August 2011

Hi! Here are some pictures from our August adventures.

Could it be true? Yes, the Cobra is finally done! Here Matt is putting on the last piece, the vin plate.


We took a week off the first week of August and we headed to the lake cabin. Here is AJ eating her lunch. She was sitting on an old metal bar stool. She loved this seat!


Jackapoo eating his lunch. I had thought about bringing up his highchair since we were going to be up there for a week but we didn't have space in the truck. I knew I had brought and left a booster seat up there so I hoped it would work. Sure enough, he loved sitting at the table. Such a big boy!



Daddy and Ashley fishing off the end of the doc. (The best place there is for fishing!!) Ashley caught a bass on her little fishing pole.






Jack making silly faces at the dinner table. YES, he did eat that sandwich! I squished it up and tore off pieces. YUMMY!

We had wonderful weather and spent a lot of time outside.

And sitting in this tube. It has a mesh bottom. We would sit and watch the fish swim under us. Ashley went through a spell of posing and panting and behaving like a puppy.

Saturday we left the cabin and drove a little over an hour to Walker, MN to attend my cousin Sara's wedding. Here's a picture of Ashley dancing with her grandma and great grandma. She had so much fun dancing!

Family photo thanks to cousin Sam for suggesting he take one for us!

Sara had these beautiful centerpieces at each table. She allowed Ashley to take one home. Ashley wanted it for her bedroom. Sara made a lasting impression on Ashley. I don't think she's stopped talking about her yet...and the wedding was over a month ago.

We invited G&G J over for supper, a pontoon cruise and bonfire.

That same night AJ and daddy slept outside in the tent. AJ put her princess tent inside our big family tent. She was trilled to sleep outside!

Daddy & AJ camping in the backyard.

Daddy & AJ doing art out in the screen porch.

The product of arts & crafts time.

Jack, the happiest baby EVER.

Peek! I see you mommy!

Leave the kid alone for 4 minutes and see what you get? A huge mess in your kitchen and a kid full of stickers. These stickers are princess stickers and if you look closely, you will see she put the tiera on her head, the dress on her chest and the gloves on her hands. Man, i love this little girl.

Daddy bought this cardboard house for Ashley for Christmas. We recently put it up again and Jack and Ashley have been having a blast playing with each other. Peek a boo is the favorite game.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, we went to my cousin Sara's wedding. Well since then, our own little Ashley has gotten married several times. You'll see all of her stuffed animals are lined up along the wall as the guests of the wedding and she is using her dora blanket to make a long train for her dress.

What else is new this month? Jack started signing all done and more. He also started waving goodbye. He's become very vocal. On 8/3 Jack took 4 steps. On 8/7 Jack started playing peekaboo. It's very cute, he covers his eyes and when you say, where is jack, he uncovers his eyes and squeals. On 8/8 Jack started blowing kisses. This melts my heart. We've also noticed Ashley wanting to play with and entertain Jack. They like to play chase. On 8/10 Jack took 10 steps. On 8/18 Jack is officially WALKING! (Just shy of 13 months) On 8/19 I took Ashley and Jack to the Ki Chi Saga day evening events in Paradise Park. The events included a sand castle building contest, fire dancers and the movie How to Train Your Dinosaur on a big inflatable screen. We ran into other friends from daycare and visited with them. We stayed till 9:30 when I decided I better get these kiddos home and to bed. On 8/22 I programmed my car radio to the channels I like to listen to. Yep, I think i've had this car for 6 years. I just love having the stations set to the ones i like to listen to. LOL! On 8/23 Ashely can sing BINGO, Ba Ba Blacksheep, All the Single Ladies, Tonight's Gonna be a Good Night. It's so fun to hear her sing, especially songs on the radio. Right now her favorite is Train's Hey Soul Sister. On 8/27 G&GJ took the kids overnight and Matt and I went for bloody marys and then home to make salsa with the veggies from our garden. On 8/28 we had lunch with G&GJ and Jack was stung by a bee on his tongue! He was eating mandarin oranges outside in his highchair. Poor guy screamed for 30 minutes at least. And, that about covers it. :)

Our stories from July 2011

Wow...July is already over. Hard to believe how fast summer goes by. Here's a few pictures from our adventures in July.

My handsome, messy face boy, Jack!

Yep, it's official, Jack can now stand all on his own. Here he is all ready to go swimming in the lake.

Happy 4th of July!

Ashley went tubing for her first time! We were tubing behind the pontoon so we didn't get to go too fast, but we sure had fun. She kept yelling, "Daddy, go faster"

We participated in the Karl Oscar day kiddie parade again this year. We had the idea to have Ashley and Jack go as Barbie & Ken and drive the mustang. Most of the idea worked...except, Ashley did not want to be Barbie. So, she went into her dress up drawer and came out wearing her cheerleading outfit. There were so many kids participating in the parade this year. (Pictured: Maddy, Jack, Ashley, Violet & Henry)

Jack and Ashley

After the kiddie parade, the crew came over to watch the Karl Oscar day fireworks out on the pontoon. This was the first year that the fireworks were on Friday night instead of Sunday. Finally, they figured that out! Better turn out if you have the events on Friday. The fireworks are shot off from S. Lindstrom lake so we have a wonderful view from our house. Grandma Terry & Grandpa Randy came over with two friends of theirs and they watched the fireworks from the screen porch so Jack stayed home sleeping. AJ got pretty tuckered out, she came to stand by my chair and snuggle in with me after the fireworks and she actually fell asleep standing up and leaning against me. Such a peanut.
(Pictured: Brooks' & Johnson's & Johnson's)

Ashley did NOT want to share the captains chair or the wheel to drive the boat.

Jack snug in his bed while the rest of us watched fireworks. Just like his big sister, Jack loves his blankey with tags.

My little princess looking so grown up.

Jack's 4th haircut.

What? Jack LOVES spaghetti.

On this morning, we woke up and it was raining out. I told Ashley to go get her worm hunting gear on so that we could go outside in the rain and catch a few worms for fishing. So, I come around the corner and her she is, a coat, a scarf, her princess nightgown, her rain boots and her heart sunglasses. Of course - what else would you put on to go worm hunting?! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX & JACK

Could my baby boy already be 1? Yes! On July 24th Jack turned 1. We celebrated his birthday along with my nephew Alex's birthday. Alex turned 2 on 7/23 and Jack turned 1 on 7/24.

I was a bit nervous giving Jack a cake. He only started eating solid foods a few weeks ago and certainly didn't get things like cake. But, come on, it's his first birthday. Needless to say, he scooped handfuls of frosting and shoved it in his mouth. He stayed pretty clean in comparison to what he looks like when he eats spaghetti.

Jacks messy cake face.

On Sunday, 7/24 (Jack's birthday), we joined the other two Johnson families for a houseboat cruise on the St. Croix. Ashley, Violet & Zoey lounging in the back of the houseboat.

The birthday boy, zonked out in the hammock swing chair.

Have I mentioned before what a good baby Jack is? He is THE best baby. I can't think of a better way to spend a birthday than relaxing on the river with a group of friends and drifting off for a little snooze in the hammock swing.

Bathing beauties, Ashley & Violet. These two are 10 weeks apart in age. I have pictures of them together when they were just a few months old. Now they are 4. It's ok though, Ashley has promised me she wont turn any older that 5 so i don't have to worry, she'll stay my little girl forever. :)

Jack looking ever so cute in his new shirt from his birthday.

Girls Weekend 2011. Our 10th annual girls weekend up at the cabin. We left for the lake Wednesday night and returned home Sunday evening. We had THE best weather. Couldn't be beat. We had a wonderful time. We even rented a pontoon and spent a whole day on the Whitefish Chain of Lakes. Awesome girls weekend. Can't wait for next year.

Other July events: On July 3 Jack started standing. On July 18th Jack started scooting along on the furniture. It won't be long now and he'll be walking! On 7/25 I started my two week vacation. Off from 7/25 through 8/8. Can't beat that!

June 2011

June 2011

I uploaded the pictures for this post back on 7/18 and just needed a few more minutes to do the writing part. Today is 8/9 and I am finally getting back to the post. Geesh.

On 6/4 we moved Jack from his infant carrier car seat into the big car seat. He was way too heavy to carry in the old car seat. You can see by the smile on the face that he too was excited about this change!

Grandpa & Grandma Johnson's pontoon needed some repair. Matt to the rescue! He fixed the motor, pressure sprayed the boat for hours and viola the pontoon is like new...well, old new. They then decided to leave the pontoon on our lake. We are in love with the pontoon. It is so nice to have more space than our fishing boat to move around and fish and the kids are enclosed etc. It's great.


Momma & Jack lovin' the pontoon.

Jack & Ashley lovin' the pontoon.

My little Jackapoo is now pulling himself up. He loves to stand in this spot and hang onto the cabinet handles. He's just a few days shy of 11 months old in this picture.

Grandpa & Grandma J and Brent, Lydia and Alex went camping at Shell Lake, WI 6/25. We decided to meet them there for the afternoon.

During dinner, we put all the kids in the pack n play. These were 3 happy kids. They loved being in there together.

On Wed June 29th, Ashley's daycare took a field trip to Camp Ojeketa. I volunteered as a parent helper. It was a blast. Hanging out with approx. forty 4 & 5 year olds was a riot. Here she is looking so cute before we headed for daycare and the field trip.

I took a bunch of pictures of Ashley with a few of her friends out at Camp Ojekta. Pictured is: Hailey, Tyson, Gabe, Ashley and Kali.

Ashley Jane

Other June Events: On 6/3 we took AJ for her follow up appointment for her ear tube surgery. She is now hearing at 100% and the doc said everything looks perfect! What a difference those tiny little (very expensive :) ) tubes can make! 6/8-6/11 I used up a few vacation days to have a garage sale. I had a ton of kids clothes to sell. I had several friends come buy and haul away garbage bags full of goodies too. Still had tons left over. It's never quite worth all the effort that goes into having a garage sale. Someone please remind me of that when I think it is a good idea to do it again next summer... 6/13 Jack decided he was done with baby food and ready to eat people food. This little dude...can EAT! 6/14 Jack can crawl up the stairs!!! and fall down them. :( 6/15 Jack says mamamammamamamaaa. Doesn't seem to be associated with me, his momma but I'll take it! 6/24 Matt and I went to the Motley Crue & Poison concert at the Target Center with our friends Mike & Amanda. We stayed at the Crown Plaza downtown, went to eat at Ike's and went to the concert and several bars downtown. It was an absolute blast. 6/30 we celebrated 6 years at our house on the lake. Can't believe how fast time flies by! Stay tuned for our July pictures. I hope to do another post soon!