messy

Deciding to throw a four year old birthday party can make someone crazy. Deciding to throw a party dedicated to all things messy can make one completely insane. Luckily for me I am a master of controlled chaos. {Which is exactly what a messy birthday party is, just in case any of you were wondering} So 15 cans of shaving cream, 12 boxes of cornstarch, 8 bottles of paint later, and 14 boxes of Jell-o later, we were ready to party.

We let the kids paint their faces and bodies and glitter gel their hair

Then they painted with their hands and feet

Looking for prizes in goo. {cornstarch and water}

My grandmother being completely mortified and confused as to why adults would let kids go crazy

A relay game of, pop the shaving cream filled balloon on your head

Everyone went through the kid wash

{please enlarge this picture and notice the looks of sheer terror on all of their faces}

All you can eat "messy foods" like powdered donuts, pudding, jell-o, Cheetos etc.

cake is boring, banana splits are extra messy!

Happy Messy Birthday Milo!

final days of summer

With the warm weather is escaping us we thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of my families monthly FHE and have an impromptu pool party.

It has taken an entire summer but Milo will finally enter the pool not wrapped around me, cling for his life.

August was on a never ending cycle of jump in pool, get cold, get out, wrap up , eat a cracker, repeat.

These kinds of days make you wish for an endless warm summer.
Goodbye summer, see ya soon.

I would rather

I haven't ever liked going to the dentist, but my reasons for not loving it now aren't the same as when I was six. This is what I hate about the dentist as an adult.

Sitting in the very quiet lobby and trying to calmly explain to my children that the dentist is NOT scary and scouts honor the dentist is not going to give them a shot.

Listening to some young not married and mother of zero dental assistant tell you that your kids aren't brushing enough and you need to be more diligent. Ha Ha, well feel free to come join in the nightly battle of brush, floss and fluoride at my house.

Then sitting next to my child in the dentist chair, palms sweaty, holding my breath as the dentist looks for one of a mothers sworn enemies, cavities. I don't handle suspense very well at all so this two minute period never goes over very well.

Finally the moment of truth, NO CAVITIES! You know it is true what they say, going to the dentist really isn't as bad as it seems... for six months anyway.

ch, ch, changes

I hate change, that is one of the reasons I have a phone from 2001. The other reason is I try to live by the mantra, why throw something out if it still works. My goldfish and I {inside joke if you have seen my phone} have been through it all, but I guess after the having something like 248 people thinking my phone is a play phone, and not really being able to rely on my phone working anymore, it is time for an upgrade.

So now my phone really is a play phone!

begin again

This year the first day of school seemed like any other day. Gav came home and said that 2nd grade is just like 1st grade. Maybe because he opted for clothes that he wore in 1st grade and not any of his "school clothes."

After I got this one on the bus I decided to do what every other mom does on a Tuesday in August.

I did not learn a thing about dinosaurs, but I can tell you what I did learn...

- Milo likes to "read" EVERY sign, look at EVERY picture and notice EVERY display. He most definitely takes after grandma dear!

- August is more than happy to join any and every group other than the one he comes with.

- Gavin is worth his weight in gold as my helper. Now I see why mom's home school. Chasing a one year old is so tiring.

almost over

Maybe it was the anxiety of one last week of summer vacation, or maybe it was the urgency of fall, whatever it was the Johansson's summer checklist was in full swing last week. Here is a sampling.

Sprinklers

Kool Aid Stand

Fort building

Seven peaks


August does a good job keeping everyone fed.

August is pointing to an airplane flying by, one of his many talents

Iron Port and Scones

I even took a turn at sleeping out on the trampoline {sorry no pics} with the two oldest. Since we are all back in school here is a little math problem for you-

crickets + full moon = worst night sleep ever!!!

I would take a crying newborn before I do that again. Honestly, I would be such a terrible pioneer.


Happy end of Summer all!

baby bear blows

I don't know what is more cute. The fact that he knows how to blow his nose, or that he is always walking around doing it.

Sister Day

A gold star to Celeste for a wonderful sister day. The only thing that could have made it better was flying Millie out from Boston to be there with us. You think one person wouldn't make a big difference but Camille's absence was defiantly felt. Miller's you were horribly missed! Pretty sure we don't ever want to have a sister miss sister day again.

sisters

Today is Sister Day! Every year we celebrate this day by spending a day together. Each sister takes a turn planning the day which is great because each year has a different persons signature to it. I started this tradition six years ago, and I really get excited for it every year. I felt like having six sisters was something that should be celebrated. People always ask me the order of all of us so here is the role call...

Rashelle
Tiffani
Elisse
Camille
Celeste
Savanna
Makenna

This year is Celeste's year so I am sure we will have a blast.

Call your sister(s) today and tell her you love her, better yet

plan an outing together

Nuts

My mother-in-law gave me a garbage bag full of walnuts from her tree. I have found that my boys love cracking the nuts. I set them up with a sidewalk and a meat mallet and for a good 45 mins {like 3 hours in little boy time} they were amused.

I am glad I have all these walnuts because I have the perfect summer pasta recipe. Which I of course will share with you.
Chicken Pasta with Zucchini, Walnuts & Raisins

1 lb spaghetti {or whatever you have}

2 Chicken breasts cut into small chunks

olive oil {enough to coat the skillet}

1/2 cup walnuts chopped

4 cloves garlic{at least} minced

1 1/2 lbs zucchini halved and sliced into half circles

3/4 cup raisins

S&P

grated parmesan cheese

• cook pasta, drain and return to pot


• meanwhile in skillet cook chick in oilve oil, once chicken is cooked through add walnuts and cook for another 4 mins. Once walnuts have slightly browned add galric and cook for 1 min.


• Add zucchini and raisins and cook until zucchini is tender but not limp. season with salt and pepper.


• add skillet mixture to pasta and mix together


• sprinkle with parmesan, serve

Thats it! I hope you enjoy it, I would love to hear how you liked it

never too late to start

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I know I did. Chad and I were due for some much needed "no kid time" I was also due for a much needed pedicure so Chad and I went for pedi's.

I was a little worried that Chad wouldn't like his pedicure because it is hard to find a place open on Friday night. After driving all over Utah county and we ended up in a very sub par nail salon.

I am happy to report though that he did like it and said that he would even like to try a better place next time.

Everyone has their regular spot for pedi's, and I am looking for a new spot, the last time I got one at my usual place it wasn't that great. So my question is where do you go? Leave a comment and let me know

hide and seek

What is it about curtains that are so appealing?

smile for the camera

So now that the camera situation is fixed {thank you chad, for my birthday present} I will keep regular posting hours.

The extreme guilt I had of not having any pictures of August {ask any third child how many pictures their parents took of them, compared to the oldest} lead me to take oodles of him the second I turned the camera on. He wasn't to keen to my plan, every picture I have of him looks like this

and this

birthday

If I had any doubts as to the old adage of boys not maturing past 12, I don't have any them anymore. Today is Chad's birthday, and I have been asking for a while now what he wanted for a gift.

This is the only item that he told me he wanted

So today for his 31st birthday we set up his present and have all been playing and jumping on it all evening. Best day ever and not even my birthday!

What have I learned? Little boys don't grow up they only get bigger, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

winner winner

Short Story: Chad won a skirt in a giveaway. Don't believe me? One night we were having our nightly veg session on the couch and Chad was checking this blog. I noticed the giveaway and mentioned that I would like to win it. Then, after explaining the ins and outs of giveaways Chad entered the giveaway. And he won!

{sorry for the awful pics, I still am minus 1 camera. We are in the market though finally!}


I sure am glad Chad is up for sharing digs! Seriously though, thanks Chad you made my day!