February 2012

February is always a fun month for our family, and this one seemed busier than normal. We had lots going on!

It started with Sammy's 12th birthday. He had a hard time picking out a theme for his cake, so we ended up with Dr. Pepper flavored cupcakes. They weren't very close to the taste of the pop, except for the syrup drizzled over the top--distilled from the pop.

 He got some video game stuff, a Simon and Garfunkel CD, and the hoodie he is wearing he got to pick out at Walmart.

He got some other fun presents, too. Since he turned 12 he was ready to receive the priesthood. His Johnson grandparents came up for church and Grandma Johnson ordered him a new suit. Later in the month Grandma McCartney got all the boys matching ties. Here's a picture:


They are a handsome bunch of boys!

We had a huge fundraiser for Taylor's Crossing school (Sam, Abby, and Augie go there ). I am currently serving as PFA president, so I got to be VERY involved. We had a great committee and a lot of wonderful ladies to help decorate, cook, collect donations, etc. We hung balloons all across the ceiling, added some draped tulle, had a wedding decorator hang curtains, and set up 20 tables with decorations as well. It was 30+ hours in the making... but the fundraiser did very well.

 Stringing up balloons took hours, but the final product was nice.

 This is the room after the event... the high school it for their Sweetheart's dance the next night.

The other big event was James' 39th birthday. His mom planned a very fun party. Everyone had party favors including these funny nose/glasses masks...

 We had these Superman masks as well, to match our Superman/girl/woman shirts. Then we had Superman cupcakes and party favors. It was a fun night!

 Jimmy had a dance competition later in the month. He has been taking ballroom dance classes for over a year. This was his first competition. He got to dance with 4 different girls in 4 different events: Cha Cha, Swing (triple step), Tango and Mambo. He was so very nervous!

He started with newcomer Cha Cha. His partner, Brooklin, was very good. Here they are on their 3rd call back. #405

 They made it to the finals, and they lined up to await the results. Then they announced...  they won 5th place! Yay!

Here he is lined up to dance the Tango with Amber.

Dancing the tango.

 Dancing the Mambo with Elizabeth.

 Team pictures afterwards. The whole group did a great job for a beginning, homeschool, independent group of dancers! It was a lot of fun.

We are very proud of Jimmy and his team! 

Abby had one particularly difficult day. She fell down on the playground at school (tripped over her feet) and smashed her face into the pavement. She had to go to the doctor but didn't need stitches. We took her into the dentist at the next opportunity and she had 3 teeth patched up from all their chips and cracks, and her front teeth filed down to even them out. Poor thing! She's healing pretty well now. 

Now we are getting ready to celebrate Leap Day. Since it comes around only once every 4 years, we are having dinner with a 4 theme... 4 cheeses, 4 meats, 4 vegetables, etc. 

We hope you all had a great February, too!

Getting Ready for Christmas

December always keeps us busy. But I try to make is memorable for the kids, too. This year I was asked to run the class Christmas party for Augie's kindergarten class. The teacher knew someone who had a real beard and often came as Santa (he was actually the husband of another teacher) so we had Santa visit the Kindergarten. Then they got their picture taken. They wrote a little list of things they wanted for Christmas and decorated a "cookie" they cut out of foam. It all went together on a scrapbook page for their class memory book.

We have had a lot of fun in the past week getting ready for Christmas. We started with our ward Christmas party, where the primary children sang a couple of songs for the guests. I have been blessed with children who can sing well. They are very good and cooperative, too. Here is a picture of Sam and Abby with the group--unfortunately Augie was sick that night, running a fever, so he had to stay home with Dad.

This is essentially our whole primary group-- pretty small, but sweet kids!

 Another fun thing we did was visit Leo's Place, a favorite restaurant that serves pizza and burgers and has a playground for the kids. Augie had a birthday coupon that gave him a free kids meal and playland pass. So he got free food, and we got a pizza for the kids. At the end of the night Santa visited and all the kids got their names in a drawing for prizes--TONS of prizes! Since you had to be present to win, two of our children were lucky enough to have their names drawn! Sam won a football player action figure, and Abby this adorable circus-themed tea set.

 Augie got a consolation prize-- a cute rubber ducky "dressed" as a penguin. And with his free food and play time, he felt like he'd gotten a special treat. The only bummer was Jim is too old to be considered a "child." At 13, he's too old for the drawing and the playland. :( But he had a bunch of tokens for the arcade and that kept him happy.

We love Leo's Place. We know the owner personally and he said his wife has a ball planning this special Christmas giveaway night each year. We certainly enjoyed our evening there.

 This week has been crunch time for finishing Christmas projects. I have been working on this quilt for Augie since July. We borrowed a quilt frame from my sweet old neighbor Gay Solomon (we lived next door when we lived on J Street). So I got the quilt on the frame and Abby helped me tie it. The quilt has a lot of Augie's favorite cartoon and superhero characters--Scooby Doo, Cars, Pokemon, Superman, Batman, Captain America, Green Lantern, Spider-man, and more. After sewing the yarn ties on I bound the edges, and Augie will have a new quilt for Christmas. I also spent all day yesterday sewing Christmas pajamas.

 A new tradition we did this year was to read aloud a Christmas story each night to the children. We wrapped up each book and opened it each night (like an advent calendar). I got this idea from a lady in our ward, Ruth Arnell. This is a picture of Daddy reading a Disney Christmas Parade book to the kids. As you see, they really were into this story!

Sam,  Jim and I also were reading books that night-- a nice way to pass a cold winter evening.

Now it's just two days until Christmas, and we are so excited! We hope you all have a Merry Christmas, too!

Random pictures from earlier this year

It's hard to keep up on my blog now, so I'm just putting up some highlights from 2011. And they are in no certain order...

Halloween costumes--Abby is a tiger, Sam a surfer, Augie the Hulk, Jim is Darth Vader.

scary zombie Grammy!

Jim carved this Jack o Lantern

glowing Jack o Lanterns on Halloween Night

Augie's first day of Kindergarten.

Abby with cousin Taylor at Ammon's wedding.

Ammon and Jackie's dance at the reception.

Grammy's wildlife "over the hill" cake.. the bucket says "kick." :)

Family vacation in August... this is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Emerald Springs hot spring... I love Augie's face!

Mammoth Hot springs... very pretty

Family picture at Yellowstone. We loved staying in these cabins at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Abby and Sam's first day of school.

Augie lost his first tooth!

Abby and Augie with the fall foliage at Mesa Falls.

 

Overlooking the brink of the falls. It's an awesome sight!

The video is at Mesa Falls, north of Ashton, Idaho. We took at trip to see the fall leaves and the falls on October 10. 


Well, there are some highlights in pictures. We are just staying busy and plugging along... hope you are too!

Augie's Sixth Birthday

Augie turned six today! It is incredible how fast the years have gone by and how big he has grown.

Augie has been excited for his birthday for months. He let me know several months ago that his cake was to be a scene where Godzilla attacks a city. Since I am no "ace of cakes," I decided to do one building and have Godzilla attack. Well, the cake did NOT look good so I covered it in graham crackers. The cute part was the mini Augie on the roof, with a blaster rifle (donated by Jimmy from his Lego Star Wars minifigure), defending Augie Tower against Godzilla.

The finished product was a bit crooked...

The funny part was, we had dinner then went in the living room to watch Augie open presents. The cake was left on the kitchen table--no one touched it! But when we came back in the kitchen, apparently Godzilla had attacked! The building lay in ruins! I thought it was hilarious but Augie was sad--he had wanted to be victorious against Godzilla.

Before...

and after! total destruction.

I propped up the cake long enough to light the candle, sing happy birthday, then have Augie blow it out. Then it crumbled in front of Godzilla again. :)

Augie was pleased with his presents. He got a gift card from Grandma and Grandpa Droegemueller. He had a blast popping balloons from Grammy and finding a dollar bill in each one. He especially liked his Green Lantern Imaginext set and Sonic remote control car.




What a special day for a special boy!

Here is a video of the cake destruction.