The Best Part

As mentioned in the previous post, the kids probably could have slept till noon had we not gotten them up. That has to be one of my favorite things about Christmas morning - watching the kids stumble into the living room like little drunks 'cause they don't take the time to wake up before starting the day. It's so funny to observe. Then, due to the sleepy eyes, they get all excited over the unwrapped gifts (underwear, socks and other necessities). Christmas is different every year in our house. This year there was absolutely no tags on any gifts (due to a certain someone planning to check the handwriting to match it to someone other than the "real" Santa). Some years we let the kids open gifts with no order and at the same time. This year we went youngest to oldest taking turns. Again, hilarious when they open something like a Nintendo DSi game before opening the DSi and are all excited. Sometimes I think they seem excited before they even see what the gift is. Anyway.... it must be late, I'm rambling. I obviously find Christmas morning rather entertaining for more than one reason.

Look at that sleepy smile - love it! (yes, that honey was in her stocking) Erin got the DSi she's been wanting since last Christmas. Actually, I think she started out wanting a DS Lite because the older two kids got those last year. But, when Grandma got a DSi there was no doubt that is what she was asking for. So she waits a full year... pictochatting any time someone will share their DS... learning every game... and Christmas comes... and she gets one!!! And, what does she do with it? Puts in right in the case and moves on to the next thing (much less expensive "thing" mind you). Little stink. Not that I'm questioning Santa. I don't doubt that when the other two kids are playing games, she will get hers out. But, it kills me that the "next thing" that hasn't' left her side is this:

"This" is Natalie. Grandma J. gave Natalie (and the matching outfit) to Erin for Christmas. So my first thought is "why is Natalie any more fun than the other four hundred babies she has?" Then the light comes on. Natalie is a Madame Alexander doll. Every year for Christmas, the Johnson girls get a Madame Alexander doll from Grandma J. And, every year, I let them open the box, look at her, admire her, maybe touch her.. and then she goes on the shelf in the box to be admired again next year. So, when Erin opened her box and I let her take her out and love her and play with her... she became much much more than just another baby doll. Now if Erin could just remember her name.

This was the first thing Josh went for. And, to be honest, Santa couldn't be happier about that. This is not just a shirt. This could quite possibly be more amazing than Natalie. This is a Manchester United away jersey - straight from England. Santa is pretty amazing. Not only did he set this ditty out, he stuffed an IPod Nano inside Josh's stocking. Right off the bat - badabing badaboom. Happy Josh.

This is Emma wondering what the heck she just opened. She got a tripped out blinged up camcorder. She hadn't really said much in her letter to Santa this year. Nothing too specific. Luckily, Santa knows her best and once she figured out what it was, she hasn't put it down. She is on her 3rd set of triple A's (the only downfall to this gift - we will be getting some rechargeables asap).

If you know Emma, you know that she is in love with FurReals and has been for about four years. She has most, if not all, of them. However, this year she moved on. She still loves the little things and still got two of them, but suddenly fashion is more than stuffed animals. She has been so into looking good lately. I'm told she has several beau's at school, but she denies it completely. I took this picture of her shortly after she opened all her gifts (didn't take her long to start trying on) and almost deleted it! I know - sounds crazy - but look at her! She looks like she's sixteen! Hello! Not even 9, thank you.

Sticking with tradition, we went to Johnson's for breakfast. This is most definitely something the kids look forward to. Breakfast casserole, pancakes, O.J., bacon, sausage and the lovely grapefruit with a cherry in the middle. We do Christmas with the J's after breakfast and then head home for a brief clean up of the disaster from Santa gifts.

(above: Erin and sixteen pound six month old Livvy {LOVE HER!} below: me, Erin, Great Grandma Johnson)

In the afternoon, we have Grandma and Grandpa B. and Cari come over to see what the kids got. This year, Jer made a yummy Asian lunch for them: spring rolls and bahn mi. To our surprise, they loved it. The best part of the day: the whole family was asleep by 8pm. Josh fought it (not wanting the "perfect Christmas" to end) but still crashed early. Another amazing year!

Still to come: I can't wait to show and tell all the "sister gifts" from this year! It's become tradition to give "handmade" gifts on both sides (not sure how that came about but I LOVE it). They were all so amazing this year that I have to show everything. So much talent and it helps that I love my sisters to pieces (and in-laws - though I hate that term - can't I just call them sisters and leave it at that?).

Christmas Eve

I have yet to figure out how to squish all of Christmas into one post. So, I will start with Christmas Eve and go from there.


Traditionally, we spend Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa B's. This year Paul and Joel and their families weren't able to be there in the evening, so we met with them earlier in the day. For the kids gift exchange this year we decided to do homemade gifts. It provided an interesting twist on things. We have two boys and seven girls. Josh struggled a little with the idea of mod podging a jewelry box, but pretended to participate just because he is a good kid.
Kailee, Erin, Emma, Alexa, Grandpa, Atley, Gauge, Josh, Cambree

Jamie's girls drew both boys and I will award them brownie points for coming up with a homemade gift for them. They made slime. It was pretty funny that Josh knew right away what it was and stuck his finger right in but Gauge wasn't about to get close to it. It was fun to see what each of the kids created for each other.
Later, we played with everyone else. Josh, Emma, Erin and Brynlee were the only kids there since the other families couldn't come. My kids had a good time with Bryn. She is at such a fun stage- into everything. We had a prime rib dinner, played games and exchanged gifts and that was about all this 9 month old could handle. Dev and Lyns took her home to go to sleepy and we stayed a little longer and let the kids make gingerbread houses (one of my favorite Christmas activities - as long as it's at Grandma's).

Grandma B. always gives the grandkids Christmas Eve jammies. The pictures with all the grandkids in matching pj's is always so stinking cute. The picture below is the kids in front of Grandma's tree and the bottom picture is in front of our tree. Usually we get home late on Christmas Eve and the kids crash before I get a picture. This year they were so hyper. I think they ate all the candy rather than decorating those darn gingerbread houses!

It didn't take long for all three of them to crash. And, we must've really worn them out because Jer and I had to wake them up for Christmas morning. Sleepy heads!

It was a fun Christmas Eve (as always)! I will save the Christmas Day pictures for the next post so that this one doesn't go for days. .

Erin Chef America

So I'm not any more awake now than I was yesterday when I posted, but this seems to be the time of day that I can sit down and blog.

On Thursday last week, Erin got to have a VIP day at school. That is about when the celebrating started. Friday was spent making aprons, cleaning the house and stringing the Happy Birthday banner. Saturday was her "friend party." This was the first time Erin has been able to have a "friend party." She has spent a month planning. Who will come? Everyone. What will we do? We will have an "Iron Chef" Party. Initially, she was explaining to me that she would be sitting at her own table and her friends would cook for her and serve her. Who is this child? Instead, I talked her into having everyone do everything. As the kids arrived, she had them pick out an apron. From there, they decorated it with fabric markers and then colored a chef's hat. Once everyone was done with the getup, we played games, opened gifts and then frosted cupcakes.

The kids were so fun. I was super nervous about having that many little 4 and 5 year old kids here, but they were all so good. Erin was in heaven. She thought the idea of having all her friends over at once was like one huge play date. And, I tell you what, we will be good on play dates for the next couple of months. She's ready to have everyone over again. I had to make it very clear that they can definitely come over - one at a time.

Sunday was her actual Birthday (or her "real Birthday" as she would call it). She started out the day by telling me that since she can do whatever she wants on her Birthday, she wouldn't be going to church. Oh, Erin. Every Sunday morning we spend discussing Primary. I'm not sure what she has against it, but she was not going on her birthday. Little stink. She did go, but she didn't go to Primary so when they all sang to her and got out the "treat bucket" she wasn't there. She was mad at Josh and Emma for not getting her treat for her until I told her that she has to go to Primary to get the treat. Every December I find myself hoping that when they move to a new class she will actually go. Anyway, back to her Birthday. Sunday evening, we had her "family party." What's funny is that her friends are her cousins so there was a lot of overlapping, but oh well. She opted to have hot chocolate in the place of ice cream since it was supposed to snow on her Birthday. It was SO yummy. Jer made homemade hot chocolate with real milk and Andes mints with whip cream on top. She wasn't too interested in it when all the cousins were here, but as soon as they were gone and the family was settling in, she sat and dipped her peppermint sticks in it. She was in heaven!!

It was a great weekend (all except for the part that my baby is five). I survived it. Now hopefully when school starts next year and she goes to kindergarten, I will survive that. It feels like she was born yesterday and here we are celebrating her fifth Birthday. I do love her to pieces. I love having the one on one time with her. She is my entertainment. I need to make the most of it before she decides to leave me next year and be a big girl.

Happy Birthday, Erin! Thanks for being my little buddy every day when the kids and dad aren't home. You are my bestest friend. I hope that you will stay my best friend forever.

bIRThdaY BasH

With all the partying we did this weekend, Erin has got to be at least 13. I'm exhausted, but excited to post all the pictures of her Birthday party (s). I will post more tomorrow when I'm a little more awake. Just wanted to do a quick Happy BIRTHDAY, ERIN shout out to her. Can't believe my baby is FIVE!

{check}

1. Paint the house. {check}
2. Put the tree up. {check}

3. Go to Christmas Party wearing "ug" Christmas sweater. {check}

4. Pose for pictures in "ug" sweaters (or HO shirt). {check}

5. Snap a few fab pix of April. {check}

6. Take the youth to Temple Square in 9 degree weather. {check}

7. Make and deliver invitations to Erin's Birthday Party. {check}

8. Try to clear out some inventory by participating in a few boutique's. {check}

9. Deliver gifts to friends early enough that they can actually use them during the season. {check}

10. Cardboard up the sides of the gerbil cage so the babies don't try to crawl through the wire walls. {check}

....... and the list goes on......

Birthday shopping

Christmas shopping

Have a "friend" Birthday party for Erin

Have a "family" Birthday party for Erin and Jer (yup - he's havin' another one, too)

Take the kids to Temple Square

Read Christmas stories

Clean the house

Make divinity, toffee, pretzels, peppermint bark...

Attend the Ward Christmas dinner

Take Emma to other people's Ward Christmas Party's to dance

I seriously LOVE this time of year! It is crazy, but I love it. I love holding it over the kids all season: "Santa Claus is watching you!" Not that it helps, but it gives me something to threaten them with.

GERBIL UPDATE:

So these little monsters have been so much fun. They weren't exactly "cute" at birth, but look at them now. They have fur. They are cutting teeth and learning to walk. So entertaining. Their eye's still aren't open, but they are rubbing them a lot lately (which is supposed to be a sign that they will open soon). Lilly (mom) is quite the mother. She's been drinking a lot of water and running on her wheel so she looks amazing for giving birth to six babies just a few weeks ago. However, if she feels like being done with meal time, she just walks away and the babes end up strung throughout the cage because they stay latched on as long as possible. Zach is a great dad. He is always making sure their "nest" is fluffy and that they are warm. If Lilly walks away, he is right there doing a head count. We've named a few of them. There is only one girl: Molly. She looks exactly like her mama and she is such a bully. She doesn't put up with the boys. We have four boys (we lost one while in St. George so there's only five total now): Speedy, Snow Paw, three and four. We don't have names for the last two boys. Snow Paw is all black and has white on his two front paws - exactly like his dad. We will be looking for homes for the boys in the next couple of weeks. As you can see in the pictures, they are more than a handful. Jer has promised the kids that we can keep Molly - should be interesting to see how she does with Zach and Lilly once she get's to be their size.

Getting Noticed

As you scroll thru the millions of pictures in this post, keep in mind that I blog for posterity's sake. Right? I'd like to think that one day I will actually have my posts printed into a book so that the kids can look back at them like they do their scrapbooks. So if you get bored with soccer pictures, feel free to skip right to the comments tab at the bottom. :)

As I posted previously, our Thanksgiving Day started out a little different than most. We discovered our own Trouble with Tribbles (the gerbils are multiplying). After taking care of our new babies and packing for St. George, we went to Ben and Stephs for our Turkey feast. Super yummy (despite all the cream cheese Ben put in the mashed potatoes - who does that?) and fun to see the kids all together.

Grandma J. must've really wanted to get out of doing the dishes because she decided to take all the hooligans for a walk after we ate. Crazy lady. She did make it back alive and after waiting for the straggler (Collin) our head count was 100%.

This is all but one (she was cranky after the walk) when they made it home. Made me laugh that when Kath walked up with all the grandkids, it was my Erin that was riding in the wagon. Lazy poop. There are five grandkids (minus the new babies) that are younger than her and they were walking along side her cozy little butt.

By about 4pm, we were on the road headed South. Josh played in the Dixie Cup again this year so we needed to be down there for his first game the next morning. We decided to stay with Grandma this year (my Grandma Helen) since last years Condo rental was such a dive and we thought it would give her a reason to cook (and actually eat something). But, she ended up in Idaho for the holiday so we were there without her. I was surprised that the girls remembered last years visit to vividly. We had gone to visit Grandpa Bob in the care center and he was out cold. We tried to wake him up but he was too deep. Sadly, that was our last visit with him before he passed away about 3 weeks later. So this year was most definitely different in that sense -no Grandparents to bug. The funny thing about this picture of Emma and Erin on the couch is that it actually reminded me of my other Grandparents (my mom's parents). Cari and I used to sit on the couch at Grandpa Rowe's and use a t.v. tray to color. I wish I could get my hands on some of those old t.v. trays for me own use. Love those things.

We had planned on eating at In N Out Thanksgiving night, but got down there and the darn place was closed. Last year they were the only place open, so we thought we knew what we were doing and went fully prepared to wait in line. Unfortunately, it was Del Taco that got our business.

Friday morning, Josh's first game wasn't until noon, but we had to be there at 10 for warm ups. How warm do these boys need to be? So, given we had a couple of hours to spare, the girls and I went on a walk to find the coolest playground. As much as the girls love St. George and the excitement of driving down over Thanksgiving break each year, I wonder if they are disappointed once we arrive. We really have time for nothing more than soccer. The playground is a good way to entertain them during the "warm up" times.

We hit the jackpot with this playground! Is it just me or does it seem like all soccer complexes are in neighborhoods with million dollar homes and those are the parks with the killer playgrounds?? Not like anyone is driving across the state to play soccer in Magna over the holiday. And heaven forbid any park on the West side of town get a splash pad that we don't have to pay to use. This playground not only had a splash pad, it had a "junior" and a "senior" area. Erin didn't want to leave the "junior" area due to the mini monkey bars.

Finally, soccer. This is the boys lining up before the game to have their player cards read off. I love that soccer is so organized and official.

This is my kicker. Not only does Josh do one he** of a job stopping the ball, he has a mean kick on him. The kid can boot that ball clear down the field. We had a coach from Las Vegas approach us about his future with soccer. Josh was very flattered and realized he is getting noticed (thus, the title of my post). My hope is that he will continue kicking the ball like that so that one day he can be the kicker for the BYU football team. The boy would die at the thought of that. I would die at the thought of a scholarship.

He had so many saves over the weekend. He took a couple of hard hits. One to the face. Fortunately, it was during team warm ups and I was over at the playground. He put his teeth through both lips and bent his glasses. Another mom had wipes and an ice pack so by the time I got there, all I saw was the fat lip. And, me being the awesome mom that I am, decided to chest the ball to him after his last game that night. My way of saying "good job." Well, yah, it hit him in the face. This time giving him a bloody nose. He started to cry and then when he realized what happened started laughing. I wish I had a picture of that face. Blood and tears with a smile. Jer kept saying "he's going to feel like a truck hit him when he wakes up tomorrow morning." Oh was he right. Poor kid. Couldn't even walk and he had to go play again the next day. Chalk one up for Mom of the Year again!

Below is a picture of him stopping his first Penalty Kick. Talk about pressure. I love it 'cause when he stops the ball and all eye's are on him, I can say "that's my boy." Such a proud moment for the mom.

We literally were at the soccer fields from sun up till sun down.

One thing that will be hard if Josh ever leaves this team is the awesome friends we've all made. These are the girls that hang out together. Bless their hearts, they've been trying to teach Emma how to do a cartwheel since we met. She still can't do one to save her life. I keep telling her it's Cari's fault. Cari always looked like a tard when she did cartwheels, too.

One more reason to love St. George - a sit down Pizza Hut with a salad bar. Even though Josh hates getting his picture taken, he does it for me. Man I love that kid.

All in all, it was a great weekend! It went by super fast and we didn't have much time for anything but soccer, but who's complaining? By the end of the tourny, the kids were anxious to come home to the baby gerbils and I was a little anxious to get home to finish painting the living room. Then on to decking the halls. . .

Zach and Lilly plus SIX

Last year, the kids got a special gift from Santa Claus (you may have read about it last December). They had been wanting a pet forever so when there were two little gerbils under the tree Christmas morning, they were happy kids. Santa left a note with the two little rats telling us how to take care of them and that he figured they were 6 week old boys. The kids have loved the little things like they are a part of the family. I never had a pet when I was growing up (other than fish), so this has been a learning experience for me as well as for the kids.

A couple of months ago, we started having Josh and Emma clean the cage out without help. A little adult supervision is all that they have needed. I've been impressed with the way they have learned how to do everything (except for the mess they make in the bathroom while washing the cage out). So Thursday morning (Thanksgiving Day), as we were packing for our trip to St. George (I'll post about that next), Jer sent the kids to clean out the cage so that we could leave them for the weekend. Next thing I know, Josh is running up the stairs yelling "Zach and Cody both aren't boys! We've got babies!" Apparently, while getting Zach and Cody out of the cage to change their bedding, Josh could see something over in the corner. He said he thought it was Emma's hand until he realized her hands weren't in the cage. So funny.

Jer and I went downstairs to investigate. Sure enough, there were six little babes in the corner of the cage. Apparently, "Santa" didn't look under the hood very well. We're new at this (given we had two boys for the last year), so we're not sure how old they are. Earlier in the week, I went in to clean up the bedding that they push out of the cage (I usually do this every other day or so), and I could hear little squeaky noises. I thought it was something new/different, but didn't even consider babies. But, now I know, that little squeaking is baby gerbils. We are guessing they are about a week old at this point.

Needless to say, the kids are very excited about the little things. In fact, while in St. George, that's all they talked about. They decided to give Cody a different name now that she is a girl. So we have Zach and Lilly plus six. Erin's response to the whole escapade: "I'm just so excited. I can't stop thinkin' about that Cody turned into a girl and had babies."

These are Jer's hands so that gives you an idea as to how tiny they are.

Mama isn't thrilled with the fact that we were handling her babes.