Nap time

I guess I waited a little too long to serve lunch today.  Luke 22 months old

Katie’s favorite show

 

Katie had a sick day this week… the kind of sick day where you’re too sick to go to school, but not too sick to shower, do you hair, and wear a necklace. Our school district is being strict with the ‘don’t come to school for 24 hours after your fever breaks’ rule so we kept her home on Monday.      …and what do you suppose she wanted to do?

I’ve been missing it actually.  Everyday this summer, Katie and I watched at least two episodes a day – sometimes four!  It plays two times a day on two different channels so we always had a huge selection to choose from.  We’d go between ‘young Laura’ and ‘old Laura’ episodes whenever we felt like it.  We folded a lot of laundry as we watched almost every episode there is…   Laura riding Bunny in the big race, Nellie pretending to be in the wheelchair, Charles buried alive in the mine, Carrie falling down the mine shaft, Mary going blind, Laura climbing to the top of the mountain, all the fun Laura and Almonzo ones… all of them.  We are ‘Little House on the Prairie’ junkies. 

We are still recording them but don’t have any time to watch them these days.  A ‘sick day’ is exactly what we both needed to get a little ‘LH on the P’ kick.  So fun that she loves them as much as I do.

We love Emily

Anyone who knows Emily knows that the pictures of  big sparkly blue eyes and perfect photogenic smiles are only half the picture.  This girl has always had a good little pouty lip.

For some reason the beginning of this school year has been rough for Emily.  She didn’t want to get up, didn’t want to get dressed and whimpered (well, that’s mild, maybe ‘screamed’ is better) while getting her hair done every morning as she told me she DID NOT want to go to school that day.   She assured me that she loved her teacher, and couldn’t specifically think of anything she didn’t like about first grade…  but every morning we went through the same routine again.    Some days we barely had enough time to wipe the tears away before getting to the front door of the school.  

That is, until the 10 day program.

Absolutely fed up and with no clue what to do I asked her what on earth she wanted.  I was actually trying to bribe her to be happy. Do you want a book, a stuffed animal, a trip to Toys R Us, a movie with Mom, a trip to Paris, an ice cream date with Dad…  BINGO, her face lit up.  “I want an ice cream date with Dad!” she squealed. 

Ok, Emmy lou, 10 days in a row of a happy attitude before school will earn you a very special ice cream date with Dad.

Well, exactly 10 days later Emily earned her special date… and in the process has become quite enjoyable in the morning.  Happy, eager, smiley, obedient… and no more pouty lip.    It’s amazing what chocolate with sprinkles and alone time with Dad will accomplish.   Life is good again.

The trip that never was

We had been excited about getting down to the BYU/Tulane game ever since BYU’s schedule came out.  A quick 6 hour drive, a night visiting with good friends from Washington, a New Orleans style BYU tailgating party, wearing our Cougar Blue’s in the Superdome for a fabulous win, out to eat in the French district, a night in the downtown Marriott, quality time with Ryan and Katie, not to mention the fun of leaving three of our kiddos behind with a babysitter…  Ah, but it was not to be.

Friday morning after our hotel was booked, tickets were purchased, bags were packed, babysitter schedule typed, grocery shopping done, menu options listed, and a whole family pumped up for a great weekend, Chris called to say it was a no-go.  The new hospital commander revoked everyone’s leave and issued a mandatory Saturday lecture and safety project for all active duty doctors and hospital staff.  Better yet, Chris being Chief of Radiology had to be in meetings Friday night as well.

There was nothing we could do except try to figure out how our friends would be able to get their tickets… which were sitting in Chris’ wallet.    Chris brought them home after our phone call and I Fed Ex them ‘priority mail express Saturday delivery guaranteed by noon’ to Mississippi.  With a noon guarantee, the game starting at 2:30 and an hour travel time,  it was going to be tight but doable.  

Our friends were bummed too.  Their daughter, Sierra, tried praying for a miracle hoping something would happen that would ‘let the Johnsons be able to drive here in the morning.’  But a miracle didn’t seem likely.

Saturday at noon Eric called for the tracking number.  Crap… no tickets.  He and I both started calling to see where they were.  Two hours and a few phone calls later I picked up the phone to Stephanie asking, “Are you ready to laugh?”  “Where are the tickets, Stephanie?” I responded flatly.  “They were misrouted to Washington DC.”  Oh, great.  Now both of our weekends were ruined.  8 tickets to the BYU game lost and 8 fans disappointed.  Sorry again, friends!

At least BYU had a strong win.  We recorded it and watched it late when Chris was ‘formally dismissed’ from his mandatory day.  And every time we saw BYU fans cheering we said, “We should be there.’  

…Maybe next time.

Matthew – 4 months old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew is four months old now and such a part of the family that we really can’t imagine not having him. 

The whole family is just in love with him.  Megan says “Mom, I just want him to stay this size forever!” and I think we all agree. 

We are treasuring this last baby’s every movement, smile and giggle.

He’s doing so much these days…

• Giggling all the time… so ticklish right under his chin
• Loves being held up in the air and dropped slowly to our face
• Sits in his exersaucer but doesn’t really play yet
• Just started grabbing for his hanging toys in his Baby Einstein floor mat
• Loves to splash and kick his feet in the tub
• Says ‘goo’ and makes a funny spitting-like sound that makes us laugh
• Slowly grasps a toy if we hold it in front of him
• Likes to grab onto our hands
• Gets really distracted when eating and just wants to look up at me and smile
• Sleeps 7 – 8 hours at night usually waking at 6:00am for an early breakfast and then back to sleep
• Has lots of little naps and a couple really long naps
• Gets a little panicked when I put him in the swing because he knows I’m going to leave him
• Loves to be held and see what’s going on
• Moves all around when on the floor… starting to curl onto his right side
• Still sleeps in the Master closet
• Sucks on his hands… sometimes his thumb
• Straightens out his legs and points his toes when he’s really excited
• Arches his back when he’s propped up so that he slides down and then gets mad
• Sits in his Bumbo but big brother Lukey gets jealous so we don’t pull it out much
• Calms down when mom runs the bath water or uses the blow dryer
• Is using the big soother now… stays in better
• Wearing 3-6 month clothes with a few 6-12 exceptions
• Loves when the kids come up to him to say HI
• Likes his pants changed
• Likes to hold onto his soft blankets and pull them up by his face
• Loves when we sit him on our lap and hold onto his hands to do “This is the Way the Farmer Rides, Hobledee hoy…”
• Is very calm just hanging out on Dad’s lap late at night
• Has more hair than Luke had at this age
• Has adorable blue eyes, obviously

There's nothing to do

Great day to be a Cougar.

No pictures for this one but just imagine... 8 Johnsons decked out in BYU colors, four other impressively dressed cougar families, blue and white table decorations with hamburgers, hot dogs and all kinds of sides, lots of cheering, lots of excitement, four guys pacing with delightful anxiety, Chris clutching his football and hollering so loud he made Matthew cry, lots of 'wow' texts from our friends, a perfectly wonderful win against Oklahoma, kids jumping up and down screaming, phone calls coming in to review the game play by play and glory in the win, Chris grinning from ear to ear listening to the post game show. You get the picture... it's a great day to be a Cougar.

Balloon Glow

Friday night was the annual Callaway Gardens Balloon Glow. We went last year and loved it. This year we added a Subway sandwich picnic, some friends and a package of extra Fourth of July sparklers. It was a fun night.

 

Sneaky service

I found these sneaky service notes while preparing for my yw lesson and thought I'd use them for family home evening last night. I shrunk them down so that four fit on a page and put them in a little envelope. We talked about service, sung my very favorite song "When my Mother calls me, quickly I obey..." and then I handed each person in the family their packet of sneaky service notes and charged them to do sneaky service to several members of the family. They were SO excited. We quickly headed in different directions trying not pay attention to each other. Somebody (Megan) filled up ice and water in plastic cups so everyone could have a drink. Somebody (Emily) made my bed and Ryan's bed. Somebody (Katie) cleaned the family room. Somebody (Ryan) got out the next John Adams DVD all ready to push play and got all the popcorn stuff out ready to make. (We are watching the series with Ryan and Katie and it is so good and has been so fun to do together!) Somebody (me) wrote happy notes to my girls and put them on their pillows. Somebody (Dad) cleaned the girls messy room. There were sneaky service notes placed all over the house. Actually the kids still did sneaky service even though they ran out of notes to leave. When we all gathered back together Katie said, "Mom, that was so much fun! I was so excited to surprise you and when I saw you head upstairs and I couldn't wait to see what you did up there." Sneaky service was so much fun.