Pumpkin carving time!

Myles carving his pumpkin (with a little help from Mommy!) Having only one working arm didn't hold him back from digging into this pumpkin!

Here is Erik and his stubborn pumpkin! That thing didn't want to be cut up!

Here is the group carving up some great halloween pumpkins!

This is the end result! From Left to Right they were carved by: Myles (mom), Patrick, Erica (the giant pumpkin), Pete, and Erik.

Andrea & Erik by our master pieces!

Myles relaxing with Erica & Pete after carving his pumpkin.

This Sunday we had the family over for a birthday dinner for me (33 years young!). Dad, Patrick, Erica & Pete, and of course Erik & our kids all got together at the Johnson house for some yummy chilly on such a chilly day! We then did the birthday cake & gifts thing (thanks everyone for the great gifts!) which was fun! After we cleaned up, we got messy again by carving pumpkins! It was a BYOP thing (bring your own pumpkin) and we provided most of the carving tools - some broke... junky cub food purchase! I helped our one armed son carve a Scary faced pumpkin - eyes and a toothy mouth... no nose per his request. Erik's pumpkin proved to be a challenge - he could hardly cut into it. I guess it didn't want to become a halloween decoration! Patrick, Pete, and Erica carved great pumpkins while Dad took a bunch of pictures. Holly was running around and getting into things, so I ended up throwing in a baby einstein dvd and she was finally content. It was a ton of fun this evening! I'm so glad that people could come over. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Andrea

Update with Myles

This is just a brief update about Myles. This past week, on Tuesday afternoon, he fell off the top of the slide at Daycare. So I got the call that he was hurt and would be upset when we picked him up (it happened at the end of the day). Erik picked up the kids and when I got home, he took Myles to the doctor. Sure enough - broken collar bone. I always thought that kids first did something that needed stitches and then break a bone.... nope - we got the broken bone first. So now poor Myles has to wear a sling on his right arm for 3-4 weeks. Things were pretty rough at home for the first few days - Myles was in pain, and didn't seem himself. He was waking up 3 times per night crying. It was tough on everyone. He now seems to have pepped up a bit and is slowly healing. I'll try to get a picture of him in his sling and post that.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Andrea

Fall Leaves

We are working hard at raking up all of our leaves. So far we have about 7 bags, and about another 7 to go! But before we put them in the bag, I took a cute picture of Myles in all the leaves.

October Update

Holly @ the doctor's office - she may not look it, but she was sick.

People thought it was funny that she wore her beautiful necklace to the doctor's office. If it made her happy, I wasn't going to take it off her!

This is from today - everyone is healthy (except for a cold) and so we went to play and look around at the mall. Aren't the kids cute?

.

The beginning of this week was tough - I got sick over the weekend on Saturday, and then Holly and I were sick on Sunday. We both were running low temps (100.7) and feeling a bit crummy. Then my throat began to hurt, so on Monday morning I called in sick and went to the doctor. After a short office visit, I was told it was strep throat. Yuck. So off I went with my prescription for antibiotics. Mean while, Erik was at home on the couch because he wasn't feeling well either! Myles was the only one feeling good so he was at daycare. On Tuesday, I took Holly to the doctor and Erik went to the doctor. Holly wasn't happy about going to the doctor - she screamed when he listened to her heart & lungs. You would have thought she was getting a shot! Then she was even madder when he wanted to look in her ears, nose, and throat. Lots more screaming! Once he stopped, she stopped screaming. Weird little kid. Well, Holly only had a generic little virus and it needed to run it's course. When we got home, Erik told us that he also had strep throat. Great. More meds in the house, and sick adults. Just what we need! So slowly we all have been getting better.

.

Today is Friday, 10/17/09, and I'm at home with the kids. This morning we decided to head over to the Northtown mall to play in the kid area for a bit, visit with the animals at the pet shop, and eat at Subway. It was fun, but Holly started to get crabby and needed to come home for a nap. So now both kids are sleeping, and I'm relaxing on the couch. How wonderful! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Love,

Andrea

Apple Jack Orchards Adventure!

Johnson family picture at the Orchard!

Erik walking with the boys over to the apple orchard!

The cow train ride - Myles & Mason are in the first cow, and Preston is behind in the 2nd cow. I didn't send Holly on this as I was worried she would jump out!

Myles kickin' it on some giant pumpkins!

Cutie pie Holly!

When Holly saw the boys sitting on the pumpkins, she ran over to do the same thing!

Myles thinks he can lift the big pumpkin...

Mason and Myles sitting on the pumpkins

All 4 of the kids checking out the pumpkins

Erik pulling Holly in the wagon

A dirty faced Holly still eating an apple - even after it fell in the dirt...

Mason, Myles, and Preston pause for a cute picture under an apple tree!

Holly eating an apple - Yum!

Myles & Mason heading to the next tree to find the delicious apples!

Myles picking Apples with Mason

Today we went with some friends (the Thielke's) to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano. It was so much fun! There were TONS of people there on this nice, sunny fall day. Once we figured out where to go, we headed over to the orchard to pick and eat some apples. They were delicious! The boys had a blast picking apples off the trees, and Holly just wandered around with an apple in her mouth. After we took Myles and Mason over to the Apple Cannon - they each got to shoot 3 apples (with help from the Mommies). I'll post pics of this once I get them (my camera was running out of batteries). We then headed over for some lunch - brats, chips, soda, and some yummy apple fritter bread. There was a fun Irish band playing music while we ate. After lunch, we had time for one more thing - a ride around the strawberry patch in a cow train! The boys had a blast! (I'll post these later when I get them). It was such a great apple adventure today! I would recommend it to everyone!

Love,

Andrea

Coloring this morning

Myles and Holly coloring great pictures!

A close up of what Myles colored - it is me in the middle, our house on the left, a tree on the right, the sky above and the grass & dirt below. How cute is that?!!

This morning Myles asked to color a picture, so I set both kids up to color some great pictures! They were so cute together!

Love,

Andrea