Plans...what plans?

I have learned a really valuable lesson recently.  I actually probably already knew it, it just really threw itself in my face last month.  The big lesson:

The plans we make for ourselves are not always part of the plans our Heavenly Father has for us!

There are lots of things in my life that prove this to me, almost daily, but the biggest one came on Mother's Day.

For quite some time now Corey and I had been on the fence about whether or not we felt there should be another child added to our awesome little Johnson clan.  I was more for it, he was pretty adamant we were set.  Not wanting to ignore the feelings of my love, I eventually agreed that we would be done. It took me a few months to put my head around it and fully view my family as complete. But I did.  I was actually getting a little excited about it because Renner is potty trained, he sleeps in a big boy bed...I was done with babies.  Here was my mistake.  I had gone to my Heavenly Father many times and asked for peace in knowing my family was complete, and if it wasn't, I needed to get pregnant before Renner turned three.  That was our cut off.  Once he was three one of us was going to get "fixed".  Well I never got pregnant so I assumed I needed to come to terms with that and I thought I had done a pretty good job of it.  I had even started offering to give away my baby clothes and supplies.

Then it was Mother's Day. 

Two days after Renner turned three. All week I was thinking Aunt Flo should be coming.  I woke up that morning and realized at this time in April, Aunt Flo had already made her visit. Hmmmmm. So, Renner and I went to Wal-Mart for donuts and pregnancy tests.  I peed on that stick as soon as I got home and before I could even flush, there were two lines!

Holy crap. Two lines!

I tried to call Corey at work and he didn't answer.  Poor Renner saw me go through all kinds of emotions that morning.  First I was laughing. How could we have been so careless?  Then I called Angie.  Now I am crying.  How could we have been so careless?  Next, Renner and I get in the shower and I am furious. Literally shouting in the shower, how could we have been so careless? The sweet kid just asked what was wrong, every time. During church I actually got ahold of Corey and told him of the two lines.  He cried. Not tears of joy. I felt so terrible, but it takes two to tango, if you know what I mean.

It has been a few weeks, and a few doctor's appointments and I think we are all coming to terms with the fact there will be a new baby at the first of the year. The kids were excited from the start.  Corey is still struggling with excitement... but I will give him acceptance, albeit terrified.  I am starting to get excited.  It will be fun to have a little one again.  I think...

So lesson learned.  Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it...even if it isn't part of your current plans!

I am sure my Heavenly Father knows what is best for our family.  I know he loves us and will only give us what we are able to handle.  I just hope he remembers that my hands are already a little full and gives me a really sweet, calm, baby girl!

I told you I would have exciting news at the end of my last post...little did I know what it would be :)

P.S. My camera broke. Another thing that wasn't part of my plans.  So I don't know if I can retrieve those pictures from Renner's party yet.  I also took some end of the school year pics with Halley's camera and I don't know where they ended up... I will work on that.

Changes...

Well it has been a month and a half since my last post and lots has changed.  After we went to Disneyland, Luke's mom decided he needed to live with us so we could help him get a GED and a job and all the things an almost eighteen year old kid should have.  So, he has moved in with us.  It has been really nice to have him around and to see the positive changes taking place in his life.  He and I have joined Weight Watcher's together and it is nice to have a partner to keep me on track. Luke motivates Corey to go to the gym and he provides a workout partner for my brother too!  Luke got a job at Fry's (our local grocery store) as a courtesy clerk.  He is SUPER excited and loves every bit of it so far.

Another change is that I have gone back to school.  I am taking online classes right now, and will be taking a class or two a semester for the next year.  When I finish all of those classes, I will apply to the dental hygiene program.  That program is two years, so I am hoping to be done and working in a new profession in three years, give or take a semester.  I am really enjoying learning again, although I don'g particularly care for online courses.  They are much harder than I would have imagined.  At least biology is difficult.

Renner turned three today.  I love my birthday guy.  He is so funny and growing and maturing more every day.  He is almost completely potty trained...we are working on pooping in the toilet still. Otherwise he has it down pretty well. He loved being the "birthday guy" today. We are having a party for him next Friday along with Tyler, at Pump it Up.  It should be fun.  I am excited to see him open presents.  I love how everything is so amazing when they are little.  I will post some pictures of him then. 

The rest of the family is busy, as usual.  Corey has been helping with the coaching of Cora's soccer team. Cora is also in piano and loves to read!  She is one smart cookie! Sayer loves t-ball and has really become a good player this season.  He can actually throw well, hit hard, and sorta catch.  His glove is becoming an extension of his hand!  Silly guy.  Both of the older kids are taking some fun classes in summer school for the month of June.  Sayer starts kindergarten in the fall so this will be good practice for him! 

Well I think that is enough to ponder for the time being.  As summer gets into full swing I am sure I will have some more exciting information to report!

What's for lunch today?

Today's lunch was really fun to make and the kids really thought it was cool.  Carrie and I made meatloaf in cupcake wrappers and topped them with blue mashed potatoes.  Then we took pound cake, sliced thin and toasted.  We put orange frosting in between the slices and voila, you have "grilled cheese sandwiches"!  Such a fun "fake" lunch.  I thought it was especially funny when one of the kids came in to see the blue "cupcakes" and went running outside saying, "Hey guys, if we eat all our lunch we get CUPCAKES!"  It made me giggle because that WAS lunch!

Cora turned 7!

Cora had a birthday on March, 27th!  I can't believe our baby girl is already 7!  Time flies so fast.  I remember so well the day she was born.  She was a bossy little princess right from the start.  This year I was so involved in planning and saving for our vacation, I sorta forgot to plan her birthday party.  Oops.

Usually we have a giant party with every kid in her class and everyone else she has ever met.  At least that's how it seems.  Well since that takes money and planning...we did something smaller.  I took Cora and her two cousins, Makayla and Jaycee, and Sayer and we went and saw "How to Train your Dragon" in 3D at the Imax. It was really fun. It is a fabulous movie!

After that I took the four kids to eat at the 5 and Diner.  It was really fun.  From there we came back to our house and had cake and ice cream with the rest of the family.  It turned out to be a really great birthday.  She had a ton of fun and that's what it is really all about.  Thanks to all who celebrated with us!

Our Disneyland Vacation!

This year we took our big vacation to Disneyland.  We bought annual passes for the five of us and six day park hopper tickets for Halley, her boyfriend Charlie, and Corey's oldest son Luke.  I planned and planned and saved and planned.  I carried a notebook in my purse just so I could work on my lists and ideas for the trip.  We had a hotel room with two full size beds and a full/twin bunk bed.  It had a microwave and fridge and was less than a half mile from the park.  I had a menu and we packed most of our own food to try and save money. We planned to eat out every other day, one time.  It worked out well.  I had a griddle and I took my crockpot so we ate some decent meals. 

We left early saturday morning in the van.  Halley, Charlie, the kids, and I drove.  Luke and Corey flew and we picked them up.  There wasn't room for all of us! 

 We picked them up at the airport and went straight to Newport Beach where we had lunch and played for a few hours in the sand and water.  The kids had a blast.  It was too cold for me!  We walked down the boardwalk and got some ice cream and then headed to our hotel to check in.  After unpacking and settling in, we went to find dinner.

The next day was Sunday and that began our six days in the parks.  We had so much fun!   We had all been looking forward to it for months! We just wandered and enjoyed ourselves for that first day.  The second day we got there when it opened and actually had a schedule thanks to our Ridemax software.  It is awesome.  You tell it what you want to ride and it gives you a schedule so you cut your wait and walk time way down!  I love it!

In the six days we were there, we rode everything at least once and lots of rides more than once.  We saw every show and parade we could.  It was nice having a lot of time there because we didn't feel rushed.  We would go home and nap and then go back, or just sleep in and stay later.  We had a really good time.  I think it may have been our best vacation yet!

Finally! An Update!

So it's been awhile since I last wrote!  I get busy and...yeah I really have no excuse.   We have been busy and I actually have a lot to say.  Maybe that's why I don't update more often. I get overwhelmed and just don't do it at all. Things that make you go hmmmmm.

In January, Corey's oldest son, Luke, came to visit.  We hadn't seen him in over a year!  Crazy!  It was really good to see him and the kids really enjoyed his visit.  While he was here we decided to go play in the snow.  We loaded up the car and drove to Prescott for the day.  I prefer to play in Flagstaff's snow, but the day we were going was the day after a huge storm and I-17 to Flag was closed.  We got there in good time and stopped at Walmart to get something to sled with.  What I didn't know is that the only Walmart in Arizona that sells sleds and such is in Flagstaff!  So we bought a few storage bins, you know the long skinny kind that go under the bed.  Then we were able to use the bin and the lid!  Brilliant I tell you!  After our purchases we found us a really good spot with a whole bunch of other people.  There were a few different sized hills and the kids enjoyed the smaller two.  Hannah, Halley, Luke, and Charlie, on the other hand, really enjoyed the big one.  Hannah and I went up to try the big hill.  I took on look and decided if I went down that hill in a storage bin, I would break something! ( It is sad that you get to a point in life where you think about responsibilities before fun!)  I let Hannah go and sure enough, she broke something...her tooth!  I called her chip for the rest of the day! We had a good time sledding until the highway patrol came to say all fifty something of us using the hills were trespassing!  Luckily we were done.  We headed off to In'n'Out for lunch then drove home!  I love snow days! 

Another thing we did recently is visit the Renaissance Festival.  I had never been so Halley, Charlie, the kids and I went out to see what it was about!  There are lots of really interesting choices of clothing!  They even rent costumes!  We had a good time walking around and seeing all the shops and exhibits.  We saw the museum of torture devices, a jousting tournament, a birds of prey show, and lots more!  It was a little pricey but I wouldn't mind going every other year! 

Here are some other things that happened:

1.  We renewed our zoo membership and upgraded a bit to get more people in and free train rides! 

2. We bought a membership to the Arizona Science Center.  It is a really fun hands on museum that the kids and I enjoy!  It is now something free for us to do in the summer when the zoo is TOO hot!

3.  My uncle Martel passed away at the age of 62.  He was the first of my dad's siblings to leave this world.  He had a heart attack while mountain biking with his son and grandson.  He was a great man and will be greatly missed.  Luckily, I know I will see him again!  Right now he is having a fabulous reunion with his parents, son, and grandson, that all went ahead of him!  Until later, Uncle!  I love you!

4. Cora and Sayer are signed up for their sports.  The games and practices start in two weeks.  I will have pictures of their games in a few weeks...hopefully.

5.  Halley's boyfriend, and our friend, got his mission call!  He is going to the Phillippines and leaves June 2!  Yay, Charlie!

6.  A week and a half ago, Sayer was riding his bike in the yard.  He just learned to ride with out training wheels and still a bit wobbly.  He was trying to get on his bike, fell over and hit the tree!  I took him to urgent care where he got two staples in his head!  If you ask him if it hurt, he will tell you it did when he got the rip, but not when he go the staples!  Silly boy!

I can't think of anything else super fabulous except....Three days until Disneyland!!!  Woohoo!  We bought our family annual passes to the happiest place on Earth!  We are going for Spring Break and taking Halley, Charlie, and Luke too!  We are going to be there for six days! I am having fun planning and packing and getting us ready.  Luke and Corey are going to fly since Luke has to come from Vegas nad we can only fit seven in our van.  Saturday we are going to play at the beach then check in to our hotel.  We will spend Sunday through Friday at the parks.  Then we will drive home Saturday.  We are all very excited.  Renner will only wear shirts with Disney characters (luckily we have quite a few) and even woke up in the middle of the night the other night asking for Mickey Mouse!  Both boys are 40 inches this year so they can go on the bigger rides they couldn't go on last year!  Talk about exciting!  I will have lots of pictures and funny stories after our trip I am sure! 

Until next time...

The bike

If you know Corey, you know bikes are his thing.  Not motorcycles...bicycles. He had three and Corey's stepdad's dad gave Corey a road bicycle a few months ago.  It was exciting because Chris picked Corey up in his corevette and they drove to Tucson to pick it up.  Corey got to drive the super cool, fast car and get a bike all in the same trip.  What more could he ask for?  So now his total is up to four. He is in charge of bikes at our house.  Although I can change a tube and fix training wheels with the best of them. I just save that stuff for him.  He tweaks his bikes and changes out parts and makes new bikes and the projects go on.  This new bike is cool.  It is a different type of bike than his others.  He has a mountain bike and two BMX bikes.  This bike has clip in pedals, something I won't let him get for his BMX bikes.  He rides it to work to save on gas and give me the car on the weekends since we are sharing one right now. He just got some sweet new tires that match really well.  He is very excited about it.  Whatever makes him happy makes the rest of us happy.  Thanks to all who helped make him happy about this awesome new addition to his collection.

Cora Skye

This post is all about Cora. 

She is such a sweet, smart, sensitive little girl.  The stuff she does and says cracks me up every day (but she can't know I am laughing).

The other day she came home from school on a library day very excited about the book she checked out.  "Look, Mom." she said. "We are learning about this guy at school and it is SO sad.  I almost cried!"  This is where she gets out the book, still serious as a heart attack. Are you ready for it?  The book was about Martin Luther King, Jr.!! I almost lost it.  She was so serious but I thought it was quite comical.  I never really thought about how sad the story might be.  She then showed me the sad part in the book and read it to me.  She really is quite the reader these days.This still makes me smile.

She is always writing and drawing pictures.  She came home from school with a page drawn about her special places since they are learning about maps. The top line says "Minnesota is my special place" it got a little cropped in the scanning process.

I thought it was so sweet that she thinks of Angie's kids as her cousins. I also love the picture of her and Dylan and Kyle at the bottom.  I knew it was Dylan and Kyle and not her brothers because of the eye colors.  Dylan has two different colored eyes in real life.  That is exactly how she drew him.  Gotta love the attention to detail!

My last story about Cora that has made my heart smile recently is a joke she told us on the way up to the snow (I will post about that soon). 

Q:  How do you wake up Lady Gaga?

Cora & Makayla's answers: Put a dirty diaper on her face or pour soup on her face :)

the correct answer:  Poke her face!

Apparently this answer did not make sense to the girls so they thought of other things to do to her face that would really wake her up!

Goof balls!  I love my little girl.  She is so sensitive it sometimes makes me nuts because I am really not all about the tears most of the time.  But, I love her and I appreciate her for all that she does.  Our family would not be the same without her!

We all survived!

I think I left off just before the Christmas Eve festivities.  We all go to my mom's house and have dinner, visit with Santa and then the adults do a white elephant type gift exchange but the gifts are good.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids enjoyed the Santa visit.  I don't think any of them cried but the younger ones were hesitant.  It was almost like they recognized something familiar but couldn't quite put a finger on it.  Santa was grandpa, you see.  So there really should have been lots familiar.  My kids started to figure it out.  It didn't help that my dad left the Santa suit outside on the bench.  Christmas day while we were over there, Sayer spotted it and wasn't sure why Santa's stuff was there.  He still isn't sure why but he knows he saw Santa's stuff and Grandpa's.  Renner referred to my dad as Grandpa Ho Ho.  I am guessing he knows something too.

Christmas morning is always exciting.  Corey had to leave for work at 6:20 in the morning so we woke the kids up at five thirty.  It was terribly early but they ddin't care.  Ho Ho brought their bikes!  It was a good day for all of them. 

The weekend was slow and uneventful...which was definitely welcome.  Sunday after church Corey's mom and stepdad came to visit.  We met them for dinner and then stayed in the hotel with them.  The kids were going stir crazy in the hotel Monday morning so we went and hiked A mountain around 8!  They are good climbers and wanted to do it again. 

Chris (Corey's stepdad)  called while we were up there and he could actually see us from the hotel.  He was able to take pictures of us and you would never know we were so far away from him!  Of course, I don't have those pictures to posts. I will work on it.  After our hike, we went to lunch and then back to the hotel to open presents.  They spoil us and our kids every year.

 This year we all got gifts from Europe since they were recently on vacation there.  The boys got soccer uniforms from Barcelona and we all got something from France.  Cora thought it was cool that she was wearing her French clothes when she saw her friends. Cora also got her first American Girl doll, Kit, and can't wait to get Kit a friend.  I think that will be grandma's job;) That night my sister and her friend babysat at the hotel so we could go to Monti's for a grown up dinner. I love eating out without my kids.  My mother in law said something about the other kids in the restaurant crying and I didn't even hear them!  I am really good at tuning out kid sounds when I know they are not mine!  We stayed one more night at the hotel, got up and climbed A mountain one more time, had lunch and then Grandma and Grandpa headed back to Vegas. We always miss them so much.

On Wednesday afternoon I decided that Cora and I would fly to Minnesota for New Year's Eve.  We left Wednesday night stayed and hung out for Thursday and Friday and flew home super early Saturday morning.  It was so good to see our friends.  They really are like family and there is always something missing when we leave.  I am very glad that we are able to fly like we do so we can visit them often. 

We made it back and this week have gotten caught up on laundry, packed up all the decorations, and life has moved forward, quickly.  I guess that is the way it goes.

Until next time...