Christmas 2009

This is going to be a long post with lots of pictures. You know, for the grandmas who are missing their girls this Christmas.

Here's June and Winnie in their Christmas church dresses. They were so pretty.

Kolby finally got a couple weeks off from school, and he planned a surprise holiday trip for the girls. They were guessing for days, but had no idea we were heading to the Great Wolf Lodge in Texas for some water fun!

On our first night, we ate at this Rain Forest Cafe. Once Winnie was able to uncover her ears and just enjoy the animals' screeching and howling, she loved it. Especially the Elephants.

We finally checked into the Lodge and headed for the water park. These girls were going non-stop. Winnie spent all of her time on these fun kiddie-cat pool slides, and shooting water at unsuspecting passers-by.

June got a bit more daring on this trip and took turns going with mom and dad on the bigger slides. She takes after her mom in the height department, so the life guards had to measure her for every ride. She even got to sneak onto a few that she was about an inch too short for. But Kolby and I loved taking her down. It's like she's really growing up!

Here's how Winnie eats a hot dog. She takes the "corn on the cob" approach.

Kolby, as usual, turned into a big kid. He really needed this break from school!

Here's June, Winnie and their pal Sofie. By the end of the day, these girls were raisins from the water, but we still had to drag them out of the pool.

There was so much to do at the Lodge, even if you weren't swimming. At night, the girls got to listen to animal story time in the magical lobby that snowed. And they finally got their turn to sit on the big guy's lap and make sure he got their letters.

June's only request of Santa: A white Christmas. Little did she know that we would be coming home on Christmas Eve to a blizzard. That girl always gets her way, I swear.

June played outside right through the blizzard. Winnie made it outside to the edge of the back porch, turned right around, and headed back inside. Too cold for her!

And June finally realized her dream of building a snow man in Oklahoma. His name was Leafer. And he is still standing.

Here are some shots from Christmas morning. I think everyone got exactly what they wanted!

So thanks to all of those who love our girls and sent so much good stuff to keep them busy for the next few weeks. It was a great Christmas!

Love,

Jess, Kolby, June, Winnie, oh, and our mystery baby on the way!

We're Ready for Santa!

This year, Santa's all the rage at our house. I was wondering when the idea of a jolly fat man who brings free presents to nice children was going to catch on. And although our year was filled with loads of naughty deeds, These girls are making a strong finish in hopes that Santa will remember their more recent behavior.

Mom also implemented a new behavior program just to help keep them on track. We keep a jar on the kitchen counter. On one side of the jar, you will find a bucket of "warm fuzzies." Every time the girls do something nice or helpful without the typical whining, I toss in a warm fuzzy. Then there's the "cold naughties." These little, black, plastic beads find their way into the jar whenever mom hears fighting, yelling, naughty words, or witnesses disobedient behavior.

Every week, we empty out the jar. If there are more warm fuzzies than cold naughties, the girls get rewarded. You can imagine what kind of looks I get in the grocery store when Winnie loudly reminds June, "You better be nice, or mom's going to give you a cold naughty!" Oh well, at least we found something that works.

This week was a success! So we had a girls' day out and saw The Princess and the Frog. And we couldn't resist taking a picture in front of Alvin, Simon and Theodore in the "Movie Vader," as Winnie calls it. Maybe we'll go see their movie, too, if we can just be good, for goodness sake!

Anyways, back to Christmas. We got all of our decorations up over Thanksgiving break. Here's our tree tucked neatly in the corner. The girls spend most of their evenings shaking their presents, and trying to sneak peeks through the "accidental" rips that keep magically appearing in the wrapping paper.

I'd love to own an ornate, beautifully-crafted nativity, but for now, this Fisher Price one will have to do. The girls have had a ball setting this one up over and over again and we've had some great talks about the baby Jesus this year.

This is the first year we will be spending Christmas day in our Oklahoma house, so we decided to put up some lights. We are usually visiting Utah for the month of December, but Kolby just couldn't get away from school long enough to make the trip. We're all a little melancholy that we won't be spending the holidays with the fam, but I'm actually a bit relieved in a way. Traveling with two kids that hate to fly and enough presents to fill a mini U-haul always proves stressful.

So I guess we're ready. Bring it on, Santa!

We are Thankful for . . .

We got the best surprise last weekend - Yaya Julie, Aunt Misty and Cousin Caulder flew out for a quick visit. The best part: Caulder came right in and the kids picked up playing exactly where they left off in the summer. I think it's safe to say these guys are best buddies!

It was Aunt Misty's first visit to Oklahoma, so we showed her all the sights!

We showed off our sweet gas station, "Pops." Yep, that's about as exciting as it gets in Oklahoma. The local gas station is a novelty. Kolby took this awesome picture of June drinking from the giant pop statue.

The kids decorated cookies with Yaya. I accidentally ate 8 cookies. And then I got sick in the middle of the night. Smart, right? Don't judge me!

We spent a Sunday afternoon at the park, too. But the weekend went by much too fast and they had to go home so Tukker, Cole and Grandpa Babe didn't get too jealous. We hated to see them go.

Then came Turkey Day! I had to throw in this picture of June's incognito turkey she made for school. The kids had to make a "turkey with dressing" to keep it safe from the thanksgiving day slaughter. June made hers into a sumo wrestler. I don't think you want to mess with this bad boy.

The turkey was Kolby's baby this year. He brined it over night and got up very early to roast it.

Here's the finished product. Now that's a nice bird!

We had a lovely, laid-back Thanksgiving at our friends' house. The "other" Johnsons. Steph was the ultimate hostess - she made these cute matching Indian- girl outfits for the girls to wear. She knows them so well, dress-ups are a must for these divas.

Steph and Jess - slaving away in our aprons. We're so grown-up!

And here's the boys' club: Spencer, Kolby and baby Luke.

We ate so much that we had to spend the afternoon playing the Wii from the comfort of the couch. Who knew you could golf and play tennis while sitting down?

It was a wonderful family day and I didn't forget to say my prayers at night and thank Heavenly Father for all the blessings he gives to me.

School Days . . .

Presenting June's first school picture! I'm no expert, but I think it was a success. When it comes to school pictures, you primp and curl and color-code, send your child off to school and cross your fingers that they don't have boogers smeared across their faces or smashed hair-do's when the camera flashes. A smile is almost too much to wish for, and a toothy grin is rare. So nice work June!

We are already over two months into kindergarten, and June is rocking it! I met with Mrs. McDonald for parent-teacher conference last weekend and got the best report ever. She's well-behaved, reading like a pro and was chosen as the class's "good citizen" for the term. I'm one proud mama!

Soccer came to an end last weekend, and I think we went out on a high note. Here is June with her good buddy, Kiki. These two started out as timid as a mouse on the field, and now they are right in the heat of the battle! June can't wait to play in the spring!

Jen had a special pizza night for the team and handed out medals. She told June that she was the most improved player, and June was beaming! She's been sleeping with her medal under her pillow and wearing it every day.

After an entire season of cheering, Winn is done being an athletic supporter! She wants to play so badly like big sister, and so she will be on her first soccer team in March with cousin Amos. I can't wait. The other day I took her to the park, and she spent the better part of an hour running laps around the playground! She calls it her "workin' out."

Winn has also snuck her way into June's kindergarten class with Mom when I help out on Wednesdays. The kids adore her and she thinks it's heaven on earth. Especially singing time - She turns the ABC carpet into her own private dance floor when Mrs. McDonald blasts the tunes. She does a mean version of the Destiny's Child "no-no" dance!

This face keeps me smiling all day. I sure do love these girls!

Jinkies Scooby!!! It's Halloween!!!

This Halloween, we were off to solve a mystery. These kids are Scooby Doo junkies! So they chose the family costume theme this time around. And we always enjoy our Halloween in a big way at Aunt Becky's decked-out party!

Top row: Mystery Machine, Freddie, Scooby Doo, Hex Girl, Black Samuri Sojo (yes, there is a Samuri Scooby Doo)

Bottom row: Velma, Daphne, and Shaggy

Winnie called herself "Delma" and has been giddy all week in anticipation. She bolted from house to house in search of the next treat. And her excitement couldn't even be dulled by the several spills she suffered. She took a tumble off of a rock wall, and dumped her goods after a large dip in the yard got the better of her. Yep, mom was kicking herself for forgetting the flashlights this year.

June kept pace with cousins Kiki and Jaxon. We didn't worry about losing her this year, that hair was nearly glow-in-the-dark! She got to wear her costume to her very first class party on Friday, too. Now that's a big deal!

I threw this costume together for Kolby on Saturday afternoon. I was painting like crazy to get it done in time! I have a feeling this one is going to be a nice addition to the dress-up box, since Scooby Doo is acted out live every day at our house!

Kolby let me borrow his "coolest" bell-bottoms for my costume. June told me the wig and lip gloss was a little too girly to be Freddie, but the ascot really pulled it all together.

I'm going to have to swipe a picture of Scooby and Shaggy from Tish. After all, they are the main characters! Hope everyone had as much fun as we did! Happy Halloween!!!

Getting Spooky

We may have jumped the gun a bit, but we just couldn't wait until Halloween to carve our pumpkins this year! Last Saturday night was all about the pumpkins!

June was really helpful with the "guts" removal.

Winn stuck her hand in once, then bolted to the bathroom to scrub off the "uscusting" goo. I have no idea when she got so squeamish.

In honor of Disney's recently-released classic, we went with a "Snow White" theme. Winn and I carved up ol' Snow White in all her splendor, and Dad and June worked their magic on the wicked witch. What do you think?

Snow White, The Wicked Witch, and Prince Charming?

I guess we just couldn't get enough of pumpkins that day, so we rounded out the night with some jack-o-lantern cookie-decorating. I gave each of the girls some frosting and sprinkles and let them go at it.

June, as always, was meticulous about her frosting and sprinkle placement. It was a work of art.

Winn's frosting may have been two inches thick, but that didn't stop her from devouring every bite.

Pumpkin Night RULES!!!