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!

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!!

Oh, that Boy!

Oh...how I love that boy! It has been so much fun to see Jonah's personality come out! He is so sweet and so silly. Now, he is 4 1/2 months an starting to interact so much more.

Now, he has graduated from playing with toes to eating toes!

Our little "dash ornament" in the RV!!! Before you judge us, we were loading the RV and were parked!

Refugio...

This was our 1st time camping at Refugio. We LOVED it there! We had the most beautiful weather and loved the private cove at the beach. Hope we an go again next year!

There was a dead shark on the beach. Josh and Julia were obsessed with it and had to have their picture taken with it!

Jeremy's surfing had improved a ton. He would go out on his own all throughout the day! So fun for daddy!When Josh went to the RV to change into his trunks, he also decided to change into Sophie's cone for her stitches! Such a silly boy.
Julia insisted we took pictures on the beach....all the pictures that I have of the kids are missing Jonah (since they were before he arrived). It makes her very sad to see pictures without him in them. So, we took pictures of all of them. So glad we did!



This seems to be becoming a tradition. On our way home from the campground, after we are all packed up, we stop to take a group picture. Pretty scroungy looking after packing up from a camping trip! Maybe we should take the picture wen we arrive instead. Hmmmmm????

All for the Greater Good....

So, as I sit here, I just got through hearing Jonah cry himself to sleep again. It is so funny to me that I am such a wimp when it comes to him. With the other 4 children, I think I got wimpier each time, but this takes the cake. It makes me laugh when I think about how we thought their grandparents were such softies and now that it us....I can't imagine what kind of grandparents we will be! Jonah is the absolute happiest baby...even more than Josh was. He smiles at any and everyone and we can even make him smile when he is crying. Such a sweet boy. It makes me so sad to allow him to cry but I know it is important for him to sleep and to learn how to go back to sleep when he wakes up. I'm just hoping this phase is over quickly.....I wonder if this is how God feels when He sees us sad? Loving every minute of this baby and just can't get enough of him!

What's not to Love????........

We just got back from our annual Newport Coast Marriott trip with our dear friends, the Modugnos. My kids say this is their favorite vacation. It was fun taking Jonah there this year, even though he decided to wake up every night we were there...a little challenging with 7 people in one bedroom! :) We had beautiful weather for a few days and rainy weather for a few days. There are so many activities at the resort and close to the resort, that the kids can't seem to fit it all in! This year we got a room near the outdoor recreation area, indoor kids club and pool. It was a great, central location for the kids to keep busy. We had another memorable trip and seemed to end way too fast!

The staff put on "pool games" for the kids. Everyone was "in" as soon as they found out there were prizes to be won!

The kids also decided to participate in a ping-pong tournament!...more prizes

Then, Daddy and Jeremy took an afternoon to golf at Pelican Hill, which kind of wrapped around our resort and had such a beautiful view. The above picture was taken by me from a rode just above our room.


The kids also love the pool area...where there are 3 pools, 2 Jacuzzis, a giant chess game, ping-pong tables and a pool table!

Jonah stuck his feet in the water for the 1st time and loved it! It cracks me up how much attention he got...you would think he was a celebrity!

The beach was beautiful!!! We couldn't have asked for better weather. We spent the day near the pier in San Clemente. Unfortunately, we could only go to the beach once, due to the rain that came during our week. :(









On the rainiest day, we had to think of an indoor activity to keep all 6 kids (not counting Jonah) busy. So, we went to The Cube. It is a science discovery center with tons of hands-on activities. The kids loved it!The above picture is a simulation of a tornado...the kids could touch it and even stand in it!
Julia played "goalie" in a pretend hockey game, where hockey pucks really flew out at her.

All of the kids got to experience laying on a bed of nails.

And....lunch at the Taco Bell inside. There were SOOOOOO many more activities in the center...these were just a few!

On our last day there, Jonah discovered his toes and played wit them all day! I love it!
Daddy had to leave the night before us to go to work. This is a picture of the kids and I on our last night in our bedroom we all shared!