March at a Glance

• Had friends over for taco soup and visiting.
• Made lots of cookies with Katie.
• Cleaned the house for multiple agents and ‘not so prospective’ buyers.
• Lunch with Chris at Charleys… our favorite place to eat lunch together when I go down on base.
• Weekly American Idol nights with Ryan and Katie.
• Found ‘bag of hair’ in Megan’s preschool backpack.  Can you believe she snipped her hair three times in one year!  Oh, that girl!
• Watched BYU basketball games.
• Enjoyed the last of Megan, Emily and Katie’s gymnastics classes.
• Ryan’s basketball ended and soccer began.
• Spoke in church… about personal spiritual communication.  Chris spoke about the Book of Mormon.
• Had FHE about the disaster in Haiti… showed the kids pictures of the saints in Haiti.
• Went to Houlihans for lunch with Chris.  (Had our favorite: pot roast) Brought our binder of Germany stuff to talk about.  Getting so excited.
• Bought too much Easter candy.
• Realtor surprised me by coming in while I was just getting out of the shower!  Luckily they saw Luke and called out ‘Mrs. Johnson?’  And luckily the house was pretty clean.  I just got dressed and took the boys to the car so they could walk through.
• Bought a new van.
• Piano festival for Ryan and Katie.  Piano lessons over for the year.
• Golf trip to Phoenix, Arizona for Chris.
• Played Funglish as a family.
• Made peanut butter balls.  Kids loved them.
• Went to Monae’s RS meeting on ‘Building a Sacred Home’.  So good.
• Got army passports done and flights booked for Germany… June 16th!
• Played Ticket to Ride with Ryan and Katie.
• Emily, Ryan, Luke, Matthew, Chris and I got the 2 day stomach flu.  (Katie and Megan never got it.)
• Ordered cute skirts and dresses for the girls from mini Boden.
• Avoided deployment… Radiologist is being deployed from here in June.  If we weren’t moving to Germany… it likely would have been Chris.
• Sent off new white shirts for my Dad’s 61st birthday.
• Finished up Ryan’s FAITH IN GOD.
• Did SO much laundry… like always.
• Sent Ryan on 11 year old scout camping trip.
• Took the girls to a great Primary Easter activity.
• Went to the YW general broadcast.  So good.  Can’t wait to go with my girls.
• Welcomed a new nephew to the family… James Daniel Walton –March 30, 2010.
• Lowered the price on our home.
• Playdate with Deirdre to Barnes and Noble to let the kids play at the train and then Atlanta Bread to eat.
• Completed Katie’s Earth & Venus project for school.
• Took the kids to ‘How to Train a Dragon’ movie.  Cute.

Lucky Us

We finally read all the papers that had been slipped in our ‘Lucky Us’ Jar all March. 

These are the things our family feels blessed with this month…

• “Getting to travel to Germany together.”
• “My parents”
• “Having a big house”
• “Grandpa Walton”
• “I am so happy because my family love me’ (in Megan’s cute handwritting)
• “Having a big kitchen”
• “A sweet smiley daughter, Emily”
• “In Germany we are going to have three floors” 
• “Lucky Us! We get to move to Germany”
• “Lucky Us! Not living in Haiti or Chili where there was an earthquake.”
• “The gospel”
• “Having a fun dad.”
• “Two cute little brothers.”
• “An adoring husband.”
• “A beautiful responsible daughter, Katie.” 
• “A creative Mom” 
• “The book of Mormon”
• “Big closets”
• “People coming to look at our house”
• “Getting to learn a different language.”
• “A sassy sweet daughter, Megan.”
• “I happy because I have a nice family.”
• “Friends”
• “BYU Cougars.” 
• “Having a lucky jar.”
• “Having big closets.”
• “A good obedient smart son, Ryan”

Megan

Megan asked me if she could blog with me a week or so ago and tonight we finally found the perfect time.  Dad and big kids are away having fun and ‘swinging on the swings, eating Oreos, and blogging with mom’ was the perfect solution to turn a big ‘it’s not fair’ frown into a smile.   We decided we would pick some pictures of her that were already on the computer and then ‘finish the sentence’.  We usually ‘finish the sentence’ when we do hair… sometimes in the van… sometimes while we eat dessert… just whenever.  The kids LOVE doing this and usually their answers change daily.   Here are Megan’s ‘finished sentences’ today… I’m happy when… I have my birthday.    (coming on April 6th – she can hardly talk of anything else) I’m sad when…   I don’t get to go to the pool with my brother and sisters (Obviously that is what is going on this evening!) I’m scared when… I hear that first ‘WICKED’ song and when I think about green skin and it’s scary and yucky. (She freaks out in the car and makes me ‘fast-backwards’ to the second song.)  I’m excited when… my grandma and grandpa come. (Grandma and Grandpa Johnson are coming in 5 days) I’m mad when… my mom tells me to go to sleep. I’m silly when… I talk to Emily in a silly voice.  I’m tired when… I wait on the bus for a long long long time. I’m bored when… we walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk on a trail for a long long time. I’m grumpy when… my mom tells me to go to sleep.  (and when Mom tells her to do jobs unless she remembers about her happy chart.) OK, and that’s all the attention span we have right now… On to Oreos…

 

Happy guys

Chris and Ryan walked in the door the other night with big smiles on their faces.   Ryan got a ‘hat-trick’ – which is three goals in a single game.  Way to go Ryan!

Picnic at Callaway

Last Saturday we had absolutely nothing on the calendar.  A blank white day.  No soccer games, basketball games, scout activities, recitals, birthday parties, primary activities, church meetings, or house showings.  The kids and I decided to enjoy the great weather with a picnic at Callaway Gardens.   (Dad was still in Arizona having fun on his golf trip with Grandpa.)  The kids made and packed all the lunches and did a great job.  We ate, played around on the grass and then explored some trails we’d never done before.  We met a big dog on our walk.  I could see it bounding down the trail and knew that Megan up ahead was going to have an absolute breakdown.  I sent Ryan quickly to ‘save her’ but it was too late.  Megan was sure that dog was coming straight for her, screamed and started running.  It was both hysterical and sad to watch.  Poor Megan does NOT like dogs.  The dog owner came to apologize to Megan even though the dog didn’t touch her.  We also found climbing trees on our trail and stopped for awhile to play.   We saw daffodils and were so excited about new spring flowers and GREEN grass.  Our outing ended with tired kids, a hungry baby and a two year old tantrum --- like all good outings should.

 

   

Little boy dress up

Big brother Ryan was the instigator for this little dress up show, but little Luke loved it… so much so, that later in the day he insisted on bringing his helmet and football in the van with us and ended up falling asleep holding on tight.  Ask Luke what his shirt says and he says confidently ‘BU’, ALWAYS forgetting the most important letter.

Around the block

 

Matthew – 10 months old         Luke – 2 years 4 months old

Dear 72 Degrees,

Thank you so much for coming back.   We have missed you so much!!!  It seems like you’ve been gone forever.  In your absence we were stuck hanging out with 40 degrees and 50 degrees and you know how they are… unfriendly and downright boring.  Not only that, they totally overstayed their welcome.  Now that you’re back we can do all those things we love to do together… go on walks, play outside, ride our bikes, watch soccer games, have BBQ’s.    We got the backyard all ready for you.  You can stay as long as you’d like, and please don’t tell 90 degrees about all the fun we’ll have.  He always brings ‘humidity’ with him and they are completely awful together… always thinking they’re so hot.  They’re unbearable to be around.  So just stay for awhile… please? Love the Johnson family.

Superior

 

Ryan and Katie have been taking piano lessons the last nine months from Kathy Morris, a great piano teacher in her 23rd year of teaching.  We lucked out to have been recommended to her and are sad to be leaving.   She was so sweet and encouraging and the kids really loved going to lessons.  Three weeks of the month they had individual lessons (Friday nights from 5-6… that’s what she had open and we jumped at the chance to be on her schedule instead of her assistant.  Turns out it wasn’t so bad on Fridays after all, especially since we weren’t rushing home for homework and bedtime.)  One Monday a month the kids had ‘piano class’ where they learned theory with students at the same level and then performed for each other.  It was a great program. In December Ryan and Katie performed their Christmas songs at an old folks home.  Such a good idea.  This month, Ryan and Katie participated in their first piano festival.  Both learned and memorized two pieces and performed them for a judge who graded them and wrote notes and helpful comments.  Both got a ‘SUPERIOR’ rating and were able to go get gold stickers from the front desk.  It was a great experience.   We will definitely be signing up for piano again in Germany… this time with an additional student… a very excited Emily.

All I want…

Instead of WANTING two front teeth, Emily has been so excited to LOSE her two front teeth!  I guess all Emily wants is quite a large pile of new shiny quarters.

10 months old

 

In the van waiting for Ryan and Katie in piano lessons.  This kid is such a happy baby.  For an hour he sat in the front seat and entertained himself.  Pulling his shoes and socks off, playing with his toes, standing up to the window, talking to whatever was outside.  This kid is a dream.  Keep smiling, Matthew. All about Matthew at 10 months… Loves to pull his socks off. Loves to eat his oatmeal cereal and baby food.  Loves it.  He’s a clean eater too.  No mess.  No spitting anything out.  No bib.  We are enjoying it while it lasts. Stands up to everything. Walks along the couch and coffee table. Crawls really fast. Loves to pick up tiny ‘treasures’ but doesn’t put them in his mouth… yet.  He just clenches his fist tight and crawls with a closed fist.  When we notice his closed fist we know he’s found something and have to pry his little fingers open to see what his treasure is.  Once he found a ‘whopper’ and had clenched his fist so tight he had chocolate oozing through his fingers.  He’s starting to open up cupboards and make messes… especially the DVD cupboard. He loves to play with the TV remote and phone if he can find on on the floor. He goes to bed really easily.  He waits for me to put his blanket over top and curls his little fingers around the top edge of the blanket.  Adorable. He loves his soother… just like Luke and Ryan did. Just learned how to ‘patti-cake’. Just learned ‘SO BIG’ where he raises his arms high above his head… usually making him lose his balance and topple backwards. Smiles all the time. He loves helium balloons. He always wants to grab my earrings. Loves to crawl around in the bathtub and try to pull the plug out. When he’s being held by Chris or I he’ll put his arms down by his side and snuggle into us for a hug.  We LOVE it. Has four teeth now… fourth one totally crooked!  Likes to bite onto things with his teeth and let it hang from his mouth like a little dog. Loves to play ‘peek-a-boo’ with a blanket.  Always giggles. He holds perfectly still while I say ‘Where’s Matthew?’    I look all around and finally I look at him and say “There he is” and he starts to giggle.  So helpful while changing his pants.  Otherwise he’s totally wiggly. If he wants something or is excited about something he grunts. He loves to be chased. He loves balls. He tolerates Luke’s tackling. He tries to escape into the garage if the garage door gets left open.  He thinks it is really fun out there. He loves to do ‘This is the Way’ bounces on our knee. He’s so good in the car.

I am…

I decided to take Amy’s post idea and do one of my own.  20 sentences to describe myself starting with “I Am…”  

I wrote my list while waiting for the girls at gymnastics.  A perfectly wonderful use of time…

• I am a ‘list girl’ so this is totally up my alley.
• I am self conscious.
• I am almost always happy.
• I am a ‘words of affirmation’ and ‘quality time’ gal.  Those are my love languages.
• I am easily distracted (just like Amy.)
• I am a mother of six beautiful good kids.
• I am organized.
• I am easily frustrated when there is too much noise – that includes music.
• I am so in love with my husband.
• I am opinionated.
• I am silly around my kids.
• I am emotional… which I like.
• I am STRONG… trying to be, it’s my word of the year.
• I am a daydreamer… that’s kind of the same as being easily distracted.
• I am blessed to have such a great extended family.
• I am a goal setter.
• I am creative.
• I am not a reader… but I’m working on it.
• I am tired lots but I don’t want to go to bed early.
• I am grateful my kids love really talking to me.  Good times.

Fridge worthy.

Art by Emily, age 7.

Sesame Street makes me happy.

The white fridge in the laundry room is home to all Johnson kids charts.  This month… some Target dollar stop ‘happy attitude’ charts for Emily and Megan and some leftover magnetic Valentine conversation hearts.  I am a sucker for cute colorful Sesame Street characters and my girls have been HAPPY to add these little stickers to their charts.  An extra ‘lucky jar pick’ when they fill them up.  Fun stuff.

Gymnastics

 

The girls have LOVED taking gymnastics the last year or so.  All three just got their spring evaluations which were full of G+’s, G++’s, M’s, and ‘You are awesome’ comments!’  [(S) Satisfactory (G) Good skill progression for this age and skill level  (M) This skill has been mastered for this age and skill level]  Katie’s favorite things to do at gymnastics are: doing back handsprings on the tumble track, doing backbends and back walkovers, flipping backwards on the bar, and doing round-off’s on the floor. Emily’s favorite things to do at gymnastics are: walking on the beam, climbing the 20 foot robe to ring the bell (she’s done it four or five times now), and jumping in the foam blocks pit. Megan’s favorite things to do at gymnastics are: Jumping on the tramp, going upstairs to play, jumping in the foam blocks pit, doing a monkey swing, walking on the beams, flipping over the bars, and getting a drink of water.  (And I’ll add ‘waving and smiling at Mom’.)

 

Love this picture of Katie.

 

 

We decided that March would be our last month in Gymnastics before we move.  Just too much going on – and we’re hoping to use our ‘free’ nights enjoying family time at our favorite places in Columbus before we leave.  Katie is the most disappointed to stop.  She goes twice a week and LOVES it.  She’s getting good and is hoping to start again in Germany!

Lucky

March brought back our Lucky jar.  The kids were excited to see it again.  This year a little different… If you complete five jobs (of Mom’s choosing) you can pick TWO slips of paper out of the Lucky Jar and CHOOSE which reward you want… Aren’t they lucky?  They have been motivated to ask for jobs again and are so excited to pick between two rewards… skittles or read a book with mom?  50 cents or sleep in a different room?    Megan recently picked those last two and was SOOOO excited to pick to sleep in Ryan’s room.  In the morning Ryan said, “Mom, it is a pain sleeping by Megan.”  Megan’s reward ended up being punishment for her nice older brother.  Megan said, “Mom, it’s so funny… I went to bed on one side of Ryan’s bed and when I woke up I was all the way by the bed’s cliff!”   Lucky Ryan. New this year is our ‘Lucky Us’ jar.  Every day everyone writes something they feel ‘lucky’ about and puts it in the jar.   During FHE at the end of the month we’ll pull them all out and read them and talk about how it really isn’t LUCK, but blessings from our Heavenly Father.  Anybody have any fun plans for St. Patrick’s day?