Johnson Family

Johnson Family

March 12, 2009

When your 'almost 4 year old' hands you lemons…

meg1 croppeed_edited-1 make lemonade.

Well, this story isn’t really about lemons or lemonade. It’s about a certain ‘almost four year old’ daughter who cut her own hair... again. Yes, the very same one who cut it only months ago. The same daughter who was punished and told never to cut her hair again. The same daughter who distinctly said, “I will never do it ever again, Mom” amid her tears. Ya, well, that daughter must want to be a hairdresser because not only did she cut her hair but she went into her bathroom, stood on the stool and looked right into the mirror to watch herself cut it… I imagine because of the evidence. She gave herself some very ‘layered’ bangs and cut about half way up on both sides. When asked why (which was pretty much all I could come up with at that point) she said, “I wanted my hair to look different.” I said nothing else, but the disappointment in my eyes invoked another promise. “I will never ever do it ever again, Mom”

Yesterday we went to the salon. I gave the instructions “Do something.” and my hairdresser went to work. Voila… Lemonade. Besides Ryan saying she looked kind of like an alien… we like it. It seems to match her personality… ‘short, spunky and does whatever it wants’.

meg4 copy megan from back meg7 cropped_edited-2 meg5 cropped_edited-1

March 11, 2009

How to eat a donut.

Bite it.

Squish it.

Stare at it.

Break into pieces and throw to the floor.

Look at all the pieces all over the floor and say 'uh-oh' even though it wasn't a mistake.

Have a drink to wash it down.

Do a fake laugh.

Be silly.

Make sure you get sticky all the way into your hair.

Make a funny face.

Stare at mom with a dazed expression.

Get very tired.

Tub Buddies


These two kids are clean, well at least they should be with how often they take baths. Whenever one is in the tub, the other one comes running. They giggle and splash and I listen to their every noise while on the computer a foot away in my closet. They aren't the best pictures but they capture how much they love spending each morning in the tub. Yeah for at least starting out the day all clean! Megan - almost four, Luke - 15 months

March 9, 2009

Lisa's Cleaning Games

Our ward had an Enrichment meeting last week on Talents. One of my friends asked if I would share my talent of 'charts and cleaning games'. I said, "Is that a talent?" She assured me it was. When I told my kids about it, Ryan said, "Totally, it's a MOM talent." So for my own archive and to share with anyone interested I thought I'd post a couple ideas (sorry if I've already posted about some of these)... and please comment with any of your own great ideas. I'm always looking for something new!!


The Lucky Jar - The kids just started new charts today. If the kids accomplish all of their jobs for a given day they get to pick something out of the Lucky Jar. But only on Fridays. If they do every job every day they get to pick out of the lucky jar five times. The lucky jar has slips of paper that give them special snacks, special time with mom or dad, stay up late minutes or 'skip a job' passes for the coming week. The kids can hardly wait.

Easter Egg Moola - I've already thought of April's job fun too. Same charts but instead of picking from the Lucky Jar they will pick a plastic easter egg. Each egg will contain a coin... penny, nickel, dime or quarter. My kids will love this since they don't get allowance and love to have their own spending money.

Bomb in the Kitchen – Set the oven timer for x amount of minutes. Work hard to get the kitchen cleaned and out of the room before the bomb goes off... otherwise you need to make a dramatic death scene on the kitchen floor. Make sure to add more time than you think. The best part of this game is standing at the edge of the clean kitchen and thinking of things you need to ‘run in’ and do without dying. (My brothers and sister and I used to play this game growing up when my parents weren't there and we had to clean the kitchen. I don't know why we had to have a clean kitchen before it was blown up... it's just the way you play!)

Train Cleaning – This is emily’s favorite and mine too. I am the engine. The kids line up behind me. I point to something on the floor and the one right behind me gets out of line to put it away and then hops to the back of the line again. I try to go so fast that I don’t have any ‘cars’ behind me. We choo-choo through the house looking for whatever needs to be put away.

‘Set the timer’ Cleaning – This is when all of us clean together and it usually involves a few rooms... like our family room, entry and kitchen which are all connected. We set the timer for 20 minutes and work until the buzzer goes off. If I see the kids distracted or not working I add a minute. The kids love knowing exactly when they will be done with the job.

Sticks in a jar – We have a job jar with Popsicle sticks sticking out of it.. without looking, the kids pick out what their job will be... in our jar we have: clean around the lockers in the garage, clean out the van, family room, Luke’s room, kitchen floor (toys and sweep), Mom’s bathroom, unload the dishwasher, stairs, entryway and hallway.

Sticky note choices – when the kids come home from school, (or on Saturday mornings) the kitchen island is covered in sticky notes. One job is on each... some easy, some hard. Starting with the youngest they pick their jobs, one at a time. My kids love this one because they are different every day depending on what I need done. I always try to add fun and silly ones, like “tell your mom she’s great” because of course I always need words of affirmation, or “play outside with Luke” which actually is a big help to me but they think they are lucking out.

Countdown Cleaning – “Kids, I need everyone to pick up 10 things in the ____ room.” Once done they come give me a high five. Then I tell them to pick up 9 things. Then 8... then 7... etc. They start giggling when they are down to the end and they have to keep running to give me five between every one.

Movie Pause Cleaning – Put on a movie for the kids... who doesn’t love this already? Explain that whenever you push pause on the movie they have to quickly put 10 things away and then run and jump back on the couch so the movie can start again.

Erase a Job – Have a list of jobs ready for each kid. Tell them that if they clean the first thing good enough that it passes ‘mom inspection’ then they can cross off the last job on the list... and so on. Ryan likes this one.

Summer Point System – Katie’s favorite. This is quite the long involved system but once in place works like a charm... especially in reducing the murmuring of the older kids. Double points for a happy attitude. Check out this post for all the details. We started out the summer on this and even did it over Christmas holidays as well since the kids were asking to do it again.

Charts, Charts and more Charts – Nothing like a fresh clean chart with spaces for happy faces or stars or check marks to get you motivated again. Every couple weeks we do a new one. Each kid has their own list – usually how old you are is how many jobs you have. Make some of them really easy.

Go for the Gold... Olympic Chart – During the Olympics last year we had a Go for the Gold Chart. If the kids did 9 or 10 of their list everyday they got a gold at the bottom... 7 or 8 a silver... 5 or 6 a bronze. At the end of the week we counted up who got the most golds and silvers to see who was the overall best Olympian.

5 things away before Snack – Megan is notorious for asking for snacks 10 times a day. Each time she asks I say “Put away five things and then you can have a snack.”

Mom bucks – For every job the kids do they get rewarded with ‘monopoly money’ (aka: mom bucks). The better they do the more they get. When they are ready to redeem, each mom buck is worth ten cents (or a nickel or an m&m or whatever you want...)

March 4, 2009

Curry anyone?


I discovered a new recipe a couple days ago and thought I'd pass it along. It's from Becky Higgins recipe blog... here. Just scroll down or look for Classic Curry Chicken on the right. Chris LOVES curry and even though this one isn't 'spicy' it had a great taste and the kids all loved it. It's already a new family favorite. How can you pass this one up with curry, onions and zucchini's? Yum.

March 3, 2009









What I am doing: Preparing Enrichment lesson
What I’m proud of today: Cleaning my room
What I’m thinking about: Three Word Answers
Who is home: Everyone but Chris
Plans tonight: Blog, Lesson, Relax
My weekend was: Movies, Milkshakes, Snow
What’s for dinner: Spaghetti and Corn
Feelings about love: Grateful for it!
Feelings about life: Busy and Wonderful
What I need: More time everyday
What I want: Backrub and nap
What I have: Totally understanding Husband
My pet peeve: Too much noise
My guilty pleasure: Shopping By Myself
What you don’t know about me: No patience night
What I can hear: nothing... kids bedtime
What I can smell: nothing... need candle
My style: Classic Simple Fun
My hairdo: Long layered bangs
My outfit: comfy maternity t-shirt
My mood: sleepy happy determined
The weather today: 50s, sunny, bright
Thoughts on parenting: Hard, worth it
Thoughts on marriage: Wonderful, best friend
Thoughts on politics: Interesting and frustrating
Thoughts on celebrity gossip: Don't really care
Thoughts on beauty: I am pregnant.
Thoughts on sleep: I love it
Thoughts on writing: Love having it
My favorite appliance: Computer DVR TV
My favorite car: Black Yukon Denali
My favorite splurge: Vacations with anyone
My favorite beauty secret: Must wear makeup
My favorite treat: Fresh Strawberry pie
My favorite everyday pleasure: Shows with Chris
Ten years ago: Medical School, Baby
Five years ago: Residency, three kids
One year ago: Georiga, five kids
One year from now: six kids, done.
Five years from now: No more strollers
Ten years from now: Ryan on Mission
I’m famous for: always making jello
I’ll never be famous for: Wii playing skills
Who I am: Happy Mom Wife
Who I hope to be: Happy, good example
What I’m thankful for: Gospel, Family, Friends

March 2, 2009

Snow day


No school today. Our one and only snowday of the year.

Chris is working nights this week so we slept in till 9:40 while the kids, even Luke, played for hours up in the bonus room. Love that bonus room. It's been a perfectly lazy day. Ryan and I changed his room around for fun, organized his closet and worked on Weblos badges. The girls have been playing school for hours and even when I called them down for lunch they addressed me as the 'lunch lady' and handed me their lunch cards. Chris just headed out for some bank errands and then to work. Luke is sleeping. The girls are still upstairs in 'school' and I have a little free time. Maybe I'll take a shower.

It's 43 degrees right now, 2:30pm, and water is dripping off the roof like it's raining. The brilliant sun and blue sky are back and our snowman, which fell over last night, is melting quickly.

The forecast for the week... Tuesday 52 degrees... Wednesday 61 degrees... Thursday 68 degrees... Friday 75 degrees... Saturday 77 degrees. Looks like we'll be BBQing in no time.

March 1, 2009

A blizzard in March... in Georgia!

Believe me, we are more shocked than you are.

When Chris and I woke up this morning there were real snowflakes falling from the sky. I woke the kids up with the exciting news. Nothing sticking to the ground of course but snowflakes in the air nonetheless. Pretty exciting stuff. Last year's snowfall lasted for a whole seven minutes, (see here) so after staring out the window for a few minutes Chris headed to church for meetings and we continued getting ready for church. By the time the kids and I got to church it was sleeting -- half snow, half rain --but still not sticking. We used an umbrella to get inside the church but were still pretty wet.

After sacrament meeting we walked out into the foyer to find every car, bush and tree blanketed in snow. Most people got stuck there just staring at each other in amazement. Our friend, John, had his camera so we asked him for a picture. Slowly people wandered to their classrooms, still shaking their heads. Then Chris, John and the Bishop did a little 'rhubarb rhubarb' (that means 'conversed' for those of you not in on my family joke) and decided that with the blizzard in full force and only getting worse, and with 70% of the ward having had no experience driving in snow... church should be cancelled. We gathered our families and headed out while some gave driving instructions to others. "How do we get the snow off the windshield?" I heard one lady ask. "Just use your wipers and keep them on. It's just like rain." I heard another answer.

The roads weren't bad driving home but everyone was on their best behavior. Chris let me drive his car... (better tires, heated seats, and because he wanted to make sure all the kids were safe driving with him instead of me... I'm not offended... I'm not totally comfortable driving in the snow and he knows it.)

Our neighborhood was beautiful. It was weird to drive on our familiar roads and see snow lacing every barn, fence and branch. What a different view.

our house

the trees in our front yard

bushes in the backyard

The kids were more than anxious to get outside. We 'ok'ed their non-sabbath activity thinking 'who knows if this is going to last until tomorrow?'and they started bundling up. The snow was coming down really hard and even though it was only 33 degrees, the 15 mile per hour wind and 93% humidity made it feel like 24 degrees (says weather.com).

Luke was so excited to go outside but I know he didn't quite know what he was in for. He was warm I think, but the wind was blowing the snow sideways and it was hard to even keep your eyes open. He slid down the slide a couple times, tried to walk around, fell on his behind and then we went in.
Emily didn't last long either. Her fingers and toes were freezing and she complained for a half hour... all while listening to me talk about the pioneers that crossed the plains in weather like this. (Neither she nor I could have made that trek.)


Chris, Ryan, Katie and Megan stayed outside to make a snowman. Once he was made they all came in for hot chocolate and church movies. Nope, he doesn't have a hat or scarf or buttons... only the bare necessities for a snowman made in a blizzard.


February 27, 2009

Oh, Baby!

oh, baby cropped

This girl and her clothes... doesn’t that look just say it all? She comes downstairs so pleased with her outfit choices and I couldn’t help but just capture this one for when she’s older. I love it Megan! Thank goodness you are not super attached to your picks and still let me ‘adjust’ if we’re going out.

February 22, 2009

Holy, moly... how many kids do we have? I always love doing these 'All about you' posts. I never do them on special milestone days, just whenever I can fit it in, which this time happened to be because of a 3 hour uninterrupted airplane ride. It gives good insight into who our kids are and what they are all about. I pulled in each of the kids and read them their list before posting them. They all smiled and nodded their head in agreement. Ryan said, "You sure do know me." He was impressed that he only needed to make one correction... 'he was not the shortest in his class. He was the 3rd shortest.'

February 21, 2009

All about Ryan

10 1/2 years old
Loves pokemon - Loves to read (Eragon series and the Lord of the Rings series are his new favorites) - Reads hours every night - Loves to stay up late and sneak in private bonding moments with Mom or Dad - Loves all Dad's favorite movies (Star wars movies (the old ones) and Lord of the Rings trilogy, Iron Man etc.) - Loves spaghetti, jello and pretty much everything I make - He has a big appetite - Loves to learn new things - Likes making brownies and anything he can try by himself - Loves talks with Mom - Loves powerpoint and making presentations - Wants to learn all about Photoshop - Loves surfing the Internet looking for Pokemon facts, or Pokemon music or Videogame cheats - Loves to write in his journal - Loves to blog (preferably with Mom typing) - Such a smart kid... Straight A's in school - Best reader in his class - Is fascinated with stories of when he was younger or when Chris and I were little - Has horrible handwriting unless he really consentrates - Doesn't make his bed or keep his room clean - Likes to build things using directions and uses his own creativity - Loves Legos - Loves the Wii - Loves jumping on the trampoline with Katie - Motivated to get Faith in God and Scout badges done - Always complains that there is never enough time in the day to do everything he wants to do - Plays soccer and loves to practice with Dad outside - Loves FHE and teaching lessons - Wants to eat all the time - Loves Basketball - Is interested in playing baseball even though he's never played - Much prefers a t-shirt to a 'button-up' shirt - Doesn't like any girls at school even though girls like him - Is the third shortest kid in his class - Enjoys the piano and practices a little even though he's not in lessons right now - Adores Luke - Is bugged when Megan sucks her thumb - Is sensitive - Is a good example - Gets distracted very easily - Hates to sleep with a shirt on - Hates to get his hair cut - Has a hard time picking favorite anything because he has 'too many favorites' - Happy all the time - Loves to play with Luke - Can't wait for Luke to grow up so he can play video games with him - Happy when Luke is excited to see him get home from school

All about Katie

8 1/2 years old
Loves gymnastics - Strong legs and good flexibility - Loves to be the big sister and play with 'the girls' although sometimes feels like she is too old for them - Is sensitive - Loves words of affirmation and praise (who doesn't?) - Loves to play with Ryan - Likes the idea of being organized and neat - Wishes she had her own room so she could be organized and neat - Likes to be artistic and creative - Draws pictures, makes posters, designs scrapbook pages, and writes in her spiral notebook as her journal - Wants to stay up late - Wants to be 'tucked in' - Smartie... straight A's in school - Likes Ballet - Loves Achievement Day Activities - Loves friends but doesn't feel like she has many here - Misses her friends from Washington - Wishes for more playdates - So good with Luke and will be such a great helper with the new baby - Loves to listen to music... High School Musical songs, Coldplay, David Cook, 3 Doors Down, The Fray (she found our iTunes and can't get enough) - Can't wait to babysit - Likes to wear cute clothes - Loves horses and horse back riding - Wishes she could try many things... tennis, cheerleading (not soccer) - Keeps getting mad at Dad that he hasn't ordered her lefty golf clubs yet - Favorite foods are waffles, mashed potatoes and gravy and fruit - Doesn't like spaghetti - Loves Spelling and PE - Wants to go to BYU - Loves special Mommy time... blogging or just 'talking on the bed' - Loves family time - Loves having her hair down with swoopy bangs - Has a really great memory - Gets sulky quickly if she feels she's being reprimanded or misunderstood - Loves to watch 'Extreme Home Makeover' - Wants to be a teacher, or a scrapbooker like Amy, or an artist, or a kids author - Loves watching chick flicks (Just like Heaven) - Favorite movies are all Harry Potter movies, all Narnia movies, all High School Musical movies - Wants 6 kids

All about Emily

6 years old
Loves to play with Megan and be the 'big sister with all the great ideas' - Gets frustrated easily - Tolerates me doing her hair but almost always ends up in tears - Loves ballet and gymnastics - Never asks for friends over since she always has Katie and Megan to play with - Doesn't want Lukey to play because 'he messes stuff up' - Likes princesses and dress up - Loves to play school - Loves her American girl doll and Bitty baby - Likes to draw pictures and write letters and make cards - Loves to give hugs - Smiles adoringly at us if we smile at her - Says 'I love you' with great feeling - Is great at unloading the dishwasher - Doesn't like bananas - Has bright blue eyes - Super smart - Straight 3's (A's) - Best reader in her class (just got a diagnostic report back saying she reads at a 4th grade level - Holy cow!) - Loves Kindergarten - Likes to eat most things - Loves to be twins with Megan - Is kind of a tattle tail and loses her temper easily - Has the cutest big cheeks and smile you ever saw - Loves to be tickled - Is the easiest of my kids to photograph

All about Megan

3 years, 10 months old
Loves going to preschool - Loves activities like playdoh, practicing letters and any kind of game - Writes her name so cute - Loves playing anything Katie and Emily think up - Likes playing with Ryan's Pokemon figurines - Favorite movie is 'High School Musical' (all 3) - Doesn't like doing jobs - Wants to eat snacks all day long - Wants to go places every day (even errands) - Too bored at home with me - Likes to watch Dora, Backyardigans, Max & Ruby, Diego, Wonder Pets or Kai Lan - Sucks her thumb and plays with her hair if watching TV or going to sleep - Falls asleep on the couch or in the van most afternoons - Really cute playmate for Luke - Doesn't like dogs very much - Loves to be twins with Emily - Loves her friends and going to Primary - Not nearly as tantrumy (is that a word?) as she used to be - Turning into a sweetheart - LOVES gymnastics - So excited and bouncy - Colors well - Good letter writing skills - Knows all letters of the alphabet - Counts to 20 with a few mistakes - Dresses herself, comes up with some crazy outfits and changes her clothes three times a day - Favorite food is 'scabetti' and 'pink lemolade'

All about Luke

15 months
Loves his toy cars - Loves animals... carries them around the house one in each hand - Can growl - Walks well and is starting to run, especially if he's excited, which is most of the time - Just started to walk backwards - Loves his bottle still - Uses his soother for bed and goes to bed SO EASY! - Wants to hold his blanket for awhile when you get him out of his crib in the morning and after his nap - 'Runs' to the pantry if you say 'cracker' - Loves cereal, oatmeal, vanilla wafers, crackers, yogurt (except the chunks of strawberries), grapes, eggo waffles... - Prefers bottle to sippy cup and milk to juice (we are slowly weaning him of bottle but he is stubborn and we are getting soft in our old age) - Loves to play peekaboo around the dresser in the closet - Is super ticklish - Loves to read books - Watches shows with Megan pretty good lately... like Dora, Diego, Backyardigans... not as interested in his baby einstein movies - Fascinated by dogs and animals - Stops and listens carefully if he hears a new sound (or a dog) - Content in his stroller - Says 'Dad, cracker, all gone, hi, water, hair (hay), eyes, nose, no, yes (if you know what to listen for) - Communicates well without saying much - Understands so many words - Loves to be outside - Heads straight for the container of basketballs in the garage - Knows where his hair, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, belly button and toes are - Likes the trampoline - Can climb up the ladder to the play set - Loves the slide - Opens the gate to the stairs and climbs up the stairs - Loves to be upstairs with the kids - Can come down by himself now - Can climb up the bunk bed ladder (not good!) - Likes to give hugs and kisses - Likes his finger puppets for Church - Loves to play chase - Doesn't like to lay still when we change his pants - loves to splash in the bathtub - Loves to throw things like books and clothes into the bathtub - Loves to turn on the bathtub by himself - Looks exactly like Ryan did at this age - Is so stinkin' cute!

February 20, 2009

Katie's cast


Chris had a great weekend with the kids... with only one minor accident. Katie, while climbing up to reach her ballet leotard and tights on the highest shelf by the back door, tumbled down and landed on her wrist. Ouch! Just by the way she was gingerly holding it Chris could tell it was a buckle fracture.

After ballet and before soccer practice, Chris ran with Katie, Emily, Megan and Luke to get her hand scanned, diagnosed it himself and over to the ER to get a splint... all in the record time of 30 minutes. (So many perks of having a husband in Radiology.) Boy, am I glad it happened while I was out of town instead of while Chris was out of town. He's a pro at handling the kids, especially during emergencies. After the ER they drove back up to get Ryan at soccer practice and straight up to the airport to pick up me.

Two days later Chris took Katie in to work with him to get her cast. This marks the first cast any of our kids have had! She picked blue. Ryan said, "Katie, I'm so proud to be your brother. You're going to be famous at school now." She'll have the cast for two to three weeks.

Chris sent me the x-rays from work because he thought they would be fun to post... Can anyone see the fracture? I sure couldn't! I think the bone has to be actually sticking outside of the skin for me to see a problem.


February 18, 2009

February 16, 2009

Girls Weekend in Utah

I just got back from a fabulous girls weekend. Amy and I had our 'every other year scrapbook event' and invited Mom, Elisha and Sarah to join us.

My itinerary included...

  • A quiet nonstop flight to Salt Lake City (although my back killed me and my feet were twice the size when I got off!)
  • A tour of Scott and Elisha's new home in Kaysville, Utah.
  • A fabulous but chilly trip up to the Park City Outlets... great deals at
  • BabyGAP and Gymboree (and Ann Taylor for those who were skinny)
  • A girls trip to the beautiful Bountiful Temple.
  • Comfy jammies, chips and fresh salsa and a chick flick... Mamma Mia.
  • Sleeping in (none of my kids to make me get out of bed)
  • Lunch with Shelley, Lindsey and Haylee at Cafe Rio - my favorite.
  • Scrapbook store browsing (and buying) at Archivers.
  • Tour of Amy's apartment and cute cute bedroom.
  • Yummy dinner at Aunt Jennifer's while visiting with cousins and sweet new babies.
  • Friday night scrapbook marathon from 6:00pm to midnight for Amy and I at Amy's work croproom.
  • 11 hour scrapbook day on Saturday at Amy's croproom. (Pages will be posted soon.)
  • PF Changs 'Lemon Chicken' take out (thanks to Scott) to eat while we scrapbooked.
  • 8:30 church at Amy's ward on Sunday... so easy to get up and just get myself ready. Sacrament was so quiet!
  • Snacks for the pregnant lady back at Amy's apartment
  • Hanging out and delicious dinner back up at Scott and Elisha's house.
  • Visiting with Kyle and Ashlyn in Farmington and seeing their new nursery all ready for baby's arrival.
  • Visiting with Mike and Brian who couldn't help but come down for the weekend to hang out.
  • Saying goodbye to Brian for the last time before he heads out for his mission... (Mission call coming soon.)
  • An eventful flight back to Atlanta with no luggage. So happy to see my sweet hubby and cute kiddos. (In the airport they called me up to bump me off my LA flight and got me on one straight to Atlanta. It gave me 4 hrs to hang out in the airport but at least they gave me $21 worth of food vouchors. Once finally on my plane one of the cargo doors was loose so they had to take it off while we waited on board for 1hr 45m before we could take off. Finally back in Atlanta I realized they had taken my luggage off the LA flight but now they were just sitting lonely in Salt Lake. I got them two days later.)


February 14, 2009

February 8, 2009

Ah-ha!

At dinner tonight Emily asked, "When I have kids what will my grandpa be?" I said "Your Grandpa will still be your Grandpa but your kids will call him 'Great Grandpa.' Then before I could say anymore she blurted out excitedly, "Oh Mom, I don't even have kids yet and I already know who their grandpa will be!!!"

February 3, 2009

A successful day.

I count my days successful if I can accomplish just one thing. On today's big list was grocery shopping. I typically put it off as long as possible... and this time was no exception. My kids were practically begging me to buy more food. Ok, I'll buy some food!

Today I dropped Megan off at preschool and from there all the way to the Commissary was about a 35/40 minute drive. That means speed shopping to get it all done in time to pick her up again. I was surprised really at how fast I could get it all done. With one happy strapped in toddler (and no 'trying to be so helpful' 3 year old) I was flying through the isles... Well, as fast as a pregnant lady can fly. My hands were reaching out on both sides instinctively grabbing everything I needed. And it occurred to me... I get the same things every time I go and it's almost like I can only see those things. So here's my list of 20 things I get (almost) EVERY time I grocery shop...

1. Yoplait yogurt
2. Two bunches of bananas (that last two days)
3. Two containers of fresh strawberries (for my cereal and that I sometimes share with my kiddos)
4. Apples
5. Breakfast cereal (Must have Oatmeal crisp cereal for Chris and I. Chris fills up a big red bowl and takes it with him on his drive to work EVERY morning.) (For the kids: Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Strawberry Mini Wheats...)
6. Calrose White Rice (Geneva got me hooked on this. Love it)
7. Frozen corn
8. Fresh zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower
9. Lipton chicken Noodle Soup
10. Del Monte 'MEAT' Spaghetti sauce (Yep, the cheap stuff. It's a staple.)
11. One pack Huggies diapers and wipes (just about time to double that!)
12. Big baking potatoes
13. Vine grown tomatoes
14. Frozen chicken breasts
15. Snackwell Devil Cake Cookies (also known as: Mommy cookies)
16. Marshmallows (surprised?)
17. Macaroni and Cheese spirals (has to be spirals!)
18. Eggo waffles (my kids favorite breakfast - they can down a package of 16 in one morning)
19. Some kind of frozen stir fry
20. Arnolds 100% whole wheat bread (sometimes Oatnut Bread, sometimes Rye bread)

And this is what I got today too... plus a few other things. I even got out of there without hitting $200. ($196) Seriously, amazing!

February 2, 2009