Mason is SIX!

I have a kindergartener that has been begging for a birthday party for more than a year.  Sad, I know!  This poor kid has gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to having parties, somehow we always have so much going on around his birthday that it gets lost in the shuffle.  Not this year!  We celebrated Mason's big day in a BIG way!  On his birthday he chose to go to one of our favorite pizza places and wanted a Captain America cake- check!  We also brought in cake pops to school.  Since the week after his birthday was Spring Break, we opted to have his party that Friday.  I still remember my 6th birthday party.  It was held in our back yard and we played pin the tail on the donkey, and I'm sure some other games too.  I remember the kids that were there and getting my ears pierced.  I'm hoping Mason remembers some of this day we had for him.  He invited six little friends for a Super-hero party at home and we even played pin the Batman symbol on Batman, along with a bunch of other games the older boys helped to plan and they and grandma all helped orchestrate.  Cameron gave all the kids super-hero tattoos and operated our musical chairs game.  Gavin helped them design their own super heros and had a sack race.  Grandma helped with a bean bag toss and a BINGO game.  And we had a Johnson family first- a pinata!  It was a whirlwind of a party, but I think mission accomplished- Mason sure felt SUPER!  And he is a hero to all of us.

The Luck Of The Irish

On St. Patrick's Day we're all Irish.  Our family tradition is to have these great paninis with corned beef, swiss, and cole slaw inside, along with potato chips and green punch!  That silly leprechaun came again and brought gold coins and gold wrapped Rolo's and left them in our trap!  Sneaky bugger, we can't seem to catch him!

Gavin's Baptism

I was one proud mama on Saturday when Gavin became an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Not only that, but he was baptized in the same font that I was baptized in when I was 16 which made things extra special.  Jeremy's parents came into town to help make his day memorable and he was so excited.  Cameron played the piano and Mason gave one of the prayers.  It was a small circle of friends and family that  came, including my mom and Jeff, and Jeff's mom Judy, Jeremy's parents, the Caldwell family, and Sister Tondro, my dear friend who has been there for every important milestone in my kids lives.  But even though the crowd was small, the spirit was strong, and everyone in that room felt it.  I hope that Gavin remembers how he felt that day, and not just cold, because the water sure was!  I hope he felt the love that poured out from everyone there.  Congratulations Gavin, on making the very first important decision in your life and your first covenants with the Lord.

My Snowy Valentine

 

This is the snowiest winter I can remember.  The kids have had so many snow days that they have had to add days at the end of the year and take away some holidays.  We have had to get pretty creative with things to do inside since even the kids got sick of the snow.  We went to the indoor pool several times, watched all of the Star Wars movies, and found long forgotten toys that needed some love.  We didn't have a single full week of school since before Christmas until mid February and the kids have loved staying home.  Mason in particular, however was devastated that they did not have school on Valentine's Day and could not exchange Valentine's.  This year he chose Yoda ones with glow stick light sabers and he filled them out all by himself.  If you look closely at the pictures you will see the two that he added an extra "heart" you to two for some special little girls...Gavin picked shark Valentine's and Cameron Harry Potter.  The Harry Potter ones made me laugh with sayings like "I like your Long-Bottom" and "Dumbledorable" and "Muggle Snuggle."  Lucky for them they still had their parties when they went back to school and all was right again.  We are ready for some spring around here and some time outside!

A Unique Winter

This winter has been one for the history books.  Sub zero temperatures have been a recurrence and wind chills have kept the kids home from school and us stuck indoors.  We got some snow this week, not much, but in combination with the temps, the roads have stayed icy and the kids have not been to school all week!  If they don't go tomorrow, which I'm betting they won't, they also get off Monday and a half day on Tuesday for teacher workdays.  Add another day and a half and that will be as long as our Christmas break!   We have tried to keep busy, and Cameron had a 24 hour stomach bug to liven things up, but mostly we have been hunkered down watching a Star Wars marathon and drinking gallons of hot chocolate.  Tomorrow is also our last snow day left on the school calendar, so if we get much more weather like this we will likely be going to school until July.  It is so cold that one of our pipes froze in the house and burst down in the basement.  That ordeal was not fun at all, but luckily we are getting new carpet and paint thanks to our insurance.  And just because I uploaded some photos, you will also see Gavin's first pinewood derby car which he raced this month.  In true Johnson fashion, his car finished dead last.  One of the wheels didn't turn right.  Did I mention that Jeremy is now Cubmaster and in charge of the Pinewood derby?  Please, somebody teach him how to make a decent car for our kids!  If we get just one that does ok, I promise we will just repaint it each year and never bug you again!   Stay warm out there!

Frozen

 

Over Winter Break we took the kids to see Frozen, an adorable movie about a girl that accidentally froze her town.  Today it feels like Elsa used her powers on Northern Virginia, the temperatures are in the single digits and the wind chill is as much as 20 below zero.  It hasn't been this cold in 20 years and everyone has been bracing for the big chill.  School was cancelled today because the county was worried about kids that walk to school and at bus stops, so we had an extra day of vacation and have been spending it well drinking hot cocoa and taking hot baths.  We also tried a cool experiment where we blew bubbles outside and watched them freeze- so beautiful, but we didn't last too long before having to run inside to warm up.  It's the kind of day where you just want to climb under the covers and watch a movie or read a book.  It's supposed to warm up a bit tomorrow so I'm sure it will be back to school and back to regular life, but we are enjoying the time we have to snuggle today.

New Year

For New Year's Eve we spent lots of good family time together.  We played board games and watched a movie and had our traditional fondue dinner with cheese and chocolate.  We let the kids stay up this year,

but poor Mason konked out during our movie.  I woke him up so he wouldn't miss our balloon drop and milk and cookie toast, but it was like waking a bear from hibernation- we all were growled at.  Eventually his mood improved and we were able to see the ball drop and toot our horns.  We made some resolutions, and Cameron wants to work on his habit of complaining too much, Gavin wants to learn to write more neatly and Mason wants to learn how to draw stars and animals.  Jeremy would like to get in better shape and I want to quit yelling so much and spending too much time on my phone.  Wish us luck on our goals!