Conference Weekend

When the kids came home from school on Friday they walked into the family room to find this… the Conference Wall.  I found something on-line this week that sparked this idea and decided it would be fun to try.  The kids were thrilled.  They didn’t even know what it would be used for (I didn’t really either… in typical Lisa ‘making it up as I go’ fashion…) but they were excited nonetheless. Then they saw the Conference Basket.

• Conference packets printed out from Sugardoodle.net on brand new clip boards
• Prophet finger puppets for Megan
• New Boxes of Crayons – (25 cents from the Back to School sale)
• Apostle Bingo Boards
• Special treats for each session
• Cute homemade notebooks left over from my Young Women ‘pre-Conference party’
• General Authority flashcards
• Secret ‘Do not open until…’ envelopes with special activities to do before each session

They were allowed to look into the basket but couldn’t touch anything.  Oh… the torture!  “Mom, Thanks so much for celebrating Conference!” Emily said.

 

Our first ‘Do not open until…’ envelope contained small pictures of the first presidency, twelve apostles and the Primary, YW and Relief Society presidencies.  Found on Sugardoodle.net. There was no Elder Neil L. Anderson picture so we had to write him in.  Then we added two President Monson pictures and a ‘quorum of 70 speaker’ to complete the whole page.  While we glued we reviewed the apostles names.  I was amazed at how many they knew.  “That’s President Eyring”, Megan yelled.  (Our primary has been reviewing.) “Uchdorf is such a funny name” she giggled as she glued.  After we finished our BINGO boards we taped them to wall. After every talk we circled the appropriate speaker.  No BINGO’s yet!

When the first session started, (at noon for us) the kids were busy busy with their packets… writing down who was conducting, coloring the choir robes, noticing Apostles ties, writing the color of the flowers, copying down the name of the song.  It was priceless to watch.   We looked on the globe to find the new temples, circled the speaker on our Apostle Bingo boards and paused after each talk to tape their picture to our Conference Wall and write down some key words about what they spoke on.

The first session took us 2 hours and 43 minutes.  No, not because we paused to go play outside.  Ryan and Katie were taking such detailed notes that they wanted to ‘rewind’ so they could accurately copy the sentence.  They filled up pages and pages of their notebooks with great notes.  They did so well!  Katie’s favorite talk was President Uchdorf’s.  She said, “Mom, he’s just saying so many good things that I can’t write them all down.”  She threw her pen down on the floor and looked frustrated.  Just then President Uchdorf said, “Don’t be discouraged!”  We all looked at her and repeated his statement to make her giggle.   Saturday ‘morning’ session was fabulous. We loved it.

Our ‘don’t open until Saturday afternoon session’ envelope was a story from the May 2008 Friend about a Conference Reverence Tent.  We read it together and then built a tent in the living room so they could pretend to be like the people listening to King Benjamin.  Ryan was the only one that spent the entire second session in the tent although Luke visited him there quite often.  We ate smarties. We sustained the Prophet.  We wrote and wrote…   

Sunday morning the kids transformed the ‘tent’ (dining room table pulled into the family room) back into a table and sat there for most of the session… the perfect place to spread out all their papers and crayons and take notes.  Despite a small ‘meltdown’ from Emily because she colored the apostles tie the wrong color, it was a great session… especially since Luke and Matthew were taking a nap.  We were once again 25 minutes behind ‘real time’ because of the kids detailed note-taking and they busted me for trying to fast forward through one of the songs.  ‘Mom, those are really good songs.’  I know, I know.  Sorry.  Emily was the one to finally get the first BINGO on her apostle chart.

Things we're looking forward to in October...

• enjoying the beautiful 'cooler' weather
• taking more Family walks around the block
• seeing Grandma and Grandpa and all of the Waltons
• making carmel apples
• trick or treating
• watching Ryan's soccer games
• decorating Halloween sugar cookies
• vacationing with Mickey Mouse
• eating pumpkin squares with creamcheese frosting
• watching General Conference
• enjoying a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner
• going to the Fire Station with Megan's Pre-K class
• eating at the Ward Apple Fest activity
• cheering for more BYU games
• visiting the kids school Halloween parties
• playing in the backyard
• encouraging Matthew to roll over
• shopping for Christmas presents!!
• getting exciting for Thanksgiving with the Christoffersons

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.

Nice to meet you

 

He stares and waits for that other little baby to smile. I don't know who cracks first but pretty soon they are totally grinning at each other and it makes them both laugh. It's one of those moments I had to run and grab my camera for. Boy, he's growing up fast.

"Is there sugar in syrup?"

Like Buddy the Elf, this kid loves syrup. Eggo waffles are optional, but syrup is a must. He's one of our pickier eaters... but a plate of eggo waffles always does the trick. Oh, and he REFUSES to wear a bib so I just took off his shirt. As you can see, syrup everywhere... even all through his hair. No, that's definitely not gel.






Trying to get out by himself now and mad that he can't quite do it... yet.

FHE on the Lake

We spent Family Home Evening with our friends out on Lake Oliver. They asked me to prepare a lesson so I looked for something fun we could do on a boat. A fishy lesson seemed just the thing. I pinned 5 laminated fish to balloons and threw them out to sea. Then with our nets we fished for fish stories from the Bible and then talked about being 'Fisher's of Men' like Jesus. It was fun. After our lesson we took turns wakeboarding and riding on the tube.




Amazingly, Andrew could not get Ryan to fall off. We kept thinking, 'oh, this time for sure' but nope, he just stayed on... and loved it.


This was Chris' third time wakeboarding and he's hooked. It was my second and I'd have to agree. It was really fun!

And for sure this little shredder couldn't be happier.

Thanks for a great night friends!

Stocking up

We don't even need jeans yet but I couldn't pass up the Old Navy $10 jeans sale. And then with my 10% off survey coupon that made them $9.00 each. Thank you Old Navy.

New jammies

Oh this matching boy thing is going to be fun.

See this...

This is what happens every single day. Little rascal (taught by sneaky and sassy older sister) finds bathroom stool or kitchen chair, drags them to the pantry, climbs up to rummage through snacks and cookies on high shelves, 'accidentally' pours over boxes of cereal, rips open bags of chips, drops cans on the floor, and brings all kinds of things... such as spaghetti sauce and apple juice, to me wherever I am in the house.
Well, no more, little rascal. The pantry is now closed.

One of Chris' Saturday projects included adding a very high latch to the pantry door. Unless Mom opens it, the pantry remains 'locked' and all food remains on its shelf. Clean. Organized. And free from rascal's little hands.

And who knew it would improve after school snack time? Pre-pantry lock the kids came home to find their own snack, get it okayed and start eating it only to be devastated if sister or brother found a 'better' snack. Believe me, there were tears and half eaten snacks daily.

Now, before the kids get off the bus and run into the house I have one or two snack options on the island... pretzels and raisins, cut up apples, warm cookies... The kids have loved it. They think it's a surprise, a special planned treat... like they have the best mom in the world or something. Little do they know it's only my plan to keep the pantry clean.

3 months old

He's 14 pounds 2 ounces - 53rd percentile

He smiles all the time.

He finds his fingers to suck on.

He giggles when we play with him.

He laughs when we tickle his neck.

He loves his swing.

He likes to be sitting up so he can see everything.

He's a fast nurser.

He goes to bed when we do (late) and sleeps for about five hours and then another three or four.

He takes long naps during the day.

He just had his second 'over the ear' hair cut.

He smiles every time Luke looks at him.

He enjoys being naked and getting his pants changed... probably because we smile at him.

His soother and a soft blanket by his face makes him fall asleep.

He wears 3-6 month clothes.

At night he sleeps in his little crib which has now been moved to our master closet.

On Dad's lap, he patiently waits for Chris to look at him so he can smile.

His grabs onto his hair and then cries because he's pulling so hard and he doesn't know how to let go.

He always calms down when we go outside in the humid heat.

He has beautiful navy blue eyes.

He goes barefoot all the time.

He's extremely wiggly in his bath.

He sits by Katie in the van right behind the driver seat.

Chris and I can't stop saying how adorable he is.

How are the boys doing?

These days it's hard to keep Matthew in a safe place. Really, there is no where big brother Luke can not reach him. Luke spends much of his day hoovering over Matthew... slapping his tummy, trying to pick him up, pulling him off the bed (yes, that happened), grabbing his toes and trying to drag him away, sitting on him, pushing his swing, getting on top of him in the exersaucer... you know, normal brotherly love kind of stuff.

The funny thing is that Matthew has not yet learned that Lukey is DANGER. Every time Luke gets close, Matthew smiles. He absolutely loves him.


And even though there are frequent mishaps...


it's still way more exciting than a pile of toys.

Chef Boyardee

Check out my new favorite commercial. My kids think I'm crazy but I can NOT watch it without getting the giggles. Just makes me laugh.

Kindergarten Class Picture

Getting in the 'back to school' spirit, my dad found and emailed this picture to me. I love it... I love all the suspenders, I love the messy chalkboard, the black and white photography, the 'Dick, Jane, Mother and Father' written in chalk... What a fun picture to have! Can you guess which one is my dad? I'll give you the answer in the comments.

First day

Cookies the girls gave to their teachers for the first day... idea stolen from my clever friend, Hilary.

Taking the kids to school on the first day was a family affair. Chris went into work late so he could be there for all the excitement. After dropping Ryan off at his Middle School we parked at the girls Elementary School, took a few pictures and walked in.

Megan was super shy entering her Pre-K classroom. Megan handed Mrs. Rowan the cookies and got a big thank you hug which made her smile. She found her name on her table and sat down ready to color as we left. When she got off the bus I said, "Megan, how was your day?" She said, "I sit beside Collin. I love him. I'm going to marry him." It totally made me laugh. Then I said, "So, who's idea was this... his or yours?" "Well, Collin said he wanted to marry me but Parker told me he wanted to marry me first." Wow, two proposals on the first day of Pre-K. I guess it was a good day.

Here's the rest of Megan's first day of school report... "First I goed in my class and I sitted by Collin and when my teacher telled me to do something I listened. I love my classroom. I hope I have a good time. I love to have rest time. I get a pad out and get my blanket and lay on it. I fell asleep at rest time. I love to play with Collin and Katie. At lunch I sitted by Amy and Katie. I had a capri sun... 'hey, mom, whenever I say capri sun that makes me want to have a capri sun.' My teacher's name is Mrs. Rowan. She has brown hair. She's beautiful and she's really nice and she's wonderful. And I love to go on the bus. I went on the bus with my two sisters. I love to carry my backpack all the time. I stayed in a line in the hall. I made a friend. I like the other Pre-Kers. I hope that they are having a good time too. I think I will have a good year at school."

Next we went to Emily's classroom. She met her teacher, dropped off her backpack and found her seat. No problem. She's quite sure First grade is going to be much too easy. ..... "On the first day of school I went inside my classroom and I saw my teacher. She is nice and kind. Her name is Mrs. Worthington. She showed me where my table was. Then I saw Bailey and Summer. I sit by them. They are nice too. I sat by Renee at lunch. I brought a lunch from home. It had a kit kat in it and a note from my mom and dad. I wrote on the back of the note so when my Mom opened my lunchbox she could see a note from me. Then I went to recess. At recess I played with Renee and I saw other people from my Kindergarten class. Then we went back to our classroom and we went to the carpet and we thought of the carpet rules. Then my teacher read a story to us. The book was called 'The First Day of School'. Then we read another story. It was called 'Frog goes to School'. Then we went to music. Then we went home on the bus. And when we got home Ryan, Katie, Megan and I ate cookies.

For Katie and Ryan's report... check their blogs.

We are ready!

I'm drowning a little bit. Drowning in 'Mom, I want a snack' and 'Mom, she was being mean to me' and 'Mom, I can't find my shoes'. Is it wrong for a mom to be so excited for school to start?

School starts tomorrow... yes, tomorrow, and ALL of us can hardly wait. The girls were saying yesterday, 'Why does summer have to be so long?' And although it seems like we're going back early we HAVE been out for a long time... 10 1/2 weeks of sleeping in, swimming lessons, family vacations, birthday parties, fun play dates, summer points charts, staying up late, fun visitors, BBQs and yummy margaritas and all kinds of summer fun. So it's no wonder we are all ready to get back into a schedule. Going to bed early, starting some extra curricular activities, practicing piano, doing homework, getting up early, re-starting a budget, exercising, reading scriptures before school, and did I mention going to bed earlier? Sounds like a plan.

Most likely I will still be drowning in 'Mom, I can't find my shoes' and 'Mom, where's my homework?' but with four kids gone all day, I'm hoping I'll be able to handle it.

Middle School, here we come.

Monday night was Middle School registration. We got a babysitter for the little kids and took Ryan and Katie to check out Ryan's school. A school schedule, bus pass, PTA sign up, and new gym clothes and we were off to homeroom. There we met his homeroom teacher, also his social studies teacher, found his locker and practiced opening it over and over again. Then we wandered the halls finding his classes...

Start at 8:15

Homeroom
1st class: PE/Health 6 and Careers: alternating every day. (PE all year long. Careers is made up of 9 weeks of ART, Technology, Computers and Home Ec.)
2nd class: Social Studies
Lunch
3rd class: Earth Sciences
4th class: Advanced Language Arts 6
5th class: Honors Math 6-7

Done at 3:15

Holy cow, we have a Middle Schooler!

Ready for Pre-K

Megan will be starting Pre-K in two days. Georgia has an all-day preschool program funded by the Georgia Lottery. It's in our Elementary school right down the hall from Emily's all day Kindergarten class room last year. The two Pre-K classes have tree houses, full play kitchens, giant alphabets, great teachers, cute daily schedules posted to the wall (complete with nap time)... and looks like any 'bored at home' 4 year old's dream!

Back in March we filled out an application knowing full well that these slots were highly sought after and hard to get... we just didn't know how hard. Turns out there were over 400 kids seeking 40 slots. That can't be right! And how do they decide who gets in? Lottery, of course.

In May we received the acceptance letter. We told her about Pre-K for the first time and she looked at us with a contemplating look. I added, "you'll get your very own new backpack" and that's all it took. Since then she's seen the classroom and it's been the talk of the whole summer... going to Pre-K, new clothes for Pre-K, being big enough to ride the bus home with the kids... and every time we talk about it she beams a "I'm a big girl" smile. How exciting.

Megan and I have had some cute conversations lately. Last week I pulled her up onto my lap and said... 'Megan, I'm going to miss you so much when you're at Pre-K' throwing in some fake and obnoxious crying sounds for effect. She looked at me and said, "Mom, you are making me cry." and sure enough her eyes were watering. I cut back on the dramatics and asked "Megan, what am I going to do without you?" Not thinking for one second that this was a rhetorical question she started in with her list...

- feed Matthew... more than just once while I'm gone
- play cars with Luke
- make lunch for you and Lukey
- blog on your blog
- put the boys to bed for a nap so you don't have to take care of anyone (Believe me, this one I didn't need help with)

Then she added, "Mom, can't you think of anything?" I'll try hard.

The other day I started up another conversation. "Megan, do you really want to go to Pre-K? Wouldn't you rather stay at home with me and do jobs?" "No mom. It's going to be fine." she reassured me. "Maybe your teacher is going to be a witch with a black pointy hat... or a pirate with a sharp curvy hook?" I said with big eyes. "Mom, all teachers are nice. It's going to be ok." "Alright..." I said reluctantly. "If you're sure."

Megan, I guess you're ready for Pre-K.