Strolling Sisters

The weather is finally cooling off a bit. We have been taking lots of walks, and the girls love it.

Today Ashli helped me in the flowerbeds while Mari looked on. Ash is an excellent helper. She digs neatly, waters generously, and giggles when the soaker hose "spits at her". That girl is all about the bugs, I tell ya. We had a good time talking about how/why God made all the things he did. "For His own glory" was not cutting it for her. Fire ant bites do not bring anyone glory in her estimation. Traveling on.



Ardyn loves rocks. She has been gathering them and "collecting" them for some time, now. She took it a step too far yesterday when she wheeled the Coleman ice chest out to the road and set up shop. Literally---the sign said "Welcome to my rock shop". I was still unaware of her little enterprise, when she burst into the house rejoicing, "I made a dollar from the guy in the grey truck!" After intense interrogation, I discovered that she had indeed spoken with a stranger, taken money from a stranger, and shaken hands with a stranger....but she "did let him keep a rock."



Our little road has 15 houses on it and we know everyone. Our "lane" is really a "court" that leads nowhere. Only those 15 families are represented in our usual traffic flow. That's why my kids play in the driveway. But somehow, Ardyn found the one stranger in a 10-mile radius. Thank You, Lord, for mercy! Gracie-Girl is closed for business. I did agree that she can have a snack stand at our garage sale next month. She would rather sell rocks. (I'll teach her the system of supply and demand later)



Mari loves to be outside. It's just better than inside. Period. The End

Are Ya Ready For Some Football?

Landen and Luke are playing pee-wee football this year. They play hard on Saturdays and love to practice with their team 3 nights a week. It is technically a team of 10-12 yr olds, but evidently, if you're 9 and outweigh your older brother by 15 pounds, they let you be on the same team. Landen is a kicker and plays tight-end, Luke plays defensive tackle and offensive tackle too. They have bruises all over their arms and legs from being so darn tough. So do they like it better than baseball? The jury is still out...

"Five-Alive"

"7-9-is the line"

Go Lil' Mavs!

Sweets for the "Sweetie"

Almost a month ago, we served Mari Alice her 1st Birthday cake. Here are the pics.

As Jack Bowers on 24 would say, "The following takes place between"... 6:14 and 6:19 pm.

Yeah, Baby!

Sunday-Funday

Our church began it's new year today. The morning began REALLY early since the adult choir was scheduled to sing in both the reinstated 8:30 service and the 11:00. All the Johnsons made it onto church premises by 8:20. woo-hoo! The choir sang powerfully. So fun to be a part of that kind of energy. We worshipped together then the kids promoted into new SS classes. Philip and I taught the "young adults" and then he headed home with the kids to get lunch ready while I joined the choir for round two...(ding,ding). The family had not only "gotten lunch ready" but they had all eaten by the time I got home. ok, then.

Tonight was the first rehearsal for Kid's Choir. ooh! we decided on a name. Wanna hear? MP3 yep, that's it. MP3: Made to Praise - Father,Son, and Holy Spirit. Do you like it? I came up with it all by my little self. Just in case you were wondering: no one in the country has a cool name for their kid's choir. I googled the heck out of big churches and their choirs. Since I could find no name worthy of swiping, I was forced to settle for whatever I could come up with. The kids love it. At the end of rehearsal we even did a huddle-hand-pile thingie that sports teams do, and on three we yelled, "MP3"!

Lucky for me, choir meets DURING evening worship, so after rehearsal, it was time to fellowship with the college folks...ehrrr, "young adults". (It's hard for me because I think Philip and I are young adults and etbu students are college kids.) If I call THEM "adults", and the math says I could be their mom, then that makes us "old" and I'm just not comfy with those semantics.) We have a fun group this year. It's still small but I'm sure it will grow throughout the semester... much like last year.

The Cowboys played on TV tonight so Philip was high-tailin' it home. The boys enjoy watching football now that they've played a couple games. They better understand all the positions and really have a good time watching. Mari went to bed immediately upon our arrival home. The girls finished their afternoon paintings until bedtime, and I came back to make some sense of this pit I call a bedroom. I need a maid....but she wouldn't know where all these papers go. I'll be the maid....I'm always the maid....I love to be the maid.

That's it. Oh, my! Have you seen "Becoming Jane"???? Kathy and I went last weekend. Excellent Flick! I'd see it again. I think it left all the local (within 40 minutes) theaters. Blockbuster online can hook me up in a few months, I hope.

Thank You, God, for Sunday!