October 2011

October 2011

Ever since we went to my cousin Sara's wedding in August, Ashley has been obsessed with brides, wedding rings etc. Well, one afternoon Ashley and I were searching on craigslist for Halloween costumes when we came across a overpriced ad for a flower girl dress. The picture prompted Ashley's Halloween costume. We didn't buy the expensive one off craigslist, we made it our mission to find on at the thrift store. We scored this cute flower girl dress at the Wyoming thrift store for $4.00. The purse was $2.50. The flowers were $1.50 and the jewelry she had. In this picture she is wearing my wedding veil. For Halloween however, Grandma J gave her her wedding veil and modified it to go on a headband. Isn't she just adorable?

Ashley was invited to her very first "school friend" princess birthday party. These girls had so much fun. They all go to daycare together.
Pictured L to R: Bene, Layla, Ashley, Amber, Brooke, Sidney

Ashley and the infamous Sara, (my cousin who got married in August) Ashley's idol.

Great Grandma Marianne (81 1/2) and Jack (14 mo)

October...Fall...Leaves!!

Ashley running through the leaves. Look at the big smile.

Daddy & Ashley. I love this picture.

We made our annual trip to Lendt's pumpkin patch. I think it was 90 degrees this day. Crazy! Ashley was all for posing with the various props this year.

Jack & Ashley enjoying a free ride in the wagon.

She sure is getting tall! I should find the picture we took last year with this princess.

My family. Matt, Ashley & Jack

Love this little peanut!

A little over 3.5'

Ashley and Jack goofin around.

My handsome little man. Love his new hair cut!

On Sunday 10/16, we met up with some of our favorite people! Uncle Brent, Auntie Lydia and cousin Alex at the Children's Museum. Here Ashley is painting her face. The kids had a great time!

Here Ashley is helping Alex paint on his face. She wrote AJ on his forehead...not sure if she was signing her initials or not but we sure thought it was cute. (Alex is AJ too)

Ashley, Jack and Alex. Notice Alex holding Jack's hand? So cute!

Taking a rest. Lydia, Ashley, Brent, & Alex

The bride & groom. The kids and I went to Zoo Boo with G & G J and Brent, Lydia and Alex. This was another beautiful afternoon. Zoo Boo was P A C K E D! Daddy was hunting with friends.

My sweetheart, Ashley Jane.

Alex (2) & Ashley (4 1/2)

Daddy, Ashley & Jack

Look at that buddha belly!

Lauren, Sidney & Ashley

Lauren and Ashley are BFF

This picture was taken at the Halloween party at daycare.

Happy 7th Birthday Ruby! I remember when you were just a puppy peeing on my carpet!

Halloween party at Molly & Brian's.

Pictured L to R: Sheli, John, Chris, Heather, Troy

Matt & Chad

More pictures from the Halloween party.

Me, Matt, John, Sheli, Brian, Molly and TJ

Matt on Halloween. Scary! Haha.

We went to Uncle Dennis & Auntie Marianne's house to trick or treat with cousins Jake & Luke.

Jacob was Thomas the Train, Luke was Bugs Bunny, Ashley was a Bride and Jack was a Groom.

Other October events: On 10/2, Jack got 3 more teeth. AJ started 8 weeks of swimming lessons every Tuesday night. On 10/9 we did everything October we could think off...we went to the pumpkin patch, made caramel apples, decorated the house for Halloween and jumped in piles of leaves. On 10/20, Daddy went on a 4 day grouse hunting trip with 5 other guys and they shot 2 birds. Hmmm........ On 10/23 we went to Tom's pumpkin patch with the Metz side G-parents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. On 10/24 Jack had his 15 month checkup. Interested in his stats? Height: 2' 7.5" (63.88%) Weight: 26 lb 3.2 oz (73.44%) HC 20" (99.68%) We also thought a lot about Auntie Angie who unexpectedly passed away a year ago on 10/24/10. Jack vocabulary contains very few words. In fact, I'll ask him to say words and he'll shake his head back and forth to indicate no. One word he will say or repeat is WOW! :)

September 2011

September 2011. Already two months ago. Geesh. Time sure goes by quickly. Last September I was on maternity leave, home with Jack. Wow. Now he's a little boy already!

We went up to the cabin over Labor day weekend with the Brooks' and our friends Brian & molly. This picture is the girls pushing Jack in the little kid cart at the grocery store. I forgot my camera, these pictures are compliments of Molly.


We took a group bike ride, and rode for a couple of miles. John pulled this cart and these two chunky little monkeys behind his bike. The girls were thrilled...John was exhausted.

The weekend was COLD! We all bundled up and headed up town to watch Rockie Lynne. I'd like to thank you Rockie Lynne for the memories. :)

Tradition says you have to go up to the icecream shop and get icecream cones.

Ashley & Jack crusin' in the Mustang. These two LOVE to be with each other. Jack thinks the world of his big sissy and AJ loves her little buddy.

All of the Johnson grandkids with Grandma Sue & Grandpa Butch. We all gathered to celebrate Larry's 68th birthday!

Matt & I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on 9/14. Grandpa & Grandma J watch the kids for us while we went out for crab leg dinner at the Cornerstone.

Love this little girl!

$25 Score off of Cragislist! A Jeep for Jack.

My expressive little messy face, Jackapoo.

Sunday September 25th, we went to the Apple Orchard with Grandma Terry & Grandpa Randy.

Friday 9/30 we headed up north to our friend Chris' land for the weekend. We had such a good weekend! A group of us took the four wheelers on the state park trails. We rode for a couple of hours and it was a blast. It was a beautiful fall weekend.

A picture of camp. Amazing fall colors. Great friends.

Other September events: On September 1st, Matt ended his employment at Custom Fire. On 9/2 Jack started blowing kisses. On 9/4 Jack plays peekaboo. On 9/9 Jack picks up speed and starts walk/running! On 9/10 we discovered Jack can dance. He puts his arms up in the air and waves them around. On 9/11 AJ is 4 1/2 years old. On 9/15 AJ discovers she can wink and Jack gets 4 more teeth. On 9/23 Jack can get down the stairs. On 9/24 Jack gets 2 more teeth and is 14 months old. Jack's last day at RFG was 9/30.

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. :)