Green Family Blog

Alive and kicking!

2012-01-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

We're back!! Ok, so we have not fallen off the face of the earth. We are alive and well and finally settling into a new life in Utah. Here are a few pictures to catch up. Sadly, I admit that there is a lot missing.

Sammy has started preschool and loves it. He loves the singing and the playing. Each morning he walks into class and says, "What are we going to learn about today, Teacher?"

Andrew LOVES kindergarten. His teacher is absolutely fantastic and Andrew loves going every day. This fall a nice neighbor mom taught him how to ride a two wheeler with no training wheels and he lost two teeth. Andrew turned 6 on Dec 23 and is loving life.

Eliza is growing so quickly. She makes us smile every day. At 10 1/2 months she is crawling, cruising and eating everything her PopPop has to offer. She also has a great sense of humor. This video was taken at 10pm. Eliza was so slap happy, everything we did was hysterical.

Finally, Joshua and Jacob are also doing well. This is a picture of us (Adam's dad and brother James as well) at a BYU football game. This was one of Jacob's birthday presents. We have really enjoyed being close to BYU and being able to participate in sports and other activities. Anyway, we're back, and hopefully a little more regularly.

The Birthday Extravaganza

2011-05-13T17:42:00.001-07:00

Well first we have to say Happy Birthday, Joshua!! I can hardly believe he is 11. He had a great morning that he wanted to start at 5:30am. All 4 boys were up then and we had to send them back to their room until at least 6am. He had Enteman's Cheese Crumb Coffee Cake with scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast. Then he opened his presents and a mom knows when she's done well when the birthday boy says he got everything he ever wanted and more. Since he really didn't get all that much I think that speaks volumes about his personality. Joshua was a good sport about going to school and having to take the state MCAS exams today. I traditionally bring lunch of their choice to school when it falls on a weekday, Joshua chose Subway. I think he had a great day.

Something else that speaks volumes about Joshua's personality was his complete willingness to let Andrew and Sam have their birthday parties on his birthday. Sam's birthday is next week and we usually do a half birthday for Andrew in June. However, since we're moving we thought it would be fun to have one last big hurrah! So, welcome to Jedi training. We had 15 children for a birthday party today. They ranged in age from 3 to 11. While it was truly chaotic it couldn't have gone any better. The older children helped out a lot. Everyone made a light saber out of PVC and swim noodles and then we did a bunch of Jedi "training" exercises.

We used the force to pin the light saber on Yoda, we went through an obstacle course that included fighting the Sith (the older children) and practiced our aim by swatting balls with the light sabers on the trampoline.

Then came pizza.

After dinner they all "graduated" from Jedi training and they received their Jedi uniform. We paid a young woman in our ward who has a Silhouette printer to make t-shirts with Master Yoda on it. The light sabers and t-shirts were our goody bag and I'm terribly pleased to not have invested in the usual goody bag fare.

We then went to open presents and discovered the evil Sith had stolen them. We went on a treasure hunt to find the presents and then had a massive "battle" to retrieve the presents. I have to say it was one of the most successful parties we've done.

Of course we had cake and ice cream. If you use your imagination you can even see the red and yellow light sabers in this "cake." Our final activity was battling the poisonous bubbles (ie. whacking bubbles with the light sabers - it was a good distraction from whacking each other).

Finally, I can't have a post without Eliza. She spent the party with a friend, which is the only way this whole thing worked.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

This post really will have nothing to do with Mother's Day, although I've had a wonderful day and hope the best to each of you. I'm mostly going to play catch up.

Joshua had an Invention Convention at school and really did a fabulous job. His mind amazes me sometimes. He invented a blind that blocks the light that comes in from the sides of traditional window blinds. When the assignment first came home I was so overwhelmed I almost cried (of course, that probably had something to do with also having a 2 day old baby and just getting home from the hospital). In the end it was okay and Joshua felt good about his project.

These next two pictures remind me once again how much I'm going to miss this preschool. Friday was Mother's Day at Small Steps Preschool. All the mothers were invited to school for a "night out" with their preschooler. We walked the red carpet and spent the day at preschool. We made some crafts together, played games and then had a snack. All the children dressed up as waiters and came out to take their mom's order. Then they returned with our order and we had snack together. There was a program where they sang some adorable songs and then we had the "Mom Awards." Each child got on stage and presented their mom an award for what they are best at. You'll all be pleased to know I'm the best cleaner :-).

Today, May 8, we blessed Eliza. I never tire of taking her picture. A friend of ours with a great camera took some family pictures today so hopefully you'll be seeing those soon.

I never stop trying to get her smile.

Here are the mom awards.

Eliza smiles

2011-04-22T04:38:00.000-07:00

Well right on cue Eliza started showing off her smile. It just melts my heart! It's pretty tricky to capture in photos, but here is my best attempt.

She also sleeps :-). We've had a lot of fun on this Spring Break and she has been the perfect little lady. This was taken at Pump It Up, where she slept the whole time despite the noise and the other little girls her LOVE her. There's a toddler in our ward who calls her Baby LaLa. So cute!

Happy Month Day!!

2011-04-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Eliza is 1 month old today. We were fortunate that the day coincided with Conference Sunday. Everyone was home to help with the photo shoot. We even got a decent picture of all the children. Happy April everyone!

Oh - thanks Jenny for the bow! Annelise, I can't wait to have you show me what to actually do with girl hair :-). My mom informed me I'd have to learn a new haircut as the one I use for the boys simply won't do.

Catching Up

2011-03-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the last month. Eliza is a wonderful baby and I couldn't ask for more. She feels that if she's awake she should be held, which makes getting things done during the day somewhat difficult, however, right now she is sleeping well at night. I'll take the night sleeping and day holding anytime. Her big brothers LOVE her.

This was her first day home. Sam couldn't wait to put her in the swing, and most of us couldn't stop looking at her.

Andrew loves to feed and hold Eliza. He's a great big brother. Jacob loves to hold her too, I just haven't gotten a lot of pictures of him.

Sam loves Eliza, but in short bursts. He does tell me all the time that she is SO cute! I have to say in this picture Sam is SO cute. He was having a great time dressing up.

Helping PopPop fix the tile in our kitchen prior to listing our house.

The first attempt at a family picture - I've lost all control.

We loved having my parents here.

Having fun with the camera.

This is Andrew's Horton Hears a Who project. They planted the seeds at school and Horton grew some hair!

Baby Eliza is here!!!

2011-03-05T09:37:00.001-08:00

Baby Eliza came March 3, 8 lbs 11 oz and 21" long. All the boys were excited when she came home and had to take turns holding her.

So far she has been an ideal baby. She sleeps a lot, eats when she is supposed to and fills her diaper on schedule. The last two nights she has also allowed us to sleep from 11 pm to 7 am. I guess that won't happen much now that she is home from the hospital and the nursery won't take her back. For Jennie's sanity we have decided to bottle feed. I do have to say that although the benefits of breastfeeding were always explained very well to us, no one told us about the benefits of bottle feeding! Eat once every 4 hours, sleep longer because tummy is full, lowers the risk of jaundice, Daddy can also do it so mommy isn't always on call. This may work out better than expected.

Extra Curricular Activity

2011-01-27T05:56:00.000-08:00

I think my friend Britt, who moved here last summer with her family, put it best when she said, "We finally figured out that school here is an extra-curricular activity." After no snow in December I thought we were going to get away with an easy winter. However, this being our fourth snow day in 3 weeks, I must admit I was wrong. When you move here you just think to yourself, "Snow happens all over the world and people deal with it, what's the deal with New England?" Everything comes to a stand still. We woke up to 3 inches on Tuesday (still had school), no big deal right? WRONG! What is normally a 25-30 minute commute took Adam 90 minutes!! School buses were late picking up children and everything was a disaster. I don't know what it is, but I do know it's how it is and there is nothing I can do to change it. So think of us New Englanders in the lovely month of June when your children are enjoying the summer months. At this point, school will extend to June 21.

Here is our predicted 3-5 inches of snow. I often wonder what would happen if doctors were as precise as weathermen.

Adam and the boys spent an hour shoveling this morning. Sam was pretty smart and opted to wait until the shoveling was done and then headed outside to play. I'm sure if the other boys knew that was an option they would have chosen (however, it wasn't for them). Adam said the boys asked if the baby was going to have to help shovel and then were utterly dismayed to figure out that by the time she's old enough to help, Joshua and Jacob probably won't even be at home.

These are the piles on the side of our ever shrinking driveway.

The picture below is from Monday. On Monday the high was 4 degrees. That's right, 4 degrees. When I put Joshua and Jacob on the bus at 8:45 it was still -8. When I dropped Andrew off at 12:30 we had just hit zero. The picture below is of Andrew's beach day at school, which was on Monday. I hope you are all catching the irony here. All the kids wore their beach clothing, brought beach toys, goggles, etc. The preschool cranked up the heat and brought in a bunch of sand (can you imagine the clean - up? - just one of the reasons I LOVE this preschool), and let the kids have fun in the sun, or at least the heat.

Great neighbors!

2011-01-12T12:57:00.001-08:00

Uh, DeAnn, can I borrow your snow blower? Adam is another state and we have somewhere around 15 inches of snow and it's still snowing. There's been a lot of blowing so it's difficult to tell for sure, but when I walked outside it was up to my knees.

Fortunately, we have great neighbors. They have a snow blower that initially wasn't working. So their teenage son and a friend came over with shovels and told me to go back inside (for which I was SOO grateful. Normally I don't mind shoveling. However, it was causing pain in places I shouldn't push through). In the end the snow blower came back to life and for now we have a relatively clear driveway. I'm so thankful for great neighbors!!

8 Kids, 4 hound dogs and the piggy we stole from the shed...

2010-11-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

So, maybe it's not really Grandma's feather bed, but I

imagine they won't get much sleep, but they'll have a

LOT of fun.

This was our first Veteran's Day sleepover. The boys love to get altogether in one bed and read books and tell each other stories. Since there is no school tomorrow (and since Sam fell asleep on the way home from karate, which means he's going to be awake for a LONG time anyway) we decided tonight would be the perfect night for a sleepover in our bed. We will of course move them, I not that nice of a mom. However, they are currently having a GREAT time. They may have to move to their own beds in an hour or so.

A girl?!!

2010-10-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm officially announcing that we are having another baby and according to today's ultrasound we are having a girl. When we told the boys last weekend about the impending arrival they took the whole thing in stride. Jacob asked, "What if it's a girl?" and after a few minutes decided it was okay because at least he'd be older than her. Joshua was ecstatic to be the oldest of 5 and Andrew looked at me wide-eyed and said, "There's gonna be 5 babies?!" In the end Joshua determined either gender would be fine because it'll either be a boy or a Tom-boy. His glass is always half full. Oh, my due date is March 1, 2011.

Boys

2010-09-24T19:01:00.001-07:00

They are in so much pain I feel bad laughing, but the cause is really quite funny. I was talking to my sister this afternoon when I hear a whimpering coming from outside. Joshua and Jacob both walk in and Joshua very calmly states, "I think this is an emergency." In a search for adventure Joshua and Jacob hopped on Andrew's big wheel at the same time and headed off down the hill that is our street. I guess at some point they figured out they were in trouble because Joshua tried to bail but his foot got stuck. Anyway, to avoid a bush they somehow crashed the big wheel and both met the pavement with extreme force. Jacob's main complaint is his face (although there are many other wounds). I was most concerned about him initially because Joshua just looked to have a skinned knee. However, when Adam got home and we took a closer look at Joshua we realized that it was a very deep cut. He and Adam ended up in the ER and 2 stitches later (and only 90 minutes :-)!) they were back home. We are going to have some very sore boys tomorrow. I wonder if they'll think twice about riding a big wheel uncontrollably down a steep hill again. By the way, they would both want me to mention that there were no tears. Joshua only screamed once at the ER and that was when they numbed him up. Jacob had a hard time eating (which, if you know Jacob is a true hardship) and was whimpering all evening, except when he was at the computer :-).

Lake Tenkiller

2010-08-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of July we met my family in Oklahoma and headed to a place called Lake Tenkiller. We stayed in a great little resort and while the decor and gift shop haven't changed since Alicia was a child (it's exactly as she always remembered it) it was a great place to stay. We had fun being on the water and playing together. At first it seemed the weather wouldn't cooperate but it turned out to be perfect.

WAKE SURFING

This was our new experience. You literally surf behind the boat. Even though the surfer is seen holding a rope, you aren't actually being towed. It was really fun. Ben was a great teacher - so good that even the littlest kids were able to try it out.

On the boat - Samuel actually liked the boat a lot, he especially loved all the time he got to be with Daddy.

This guy just melts my heart! He was so proud of this seat. It's above the regular seats so he had to hold on tight :-)

We actually flew into Dallas and then drove to Tulsa. Joshua was in his glory with a great collection of Geotrax and Uncle Brian has the perfect hallway to build in.

He's eating!!

2010-08-10T18:16:00.001-07:00

I know it's weird to document the first time your child eats a PBJ sandwich. However, those of you who know Sam know this is a BIG deal. This is the boy who lives on pretzels, Danimals, and chips with some random fruit thrown in. This one day he decided to eat a sandwich after helping Adam make it. Now I know most of you are thinking, "Ah! If he makes it he'll eat it." I was hoping that was true, however, in the following days a repeat of this performance was no where to be seen. Sam will gladly help anyone make a PBJ sandwich day or night, just don't ask him to eat it.

Happy Half Birthday, Andrew!

2010-06-28T17:35:00.001-07:00

No, we don't celebrate half birthdays for everyone, just Andrew. His birthday is Dec 23 and we prefer to spread out the presents a bit. We still recognize the day but he only gets grandparent presents on that day. Anyway, after a 5:30am workout (that's right, that's REALLY early) I came home to a very eager Half Birthday Boy. He let me (Adam too) rest for a few minutes and then it was present time.

The traditional breakfast choice - Lucky Charms

We cleaned up Jacob's old bike last week and Andrew's been riding it ever since, but we made sure he knew that his bike was his main birthday present. By 7:30am we were at the park for our family bike ride. Everyone loved it and 7:30 is the time to be at the park to avoid all kinds of discomfort (like heat and humidity - although, I really can't complain, it's been beautiful!!).

This is my favorite part of the day. As Andrew rode around the track he sang at the top of his lungs. The words of his song were so appropriate (to a point) that I couldn't help but smile. He sang, "I feel so free that I could soar (that's the appropriate part) I'm not an egg anymore!!!" It's from a Backyardigans episode. Anyway, it was great.

Joshua - He finally admitted riding bikes is fun.

Sam is his own man - I don't think I have to worry about him following the crowd in future years. He has taken to removing his shoes no matter where we go, the grocery store, the park, the movie theater, church, you name it.

Andrew and Daddy

The rest of the day was filled with Toy Story 3 - fun movie - the book store and pizza for dinner. We came home and had an ice cream treat for his cake. Candles were placed in everyone's ice cream that wanted to blow (mostly Sam). All in all it was a great day.

Ice Cream

2010-06-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

One of the doctors at work gave Adam and $25 gift card to Friendly's Restaurant. She is pregnant and having a very difficult time. Adam has been nice and I know she appreciates it. We decided to splurge and just do ice cream. It was quite a treat. Although I don't think I'll ever figure out Samuel's eating habits. He refused his strawberry shake altogether.

Freezing?!

2010-06-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this and point and that on June 17 my boys were freezing. If you look closely, yes, that is Samuel in a winter coat. Andrew was in tears and Jacob was nice enough to lend his bathrobe. Joshua stuck it out and Jacob refused to be photographed in his jacket, but it was there. I guess this explains somewhat why they were dying when it finally reached 80 degrees.

A weekend in Vermont

2010-06-13T16:54:00.001-07:00

Sounds almost romantic, doesn't it? The romance comes to a screeching halt when you throw in 4 boys, however, the boys did make for some great family fun. Yesterday we left our house at 6:40am to do a day's worth of site seeing in Vermont. Two and a half hours later we arrived at our first destination - The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial in Sharon, VT. Now, I shamefully must admit that I got all nostalgic when we arrived. I spent many a Girls' Camp in this place and it was weird and really fun to be back. The whole place has changed - things that were once there are gone, but mostly they've made HUGE improvements. What can I say, progress in the right direction is always good.

Oh - did I mention that it rained - a lot? However, we didn't let it spoil our fun and thanks to some good advice from Grandma we packed our rain gear.

Alright, so this exceptionally unflattering picture has a purpose. It's to point out that this hat and rain coat have lived for 17 years. I wore both when I was 16 for Girls' Camp in this very spot. Adam thought it was picture worthy if for no other reason than to document the survival of the rain gear. I must admit, the coat fit MUCH looser back then. We're working on that.

Heading into the Visitor's Center. A family from our ward were actually the inspiration for this whole thing. They had already had it all planned and Jill just mentioned it to me on Thursday. They were nice enough to let us crash their party and we are so thankful.

The Visitor's Center

These are sculptures by a woman names Angela Johnson. Her exhibit is on display in the Visitor's Center and we were blown away. Pictures don't do them justice. However, if you are interested in looking at more of her work her website is ajsculptures.com (of course, it's the kind of thing we will have to admire when on display, but they truly are beautiful).

Ben and Jerry's!!!!

So, while the Joseph Smith Memorial was fantastic, let's be totally honest. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory was a highlight. After a quick lunch we went on the tour, which is very interesting. However, the ice cream sample at the end was even more interesting.

Of course, the sample was just enough to wet our appetite. We got some more at the scoop shop just outside.

Did you get it all, Joshua?

This cracked us up. They have a literal graveyard for all their retired flavors. They have on the tombstone how long each flavor lived and why it "died." Jacob was disappointed this particular flavor didn't live long enough for him to try it.

This is my attempt at getting a fun picture of all 4 boys. Samuel had other ideas.

However, he did allow me to snap him solo - so generous of him.

After Ben and Jerry's we went to the Cabot Creamery. They have a little informational tour about how things are done, but mostly it was enjoyable for the samples provided afterwards. We all enjoyed tasting all the different cheddars they make at this particular facility. One could spend lots of money in a place like that.

Jacob was kind enough to provide his shoulders for better tour viewing for Sam. Right now they are watching the pallet stacker in motion.

After a dinner that was less than stellar dinner, Sam and I went outside while everyone else finished. He found this watering can and the owner of the establishment offered to fill it with water and let Sam water his flowers. I thought that was very generous as it had been raining all day already. The man said he was never one to turn down work. Samuel was in heaven and I was grateful for the useful distraction.

Yes, this picture is really as pathetic as it looks. We got home around 9pm only to find that we were locked out of our house. Andrew was soooo tired that it was all he could do to lay down on the steps in our garage, with the screen door half closed on him and moan. In the end we figured out a solution and everyone got to sleep in their beds.

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if our version of Memorial Day was in keeping with any sort of tradition. We did manage to catch a few minutes of the parade on Main Street. They do a really great thing here in Rutland, that I want to make sure we participate in next year. Veterans from the town gather in each of the towns cemeteries (I think there are 4 of them, all within walking distance of each other) and perform a 21 Gun salute and various other things in memory of those who have passed on in the service of our nation.

Unfortunately, this year we have been plagued by sickness. It really could be worse, although don't mention that to Joshua or Andrew as they are the ones to truly be miserable. Plus, Adam is working nights, which means sleeping days (or at least trying to - we just weren't meant to be up all night or sleep during the day). Anyway, in an attempt to do something patriotic I made a Flag Cookie. It's really a fruit pizza, but of course, today it's a flag. I hope we are on the mend, and can put this ill health behind us. Also, thank you to everyone who has or is serving for our country.

The Happy Birthday Month

2010-05-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

So, there are a lot of pictures with this post because May is our birthday month. We had a surprise birthday party for Joshua this year. It actually worked out really well. We told him it would be on Saturday the 8th. He got to help plan the whole thing and loved that part of it. However, I contacted the guests and had them arrive Friday night for the surprise. Joshua got the best of both worlds - he got to help plan and be surprised.

Preparing for the SURPRISE!!

Marshmallow stacking competition. In the end the boys just ended up smashing them all together - it was a fantastic mess.

Joshua really wanted to have a silly string fight. I discourage this to anyone reading this post. I thought silly string disintegrated easily with a little water. Well, three weeks later and a few rain storms and we're still finding silly string. However - the boys loved it!

So the party started around 4:15. They played and then we had dinner. At 5:30 a babysitter arrived to watch Andrew and Samuel while we took the group to play Laser Tag. I HIGHLY recommend this to everyone. We played 6 or 7 games with all different variations of teams and everyone loved it. The "fish" stories on the way home were great. There were some girls who came in and challenged the boys and by the time we got home these girls were 10ft tall bullies that threw the boys into walls and kicked them. Can you guess who won that game :-)?

Now we come to the rest of the birthdays.

These are the Candy Monsters trying to attack Adam's Skor bar.

Don't worry, Adam defended it well.

Sam's turn. I can't believe he's three!!

It was the year of trucks, trucks and more trucks for our Sam. He loves them and so now we have a great collection of trucks.

The Birthday Breakfast

We chose to sing to Sam over his birthday donuts. We ended up singing 8 or 9 times. He'd blow out the candles, we'd sing and he'd say, "Again!" He also walked around the house all day singing, "Happy Birthday to me..."

The Cardboard Express and Random Pictures

2010-05-05T17:04:00.001-07:00

This is Samuel enjoying a snack on the steps. He decided he was cold and grabbed some towels out of the laundry.

All aboard!

The following is what happens when you leave a 9 year old and a 4 year old to their own devices. Joshua and Andrew came upstairs one day laughing uncontrollably. Joshua had decided to shove Andrew into his hoodie, legs and arms in the arms and face in the hood. Fortunately for Joshua, Andrew thought it was hysterical and couldn't wait to document it. Apparently, they would get Andrew situated and start jumping. I guess life is full of simple pleasures.

Our bathroom

2010-05-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

Over our Spring Break we refinished the boys' bathroom. It wasn't major, mostly it was a fresh coat of paint that worked wonders. This first picture is one of my favorites - Adam was cutting shelves for the laundry area. In order to avoid the loud noise and be safe, Andrew and Samuel would sit on the step and cover their ears during the cutting.

Now, the following pictures will either provide proof of our awesomeness as parents or our insanity. Either way, the boys LOVED helping.

Andrew was so proud of his ability to unscrew the light bulbs from the old fixture.

The Finished Product

So this laundry area use to be one wire shelf that was rusted, sagged and almost out of my reach (I know it's shocking that anything could be out of my reach). Now, I like doing laundry - almost.

One of the greatest Christmas gifts ever!

2010-05-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

This is a big thank you to Annelise, Lucas, Olivia and Caroline for the butterflies. We had a great time watching them grow from tiny little caterpillars to really quite big and somewhat disturbing caterpillars. It was so cool to wake up one morning and hear the butterflies fluttering around. We did finally decide that their lives would be so much more fulfilling outside and we let them go. Samuel still asks where the butterflies are and then he remembers, "Oh, oh yeah, they're outside."

2010-04-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

I found this picture of Jacob dyeing eggs that someone else in our ward took. Also, here is Andrew and Samuel putting together a bag. If you think for a second that all of those DumDums made it into the bag you are sadly mistaken. Samuel LOVES DumDums - any aunt, uncle, grandparent or friend looking to get on Sammy's good side, just come with a pocket full of, what he calls Pops, and you will have a friend for life!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

So, you should all know that Pioneer Woman's blog is deliciously evil. This is her Strawberry Shortcake Cake and it's fabulous!! Our frosting had a big of a struggle as there was water in the bowl and that messed up the consistency. Nevertheless, this cake was a great addition to our Easter sugar high. At least it had fruit, right?

I looked out on the deck and discovered Sam basking in the sun eating his pretzels. I guess the water table makes a fabulous lounge when it's empty.

Yesterday, our ward had an Easter party yesterday that was really fun. In between sessions of conference we met in front our church building where they had scattered a bunch of eggs for a hunt. As you can see below, our children did well. We also put together some activity bags for a local home that assists children with cancer, decorated eggs, decorated and ate cupcakes and had a good time being outside in the BEAUTIFUL weather. Spring has come very early this year and we are taking full advantage of it. Of course, the way they are predicting it now, our spring break looks to be cold and rainy. Here's to "nice weather faith." (Growing up we used to have "wind faith" whenever we were set to go sailing - it works just about as well as can be expected :-)). Jacob isn't pictured, but he was there. The older boys are harder to get pictures of these days.

SPRING!!

2010-03-21T17:02:00.001-07:00

Spring has finally made an appearance here and it's an early one at that. Normally we don't have gorgeous days like we've had this past week until well into April and I must say it's a most welcome irregularity. Andrew and Samuel have spent hours riding their bikes down the sidewalk and then hiking back up to the top. The trampoline is finally cleared of ice and snow and morning work is accomplished with tremendous speed and determination in order to get a few minutes of jump time before school. I'm sure we still have a few more spring surprises ahead, but for right now we are LOVING beautiful weather.

Scrubbing the deck to get rid of moss.

Letters and finally feeling better!

2010-03-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks Aunt Jody!! Aunt Jody shared her Handwriting Without Tears preschool materials with us and Andrew couldn't be more excited. We immediately sat down and started creating letters. The sense of accomplishment just radiated from every ounce of Andrew's body. He loves it! The next morning he came into my room at 7:15 asking if he could work on his letters. Anyway, thanks again Aunt Jody, and thanks to PopPop for packaging it, and thanks to Grandma for the postal run!

Samuel loves it too, and Andrew's okay with it - even when Samuel does it HIS way.

After spending ten days on this chair, in almost this exact position, Jacob is finally feeling better. He got sick on a Sunday night and after a trip to the doctor that resulted in a trip to the ER for re-hydration on Tuesday we thought everything would get better from there. However, he remained one sick guy. Finally, we took him back to the doctor on the following Monday where he was diagnosed with Pneumonia. We're not sure how much we believe that, but the antibiotics have made a world of difference and he is finally feeling better. Whew! Believe it or not Jacob is looking 100% better in this picture than he did all week.

Snow creations and puppies

2010-02-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

So, it was almost 40 degrees here on Saturday - a perfect day to send boys out to expend some energy. Plus, the warm temps made the snow ideal for creating. The boys were very excited to be able to finally build a snowman. Although, they weren't so much snowmen as snowaliens.

Destroying said creations is at least 75% of the fun.

Here are the puppies. Since my children are excessively deprived in not having a real dog of their own, they will frequently pretend to be puppies themselves. This particular day finds Andrew in the role of puppy, but they take turns. It's actually really cute to listen to them play. Samuel really gets into the role and unfortunately finds his inner dog at some rather inopportune moments. For example, the time he started barking in the middle of the Sacrament and planted a big, wet slobbery dog kiss on my cheek. The woman behind us laughed right out loud.

Living Room Campout

2010-02-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

Nope, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I decided to take advantage of the Valentine holiday to have a pink background. I'm not sure what I think about it - it's a little odd to see pink next to my boys. However, it's only once a year and only for a little while.

Anyway, last night we fulfilled one of Joshua's "life long dreams" - his words, not mine. We had a Living Room Campout. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in the fire place, made s'mores, ate chips and had a great time. The whole night Joshua kept pointing out how this was way better than a real campout because we were warm, dry, and we didn't have to drive anywhere. I would have to agree because I got to sleep in my bed :-). After dinner we hooked up with PopPop, Grandma Johansen, Uncle Ben and his family for a little Mario Kart Wii tournament. Joshua and Jacob were excited to have someone new to beat and they were HORRIFIED when their parents used their Mii to race. The utter humiliation was almost more than they could handle. It was a great night!

Winter!

2009-12-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

At 7:45 this morning, Jacob was putting on his work clothes and headed outside to finish stacking our wood. We had mentioned last night that we couldn't attend the school's "Santa's Workshop" fundraiser until our work was done. Tell you what, give Jacob a job and some motivation and that boy is on it! We were very grateful because as you can see it started snowing this afternoon. Nothing major, just beautiful snow that won't be canceling school. This evening we participated in the town's Christmas Festival of Trees. They have a tree decorating contest and gingerbread contest as well as all kinds of decorations, and of course Santa. We decided to walk up to avoid the parking dilemma. This was fabulous until we realized that on the way down the wind was no longer at our back. Andrew and Samuel were frozen by the time we got home. However, we all enjoyed the walk - it really felt great and it was a fun way to enjoy the snow.

Andrew and Grandma

Helping PopPop

2009-12-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

My dad did all kinds of household projects for us while he and my mom were here. One of them involved some plumbing. Helping PopPop work is always a favorite pass-time for grandkids. Andrew is loving this "helping opportunity." Seems to me he's a lot more comfortable under there than PopPop. Thanks again!!

More wood!! I don't want everyone to think that when you come to my house you have to help stack wood - however, if you come anytime during firewood season it's a good chance that wood hauling will be a frequent activity. Thanks to Christian, Robyn, Daddy and Pop for all their help stacking 3 cords of wood on the Saturday after Jacob's baptism. What would have taken us days hours upon hours to stack was finished in an hour and a half (thanks to Grandma also who took the car for an oil change :-)). Andrew wants you all to know that he is not taller than the wood, but PopPop is.

Maine again

2009-12-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

Catch Grandpa!!

Aaron and Samuel enjoyed getting in trouble (and causing trouble for each other) all week long. Today they truly enjoyed climbing all over everything.

Grandma and PopPop

Grandma and Andrew

Rachel

So, it's impossible to describe how much I love this place. It is, perhaps, my favorite place on earth. We were blessed with a beautiful day. You'll notice that most of us are without coats. We stopped at the Stonewall Kitchen store on our way to the lighthouse. The adults had a great time testing all the samples they had laid out. Everything from chocolate covered pretzels, to salsas, to jams were available for the tasting. The children happily played in the grassy area next to the store. And thanks to Adam and Christian's willingness, Robyn, Grandma, PopPop, Grandpa Green and Aunt Bethany stopped at the Kittery Outlets without children. It was a truly fabulous day.

Cousins here for the baptism

2009-12-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

Jacob's baptism was on Friday, November 20. Christian and Robyn came with their family, Grandpa Green and Aunt Bethany came and Grandma and PopPop were here too. Things couldn't have worked out better with their travel and things went smoothly. It's hard to describe a baptism, but we were grateful to have family around.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!!

2009-12-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

Our Jacob is eight years old - I can hardly believe it. We had a party for him the Saturday before his birthday and he thought it was great (I guess that's what counts). I was reminded how much I like birthday parties at the park or beach :-).

It looks odd, but tastes great!

2009-12-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

My parents have been here for two weeks and we canned chicken - twice. I'd never done it before and if you like canned chicken from the store this is FABULOUS (even if you don't like canned chicken from the store). Anyway, our chicken was obtained from several different stores and as you can see, you are what you eat. Apparently (so far as we can figure), the chickens on the left ate marigolds and it turns their flesh orange. I must say that if I'd seen chicken like this the first time it would have turned me off forever. However, the taste is the same and it's a great thing for food storage.

Our new shed

2009-11-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

More storage!!! Now we can get one car in our one car garage.

Builders

2009-11-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

The boys were very pleased with their building skills. These foam letters haven't received much
attention since the older guys learned their letters. Notice Sam - he spent the whole time sobbing as the boys wouldn't let him destroy their creation until we'd taken a picture.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here they are - A WWI Flying Ace, a dragon, a clone and an opinionated 2 year old.

Samuel learned a new phrase for this special occasion. It only took two rounds of "treaters" at our door for him to catch on to this great game. Instantly he disappeared, grabbed his pumpkin and the next time the doorbell rang he ran to the door, turned and faced me and said "trick or treat" with the group. He was bitterly disappointed in his mother's unwillingness to cooperate is this most exciting game.

Sunday Best

2009-10-31T14:57:00.001-07:00

I guess this is the best I can expect after a five hour church day. At least they're smiling. Samuel loves the suit but refuses to wear the tie. Andrew was wondering... when Sam's suit gets bigger can he wear it :-)? Fortunately I found a sport coat buried away and Andrew is wearing that and an old Joshua tie. He seems to be happy.

If you look really closely you'll notice that Joshua is in socks. He ran in the house so fast and changed that he missed the, "We're taking pictures" announcement. However, I wanted a picture of our beautiful Japanese Maple.

Thanks Grandma

2009-10-24T18:16:00.001-07:00

We found ourselves in a PJ bind tonight. Fortunately Grandma had sent us some new ones. Thanks!

HELP!!!

2009-10-24T18:10:00.001-07:00

So one day I was in the kitchen doing dishes and I hear a little, "Help!!" I look over and Samuel had gotten himself stuck in my stock pot. At first he was really scared - but when he figured out that I would save him it became a great game. I had to take the "trap" away after the fifth or sixth rescue. I wasn't popular, but I'm getting used to that.

Bubble Wars - Thanks Grandpa!!

2009-10-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

The boys had a great afternoon having what they called a bubble war. Thanks again!

Please note - it's OCTOBER 15

2009-10-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

You are not dreaming (or nightmare-ing) that's really snow and it's STICKING!! I can hardly believe it. I actually don't mind snow, as long as they don't cancel school for the stuff. Anyway, apparently we are skipping fall this year and heading straight into winter. I'm glad y'all didn't choose this autumn to come leaf peeping.

Along with winter comes the need to heat. I was aware that rain (it's snow, not rain) was on the way and so the whole family pitched in and we've got a good stack inside ready for the weekend.

Samuel LOVES hauling wood. There was a brother in our ward who sent out an emailing asking for help with his wood and I almost sent Sam - he's that good. The kid doesn't get distracted and is distraught when the deed is done. In fact, he sneaks out of the house in order to run over to the wood pile to get more wood.

OH!! The torture!!

Pack Meeting

2009-10-15T17:32:00.001-07:00

Joshua officially received his Wolf badge last Friday night (although he's been finished since May). We had Pack meeting at our house and had a great time. Since there are only 4 Cubs in the Pack it wasn't a big deal to have them and their families for a simple bbq and meeting. Here's Joshua pinning the "Mom pin" on my collar.

Joshua with Bro. Jones.

I personally love the stocking feet - you can't do that at the church building.

Snakes and Intruders (or are they the same)

2009-10-02T02:26:00.000-07:00

So, it was cold enough here yesterday that I had to break down and light a fire. It was 61 degrees in the house and Andrew and Samuel were frozen. Out to the woodpile I went. As I lifted the first logs of the season I discovered 3 or 4 baby snakes hiding out under the wood. Anyone who knows me well knows that snakes are not my friends. I don't like them. I acknowledge the need for their existence and am grateful for all the critters that don't continue on in this life because of them, but I still don't like them - at all. Starting around midnight I had horrifying nightmares about snakes in my woodpile. Usually I can just tell myself, "It was just a dream, it's not real." However, this time it was real - there really are snakes in our woodpile. So all night long I have been dreaming about these snakes. It was a very disturbed sleep and poor Adam had to put up with my jumping out of bed and starting awake all night. That is until he heard some very suspicious noises from outside. He went to the window and told me to dial 911. Four people were standing outside our house. One of them was walking around to the back, they were all dressed in dark clothing. Flashbacks to last fall when a guy walked up the basement stairs into our kitchen raced through my head. I called 911 and they sent out the police. Adam and I huddled for a minute or two just watching these people imagining the worst. What did they want...we're totally outnumbered...will the police get here in time...sshh don't be to loud, we don't want them to take off before the police get here...should we have bought a gun last fall...even if we had, one against four isn't good odds...

Then we hear - "It's Alexia!" Relief flooded our systems. We ran downstairs to let in Alexia and her friends who had stopped on their way up to Maine for a little rest. We actually knew they were coming but had totally forgotten about it - things don't make much sense at 4am. We greeted everyone as they entered. I had stayed on the phone with 911 and was able to tell them right away everything was all right. I saw the police cruiser pass by as everyone filed in. We were safe the whole time but despite that sleep has not come easily to me this night. I'm a little wound up while exhausted at the same time. I decided to come do something productive instead of lying in my bed waiting for sleep to come (it probably would be riddled with snakes if it did come, snakes and intruders, one in the same :-)).

They can see clearly now...

2009-09-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

After complaining of headaches for the last few weeks, we decided to take Joshua to the eye doctor. As long as we were at it I made an apt for Jacob. Turns out both boys have the EXACT same prescription. Both are near-sighted and both needed glasses. I apologize here and now for passing on my eyes. However, I think the realities of being able to see clearly are sinking in. Joshua is very reluctant about the whole thing and Jacob can't wait to show them off at school tomorrow. I must toot our own horns here and say I think they both look great!

Oops, a few more vacation pictures

2009-09-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

This just cracked us up. Waterton was so exhausting. We rarely stopped and I think this picture says it all.

Samuel and Uncle Steve enjoying ice cream in front of our hotel room in Waterton.

This is the "bunk room" at Grandma and PopPop's house. Jody and I went into check on the sleeping angels and discovered Tanner fast asleep on top of Jacob. Both boys are sound asleep (even though Jacob's eyes are open, trust me, he's asleep) but Jacob is realizing there is something not quite right :-).

Last of the Utah pictures

2009-09-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Backyard bbq at Grandpa Green's

Jacob loved the smores

Jack loved everything

Olivia, Grandpa and Aunt Bethany

Great Grandma Green
This was at a Green family reunion on July 3. When Samuel saw Grandma walking in he was pretty convinced that she needed help with her walker. He "helped" her all the way to the table.

Waterton International Peace Park - Alberta, Canada

2009-09-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt to share some of our trip to Waterton in July. Quite literally this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the pictures. Between all five families there were over 2500 pictures taken. Anyway, here's a taste.

Cameron Falls

Red Rock Canyon
The Red Rock Crawl, as it's called at my families reunion, is a tried a true tradition. I love it! I must explain that the water in this part of the world is glacier fed and REALLY cold. But we Johansens love it anyway. Crawling up this canyon, and through and around the river that made it, is an adventure for even the bravest souls. The goal is to stay dry as long as possible. However, the canyon continues to deepen the further up you go. There are natural water slides that drop you into deep pools of freezing water - but it's great anyway.

At the starting point of the canyon. Adam is in the orange hat holding Andrew's hand and carrying Samuel.

This picture is from a bridge overhead. It was right about here that Joshua and Jacob decided they were done. They didn't get the memo about staying dry and were almost blue.

My nephew Spencer braving one of the water slides.

Bear's Hump
This is the view from one of the many hikes that are available. The town below is Waterton and you can see the whole thing from up there.

The view on a sunny day

Uncle Ben and Aunt Alicia took this crew up Bear's Hump. It was the first break in the rain for 2 days and everyone was itching for some activity.

Wagon is the preferred mode of transportation. My sister brought her wagon and PopPop bought a wagon which he assembled when we got there. One of the highlights for a few of the grandkids (Samuel and Camille) was helping Pop put it together.

My family (Jennie's) - We were a small portion of the 247 Johansen cousins present at the reunion.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House - July 3

2009-09-23T17:41:00.001-07:00

We decided we couldn't miss the opportunity to attend a temple open house. Natalie and Megan joined our family and Catherine was very brave and brought Lucy and Jack along. I believe that's where the name "Andrucy" was born and we had to keep calling Andrew and Lucy back into line. Fortunatley, it was a very crowded day and we didn't have to worry about spoiling the reverence for anyone.

Joshua lost a tooth - hence the tissue.

We had a long wait.

Summer Fun

2009-09-23T17:23:00.001-07:00

There is absolutely no way I can totally catch up on all the summer stuff. Instead of curling up somewhere and ignoring it completely I'll do what I can.

This at Salem Park (I have no idea what it's really called). Anyway, can't you just hear Andrew, Jack and Samuel saying, "Don't worry, I won't get wet."

Monkeys!

On Grandpa's swing after a fun water fight - I think this was base.

The brave and mighty Sir Jack has slayed the monstrous Jacob.

Andrew and Lucy

This was at one of the lakes up Payson Canyon. The children are running as fast as they can out of the water because it was REALLY cold. In reality, they all did submerge themselves in order to maintain Polar Plunge status.

Grandpa's hot tub

Playing Catch Up

2009-09-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

So, the results of the Pinewood Derby - fun!! Joshua placed 2nd in Cub Scout division and everyone else had a great time. These people are serious about their derby.

Pinewood Derby

2009-06-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

For a ward activity our ward is doing a pinewood derby. Everyone who wants to, can make a car and enter it. We made 4 vehicles this year and everyone has high hopes. We've had lots of fun and I'll post more pictures this Saturday after the derby.

Jacob and Samuel

Andrew and Joshua

A 1/2 Birthday Celebration

2009-06-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy 1/2 birthday to Andrew. Because Andrew's birthday is so close to Christmas we chose to celebrate with presents, etc. in June. He had a fabulous day. Complete with a party, presents and a treat from the ice cream truck.

Birthday breakfast of Lucky Charms.

So, we did what I call a Smart Mom's (or Lazy Mom's) birthday party. We invited everyone to the lake and let everyone play. I didn't plan a single game or have to worry about anyone being entertained. I brought some snacks to serve along with the cupcakes and the whole thing couldn't have been better. We had 9 children at the party with no mess at my house and everyone had a great time.
A cupcake birthday cake. We decided that since the party was at the beach cupcakes would be the easiest. It's not the best decorating job, but I invented a new frosting that tastes great and is easy to decorate with. It will make things a little easier in the future.

Jordan Taylor

Andrew and Trevor Jones

Logan Schulz

Adam and Samuel using teamwork to contribute to the massive construction project happening up on shore. It was a beautiful day for a party.

Paul Revere

2009-06-17T07:46:00.001-07:00

Meet Paul Revere (aka, Joshua). He had a "biography" to do about Paul Revere and as the presentation he had to do a speech and pretend to be Paul. Costumes were required and we felt pretty good about this effort (not a stitch of sewing involved - thanks Jody and Grandma). Andrew and Samuel loved practicing with Joshua. Andrew has even memorized some of Joshua's speech. We have the speech of video, but it's too big to post. Joshua did a great job and felt great about his performance.

First Saturday at the Lake

2009-06-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

We were so happy to spend a Saturday evening at our favorite summertime spot. Two Saturdays ago we met some friends from church to have a bbq and play in the sand. Since it was only in the 60s (and hasn't gotten much higher all year) we figured the water would be WAY too cold. Obviously, Andrew either has no feeling or the water was just perfect.

Remember to take time to smell the flowers (or eat them).

2009-06-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

We have beautiful lilac bushes in our yard that smell fantastic! I called Samuel over to smell them and after smelling he decided to eat. I hope they aren't poison.

It's gone!!

2009-06-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

I am relieved to report that after sitting in our front yard for more than 6 months we are finally rid of the debris from last December's ice storm. We investigated many ways to get rid of the pile ourselves but in the end it always ended up costing way more than we could spend or, requiring equipment we didn't have (like towing capacity). Plus, the city has been promising since January to take care of it. Anyway, today it is done! Hooray!! If you click on the pictures you can see them better. I love how both boys are standing there with their hands behind their backs. As if to say, "I won't touch - I promise!"

School Projects

2009-06-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

I know most of you are wrapping up your school year but we, thanks to some crooked politicians, still have an entire month left. The boys have both come home with major projects to do and here is the first of the two. Jacob was asked to choose a famous American and do some research about him. At school they made puppets of their person. Jacob chose Theodore Roosevelt because he was fascinated by all of his safaris and experiences with wild animals. The children made the puppets at school and then had an open house last Friday.

Happy Birthday!!

2009-05-25T14:50:00.001-07:00

May is our birthday month. Joshua turned 9 on the 13th, Adam turned 33 on the 12th and Samuel turned 2 on the 22nd. By the time we got to Samuel we were sick of cake. So, we made homemade ice cream and topped it with sugared strawberries and chocolate covered pretzels, all things that Samuel will eat, most of the time.

The pretzel dippers. Apparently they had fun.

Mud puddles!

2009-05-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

So, one thing led to another this afternoon. It started off as a simple run through the sprinkler and ended in mud from head to toe. Samuel was not pleased when it came to be cleaned with the water from the hose. Frigid is the best word to describe it. However, I must admit that I couldn't help but chuckle as I chased a naked 2 year old around our front yard with the hose.

2009-05-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

So, the redoing of our bedroom led to a redo of our master bath. We originally thought we'd have to rip everything out but managed to use most of what was there and with a few minor changes (and some serious wood stripper) this is the end result. We added the shelves - that space was empty and useless. We painted, changed the mirrors, lights, hardware and faucets. We stripped the vanity and stained it the dark color it is now.

2009-05-01T19:40:00.001-07:00

We finally got around to painting our room.

2009-05-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

Money boxes the boys made with PopPop when we visited in March.

Andrew's Pirate Hat - I admit it, I am not above bribery when it comes to potty training.

This is Andrew's version of swimming - complete with goggles and no shirt.

2009-02-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

Washington D.C. - February 2009
Many of you know that Adam has spent the last few weeks in D.C. attending a pathology class at Walter Reid Hospital. Because our school district doesn't feel that actually attending school is necessary, we still had February Break - don't worry, they've added a week to the end of school and we are currently scheduled to attend school on 3 different Saturdays. Anyway, for February break we decided to join Adam. Alexia convinced me that I could do mass transit by myself and that it was really not an opportunity we could pass up. We were fortunate to find housing close to the metro and one of the highlights of every day was the train ride in. We saw all kinds of stuff, not anywhere close to all of it, but we had a great time. Here are some of the pictures, we don't have all of them uploaded, hopefully next weekend.

Joshua and Jacob loved taking pictures. I believe Jacob is the artist behind this one.

Arlington Cemetery

A nice lady helped us get our only family picture. This is in front of the Lincoln Memorial looking at the Washington Monument.

More Ice

2008-12-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

Ice was everywhere!! Starting around 11pm on Thursday night we heard the sounds of trees cracking under the pressure of the ice. When the sun rose we watched our neighbors tree tops fall to the ground.

The amount of ice was amazing. Every leaf was covered in at least 1 inch of ice.

This tree usually stands as tall as our roof - 2 stories. About 1 story has recovered.

2008-12-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

Andrew, Joshua and Jacob liked it as long as the lights were on. We had evenings together, read books, and cooked over our fireplace. We felt like "Little House on the Prairie".

2008-12-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

More photos.
That isn't snow on our front lawn, but ice.
Our Backyard.

2008-12-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

This was the Great Ice Storm of 08. We lost power for 5 days. These pictures were taken 2 days after the storm ended.

There was so much ice, every blade of grass was covered.

Almost all of the trees in our neighborhood were downed or bent.

Family fun

2008-07-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

Fun with cousins

We all LOVED having Daddy around.

Aunt Alexia spent a good amount of time increasing her position as most favored aunt.

Grandpa, Issac and Samuel.

Beach Fun II

2008-07-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

A few days into the vacation Jonathan and Christian bought a inflatable boat for the kids to use. Jennie had the great idea to tie a rope on the front of it to keep the kids close to shore and also give them a chance for a fun ride!

Jacob loved the smores!

Beach Fun

2008-07-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Andrew had fun with all of his cousins

We built a huge sand castle!
And finished just in time to see the tide
come in and wash it away.

Samuel enjoyed eating the sand.

Beach views II

2008-07-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

We put a swimming pool on one part of the deck for the litle kids to enjoy some warmer water.

It was a fun place to read scriptures in the evening.

Making smores on the beach was a highlight for the younger kids. The kids wore sunglasses in order to not have their eyeballs melt while melting the marshmellows.

Views of the beach

2008-07-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

The beach was awesome, we were right there, twenty feet away.

The kids could wake up in the morning and head on out with one of the uncles.

Or one of the aunts

We also loved sitting on the big deck overlooking the ocean.

Sea Creatures!

2008-07-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

Take a peak at this full grown crab!

If you look hard there is a crab in all that seaweed.

Sand pails make the best crab habitat.

Jacob found this stingray in the tidal pool.

Sea Creatures

2008-07-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest parts of the Sagamore beach was the abundance of sea creatures. Every day there was something new to see and every creature was more exciting than the last.

Hermit crabs were some of the easiest things to find and catch. Joshua said that it felt good when the pinched. The adults seriously wondered where these children came from.

Ice Cream Truck!!!

2008-06-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Every afternoon our neighborhood is visited by the ice cream truck. Andrew has a built in radar that can hear the music from miles away. As soon as he hears it stops whatever he's doing, puts his hand to his ear and says, "What's that? ICE CREAM TRUCK!!" He runs to the front window and watches it go down the street and come back. He then bolts to the back window because he knows the truck will circle the house. When the ice cream truck isn't around he will frequently asked, "Where the ice cream truck go?" The only answer that satisfies is that the truck has gone to bed.

Father's Day

2008-06-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there. This video is evidence of how important naps are in our house.

Literacy parade

2008-06-18T17:04:00.001-07:00

At school today they had a literacy parade. Each child chose a book and did some sort of project that described the characters or a scene from that book. The whole school marched around the building while the 6th grade band from the middle school played. It lasted about 15 minutes and it was a perfect event.

Jacob chose the book Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt. He drew some pretty great pictures.

Joshua chose the classic tale The Authori- tative Calvin and Hobbes.

jacob flip

2008-06-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

Try number two to see if the video works

Exhibition Day at Trampoline Class

2008-06-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of trampoline class. Instead of doing a formal recital, they did what they called Exhibition Day. The gym was open to everyone and we got to spend about 40 minutes watching all of the best tricks. There is a video of Jacob flipping into the foam pit and then Joshua is at the bottom. Andrew and Samuel even got to participate and they thought it was FABULOUS!! Andrew has literally been waiting all winter for this day. The event was capped off by a fantastic ice cream bar.

Trampoline class

2008-06-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

Joshua and Jacob have been working hard in trampoline class all winter. It's basically a gymnastic class on a trampoline. One of the hardest parts for them was climbing the rope. In the beginning they couldn't even pull themselves up. Now both of them can do one pull up and hang for a good 30 seconds or so.

Another favorite is jumping off of this 3 ft foam block onto the tramp below it and then do a flip.

Smoothie face!

2008-06-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

Joshua and Jacob loved their mustaches, almost as much as their smoothies. Andrew had to get in on the action.

Sunday morning

2008-06-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

We had to get pictures in front of our lovely flowers. The boys almost agreed with us. Joshua declared that he was going to melt. I think it was 65 degrees, a far cry from what was to come hours later - 90+.

Samuel was okay, as long as Daddy didn't put him down.

Hello?

2008-06-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

Samuel is great at answering the phone, even when no one is there.

Double Trouble

2008-06-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Samuel has affectionately been dubbed "Trouble." He is so curious and is into everything. I think he has a radar for open bathroom doors. More than once we have found him playing in his own personal swimming pool. The most amazing thing is when I walked in and he had the toilet bowl cleaning wand in hand "cleaning" the toilet. I was amazed that he knew what to do with the wand. I love this picture because it can most definitely be titled "Double Trouble." Andrew has discovered that Sam is a pretty fun playmate. He knows what Samuel likes to do and is frequently a most willing accomplice to Sam's adventures.

Samuel Walking

2008-06-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

Samuel has started trying to walk. Jacob says that sometimes he just wants to fall down. It has become a favorite family pass time to have San walk between different family members. Once again, he knows he is the center of attention and that is part of the reason he loves the game so much. Samuel has yet to discover the real advantages to walking. Crawling is ever so much faster. Now, Andrew has also been "practicing" his walking. Whenever Sam practices Andrew also has to take his turn. He gets really into it and even tries to walk just like Sam. Everyone cheers, even for Andrew :-).

Trampoline and patio

2008-05-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

One of the great benefits of having visitors was having help setting up the trampoline and installing a patio. Grandpa Green and PopPop both worked so hard and we are so grateful. I am especially grateful that the trail from the house to the tramp will not be covered with mud (and thus the house have mud all over it). The boys love the trampoline and weather permitting they are outside almost every day. Andrew asks if we can go to his "trampoline class." Joshua and Jacob have been taking a trampoline class this past winter and Andrew is convinced the trampoline is called the trampoline class.

2008-05-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Joshua was baptized on May 17. We were so blessed to have Grandpa Green, Aunt Bethany, Grandma Johansen and PopPop for the week/weekend. It's always fun to have family around for such occasions.

Happy Birthday, Samuel!

2008-05-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Samuel had a wonderful birthday despite it being very simple. He blew out the candle (with help, of course) and knew instantly that those brownies were something to be desired. We whipped up some cream and plopped it on his tray and the boy was in heaven!! He loved opening his present and really loved when we sang Happy Birthday to him. I'm fairly certain he knew he was the center of attention.

Winter

2007-12-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

This has been a fun week. we got some snow, which was enjoyed by all. Andrew also started to eat some solid food, which he thinks is great stuff.

Snow Ball Fight!!

2007-12-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Samuel's baby blessing

2007-08-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

We blessed Samuel todya. Having all of the family here has been fun. We are going to miss them.

2007-08-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to include a few phtots from our family vacation this last week. We were joined by Mom and Pop Johansen, Grandpa Green, Aunt Alexia and Bethany. We took them to our local beach attached to the lake and had fun playing on the sand.

August Vacation

2007-08-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

May 22nd, 2007

2007-05-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well today we welcomed the newest member of our family, Samuel Benjamin Green. He was born 12:08 pm, 7 lbs 2 oz, 19 & 1/2 inches long. Both Jennie and Baby are doing well. Grandma Johansen is out here helping us with the kids.

Andrew is giving the traditional stuffed animal to the newest brother. Joshua, Jacob, Andrew and Daddy all went to the store to pick out the new animal just before showing up for their first visit with Samuel. All of the boys were so big visiting the hospital and took turns holding him.