Unwanted Houseguest

We've had this houseguest for a while that is really getting under my skin. He's been hanging around for a few months now. I don't know that it's fair to label this houseguest as a male, because I'm pretty sure the female form hangs out around here too. This thing's name is "Not Me." I'm really hating Not Me. Not Me does all sorts of stuff that I keep blaming my kids for: cereal spilt all over the floor, dirty spots on the carpet, untidy rooms. Today Not Me wore his/her welcome to the point of getting kicked out of here as soon as I figure out how to wrangle him/her.

At lunchtime I was making the girls some mac and cheese. I pulled the butter out of the fridge and realized that it was very, very soft. Now, this has happened before. You can read that post here. So, I thought I just had to defrost the fridge and all would be well. I need all to be well because we have a trip to Colorado coming up next week and I really don't want my budget for that to be used for a new fridge.

Anyway, I figured the fridge needed defrosting and I'd get to it after I got some lunch. I decided to pull the food out of the freezer first, though, and stick it all out in the big deep freezer in the garage. See, last time this happened, the freezer wasn't freezing the food right and that affected the fridge. (Affected or Effected? I always get those confused.) So, the food in the fridge wasn't getting as cold as it should've.

I started freaking out when I realized that this time, the food in the freezer had defrosted. Not just a little bit, but completely. I was so upset because I didn't want to lose all the meat that had been frozen in there. I very calmly and carefully began unloading the freezer. YEAH, RIGHT! I totally began throwing things around and mumbling very loudly and getting all sorts of mad. And then I saw it: Not Me's contribution to this catastrophe. The freezer setting had been turned down to 1. With how defrosted everything was, it must've been turned down yesterday. Of course, I blamed my children but they all swore to me that it was Not Me! That stupid, hateful, crappy Not Me! S/he is totally not welcome here. I swear, if I catch him/her I'll kick his/her booty so hard!

Not Me, go home!!

The Snaggle-Tooth Lisp Begins

If you're keeping score (because everyone under 8 at our house is), Abby has just lost her first tooth--putting her (still) in second place for having lost the most teeth out of all the kids. So, just to recap the race:

Emma has lost four teeth and has 2.25 permanent teeth.
Abby has lost one tooth with no biggies growing in yet.
Matt is 5. If he loses a tooth yet it will be a bad thing.
Millie is still toothless, but the bottom two are on their way. I'm jinxing myself by saying that she's been pretty even tempered through this whole ordeal. Hopefully, she'll stay that way over the next several weeks as her gums grow more sensitive.

And, yes, I know I shouldn't encourage competition between my children and to you I say, "I'm not, so back off!" But I am very happy that Abby has finally reached the milestone. Everyday for months she's had me check those blasted teeth and they have been solid. It took about four days for this tooth to go from loose to money in her pocket. FINALLY!!

I Like. Can I Touch?

Josh and I say that to each other all the time when one person has said something less than intelligent. This is why:

Drama Queen? Yes. Beauty Queen? No!

Happy belated 4th of July, everybody! I hope you all had as much fun as we did. Overall it was a good day. About the only thing that would've made it better was if Josh hadn't had to rush off to work after the fireworks tonight.

Our day started off with us being in the 4th of July parade in downtown Great Falls. I was okay with just skipping this, but Josh got us out there and we joined up. It wasn't so bad. I had to try to figure out why I'm so against parades. I've been in several throughout my life. I've seen several from the sidelines. I don't know, maybe I feel it's just a lot of waiting for a few minutes of fun. I just don't like sitting and smiling and waving and being on display. I know, I'm such a hypocrite. I'll get up and make an idiot of myself on stage and live for the applause, but getting on a float to wave at people and have my cheeks hurt from the fake smile, just isn't my cup of tea. But, it was actually very fun and the kids loved it. Emma said being in the parade was "a dream come true...I always saw kids in parades and wished I was them. Now, I'm in a parade and I bet other kids will look at me and wish they were me!" How can you argue with that? We were on the float for the Mercy Flight unit of Great Falls. It's the helicopter and fixed wing that transport patients to and from the hospital. It was pretty cool to watch the crowd realize that we were for the Mercy Fight and they'd applaud for us simply because we were a part of a noble organization. It was good to see those that had a true appreciation for the Mercy Flight, therefore having an appreciation for those that work with the Mercy Flight, therefore having an appreciation for my stud of a husband. And of course Millie was a hit as people along the sidelines noticed, "Oh, a baby!" It was fun.

In the afternoon we had a BBQ at Mom and Dad's with Aunt Bev, my cousins Jennie and Kristen, and Gramma and Grampa. Matt got a few more birthday presents and all the kids (including Jennie and Kristen) got some huge bubble wands.

Gramma and Millie. Gramma's knee surgery was almost two weeks ago. She's up and around and looks really great.

The kids were playing with the bubbles in the backyard.

Jennie, Matt, Abby, Kristen, and Emma. They had lots of fun playing. The little kids didn't want the big girls to leave. At all. Ever.

Aunt Bev and me. Bev was single for most of my childhood and I loved when she let me hang out with her. She's still so cool.

We did fireworks later that night. We had to hurry so Josh wasn't too late for work. We love doing fireworks. We've done them every year for the last four years. I don't know why we didn't do them the first few years in Alamosa. Anyway, they've become a fun thing that Josh and I do together. The last two years in Alamosa we bought a bunch of extra fireworks to do for the people at the long term care center Josh worked at. There were so many veterans there and good people in general. But, the activities director always got the 4th of July off, so she didn't bother doing anything for the residents. So, Josh and I took it upon ourselves to honor the wishes of the old folks. Alamosa had some great deals on fireworks, but in Montana the fancy shoot-up-in-the-air-making-circles fireworks are legal, so we had to pay a little more, but got some cooler ones. Only problem was that it rained really hard for the first time in weeks. We were drenched before long, including the fireworks. Oh well. It was still fun and a good day. I love my husband, my kids, my extended family, my country, my heritage of soldiers, and my freedom.

Happy birthday, America!

'Fess Up Friday and the Camping Trip

This week my exercising consisted of camping and boating. My healthy diet included Matt's birthday cake and S'mores. So, yeah, another week, another bust. Next week I'll try again!

But our camping this week was SO FUN! I love getting out and having fun with my family, and with Josh's decrease in overtime, we may have lots more chances to camp this year than we did last. I'd tell you where we went, but then everyone will want to go there and we won't have as much quiet as we did this time! Here are a few highlights of our trip:

Millie did NOT like her life jacket for the boat. Every time she had it on she got really mad then shut down and fell asleep. Either that or we kept catching her at nap time.

The kids were on the dock waiting for Dad to bring the boat around so we could board for the first time.




Abby got to steer.

Matt, Emma, Millie, and Josh.

Have you ever seen the movie "Master of Disguise"? It's pretty cute and stars Dana Carvey. He has one scene where he's trying to fit into the local Turtle Club and instead of looking like a yuppie, he dresses up like a turtle. "Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club. Turtle, turtle, turtle!" Millie reminded me of that.

Josh and Abby jumped into the lake. Later Abby wanted to go in again. The first time she just kind of got into the water. The second time she shocked her system by jumping in and she began to freak out. The quote of the week is, "I...changed...my...mind!"

The water was pretty.

Matt got in too, but he was not a happy camper!

He was so traumatized that this picture was taken about ten minutes later.

The girls had lots of fun at the front of the boat as we raced toward the shore.

Inspired by my BIL Jabon's beautiful photography, I decided to try to capture the sunset as we headed home yesterday. Not great, but a decent try I think.

So, I've got to restart my workouts again. It is harder to restart than I remembered. Plus, summer schedules are totally messing me up. How'd you do?

Happy Birthday, Matt-ee-oh!

Today is Matt's birthday. Oh, the memories! I think of everything Matt has endured in his five years on Earth and I thank our Heavenly Father that Matt-Matt is here with us. He's very good-natured and loving and happy. He's a good boy and I'm lucky to be his mom.

So, for his birthday, Matt got some cool clothes and such from his Mema and Poppy, both of whom are in Colorado. Lori got him some cool jets while she was here visiting.

Mom and Dad got Matt some K-nex. Matt loves to build things. He really, really loves to build things. His creations are such a big deal to him and I've had to teach the girls to be respectful of them. I didn't realize how much had been drilled in until the cousins were over and I heard Abby tell Trenton, "Be careful, those are Matt's and they're very important to him!"

Josh and I went the easy route and combined Matt's likes in his two gifts from us. Matt LOVES Wolverine and motorcycles. So, he got...

Wolverine on a motorcycle!

He also likes Star Wars, Transformers, and jets. So we also got him...

A Transformer that is a Star Wars jet that changes to a trooper robot!

Matt asked for a Spider-Man cake. So, I tried to be fancy and this is what I came up with.

I think you get the picture of what it was supposed to look like. I only had two candles though (oops!) and I wrote Happy Birthday Matt along the sides of the cake. I guess it wasn't too bad. If you looked at it from a distance. A very far distance.

Today is also Tara and Jabon's anniversary. Tara and I are three years apart, but we have a lot of dates in common. We're about 45 minutes shy of being exactly three years apart. She was born right before my third birthday party, and she's tried to continue to steal my thunder ever since. (That's just a joke, Abby, I mean, Tara.) Tara and Jabon's anniversary is the same day as Matt's birthday--that one was Matt trying to steal their thunder. Our youngest children are exactly two months apart. Her oldest son, Cody, has his birthday the day before Josh's. Just a lot of similar dates.

And, I can't post this without showing you Millie's latest escapades.

Matt and Millie were playing under the table together. They were both giggling their heads off. It was so funny.

Fun times in the Johnson Household.

'Fess Up Friday and a Trip to the Pediatrician

It's Friday. I admit that I exercised this week, but I forgot to weigh myself this morning. My mojo has definitely taken a hit lately. I'm going to weigh in and measure tomorrow. That will be good. I've decided to alter my goal. After having such a long plateau, there is no way I can healthily accomplish my goal of 132 lbs by September 16th. What's so frustrating is that I was working toward my goal, but my body rebelled. Ugh. So, my new goal is to lose a pound a week. I hate that I have to alter things, but that's much better to do than to do something drastic and unhealthy or just be upset at myself for failing.

More about our Friday...today I took the kids in for their well-child checkups. All four of them. That wouldn't have been such a big deal except that shots were involved. I knew Millie would need shots, since it was her 6 month checkup. And I knew Matt would need the rest of his kindergarten shots. I did NOT know that Emma was going to need Hep A shots. Okay, shot. But, with how much she FREAKED out, you would've thought the nurse was blindfolding her and offering her her final cigarette. She and Matt cried so much that they both upset Millie and she cried and cried and then got her shots and then cried and then shut down and fell asleep before we left the doctor's office. Abby was originally told she'd need a shot too, but then she didn't. Then she cried because she wanted a shot. Note to self: all four kids at once may not be the way to go in the future. During Emma's freak out I was laughing my guts out. I was holding her in my lap and she thrashed and screamed and cried and I tried to control my laughter. If I were a good mom (and/or a liar) I'd say I laughed to keep from crying. But, I think I laughed because it was such a ridiculous situation. Absurdity. That's the theme of the Johnsons' lifestyle.

So, that was my Friday and my confession for the week. How'd you do?

The Best Things in Life Are Free...

...But you can give them to the birds and bees.

I want MONEY!!

Yes, besides being a song covered by nearly every band ever formed, this statement rings true. Life is getting tougher trying to remain on one income. This is one reason for my recent blog-absence. It's hard to get on and blog about the goings on of life when you're stressed to the gills over money.

We've been looking at our options of what to do. We have no interest in paying for childcare (and I can't make much money right now since school is out and the only way I can really make money is as a teacher), so it's on Josh's shoulders to find a second job. Unfortunately, he works at the only hospital in town and the clinic, which is the next largest medical facility, is not an ideal second job. Although, it would work easier as a first job. This is the junky stuff I've been trying to avoid blabbing about online. So, I'll just get to the point. Josh is considering becoming a travel nurse. He's looking at going to Arizona so he can make lots more money and we could eventually move there and buy the RIDICULOUSLY cheap houses and he can get the degree he's always wanted for the job he's always wanted.

We love being in Great Falls and even thinking about leaving is tough. So instead, I'm going to focus on some other random part of this whole ordeal. Nurses must be too sensible to be superstitious. One of the travel places contracts travel nurses for 13 weeks. That just seems like an odd number to me. Why not 12? I don't get it. When I worked at a hotel I learned that most hotels do not use the number 13 in room numbers or floors. Since then, I've noticed it all over the place.

The theatre is very superstitious. You use a Green Room for performers to use backstage, but you NEVER paint it green. That creates bad luck. And the whole thing about "Break a leg" was because people were afraid bad spirits would hound a person who was told to have "good luck," so in an effort to trick those bad spirits, performers were told to Break a Leg.

So, now I've been trying to figure out...am I superstitious? I was raised by a nurse, I married a nurse, but I'm a thespian at heart. I don't walk under ladders--that's just dangerous. I don't break mirrors--that, too, is dangerous. I look closely for white patches on black cats that cross my path--that's because I'm weird. And I tell people to Break a Leg. And I will never walk into a green Green Room. And I make wishes in fountains. That's not superstition, though. That's delusionally wishing I were a princess. And that brings me full circle. If I were a princess I'd have a castle and very few cares in the world (in theory).

How superstitious are you?