Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Sweet little buddies- Then and now....

So, when I was digging through old pictures, looking for the pictures of Josh and "fishie B's", I was flooded with so many memories that seem so long ago, and seem like they were only yesterday at the same time. They bring joy to my heart, yet make my heart heavy because they are a reminder of how fast time flies. I don't want my babies to be older this quickly. I dread the day when they are all out of my house. I could cry thinking about it. I love having a full home with lots of activity going on. (There are those days, I admit, when I am starving for a quiet house...however, I am often more thankful for the noise)! Anyway, when I was looking at old pictures this one of Josh and Julia came up. It looked familiar because I had just taken one of them like this, this last summer. I had to post them side by side to see the difference. These 2 children are so precious to me. I love their relationship. I remember how shocked and overwhelmed I was when I first found out I was pregnant with Julia. It seemed, at the time, to be a bit too soon. However, the fact that Josh and her are so close in age, has allowed them to have such a precious friendship. They play all their little pretend "kitty games" together for hours. He can beat up on her from time to time, but overall, he takes really good care of her. I hope they grow up to be close friends always!!! God knows what He is doing and it is so nice to rest in that, even when I initially think my plan is better! :)

"Fishie B's"

Ok....this is a long story that I will try to make short. When Josh was born, he got PJ's and a blanket from Gymboree from my grandparents that had little fish and turles all over them. This is a picture of Josh as a newborn wrapped up in them.
This became the blankie he carried everywhere. When he was little, he couldn't say "fishie blanket" so for some reason, it became named "fishie B's" by him.
To this day, Josh still sleeps with them and still calls them "fishie B's"...if you can believe it!
Well, to his surprise, I pulled out the Pj's that match it, and put them on Jonah the other night. As if he didn't already love Jonah enough before........Now he said, he can just sleep with Jonah instead of his blanket!
The PJ's are a MUCH brighter shade of white.....but, the blankie has held up rather well for 8 1/2 years, considering it is slept with every night!!!!

Awana Drive In...

I always dread this night.....the night where they all have to decorate a box to watch the movie in and get it judged for prizes. You should see some of the boxes that the parents go "all out" on. Last yearm I sent them with no box. 4 boxes to decorate is a bit much. This year, we made a flower for Julia and jeremy helped josh make a "tank". jake had a plna, a box and paint but ended up staying home with H1N1......thei first of our vicitims......



Boy Birthday...

Jeremy's birthday was rather spread out. He celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson early, because they were leaving town. On his birthday, he opened our gifts (but we had already given him a wetsuit for his birthday in Refugio). Then, daddy made a big breakfast for him, and that night we went to Macaroni Grill wiyh his Aunt and Uncle.
His party was a week later. He simply wanted a couple of his closest friends to spend the night. It is so nice when birthdays simplify as they get older. He ordered In-N-Out for dinner and Banana Cream Pie from Marie Callendars for dessert.

Of Course, daddy had to get in on the X-Box
!
Andrew thought it was fun to wrap his gift in a pink, flower bag!

Next:Rock Band

Julia was excited that Cory's hair was a bit longer than her brothers. The next morning, she decorated him with curlers!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

My First Teenager....

Well, on November 1st, I became a mom of a teenager for the 1st time. I dreaded this day for years, yet nothing actually feels different. The kids have gradually been growing older every day, and unfortunately, I have had to get use to that fact. Every stage has brought such fun times. I feel so old having a teenager. Yet, in the same year, I had a baby. So funny! I can't imagine my life without Jeremy. He is such a hard worker, is self-motivated, a goal-setter, (stubborn), and huge helper to me around the house (with the baby and my honey-do lists)...when he wants to be :). He is funny, loves adventure, always pushes himself to the next level, wants to do right, loves learning new things, and is very independent. This year he has improved in guitar and has taught himself songs from youth group, he has learned how to surf totally independent of Louie, he has learned to build things with wood while using Louie's saws, he has started golfing alone with dad, he has developed a desire to search God's Word for answers, he has become a sweet big brother to baby Jonah and so many more things that I can't even think of all of them right now. I have been blessed by him for 13 years. Not all of them have been perfect. My relationship with him has revealed to me many of my own weaknesses and sin. I see my flaws in him. It is both humbling and rewarding. I do love that boy so much and am so thankful the Lord has entrusted him to me for the last 13 years. I pray that there are many many more to come!

Halloween 09

Well, it was another Halloween without daddy. :( And, it was Jonah's first Hallowen. :) Daddy also decided to take the kids to Lombardi Ranch to each pick out a pumpkin to carve. They had so much fun. I almost don't have a stomach for cleaning them out anymore but the kids loved it. They cleaned ot the seed and we roasted them...yum.


It was a bit of a challenge to get 5 kids ready by myself but we did it! It just took a bit longer than I had expected! I think they all looked really cute!Here's little caterpillar Jonah!

Here are all the kids before we went down to the Hartungs to trick-or-treat!
This is part of our group before we took off for houses.

My dad came this year and Stef's dad was there again. We were thinking back to the fact that these 2 dads started taking us trick-or-treating 29 years ago, and here they are taking our kids. So precious....I love it! Overall, it was a really fun night. Most importantly, the kids got tons of candy and handled all of their trading at the end. We will have this candy until after Christmas if mom doesn't secretly dump it sometime in the near future!!