Merry Christmas to All!

December went by in a flash. So much to report so little time. The kids had a great Christmas. They got way too much stuff and are on toy overload. Brody has the concept of opening presents down. He opens every present, doesn't matter who's name is on the tag. He gets really impatient because he has to wait while someone attempts to free the toy from the thousand metal twist ties in the packaging.
Our Wii is on the brink of death, I am hoping it lasts through Christmas break before we have to send it in for repair. Cooper finished first season basketball, and second season will be starting soon. Cooper and Daddy will be working on their pinewood derby car soon.
The elves went home with Santa on Christmas eve, I am working on a scrapbook layout of their antics during their visit. I backed into an empty parked car in a parking lot, completely my fault, I was in the car by myself, so I can't even blame it on anyone else.
Our dining room remodel is finished! Carpet install was a mess. They came to install it twice before the scheduled date, when I was at work. On the install day, they got half done and realized it was too small, then had to rush order a new piece before the factory closed down for the year and finally on xmas eve, they got it installed right. Next project: Replace the hideous ceiling fans in the living room and kitchen.

Kids on Christmas Eve, in their new jammies.

Everybody look at mommy:



Can everybody clap? Hmm, this one is pretty good, maybe I should quit while I am ahead.


Where is your hair?



Where is your belly?


And they are done, what little control there was, is now lost...

The elves have arrived

Dudley, Dean, and Belinda arrived last week. For those that don't know, Santa sends us 3 elves each December to stay with us. When they get their work done at the North Pole, they get to come. They are nocturnal, and Cooper needs to take care of them and feed them. Sometimes they are naughty, sometimes nice. they stayed up all night last night and played Guitar Hero. I am sure they have other stuff planned during their stay.

Here they are (from last year)...

Back to work

Thanksgiving is over, back to work. Getting the kids back into the morning routine is always a challenge after a long weekend. Cooper's arm is all better, the other kids are healthy also. The Johnson Thanksgiving was here Thursday, and there were no major food mishaps, just a small problem with the meat thermometer, and the deep fried turkey. We traveled to Cedar Rapids for "Ellsworth" Thanksgiving and the roads were snow and ice covered on the way home, the two hour drive took nearly 4 hours. The kids were getting cranky by the time we got home.

Remodel is still in progress. We had a dining room hutch delivered, Jeff installed two new light fixtures, I have been busy staining chair rails and doors. Need to get the drywall finished so I can paint, and then get the carpet installed.

Here is Lexi from Halloween:

Busy Weekend

The weekend started early Friday. The school nurse called and I had to pick Cooper up from school because his right arm was swollen, red, hot, and inflammed. I took him to Dr. Jay and we determined he had a reaction to the flu shot he had on Wednesday. We spent the weekend keeping it iced and elevated, and drugged up on antibiotics, Zyrtec, and Ibuprofen. He was feeling pretty good today, so Jeff took him to Mnpls for his first concert - AC\DC. Saturday was busy running errands - picking up oak trim for the dining room, picked up the side of beef, scout popcorn pickup, winterized boat picked up, and we went to the food and wine show downtown and took advantage of the yummy samples. It was like Costco on a Saturday, only better food, and no old ladies telling us where the product was located. They had alcohol samples too...it was all good.

Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year, so I need to figure out the menu asap.

Here are a couple for the baby books:

Dining Room Remodel Started

There was a cold air return in the wall so it couldn't be torn out completely. The drywall guy didn't show up this weekend, so I will be looking for another contractor if he doesn't call soon. Jeff installed new light fixtures, we found a china cabinet that matches our table, ordered carpet, and decided on paint color. We still need to find a chair railing that matches what was already in the room. Next weekend we will be painting and staining. I can't find sitting room furniture within my budget, so I need to keep looking.

It is cold!

It turned cold this weekend. I am not ready for winter. Halloween was last week and it was unseasonably warm for Beggar's night. Surprisingly, Brody ended up wearing his costume, but drew the line at wearing the hat part. We took him trick or treating just in the cul-de-sac, and he caught on pretty quickly to put out his bag and he would get candy. At some point he decided to start giving back, he would select some things from his bag, give it to the person handing out candy, say bye, and run away. So by the time we got home his bag was empty, because he had given away all the candy he collected. He had fun, and Cooper got enough candy for everyone anyway.
In other Brody news, he got a haircut, and didn't bite the girl so I don't think we are banned from that Great Clips yet. He also out of the blue decided to go potty on the toilet this weekend. We haven't started potty training, and in my excitement didn't expect him to follow up his business, by washing his hands in the toilet. Oh well, baby steps.

I was looking for some old pictures and found these:

Going Out of Town...

Jeff is pheasant hunting today, I am trying to get the house in order because I need to travel to Florida for work Monday am. Tonight we have tickets to Metallica, next week we will see Rain at the Civic Center for my birthday. Last night was Logan's 4th birthday party.

Cooper's last football game was Saturday morning. He scored a touchdown, and got several flags on defense. I missed it, I stayed home with the kids because I thought it would be too cold to take them out. Cooper is working on his first major school project, he needs to recreate a continent with land forms they have been studying. Daddy has been helping him and it is coming along nicely.

Lexi moves to a new room at daycare next week. She will be a grasshopper. Brody pushed her off the steps and she has a battle wound on her forehead.

Brody doesn't think much of wearing his Barney costume. We tried a test fitting yesterday and it didn't go well. Hopefully he will warm up to it by Thursday.