springdellgirl: March 2018

March came in like the proverbial lion this year...and it still isn't lamb-like weather. When I say that I am ready for spring what I really mean is that I am ready for summer. Warm weather. Sunshine. Bring it on. That didn't happen in March.

We started the month off with Tyler and I having a fun night downtown with Kameron. We had tickets to see Kameron's best friend, Jonathan, perform in the lead role of Tarzan, at the Bing Crosby Theater. He did a fantastic job!! We started the night out with dinner at a new restaurant ... Incrediburgers. It was pretty good. They have all kinds of *interesting* gourmet burgers and shakes. I got the Thai burger that had peanut sauce and other Thai style ingredients on it. It was good. I am not a big cheeseburger person so I don't know that I am really in a hurry to return. Kam got a Nutella shake that was delicious and Tyler and I split at a caramel corn shake which wasn't.

Jonathan's mom, Susie, got us front row seats. We love Jonathan's parents and the fact that these cute boys have been such good friends since 1st grade.

Jonathan was, of course, fantastic!! That kid has been growing his hair out for over a year and then got extensions that were made into dreads and went to school like that for WEEKS! Ha ha! That is dedication to your craft. It was a fun night!!

Reilly has a new boyfriend...his name is Hunter. He is very nice. Reilly has brought him around quite a bit this month. He has been to all kinds of performances and family events. He even helped break down from my last vintage show and lugged furniture and bins. He is a country boy and wants to go into ranching. He currently works on his uncle's ranch. It has been quite amusing to see our glamour girl, Reilly, go country. Country Reilly is quite enjoyable to watch!! ;)

Ailey has had a whole bunch of drill team performances and a big showcase night. I wish that I could post them on the blog but the Internet is full of wackos and I can't cover up all the uniform logos. But take my word for it. She did a great job and has been a wonderful drill team captain. She has done a bunch of the choreographing and has been awesome with the girls!! We have loved watching her perform!

Hunter doesn't have any sisters so it has been a whole new world hanging out at drill team showcase nights and things like that but he has been a good sport!

Bryn started Bloomsday Training at her elementary school which is basically track. Bloomsday is a 12K race here and all the elementary schools start training in the spring. Bryn was SO EXCITED to get back to running. I cannot relate to this at all!! I like working out but I loathe running. Bryn starts track today on her city team. So she will be doing that as well.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day:

Bryn set up a very elaborate leprechaun trap the night before.

St. Patrick's Day was on a Saturday this year so no green lunches but we did get shamrock shakes and then had our family dinner on Sunday. It is awesome to have Reilly back in town for holidays both big and small!

We celebrated heartily considering that my DNA proved last year that I am Irish!! As for Tyler, one of the heartiest St. Paddy's Day celebrators...the jury is still out. Ha ha!

But he bought his DNA kit and sent it in so in a few short weeks we will find out not only if he has any Irish blood but also if he is indeed the Bad-A Viking that he claims to be!! :)

Tyler and I got free tickets to attend a special prescreening for the movie Ready Player One which happens to be one of our very favorite books so we were excited to see the movie. The plot was changed here and there but it was still good and we loved seeing the book come to life on the big screen.

We had a great event happen in our ward. The young man on the left in white is named Tyler and he started taking the discussions about a year ago and began coming to church regularly and attending seminary. He is a year older than Kam. Kameron and his friend Josh...the one on the right...have had a great opportunity to fellowship and become friends with Tyler. They sat in on missionary discussions, worked with the missionaries, and took part in this young man's decision to be baptized. It has been wonderful to watch. Great prep for both Kam and Josh as future missionaries. Josh baptized Tyler and Tyler asked Kameron to speak at his baptism. Kam spoke about the Holy Ghost and just did a fantastic job!! I am so proud of both of these boys for being such great friends and so welcoming and loving to this new young man in our ward.

The kids taking turns to cook Sunday dinner once a month is still in full swing and that means that sometimes Tyler and I get a Sunday nap!! Love it! That is one of the perks of early church...especially those days when I have to be at ward council at 7am. Not a fan. This month it was Ailey's turn to cook and she decided to make breakfast for dinner. She did an amazing job!! She made homemade waffles, homemade buttermilk syrup, two kinds of sausage (kielbasa and vegetarian), and tator tots. Ha ha! True to her word not one vegetable was on the menu!!

It was a delicious meal!! Thanks Ailey!!

Kameron had his Spring Band Concert!

He did fantastic!!

Stacey and I were vendors at the Rebel Junk Vintage Market in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho this month. It was our first show of 2018.

Here we are on set-up day. We had a double booth space again with our checkout in the middle like we did last year. We added some pops of color for Spring and had some cute Easter decor for this show.

Show Day and back in the swing of things. Show season is under way!! We also ended up having a sisters sleepover at my mom's house after the show. My sister, Kelley, even joined us.

The day before the show this poor kid got left at school. I TOTALLY forgot to pick her up!! The school called me a half an hour after school was over to see if I was ever coming to get her!! I felt terrible. In my defense...I thought she had Bloomsday training that day...she was in her running clothes and had me do her hair in a ponytail...but nope...just a regular day. Things were also just a tad crazy getting prepped for the Rebel Junk Market and CLEARLY my mind was on other things. So...when your mom forgets you at school you get FROYO!! Bryn was a trooper. I have now forgotten all of my children once. I am an equal opportunity forgetter. When we got home Ailey opened the door and yelled, "Welcome to the Forgotten-By-Mom-Club!!" They never forget! Ha ha. They are lucky it has only happened once!!

We also had parent/teacher conference for Bryn. Her teacher Mr. O tried his hardest to talk us into having more kids!! Ha ha!! He is having a hard time believing that there are no more Johnsons to come through his class. The end of an era. Bryn is doing absolutely fantastic and Mr. O said that she just spreads joy and happiness throughout his classroom. He said that students like Bryn are the reason that he enjoys teaching and has done it for so many years. You can't get higher praise than that! It is wonderful as a parent to hear that your kids are nice kids!!

The school walkout happened this month. Ailey walked out and Kameron did not. Both of them had excellent and well-thought out reasons for why they did or did not walk out and Tyler and I proudly supported both of their decisions. They are super smart, thoughtful, and savvy kids. They both have strong opinions and thoughts on the matter and ideas about what needs to be done to protect students and since they are the ones who go to school every day not knowing if they will return home... I feel that both of their opinions on how to deal with school violence are to be applauded and respected.

Kameron and several of his friends stayed in school and had a great conversation with their teacher during the walkout. She contacted me to say how impressed she was with Kam. Ailey walked out and marched down the street with her principal by her side. We love these passionate and articulate kids of ours!! As a parent I want to bang some heads together until our children start being protected!!! I cannot even imagine going to school under the circumstances that they do!! It enrages and frustrates me completely.

What else happened this month? Ailey and Bryn both sang in church. Ailey sang with the YW and Bryn sang with the Primary. The Primary kids sang the song I Will Be What I Believe which has me in a puddle of tears every time I hear it...which was multiple times every Sunday!!

You can watch it here:

Try not to cry!!

Ailey is also involved with the Road Show and is busy with practices. Kameron took the SAT. I had a fun lunch with a dear friend. I was also asked to be a speaker at a RS activity. I was asked to speak about parenting particularly about helping teens and young adults to get the most out of General Conference. I'll post my thoughts later. I had book club and we read the book Murder on the Orient Express this month. Not my favorite book although I did watch the movie after I read the book and thought the movie was better. What?! That's like the second time this has happened this year!!

Tyler and I also tried to chase the sun whenever we could...