What The Flys On Our Walls See

this happens a lot in our house. addison and i may have just a bit of an unrequited love affair with the stage, which results in us finding cheesy pop songs, cranking the volume and dancing and singing - loudly - with meat basters for mics.

it's normal.

i'm serious.

it's just too bad the video i took of annie lip-syncing is riddled with me pretending i'm live on broadway...so you don't get to watch. apologies.

but check out how much ferris loves to sing and dance.

Jasper's Big Three

jasper turned three years old yesterday at 6:26am. it really does seem like just one second ago he was crawling and cooing and now he's a walking, talking 3-year-old. amazing. he has accomplished much in this past year: he's mastered the art of babble and darn near everything that comes out of his mouth is clear and comprehensible; he is diaper-free - marking it the first time in almost 5 years that we will be a diaper-free household - and except for a small hang-up with the #2 end of things, he gets it; though we haven't enforced it, we have been able to get him to try a few bites of new foods simply because he's old enough now to negotiate. (he doesn't realize it yet, but his days of chicken nuggets are seriously numbered...like down to single digits).

anyway, our little boy is growing up and growing fast. he's sprouted to within about 1 inch of his sister's height and folks are often shocked that he's only two - well, three - because he's as tall as most of the pre-k'ers in annie's class.

and so yesterday was the big day. and jasper knew it. ask him what day it was and he'd say, "MY BIRTHDAY!" ask him how old he was and he'd show you his fingers and say, "FREE!" he was incredibly patient with presents. we let him open a couple in the morning and then we made him wait until party time. annie and jasper both helped me make the cupcakes and annie set the table up for the party all by herself. the cousins came over and mama lola and papa jack and we opened some more presents and had some cupcakes and ice cream and lemonade and then went outside and had a monster water balloon fight.

and as testament to how big annie is getting, she not once asked if there were any presents for her - fully understanding it was jasper's day. she was a good sister and a great sport and it paid off because jasper's biggest present was really a present for both of them - their own Gator!

you should see the comraderie between the two. jasper loves to drive but he can't steer very well, so annie mans the reverse shift and when jasper gets too close to a tree or something, she throws it in to reverse and tells him to go. if it's a real tricky jam, annie gets out and takes over driving and then once their clear gives the control back to jasper. without a fight. it's weird. but sweet. i really did think they'd throw down over it though, but nope, both are equally happy driving and riding along. annie thinks we need to pack the gator in the car next time we go to the farm so she and jasper can help mama with the chores.

jasper must have thought it was a pretty good day because, when he woke up this morning the first thing he said to me was, "It my birthday again?"

Tigress Woods

we took a family outing to the driving range last weekend, and boy did i need it. it's probably been a year since i've last taken out my golf clubs. i should really do it more often because 1.) i enjoy it and 2.) i have to relearn every single time i play because i wait so long between times.

anyway, this outing wasn't really about me. it was about the punks. getting them out there experiencing something new so one day we can golf together as a family and annie can freak out and throw her clubs and say "i quit" 1700 times just like i did when my parents tried to help me figure out the world's most frustrating game...

for now, though, we focus on fun. annie's got her own set of real clubs now, so we figured we better get her practicing. i don't know if it was beginner's luck or what, but the girl was really hitting the ball well! addison was working with her on her grip and stance and she was really focusing and really trying hard and, more often than not, she was making contact. here's a quick - and i mean blink-and-you'll-miss-it - video of annie making said contact:

yes, i had issues with my camera that day.

jasper got in on the fun, too. addison pointed out - and rightly so - how their personalities really come out when they're golfing. annie is very methodical, taking care to line up correctly, and very focused on making contact. jasper is all about power. he just swings the club around as hard as he can and every now and then he makes contact. when he does, though, he sends it flying.

when we were done, we stopped at hole #19 for some gatorade and were on our way. jasper said he wanted to do it again, so hopefully we'll get some more practicing in - especially now that the death-heat is gone.

Crib-Free Household!

this was a big weekend at the johnston house. we dismantled the crib and moved jasper in to the big-boy bed. he was VERY in to the idea of dismantling the crib, but when it came time to go to bed that night, he said, "where's my crib? i want my crib." and i was terrified that this was going to be the beginning of the end of the "easy bedtime". much to my surprise, jasper only got out of bed 3 times that first night (all within an hour's time) and hasn't gotten out since.

naptime - now that's another story altogether.

anyway, here's the gang, armed with the right (and wrong) tools for the job:

here is the dismantling in progress:

and here is the little man in his new "crib":