First day of school

Past and present--where exactly has the time gone?

Big girl Erin!

At the end of the summer Erin said she was ready to get earrings. She's pretty responsible for her age so we made the big plunge to go ahead and do it. Here she is at Claire's for her "before" shot with naked ears.


She got to hold this stuffed bear for support. She needed it, too. Even though we'd talked about the pain, it still hurt more than she wanted it to and she ended up crying.



The "after" picture (she picked such cute little pink flower earrings):

I think we may have traumatized the poor Claire's employee since she cried for a few minutes. I made sure we hung around the store for a few minutes so the employee could see Erin calmer--which she was after just 5-6 minutes. She really was a brave, big girl. I was really proud of her. See the smile just a few minutes later!

Andrew is blogging

Drew wanted to set up his own blogspot. You can find him at www.drewbieeee.blogspot.com

I'm hoping this will be a good opportunity to talk to him about grammar, spelling, etc. From the first couple of posts he's made, there's definitely a need for that!

Chicago vacation

The Dawgs took a quick 3-day trip to Chicago. Friends Scott and Elizabeth were nice enough to host us for 2 of those days. Erin now wants to live with their daughter Savanna...a built-in playmate who's lucky enough to have "Boy Barbies".

These are out of sequence. We went to the Shedd Aquarium, Brookfield Zoo, and Great America. This one is from the Shedd Aquarium.


Savanna and Lily, Elizabeth and Scott's adorable girls, at Brookfield. Lily is possibly the happiest baby I've ever been around (and that's saying something because Drew was incredibly easy).

Jumping around, this one is back at the Shedd.

The Brookfield Zoo parking lot!

Erin and Savanna checking out reptiles at Brookfield.

And back once again to the Shedd. We met up with a forum friend, Ann, who has 2 sons named Patrick and William (hmm, 2 boys for them, 2 girls for my other friends...). Erin is "helping" William wash his hands here:

No pictures from Great America but it was generally loved by all. Drew braved the Viper ride and LOVED it. He decided to wait on the American Eagle after seeing the large drop it makes. Erin, as usual, loved the carousel. It's a double decker at Gurnee so she got to ride on both the top and the bottom. Her only major complaint was the boat ride that splashes at the end. She didn't like the drop and most decidedly didn't like being wet on an upper 70 degree day. Otherwise--a big hit. We'll have to do King's Island next in a couple of years.

"Little School"

For about 3 years now I've been saying I wanted to run my summers like a mini-preschool. Then the reality of summer hits and I enjoy the freedom of sleeping in and doing things as the mood strikes us. Finally, though, we hit upon "little school". About every other day the kids gather around the kitchen table to hear a couple of Bible stories and learn a little. Drew's teacher gave him a rather ginormous packet of summer work (all optional, but worth a special lunch with her upon his return if completed). He's nearly done with it now. Erin has been working out of a cheapo Wal-Mart-type phonics book and is really getting the concept of initial consonants and the sounds they make. She'll likely be reading before kindergarten if she keeps it up, though we're in no real rush. To keep it interesting for them, we've thrown in the occasional science experiment, encyclopedia usage, locating on a globe, and google searching. A few weeks ago we did the quintessential volcano.

Here is Erin adding the red dye to the vinegar:


Drew gets the honors of pouring the solution:


Here we go! I know that the volcano is pretty lame (a water bottle with potting soil). The kids didn't care.

Success! Drew was stoked for a good 30 minutes afterward. He loooooves science.

Drew's baseball

For having all this time off I'm very derelict in my bloggin duties. Andrew was on the Richland Township Rockets this year. They were mostly young but improved a lot over the season. They also proved to be "comeback kids". After only winning one game during regulation, they went on to win a few tourney games and place 3rd overall!

Here is Erin with her friend Nola (whose brother was also a Rocket). I spent most of the games pushing them on swings and buying them snacks ;>p

I never got a group shot but here are two of Drew at bat. Last year it was coach-pitch; this year they graduated to a combo of team pitchers and the pitching machine. Huge difference.

The other day, as I was trying to tidy the house, I groused, "Is there anything around here I DON'T have to straighten up?"

To which Drew replied: "Yes. Your act."

Four down!

Andrew lost his fourth tooth last week. All 4 teeth have come from the bottom. I get so excited to think about the top teeth coming out soon. (The top left one has been loose for ages.) It will change his looks so dramatically!

The tooth fairy apparently ran out of presidential dollars and left 4 quarters instead. Perhaps the tooth fairy knows how much he likes to raid SEFE's snack machine after school.

If I've told you once, I've told you 59 times.

59 seems to be the magic number for Erin. She's told me 59 times she needed a glass of milk. She has 59 papers she needs to color. There are at least 59 toys blocking her way to the bed. How she has arrived at this number, no one knows.

School's in for Webkinz

Erin is really getting into playing school these days. I'm her favorite pupil. (Sample questions: "How would you feel if Jesus died? Sad? That's right! Goooooooood. Now, how would you feel if your mommy made you go to bed early?") She found a little dowel rod and uses it as her "teaching stick" all the time. Usually she wants to be Miss Shelby (her gymnastics teacher) but she also enjoys being "your teacher but also your mom."

I suggested she use Webkinz as teaching subjects since they're not as busy as this pupil. She really cottoned onto that and now she regularly holds sessions with 10-15 furry critters on my La-Z Boy recliner. Drew wanted to get involved one day as well and it was a hoot to watch them divvy up the animals and get to work. He had a batch of them on the bean bag while she was busy teaching her recliner group. I asked what subject he was teaching. He then informed me that he was in charge of the nursery for the day.

I'll try to get a picture of them when school reconvenes.

Only Drew...

Tonight we were at Overpass Pizza and the waitress came to get our drink orders. After much hemming and hawing, Andrew says, "Well, guess I'll just have the fresh brewed iced tea."

He's always doing that with menus and such. It's never, "Mom, can we play that cool game with the light-up spinner?" It's: "Mom, can we please play the Phonological Awareness Fun Park Game with electronic spinner?"

A couple of Easter pictures

Me and Andrew goofing around. I probably should've lightened up this picture first...but I look less scary this way.

Me and my beautiful girl!

They really do get along most of the time. *Crossing fingers and praying it lasts until adulthood*

Isn't the nose wrinkle the best?

Monsters vs. Aliens

Even Bruce came along for this one! 3-D movies are so cool. This has to be the best movie I've seen in ages...definitely good for the adults as well as the kiddos. I'm guessing these pictures might make the Dawghouse newsletter this year.

You should see them use their nightsticks as chopsticks

After gymnastics at Covington the other day, we enjoyed supper at the Chinese buffet. A couple of state police officers came in to eat about midway through our meal. Erin's eyes got as big as saucers and she turned to me and said, "Oh, no, Mommy! Cops!" (She's probably afraid of going to juvie.) I told her that police officers have to eat, too.

So she turns to Drew and says in a stage whisper: "It's OK, Drew. They're just HUNGRY."

Gram JJ's 90th birthday

She doesn't look a day over the "29" (as her birthday cake said)! She's still an awfully sharp cookie for a nonagenarian who's suffered a mild stroke. She beat us soundly at several card games that day. Love you, Gram :>)

Wizard of Oz

Drew was recently a munchkin and a flying monkey in FC's version of the Wizard of Oz. (Unfortunately, he had a fever for most of the weekend and only got to be in Sunday's performance.) Bad mommy that I am, I didn't get a picture of Drew in his munchkin or monkey getups. I did get these, however.

This is Erin with Rachel Butler/Dorothy.
And here's one with both kiddos and some of the cast. (I meant to crop myself out first...oops.)

Erin is now officially in love with all things Wizardly. We have had the DVD from Netflix for over 2 weeks and she's watched it repeatedly.

Oh, my

It's been so long since I've updated this. My original intent was to lay off the computer entirely for the season of Lent. Well, I've successfully stayed off of Facebook (except to accept a few friend requests) and Delphi forums, but the rest...well...

Everyone is doing well around here. We all went to Myers Dinner Theater yesterday as a family to watch Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was my birthday request--that we all go together. I think I'll stick to going with the gals from now on--Bruce isn't that big into musical theater and Drew just wanted to be home playing video games. At least Erin and I enjoyed ourselves. She still makes up little songs all the time. None involving John McCain lately, though.

Erin has a new phrase for me when I'm reading to her and pause momentarily: "Hurry up and read, fool!" This is undoubtedly from tv, but I was unaware that Mr. T. was on children's programming nowadays.

Drew wore a newly acquired red jacket today. With the hood up, it looks a little Red Riding Hood-esque. Somehow Bruce managed to get him to pick up a basket and trot around the house like that. But after a moment, he said: "Let's not speak of this again."

On a creepier note: Erin told me today that her baby doll was going to die today. It had gotten too old. She warned us not to step in any holes in the park because that's where she was going to be burying the baby. Eventually she did say she was "just fooling us", but that's kinda creepy talk for a four year old.

Speaking of fools: Both kids LOVED April Fool's Day this year. Drew got me good by telling me there was a 2 hour delay. We put food coloring in the bottom of Erin's cereal bowl so that her milk turned pink. She smiled with glee and said, "This is the best holiday ever!"

Yet another one from the "Where do they get this stuff?" department

Today the kids and I went to see "Hotel for Dogs." Cute movie, by the way, and perfect for my kids. (Gadgets and contraptions for him, animals for her.)

At the climax of the movie, the hotel gets discovered, animal control comes in, the cops come for the kids, etc. Pretty intense if you're 6 years old and watching the movie. Drew's a big talker through the movie anyhow (and this surprises...no one, right?) and this part was no exception. He's groaning, "Oh, no. Oh, no."

"Well, they can't go to jail." Big groan. "Looks like they'll have to go to JUVIE!"

Erin stuff

Erin has also had some good stuff lately. When I recently told her we had a problem, she said, "No, we don't. It's not a problem, Mommy. It's an IDEA EMERGENCY!" (This is from a Disney show, Imagination Movers, in case you're not raising a 4 year old yourself and actually watch grownup t.v.)

Then today, I took the kids to a McDonald's playland. Erin and I had to use the restroom that's in the playroom area--one of those one-room jobs. Erin went first and she then tried to leave as I was taking my turn. I (very forcefully) told her NOT to leave the bathroom when I was still in there. "Why?" Erin asks. "Well, honey, if you opened that door right now, everyone would see me going to the bathroom?"

"They would?"

"Yes, they would."

"And they'd take pictures?"

Um, noooooo. At least let's hope not. But at any rate, the door stayed closed, no pictures were taken, and my dignity is still somewhat intact. I'm not looking forward to staving off future bathroom paparazzi, though.

Ah, the sarcastic vernacular

Andrew's got it in spades. The other day he and Erin were rough-housing. Erin had him pinned down pretty good. He yelled, "Get off of me, woman!"

A couple of days later, Andrew and I were talking and she interrupted. He looked at her, pointed, and said: "Who invited you to this conversation?"

Fun with the Purdue women

Last week the Lady Boilermakers held a skills clinic after their game. Erin and Andrew participated.

Erin stayed pretty close to Drew's side the entire time.

I'm sure this was a drill but it looks more like they're background dancers for a Michael Jackson video. Note that Erin's not playing along so much. She got pretty intimidated after a few minutes and left the floor soon afterward.

Andrew, showing some intense focus:

My sweet valentine

Erin and I went to the Myers Dinner Theater in Hillsboro last week to see "Beauty and the Beast." She was enthralled by it and, somewhat surprisingly, was not afraid of the Beast. This was a special Saturday matinee just for kids--the meal had chicken nuggets and hot dogs and the cast made themselves available for pictures and autographs afterward.

Here's Erin with the young lady playing Belle. She's a student from North Montgomery High School and is quite talented...very sweet, too.

Here's Erin before her bun fell out! The Cinderella dress seemed appropriate for the occasion.

See the lighted rose? Mrs. Myers told the kids to make sure they didn't turn on their roses until Belle told the Beast she loved him. I think Erin had hers turned on within nanoseconds of Belle's proclamation.

Andrew in basketball

Now that the season's nearly over...it's time to finally put some pictures of Drew's basketball team. He is on "Team #3" (ah, such an original name) of the Fountain County Youth Basketball league. His division is all K-1st graders. It has been so fun watching them develop their skills. The first week, I think only 2 kids remembered to dribble (and that was with both hands!) Now they actually look like a team. Drew has had a blast playing and we've been very proud of him.

Such blessings

You know, when you're in the throes of raising young children, you don't know if you're doing well or not. If they're picking up on anything you're teaching them. If they're gaining any of the Christlike traits you want to instill in them.

I'm seeing glimmers these days.

Last week at church, Drew and Erin were sitting together a pew away from me. They stayed upstairs through the whole service and were remarkably composed for most of it (and when they weren't, they actually settled down when I gave them "the look"--heh, I always have dreamed of that day). At one point, Erin leaned against Drew in an "I love my big brother" sort of way. He leaned over and kissed her on her back. It was such a sweet, touching moment that neither of them know was witnessed by me.

Then, later that week, Erin wanted to play some card games with me. (Full disclosure: they were princess cards. Yeah.) Anyhow, the first 3 games were very typical four-year-old style: you know, where everything is manipulated so that the four year old wins, drama if it looks as though that will not happen, etc. But when we went back to playing those 3 games again, she surprised me. She said that she had already won 3 games and that it was MY turn to win the next 3. She put as much effort into my winning those games as she did into her winning the first 3. I was truly amazed. Let's face it--I play games for a living. Four year olds do not do this! Especially MY four year olds. But God has given her a heart that feels compassion for others. I am so blessed with these two children. By jove, with God's continued help they may just grow into compassionate adults even with all my flawed parenting.

Mi hijo, Andrew

A quick funny about Andrew today. He and I had a mommy-son date at the Purdue game today and then ate out. At the restaurant, we were seated near a hispanic family that included an absolutely adorable little girl (probably around twoish). She was having fun wandering and then nearly stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Andrew. (Isn't it amazing how quickly little girls can get enamored with older men? She had the biggest doe eyes when checking him out!) Andrew saw her, smiled, and said, "Hola!" I wasn't sure how to react but the little girl's mom said, "Did he just say, 'hola'"? and she laughed out loud. Of course, Andrew had no idea why we got such a kick out of this. The mom made sure to bring her by when they were leaving to say, "Adios!"

The latest funny stuff!

Drew, at church this morning: The junior church leader had kids come up with alternatives to "the world" in the song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". You know, stuff like, "He's got my Grandma Johnson in His Hands." Drew's contribution: "He's got a red Toyota in His hands." (We have a Mustang and an Escape. Neither is red. )

Erin, recognizing the room at church where she'd been the day before: "That's where we had our picture taken!" Then, fondly and reflectively (again, it was the day before): "We had such a good time."

Drew, at bedtime, after 20 minutes of silence in which his mother thought he was falling asleep: "You know, Mommy. You really should buy the Wonder Hangers. It comes with a set of 10 and they can hold five kinds of clothing on each one! Up to 20 pounds! And it also comes with 4 bendy hangers and 2 hang up closet lights. That's 16 things. And it's only $19.95. That's a good bargain, isn't it Mommy? Mommy? Why are you laughing, mommy?"

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Sillery

Smart thinking, Grandma and Grandpa Sillery. They knew she had a truckload of toys already so one of the Christmas gifts they got her was a subscription to Disney's "Princess" magazine. It arrived today and we spent nearly two hours with it. First we read the thing from cover to cover. There were some matching games and size sorting things in there, too. Then she wanted to color the pages inside it.
Ta da!

The magazine also had two posters to hang in her room and some cutouts. She enjoyed gluing some of the cutouts in a notebook and hopes to hand out her "friendship cards" at daycare tomorrow. I think she will be eagerly anticipating the next issue. How such a princessy, girly girl came from my DNA is still a mystery.

"Gramabby's" 60th birthday

Yesterday was my Aunt Abby's 60th birthday and her kids surprised her with a big old party, Johnson-style. It was nice to see nearly all the cousins again--most of whom I recognized ;>P

This is Aunt Abby with Uncle Tim and my dad.

Brother Adam with li'l Miles. He also celebrated a birthday this week...the big ONE!

I love this one of some of the kids. It's Eden, Erin, Elise, and my cousin Julie's son Richard. They were about the only kids not in perpetual motion at the time of this shooting. (Note that Drew isn't in the picture. He and Jean's boys, Marcus, Michael, and Mason, barely stopped for breath.)

I love this! Abby has 17 grandkids. Jean had each one trace their hand and write a message to her, then shaped the hands in the "I love you" sign to use as table decorations. Since Jerry's four kids are in Italy she had them send theirs in the mail. Apparently Canaan has always called her "Babby." Just adorable.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Uncle Dave is the biggest kid of them all. Here he is with Sophia and Michael...or is it Mason? A little hard to tell.

I am seriously bummed that my batteries died before getting more shots. There will be shameless begging on my part to get others' copies.

Birthday girl

Erin's fourth birthday was on December 31st. I'm no cake expert by any means (we leave that to sister-in-law Regina--she's so good it's staggering), but I hate paying lots of money for something that gets eaten quickly. So Erin and I made cupcakes together (Guess which ones she decorated?) and I surprised her with a pink castle cake.

A close up of our little Princess atop the castle. Yeah, I know that doesn't make sense. Luckily, at age 4 Erin doesn't have those higher level thinking skills to complain that princesses do not normally stand on the roof of their own castles.

Blowing out the candles:

I got no pictures of her with her presents. Bruce had put them (a giant kitchen set with play food, plates, etc.) in the laundry room temporarily until we could put on a bow or something. Unfortunately, she and Grandpa Johnson went to the laundry room to get some socks and discovered the loot by accident. Grandpa got a kick out of her jaw-dropping reaction: "Oh. My. Gosh. I've ALWAYS wanted these!"

We later celebrated at the Expensive Rodent Who Loves Pasta. All in all, a good day for our big birthday girl.