Happy Birthday!

We celebrated my Dad's birthday last night with all the kids taking Mom & Dad to Pinnacle Peak Patio. Sean had never been & it had been awhile since I had gone too. It was nice enough outside that we got to sit outside & listen to the band play while we ate!!!


Chino, eating his "well done" steak...
Sean, showing me exactly what he thinks of my need to make every occasion a photo shoot...
Phily & Nanc
The band sang happy birthday to Dad & we all got to join in & yell & clap :)
Dad, blowing out his candle

It was really nice to be all out together! Happy Birthday Dad!!!

shaggy no more!

To say the boys were getting a little shaggy is an understatement!!! I've been putting off getting their hair cut & putting it off. Several people kept asking me why I don't just cut their hair. They are boys, right? How hard could it be?
I know my mom cut our hair growing up, so I decided to let her be my guide, & go for it!!
Here is Joey's mop before...
Joey was ok at first, but slowly, it turned into some serious unhappiness!! Which led to, the not best hair cut in the world. Not the worst, though, thats for sure!







patience wearing thin...

needless to say.. Sean want to have someone help me "fix" Joey's hair.

Sammy did pretty good, once a lolipop was involved.
nothing better than hairy lolipop!!!

Sam, checking out his new do.


With how fast these boys hair grows, I'm gonna have to up my cutting skills for sure. Not a bad start! Thanx for all the help mom :)

just playin

One people to another: "what are you doing?"
- "do you have a hammer?"
- I don't have math powers, I have pattern powers.
-lets get in the bus & go!!!

tonight I saw Sammy playing in his bedroom, making the peoples talk to each other. Cutest ever!!!! I LOVE my boys :)

Sean on his mission in Plattsmouth Nebraska 2002

Missionary Glory days back in Plattsmouth Nebraska 2002. The other two missionaries are Elder Proctor (the brown haired elder) & Elder Bjelde (the blonde)
Plattsmouth Nebraska was one my ultimate favorite places in Nebraska. The small town life style with Bellevue only 10 miles away, made for a very nice place to live. I wouldn't mind going to Law School at UNO or UNL if they have a law program.

My helpers

Tonight I tried a new biscuit recipe to go with our pork chops. Sam, the chef, had to help, of course! He loves to stir & pat & mix. He always pushes the chair up to the counter & stands with me. Joey was whining walking around us, when I realized he was probably just lonely on the ground. So I put him up on the chair with Sam, & life has been great ever since :)
After we finished cooking, they watched a little umizoomi on the laptop. Seeing them together on the chairs made me smile.
When Joey saw the camera, he actually stopped to smile.


seriously.. that little chubby face just makes me smile :)!!!!!!
These boys are in desperate need of haircuts!! But I just keep putting it off...soon!!!
Today we went to school at grandmas & the boys got to play with fun toys & Sam got to practice his shapes & colors. Later on in the day Sammy asked me if he could go back to school with Grandma. I guess she is doing something right :)
I was trying to organize some closets & drawers when I found one of Joey's baby toys. It is a sun that plays "you are my sunshine" when you pull a little butterfly down from it. Sam kept playing with it & then soon he started telling me to cry. So I would pretend to cry & then he would pull the string to play the song & he would say- do you feel better now? I'm not sure why he kept doing that, or where he was getting that from. Silly kid!!!

potty time!!!

Today Sammy came to me 2 different times to tell me he needed to use the big boy potty! I of course, rushed him in & let him sit on his little potty. I was so proud of him!!! We stopped & got him an ice cream cone & praised him over & over again. I could definitely get used to not having to buy so many diapers.. or change so many diapers!!! Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. I wanted to wait til he was really ready. I think that time is here!! I'm not sure I'm ready to let him go in underoos just yet.. but we are getting there!!!!

We are family!

Last night Sean told me I had to come look at our boys. I told them they could watch a cartoon before they went to bed & Sean found them cuddled up on the couch together :)

I've felt overwhelmed in my life this past year, but every time I see my boys in moments like this, I feel ok :)

I recently have felt like my life is finally together enough to try to organize my house a little more. Slowly, I'm getting a few things done at a time. It is going to take probably until the day we move though. I've also started working on improving myself in different ways as well. I started comparing the two & realized that the frustrations I feel in changing myself shouldn't be too severe. If it is taking me every day, a little at a time, to organize my house, should my personal transformation be any different? A little at a time, every day, I have to keep working on making myself better & not expect an amazing transformation all at once.
Last night I asked Sam to pick up some scattered toys around the family room. He finally got them all in one place, but couldn't seem to pick them all up at once. I kept telling him that he could take a few, & then come back for the rest- that it wasn't so important if he took them all at once, just that they made it there. I think Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something in those little moments!!

A Johnson Saturday

Today was a good day. When I was dating Sean, I loved how we always took little trips & did outdoorsy-type things. I'm glad that it hasn't stopped after marriage :)
Last night Sean started smoking this pork shoulder, one of his favorite past times!


He smoked it & then slow cooked it with pecan wood & it was amazing, as usual. We invited his sister to eat it with us.
This morning we found Joey chilling in his car with a bottle. Sean thought it was adorable & had to capture it.






Why do I always think of Joey as this little tiny baby that dosn't walk around still? When he walks over to the car & opens the door & gets in, it just makes me laugh. Isn't he too little to do this still?? I love hearing little footsteps & expecting Sam to round the corner, only to see Joey waddling around.

So Sean & his sister decided we should eat our great smoked shoulder in cooler weather, & we took a little drive to picnic eat outdoors. I guess we didn't realize a storm was coming in! It hailed SO hard!! I thought for sure there would be damage! It looked like a winter wonderland & the temperature dropped at least 30 degrees in a matter of 10 minutes.
there was this crazy fog all around us. It almost seemed like a dream.




Joe & Sam thought it was pretty much the most exciting thing ever!
Sam was running around & jumping up & down & laughing & giggling. It is so awesome to have little kids to remind me how fun the little things in life are!


We were enjoying the nice cooler weather earlier in the day when we heard this noise starting to come towards us. At first I thought it was a truck coming closer & then maybe even a storm starting to roll in. Then the noise came so fast & I looked up- there were 2 jets flying very fast & very low right overhead. The noise was so intense that Joey fell right onto his face & starting screaming. Sam & David were playing a little ways away & came running towards us crying. I have never heard something that intense! It was a crazy moment. It went as fast as it came & it took a good minute to calm the kids down. Weird!!!
Our boys are awfully lucky to have a dad who loves adventure :)

24

In the past 24 hours Sam has:
*revealed a bruise covering his entire forehead
*had a run-in with a rose bush that took a few swipes on his face, including his lip
*bonked his head on the bathroom counter right before a bath which caused him to bite his tongue (not very badly, but enough to draw blood) in 4 different places
*ripped part of his big toenail off- also unsure of how this happened.

Can we say accident prone?! what am I going to do with this child??!!!

Sammy-isms

notice the beautiful bruise covering Sammy's forehead. Origin... undetermined. Surprising? Not in the least.
This morning Sammy was messing around with something in my room, I can't really remember what. I said- "Sammy, that is mommy's. Please do not play with that."
Sammy: "you mean Julia Johnsons'? "
Me: (laughing) " Yes Sammy, Julia Johnsons!"

this afternoon I was playing around on the floor with the boys & layed down after running around a bit. Sam came over & started touching my face & smiling.
Sammy: "mommy, your shirt is pretty. It has black & it has pretty."
this made me smile very big
Sammy: "your teeth are very pretty. Mommy, you are pretty!"
made.my.day :)
later on...
Sammy: "mommy, I want to be pretty like you"
this boy know how to smooth talk!!!!
how could I ever live without this crazy boy!!!

videos

Here are a few Johnson gems :)
The first one was while we were camping last weekend. Sean & I agreed that it was a classic home video installment!

This next one is Joey clapping & dancing to Umizoomi, Sam's favorite show.

Lindblom living

This past weekend we went camping... again. A practice that has become much more frequent now that our trailer is prepared for take off :) But this time the Johnsons were joined by parts of the Lindblom family! Hooray!! I have wanted my family to join us for such a long time!!!
We left the valley on Thursday so we could make sure we actually had a place to camp. We went up to Bear Canyon Lake & it was for sure a busy weekend!!!
To say my boys got dirty would be an understatement!!! Minus the deer in the headlights look, my boys had a look similar to this for most of the trip...
luckily, we have an awesome trailer with a bathroom & a tub so I can scrub those boys clean every night :)
Sean messing around with the boys
for some reason, Joey really liked this particular log. He went all over the place, but would always end up back here, climbing around.


Joey is definitely starting to try new things. He was walking all over the place- more frankenstein like than real walking. By the time he reached were the kids were all at playing, they were ready to move on & he would be left alone. Pathetic, & funny at the same time.

We got all clean & teeth brushed & all for the rest of the family to join us the next day!
Joe loved having Sean throw him up in the air!
the boys, out exploring.




On Friday night the Dillards, Nancie & Des all joined us :) Then next few days were spent eating, making smores, playing, playing lots of games.. & many drives to the bathroom.
the perfect marshmallow roasting stick.. for breakfast smores :)

all the boys + Kate (hey, that sounds like a tv show :) ) went to the lake to find crawdads & fish a little.
random picture in the wrong place of Joey hanging out at the tents :)











I could never fail to mention Roxy's newfound love.... Max. She tried to crawl into their tent every night & who found Roxy when she wandered too far? Max, of course :)
queen of the log
Sleeping on the way home.

we had such a great time & I'm so glad that our family was able to finally get together & enjoy the nice cool-er weather! The boys loved having other kids to play with, I loved having people who actually want to play games with me, & Sean liked having conversation with someone other than his girly wife :) Can't wait til the next time we can all do it!!!
ps- thank you JoDee for bringing a ginormous tub of licorice so that I could enjoy a nice 3 day sugar feed :)
pps- RANGO!