

Happy Birthday Beenie Baby!

Two 5 year olds in the house!

2011-04-13T02:09:00.001-06:00

May 11 2010:

5 years old for the last time together!!

Because my girls are 362 days apart and Julles birthday being before Beene's, that puts them the same age for 3 days! They think it is fantastic, and its like a week long celebration for them. It is tradition that on May 11, we always take a picture of the two of them together, being the same age for the last night! So, here is this year's. Their older brother's gave them these fancy boa's and cute hair things. They were in heaven.

May 9th: A day full of celebrations!

2011-04-13T02:03:00.000-06:00

May 2010

What to celebrate, what to celebrate...

Julles Birthday:

I woke up to someone whispering in my ear, "Mommy, today I am 5. Can I go to Kindergarten with Beene tomorrow?" She was always asking when she got to "finally" go to Kindergarten and I would tell her, "when you are 5" and she took me serious! She was a little bummed when I told her that she had to wait until August for her to be able to go, but she was ok once we started singing to her.

For her birthday this year she wanted an iPod. So, she got one. She was soooo excited. She couldn't wait for that thing to charge and get music loaded on it ASAP. ...Note to self: take it out and charge it before wrapping it next time... Now everytime she hears a song that she likes, she asks if she can have it on her ipod. She puts in her earphones and sings at the top of her lungs! What a great sound, and it always makes us smile.

She is our little Noodle, but she likes to be "Just Julles". She is often found smelling her blanket, playing with Beene (her best friend), and she is a fantastic big sister who takes VERY good care of Buddy. We couldn't ask for a sweeter girl. She is a techno savy child that amazes us with her ability to figure electronics out on her own. She loves movies and singing.

Happy Birthday Jullesie!!!

Engaged!!:

So, I was on Facebook and what do my eyes behold, but two statuses saying that Joseph and Laurie were engaged!! We knew that he had a ring, but didn't know when he was going to pop the question!! What a great Mother's Day for Laurie... getting a gorgeous ring from a guy who is madly inlove with her. They went for a long walk, just the two of them. They walked for a long time, did a lot of talking and then he did it... he asked her! What a sweet boy we have! We are so proud of him, and the man he has become.

We had to give them a hard time when they came over for dinner that night about having to find out on FBook. We teased them that he asked her to marry him over FB because they were always messaging eachother on there even when they were sitting by eachother. We are so excited for them.

Wedding Date: September 17 2010

I am acting as the wedding planner... we'll see how it goes! It is all very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time!

Mother's Day:

I am so blessed to be a mom of such great kids. Even though we had so many other things on this fabulous day, they pampered me and gave me flowers, and lots of love. I got to share it with the boys as well. So, there were all 10 of us there, eating Chicken and Dumplings (julles birthday dinner of choice), that Jonathan and the girls made. I got to chill with Buddy and just have a great day. I love my family so much and am so lucky to have them.

I am also lucky to have such a great mom, myself. She is an amazing mom, wife, sister, grandma and a great grandma. We love her so much!

Happy Mother's Day to me... early!

2010-10-16T21:52:00.000-06:00

May 2010:

Beene came home from school one day and was being very secretive with her daddy! I was told that I could not ask any questions, nor could I come upstairs for atleast 5 minutes... to which I complied. She had made me something at school, and her teacher told her she was to wait until Mother's Day to give it to me!

Well, she is her daddy's daughter, and they both don't do waiting very well!! So, the same night she hid her gift, she begged me to let her give it to me! So, I gave in and when she handed it to me, tears started coming and it was the most beautiful thing I had seen!!!

Stunning...don't you think?!

I love her handwriting and how she spells things at this age! It says, if you can't tell... My mom likes Choklit (chocolate), My mom wants Noo Clos (new clothes) My mom is good at Mkeendinr (Making Dinner) and I love my mom because: SHE LOVES ME!! Boy she is smart to know that!!! I do, I love her more than words!

Muffins with Mom

2010-10-16T21:36:00.000-06:00

May 2010:

For Joy School this year, I was in charge of May. It just so happend that one of my days was before Mother's Day. Well, I decided that we would do something special! We had Muffins with Mom day. The kids made super cute gifts with handprint hearts in a pie tin. It said, "my hands may be small, but my heart is big! Happy Mother's Day 2010!"

On our fun day, the mom's came and we dined on muffins... we had blueberry, raspberry, apple, and bran. We also had some fruit and juice and milk! It was all very tasty and everyone loved it!! I had made little booklets for them to do together about things that they liked. But, you know how it can get when you get 6 mom's chatting and little kids playing around... yeah, they got sent home to do later... we had too much fun talking and eating! Then we read The Kissing Hand, which is a wonderful story about a mommy raccoon and a baby raccoon and... oh I could go on for days about this fabulous book...its a must read for any family! The kids gave thier mommies kisses on their hands and the mommies did the same to their kids. That way, when they are away from eachother, they can put their hands up to their cheeks and feel that they are loved!

It was very cute, and very fun to just be able to chat and catch up with everyone! I am a little more than bummed that I didn't get any pictures! Darn!

Fare the well...

2010-10-16T21:27:00.000-06:00

May 2010:

my little car...

We sold my Neon! This was my first car that I paid for! I got it when I was assistant manager at Provo Towne Foot Locker, and I loved this car. I put a gazillion miles on this baby when Jonathan and I were dating, and when I transferred up to Salt Lake to be do my manager training. I bet this car cried tears of joy when Jonathan and I got married, so that it didn't have to see the freeway as much... until he started to drive it down to SLC and American Fork (2 hours away from home) again!

This cute little car was dubbed "The Strawburry" by my sister, and for a car warming gift, she even got me a glitter strawberry ornament that hung proudly on the mirror. My daddy got me a license plate holder that said, "Jamie's Baby" on it, and my first cd I ever played in the cd player was Madonna. I spent many hours in this car... it was with me through tears and laughter, through having three little boy bum's sitting in my never before sat in back seat, to having Beene puke in it several times because it had no air conditioning towards the end. It sat in the driveway for a year, and when we went to get it working again, we found that it had become the home of wasps... they were everywhere. It was a good little car, and then it started to get old...and loud! I could hear Jonathan coming down the street in that baby!

Goodbye little red car! I hope you make it for a few more years with your new owners!

Party time... excellent!!

2010-10-16T21:12:00.000-06:00

May 2010:

Cinco De' Mayo just happens to have extra special celebratory reasons in this family!
It is my Gramps bday... this year he turned the young age of 89. For this memorable big birthday we had a HUGE party!! When I say huge, I mean huge!! There were 32 of us stuffed into Gramps little house! There wasn't any room to park on his street, because it was lined both sides with OUR cars. My Aunt and Uncle and their two dogs even came from Reno to be with him! It was tons of fun even though he wasn't feeling so hot. He was sick, but that didn't stop us from celebrating! He was such a trooper, and I bet was so excited when we all left and he could actually hear himself think! It got a little loud... but the weather cooperated and the kids were able to play outside, which made it a little less loud!

A little about my Gramps... He was in WW2. He was a paratrooper in the Battle of The Buldge. They were fighting and a German tank was firing at them, it hit and killed his friend next to him, a piece of shrapnel hit his arm, they couldn't save his arm, so he has his "stump". The kids all love his stump and think it is funny when he waves it at them. I guess in a way it is a good thing that he was injured because that is how he and my Grammer met. She was working at the hospital and they fell in love! He was awarded a Purple Heart, and was featured in a photograph in Time Magazine. He doesn't talk much about what happened. As a matter of fact, I had never heard the story until one Thanksgiving he and Jonathan were talking and all of the sudden he started telling it. You could hear a pin drop in the room, it was so quiet. For almost all the people in the room it was the first time hearing the story. My mom said that she had only ever heard in one other time.

He is a super hard worker and does amazing things with his one arm. He mows his lawn...twice a week, he sharpens the mower blade, and he keeps a mean looking yard. A few years ago, he got cancer in his throat. He had to have Chemo, and even though we had to fight him to do it, he did and we are glad that he is here with us today!

The cake: it was huge, and VERY tastey! He loves to watch Bull Riding with my cousin Chris. Very fittingly they put a little bull on his cake so that he could have a toy to remember the big day!

The girls loved having cousin time. Not all the cousins were able to be there, but these three are usually attached at the hip at any family gathering!

We love you Gramps! Happy 89th, and here's to as many more as we can have with you!!! LOVE YOU LOTS!!!

April Turns 1!!!

2010-10-06T10:12:00.002-06:00

April 2010:

Wow, how time has flown by!! Our little grandbaby is one! She is such a peanut with a great disposition! She is a happy little girl who is always on the go! I love when she gives me big hugs and plays with my hair or pats me on the back.

Joseph's mom had a birthday party for her at her home. Lauries parents and sister came, and so it was a full house! She sure has a lot of people who love her, thats for sure! I think there were about 20 of us, and she ate up all the attention!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures that capture her personality to a T.

This is one of her smiles that makes us all giggle! It is her "my smile is so big its going to swallow my face"... but it is so stinking cute! It is a definate favorite!

She was glued to these books that she got. She cared about the frog, and the books... that was about it. She could have sat there the whole time, and not cared if we were there or not! She is so smart and loves books!

This right here is my all time favorite smile of hers. It has her all over it! She is very sweet, and at times very calm...she definatly has her wild times, but never a bad wild...that I've seen! She is a snuggle girl and will give you a smile and a hug, and sometimes a kiss when you need one! I love her little munchkin voice, and she is trying to talk so much. She says "hi!" and she can sign some things as well.

After presents it was time for cake... she wasn't so sure of all the people standing around her highchair and the flame on the candle... but she was awesome and gave us a good show of her eating!

She LOVES chocolate!!! She is definatly her daddy's little girl! I am so proud of Joseph and the dad that he has become! He loves his little girl to the ends of the earth and more! Laurie is a wonderful mom, who adores her little peanut more than life itself. They have both grown up so much in the last year. We are very grateful that this little baby girl is in our lives!!! She is a keeper for sure!

Fun with friends...

2010-10-06T10:05:00.003-06:00

April 2010:

My friend Gina and her hubby were taken on a vacation to Mexico for her birthday. They have a little girl, Abby that is a great friend of the girls. They have never left her overnight, and it was now time. They had another friend have her nights, and then she came over to our house during the day. The girls had a great time, and they played and played!! They wanted her back the whole next week!

Buddy had fun too. We got to spend a lot of time outside, since the weather was really nice. We loved having Abby at our house! Friends are fun, and we miss our friends from our old neighborhood badly!

A boy and his dad!

2010-10-06T10:00:00.002-06:00

April 2010:

These two are like peas in a pod! They love to be around eachother and they make eachother smile all the time. Buddy hates hats or anything on his head... but when Jonathan puts his hat on him, he starts to play a game... its cute and I can't get him to do it with me! Whenever Jonathan is doing something, Buddy has to move his cute little body over to where he is... he has to be right in the mix of things!

It is fun to see them together!

Easter 2010

2010-10-06T09:38:00.002-06:00

April 2010:

For Easter, all the grandkids on my side of the family try to get together for dying eggs. So, we went down to my sister Stacey's and we got our eggs on! The kids had a blast and I was surprised that our car didn't stink of boiled eggs on the way home like it has in the past. Thank heavens!!!
Because my kids love holiday's so much, my Stacey is always getting them cute things to help "egg" on the spirit of the holiday. This time it was rabbit ears! So, here is Aunt Stace and the kids in their bunny ears! So cute, and my kids love them!

Beene in her egg dying "daddy shirt" waiting for her eggs to come out all pretty!!!

Julles looking a little spacey, but was having a great time!! She even wrote her name on one of her eggs.

The Easter Bunny came and left bunny fur all over our house and on our welcome mat outside. He gave the girls candy, candy and more candy and he brought Buddy a jar of babyfood... Carrots of course!!!

It was lots of fun, and we had the Joseph, Laurie and April and Jeremy and Jason there with us to celebrate as well! It was great to be with family on a holiday like this!

Leprechan mischief and silliness

2010-10-06T07:39:00.005-06:00

March 2010:

St. Partricks Day is another favorite holiday at our kids. I think I have come to the realization that my kids just LOVE holidays... period!!! Anyway, we had so much fun and those silly Leprechans made some major mischief in our home.

First...

The kids all woke up with Leprechan kisses all over them! There were tiny green dots on thier legs, arms and even some on their faces! Beene was a little upset that there were only kisses on one of her legs... she slept with the other one tucked tightly under the covers... how were those little guys supposed to get in there? From there they found in the bathroom that those silly little men used the potty and it was all green and what is worse??? They didn't flush!!! When we came downstairs there were little green footprints EVERYWHERE!!

The night before we left "treasure cans". We read a story about how if you leave a treasure box out the night before st. pattys day, a Leprechan will come to your house in search of gold. If it gets in your treasure box, then it is stuck and can't get out unless it leaves you something in return. So, this is what the girls found amidst all the green little footprint chaos!

I think those little guys knew that we REALLY like all those candies and treats, we were happy kids!!! Then we found that our milk was turned green, and shoes were up on the light fixtures, the highchair was ON TOP of the kitchen table, and the brand new box of Lucky Charms cereal was dumped out into my cake stand. We had Green French Toast and Rainbow Fruit Salad with some green milk to wash it down! It was a tasty breakfast indeed!

mmmm...tastey!!!

Every year on St. Patty's day when I was growing up, we'd have Corned Beef and Cabbage. I always thought it was a true Irish tradition... Well, as I was looking around this year, I found that it is NOT... but we don't care... we like it to much not to have it! So we had Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes, Carrots, green Jello, and Green Watergate Salad with Green Kool-Aid to drink!

It was so much fun! But now I have set a tradition and so now I have to be this creative EVERY year... good thing I have pictures to remember everything!

This is not the best picture of them, they are all three VERY tired from a busy fun filled day... but I had to get a picture of them in thier GREEN!!!

Happy St. Patty's!

A present from the aunties...

2010-10-06T06:21:00.002-06:00

March 2010:

Jonathan's sister's Lori and Andrea came for a visit. It was their first time seeing Buddy and the girls hadn't seen them in a long time either! We eagerly waited for them, and finally they were here! Beene came hom from school to a big surprise and lots of hugs and kisses! The aunties also came with little gifts for the girls and a different one for Buddy!

They knew that we all were wanting spring to come quickly and so they gave them bags of Spring items... for outside, Easter and thier bellies! For Buddy though, it was a tad different! They brought him his very own Fire Truck! It was so cute! What made it even better is the reason they got it for him.

When Jonathan was a little munchkin, he had a toy Fire Engine that he could ride on and that had a ladder that really moved. He loved that thing... it had a key and everything. Well, they got Buddy one so that he could be just like his daddy!!! So fun!!

After our fun visit, and they had gone home... he and I had a little photo shoot to show off all the sitting practice we had been getting in!

"Mom, whatcha doin?"

"Oh, OK... this could be fun!!"

"Ok, this is not as fun as I thought it was going to be!!"

"Oh fine, just 1 more... that is is!!!"

"Is this what you were looking for mom?"

Yes, Buddy that is exactly what I was looking for... you did great!! We had lots of fun with the Aunties and hope we see them soon!!! Thanks Aunt Lori and Lynnie... you are awesome!

Chillin' in 3D!!

2010-10-06T06:09:00.004-06:00

March 2010:

So, we have movie night with the girls atleast once a week! They love it and we have fun watching them be so into something! So, we decided to have them try out something different...

3D baby!!! They thought they were stylin. They kept having to put them back on because they were a little big, but we watched a Hannah Montana Concert in 3D, and then before we called it a night we wanted them to see something VERY cool with those glasses!

Enter...

This movie is way to scary for little kids to watch all the way through, but the begining is the coolest thing in 3D ever to watch! They loved every minute of it, and kept trying to reach out and touch or swat thing that "were in front of them"! It was a very fun night indeed!!!

We have sitting...

2010-10-06T06:01:00.002-06:00

March 2010:

My little Buddy is the best waker upper in the family! He is always so happy and pleasant! We could all use a few lessons from him, I think! He is always up as soon as the sun shines in his window... which doesn't always make me super happy... but I'm working on it!

Anywho... one day he was taking his morning nap and woke up, and I heard him chatting away and went in to peek on him... this is what I found (so much for peekin')!

Such a happy handsome boy!! He just makes me melt when he looks at me like that!!! You?

On to the topic at hand here...We have been working on his strength and the whole sitting up by himself thing for a while now and so I thought we'd give it a try...

We're sitting...

We're getting excited and starting to lean...

Ohhhh! It was a good try, and a good lesson that doing it in the nice soft crib is better than doing this on the hard floor!! Good Job Buddy!!! You are almost there!

Tooth Fairy Away!!!

2010-10-06T05:35:00.003-06:00

February 2010:

We were driving around running some errands and Beene said, "Mom, Dad... my tooth just came out!" She wasn't freaking out, but you could see it was coming soon, so Daddy turned around, (I was driving) and chatted with her and they laughed about how cool it was. She calmed down and daddy kept it safe until bed time!

My little girl and her FIRST lost tooth!! Jonathan and I are wondering where she got those genetics from... we both didn't start losing our teeth until 2nd Grade, and here she is in Kindergarten!!!

The tooth, it was nice and pearly white... the Tooth Fairy I am sure was proud of it!!

When I was little, I had a little pillow with a pocket in it for my lost teeth... at our house we have a baggie!!!

Here she is putting it under her pillow... the Tooth Fairy better come quick!!! She was sooo excited!!!

Well, the Tooth Fairy had a really hard time getting under her pillow to switch the tooth for cash... so she called in a helper, we'll call him the Molanator... and he was successful at the switch! It was hard for the Tooth Fairy because Beene sleeps next to the wall, and she had to climb on the bed without waking up 2 little girls in the meantime!!!

But, our first experience was a great one!!! I am sure it will happen again soon, she has a total of 6 loose teeth now!!!

Oh Buddy!!!

2010-10-06T05:22:00.002-06:00

February 2010:

So, after 2 weeks or so of being clear of RSV, it strikes again!!! Poor guy! This time though, no hospital... but a nebulizer!! I have never had to use one of these before, which they were shocked about because Julles has asthma... but she uses inhalers! He loved the thing! I was expecting to have to hold him down and have him screaming because that is what I always hear in the ER when I am there in the winter time... instead we see this...

He kind of uses it like a Hookah... and he gets REALLY mad when you take it away!!! Luckily this one didn't stay around for too long, and the nebulizer is in the closet for future use! Dr. A said that now that he has had it once, he is more likely to get it again and again! So, we are prepared with more than enough medicine for when we are faced with it!

Onto other "oh buddy" items:

So, one night he and I were in our night time routine... I feed him baby food and cereal before he goes to bed so that he will sleep through the night better. Well, this particular night he was dining on peaches and oatmeal. He ate it up, and went to bed like an angel. Well, at about 5 a.m or so, he started stirring and grunting and crying a little. So, I went in to check on him, but only with the hall light on. I didn't want to wake, wake him up! He was grunting really bad and he was rubbing his face with his hands and looked like he was trying to rub him eyes out of his head. I got him out of bed to go and make him a bottle. We got out to the hall... and the lights and his face looked like he had been beaten!!

Exhibit A:

His poor little face got bigger and bigger adn his eyes were little slits. So, I was getting packed up for the ER when I decided I would call first. They told me that I could give him benedryl and see how he did... if his breathing got rough to bring him in. We drugged him and it went away slowly through the day. Dr. A said to just hold off on the peaches, since everywhere they touched his face left a burn/blister... for atleast a month or two. Yeah, a lot longer than that... SCARY!!!

The long-awaited...

2010-10-06T05:05:00.002-06:00

February 2010:

Valentines Day!!

One of the girls favorite holidays...for reasons unkown! It has been this way since they learned their colors and now they look forward to it as soon as Christmas Day! They would love if I would take down Christmas decor and put our Valentines stuff up immediatly. I make them wait atleast until after New Years! But, over the years we have gathered some decorations... some years they are harder to come by than others. We also have some traditions that we do to make it fun for them.

This year, they got Valentines Day outfits, and got thier hair done all pretty and wanted to be photographed at once!! I abliged and thought that this one was absolutly perfect!!!

These two are Best Friends and most times are attatched at the hip! They fight just like any sisters do, but they are quick to say sorry and start right back where they were when they were happy!! Love them!

Our Jaxson "Buddy" is getting so big!! He sits up with the help of the couch cushion crack, and loves his feet! He is the happiest baby I have ever seen, and he smiles constantly!!! Here he is in deep thought and looking very handsome too!!! I really think I could eat him!!!

Everytime we would take the girls to the store, they would see those huge mylar baloons and ask for them... we always say maybe another time. So, for Jonathan's present to them, he ordered... days in advance some fabulous presents, that were sure to make some very excited girls! We were supposed to pick them up Saturday night because the store wasn't open on Sunday...

But because Jonathan can't stand a surprise (too often), he went bright and early Saturday morning to get these babies...

Julles LOVES ladybugs, and thought she had died and gone to bug heaven!! She was gitty!!!

Beene is a butterfly fanatic and didn't let go of her's until it was time to pry it out of her hand to go to the bathroom!!

They had so much fun, they loved every minute of it! We had strawberries, and when everyone came for dinner, we had heart shaped meatloafs and it was tastey!!! Oh we had lots of fun times as a family too!!

Until next year... Happy Valentines!!

The big 1-9!!

2010-10-06T04:51:00.003-06:00

February 2010:

February 3rd, our Jeremy had a Birthday!! Not just any... he turned 19!! He was at school in Ephraim over his big day, so we waited patiently until it was our turn to celebrate with him!! For our Sunday dinner we had everyone over... even his cousin's roommates from school. IT was a house full... but wonderful!

You can't forget the cupcakes... with all 19 candles on them!! Yeah, we were waiting for the smoke detectors to go off because of all the smoke that was coming off those babies!! But we ended up ok... good thing the birthday song isn't that long!!!

We had to do some decorating. The girls got squares of scrapbook paper and drew pictures of what they wished him for his birthday. They came up with some pretty "out there" things, but he asked us to save them for him... so they must have been keepers!

We also put signs up all over, and Jonathan made paper balloons, because we forgot until it was too late at night the night before to go and get the real thing... but it went well with our "paper decor"!

We love our Jeremy and were glad to spend some time with him before he had to go back down for school! He had a great celebration and is glad that he'll be home for his 20th!!

Feeling Sick...

2010-10-06T04:32:00.003-06:00

February 2010:

Buddy was under the weather, not doing well at all!! He is such a happy baby, that he wasn't even really that fussy. However, we could tell that something was not right with our little guy!

He had been coughing and coughing and it was sounding really bad. His breathing was a little frightening and he kept arching his back. He had a fever for days and nothing would take it down.

So, we packed everyone up, and took him to the dr. Dr. Armstrong said the word I hoped my kids would never get... RSV! Not just a little RSV, but he needed to be admitted into the hospital to get some oxygen and be monitered and have some tests ran. Terrified, but knowing it is better that he is there sick then at home sick...we all went to the hospital to check him into the Ped's unit. First off, it was a full house! They had 4 infants there besides Buddy with RSV, some even newborns!! SCARY!! Because we had the girls with us, Jonathan took him back to get him situated, and I hung out with the girls until it was my turn to go back there. When it was my long awaited turn, I just wanted to hold him... but he had to be stuck with moniters and such, and the nurses made me wait! Even though he was so sick, he still had the nurses in smiles because he was smilin' away! They kept saying that they wouldn't have thought he was sick just by looking at him! We got him settled and then I ran home with Jonathan and the girls to get some things for the night and to get the girls settled and a little less freaked out because they didn't like leaving their brother at the hospital alone... EITHER DID I!!!

When I came back to his room, they had him laying on the hospital bed, watching Sprout! He loved it and was totally content. He was even sporting a hospital gown!!

He and I did some snuggeling, played peek-a-boo, had some crying, watched tv and did a little eating as well. We talked to Daddy on the phone, and sent video's of him to the girls. He finally fell asleep after some major drugging, and I put him and all his wires into the little hospital crib... not so little though, now that I think about it. It was hard to just sit and watch him, he was having such a hard time. The nurses were doing all that they could for him, but it was a restless night! I would have loved to have put him in my bed with me, but that was a no-no!!

I got up in the morning and went home to get the girls ready for school. Luckily he had done well enought throughout the night that he could go home. That was a happy thing to tell the girls when they got done with school! They were beaming!

He is a trooper, and I hope that this doesn't come back to haunt us later!

Grandpa fun!

2010-10-06T04:25:00.003-06:00

January 2010:

My parents came up to see the house. The girls were excited as always and could not wait to see their Grandma and Grandpa!! We had to decorate for Valentines day as soon as we could find the decorations in our piles of boxes...because we have kids who are HOLIDAY NUTS!!! So, to make for some more Valentines fun, my parents came up for the day and just so happend to have brought some loot for the girlas, and a high chair for Buddy!!!

Here you see my dad, aka grandpa being a VERY good sport!!! They had lots of fun puting in clippies and trying to put his hair...what he has left anyway... into ponytails. We laughed and laughed because this picture is he and I 20 someodd years ago... I used to do this to him everyday!! What a great guy!!!

These girls LOVE thier Grandpa!! He spoils them and will let them do whatever they want to him!!!

Kids... fun, fun kids!

2010-10-04T08:41:00.002-06:00

January 2010

The kids make me smile on a daily basis! They are always doing something crazy silly! These are just a few things that I thought I would share!

Buddy and April are good friends! She is older than he is, and so he is watching her every move, and wanting to be mobile to catch up with her. They are really cute to watch! We love our babies!!!

This was the day after we moved in... Joseph and Laurie and Jason came over to help us unpack some things and eat with us for sunday dinner. We had so many things out and about on the main floor that it was NOT kid safe in anyway. Our gate was lost in the mountain of boxes and so the crib parts were the next best thing! The girls kept pretending that they were locked up in a tower and that a prince was going to come save them. April did not think it was so cool... she wanted her mommy and daddy!!

Buddy has found his toes! He loves them and is found in a little ball at all times! He is amazed that they are attatched!!!

My babies! They are so stinkin cute, I just can't stand it!!! I'm sorry... I just can't!

The girls had a twinner day... twinner hair, twinner petshop shirts, and twinner apples!! It was a fun day!!!

Jeremy is at school at Snow College for the semester, and we miss him horribly! I actually cried when he came to say goodbye!! Luckily we will see him on some weekends.

New Year... New house!

2010-10-04T08:15:00.002-06:00

January 2010!!

We moved our little family over to Logan from Providence in January! We found a house that we really like, and the kids have a big playroom. We appreciate all the help that we got, most of it last minute. It was freezing cold (literaly... it was below zero!) and we took our last load over at 3:00 in the morning. Needless to say that our downstairs family room and garage were full to the brim with boxes. It took us days to find all the necessities and get things put back together. But, it was a good change for us. I miss my friends dearly, and so do the girls. However, things happen for reasons and we just go with the flow.

We decided to keep Beene at her same school though, since moving was just too much change for her. So, we drive her to school everyday and pick her up. Julles and I stayed with our Joy School group and so on tuesdays and thursday's I try to stay close by, that way I am not going back and forth all morning! I look forward to next year when the kids will go to the school that is only a few blocks away!!

While we were packing, I put Julles in charge of playing with Buddy! I was in the kitchen and I heard her making something with paper... then all of the sudden... TADA baker buddy boy! She got a white lunch sack and made him a hat! This is the only hat that he has left on for more than two seconds!! A+ for Julles for making him even cuter!!!

Our new home, with the garage almost cleaned out enough to park one of the cars in! Fun times ahead in the new year to come!

2010-10-04T07:53:00.002-06:00

Christmast Eve/Day 2009

Our kid's... and grandbaby!!

Christmas Eve Jammie's! We decided only the teeny's got them this year!

The Christmas Loot! The kids woke up nice and early, and their brother's had a hard time waking up! However, it was a great morning and everyone loved thier gifts and being with eachother.

This is the result of going to bed late (because of excitement) and getting up really early for the same reason! This was mid morning, and she was OUT!!!

The day ended with all the boys and Laurie and April coming over and playing Rockband and eating yummy food! What a day!!!

November in a flash!!

2010-10-04T06:14:00.006-06:00

November 2009

Daddy and Buddy rockin it out on the drums, playing Rockband with all the brothers!!!

Buddy ate his first applesauce this month!! He LOVES it and can't get enough of it!

My Gramps, Buddy's great grandpa came for a visit to see us! We thought it would be great if we had a pic with Jack and Jax!

We had Thanksgiving with my family down at Stacey's house. It was a great meal and we had a fantastic time with my family for three days. I forgot to take my camera and missed out on some great photo op's!

The girls were MIA in pictures this month... but we had a good one!

Trick-or-treat 2009

2010-10-04T05:44:00.002-06:00

October 31, 2009

First off, Jonathan and Jeremy didn't disapoint!! They dressed up with the kids and were the local rockers! They brought stuff for Joseph, but he wasn't too into it! He was trying to look like a dad taking his baby out trick or treating for her First Halloween!! April and Laurie were both bunnies and Joseph carried around a guitar and wore some cool sunglasses! (I am a little perterbed that I can't find any pictures of them) They went around with us to Downtown Logan trick-or-treating! We also hit Macey's and the girls warmed up with thier luck there!!

My sweet little girlies!!! Grandma and Grandpa came up and brought Julles some cowgirl boots to complete her look and Beene shined as a beautiful Princess!!! They were so super cute!

Here is my "Jax-o-lantern"!! He stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa while we took the kids downtown... it was nice to not have to push a stroller around! Thanks mom and dad!!! But, he sure looked cute!

The girls and I went out after dinner to go around the neighborhood. Of course we had to hook up with our BFF's and walk around together! Here are the three musketeers all decked out in their awesome costumes!!!

It is tradition that every year ends at Miss Amy's house. Miss Amy is a great friend that we met when I was preggers with Beene and has been like family ever since! She hooks the kids up with a TON of candy and they give her the run down on what has been going on in their little lives! We love the "other" Johnson's! Can't wait for next time!!!

Happy Halloween 2009

Party time!

2010-10-04T05:34:00.002-06:00

October 29-30, 2009

Beene's school had a Halloween Carnival. It was full of fun games, treats (what was left, anyway), and TONS of people crammed into the halls of Providence Elementary! The girls had a blast though! They got to see lots of their friends and Beene got to show us all her "boyfriends".
The school does a carnival in place of a class party and parade! I was kinda looking forward to a parade, so I was a little bummed when I found out they don't have one! Oh well, we had fun anyway!!!!

For Joy School, I was in charge of the Halloween Party! We had lots of fun talking about feelings and then we got into our costumes and entered Party mode!! The moms and some siblings came and the kids did a little song for them, and then we had a little parade around the living room! They were so dang cute! Then after that, we had mummy hot dogs and some other fun ghoulish treats! They also made carmel apples before everyone came! It was lots of fun, and sadly my last Joy School Halloween bash! It was a good one to end on though.

On to more halloween fun!

Punkins 2009

2010-10-04T05:23:00.004-06:00

October 25, 2009

These are our fabulous "punkins" that we got this year! The girls picked them out themselves and Beene even carried hers to the car on her own. She was so proud!

The girls love to get down and dirty with thier "punkins" and get all the guts out and then while Jonathan and I clean and carve, they play with the guts and make wonderous things with them! It is alwas a fun clean up job :)!!!

Ta-da!! The final product of all our hard work! They have so much fun doing this! It is hard to have them wait so long after we get them to carve em'... but you don't want them to rot!!!

Here is our Punkin King 2009!!! He was so great, and slept for most of the carving time! He fits perfectly on his little punkin!! What a cutie!

Cuteness and halloween hats!

2010-07-21T22:54:00.003-06:00

(October)

Look at these two, aren't they just adorable??? I could just eat them up! My mom and dad got these cute little hats for the babies. April got a kitty one, with matching socks, and Buddy got a punkin one, with socks too!

April is at the age where she really likes to take Buddies bink... notice in this picture she has one in her mouth and he doesn't... its in her hands! She took it out of his mouth right before I snapped the picture!!! Funny, funny, funny!!!

The cutest uncle/niece team around!!!

Its Tradition!

2010-07-21T21:50:00.006-06:00

(October)

I love holidays! It just so happens that Halloween is my absolute favorite! I also love making fun things with my kiddo's. So, a few years ago, we started a tradition... making yummy snacks!

Super gooey-fied carmel apples that I had the kids decorate with fun candies!

Every year we decorate cookies with Keri and Kenadee. I make a ton of cookies (dubbed "The best damn cookies" by keri's hubby) and Keri makes a ton of frosting (that is sooo good, we always hope for leftovers) and we go to town! We were proud of the kids this year, they actually frosted more than three cookies each before going to play. Keri and I usually end up frosting a whole lot by ourselves, but it gives us time to chat. What is better than chatting it up with your bff? Nothing that I can think of!!!

Same thing next year, different sprinkles... maybe!!!

An old friend needs help!

2009-11-13T18:51:00.003-07:00

My senior year in high school, I met some great guys through a friend of mine. We became really great friends with these guys and called them the SJC (south jordan crew). They lived in South Jordan and would come down to Provo to jam with us at the Chump shows. They all went on mission's and Kim and I would write to them diligently every Sunday. We sent them all packages at holidays too! When they were in the MTC we would drive past there on P-day and scream HI to them if they were outside playing soccer. While they were on their mission's I got married and we lost touch. As of late, I have found almost all of them. Today, I was on one of their family blogs, and found a link on the side for our friend Jon. I clicked on it, and I found some very sad news! Jon has cancer, and it is spreading like crazy! I started balling. He is such a great guy and has a beautiful family. I am so sad that this is happening to him.

Today, they got horrible news that the cancer has spread. This is so hard to see happen to him!!

Because of this illness, his family is in need of money to help pay all the medical bills they are getting. I don't usually pass these on, but he was once one of my closest friends. I feel so awful for him, and can't even imagine how awful this is for him and his small family.

Here is the blog address, and a little about the Unander's! http://helpjonandtiffany.blogspot.com

Jon (30) and Tiffany (26) have been happily married for 7 years. They have two adorable children, Maxwell (age 4) and Kenadee (age 1). Jon was recently diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma. (Find more information about this cancer here.)

About 7.5 years ago Jon had a suspicious looking mole removed from his back. It turned out to be melanoma, a very dangerous and potentially deadly form of skin cancer. At the time they attempted to remove the cancer from the area by removing some nearby lymph-nodes and the mole. They thought they got it all and for the last 7 years his blood work has looked "normal".

5 months ago Jon noticed a small, tender lump under his arm. He waited for it to heal and get better (hoping for the best) but the lump only continued to grow. A biopsy was done and they found out that the lump was actually melanoma; apparently there were some cancerous cells left from the original site and it has now spread (metastasized).

Soon after this was discovered, Jon experienced some tenderness in his leg/groin area and then cancer was discovered in his pelvic bone also. This is believed to be melanoma as well, but a bone sample needs to be taken before that can be verified. The type of cancer that is in his bone will determine how the doctors will treat the cancer.

The outlook isn't great. Even with all of the best treatments (and "best case scenarios") Jon has about a 25% chance of a cure. Jon is a strong person and he is not going to give up! He is an amazing daddy and a great husband and isn't about to leave his beautiful family without a fight. And the doctors have told him that he definitely is in for the fight of his life.

Jon has already had many medical procedures done, with many MANY more to come. They do have insurance but the deductibles and their out of pocket costs are starting to (and will continue to) pile up. We can help this amazing young family by donating money, spreading the word and offering our prayers and support.

Please help however you can!

Pajama Picnic/Wear Red day...

2009-11-08T08:13:00.002-07:00

October 9th, 2009

Kindergarten has had many fun "dress up" day's. They started out the year with wearing different colors everyday, and now it is time for "Pajama Picnic" day. They were learning about the letter "P" this week, and so on Friday they got to have lots of fun!

Not only was it Pajama day, it was also the last day of Red Ribbon week and they were also supposed to wear RED! Well, the only jammies she has that have red on them are her Santa ones, and she said, "Mom, I am not wearing those, it isn't even Halloween yet!" So, she picked her polka-dot ones, and I was going to let her wear the little Avon Valentines Day pin for her red. I went to the store the night before and got her some RUBY RED nail polish. I surprised her in the morning with a little nail treatment, and she was in HEAVEN!!!

Looking fancy-schmancy in her jammies and he beautiful nails! Ready for the Pajama Picnic, where she took Peaches, Pretzels, a Pop Tart and some pastacio's.

Of course, Julles had to do what her sister did... don't mind her filthy p.j's... they were put in the dirty clothes as soon as she took them off!! But, she was feeling mighty fancy!

Sister's sportin their jammies and smokin hot red nails!

Cute little girl hands! What a fun day!

Erkel...

2009-11-08T08:11:00.003-07:00

I was getting ready for bed one night, and Jonathan had Jaxson in our room with him. I heard him leave the room for a minute and then come back and start giggling! I walked out and this is what I saw! ERKEL!!! Jonathan has this cabbage patch doll from when he was a kid. His name is Wade Ambrose, and those are his glasses.

Have you ever seen a cuter ERKEL before in your whole life? I don't think so!

Julles First Day

2009-11-08T08:01:00.003-07:00

On September 1st, Jullsie had her VERY OWN first day of school! I am excited this year, she will be her own little person, and her personality will completely come out. She has always done what Beene has done, and said what she has said... so now she can be HERSELF!!!

She was very excited and couldn't wait! She was ready to go by 9:00, and was mad that school didn't start until 10:00.

School this year is going to be fun, she has already gone on a ton of field trips, which I have only gone on 1... this is very hard for me, as the last two years, I have been on ALL of them! She is learning so much already, and loves her "school days". She loves that she has her very own friends, and that she is a big girl!

The annual "sister's first day" picture, Beene's is missing of the two of them because Julles was barfing her guts out that morning! They are such cute friends and I love them more than I think I could ever explain!

B-A-N-A-N-A-S...

2009-10-30T09:02:00.004-06:00

(August 26 and 27th)
I made a midnight run to the grocery store. When I walked in the doors, there in front of me were more BANANA'S than I had ever seen!! I swear the cases went to the ceiling!! Our Macey's grocery store was starting a HUGE sale on these banana's and were also going to break a WORLD RECORD!!! 66,000 pounds of the yellow beauties!!! It was a gigantic Banana Castle! The whole produce department was covered in monkey's and banana type items. It was very cool, and I knew the girls would LOVE it.

The next day after Beene got home from school and Julles got done with play group, to Macey's we went! The girls couldn't wait to see the "castle". Not only did WE go, but Keri and Kenadee met us there, and so did Gina and Abby. It was a girls outing to the grocery store!! The first thing Beene said as we were walking in the parking lot was, "mom, I hope they have a mascot!" I told her I didn't think there would be a mascot, and she looked disappointed... but then she saw Kenadee and it made it all better. The girls RAN into the store and their mouths fell to the floor!! Then Beene turned around and said, "Mom, this is NOT a castle!!" I then had to tell her that I just thought it looked like one! But, in my defense... they had sold a TON of them already! They were 11 cents a pound!! People were walking around with CASES of them in their carts!!!

Beene, Kenadee and Julles standing in front of the "Banana Castle"... Abby met us there later on! However, they did think it was Fantastic! (Beene even had to wear her Monkey Pet Shop shirt, to go with the occasion!)

We all split up, and did some shopping. Then, we met up at the Deli, where they were serving Banana Splits!!! So, we all (Keri, Gina, all the kiddo's and I) caved in and got some ice cream and splits. They were delish, and the kids loved laughing and talking together at their OWN table! Jaxson was completely oblivious of any of the goings on, since he was sound asleep in the cart! I am amazed he slept through those 4 little girls and their giggles! All the mom's agreed it was time to go home, so we all went out separate ways. I hadn't gotten very far, when I heard Kenadee screaming, "Jilly-beene, you have to come over here.... THERE IS A GIANT BANANA!!!" Beene perked up and went running to see this GIANT BANANA!!! She then came back to me and said, "Mom, I TOLD you there would be a mascot here!" Boy was I wrong!!

The girla's and the Banana Mascot! They loved him or her... I asked and it didn't say anything, I even asked it to give me thumbs up for girl or thumbs down for boy... and I got NOTHIN'!!! But, it was great anyway! (and really... the night before, the boxes went almost to the ceiling!!!)

What a great time at the store, and with our friends! We couldn't have asked for a more entertaining visit! By the way, they totally broke the record with I'm not sure what, but it was a huge amount of banana's. Lots of people made banana bread that week, I am sure of it!!!

Bear Lake 2009

2009-10-30T00:45:00.007-06:00

When I was younger, Grammer would take all the cousins to Bear Lake every July. Usually it was over the 4th or 24th. We would stay for a week, and LOVE every minute of it. Well, when I was 10, we stopped going!

Grammer's birthday is September 7th, and the last few years of her life we would all get together as kind of a birthday party/family reunion for her. She loved it because we would all be together... her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. She loved kids and watching them have fun. We went to Cherry Hill water park a few times, and one year we went back to Bear Lake... it was awesome!!

Now that she is gone, we still party for her special day, and know that she would be tickled pink that we were all together in a place that made so many special memories for us...

So, I give you SOME of Bear Lake 2009 pictures!

The beach... such memories here as a kid! I have a picure of me with my mom when I was just tiny on one of those swings!! What a beautiful view too!!!

Julles, Katie and Beene warming up in the hot tub after playing at the lake and swimming in the freezing pool.

Julles testing out the water... our kids had never been here... WE LIVE 45 minutes away!

Julles and Jason hanging out on the beach together... he had just written "Julles is beautiful" and "Jason is a stud" in the sand!!

Beene taking her first run into the lake... she loved it, even if it was a little cold!

Jason and Beene looking for shells... this has to be my FAVORITE picture of all 400 that were taken!! What a great big brother he is! (and I think that they bring in truck loads of shells every year... I swear there were just as many this year as in 1989... maybe more)

Cute Sisters... Best Friends... having a great experience together!!!

The girls and thier cousin Jack... they could play with him for HOURS!!!

Playing in the sand with cousins... Could it get any better?!

Joseph, April and Laurie hangin out in the condo!! Everyone loved that they were there with us! Great time for Laurie to meet my family... all 24 of us!!!

Jonathan and Jaxson doing what they love to do most... napping TOGETHER!! Those two are peas in a pod!

Joseph and his baby girl!!! He is such a great daddy! He loves that little girl more than life itself! (How could you not though... look at her!)

The Johnson Family... first family picture since the year after we got married... WOW!!!

My wonderful Mom and Dad!!! Thanks for a great time you two!! Thanks for keeping the memories going! We love you more than you'll ever know!!!

Me and my family... my, my we've come a long way!! Couldn't have been born to a better bunch of people!

The whole Morrow Gang, and our cousin Jana and her two kids! What a great bunch... we are getting HUGE in size though...

We can't wait to go back next year and the year after that and on and on!!! Thanks family for a great weekend. Grammer, your memories will live on, and keep growing!

The "big uncle" meets his niece for the first time...

2009-10-30T00:35:00.002-06:00

Laurie and April had been in Indiana since a few weeks before I had Jaxson, so they hadn't gotten to see him yet. So as soon as they got back to Logan, and were able to come over, they did!! We had missed them soooo stinkin' bad. We were excited to see how big our peanut had gotten and to give her snuggles!!

I saw her and almost started to cry, I had missed holding her so badly!! Laurie and I did a baby trade off, and we both got some snuggle time with the babies! For so long, April was sooo tiny, and now compared to Jaxson she was HUGE!!! Everytime Jaxson would cry, it would scare her and she would scream and scream!!

Ahhh... look at that face??? We layed them down next to eachother, and she freaked out... this was the only picture I could catch of them while on the blanket! Jeremy has dubbed Jaxson the "big uncle"... very fitting!

A big bunch of babies!!! Jonathan with his grandbaby and his baby... he just wanted to fit in, so he got his cry face on too!!!

All in all, thier first meeting wasn't a huge hit, but they will end up being buddies... we know it!!!

The REAL first day!

2009-10-30T00:10:00.004-06:00

Well, the first official day of school came! So did the first official bus-send off... I wasn't sure how I was going to do! But, I had Keri there with me, and we were first times together... we were prepared for anything!

Beene and her best friend Kenadee in the bus line! It was black and white day in the Kindergarten classes, and they all looked so very cute!

The bus started coming down the street, and she looked up at me with really nervous eyes, and i got a pit in my stomach!! I was about to put my little girl on a bus and entrust this lady that I had never met with the life of my little Beene... wasn't sure about that so much!

There she goes... getting on the bus with her Tinker Bell back pack on... looking not so much like my little girl!

I started to get teary... but knew that IF I was going to cry, I had to wait until she couldn't see me! Every other mom there kept telling Keri and I that we were doing great... yeah, that all changed when I looked over at Keri and Mike had his arm around her and she had a big ol' tear coming out of her eye! We looked at eachother and both lost it!! We watched as the bus drove away, hugging eachother and laughing at how we were acting! We said goodbye, and I started walking back home... I started full on bawling!! Then I calmed myself when I caught up with one of the dad's who was walking home too... then I got to my house and started to open the garage and the bus drove back by again, and I saw her and Kenadee's faces plastered to the window with big cheesy smiles on thier faces, and I lost it AGAIN!!! I wasn't crying because I was sad, but that my little girls is growing up, and she is going to experience some fun and not so fun things in this new little chapter of her life. It is going to be wierd not being there to protect her from other kids, and the things they say... but it is all part of her growing up and becoming her own little self!

This was Julles on Beene's first day of school... she was SICK!! She spent the whole night and early morning throwing up! It was quite eventful! She insisted that I take this picture of her and "send it to grandma", and post it on my blog! Poor baby, she was not happy! She layed on the couch ALL day!

For weeks all Beene talked about was that she was only going to ride the bus TO school, and that I was to pick her up and bring her home! (that was all my fault by the way... I was telling Jonathan one day about a little boy in our neighborhood who got off on the wrong stop and luckily another nieghbor saw him walking home and picked him up. Well, I didn't notice that Beene was in ear shot of that conversation, and that pretty much TERRIFIED her!!! OOPS!!) SO, I went to the school to pick her up, and she was MAD at me, she WANTED to ride the bus home! So, I drove home and met her at the bus stop!

Talk about the best feeling in the whole world... having your little girl get off the bus and RUN into your arms and give you the biggest hug and kiss ever and tell you how much fun they had and how much they missed you!!!

Beene and her cute friends!! These 3 girls sit together on the bus. Thier bus driver gives them assigned seats, and what better people to be paired up with, than these cute girls!!!

Well, we survived the first day of school! ALL of us did! She loves school, she loves her teacher, she loves the bus, and she loves being a big girl!!

"First" day of Kindergarten!!!

2009-10-29T23:51:00.002-06:00

Kindergarten had Orientation on the "first day" of school. We were assigned an hour of the day to go with Beene and meet her teacher for the first time and get to know her classroom. We were scheduled for 9:30... MY ALARM DIDN'T GO OFF!!! I had set it for 7:00 PM!! Oops... we woke up at 9:25... not enough time to get a little girl ready for her first day!!! So, I called he teacher and made arrangements to go with the second group of kids at 10:30!! I was mortified that this had happened on her first day!!! You can bet that we'll have two alarms set from now on!!!

My super sweet Beene in her first day of school picture complete with backpack... she insisted that my purse be in the picture!!

We met Miss Melanie for the first time, and Beene got really nervous... I have NEVER seen her so shy before!! We got our scavenger hunt page from her teacher and off we went to explore her classroom and all the fun things there were to find! I was very happy to find that there is a bathroom in her classroom... when kindergarteners gotta go, they gotta go NOW!!! She thought it was "cute" because the potty is kid sized! She found her cubby, and her seat, which is at the YELLOW table, her favorite color! She also found that her good friend Macie from our neighborhood sat next to her... that made her pretty happy! Most of the kids from our neighborhood are in one of the other classes, so it was nice that she was by someone that she knew.

After we finished the scavenger hunt, Miss Melanie had the kids to the rug, and gave the mom's some paper's to fill out. She talked to the kids about how their class would go, and they made a run out to where the bus/parent's pick them up, and learned that they couldn't ever leave the line unless they gave Miss Melanie a ticket (a high five), that way they were always safe!!! She sat so quietly and listened to every word that was said! They learned a song, and started to learn some of the names of the people in her class! I would say, it was a very good experience for her!

She got to hang her back pack on her hook... she was soooo proud! She was beaming!!

My big Kindergartener!! She makes my heart happy!!!

Jillian and her teacher Miss Melanie! She loves her, and talks about her all the time! She hopes she never has another teacher EVER!

She will ride the bus the next day with all the other kids! What an adventure!

Back to school night!

2009-10-29T23:43:00.003-06:00

On August 19, we had Back to School Night! I can't believe I have a kindergartener!!! I know, I know, I am a grandma... but I have never done kindergarten before!!! We went to the school, and usually they have the classroom open so the kids can see where they will be going on the first day, but the kindergarten rooms were locked up tight!! We did have fun though taking a tour of the school, learning where the bathrooms were, and the most important one to Beene was the LIBRARY!!! She had to find out WHEN she was going to be able to check out books... so we met the librarian and found out she got to go the next week. She was beaming! I think Miss B, the librarian and our Beene are going to be good friends!!

We found her class, and her name on the wall... very exciting!!!

This is our beaming little girl standing under her hook!! She is so excited that she has a hook!

She rides the bus, so we took the route she would go from the bus to her class several times so she wouldn't get lost! She did fabulously!!

The school even had thier mascot "Oreo" the panda there greeting all the kids! I didn't get a picture of her with him, because there was a line of kids... you would have thought it was a disney character!!!

She was so excited that she started school the next day, she could hardly stand it!!!

Shout Hooray, I'm 29!!!

2009-10-29T23:25:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to me on August 13th! I turned 29... one year closer to the big 3-0!! It was a very great birthday for me... my mommy was here still, and she doted on me and we STAYED HOME!!! It couldn't have been any better for me!

Jonathan took the girls to pick me out a cake... "Daddy... this is the most perfectest cake for mommies birthday!!!" I loved it!! I love when they pick them out for me! They even picked out beautiful princess wand candles for me!

Jonathan grilled chicken just for me!! It isn't his favorite thing to make... but for the last two years, that is exactly what i've wanted for my day, and he did it without complaining for a second!!! It was even more of a special treat because my mom got to eat it too! My dad isn't a chicken fan, and so they NEVER eat it! Well, it was fabulous as always and we ate it up as fast as we could!

Then it was time for singing and cake!! The girls sang me a beautiful birthday song, and assisted me in blowing out my candles and helping me with my wishes! What great girls I have!

The part they LOVED the very most... licking the bottom of the duckies clean!!! You think getting the frosting off the candles is good, you should try this... it is fantastic!!!

Can I just tell you how loved I felt on my birthday??? I got birthday wishes from everyone in my family... and facebook birthday's are the best ever!!! I think I got a gazillion birthday wishes from lots of friends new and old!

My 28th year was full of surprises and fun, and I hope that this 29th one is full of fun, bright new things! ** and no more babies!!!**

Cute baby pics!

2009-10-29T23:19:00.003-06:00

Sleepy boy in his B-E-D! For the first week or so he was here, he would be sound asleep and you would mention that you were going to put him in his bed, and he would wake up crying! However, if you didn't say anything and put him in there, and he woke up and realized where he was, he would cry!!! But, if you spelled it, he didn't notice!

How cute is that little monkey butt?? I love it!!! I love how they curl into tiny balls when they are newborns!

I couldn't resist another monkey shot! SOOO cute!

I know my photography is far from professional, and I wish that I could have gotten him some newborn pics done that were fancy shmancy, but these will suffice!

Coming home!

2009-10-29T23:06:00.005-06:00

This is what Jaxson looked like on Sunday morning when I went down to the NICU to feed him!! He was wireless, all except his little foot moniter (which is a MUST). The nurse that we had was wonderful... I forget his name, but his face will forever be etched in my mind! He had dressed him in "the ugly" shirt... you see, in the NICU, when a baby is well enough to be dressed, they have super cute little preemie outfits that they put them in... and he was dressed in the little long-sleeved shirt and diaper that "well babies" wear in the normal nursery. Dr. Armstrong hadn't been in yet to see him, so the nurse said that this was a subliminal message to the dr to let him go home! I was ALL for that! He ate like a champ, and I went back upstairs!

This is what Jaxson looked like AS SOON AS Dr. Armstrong gave the green light to let him go home with me! I don't think that elevator could have gone any faster to get me down there to dress him and get him ready to go! I called Jonathan and told him we were just waiting on him to come get us! Boy was it a great sight to see not only Jonathan coming to get us, but my mom, Jason, and the girls! We had quite the entourage! I love his shirt... IT IS SOOO TRUE!!! Home we went!

I don't think we had been home more that 5 minutes and Beene was begging to hold her little brother! This was the first time she had seen him out from behind glass!! She was in seventh heaven!! She kept kissing him and talking to him! It was precious!

Julles was next in line of course! She too was loving this very moment! He was now real to her, and she was NOW a big sister, and happy to not be called the BABY anymore!

Baby Jaxson

2009-10-29T22:46:00.004-06:00

Jaxson Boxley Edward Johnson was born on August 7, 2009 at 5:03 p.m. He was 18 1/2 inches short, and 6 pounds 3 ounces. He was exactly 20 days early! However, he was very WELCOME!!

We love him OH SO VERY MUCH!! He is my first baby I have ever been able to bring home with me from the hospital! Can you say excitement?! I have never been so excited for a "to-do list" before! Breathe on own... check, eat... check, poop... check (and all over the nurse!!!), bili levels low enough... check, and finally pass hearing test... check!!!

I think he may be the most loved little baby brother in the whole world. His sisters think he is fantastic, and dote on him in every way! They tell me on a daily basis how much they love him and how cute he is! We'll check back with them in their teenage years, and see how much they love him and if they still think he is cute! :)

Wow... its been a long time!

2009-08-02T12:17:00.003-06:00

I can't believe I have gone this long with a post! Not a single post! Where do I begin... it has been such a busy, yet uneventful summer!

First, we have moved into our new house! That was a job that I am glad is over! Though it was only 4 houses up, which I thought was going to make it somewhat easier, was harder than moving across town. Jonathan thought we were moving the weekend after we REALLY were moving, so he hadn't really gotten on the "moving ball"! So, it was kind of a rush job. We had great friends help us move, and are grateful to Mike and Ty for all the heavy lifting they did!! What great guys! We really love this house, and it is slowly but surely becoming our own, and we are very comfortable here! It is so quiet, it is crazy!

Moving into a house with an unfinished basement, makes for lots of extra things that you have no where to put! So, what to do with ALL the extra stuff... GARAGE SALE!!! Not just one measly garage sale... three weekends in a row both Friday and Saturday of each week! It was exausting, but we got rid of a ton of stuff! It will be nice when we can park in our garage... coming soon!!

The girls have had a ton of fun this summer with thier friends and finding new places to play in our new house! They have gone to birthday parties, and friendship parties... picture's to follow on that one (thanks to Keri and her blog!). They have spent many nights up at the park, running through the sprinklers and getting soaked to the point that while running home, their pants fell down to thier ankles, and they kept running anyway, laughing all the way!!! Julles has managed to have a rough few weeks though!!! She got her head cracked open and now has a big ball of superglue holding it together. Thank goodness for long beautiful thick hair... you can't see it unless you move the hair around! The same week, she came down with strep! YUCK!!! Julles also has had the first "my own haircut" of both the girls. Luckily she only made it look like she was growing her bangs out! It wasn't catastrophic by any means! She was more embarassed than anything!

Both girls are now sleeping in panties... what an accomplishment for us! It was a long road, but we finally made it! Beenie is getting ready to start Kindergarten... time to start going to bed earlier, so we are used to getting up earlier!! Julles doesn't start Joy School until September, so it is going to be sad and hard when Beene goes and she has to stay home! But, fun times for us to have some time together!

Joseph and Laurie and Baby April are doing great! We have gotten to see a lot of the girls this summer, more than we thought we would, and they are coming back to Logan for good in a few weeks! April is getting so big. She is 3 months old now, and has started rolling over and cooing and laughing. She has got a great smile... and when she gets real excited, she smiles so big that her whole face squints!! They are moving into an apartment in two weeks, and it will be nice to have them together! Joseph is starting school again in the fall, he has been working all suumer. He is still majoring in Political Sience, and is still planning on going to Japan with Laurie and April in a year. They are really looking forward to that!

Jeremy is in the process of finding an apartment to rent with his friend. It will be good for him to move out on his own! He is sooo smart with computer's and is hoping to land a job with a web hosting company! He will be starting USU in the fall. He has a job with Vector which is a division of Cutco, and so if you are in need of some great new knives for your kitchen... let me know and I'll pass it on to him!!

Jason has been a marching band machine this summer. He is gone every morning with practice, and LOVES every minute of it!! He has been in lots of parades... and is getting VERY tan!!! He is getting lots of muscles and is starting to care about his "abs" and such! He is getting excited to start High School. We have hit full teenage-dom with him, and so far so good! We haven't gotten to see a ton of him, but we cherish our sunday's that we get to spend with him!

Jonathan is having lots of fun with his lego's and getting them organized. At the current moment my house looks like a Lego bomb went off, and there are lego's everywhere!!! He is bracing himself for a new baby, and at the same time trying to get an office opened here in the valley! It will be much easier to work from an office, than here here at home!!

As for me, I am VERY pregnant, and looking at my last 4 week stretch!! 36 weeks and counting!! I don't think I'll make it that long though! I have been having some serious "con-jaxson's". When I went to the dr on tuesday this last week, I was dialated to a 2 and was 80% effaced. So atleast these contractions aren't just sitting idle! If I go to the dr on friday this week and I haven't progressed more than that... I will be SHOCKED!!! There have been a few times that I thought it was "time", but then I lay down and they slow down! I am ok with him not coming right now, seeing that when Julles was born at 36 weeks on the dot, she was in the NICU for 2 weeks, and I would really like to bring this little guy home when I come home! So, we'll see!! I am super lucky to have such great friends... they gave me a shower last month, so that I can get some boy things!! It was so much fun, we had some great laughs and my family was able to meet the friends I talk about all the time, and the other way around! As for gifts, I scored! My great friend Gena took pics and I even put them up on the computer to make a post, and then Jonathan decided to "fix' the computer and erased all of our stuff... I have to see if he was able to recover EVERYTHING!!! If so, I am so doing a post about lots of stuff with pics!! I am getting so ready for him to come, but at the same time... I am SO NOT READY!! I have his bed set up, and the bedding on it (which is sooo cute.... blue and brown!!!) But, that is about where my readiness stops!! My nesting instinct hasn't kicked in until NOW!! I am giving myself this week to get my house in order... ya know, I have lived here for a month and a half and my bedroom still isn't unpacked!!! Then, he can come, and I can feel confident that I will come home with a new baby to a CLEAN house!

I hope summer has kept you all busy and safe... we are still alive and kickin', just inside where the AC is in full swing! I have managed to only swell a few times, and that was when I was sunburned... I have never NOT had ankles before, and my toes looked like sausages, but I made it through and hope to never have that happen again!!! Seeing my ankles again was a FABULOUS thing!!! Lucky for me that it rained for half of the summer, and was cool outside, so I haven't been dying, like I thought I would be!

More posts to come, with pics... and unless I have a laptop by the time Baby Jaxson comes, Jonathan will be on Blog dutie the day of, to announce the arrival of our cute baby!!! Love to you all, and until I write again... HAPPY SUMMER DAYS!!!

Mary Kay Blowout Clearance Sale!!!

2009-06-05T22:09:00.002-06:00

Hey all, as you may or may not know... I am moving this weekend. I was packing up and found product that I don't want to move!!! Therefore, I am practically giving it away... MY COST!!! If you are a MK user, whip out your product and see what needs refilling... if you've never tried it... this may be a good chance for you to.

Foundations: $7.00
Ivory 100 full coverage (2)
Ivory 200 med coverage
Ivory 204 full coverage (2)
Ivory 204 med coverage

Beige 300 med coverage
Beige 300 full coverage (2)
Beige 302 med coverage
Beige 302 full coverage
Beige 304 med coverage
Beige 304 full coverage (2)
Beige 400 med coverage (2)
Beige 400 full coverage (2)
Beige 402 med coverage
Beige 402 full coverage
Beige 404 full coverage

Concealers: $4.75 ea.
Beige (2)

Pressed Foundation Powders: $7.00 ea.
Beige 300 (2)
Beige 304 (2)
Beige 400 (2)
Bronzer Highlighting Powder $8.00

Tinted Moisturizer: $9.00 ea.
Ivory 2
Beige 1
Beige 2

Facial Highlighter Pens: $9
Shade 2 (2)

Cleansers/Moisturizers:
Oil Free Hydrating Gel for combo/oily skin- $15
Velocity Facial Cleanser- $5
Timewise 3 in 1 Cleanser for combo/oily- $9 (2)
Timewise Age Fighting Moisturizer for combo/oily-$11 (2)
Timewise Day Solution w/ SPF 15- $15 (2)
Timewise Night Solution- $15 (4)
Timewise Firming Eye Cream- $15 (3)
Oil Mattifier- $7.50
Oil blotter tissues- $2.50

Eyes:
Slate eyeliner- $4.75
Sage eyeliner- $4.75 (2)
Island Bronze Eyesicles Eye Color- $6

Eye Colors: $3.25 ea.
Hazlenut (2)
Crystalline
White Sand (2)
Fig
Double Espresso
Sugar Plum
Copper Beach
Whipped Cocoa
Onyx
Rose Mist
Vintage Gold

NO BOXES:
Vintage Gold
Cinnabar

Lips:
Cappuccino Lip Liner-$5 (2)
Neutral Lip Liner-$5
Chocolate Lip Liner- $5
Satin Lips Mask-$4.75
Mocha Freeze Lipstick-$6.50
Beach Bronze Lip Gloss- $6.50 (2)
Coco Cream Lip Gloss- $6.50

Cheek Colors: $5 ea.
Sunny Spice (2)
Bronze Sands (2)
Mocha Blush
Orchid
Sante Fe' Sun

Compacts: (not the new black ones, but the older silver ones)
Custom Compact- $8 (3)
(holds cheek color, 3 eye colors, lip gloss or stick, and your smaller brushes)
Color Compact- $4.50
(holds either one cheek color or 2 eye colors)
Foundation Compact-$4.50
(holds a pressed powder or a bronzer)

Misc:
Ultimate Roll-up cosmetics bag that holds 5 individual bags that velcroe on and off. Comes with a hook to hang it up. Usually, you can't buy this super cute bag on its own... only in a "pack" of cosmetics. $25

Affection Parfume'-$25

Let me know if you are interested in any of these fantastic products!! Leave me a comment or email me at jamjohn7@hotmail.com.

Thanks ladies!

We are moving...

2009-05-24T10:22:00.003-06:00

On wednesday night we got the news that we had two weeks to get out of our house. The people we have been leasing from are selling the place we have called home for two years. For some odd reason, I was not devistated, nor was I really worried as much as some thought I should be. I felt almost peaceful and I felt like everything would be ok, and we would end up where we were supposed to be. The friendships that I have made here in this neighborhood are not ones that will be cut because of moving, they are that good!

Well, I called my friend on Thursday and told her, because I might start watching her daughter soon for her. She was not happy at all. She was determined to help us find something closer to where we are. I went on with my day, and got the girls ready, seeing that the girls birthday party was that day and we had to get ready for it. I was blow drying hair, and she called me and called me like 5 times. She finally left me a message telling me that I needed to call her ASAP!!! So, I called her on the way to get the Princess Castle Cake. She told me that she had talked to a friend of ours on the phone after talking with me. She had told her our situation, and this friend offered us her home. She is a single mom with two boys, and she has been thinking of renting out her home for the last 5 months. She had come to the conclusion that she would not go looking for someone, but that she should wait until someone came to her! WoW!!! What a blessing! We talked to her that day, and after the party we walked down 4 houses and went through the house. By the end of our visit, we had come to an agreement. It is going to be great to stay in the neighborhood, though we will miss this friend and her boys. The basement is not finished, but is framed, and so we are going to finish it while we are there. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to purchase this beautiful home in a few years.

Now comes the packing... though we are only moving 4 houses away, we still have to pack everything up. Questions pop into my head like, "where to start?" and "what don't I use everyday?" It also comes time to get rid of things that we don't need or use. So, a garage sale might be in our future in the next few weeks... who knows!!!

The realtor came through this house on friday... Baby Jaxson did not like all the cleaning I did before her arrival... but thank heavens for Tylenol PM and sleep!!! Who knew that she would be here for all of 5 minutes!! But, now I am a few steps closer to getting things packed up now that everything is cleaned up.

Wish me luck, and if you have any spare boxes... I could use them!

Beene's big day...

2009-05-09T10:08:00.004-06:00

Beene came to me with a real bad toothache a month ago. I took her to the dentist, and they told me that she had 8 cavities, and needed some teeth pulled. He told me that it is less tramatic if they put them under in a hospital O.R and get them all done at once. So, we got her scheduled, and her big day was yesterday. She was really scared about having to go to the hospital, but really wanted her teeth fixed.

Yesterday, our day started bright and early. We had to be at the surgical center at 6:30 in the morning. Jonathan stayed home with Julles since she has been the projectile vomitting queen this week... but that is a whole other post! So, Beene and I sang Disney Princess songs the whole way to the hospital, and we were loaded with blankies and her "Put me in the zoo" stuffed animal. We got her all registered, and they took us back to our room. They gave her a coloring book of what would be happening to her during her surgery, so that she could show Julles all about it. We laughed, and she cried cause she was nervous, and my heart sank when they came to take her away. It is hard to let someone you have only talked to for a short few minutes take your baby away from you, with them telling you they'll bring her back in an hour and a half!!!

Anyway... here are some pictures of my Beene at our little hospital girls morning in!!!

Beene in her stylin' hospital jammies... which she tought were pretty cool. However, the cool socks they gave her, were not her favorite. They were HUGE on her tiny feet and ankles. They also itched her very bad... she doesn't do well with itchy socks!!!

Now we can't forget the awesome hairnet, which she didn't understand why she had to wear... and once we got it tucked behind her ears, she was ok with.

Me and my Beenie post-op. She was a little cranky, and couldn't stop crying... she kept telling me she didn't know why she was crying. She didn't like the i.v in her hand, and she said that her mouth hurt very bad. They gave her morphine during the procedure, and then they gave her some lortab while I was holding her. She drank a ton of apple juice, so they took her i.v out... that made her a happier kid.

Dr. Doug said everything went as expected, they had to do a few more small root canals, to save teeth from having to be pulled later... but she did great. The anesthesiologist nurse said that she was very brave, and sat on the anesthesiologist's lap to learn about how she was going to go to sleep. They called me during the middle, to tell me that they had extracted two teeth, and one was not salvagable, but the other one was... did I want it? Yes, then the Tooth Fairy can come. She was pretty excited about it, and had to show everyone her tooth when we got home. She is now CAVITY FREE, and her teeth are CLEANER than they have EVER been!!! WAHOO!!!!

The final result... beautiful pearly whites!!! Her two front teeth were curved before from being chipped, and he reshaped them and put some pretty white sealer on the fronts. They are silver in the back so that they don't chip off from her other teeth and food. She has 4 silver crowns in the back, and she has two holey's from getting her yucky teeth pulled. She has stitches in her gums, on one tooth spot because it was so absessed that it had pulled the gum away.

But, here are her beautiful teeth, that she wanted to share with everyone!!!

Thanks to Dr. Doug... the bestest pediatric dentist in the valley. Thanks to the super nice nurses that helped make our little visit as "not scary" as it could have been. Thanks to Dr. Nelson the anesthesiologist that made my Beenie laugh and smile for a split second when she was so scared and nervous, and finally thank you to Beene for being so brave, and for letting me SNUGGLE her lots and lots yesterday.

Baby April Update...

2009-04-26T14:45:00.002-06:00

Our sweet little April and her mommy and daddy get to spend one more day in the hospital. Boo!!! We were really looking forward to having them here today! But, her sugar is a little low, and she needs to eat better before she can be released. The good thing is that she is still able to be in Laurie's room with her!!!

Our newest addition...

2009-04-25T18:52:00.008-06:00

Yes, it is a baby... but not ours!! It is actually our GRANDBABY!!! Our Joseph and his girlfriend, Laurie are now the proud parents of a sweet little girl. Her name is April Marie Johnson! She was born today, April 25th, at 8:00 a.m. She is 6 pounds and 18 inches long!!! She has melted our hearts and made us huge fans in a matter of a few minutes. Look at her and you'll see why!!!

Baby April Marie Johnson... isn't she adorable???

Giving Mommy a snuggle...

aren't Mommy snuggles the best!!!

She came after a very long and painful labor, and only 3 pushes!!! (I am a little jealous, with my first baby, I pushed for 3 hours!!!) She was delivered by the nurse because the dr couldn't make it there fast enough... she got there 10 minutes later!!

Here are some more pictures of our sweet little April...

April and her mommy... so cute!!!

Baby April and her daddy... getting him wrapped around her teeny, tiny finger!!!

Baby April and her Grandpa... he's not used to that yet!!! Boy is he smitten!

I guess this would make me a grandma now... WOW, grandma at 28!!! That has to be a record!!!

Uncle Jeremy is really liking that title!! She has a lot of men in her life... boy is she going to be spoiled rotten!!!

Mommy, Daddy and baby all come home tomorrow!! We are having her family over for dinner, and the guests of honor will be getting plenty of attention. I am sure after tomorrow, I'll have many more pictures to share!!!

I am so proud of Joseph, he really stepped up and was a real man!!! He was there for her when she needed a hand to squeeze and was an ear to listen to her screaming and hurt for her when she was crying, and tried to do everything he could to make her comfortable. He hasn't left her side for a moment. He is going to be a great daddy, and Laurie is going to be a great mommy. We have only known Laurie a short time, we have enjoyed getting to know her and love her.

A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to the new parents!! We love you and wish nothing but happiness for your new little family!!

Push Julles, Push!!!

2009-04-11T09:41:00.002-06:00

The other day I had the girls in the tub. I was in my room getting my make-up done, and was listening to them. When what do my wondering ears hear??? "Push Julles, Push!!!" and then I hear Julles making a really big pushing sound (grunt). So, I go in there trying not to laugh... and Julles is laying back in the tub, and Beene is down at her feet in "baby catching" stance. I asked them WHAT they were doing, and Beene replied..."We are at the hospital, and Julles is having a baby!" OK... what do you say to that?

I guess I have watched Baby Story one too many times with the girls!!! When you don't think they are paying attention... they surprise you! To be honest... I have only watched it like 3 times... they just have a photographic memory!!

The girls make me laugh so hard. They think that pregnancy is fascinating and are walking around with stuffed animals in their shirts! I have yet to get a picture of it, but when I do... I am totally posting!

Name update...

2009-04-11T09:34:00.005-06:00

Ok, so we have been talking about our little BOY's name we have picked. We absolutely love it, but thought it was missing something. So, after much talking... and some finalizing... we have updated it!

Jaxson Boxley Lafayette Johnson... it is long, and he'll take forever to learn to write it... We really feel that this is what he is supposed to be named. Everytime we would not be sure, whenever we would talk about it, he would give me a swift kick inside!

Oh how excited we are!! Thank you all for your nice words and advice! The girls are stoked to have a little brother... hopefully when he is older and terrorizing them, they'll still be stoked!!! Ha, ha!!

It's a...

2009-04-08T13:48:00.007-06:00

This is me in all my glory at 20 weeks. This was right before we went to the "gender" ultra sound. I have a cheesy grin because I was sooo nervous and excited to see my cute little baby and what we were going to be having...

When we got to the dr's office... there was no wait, and she took us back right away. I got on the bed, and got all ready! She put the gel on my belly and put the wand on me... and then took it off immediatly. Then she asks, "How soon do you want to know the sex?" We told her as soon as she could find it. Then she put the wand back on my belly and said, "IT'S A BOY!!!" He was all ready to show us what he was, in case there were any questions... (you tell me if there is ANY chance this could be a girl...)

See... I'm a BOY!!!

Profile... (look at his buddah belly!)

Can I just say how much I love the 3D ultra sound pics?! They are amazing. I love that you can see all the things that the 2D ones don't show. When I was pregnant with Jillian and Julles, they only gave me 2 pictures... what the sex was and their profile picture. Well, this time I think I got like 10 pics. WOW!! He has two hands, two feet, his heart looks great, and his brain looks fantastic. He measures exactly right with my due date of August 27th. My father-in-law, Joseph, and Jason's bday is on the 28th, and so now my FIL wants me to wait until that day to have him... I am shooting for like the 16th or 17th! We got to see a lot of his hands and feet... he likes to put his arms and hands up by his face(you can see his little hand in the picture above), and he likes to cross his ankles. He is going to be a cutie... (I may be biased!!!)

His cute little face!!!

Now for a name...

All of the grandkids on Jonathan's side of the family are all "J" names. (I think I have mentioned that before!) It is getting really hard to find a name that we both like and can agree on. When we first found out yesterday, Jonathan decided on Jack Boxley. We both love the name Jack, and Boxley was his grandpa's middle name. But the problem is... I have a nephew named Jack! So, after much convincing, Jonathan decided that we could look at other possiblities. So at 2:00 this morning, after checking the numerology on a whole lot of boy "J" names... we have decided on Jaxson Boxley Johnson. We both really like the name and are excited to meet little Jaxson. He will be a great addition to our family. I have always enjoyed that Jonathan was brought up with 2 sisters. He knows how to treat ladies, and can decorate pretty well too!!! I am glad that this little boy will have two great sisters, so that he will know how to treat women. Of course it is awesome too that he will have three great brothers who can teach him the "boy" ropes.

I am really nervous about diaper changes (my mom and I have been peed on one to many times by my nephew when he was a baby!!) and worst of all the circumsision. I told Jonathan that he had to be there for that, because I was going to be out of the room. Poor little guy!

Well, the girls are sooo excited... you know they are now going to have a brother with the same name as Hannah Montana's brother... we hadn't thought of that when we decided on it... but it still works!

Funny kid conversations...

2009-03-24T13:05:00.003-06:00

The past week has been full of fun conversations at our house! Here are two of my favorite!

Conversation #1
Julles: Sowwy I dwawed on myself mommy (in her sweetest sorry voice)

( I look at her and she has written all over her legs and feet (top and bottom) with turquoise marker)

Mom: Oh wow, you have given yourself some nice too-tats (that is what they called tatoos when they were younger).

Julles: (she has kind of a New Yorker's accent at times... so use your imagination...) No mom, its not a too-tat, its MAWKA!!! (then she stomped off in a huff)

Converstaion #2
We had school at our house and the boys were playing with Lego's and Beene went over to see what they were doing...

Beene: What are you doing guys?

Caleb: Hello... you're GORGEOUS!!!!

Then Beene came running to me like she had just seen a ghost and hugged my legs.

Mom: Well, you are! That was very nice of him to say!

Beene: Mom, that really embarassed me!!! That was horrible!

My future Providence Panda!

2009-03-12T17:50:00.005-06:00

Last night, I did something that I thought wouldn't come for a few more years atleast!!! I registered my little Beene for Kindergarten!! That is right... she is not my little baby Beene anymore.

She was a little apprehensive about going to the school yesterday for fear that she would have to start Kindergarten that day!! I told her that she didn't have to start until she was 5, and that seemed to calm her fears a little. When we got there, her eyes soaked up this giant building as we walked to the door to meet Keri and Kenadee.

She had her assessment, and I totally thought that the lady would come out and talk to me, telling me how she did... but all that happened was Beene coming out telling me that she got all the colors and she counted them all!! She also wanted to show me her "super" sticker that she got as well. The lady came out, and I thought... here she comes to tell me how smart my child is... and the words out of her mouth were... "Macie"!!! She didn't tell me a thing! Hmm... I know that she is very smart, and that she did well... but sometimes you just want to know that they are on target... am I right? Then, we were waiting not knowing if we were done yet, so Keri asked the secretary if we would be getting a letter telling us if they were a.m/p.m, and what teacher they would be getting, and she said that she wasn't sure what was going to happen this year. The school has a new principal this year, and has never started a new school year before, so it is up to him and how he wants to proceed! Organized, huh??!!!

We asked for morning kindergarten because the bus comes right across from my house and only picks up kindergartners in the a.m. She would get to eat lunch at school and everything. This year it comes in the p.m and they go early for lunch. I would be ok with her going p.m, she would still ride the bus home, but it would be nice not to have to load up all 3 kids and head down to the school on a daily basis!

Anyway, it is all very exciting. She is registered, and happy that she gets to go to such a big school next year! She likes that the mascot is a Panda, she thinks they are great!

Whoa... total change!

2009-03-05T10:29:00.002-07:00

So, lately there hasn't been a whole lot going on to blog about, which I am not loving... this time last year, i was posting like 2 or 3 times a day! Now I am lucky if I get 2 or 3 a month! The weather is starting to look better, as of yesterday our driveway was thawed out, and the snow melted off all the lawns. Then, I woke up this morning, opened the blinds and found it had snowed last night! Oh how I love Spring in Cache Valley!

The last week or so, I have been feeling a little funky. I have been getting really light headed and dizzy, and my heart has been racing! I have been peeing a ton (sorry if that is TMI) and have been drinking a ton as well! Yesterday, I felt really shakey and yucky, and after almost passing out three times, Jonathan called the dr. I told him not to worry since I had my appt next week, but he wasn't kidding around. He talked to the nurse, and told her all of my symptoms, and asked if they could be from gestational diabetes. She concurred, and said that instead of waiting until I am 24 weeks for the gross drink test( you know you love the super sugary version of Orange Crush!!!), they would have me do it next friday (WAHOO, right?). She also said that I had to cut out carbs completely and go on Atkins.

YUCK!!! I LOVE my carbs and don't quite know what to eat anymore! For breakfast, I am a carb junkie with muffins, bagels, biscuits, and peanut butter toast. I had no idea how many carbs I ate until I couldn't eat them anymore!! How many different ways can one person eat eggs in the morning? So, Jonathan went to the store and loaded up on salad stuff, and so now I am researching like crazy trying to figure out what I can eat. I am secretly hoping that it is something else that is making me feel like this, because I really like my breakfast carbs!!! Pasta is a must have as well!

I am sure that I will adjust fine, it just is a big change!! If any of you out there have gone through this in a pregnancy, please leave me any advice that you may have!!

Make it a grand day!

Introducing....

2009-02-14T10:39:00.003-07:00

Baby Johnson! This is our little baby at my ultra sound yesterday! We found out my real weekage and due date. I am officially 12 weeks and 2 days along. I am officially due August 27, 2009. I was glad that I only had to go backwards two or three days rather than my nightmare of weeks!! The baby looked healthy and was VERY active!! My dr had to measure 3 different times to get the right date, everytime he would start to measure, Baby J would do a little jiggy for us. I can't believe how much bigger Baby J is in just four weeks. On the tv screen it looked even bigger than it looks here on this printout! CRAZY!!

I am starting to feel all the moving around. I can't wait until you can feel it on the outside so the girls can feel it!! Everytime I tell them that it moved, they immediatly lift up my shirt to see if they can see it. I tell them that they can't see it, or feel it yet, but that mommy can! It is starting to sink in a bit, they don't flash my belly as much as they used to.

I am very large, and sticking out a lot... I guess that is what happens on your third baby! I have also had the dr check twice now to make sure I don't have another baby hiding inside there!! I am starting to not fit into my "big" clothes anymore. If any of you out there have any maternity clothes, that would be willing to part with them for a short while... I would gladly take them! (and of course, get them back to you!) Finding preggo clothes is hard to come by here in the Cache Valley!!

I am excited to find out what Baby J is, whether we should be getting prepared for a little boy (which everyone says I am going to have), or to get out all of the cute girl clothes and things that I have luckily not sold yet! I don't get to find out until the end of March, or the beginning of April! I hate that I have to wait that long, but the time so far has been going by very quickly! It seems like just yesterday I found out this big surprise!

Just a little note on my due date... i HAVE to have this baby either before my due date or RIGHT on, because on the 28th, we celebrate Joseph, Jason and Jonathan's dad's bday! I don't think I could handle four birthday's in one day!!! So, with my record of early deliveries, Beene 10 days early and Julles a whole month early... I think I am safe to say that I won't be going OVER my due date!!!

Beene's latest craving...

2009-02-12T10:15:00.002-07:00

A few weeks back, we read a story called "D.W the Picky Eater". In this story, D.W talks about all these different foods that she doesn't like (most of them, she hasn't ever tried), and says that she definatly doesn't like SPINACH!!! Through this story, you see how picky she really is. She ends up eating SPINACH not knowing it until they tell her she did, then she decides that she LOVES it!

After reading that story, Beene asked me if I thought that she would like spinach. I told her that she would because I like spinach! And she likes the things that I like! I wasn't about to tell her that she wouldn't, like most kids! So, every day for the last few weeks, she has been asking... no... more like begging me to try spinach. So, yesterday I went to the store to get stuff for my menu's for the next two weeks, and I got her some spinach. For dinner last night, we had baked chicken, wild rice (the stuff with the brown crunchies, is what Beene calls it) and spinach that had been sauteed in butter and garlic. For me... it was YUMM-O!!! I was a little worried that she had built it up so much in her head, and that she wasn't going to like it. I gave her just a little bit to try, and she ate it all... and LOVED it!! She had two helpings, and talked to me the whole meal. This is what she kept saying: "Mommy, I can't believe that I LOVE this spinach sooo much!", "Mommy, I am not a picky eater, huh?" and so on. It took her forever to eat her food because she was making these comments the whole time! This morning she asked me if we had some left over, I told her yes, and she growled "Mmmm... I want some"

Now, this is how my conversation with Julles went last night at dinner....

M: Here Jubie, can you try just a little bit? See if you like it?

J: No, I don't yike it!!!

M: You don't know if you like it, you've never tried it...

J: I only like WHITE spinach!

M: Oh, ok!!!

Did you all know that there is WHITE SPINACH??? Apparently I have made it and not known it!!! What a funny kid!! She really wouldn't try it... I guess I'll try again another time!

ohhh kids!

2009-01-22T23:59:00.003-07:00

The other night I was catching up on some of my blogs that I read, and I came across one posted by one of the cute gals that I teach with. Her little boy Caleb is in our class, and he is a sweety! Beene and the other kids have been "getting married" since last year.... don't you remember the "weddings" you used to have in elementary school out in the field? I knew that when school was at my house that Beene and Caleb had "gotten married", but this is hillarious!!!

I got this exerpt from her blog....

"With Brielle having given him the cold shoulder on Sunday he asked Jillian if she would marry him at preschool on Monday. Jillian apparently agreed and he found himself on the track to marriage again. Their teacher told me that she found a lot of humor in watching him put his arm around her and her laying her head on his chest. She said that he also tried to plant a kiss on her a few times but luckily that was going a little too far for her. When I talked to him about it he tried to settle my fears by telling me that he is “not getting married until I am six.” I thought it was only girls that dreamed about getting married in preschool. I haven’t heard much about Jillian this week. They are no longer allowed to sit by each other in school or to play “the Princess Leia Game.” "

After reading this, I asked Beene if Caleb had tried to kiss her at school, and she turned bright red and nodded! The next day I took her to school, and Caleb just happend to get there at the same time, we were all walking to the door and Beene jumped up on the snow, so that Caleb could pass... I looked at her with shock, and she said, "I don't want him to kiss me!"

Funny preschool times!!!

Quality Beenie and Mommy time...

2009-01-22T23:50:00.004-07:00

Today, I was laying on the couch enjoying some TV, when Beene came and sandwiched herself against me and told me she "needed" me to hold her for a little bit. So, we started watching Charmed and she was asking questions left and right about why those witches weren't ugly and if they really were real, etc! Watching tv shows have become quite the question asking time with a 4 year old who "loves" any show that you happen to be watching.

Well, 4 o'clock came and Ellen came on... I love the days when I can watch that show... it just makes me happy! Beene likes this show because Ellen dances and she can dance along with her. Well, she was laying next to me and Ellen had some of the survivors on from the plane that crashed into the Hudson River. One of the guys was talking about his experience and Beene looks at me with all the seriousnous that a 4 year old can muster and we have the following conversation...

Beene: He's GAY!

Me: Wwwwhat? What did you just say?

Beene: He's GAY mom!

Mom: Do you even know what that means?

Beene: Well, no but he is!!!

Mom: Why do you think that?

Beene: Because he has a pointy nose!!!

My daughter is 4 and working on her Gay-dar! Oh my... what will she surprise me with next??? I got a great laugh... and had to call and tell my mom! I am frightened of what she will tell her Kindergarten teacher next year... what stories will she tell?!

We hate RED air days!!!

2009-01-22T23:36:00.006-07:00

Julles has Asthma, and with the air quality being "red" for the past week, she has been having a plethera of breathing treatments. She has two inhalers. A really strong steriod called Flovent, that she usually just takes once a day when she has wheezing, and another that she has every 4 hours on those "wheezy" days. Well, since she has been coughing so much, she has had to have the steriod one twice a day and the other every 2-4 hours!

If any of you have ever had bronchitis or any other breathing problem, you've been givin Albuterol. It tastes HORRIBLE!!! Well, Julles doesn't know which one does what, but she always vouleteers to use the steriod because in her words, "dis one is tastey mommy" and when it comes time for her Albuterol she says, "dat one is nassy mommy!" I always tell her that she has to have it so that she can breathe and run and play without coughing... like a three year old understands that... and she always says to me after I tell her that she is coughing and coughing... "NO I'N NOT!!!" Poor baby... I wish she didn't have to have the nassy one!

On the "nassy" and "tastey" medicine front, she also is on an antibiotic, the pink kind that smells like strawberries and bubble gum, and a cough medicine with codine in it. She has to have the "tastey" one twice a day, and the cough medicine at night so she doesn't puke in her sleep! She always gets prepared for her nightly med EVENT. She has to get a water bottle in her hand, and I tell her that she should take her cough medicine first... because it is the "nassy" one, and then take the "tastey" antibiotic... but she doesn't get my logic of the fact that the "nassy" taste won't be around so long, so she takes the better of the two first, and the "nassy" one last and then chugs water trying not to gag!

Tonight was her lucky night... the asthma treatment helped her cough enough that she didn't have to take the "nassy" cough medicine.... but Beene started hacking... looks like she's next on the "nassy" medicine list! Maybe she'll take my logic into consideration!

Some goings on...

2009-01-14T11:24:00.003-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I actually "posted" anything of real content... so I thought I would do a catch up post!

December was my month to teach school. It was so much fun! We made parent gifts, painted with cranberries, learned fun songs, had secret buddies (and kept them secrets), had a jammie/movie day, and had a great family party with all our Joy School Families, complete with a program of our songs! Then kids were awesome, and never lost the true meaning of Christmas. They kept talking about how they were excited for Santa, but knew that it was really about Jesus, and that giving was much better than receiving!! School made for a very busy, but productive month!

We went to our friends annual "Cup of Cheer" party and had a blast with lots of laughs and great mugs!!

Christmas: We had a wonderful Christmas, full of fun, laughter, and lots of family time! We woke up at 5:30!!! The girls were scared when they woke up that Santa would see them, and they didn't want to be in trouble for being awake when it was still dark out! They both had a fantastic time seeing what Santa brought for them. They took a long time going through their stockings and kept saying, "Mom, Santa knew I would love this!" Who knew that oranges were sooo important to a little girl! That was the "bestest" part of the stocking goodies for them both!! Good thing "Santa" made a run on Christmas eve for those "special oranges"!!! They now can rock out the show just like Hannah Montana, with their guitars (complete with microphone), and keyboards. They also got a fairy dress up kit, which Julles had changed her clothes atleast 5 times before the boys go here at 6:15.

Joseph spent the night at our house, which was tons of fun! When Jeremy and Jason got here at 6:15, Joseph stumbled up the stairs, not sure why he was awake at this unearthly hour!! Oh how soon they forget how they used to be that excited!!! Our morning was filled with lots of laughs because Jeremy got us all spot on with our gifts that he gave us. He was very creative this year! The boys got their sisters the ever asked for "CUPCAKE MAKER" (that lost its pizazz after they made one and said that they tasted bad), they were super gitty, and couldn't wait to make one of those things!

For our family gift, we got Rock Band for our PS2. We thought that they boys would have a fun time with it, and that we would just watch! WOW, it is the best present in the world! We have had some of the best family time with this thing. We all play... even the girls. They sing, and do a mighty fine job! Joseph is an expert at the guitar, and Jason can rip it up on the drums, Jeremy is our singer, and Jonathan, Rick and I fill in when needed. The three of us have spent many nights up late playing and honing our skills at the guitar and the drums!

Jonathan was very good to me this Christmas... he got me an i-pod with a speaker pod for my kitchen so that I can listen to some tuneage while I am cleaning, and making dinner. I love it! The girls got me a Nintendo DS Cooking game. I am so excited to learn how to make some really cool french food! Jeremy got me some cool things that you can put on food in the fridge and it will tell you how long it has been in there. I have a thing with not having things go bad!! Jason gave us a 2 hour babysitting night and some bubbly and some beautiful wine glasses. Jonathan got a camera for his laptop, and a super small mouse for it as well. The girls stuck with tradition and got him a great Lego pack! We also got a GPS for our car... VERY COOL!!!

We had a great time with our family, and loved every minute of time we had together! What a wonderful season to share with our friends and loved ones!!

New Years: Last year, Jonathan and I were both in bed by 10:30, I was determined to not let that happen this year!! So, we stayed up until 2!!! The girls were sooo excited for our "party" which included dinner and then we made cupcakes, and the girls were able to decorate their own and then at 9:30, we put a candle in, lit it and screamed "HAPPY NEW YEAR" over and over!! Then we took them out on the FREEZING front porch and did those confetti poppers!! Then it was to bed for the kiddo's! Then, Jonathan and I went downstairs and rocked the house with Rock Band. I totally lost track of time, and didn't even know that it had struck midnight until like 12:45!!!

Now things are back to normal with school and work. My house is yet to bounce back to pre-christmas... but I sure am trying!! I have taken my tree down, and put all the Christmas treasures away, but everything else is still kinda in chaos!!

We are so grateful for our family and friends and for the blessings that each of you bring to our lives. I am so glad to be in touch with great friends from the "old" days, and getting to know each of you again! Thank heavens for the internet!!

May you all have a fabulous New Year!!!
(there aren't any pictures on here because something was wrong with our camera, and Jonathan has to do some major editing of them al!!!)

I never knew that... did you?

2009-01-14T11:20:00.002-07:00

Did you know that car seats can EXPIRE??? I had NO idea!! When I was talking with the nurse last week, she asked me if we had a carseat, and I told her yes!! (Boy am I glad that we didn't have our garage sale in September!) Well, she asked me when we got it, and I told her before Beene was born. She then told me that I needed to check the tag on it, and then take it to the Health Dept. for a safety check if it is even close to the exp. date!!!

WOW, things sure have changed in the last 3 years! I hope my crib doesn't have an exp date too!!!

August 1

2009-01-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

That is the tenative date for this baby of ours to come into this world!! We find out for sure next friday from an ultrasound. So, next week will have a more concrete date... but that is what we are shooting for!!

I'mmmmm Baaaack!!!

2009-01-05T11:29:00.004-07:00

If you haven't read Jonathan's latest blog entry, then you don't know!!! I AM PREGNANT!!!

It is a huge surprise, and one that we were really shocked about at first, but are very excited and this baby will finish our family off just right. I am not sure exactly how far along I am. But, I go to my first nurse consultation on thursday and then next friday I go in for my dr visit and he will do my ultra sound to find out my due date. I think I am about 10 weeks, or I am having twins at 6 weeks... my pants no longer fit me and the girls tell me I have a HUGE belly!! I am showing much faster with this one than with my other two! I haven't been sick at all... just SUPER SUPER TIRED!!!

I am eager to see what this baby is going to be. Beenie and Julles think its going to be a BOY! They are very excited, and can't wait to see it. Beene's first worry when we told her that mommy had a baby in her belly was, "who will be with me when you go to the hospital?" She thought that she would be alone while I was delivering. We made her feel better about that, and then she kept asking me if I "REALLY" had a baby in my belly. Julles' first reaction was lifting up my shirt and telling me "no you don't!!" They are both so cute, they talk to my tummy all the time and call it "Baby Johnson". Julles is now very excited to be a "big sister" instead of the "lil sister".

I know I have been MIA lately, December was a super busy month with teaching and lots of exciting things happening. Now that things are back in routine, with school back in and Jonathan and Rick back on the phone to work, I can get back into my fun activities that I love!!!

There will be lots of photo's and updates coming!

Holiday 2008 family photo...

2008-12-16T10:37:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, Jonathan decided we needed a good family picture since our last one was when Beene was a baby and it was at our family reunion in Bear Lake, taken by my dad! So, he went to work... and this is what he came up with...

Bottom: (l-r) Joseph, Jeremy, and Jason; Sides: Julles, Jillian; Top: Jamie and Jonathan

Me and my hot hubby!!! We are even trying to hold hands!!! Aren't we cute? I especially like that he put me in a belly shirt!! Beene had the giggles all night last night about the fact that you could see my belly button. She asked me, "Mom, isn't your belly button one of your privates?" I am glad that she remembered that Miss Hillary from our Good Touch Bad Touch classes told the kids that your private parts are covered by your swimming suit... but I had to inform her that it is not a private part!!!

We also made a whole Photo Studio... with different sceneries. It was a great thing for us to do with eachother!!!

Here is our REAL family holiday picture... actually just the kids, but this is the first picture of all our kids alone together ever!!!

L to R- Bottom: Jillian and Julles; Top: Jeremy, Jason, and Joseph

If you notice... in the Lego picture Jeremy is wearing a white hat... it is not a cowboy hat... it is his favorite white hat (seen in above picture) that he wears ALL the time!!!

Visiting Santa... HO! HO! HO!

2008-12-14T15:59:00.003-07:00

On friday night I took the girls to see Santa. This was a huge step for them, since they were both babies the last time they would even entertain the thought of seeing him, let alone sit on his lap. They were so very excited. Beene has been learning to write words lately, and I taught her how to write Santa, and so she drew a picture of him, wrote his name and then put her name at the bottom. She HAD to take it with us, and she gave it to him, he told her that he would give it to Mrs. Santa and have her hang it up in a frame.

I liked this Santa, he was old, and fit the part very well. He didn't even need any extra stuffing!! I didn't however like the cost of getting pictures. I wish that I would have brought my camera, I didn't think they would let me... I was wrong... and $30 later and 2 5x7's (that is one each child), we walked out of there with two very happy kids!!! They got a coloring book, and thought that was the neatest thing ever. I thought I would share our cute $30 pictures with you all!!!

They told him they wanted a baby doll, a teddy and a Cupcake Maker!! They both want the same things, and Julles didn't even hear what Beene had told him. Wow... they are a lot alike!

Friday at School...

2008-12-14T15:38:00.003-07:00

We had one of our Joy School Christmas Programs. I am teaching this month... hence the lack of posting!! The kids have been practicing thier songs very hard, and sing like little angels. I was supposed to take them to an old folks home, and have them sing and act out the Christmas Story... however, we tried the nativity last year and it wasn't a great experience. Also, they would completely freeze in front of all these grandma's and grandpa's that they didn't know. So, I opted for asking our Relief Society president if she and some of her friends would like to come to a little program. She accepted very excitedly, and so did 3 of her friends.

They came, and the kids were so excited to sing for them. They sang a song called, "In a Little Stable", "The Very Best Part of Christmas", "Jingle Bells" (with bells), and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". They did a fantastic job, and smiled and watched me the whole time. After we sang the last song to them, they in turn sang it back to the kids and blew them kisses. The kids just smiled and smiled!!! We gave them a card and some yummy treats, and they gave the kids some yummy snacks as well!!

The kids with the super ladies who made our day!!

After our wonderful guests left, I took pictures for a little special thing for the kids parents. The pictures turned out super cute. They all smiled really great, and I didn't have to fight or bribe any of them.

This coming friday is my last day teaching for the semester, and we are having our big School Family Christmas Party, and the kids will be singing for their families. They are looking forward to it, and love performing!!

Our beautiful Jillian Sadie... that smile melts me!!!

Our beautiful Julles Gabrielle, she is a melter too!!!

The Joy School Kids pulling a silly face photo!!!

Oh how I am going to miss these kids after this week, I have had a blast this last month!!

Christmas Tag...

2008-12-10T22:54:00.002-07:00

Emily tagged me in her Christmas tag post... here goes!!

1. WRAPPING PAPER OR GIFT BAGS? Wrapping Paper, it takes longer to open!!

2. REAL OR ARTIFICIAL TREE? Well, Beene informed me today that our tree is FAKE!!! But, I love not having all the needles all over the carpet!!! Just a side note... I really like my pre lit one!!!

3. WHEN DO YOU PUT UP THE TREE? The weekend after Thanksgiving.

4. WHEN DO YOU TAKE THE TREE DOWN? New Years Day or the day after

5. DO YOU LIKE EGGNOG? yep, but it has to be half nog and half milk... otherwise it is just too thick!

6. FAVORITE GIFT RECEIVED AS A CHILD? I would have to say that I don't have one particular present, but I really enjoyed my baby doll I would get from Santa every year!!

7. WORST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVERY RECEIVED? Well, my mom works with elderly people, and they give some doozies. I would have to say that the worst was the one that was all wrapped up, and put under the tree... however, when my mom opened it on Christmas morning, we realized that it was a meal with meat of some kind!! EWWWW... We learned that year to open all the present's she got from her little grandma's and grandpa's the day she got them.

8. HARDEST PERSON TO BUY FOR? Joseph

9. EASIEST PERSON TO BUY FOR? that would be "people" in my case... Beene and Julles

10. DO YOU HAVE A NATIVITY SCENE? Yes... we have two glass ones and then the girls have two that they can play with. Our favorite kid one is the one they got last year for Christmas, it is the Little People Nativity set... super cute and to die for!!!

11. FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE? The Santa Claus Movie's and Polar Express

12. WHEN DO YOU START SHOPPING? It veries every year... this year it started the week before Thanksgiving!

13. HAVE YOU EVER RE-GIFTED A GIFT? I'm sure I have, but I don't remember to who and what it was!!

14. FAVORITE THING TO EAT AT CHRISTMAS? I really like all the treats!!!

15. COLOR OF LIGHTS ON THE TREE? White, they are peaceful, and make my burgendy and cream ornaments just pop!!

16. FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG? Oh Holy Night, as long as it is not sung by Celine Dion!!

17. TRAVEL AT CHRISTMAS OR STAY HOME? Stay Home, I have become a hermit on Christmas!!!

18. CAN YOU NAME ALL OF SANTA'S REINDEER? Yes, but I have to sing the song or I can't!!!

19. ANGEL OR STAR ON TOP OF THE TREE? A beautiful Angel

20. WHEN DO YOU OPEN PRESENTS - CHRISTMAS EVE OR CHRISTMAS DAY? It was a tradition in my family growing up that our parents would all bring us one gift to whoever's home we were having our big Christmas Eve party, and then we would all open up our jammies, and drive home all cozy warm. So, I have adopted that into my little family and the girls open jammies up on the 24th, and then all the rest are opened on Christmas Day.

21. MOST ANNOYING THING ABOUT THIS TIME OF YEAR? All the freaking long lines everywhere you go.

22. FAVORITE ORNAMENT ON THE TREE? Thanks to my sister Stacey, I have a beautiful golden humming bird ornament on my tree this year to remind me that my grammer is watching over us. I love it!!!

23. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS? I am super happy with all that I have been blessed with, and don't want for a thing!!!

This is a pretty fun little post... I tag Tiff, Annika, Jessica, Amber and Chelsie

The Johnson J's...

2008-11-29T18:28:00.003-07:00

All of the grandchildren on Jonathan's side of the family all have a name that starts with a "J".

This year for Thanksgiving, we went down to Jonathan's little sister's home in South Jordan. We were lucky to be able to have the boys with us this year, and so we had all of the Johnson grandkids there. They are all getting so old, who knows if we will all be together again like this... so we had to capture the kids in some pictures. Jonathan's mom, Shirley called them her "beauties". There was nothing she loved more than her grandchildren. I wish she would have been there, but maybe she was!!

So let me introduce you to the Johnson Cousins:

(L-R) Top: Jeremy (17), Jessie (18), Joseph (19), Jared (22)
Bottom: Julles (3), Jenna (15), Jaclyn (10), Jordan (15), Jillian (4), and Jason (14)

And of course, we ALWAYS have to have a silly picture!!! This one is especially funny to us because it shows their personalities.

I would have to concur with Shirley when I say that they are definatly some "beauties" in my book!!! I am so thankful for such a loving wonderful family!!

Gobble, Gobble!!!

2008-11-25T15:37:00.002-07:00

Today, I made these fun cupcakes for Thanksgiving treats of the girls friends!! They were easy to do, and taste yummy!! I found the idea on familyfun.com, under thanksgiving ideas. The kids thought they were super cute, however... they ate them with all the "fun" things off of them!! The heads and wings are those 100 calorie pack's of Sandies, the feathers are Candy Corn's as well as the beak, which is just the white tips. The waddle of these cute little guys is just a piece of fruit roll up, and the eye is just a dot of black decorating gel. The frosting is supposed to be chocolate as well as chocolate cake, but seeing that I am the only one in my family that enjoy's chocolate flavored conffections, I had to do a yellow butter cake, and color my vanilla frosing brown, but they turned out just as cute as the one in the picture!

My Thanksgiving post will be later on in the week... I have a ton to finish today!!! Lots of love, and thanks to you all!!

My super fun night with friends...

2008-11-25T14:50:00.006-07:00

So, Friday night I had my long awaited girls night out with my gal pal's and went to Twilight!!! Thanks to Katie, we got our tickets last month, and have been sooo very excited!!! Our movie was at 7:00, so we headed to the theater with time to hang out. Yes, we are crazy... we got there at 5:00, but only after a stop at the local candy store Alvey's in the mall to get my favorite Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears!!! I got there, and a group of our gang had gotten us a cherry spot in line!! We only had 2 other groups in front of us, and it was awesome!! We were worried that they had oversold the theater, and so we wanted NO risk of not getting in!!! We were glad we got there early though, because by 6 the line was out the door, and around the back of the building!!!

This was the start of our group, it grew a bit while we were waiting for 6:10!!

Our super awesome friend Jill went on a food run and got us some pizza and bread sticks to snack on while we waited! We didn't want to JUST eat theater food, that would cause for some sick stomachs!!! While we were eating, one of the managers came and asked us if we "snuck that in", and we looked at her and said "no, we just brought it in!" She told us that there is a sign on the door that states, "No outside food, or drink allowed", and Jill then turned to her and said that if we had to get rid of it, she would be cleaning up popcorn puke!!! We all got a giggle, when she didn't make us take it out... we think it is because we are older than she is. The funniest thing, is they let us take it into the movie theater while we watched!!! So we smelled popcorn, pizza and garlicy breadsticks the whole movie!! YUM!

Pizza, Drinks, Girl Friends, Chatting... could it get any better??!!

We got all decked out with our drinks (that may have been a little to big for the bladder!!), and they let us be seated at 6:10, what a funny time that was, watching Katie running for her covetted seat, only to find out while sitting down quickly, that her chair was broken!! She stayed in it the whole movie though... it is in the middle of the first upper row, where no one is in front of you and you get a bar to rest your feet on!!! Keri and I also scored a bar to rest our feet on as well!!! GREAT SEATS!!!

Katie showing us her BROKEN favorite seat!!!

It was a great night, I enjoyed chatting with these two lovely ladies who sat next to Keri and I!! We don't ever really have the chance to really chat, and I got to know more about them!!!

The movie was awesome! I loved it, I think!! There were parts that I wished would have been different, but for the whole, it was very, very FABULOUS!!! Jasper's face made the whole theater errupt with laughter everytime he was on the screen, he looked as if he were is pain, or as Bethany put it, constipated!!! James, who in the books didn't interest me at all, seeing that he was the evil man in the book, WAS HOT!!! Edward was in my opinion a great cast for the role, and Bella was a spittin image of what I imagined her as in the book! The only disappointment for me was that they stopped with book 1!!! I would have sat there all night for the whole series!! Now, I wait... as patiently as I can until the next ones come out!!

Thanks to Jonathan, who hung out with the kids, and kept everyone entertained, and in one piece while I was out!! He is an amazing husband who I am very greatful for!!!

Thanks to my wonderful friends that shared this experience with me, I had a blast with you and can't wait to do it again!!! All the pictures in this post are from other friend's blog's... My camera was too big to take with me!!! So thank you Emily and Katie for letting me take from your posts!!!

Beene and the Nativity...

2008-11-19T22:29:00.002-07:00

On Saturday, I was busily getting ready for Jonathan's dad and his wife to visit. I ran out and got the mail, we got some lovely bills and other fun things. One of those lovely things was a Hallmark Christmas mini book. Beene was looking through it, telling me all the things that she wants for Christmas. Boy does she want a lot of things, and she THINKS she is going to get everything that she asks for. Anyway, I was finishing the counters in the kitchen and I heard her talking to Julles, she was explaining some things.

Here is how the conversation went:

Julles: I want that for Christmas!!!

Beene: Yeah, me too!

Julles: What is that?

Beene: This is Jesus, Mary and JOE!!

Julles: Oh, Mommy look there is Jesus, Mary and JOE!!

Mommy: Oh, do you mean Joseph?

Beene: No mom, Joseph is my brother... this is JOE!!

She was so determined and serious while talking about this. How funny!! Then this morning, I had gotten out of the shower, and came into my room and she was talking to me about some random things. Out of the blue, she asked me what Jesus' mommy's name was... I said, "Mary"... She looked at me confused, and then thought a moment more... "But mom, is that the same Mary as 'Mary had a little lamb'?" I tried hard not to laugh, and told her that it was ok to have two different Mary's!! She is really into "mom, that rhyms!!" and usually it doesn't and we have to have the same conversationon a daily basis, that they just sound the same, or that they start with the same letter. This was a whole new ball game... Mary/Jesus' mom, Mary/and the lamb!!

I love how she is trying so hard to be a big kid, and learning so much!

Shameless Publicity Stunt...

2008-11-16T01:42:00.002-07:00

This is not an invitation... this is an instruction!!! Everyone needs to check out my Sweety's blog... theoceanisdeep.blogspot.com and watch the Jesus/Terminator Christmas parody!! Be prepared to laugh your socks off!

And when Jesus says, "I've got a lot on my mind right now..." precious!!!

Cake Truffels

2008-11-13T11:10:00.004-07:00

I have had a lot of people ask me for the recipe of the Cake Balls (I call them truffles) I have been making lately. (this picture is curtousy of Bakerella!!)

I can't take the credit for these tasty treats, however, I can share where I got them from, and you can see how cute they can be.

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/search?q=cupcake+pops (click on the link!!) is the place you want to go. There are tons and tons of ideas, for anything you could possibly think of!!!

Enjoy these tasty treats, and by the way... they look intimidating to make, however... they are pretty easy!!!

Spice Cookies and Pumpkin Dip (I had to share)

2008-11-13T10:51:00.004-07:00

At my cousins baby shower on Saturday, my sister Stacey had these fabulous treats for us to eat. She had made Spice Cookies (kind of like Molasses cookies) and some super yummy Pumpkin dip, to dip the cookies in!!! YUMMY!!!! So, since I was having girls night last night, and we were supposed to bring cookies for an exchange... I used her recipe's. WOW, they are tastey, and I had to share!!!

Spice Cookies:

1 1/2 C. butter or margarine, or butter flavored Crisco

2 C. Sugar

2 eggs

1/2 c. molasses

4 C. Flour

4 t. baking soda

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. cloves

3/4 t. salt

Additional sugar to roll cookies in

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add molasses; mix well. Combine flour, baking soday, spices and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into small balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375' for 6-7 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack. Serve with pumpkin dip. Store in a container with a lid.

Makes 48 cookies

Pumpkin Dip:

1/4 c. dark brown sugar

2 T. sugar

1/4 c. water

1/2 t. allspice

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. ginger

1/4 t. cloves

1/4 t. nutmeg

1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin (one 15 oz. can)

1 (8 ounce) pkg cream cheese (softened)

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 (8 ounce) container cool whip

Combine the two sugars, water and spices in a 4 C. glass measuring cup. Mix well and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes; stir. Add pumpkin and mix well. Microwave on high 3-5 minutes, let cool in fridge for a half hour or so. In a mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Then add the cooled pumpkin mixture, and mix well. Finally, fold in the cool whip until combined. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve with Spice Cookies. (Makes 24 servings)

Also great with grahm crackers, nilla wafers, and other yummy "dipable" treats.

So, you must try these. Even people who don't like pumpkin things... like pie... loved this dip!!! It has cream cheese in it, could it get any better???

Thanks to Stacey for introducing us to these tasty treats, and for sharing your friends recipe!!!

Feeling like a mean-o...

2008-11-07T11:30:00.004-07:00

This morning, my girls had a really hard time going to school. I waited at Miss Erica's house with them, trying to talk them into staying for 15 minutes. Beene finally decided that she would stay if she could show off her drawings that she made yesterday. She had brought them in the car and I had told her to leave them there. So, out came the pictures, and she stayed. Julles on the other hand, would not budge. Usually when she says she doesn't want to stay, I tell her she has to go home and go to sleep, with NO blanky and bink!! Usually by the time I get the car started, she is begging to go back in! Today though, she called my bluff, or atleast tried.

So, as I am typing this... Julles is in on her bed, with no bink or blanky, and just sitting there. We have now been home for 1 hour and we have a little over an hour to go. I feel really bad that she is in there, but I can't NOT follow through with a consequence.

She will be in there until 12:30, at which time she will come and have lunch, then we will go and pick up Beene. Can I just say that when I used to stay home from school, if I wasn't sick, I had to sleep... no tv, no music, no toys... nothing, and I HATED IT!!!

update: right after I posted this, she told me she was ready to go to school!! I don't think she'll call my bluff anymore!!! Now, she can be at the last hour of school, and I can get ready for the day!

Grease - Summer Nights Lego Stop Motion Animation

2008-11-03T19:59:00.001-07:00

This weekend, Jonathan and I spent some time on YouTube. We are huge Lego fans at our house and started finding cool music video's done with lego people. This one came up, and I am a HUGE Grease fan, and I had to post it!!

Amber and Bethany... I know you will appreciate this more than anyone!!!

Just call us supportive parents...

2008-11-03T11:13:00.004-07:00

Jonathan and I aren't huge into polotics. Jonathan hasn't found anyone that he loves and supports like he did Reagan, and I can't wait until after tomorrow and all this election crap is over!!!

However, Joseph and Jeremy are very political minded these days. Both with thier own beliefs and people they support. Joseph has been an Obama supporter since before he announced he was running. A few weeks ago, he made a treck to Colorado to campaign for Obama. Jeremy has just made his political agenda known to us recently. Last wednesday, he drove down to SLC with Jonathan and Rick, and went to the Nadar/Gonzales ralley. He picked up a bunch of free stuff including, bumper stikers, pins, and a few yard signs. On Halloween, while we were trick or treating downtown logan, we stopped in at the Obama headquarters, and ended up walking out of there with a shirt for Joseph, that normally is $15, but because my husband is incredibly talented, he got it FREE. We also got him some bumper stickers and little round stickers, and last but not least, a yard sign!!!

This is what the park strip in front of our home looks like:

There is lots of buzz going on in our neighborhood now about these signs. One lady who brought her kids to our house trick or treating, told her daughter "These are nice democrats that live here!", and another neighbor told our kids that he wasn't going to give them candy because we have an Obama sign in our yard!! (Of course, he did give them candy, he was just joking, but Beene thought he was serious!!)

I am just glad that we can support our kids in thier freedom of choice, and though we may or may not always agree with who they may choose, we are very proud of them for having a voice! Sunday dinners get a little heated with political debate, but it always ends nicely! So, we have one who has already voted, and one who is just 3 months shy of being able to, and is not happy about missing his chance!

Just call us supportive!

Rockin' Halloween!!

2008-11-03T10:03:00.006-07:00

We had one rock n' roller filled Halloween this year!!! Sorry, but there are a lot of pictures... I couldn't pick just a few, I had to document our whole day for the Grandparents!! Here is what our day intelled!!!

First, the kids had school! They had normal school until 12:00, when the mom's came with their costumes, and treats. They sang us a song called, "I'm a mean old witch" (pictured above), and then they "practiced" trick or treating, and saying thank you to all the mom's. We also had a parade in which they walked around to "Thriller". It was tons of fun and was a great way to start off the festivities!!

Then we went home to touch up their costumes. Jonathan trimmed up thier Hannah Montana wigs so that they could see, while I put on some rock star make-up on them. They only left the hair on long enough for me to take a picture or two of them!! But, they make some cute little diva's!!

This is the girls post wigs and lookin hot in thier make-up!! The shades completed the outfits completely!!!

Since the girls didn't wear the wigs, Jonathan seized the opportunity to have hair again, and dawned the wig as a rocker!! He was looking quite smashing in his new do! Then, I felt stupid not dressing up, so I put on my old Foot Locker uniform, and decided to forgo a photo shoot!!

Now, the Trick or Treating traditions start.... First, we hit Macey's grocery store, for thier yearly trick or treating!! The girls always look forward to this, and have a contest to see who can find the next balloon/treat stand!! What fun they had, and they loved seeing all the other kids in their different costumes!!!

Then, it was to downtown Logan for their annual Trick or Treats Walk. We have done this the last 3 Halloweens, and love it!! We walk through all the downtown businesses, and the kids get candy (a ton!), we walked farther this year than any other year!! It also goes a lot faster when you don't have a stroller to push, and when Julles walks the same speed as everyone else this year!!! We had to stop and take a few pictures in the huge leaves at the Logan Tabernacle, seeing that our trees aren't mature enough to have great piles of leaves yet!!! They also loved spinning and kicking in the leaves as well!!!

This photo is of Julles doing the spinning, and Beene doing the kicking of the leaves!!!

I had to snap a few shots of the Daddy Rocker and the Diva Rockers!! They had fun posing with eachother, while we were waiting to cross Main Street!!!

My rock star hubby had some rock star run-ins this day...

Here he is partying hard with Kieth Richards from Rolling Stones at the local Lawn and Garden store! They had a great time, and had lots of laughs! See what drinking too much Mtn. Dew can do to your face kids??

We also ran into one of biggest ROCKERS of them all.... Ozzy Osbourne!! What a treat that was!!! Jonathan had a bit of a hard time understanding what he said through all the slurring of Ozzy's words!! It was sure nice of him to let us have this great photo op!!

We finished our downtown experience and went home to see all the loot the kids gathered, and then went to visit Amy, so she could see her little rocker girls!! We came home and took the kids around the neighborhood with all our friends. The girls had a great time running from house to house, and being with all the fun neighbors that we have! When that was done, we came home to have the traditional Cincinnati Chili with the boys, and the girls handed out candy to all the trick or treators!! We watched the new Tinkerbell Movie, and ate lots of candy!!

We hope you all had a great halloween, because we sure did!

Pumpkin Carving and Guts fun...

2008-10-30T09:28:00.004-06:00

Last night was the long awaited Pumpkin Carving Festival at the Johnson house! We were lucky to have Jeremy join us as well. We haven't carved pumpkins with the boys since we lived in our other house! It was super fun, and the kids had a great time!

Jonathan is the master carver... I am the master cleaner outer! He cut the tops off of the kids pumpkins for me (because the big knife scares me, only when cutting pumpkins!), and I started cleaning them out. He helped the girls figure out what shapes they wanted on thier faces, and then started carving away! Here are some photo's I was able to get...

Jonathan the master carver, carves with much precision, and skill! They turned out beautiful, as always!!
Beene and Julles had more fun playing with the "guts" than anything! They were burying the cut-outs in their goop and then acting surprised when they would find what they had burried! At first, Julles wouldn't have anything to do with it, then she thought she would try... and she was covered in it by the end! Beene, stayed clean... but the floor would have to disagree.

Jeremy, who is getting into politics at the time, wanted to put "Vote Nader" on his, but he opted for something much easier, since his cleaning process took WAY longer than he had imagined!! We had lots of fun having him here with us!

The kids finished products! L-R: Julles, Beene, and Jeremy!

Even Rick got in on the fun of the evening!! He said he hasn't carved a pumpkin in years... welcome to life with children in a home!!!

This is Ricks pumpkin. We all decided it looks like a Jack Skelington jack-o-lantern!

We had a great time! The kids had fun, our house smelled of pumpkins, and we had lots of laughs! The girls had to go out as soon as they woke up this morning to see if their pumpkins were ok! Cute kids!

Dress-up diva's and other fun...

2008-10-28T18:01:00.006-06:00

So, the girls have been asking me and asking me when they get to put on thier Hannah Montana costumes. They always take it really well when I tell them, "not today!". So, today I gave in and we played dress-up for a bit. Needless to say, the girls did not like the wigs so much, they only kept them on long enough for me to get them situated on their heads. However, they LOVED the dresses, and the outfits for the under's! Here are a few of their photo shots that I got of them, and I'll try to post a video of my little diva's as well!!

Our little diva's!! They were singing at the top of thier lungs! Aren't they the cutest HM's ever??

Julles and her "punkin", she chose one of the bigguns!!

Beene and her "punkin" that she picked out all by herself, carried it to the car and all!! Her's is the smallest of the bunch, but still good sized!!!

My cute little chica's!!! I love them to pieces!!! Do you blame me???

This is Beene's rendition of "Best of Both Worlds", the venue is our front walk way, where she has given many a performances!!

This is Julles version of "Best of Both Worlds", also at the same venue... but you'll notice her routine is a tad different, she gets a little side-tracked!!

A boy and his car...

2008-10-28T09:57:00.002-06:00

Jeremy sporting his COCA-COLA shades holding his bottled COKE and standing in front of his new ride!!

Well, in the last month a lot has happened for our Jeremy! He is now an eagle scout, and got his license, but most recently he has gotten himself a old/new car!

Jenny decided that she would help him get a car, if he could find one for a good price. So, after deciding against a little truck with a plow on it, and a little convertable sports car, he decided on his 86' volvo.

It is a pretty cool car. It has heated seats, automatic locks and I think automatic windows!! Not bad for an 86!

I remember once he said to me: "I am not going to drive a lot when I get a car... gas is too expensive, I'll ride the bus!!" So, I asked him on Sunday if he'd been driving a lot since he got his car, and he said, "oh yeah!!" So, now he just needs a job (which he is looking for) to pay for this gas!

Daddy daughter photo's!

2008-10-27T15:12:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Jonathan and I decided that we didn't have enough photo's of him, so we broke out the camera and started snapping away. The next thing I know, Beene has changed her clothes into a skirt and is telling me that she wants her picture taken with her daddy! Then, because Julles doesn't like to be left out, she wanted on as well. These are what we came up with:

Field Trip Friday Funnies!!

2008-10-24T15:58:00.002-06:00

Today was the last day of The Joy of the Earth unit for the girls preschool. We had a field trip that Gina planned over a month ago to go to the USU Anthropology Museum. So, we got all the kids in the car's and headed out to make our 10:00 appointment. Well, for those of you who live in Logan, the Old Main building (which is absolutly gorgeous!) doesn't have the best free parking spots! So, we drove around for a bit, and found two spots in front of someones home. We figured it would be ok, since we were just going to be gone for a short time. It was a cold morning, and we had to walk uphill for a couple of blocks, then we got into "Rocky Balboa" mode and walked up probably 300 or so stairs! The 6 preschoolers did ok, Gina and I though thought we were going to die... that was hard!

Then, we got to the museum, and the girl who had scheduled it was out for the week, and didn't leave it to anyone else. To top it off, they were having a HUGE dean's meeting there 10 minutes later after we got there. So, this nice girl, who felt bad for us, showed the kids all about the indians, and what they would eat and such. She offered the kids some tastey sour cream n' onion flavored crickets as well as some mexican fiesta flavored mill worms. Luckily, the kids thought that would be really gross. Isaac was worried that eating the crickets would hurt them. He felt better about it when she told them they were dead! They got to grind some corn into flour, and look at some really neat things. Even though we didn't get the tour we were assured, the kids had a great time, and got some fun explorer hats. Then, we took some pictures of the kids with the fall leaves and things. Miss Lisa had to leave, and her little girl Ellie did not like that, so she screamed and screamed. It was time to go back down the stairs and the boys went running down the grass hill that is next to the stairs, and I got to carry Ellie down in my arms, because she wanted to run after her mom! Wow, that was a workout, I think I am fully covered in the exercise department for the week. We saw lots of "earth" items. They played in leaves on the way to the car and collected some chestnuts. They thought that was great!

We got to the cars, got everyone buckled... after a potty stop at a local tree for a little boy who could not hold it in. We were getting in to drive away and we noticed that we each had a lovely PARKING TICKET on our windshields!! That is right, this little "field trip" cost us each $15. Apparently on this particular street, you have to have a "residential parking pass" to park on the street. We weren't aware of any signs because we were busy trying to contain 6 preschoolers! So, the day didn't turn out as great as we had hoped! More happened in the first 3 hours of my day than has happend all week. The good news is that Gina called and told them what happend and the guy actually felt bad for us. He told us what to say to appeal the ticket. So, that hopefully will turn out in our favor! Wish us luck!! USU needs to do what BYU does, and add some huge parking lots that don't cost money, for the museums and things!

I also left my camera in my car, and am bummed that I didn't get any pictures to show, but Gina took some, and maybe I'll have her email me some so I can post them. The kids had great smiles in them today! The kids brought lots of fun things home from Miss Gina's. They made grass heads with nylons and grass seed, and they sprouted beans that have grown into plants, and a great book of colors! I will take pictures of the grass heads, because they are sooo cute and you all need to see them.

Happy Friday!

Lovin' the list and thanks!

2008-10-24T15:54:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I am lovin the new bloglists! I just made my "favorites" folder so much smaller!! I think I got rid of probably 20 or so blog's that I can just look at from my blog now! Why didn't I think of that before?? That just made my "blog time" a lot less time consuming!!

Also, a big thanks to Katie for getting everybodies tickets to Twilight before they were all out!! We are having a neighborhood girls night out on opening night! WAHOO!!!

Fun Halloween Lunch!

2008-10-23T15:53:00.003-06:00

The girls and I LOVE Halloween! We love all the yummy treats, the cool air, and of course thinking of new ways to have lunch!! I got this cute Pillsbury booklet (one of the ones from the check-out line) that is filled with lots of fun Halloween foods! So, we tried one out!! We had Mummy's for lunch the other day! They are hotdogs, or little sausages with cresent rolls (the new kind that is just one huge sheet of dough) cut into skinny strips and wrapped around them. My girls love hotdogs and this was a great new twist on them!

Beenies little mummy with mustard eyeballs, and mustard for dipping!! (i've never met a kid who likes mustard like she does!!) She also needed a little whitchy hat too!!! I had extra dough, so I rolled it up and cut them into pieces, this one turned out like a whitchy hat!!

Julles, on the other hand... doesn't like any type of bread on her hot dogs, she will only eat them plain, so this is what she had with some ketchup on the side!! Funny... huh?!