Silly Boy

The boys took these pictures of Keifer pulling funny faces and I thought they were too funny not to post. He's quite the little boy, and obviously loved by his brothers.

I'M SO EXCITED!

My dear sister-in-law, Laura, called me today wondering if I was interested in a table and chairs at her friend's yard sale. I told her yes with hardly a description of the table. It is almost exactly what I would have picked out on my own, but cost MUCH less than I thought I'd have to pay to get one. Dinner was WONDERFUL as I had enough room for all the food and everyone had enough space to not eat each other's elbows. Did I say I was excited? I LOVE IT! The boys wondered why I was so excited about a table, Keith told them it was a girl thing. So, I guess I'm the only one that's excited, but I have enough excitement for all of us. Yay!

Happy Birthday Joe!

The day started out with lots of Happy Birthdays wished. Joe enjoys his day every year and seems to feel pretty special. Joe was able to go birthday shopping with Grandma Nena, which he's looked forward to since early this year when his older brothers were able to go. He was so excited when he returned home.

We then took him to the Dollar Store where Matt wanted to buy him something. After that we went to the store to pick up our gift for him. I let all the boys, including Joe help since I couldn't get to the store without him. It ended up being a fun time followed by riding the rides outside Kmart afterward.

Then we received a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson where they gave him their gift. I laughed that he recognized the wrapped batteries taped to the rest of his present. We ended the evening with dinner and the PINK cake he picked out and then watched his birthday video. He had a great day. We had fun reminiscing about our little Joe...enjoy the video.

The Fort

Somehow the idea of a fort came about a while ago and after a couple weekends of dad being sick or not being around, he finally was able to get some supplies and help make a fort. The boys could hardly wait. They seem to think its pretty cool even though I don't really see them play in it since they built it. Maybe it didn't measure up to Matt's grand plans. He had decided he would build it bigger than the house and that he would have his own rules. I laughed because one of them included "everyone has to keep things picked up." If only we all followed the rules.

First Haircut, Good-bye Curls!

I never remember to take before pictures, and I don't seem to have a good picture of Keifer's curls either. Keith said that he looked like a clown one day, and I laughed so hard because he was so right. (Excuse the squash on his face)

Now here's our little boy that looks less like a clown and more like a little boy.

First Day of Kindergarten

Matt's first day of Kindergarten FINALLY came. I wasn't sure we were going to survive the wait. He's been waiting all summer. Having an older sibling start school a week before Kindergarten starts was nearly torture-for all of us. He was SO excited. His first day he came home and told me "The bus was AWESOME!" We have laughed at how different our two school boys are. Matt is a take charge, do his own thing, kind of kid. Josh is happy to have his buddy at school. Josh has been great to always follow directions and not get into trouble. We knew things would be a little different with Matt. However, we were surprised that only 5 days into school he had to change his behavior card from green to yellow for not following directions. It should be an interesting year.

Fishing at Kid's Canal

The boys were finally able to go fishing with their Dad in August. I'm not sure who really did the fishing, but 2 fish were caught and they all needed pictures taken with the fish. They also enjoyed eating them. If only their parents enjoyed it as much as they do. Keith and I enjoy fishing, just not eating them. As you can tell, the boys were excited about their fish.

Can you tell its been a while?

These pictures are reminding me to enjoy the rest of summer and fall as long as I can.

I've only been using the boys' cameras, so when I got the pictures off of my camera, you can imagine my surprise to see snow in September!

It seems like it was March when Keith made his trip to North Dakota earlier this year for work. He took some pictures of the snow while he was there.

We still laugh about his trip because Joe still talks about Keith going to "No Dakota" and he had to drive through "Hot Tanna". So if you ever hear us refer to Montana and North Dakota the way Joe did, you'll know where we got it.

Projects, Projects, and more...Projects

It is very possibly that BECAUSE I am not pregnant or nursing-but I have felt like I've been able to accomplish some things the last few weeks. What a good feeling. And, I shouldn't take all the credit-I have somehow been able to enlist some help along the way. (Probably because he walks in on a project and knows he can do it better and faster-he he-I'm not complaining.) It might not seem like much to some, but for me it has-some of is is just a little of what we've been up to.

WARNING: THIS IS A BUNCH OF RANDOM PICTURES.

1. I thought I'd include this, because it is a project to get a little boy this chubby....and everything else that goes along with. He's our cute Tubby Chubby (nickname courtesy of Joe). He's rolling all over now and almost has crawling figured out. Good thing I'm cleaning up projects so he has room to explore.


2. Dishwasher. We've had a portable since I was pregnant with Matt. This house has a hole for one and I was finally able to talk Keith into installing it, with the help of his dad. Thanks!



3. New lawn. I always forget to take before pictures. There was an old flower bed that didn't grow flowers very well and the boys destroyed the railroad tie that used to nicely border the old flower bed. For the last couple years it has been a sizable ditch right off the porch that was slightly dangerous. I hadn't come up with a good plan to fix it until my parents had curbing done at their house and to do so, they had their grass cut up. With a little puzzle work, I was able to lay the sod and am trying to get it to all green up. Its looking better every day. Good bye gaping dirt pit!

4. New home of the main computer.


Old home of the main computer.


I'm always trying to relocate computer "stuff" to one area of the house, instead of ALL areas. I've been a little desperate for some more space, somewhere. I finally cleaned up and rearranged one computer desk and threw out a bunch of things from the old (I'm pretty sure he won't miss the things I chucked). Perks: It opened up an entry way and made it so I could breath a little better, and I don't spend as much time on the computer because it isn't right next to the kitchen anymore.


5. Curtains. The picture is weird because of the sunlight, but I bought a curtain rod and hung some curtains I had. Of course I wasn't drilling the holes just right, so Keith assisted with the project. Now my room looks a little prettier. Now if I could just get it cleaned--project for another day.


6. Blinds. My wonderful boys like to play with the blinds and have broken the strings on one in the front room. I have been at a loss for how to fix it (or too pregnant to do anything about it-I really just can't move well when I'm pregnant). I pulled it down and took it to my dad. I held the blind and looked for screws as he figured out a way to string things back up! Thanks Dad! It looks so much better now.


7. Air Conditioning! The van's a/c started going out last year, but thankfully fall came. This year I put it off and put it off because I don't like the hassle of taking it in or the cost of repairing things. Surprise! It only cost me $150 (instead of the $1000 I was expecting) and only one day without it. Just in time, I couldn't go anywhere with the kids because it was starting to get too hot.


8. Garden. This was started in May, but takes a bit of our time anyway. And its looking so good now! We've talked about a garden for 4 years and finally got one planted. We weren't sure anything would grow, but as you can see.....we've already started enjoying some of the fruits. YAY!

I'm sure there are other things, but I've been feeling good that I've been accomplishing some of the projects that have needed done for quite some time and I'm finally able to do them (pending an unplanned pregnancy, of course).

Josh

First of all, I have to comment on the way Josh is sitting. My Grandpa Gardiner always sat like this. I have a couple brothers who sit like this, and so far, Josh is the only one of my boys that does this. Its always fun to see a bit of your ancestors and those you love come through in younger generations.

So today I finally took my van into the shop to check on the air conditioning. We really thought it would be an issue that would cost us greatly, so I put it of, and put it off. All summer, in fact. But last week was pretty hot with no signs of cooling down. I just couldn't do that to the kids anymore.

My A/C is fixed!!!! And not at the cost I was expecting, thank goodness!

I was commenting on the fixed van at dinner, they didn't quite get it. I told them we don't have to open the windows anymore, the van will blow cold air.

Josh replied very mater-of-fact:

I'm glad we aren't snowmen.