Mayday! Mayday!

this is johnston j-3-niner reporting an emergency on the flight deck. please secure all belongings and brace for impact. we are going down. i repeat: we are going down.

jasper made an announcement to me a couple of days ago. an announcement which i promptly filed in that place in my brain where i file things like, global warming, the vastness of the universe and other things that don't make sense. but then, yesterday, he repeated his proclamation and we have now declared this house to be in a code brown emergency.

what was it that little jasper declared, you ask? five simple words:

"i don't like chicken nuggets"

stay tuned. must go man the front lines. this could get ugly.

Gratuitous Christmas Post

because if i don't do another post with more photos from christmas, my mama is going to show up here with a whip in her hand. or something. sheesh.

needless to say, christmas (as usual) was a success. the kiddos want for nothing. not that they ever did, but they most certainly don't after this christmas. they're spoiled. but it's ok. for now.

first things first, though. i feel like i need to say a couple of words on annie's christmas concert at school. it was very cute. it was also very long. even longer for addison who was hopped up on post-surgery pain killers and had to keep moving his leg for people to get by him. (for those of you living in a cave, addison ruptured his achilles and had to have surgery) anyway, the concert was cute and sweet and long and i did not get good pictures from it because we were sitting so far away. case in point:

and that's one of the good ones.

and now, back to christmas.

on christmas eve, we were at aunt niki's house for presents. there were clothes and cars and dinosaurs and jammies and much, much more. we had a hold-up (phew, that was close), annie taught her uncle larry a little something about fashion design, and we ended the night with a family tradition: the reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas".





Christmas morning the kids woke up and the first thing they did (after waking me and addison) was check to see if santa came. alas, all that was left on the cookie plates were crumbs, so he had definitely been here. ps: santa likes chocolate milk. annie thinks he probably prefers chocolate milk, so that's what we left for him. next, the kiddos dug in to their stockings where annie discovered (among other things) the orange. she could not stop giggling at the idea of santa leaving her an ORANGE. IN HER STOCKING. "that santa is so silly", she kept saying.





happy kids.



let us pause for a moment for a break, brought to you by our sponsors at "The Best Surprise Faces of Christmas":






a couple of annie's favorites this year were her matching jammie set that she and matilda share and also her new sleeping bag with matching sleeping bag for matilda.




and we mustn't forget the new four-wheeler that will now join the gator in our back yard.

Christmas is a Time...to be Sneaky

sneaking a peak under the tree...

CAUGHT sneaking candy and eating it in the bathroom...(and yes i know those jammies are 16 sizes too small)

sneaking in to mommy and daddy's closet...(please note annie's choice to belt jasper's shirt-dress - so fashion-forward)

sneaking photos of bah-humbugness..

sneaking the camera away from mommy and capturing her (and gammy) at their best...

sneaking away with the gals for some midday martinis...

Making Their List, Checking It Twice

Santa's Got His List...Sort Of

we were out doing a little christmas shopping on saturday and we stopped by a little shop where Santa himself was hanging out just waiting for my kiddos to sit on his lap. so they did. or, at least, jasper did. we hadn't even figured out how much this photo thing was going to cost but it was too late, jasper was already on his lap, chattering away about cars and super heroes and power rangers and trains and dinosaurs...

meanwhile, annie was practically de-pantsing my she was clinging so hard to my legs.

you may or may not remember, oh, 4 years ago when our little peanut was 1 year old and we took her to see Santa at the big Santa-extravaganza at Marshall Fields in downtown Minneapolis. She was not a fan. can't say i blame her, the Santa was actually frightening. remember?

allow me to refresh your memory.

1. fake, crooked beard.

2. oj-simpsonesque-serial-killer gloves

3. no smile. not a hint of "jolly".

it was bad. and since then, every time we see Santa, annie is very much thanks-but-no-thanks-get-me-away-from-him-and-quickly-if-you-please. but this year, when we suggested the idea, both she and jasper said "yes!" and so, here we are, full circle back to saturday. jasper is happily sitting with Santa, annie is suddenly not so cool with this plan, but when i told her i would take her up there and sit right next to her, she cooperated.

and this santa. this SANTA! i think it really was the real deal. the beard was real. the joy and over-all jolliness was real, the smile was real. i swear. i wanted to check out back for the reindeer. this is the Santa we all expect arrives at our house on Christmas Eve. he was so perfect even annie was buying what he was selling. she actually opened her mouth and told him she wanted "barbies" . Albeit in the softest voice, but she spoke. to Santa. out loud. this is huge.

i'm pretty sure the girl is going to get a Barbie for Christmas.

as for jasper? he wants "allllll the trucks and motorcycles. and trains. and an airplane." now, if he can just stay off the Naughty List.

Thanksgiving

ok, ok. geeze, you readers reader are persnickety. i take a couple of weeks off from blogging and there is HELL TO PAY. i get your point. i'm here for your entertainment. i forgot about that for a second.

wink.

so, another thanksgiving has come and gone, and with it another road trip. this time you'll be happy to know there were no prairie fires to contend with, no tornadoes in the plains, not even so much as an icy road. we had some pretty intense fog in kansas, but it was more pretty than intense, so i didn't even have so much as a hint of a panic attack. this is good for me.

upon our arrival to the farm, we made sure to smother mama and papa with lots of kisses so as to be sure to give them - as per usual - annie's cold. we succeeded in getting papa sick, so our job is done. i think it was the day after thanksgiving he woke up saying he had a sore throat, and by saturday he was on the drugs. mwah ha ha ha ha, the plaaaaan was perrrrrrfect.

the evening of our arrival was blessed with the presence of my auntie janie and my cousin tammy. i could do a whole blog on the shenanigans of our youth, but lord knows i can't even keep up one blog so i'll just leave it at: we had SOME kind of fun and still do, even though we don't get to see eachother near enough. i'm so bad, i don't even have a picture of us. honestly. it waw fun though, you'll just have to take my word for it.

at last, on monday, jay and sarah arrived. don't get to see them enough, either, as far as i'm concerned. we drank some wine...i think. i'm pretty sure. then, on tuesday cory, jess and the girls arrived and FINALLY annie could cease asking me exactly when are kaelyn and haley and abbie coming??? and again, with the not seeing my brothers enough. ahem. i'm dropping hints in case they're reading. *ahem*

so anyway, we pretty much didn't see the kids from tuesday on, so i'm really not sure what they were up to. i think they had fun, though. annie and kaelyn were pretty much inseparable. jasper found ways to entertain himself surrounded by all girls - i.e. being the "monster" that chased them, or rather, the monster they pretended he was so they could run away from him...

meanwhile, haley was somewhere between monitor, peer, and over-it, so she floated between all of us. abbie was the resident dog-whisperer. literally, the little smiley-pants just walked around - all 2 feet of her - and kissed the doggies, whispered in their ears, and pet them. and did i mention all 3 of the doggies match her in height? it was a sight to behold.

thanksgiving brought 35 rellies (plus 3 babies) to the house. i don't know how she does it year after year, but my mom manages to maintain calm and joy while preparing and serving a meal for 35. evidently she didn't give that part of her personality to me, i would be a basket case trying to prepare for that. as usual, it was an amazing feast and if we realized anything, it's that 12 bottles of wine for about 28 drinking adults is just not enough. and that was just for actual dinner. that doesn't take in to account all the blood-o's, beers and black velvets that were consumed.

and just in case you were wondering whether or not jasper ate turkey...

um yeah, not so much.

all in all a very wonderful thanksgiving with - as usual - much to be thankful for.

aside from the big day, we still had a couple of days to play around the farm including - but not limited to - such activities as: rocket-launching, hunting, baseball, story time, bath time, a four-way birthday party and the parade of lights.

not to mention our trip to brandon to visit aunt shally and uncle dick. more presents, more playing, more hunting, more fun! my goodness.

now you know why it takes me so long to post. it's exhausting.

Happy 5 to Annie!

the garden party has come and gone, and boy did we have fun!

before i get in to the details, i just wanted to mention what a big girl our little annie has become. a year ago there is no way she would have walked up in front of her entire school to stand with the principal and have them all sing happy birthday. but she did it.

she then got to go to the principal's office to pick out a prize from the treasure chest and also got a saint catherine of siena pendant - patron saint of fire prevention (to protect from a mishap with birthday candles?)- which she now keeps in a special box. i also brought cupcakes to her class at lunchtime, which was a very big hit.

saturday morning began bright and early with annie's final soccer game. no win this time, but she did come home with a fancy trophy.

after that, it was PARTY TIME. the kids began to arrive and took to the back yard to jump in the bouncy house.

(i just realized, from my collection of BAD photos, how hard it is to be running a party and also try to photograph the party. apologies to readers.)

we played "Pin the Butterfly on the Flower", where annie came in a close second to her friend, marie. more importantly, she didn't cry when she lost. success! she was more worried that her other friends weren't going to get prizes, too.

we broke open the pinata and after more jumping and nearly flipping the gator, we came inside for some sandwiches in the shape of watering cans, chips and juice.

next it was time to sing to annie and have cupcakes.

here is a close up of the flower-pot cupcakes and here is the video of us singing to annie:

after the food fest, we went back outside for more jumping, gator-riding and hog-piling emma's poor dad.

then we did gifts, gave friends goody-boxes and hugs and said good-bye.

annie had a great day with her friends and she was happy to eat her dinner in front of the tv watching her new snow white dvd and then put her snow white pjs on and get in to bed with her new toys and dream of more birthday fun.

with best friend, emma.

A Very Merry UnBirthday!

on sunday, annie kicked her birthday week off in the style of her auntie nicki - who prefers we celebrate on her behalf for the entire month - when she started her celebrations. mama lola and papa jack were in town so we had a pre-birthday-birthday-party for annie. complete with:

party dresses

cake

cousins

and fun!

stay tuned for more birthday shenanigans as we move in to Party Weekend!

The Main Event

halloween was definitely a go this year. though both punks were in to it last year, this year they were in to it.

it began with the pumpkin carving. annie did a complete 180 from last year and decided this year she just loved to pull the guts out of the pumpkin. "mommy, i like how the pumpkin feels on my hands. it's gooey!" where last year we had to hurry and snap a quick picture of her before she yanked her hand out of the gross pumpkin, this year she gutted both she and jasper's pumpkins. jasper took over annie's place in the thanks-but-no-thanks mind set. this picture pretty much says it all.

he was, however, more than willing to pose with his jack-o-lantern upon completion (and he did help design his "scary" pumpkin). here they are mimicing their jack-o-lantern's expressions:

and then it was time for tricks and treats. you'd have thought it was christmas, what with the countdowns and all the hoopla surrounding halloween. "is it time yet?" "is it dark enough yet?" "are we ever going to go trick-or-treating?", were just a few of the endless questions we were asked all day every day until it was time.

annie's friend, allie, came over with her daddy to come walk the 'hood with us. i think annie and allie held hands the entire time they were RUNNING! from house to house, letting go only to receive the goods. it was pretty cute. we then picked up a couple of other friends down the street so we had a little group touring the 'hood. it's amazing the difference just from last year with all the houses that have gone up there are so many more people. we adults had fun, too. both addison and our friend kevin had our wagons - not for toting the little ones - but loaded with a cooler and beer. now that's my kind of trick-or-treating. and don't think we were the only ones. the entire neighborhood was full of beer-toting adults. i love it! there were halloween potlucks happening, cul-de-sac parties happening, and practically a candy free-for-all wherever we went.

we made it about half way around our big loop when jasper announced he was ready to go home. we plopped him in the wagon, gave him a tootsie pop, and he was good to go while the girls finished up their candy hunting extravaganza. the buckets were literally overflowing by the time we were finished. jasper couldn't even carry his for the last few houses he went to, he just started walking up to doors, holding out his hands and saying, "trick or treat!". and the folks would STILL give him 10 pieces of candy.

all in all, a great time was had by the entire johnston clan. this morning we stopped at target and as we walked in there were snowflakes on the doors and jasper said, "it's CHRISTMAS!"

and so, on to the next holiday...though in this house, we still celebrate Thanksgiving. No Christmas allowed until after Turkey Day.

Halloween Preshow

before i dive right in to the halloween festivities, i thought i'd better cover the events-leading-up-to...

first, annie and jasper attended a costume-birthday party for their friend, gabriella. this party was a test to see if annie could successfully attend and participate in a birthday party without crying or throwing a fit. she thinks she is ready for her own real birthday party, but i told her only if she can act like a big girl. she was doing great until it was time for pin-the-mouth-on-the-jack-o-lantern, then she kindly declined to participate...that is, until she saw everyone else get a prize and i told her if she wanted a prize she had to play, so she finally stepped up. am i being a "mommie dearest" here? i don't think so. you can't just win all the time, you have to participate first.

right?

so then she was great - she played the next game and had a great time playing pass-the-pumpkin with gabby. she held out very well all through the present-opening process until one of the other kids got to help gabby open one, and then it was a free-for-all of "can i help open one?" she did get to help, of course, so crisis averted.

the next thing on our list was getting our pumpkins. we headed to the pumpkin patch where annie and jasper eached picked their own pumpkin, mommy picked hers and that was that.

then, we had jasper's "pumpkin patch" festivities at school. as usual, we tried to get a good picture of the whole class, but you know how it is getting 2-3 year olds to sit still. as you can see, jasper is the oldest one in the class this year. then, he painted a pumpkin, decorated a pumpkin to take home, played the beanbag toss and had a grand old time. oh, and here's my favorite - he's in character as spidey, shooting his web:

there is no dressing up at the catholic school, but it turns out this is the school's 50th anniversary, so the kids got to dress up 50's style for school on friday. this is annie with her best friend, emma. they're so cute you could eat them up.

they do this every day after school, too. they hold hands. and it's so sweet. they've gotten so close that they are now starting to get "warning strips" in class for talking too much. hee hee.

ok, that wraps up the pre-show. stay tuned for pumpkin carving and all hallow's eve!

Nothing Broken but the Spirit

wednesday marked jasper's first visit to the er. actually, i think maybe he's been one other time for fever or something, but annie has been so much i have lost track. this is, however, the first time we've been to the er for an accident as opposed to an illness.

i was making dinner downstairs so the tv was babysitting the punks upstairs. it is fairly typical between the hours of 4pm and 6pm for the kids to bicker, fight, annoy each other me, play dirty, etc. it is the toddler witching hour. therefore, it is very typical for me to put them upstairs in front of the tv so they are out of my hair so i can fix dinner and watch oprah in peace. for pete's sake.

on this day, i heard the typical cry of jasper as a result of a.) not getting his way, b.) annie taking one of his toys away or c.) crying on the off-chance that i will assume annie did something, therefore getting her in trouble. this time, though, there was an additional note of pain in his cry. and he didn't stop. when i went upstairs to assess, the story i got from annie was, "jasper was in my way". eventually she said, "i was doing a somersault and jasper was in my way and he fell down". he was still crying very hard and was holding his right arm limp at his side. when i tried to move it he cried even harder and told me, "that hurt me!" when i asked how he was feeling he said, "i feeling not very good" at which point he became fairly lethargic and that's when i called addison and told him to meet us at the er.

a few x-rays later and we're told that jasper probably has a sprained wrist. nothing broken, thank goodness, but still very painful. two days later it is still very sore, but i think it feels a little better because he's not wincing as much every time he moves. and i think he rather enjoys all the attention he's getting - especially when he's sporting his sling. people ask him what happens and he proudly says, "my arm got hurt".

is this what it's like being the mommy to a boy?