A little something before bed!

Koen decided on a bedtime snack of chocolate frosting! I think he looks a little like "the Joker" from batman! Why so serious? LOL! Anyway he is full of life and mischief and is always into something, this was one of the more sedate messes he has made in the last few months.

His smile will get him out of almost any trouble! And can you blame me!?

He loves to say "CHEESE" for the camera!

Computer Hostpital

This week our poor laptop spent the week in a bag of rice! Koen while watching Curious George spilled a little water on it and of course it got all over the keyboard that he had previously taken most of the keys off of!! we took the battery out and stuffed it in a bag full of rice and left it there for 4 days. Earlier in the week Koen had shoved marshmallow into the usb port on the key board that I bought to replace the one he popped all the keys off of and he broke open the mouse trying to get to the "pretty light". He is pretty busy with destroying stuff and last week it was my laptop! I was nervous about weather it would work still or not since Kevin is headed to China, I did not want to be without my online outlets while he is gone for two whole weeks!  I am happy to report that the laptop was released from the bag of rice earlier this morning and is expected to make a full recovery, including the use of a now put back together mouse and a clean once again USB port on the keyboard!

We are very blessed to have Koen in our home, he keeps things interesting and keeps me on task! We have implemented quite a few new "house rules" due to some of his more clever antics! I am also for the first time going to have to put locks on my doors to keep my child in!! A few days ago we had a great amount of snow in our yard and Koen was able to get out in it without a coat or gloves on, thankfully he had on shoes and he started crying once his hand got cold. The terrible thing about him being able to let himself out is that our doors are locked so that you can't get back in! So once he is out he is stuck until I realize he has escaped! Thank goodness our back yard is fully fenced and he can't get out the front door because it is to heavy, I have put bells on the doors to alert me of his break out attempts, but the last time he went out I watched him hold the bell silent!!! I have now put the bell higher than he can reach!! Koen has a devious little mind, and I mean that as a compliment. Sometimes I will allow him to do things I know he shouldn't just to see what he is going to come up with, I have been very surprised by him at times.

Tornados!

Friday school let out early due to impending severe weather and expected tornados in our area. I got the children off the bus and we began to make preparations in our cellar so that if we needed to go down there it wouldn't be to awful. I had the kids gather a change of clothing including socks and shoes and an extra warm jacket, we also gathered blankets, candles, flashlight, first aide supplies, board games, and food. Once we got everything packed into the totes we waited. Lexmark asked everyone to please go home so I went and picked up Kevin, then he vacuumed  the cobwebs out of the cellar so that we wouldn't have to deal with that. I made taco soup and the kids watched a movie, the sun was shining and the sky was a little cloudy but nothing looked to scary. Still the news said the storm was coming and that we should be prepared, so prepared we got!

I feel very blessed that the storm decided to pass by us but not touch us, and even though we were prepared we did not need to use any of our supplies! Kevin had teased me about some of the supplies that I had included in my tubs (toilet paper) but after reading of the destruction all around us he decided it was wise, since there was always a chance you could be trapped if something landed on the cellar door and we couldn't get out. I am grateful for the experience of being able to work with my family to get ready for this storm and every time we prepare for one we are a little more prepared for the next one. I am glad that we have never had cause to use our emergency supplies! And even though I did  feel a little foolish putting all these things in tubs "just in case" I am glad that I did, sometimes those bad things pass us by simply because we are prepared, and other times we are going to desperately need that preparation. So the lesson that I learned form this little experience is that I would rather feel foolish and be prepared or over prepared than be foolish and found lacking the necessities at the crucial moment!

The Wizard of Oz!

So recently Julianna, Kaiden, Evelyn, & Keith all decided they would like to try out for a children's production of the Wizard of Oz here in Georgetown. The day of the auditions came we walked in and Keith decided he did not want to try out anymore, we filled out the paper work on the other three they got their pictures taken and were waiting to do their reading when Kaiden and Evelyn both decided that they didn't want to try out either. Long story short Julianna was the only one to go through with the audition! She got a part as a munchkin and she is very excited for the rehearsals and performance, this is a large production so she will have rehearsals for 2 1/2 months before the production date in May.

This experience has got me thinking about my children and my perceptions of them. If you would have asked me who would have the easiest time at the auditions I would have guesses Kaiden, he is a ham and always likes to be performing for people. I would also never have guessed the Evelyn would become to shy to share her talent for drama with others. It makes me realize that we each have hidden depths that are not obvious to others, not even those who know us the best. These hidden strengths and talents are fun to discover in my children and it just goes to show that each of us has unmeasured potential. I believe that our Heavenly Father is the only one who truly knows what we are capable of and that is why it is so important that we don't judge each other. I think to often our perceptions of others are skewed by a single incident or conversation and we don't allow for personal growth. If we constantly try to fit people into the boxes that we perceive they should fit into then we will miss out on all the wonderful things they could have offered! I would never have suggested that Julianna audition for a play, of all my children she seems the least like me. However after I sat and talked with her about her feelings and experiences with performance she is EXACTLY like me! Her description of her feelings right before she steps on stage and what it feels like during the performance are exactly what I used to feel when I would perform! I am excited for her and all the fun she will be having with this show, I am also grateful for the lesson that I feel I have learned about my children!

Happy Valentine's Day

These are pictures I took right before Christmas trying to get a good photo of the kids for our Christmas letter!

This is the one I decided on.



So it's Valentine's Day and so far so good! I got to sleep in a little this morning. The kids woke up excited for their class parties, after eating breakfast and the usual scramble to get ready Kevin checked and realized there was a two hour delay for school. The kids played quietly so they wouldn't wake up Koen and when the time came they watched diligently for the bus for about 30 minutes before I decided to check and see if school was canceled, it was!! They are all very disappointed, but I told them I was sure their parties would be held tomorrow.

Kevin of course still has to go to work, and I still have to open the scrapbook store! So I got the kiddos in the car and headed to wal-mart to pick up some behavior bribes for the day! When we get home we will try to get the house under control before Kevin comes home. Kevin and I were planning on having an evening out but unfortunately I was unable to find a babysitter so we will instead be having a quiet evening in.

I had a pretty big Stampin' Up! party a couple of weeks ago and that order came in today! It was like Christmas! I spent almost an hour sorting all the orders and figuring out who's was who's, all I can say is I wish more of it were mine!!

The first was my birthday and even though I spent the day without Kevin, it was over all a relaxing day. I was able to celebrate more with friends on Sat. and had a great time out shopping and then ending the evening with dinner out! My pregnancy goes well, I keep getting asked how far along I am and I honestly don't know. I hate keeping track of how far along I am because then it feels like time is moving so slowly, I like to instead just be surprised when the time comes!! I am still wearing my regular clothes although they are starting to get a little tight! I wish I could justify buying new maternity pants but I just can't bring myself to spend so much on a pair of jeans I will wear for less than 3 months! I almost caved and used my birthday money of some but then of course Michael's had to have a sale on paper and let's face it when it come to a choice between clothes and scrapbook supplies I will always choose scrapbook supplies!!! The paper I got is super cute and is going to make an awesome baby book for this beautiful little girl when she arrives!

Kevin has upped his running, the other day it raining "cats & dogs" but he went out anyway he came home looking a little drowned! Sat. if was freezing and he was tired, I could tell he didn't really want to go because he kept finding reasons to put it off. Finally he went and he came home looking like a popsicle. I am happy that he has set himself this goal and that he is sticking with it no matter the weather. I find it helps me to be a little more determined in my own goals.

Julianna wants to try out for a play so we will see how that goes! I really want her to, I loved being in plays when I was younger. She has been in a few and has really enjoyed them, the only downside to this play is that the production dates are the same week I am due and I am not sure how we will work that out yet. She is starting to enjoy reading more, she is on book two of the Percy Jackson series. I loved those books so I am glad that she is getting into them.

Kaiden told me the other day that he would like to start running again now that the weather is good! I am hoping that we can work that out for him. He is doing really well in school, and loving Cub Scouts. He has started reading the Artimaes Fowl series, I hope he likes them! He is my official picker upper, anything that is on the ground he picks up for me so that I don't have to bend over! He also carries all my stuff that is to heavy for me, I love that he is so willing to help me out. This morning he simply picked my shoes up off the floor and handed them to me, it was really nice.

Evelyn is such a sweetie pie, she always has kind and loving words to share. She is not really asking to do any extras right now. She spends her time scrapbooking as much as possible and is almost done with her first 12x12 album, she calls it her friendship album she is putting a ton of pictures of her friends in it. She also recently started reading the American Girl series about Molly, so far she is loving it. Evelyn will read a chapter and then have either Kevin or I or Julianna read her the next one. This system seams to really help her have the patience to read the longer chapters.

Keith is turning into quite the little jokester, he is always trying to catch me off guard and play a prank on me. He is also very helpful, when we are working on our chores he is always coming back after a task and asking me what he can do next. He loves kindergarten and he has a little crush on his teacher! He is so cute when he is getting ready for school he has to make sure he looks just right. Sometimes I catch him checking himself out in the mirror, once he was saying to himself "oh ya, I look good." it was sooo cute!

Koen has suddenly become very needed and clingy but only with me. He woke up in the middle of the night a few nights ago and climbed into bed with us, however he was not satisfied until I was holding him! He now like to sleep with me hugging on him, this is nice for a little while and then I get stiff from not being able to move. I like this phase because it gives me snuggle opportunities but I do hope it is a short phase. He is really into Curious George and I can park him in front of an episode anytime I need to get something done without him under foot.
Koen loved being in the tree!

It's a New Year!

So it is a new year and just like last year I will make the goal to blog more, add more photos and do more projects! Right now I am sitting at the kitchen table withe my kids, they are doing homework and it is (according to Keith) poring snow outside. I am hopeful we will get a SNOW day tomorrow and we can catch up on all the house cleaning that I don't seem to have enough time to do these days. We are all excited for this new year and the fun things that will happen in our family! We will all have some birthdays hopefully getting wiser and not just older, in May we will be having another baby join our family (a little girl), and in June we will go to the Johnson family reunion! That is not all! We will enjoy some time in northern Utah with the Gevas' and then we will get to go to California to visit grandparents and the rest of the Gevas herd! We are hopeful that we will also make it to Virginia again this year, School starts up again in August so we will see. I am hoping for a peaceful and laid back fall!! I am sure I will be disappointed! Well these are the plans we will see what happens!

Halloween!

So Halloween was good, the kids enjoyed the Trunk or Treat they got a ton of candy! On Halloween night Julianna had a friend over and we went out from 6-8pm. We will probably have candy until the end of the world it was ridiculous!