Happy Halloween!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

It's Time to Play...

...Do you know that Johnson baby?!

Who is Uncle Mikey holding in this photo?

Answer: Micah!

(people appearing in this photo are not eligible to participate)

A Week in Review

Things have been super busy around here

so we have not had much time to take pictures

or update the blog.

Here is what we've been up to this last week, enjoy!

Wednesday was Western Night at WNKOF

Here is a picture of my lil' cow pokes

all dolled up in there western gear.

The kids always have a lot of fun.

Micah has decided to be in the children's choir this year.

I am sure there will be some exciting performances

in the coming year!

Asa is finally able to sit pretty well all by himself.

We had a bit of a delay after his accident

because (A) I did not want to put him down and

(B) I would not let him fall.

So A + B = C

(C) Asa always assumed someone would catch him

and would dive at anything he saw

He is doing very well sitting now

and loves to sit and play his piano just like Wally.

Here is Asa and Wally enjoying their bomb pops.
Asa has been a bit cranky this week

and has been battling ear infections.

If you have not met Wally yet,

he is the international student that we have

the opportunity to host this year.

He has been a very good big brother to our crew.

We have been quite surprised.

I think we really just expected him to sleep,

eat, go to school, and study.

But, on the contrary, he plays with our kids a lot

and is really quite helpful and you might even say

protective of the kiddos.

(Like when Lily is about to fall off of the chair she is standing on

or Asa pukes in his bed and we don't know it)

I guess God knew we needed an extra set of hands around here :)

Grandma Peanuts (Geoff's mom)

used to pray with the kids when they spent the night

and she would ask God to let all the angels protect them...

"especially Wally"...

I think that is kind of ironic, eh?

Except, I think Grandma Peanut's "Wally"

was supposed to be a fish.

Oh well!

We are just hoping Wally can survive

a whole school year in our house.

It's pretty crazy around here!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AND LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TOOTHLESS WONDER SAYS...

"Are you 100% glad I've got a tooth gone?"

Micah has been waiting a long time for this.

It has been loose for a whole month.

He finally just pulled it out today.

Now it's on to 20 questions about the tooth fairy!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Asa just wanted to let you all know that he is doing lots better.

Thank you all for your prayers, please continue to pray for his healing.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

I am not a crafty,

but I was brave and went to sewing night at Jaime's house.

She was very kind to let me use her machine.

I was sure I would break it since my only sewing experience

was in jr high home ec. I think I fared OK.

I at least finished my bag and it only took 6 hours!

Thanks Jaime, Amy, and Jodi

for your patience.

Here is the pirate bag I made for Asa

I think he likes it and it fits him perfectly!

( yes, I already know I am a dork!)

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Well, we just got back from our family vacation

to the Northwoods of Wisconsin

(for those of you who don't know, that is where the hodags live)

...Go Hodags!

The kids did really well on the way up despite the 11 hour drive

and Geoff NOT getting lost twice ;)

Micah really enjoyed fishing this year and talked non-stop,

asking plenty of questions.

Gabi loved fishing too, Lily not so much.

Besides fishing, the kids had lots of fun

with their grandparents and cousins.

We visited a local wildlife park, did some shopping,

and ate lots of ice cream.

We found it very difficult to take pictures of our adventures,

with four kiddos there is just never a free hand!

Maybe next year Lily can be our photographer.

Uncle Mikey took some pictures you can see on his blog

http://michaelabbeybrooks.blogspot.com/

The trip home went well too.

We decided not to drive straight through on the way home

So we stopped just north of Milwaukee in West Bend

at a Country Inn and Suites

It was nice, I love hotels that include breakfast.

After we went swimming in the pool

and were figuring out our dinner plans,

I noticed a suspicious pair of pants under the chair.

They were obviously stragglers from a previous guest, YUCK!

We mentioned it to the front desk

and they graciously let us switch rooms

to the king size suite (I mean SWEET!) next door with the jacuzzi tub.

Asa missed out on all the yummy vacation treats,

but, now that we are home, we have started Asa on cereal.

As you can see he did pretty well,

guess you don't have to teach a Johnson how to eat!

He was helping mommy by the third bite.

Never a dull moment

My mom watched the 3 older kids for us Saturday night

so that we could go out to dinner and to a friends birthday party.

It was a nice evening, we had a lot of fun with friends, but made sure

to still be in bed by 11:30 pm because we were supposed to serve in

the nursery at church the next morning. But I should have known with the way

things have been going around here that the peace and quiet would not

last long. I was jolted awake at 3:00 am to the sound of Geoff's

"Kung-fu"ring tone, I answer the phone only to here my mom say

"Micah's having a hard time breathing, I am taking him to the ER" click...

FYI, my mom lives an hour away.

Micah was diagnosed with asthma about a year ago,

but has never had an asthma attack.

He just has had a slight wheeze at times when he was sick

and occasionally has a cough at night.

So, of course, I had forgotten to pack his inhaler.

I had however remembered to pack it up with his stuff for soccer camp

that was starting on Monday though.

So at 3:10 am we were on our way to Kokomo.

We talked to my mom on the way to get more details,

and she assured us he was going go to be OK.

By the time we got there Micah's big concern was

whether or not he would have to go home with us or

get to go back to grandma's.

We are very thankful that he was alright. We let Micah go back to grandma's house and headed back to Lafayette and were back in bed by 5:30, and yes we did manage to make it to the nursery the next day. Barely. We were out of Coffee!

So here are some interesting facts for you:

Last time my kids spent the night at my parents house, it was my dad who ended up in the emergency room. He went to return a video and got t-boned on us 31 and ejected 20 ft from his vehicle. Thankfully he too was OK. No major injuries not even a broken bone. Not sure that my parents are going to want to watch my kids over night any more though.

Asa's name means "healer" or "physician" so when he was born we joked with the doctor and anesthesiologist that he would be a doctor when he grows up. He is already becoming quite familiar with the emergency rooms. He has made 4 trips to the ER in his 4 months outside the womb (thankfully he was not the patient on any of them).

We made 3 trips to Kokomo and back in a 24 hour period. So that means we spent around $60 just in gas. And I thought hiring a babysitter for 4 kids would be too expensive!

Pirate Party Polka

Just wanted to share some pictures from Micah's birthday party. Everyone was a good sport about playing dress-up and we had a blast! Thanks for humoring me!

Grandma Pirate

Birthday Boy

Action Shots




























Pretty


Pirates























Scary


Pirates

























Grandpa


Pirate

Just Finished...

Micah's Pirate Cake

Tomorrow is Micah's 6th birthday

so we are having a pirate party with the fam.

They do not know it yet, but everyone will be

donning some pirate gear.

I will post pictures.

Can't wait to see grandma dressed as a pirate!

I call it "The battle at Treasure Island"

Rated PG for adventure peril

Experience has taught me I better document it now,

before disaster strike.

Micah

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

All I Ever Needed to Know...

I Learned in Kindergarten!!!

Ok, not exactly,

but it is amazing how much Micah has learned this year.

(and me too!)

Micah is a great reader

and also received an award

from his teacher for most improved handwriting.

He was given the character quality award for gratefulness.

It has been so neat to see him grow in these areas

where he had been struggling and frustrated

at the beginning of the year.

It is a great reminder

that if you are willing to do the work,

God can turn your weaknesses into strenghths.

We are so proud of you!

Good work Micah!

(Is it just me or is he sooo cute?!)

From the Johnson's

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

JAIME!!!

What are Little Girls made of?

Sugar 'N Spice, Everything Sweet, and Everthing Nice,

Girls are ruffles, bonnets, and bows,

Dimpled smiles and dancing toes,

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

L

i

l

i

a

n

a

*

G

r

a

c

e

************************************************

They're tears and giggles,

dolls and curls,

That's how it is with

Little Girls

Gabriella * Faith

Arrrrr Matey!

Mrs. Maxwell, can I date your daughter?

GABI'S FIRST SET OF WHEELS

BEEP BEEP HI!

Check out my sweet new ride!

Lily gives Gabi some driving lessons

as they drive off into the sunset. Faster than a speeding car!

What was Asa's first food?

DON'T KNOW?

FROG LEGS!!!

10 Things...

Oh the pressure! OK Jaime, here are my 10 things you do not know about me that I CAN post on my blog. Better late than never!

1. I was voted "class flirt" in high school. I am not sure how that happened since I was totally shy, but most of my friends were guys.

2. In elementary school I tripped in a pot hole and broke both of my wrists.

3. I did not like chocolate at all until I was pregnant with Micah. I even used to pick most of the chocolate off of my snickers bars.

4. I have a tattoo and it is not of a tree!

5. I almost dropped out of school to become an electrician.

6. I never finished my last class I needed to graduate college after Micah was born...it was a psychology class in child development.

7. If I was not wearing my contacts or glasses I would not be able to read a stop sign!

8. When I was little I had a recurring nightmare that I was kidnapped by pirates. Micah loves pirates, he has a pirate room, and when Asa was born (for a brief moment while they were sowing me back up) I thought he only had 1 eyeball and worried Micah would be jealous if Asa got to wear a real eye patch. It turns out he just has fat cheeks!

9. When I was in college at IU I had to spend a night in jail with 5 drunk sorority girls and a scary townie lady.

10. 5 years ago Geoff and I agreed that getting divorced might be the best thing for us. We tried going to secular counceling, but things never got any better. Then we were led to Faith. Geoff became a christian and we both learned a lot about God's plan for marriage and our lives. By His grace, He has changed our marriage and our lives in amazing ways, but we still have A LOT of growing to do.

11. Bonus fact! I still have to check and make sure all of my children are breathing before I go to bed.

So, did you learn anything new?

Gabi and her "special helmet"

About a month ago Gabi fell out of her bed and hit her head on the nightstand. Understandably, she was pretty upset. It seemed like she had bonked her head a lot recently so I told her jokingly, she needed a "special helmet". She of course insisted then on having a "special helmet" (why do my kids never get my jokes?) but this was all I could come up with on the spur of the moment. Well, tonight as daddy passed by her room he noticed she was standing on her bed (a big no no in our house) well she got a spanking for it. I explained to her daddy spanked her because he wanted her to learn to obey so she would be safe and not get hurt, that if she was standing on her bed she might fall and bonk her head. Well she of course said no she needed her "special helmet" I totally had forgotten about it, but she remembered.

By the way, the "special helmet" is not a towel, it is an old receiving blanket that the girls use for their baby dolls. (in case you want one too :)

Need a new do.

I am looking for a new hairdo. I am tired of wearing poney tails to work and detangling my hair from Asa's slobbery fists. My children have already vetoed this one, but I kind of liked it. The picture was bad to start with, sorry! The color is a little wierd as well, but you can get the idea. If you have any suggestions please let me know! Thanks!

Say What!?

Momma's Boys!



Asa had his 2 month appointment last Thursday, and as most of you know, he is a "healthy" boy. He weighed 15 lbs 2 oz, that is above the 100% on the growth chart. So I guess at our house we throw the word "fat" around quite a bit. We tell Asa he is a "fat boy" and he smiles. Mommy had a "fat" belly when she was pregnant. Micah is always talking about how much "fat" is in food, and what foods are healthy (Maybe he should do some marketing for Dream Dinners!) Daddy went to the doctor and decided it was time to shed his pregnancy weight! Well with all this fat talk at our house our children seem to have become desensitized to its meaning. Combine that with Lily's four year old honesty and "Houston we have a problem!"


Sweet Lily!?

Last night we were at my parents house to celebrate my sister in-laws birthday and as we are getting ready to leave...Lily runs full force, shouting "woowhoo" towards my dad (also a "healthy" boy) who is sitting in "his" chair and when she bounces off of his belly she tells him "you're fat grandpa". He tells her to be careful not to hurt Grandpa and that little booger in her most innocent, matter of fact voice comes back with, "that's what you get for being fat grandpa!" This was one of those moments where you wish you could mute all the laughter in the room as to not confuse her when you explain that is not nice to say. I do not think I will tell her anymore "that's what you get for disobeying mommy" when she gets hurt running through the house.

Buckin' the Bunny?

A Blast from Easter Past!

So Easter is this weekend, and I have not yet been Easter shopping. I have been procrastinating this and hearing my kids chatter about the jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, and washcloths (don't ask) the Easter Bunny will bring does not motivate me to go drop a fortune on candy and junk to fill their Easter baskets. Why do I have to pretend there is an Easter Bunny? I have never told them there is an Easter Bunny or a Santa Clause (it's those Grandparents of theirs!) Well this year I was thinking of doing something different, but I need ideas and opinions, I do not want to deprive my children of the joys of childhood. So here goes "Am I a bad mom if..." I don't get my kids an Easter basket? I was thinking that Easter morning I could give them each a balloon and an invitation to an Easter Celebration, that we would have after Sunday nap time of course. We could play games, talk about why we celebrate Easter, eat lots of candy, watch a movie, maybe give the kids a gift they could share, spend time as a family celebrating the resurrection. So please feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, or your own family traditions with me. I would love to hear them!