I Didn't Get Rocks in My Stocking!

Christmas 2007

Christmas morning 2007 was terrific!!! Granie & Grandpa and Nana Peggy joined us in Schultzville (not that I have pictures to prove it.) We all enjoyed watching Sarah and Kate open all their gifts and then we had a nice brunch and relaxed for most of the day.

Christmas dinner was non-traditional this year. Grandpa made calamari for an appetizer. And we had london broil, baked potato, asparagus and lots of goodies for desert.

Kate's Gifts

Sarah's Gifts

Sarah's Guitar and Kate's Drums from Santa

Let's put on a show. One, two, three, four . . .

Little Lolo got a wiener dog. She loved it.

Santa brought Kate Monster Tether Ball. She was very excited.

Laurel was excited too. Who knew?

Nana and Poppy got the girls their first Mustang.

It's Pink and it goes fast on the grass.

Ahhhh, Christmas in Arizona.

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve

In Schultzville little girls get so many gifts they have to start opening them before Christmas, lol. Sarah and Kate started this year on Christmas Eve Eve with their gifts from Aunt Kelly, Uncle TC and Cousin Jayden:

Hard Mermaids!

Glossary:

Hard Mermaid: (noun) 1. Ariel's sisters 2. Really cool mermaid barbies with bendable tails, pretty clothes and jewelry.

Soft Mermaids: (noun) 1. Ariel's sisters 2. Beanie baby type mermaid dolls. Only cool if you don't have Hard Mermaids.

The Hard Mermaids have been one of their favorite gifts!

CHRISTMAS EVE

"Open this on from me Kate. It's a diaper and binky!!"

KB&Y

Welcome to KB & Y. Opened just in time for your 2007 Christmas shopping. There's a toy department, jewelry department, gift wrap, food court and lawn & garden. There are many specials today: buy one get one free in almost every department. AND a free singing turtle with every purchase.

KB & Y offers free delivery and air mail (i.e. throw it like a football) to anywhere in Schultzville. Hurry, they're closing early on Christmas eve.

Check out

Jewelry

Food Court & Check out

Lawn & Garden -

Gift wrap is just around the corner

Once you shop at KB & Y you will never want to shop anywhere else. Actually you'll never be allowed to shop anywhere else. As long as you're in Schultzville the owners of this store will hunt you down and drag you back to the store several times in the same day. The good thing is they accept those fake credit cards that come in the mail each day.

Happy Shopping!

Alvin, Alvin . . . AVIN!!!!!!!!!!

This year Miss Yeagley's kindergarten class performed The Chipmunk Song for the school 'Holiday' show. They began practicing weeks ahead of time and our little Sarah had the great honor of performing the role of Dave. She was very excited and she practiced and practiced at home. She practiced so much that Superdad and I would wake each morning humming the tune.

The performance was wonderful!!! I would really love to show you video - but once again, Supermom blew it! The day before the performance I realized my trusty 'purse' camera was broken. So I promptly zipped out to the store for a replacement. Smart huh? Yeah, until I forgot that I had to setup a bunch of stuff to get decent shots of kids. Uuuuugh. Here's what I did get . . .

Sarah dressed up as Dave.

We even straightened her hair.

Alvin, Alvin . . . ALVIN!!!!!!!!!

Um . . . I don't know.

But this does prove that I was there and trying

and I most certainly DID NOT forget my camera!!

Kate, Alexia (Alvin) and Sarah (Dave) after the show!

See that white thing in Sarah's hand? That's an icepack.

Why is Sarah holding an icepack you might wonder. Well, little sister thinks she should get to do everything big sister does - that includes being on stage to catch the 'snow' raining down at the end of the performance . . . as soon as Sarah's songs ended Kate took off toward the stage (as did much of the audience) ignoring my command to wait. I chased her and then got stuck in the mob of people - I was looking for Kate in the direction I last saw her and Sarah. I actually started to panic when I didn't see her anywhere. After 10 seconds of almost freaking out I found Kate and then I saw Miss Yeagley holding a crying Sarah. Evidently, Sarah, who was standing on the top stair of the stage, took a step back to make room for little sister and fell right off the stage.

She was fine after a few minutes and a few cookies.

What did I learn from that experience? I now understand why someone invented the leash for kids. I wonder if they offer obedience classes too.

Gift Tags And The Probable Reader

Growing up my big sister Tiffony would always sneak a peek at her Christmas gifts by opening just one corner and then carefully resealing her treasure so nobody would know. Schultzville has it's own budding little sneaker! But this year sneaking a peek at the tags was lots of fun since big sister can read!

Each night Supermom would wraps a few gifts (I love wrapping!!) So each morning the girls would come down and inspect the new gifts. Big sister would read the tags and then Kate would shake and check the gifts to try to figure out what's inside.

There's nothing like teamwork!

Diva Girls

I think every parent has a moment when they realize their kids are individuals - that they'll grow up and leave the nest and make choice in life that Mom and Dad may not have made for them.

I expected that moment one day and was thinking that I'd just do my best to lead by example and give our girls roots and wings and all that good stuff . . . what I didn't expect was to have that moment when my girls were only three and five year old!!!

Okay, I bought them the clothes and the scarf and the boots. And I stood them together for a photograph. But who taught them to pose like this?

Christmas Pictures

Have you ever thought that you're pretty good at something, only to find out you're really not? When I was in 8th grade I took up photography as a hobby. Back then we used regular SLR cameras and real film. By my senior year of high school I was a pretty good photographer working on the school yearbook and news paper and even having some of my portfolio sent to a national completion. So, somewhere in the back of my mind I assume I still have an eye for photography. Yeah, right!!

Today, I (Supermom, seeker of perfection) realized I'd forgotten to make an appointment for Christmas pictures ( you know how I am about immortalizing our precious moments on paper - forgetful . . . ) so being an experienced photographer, I decided to take some pictures of the girls and the dog in front of the Christmas tree myself.

Jeff and I dressed our little monkeys in some silly Arizona Christmas outfits. Then posed our little divas in front of the tree. What were we thinking?

Why is it that when one child is smiling

the other looks like she's ready to knock over a bank.

And when you say 'give your sister a hug'

little sister gets a headlock instead.

Did you get our letter about Laurel as The Grinch.

Here was my inspiration for that story.

Okay, this was kind of sweet.

Kate really, really loves Lola.

Hey girls, give Laurel a hug so mommy can take a picture.

I wonder who taught Sarah about headlocks . . . poor Lola.

I Got You a Diaper!!

When you're three, insinuating that your big sister might drink from a bottle, play with a rattle or need a diaper is really, really funny.

A few weeks ago Kate and I found some really cool Pixel Chicks at Costco and she decided she would like to give those to her big sister for Christmas. This week, when Sarah was at school Kate wrapped her gift. While we were wrapping I explained to Kate that we shouldn't tell Sarah what we got her . . . it's a secret. Here is the conversation that took place when we picked Sarah up today:

Kate: "Seerah, I got you a present. I wrapped it. Do you know what it is??"
Sarah: "What, what is it??"
Supermom: ". . . Kate, it's a secret, don't tell her!!"
Kate: "It's a diaper!!"
Sarah: "uuuuuuugh, screech, tell me!!!!"
Kate: "It's a diaper and a rattle."

A few days later I took Sarah shopping for Kate's gift. She picked a Bratz Fairy Dee Doll which we wrapped together. Later that day, with the doll under the tree, Santa Sarah showed the gift to Kate.

Let Santa Sarah shake your gift and remember what's inside.

Oh Yeah, it's a diaper and a binky.

Santa Sarah and her little elf

Zip

Sarah's and Kate's good friends Amanda and Luke had a birthday party at Rollie Polies. The girls went to their party last year with Jeff and Granie (I was in the hospital recovering from my hip surgery.) Well, for weeks I heard about the Zip Line at Rollie Polies.
This year the girls couldn't wait to get on the zip.

They waited in line.

Sarah went first.

And then little sister.

Big fun. I wonder if we can put one of those in our stairwell . . . ?

Thanksgiving In Kansas

This year we flew to Kansas City for a last minute family reunion.

All the "Johnson Girls" and our families were there.

It was a wonderful trip. We have so much to be thankful for!!

Sarah and Kate saw snow for the first time.

Aunt Tiff and Uncle Mike brought the girls the cutest boots.

Perfect for playing the pre-thanksgiving snow.

They brought many other gifts too, which the girls were very excited to open.

Kate enjoyed some chocolate pie on Thanksgiving day. Yum!

She was tickled by cousin Jake.

. . . and cousin Mike.

Jake drew a portrait of Cody in his football gear and signed it.

Kate was there to get loves from Cody (who just adores her.)

Sarah giggled each time Cody (or the other boys) teased her with the (um, there's no delicate way to put this . . . . ) f@rt machine. As grossed out as Sarah is by boys who "pop" she was tickled by the toy.

The boys thought her laughing was so funny, they teased her all week.

The kids performed for us and Sarah handled crowd control.

Saying "Tootsie Roll, lollipop, you're all talking, now lets stop!!"

Poor Daisy (aka The Duke) was worn out.

With all the cousins around she needed a rest on her furry pillow.

The Cousins

Kate & Joey

Kate & Cody

Sarah & Cody

Here are all the cousins (except Nick) Jake, Mike, Sarah, Cody, Kate & Joey.

What fun we had and what a blessing we could all be together.

Through his courage in his battle with cancer, and his drive to have fun whenever he can, Cody has given our whole family an appreciation for enjoying each day, each moment. As Supermom, I have often rushed through wonderful moments in life as I've looked forward to the next goal or event. Not any more - there really is something to the old saying about stopping to smell the roses.