Bryn's 2nd Birthday Bash


We celebrated Bryn's birthday last weekend. We met Kelley and Elle and took all the kids to Mobius, the children's museum, and let them run wild!! Easiest birthday party ever.

Watching the puppet show...very interesting and I am not talking about the puppets.

The water table was a hit!!

Bryn would have jumped in there and started swimming. I can barely contain her in the tub. She likes to "fim". She "fims" underwater, on her back, and does the barrel roll. I am always drenched. The lake this summer is going to be crazy. 24/7 life jacket I think.

Kelley and Elle

Tyler and the "official" bag/gift/balloon holder...Reilly. Check out the EXCITEMENT on her face!!

Bryn was a crazy runner in there. She was everywhere. Whereas Elle would go to different stations and actually play; Bryn would run from spot to spot like a madwoman. Poor unstimulated 4th child. No playgroups, library story time, kindermusik, and children's museum for her. But she does enjoy running errands, going out to lunch, shopping, hangin' with my friends, cruisin' in the Suburban with the radio blaring and a cold beverage in hand, and is constantly sending random texts on my Iphone. I think she might be my favorite child. :)

During the puppet show Bryn kept looking at me like the people there were nuts...and I had to agree. There were some seriously enthusiastic...clearing psychotic...parents singing and playing along VERY animatedly. First time parents. I love their craziness...ahem...enthusiasm.

Look at Elle playing so contentedly.

Ailey and Kameron had fun too!

Then we headed across the street for lunch at Red Robin.

Bryn and Elle hard at work. They take coloring very seriously. Both had their heads down and were furiously scribbling away while waiting for their lunch.

Then it was cake time.

Love that smile?! And...Elle on her "tooter" which fortunately for us and all of Red Robin neither girl could "toot".

Brynnie and Elle love cake!! And ice cream...which I forgot to get. Bryn LOVES ice cream. She asks me "Ice cream please?" multiple times a day...even though we never have ice cream. When she does get ice cream it is like Christmas, her birthday, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one.

Then it was onto presents.

Happy 2nd Birthday Bryn Kaitrin!! We love you!!

What a Weekend!!

Two momentous events and a big bummer transpired this weekend:


First and foremost...Bryn turned two yesterday!! We love this girl!! She is the little cherry on top of our family. Happy Birthday Brynnie!! We are going to have a big bash for you next weekend.

Next...we (Sisters Creed) were vendors at The Spring Funky Junk Sale. We had a blast!! You can read about it here.

(Our booth)

And the bummer you say? Can you guess? Here's a clue...

Now I have pneumonia. Crap.

But on the LDS humorous side...when I went into the doctor today when she pulled up the back of my shirt to listen to me breath...she pulled up my garment top and asked incredulously "Are you wearing a slip??!!" Ha ha.

It's Funky Junk Time!!
I have been super busy the last few weeks getting ready for this sale. Sisters Creed will be vendors and it's been crazy around here. So much to do...and so little time. It is going to be so much fun though. I can't wait!!

You can see a few of the things that we have been working on here. Come visit us and find yourself a one-of-a-kind treasure. It is such a fun sale with amazingly talented vendors, great antiques and crafts, good food and live music.

Come say hello!! We'll see you at the sale.

Hot Dog!! And...Sicker than a Dog


Oh the highs and lows around here never end. As for the highs...Kameron (and Tyler) have redeemed themselves at the Pinewood Derby this year. For the past two years Kameron has had a hot looking car but not necessarily a "fast" car. This year however...Kameron had both a hot car and a fast car. Tyler and Kameron had been slaving over this car for weeks...night after night they sawed and sanded and painted and designed and then redesigned this car. All their hard work paid off though. Kameron and his "Green Hornet" placed third overall. This is HUGE!! HUGE!! Watching Kameron's face as he would actually win different races was PRICELESS.

Kam anxiously watching the races and hoping that his car would do well. (BTW: Could there be a cuter cub scout in all the world? I seriously doubt it.)

Once that Green Hornet started winning the Johnsons went crazy and maybe just a tad obnoxious but when you've been on a losing streak for two years and you suddenly start winning it is HIGH excitement!!

Kameron had the added bonus...and good luck charm...of having his good friend Ryan and his mom Crystal officiating the race. Kameron is at their house all the time and Ryan's dad has coached Kameron in baseball over the years. Crystal is the cub scout leader for the pack from Kameron's school that all his buddies are in. Kameron is a pretty good sport about it but I know that he would much rather be with his friends than with his church pack. I hear a lot about all the fun things that his buddies get to do. Well, we have new cub scout leader who is awesome and she had the genius idea of having Crystal come and run the Pinewood Derby. Kameron was thrilled. Ryan came along to cheer for Kameron too.

Ryan even brought along his pinewood derby car to race Kameron's after the official races were over. The Green Hornet won again!!

It was a great night of winning and cheering and food, fun and friends. (Plus, with cotton candy and popcorn added how can you go wrong?) Maybe the Pinewood Derby isn't to be dreaded after all. :)



Multiple views of the prize winning car and trophy:



There is something to be said for delayed gratification and learning to be a good sport because when you do win it is even sweeter.

Now for the sick dog:

Nothing says "Fun Spring Break" like having walking pneumonia. Poor Ailey. This is the second kid with pneumonia this year...albeit a month and a half apart.

Elle's 2nd Birthday

(Casey, Elle and Kelley)

It's birthday time around here. Elle turned two on Sunday and Bryn will turn two...in two weeks. Boy, have these two little girls grown up!! Here are a few pictures from Elle's party. It was an adult party...so that's why all the cousins are suspiciously absent but they sure enjoyed the generous goody bags, balloons, and cake that was sent home to them.

Elle was the Birthday Princess and she was such a little cutie. She enjoyed being the center of attention and being surrounded by adoring family members. She is one loved little girl.

Elle with Papa Ken and Grandma Vic

Grandma Dayna and Papa Dave

Uncle Tyler and Aunt Kristin

Aunt Stacey...Uncle John was home with River and Dane.

Nathan and Elle. Casey's girlfriend was also there. She was very sweet.

Elle enjoyed having both her mommy and daddy's attention.

It was fun getting to know Elle's dad's side of the family. They were super nice and obviously so in love with Elle. :) Who wouldn't be?

Could you resist this face?

Happy Birthday Elle!!

We love you very much.

Kameron's Fourth Grade Marketplace

Tom, Eric, Kameron, Seby, Gibby

Today was Kameron's 4th Grade Marketplace. All the kids in his class got to form businesses, make products, and sell their products to their fellow classmates, kids in other grades, and to their parents. They were spending their classroom currency "Doodle Dollars." They also had to do all their advertising, marketing research, and even make a commercial.

Kameron and his friends had a business called Junior-Mifflin...a take-off of Dunder-Mifflin from The Office because they were in the paper business. (I thought their ties were a nice touch!!)

They sold a variety of paper products that they worked hard to make:

Ninja Stars: 4 sided, 8 sided and 16 sided

Transforming Ninja Stars

Paper Airplanes: assorted sizes and kinds

Boomerangs

Darts

A giant spear made out of paper

Popcorn

They did great and by the end of the day they were all sold out!!

I was somewhat dreading this Market Place all year. I have read several blogs...most coming out of Utah...where this is a big huge overblown thing with parents renting snow cone machines and cotton candy machines. I was thrilled that our elementary school keeps things very low-key...and yet the kids were thrilled with the assortment of things to purchase.

I remember doing this myself at Sage Creek Elementary. I sold homemade suckers which were quite the hot commodity in elementary school in the early '80's. Tyler and I were reminiscing about all the kids that would make cinnamon sticks and mint sticks (flavored tooth picks) and would sell those too. I loved a mint toothpick back in the day.

It was a fun day for all involved and it gave Kameron an appreciation for my business as well because he got to set up a booth and be a vendor himself. Kameron can come work for me anytime!!

And...if you are ever in need of a fantastic Transforming Ninja Star...Kameron's your man!!

We've Got Spirit! Yes, We Do!

Reilly and her Drill Team had their first Half-Time Show yesterday at a basketball game. They did a great job!! Reilly is a drill team captain so she got to pick the music and she choreographed most of their routine.

She is front and center...5th in from the left. (Note to Grandma: Click in the lower right hand corner to make it full-screen)

St. Patrick's Week


It's almost St. Patrick's Day and the wearin' o' the green...which I did yesterday at church and will again on Thursday. We are getting a bit of a head start on the celebrating this year. First off, the weather this weekend was amazing and gave me a bad case of

Spring Fever!!

The weather was up near the '50s, the sun was shining, and all the people in my town crept out like moles to turn their faces up to the sun. Trips to the park were made, organizing of the garage, bought a new commuter car, and some yard tidying was done. I got a lot of painting/inventory/projects done for my upcoming Sisters Creed Sale. It was an all around super productive weekend. Wow. I love those. They are rare.

I did take some time out from my über -industriousness to go out for breakfast with Tyler. We went to Chaps.

I have now gone to Chap's for breakfast two weekends in a row. It was delicious again. This time I got the oatmeal. How good could boring old oatmeal be? I was asking that question last weekend as I saw bowlful after bowlful go past me to different tables. This weekend I decided to find out what all the hoopla was about.

I am awfully glad I did. It WAS amazing oatmeal. The pitcher of cream you pour over it wasn't too bad either. I tried to convince myself it was "health food" blueberries...oatmeal...super foods. Be warned that it is incredibly rich. I could only eat half and Tyler was more than happy to happily polish the rest of it off.

Then it was back home to get to work. Funky Junk is about three weeks away and I am finally starting to feel like I've got a handle on it. Then shortly after the Funky Junk Sale we will be vendors at:

Sunday night we had our St. Patrick's Day dinner and had Kelley and Elle come over. We switched around our monthly Family Sunday Dinner date since the week we usually do it will be Elle's birthday. This month I was entree and Kelley was dessert and drinks.

Tyler in yellow...a rare sight...don't encourage him. Although I am in lounge wear...I shouldn't be encouraged either. But in our defense, we just got home from church and wanted to be comfy...and yellow.

Our St. Patrick's Menu:

Corned Beef
Boiled Veggies: Red Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, and Cabbage
Horseradish Cream, Dijon Mustard Cream, and Malt Vinegar to accompany the meat and veggies
Beer Bread
Virgin Mojitos to drink

and these beauties for dessert:

One bite of these took me back to my BYU days and the Cougareat!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister-in-law Lori...We love you!!