4 months

This is a few weeks delayed I know...life is busy with 3 kids, two of which are in school.  Kinley has moved past her evening colic but has developed lap colic.  This is a non-medical term for spoilousrottenitis!  And if you still haven't figured it out, that means she is very happy when she is being held or the center of attention.  Hmmm can we say 3rd child syndrome already?  Kinley loves going with me to the kids school to volunteer.  She hangs out in the snugglie (although I'm not sure how much longer my back can handle that) facing out so that she can see all the kids.  And of course all the kids at school just love when she comes to school too.  We have not started her on solids yet, although it is definitely right around the corner.  She is very interested in all the food on the table and if you are holding her while your eating she is always trying to grab at food and put it in her mouth.  Don't even try to sit down to dinner without bringing her to the table with you.  She of course if a Johnson baby which means she is petite!  Weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds 4 ounces (with a slightly wet diaper) she is only in the 3rd percentile for weight.  She is however in the 20th percentile for height at 23 1/4".  Kinley is rolling all over the place.  If you put her on her blanket you will eventually find her about two feet away with a trail of spitty from here to there!  Her favorite toy is a book that is very crinkly with lots of colors and textures that are great to chew on.  Although her hands are always in her mouth and everyone swears she is about to cut teeth, there are no nubbins of toofers yet.  We are enjoying every minute with her.  We can't even remember what life was like before she was a part of our family.

Happy 4 Months Bitty Baby!

Buying the vote

Abbey had her SGA speech last week and found out she had been selected to go to the next round.  This next round involves giving her speech to 3 administrative personnel at the school.  On Tuesday she apparently found out what these three ladies like from Starbucks and asked me if she could bring coffee to them on Friday (today, the day of her speech)!  Not only had she gotten the teachers orders in advance, but she figured out that if we left early enough we could go a different way to school which just so happens to run past the Starbucks.  I said "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" and she said, "But Mom, several kids are bringing the teachers something."  I said "Well you can talk to your Daddy, but I don't think that's a very good idea."  So no sooner had Matthew stepped a toe in the door that evening, she was asking if he would take her on Friday to Starbucks.  He thought it was a fabulous idea and said sure!  So this morning, Matthew and Abbey left bright and early to purchase their bribes steamin' hot javas.  Matthew said when they got to school this morning and Abbey delivered the coffees, the ladies were so surprised and "jokingly" told her she had their vote!  When I got to school this morning with Brady, the ladies told me what a great idea that was and they loved it!  So apparently the cost of SGA campaigns runs around $15 in coffee!  In my eyes I thought it was ridiculous to encourage this, but in Matthew's eyes (as a business owner) he said "Hey when I'm courting new clients, I will bring 'goodies' to their office for meetings.  This tells them I'm willing to go the extra mile to make them happy!"  Watch out Obama, Abbey might be more of a smooth talker than you!

Day 18 - Our Wedding

Sixteen plus years ago I married my soul mate.  My best friend.  The love of my life.  He was and still is my "one and only."  We had a beautiful wedding of which I have no scanned photos since nearly 17 years ago digital cameras didn't exist...or if they did, they were too dog-gone expensive for anyone other than a professional photographer to own.  Ouch...technology sure does age a person.  We were married on January 8, 1994 (Elvis' birthday, for those of you who didn't already know).  We were babies back then: I was barely 18 and he was almost 22.  We  each had four attendants: my sisters Kimberly(maid of honor), Kelly, and my high school friends Nicole and Kristi.  Matthew's Dad was his best man, his friends Jason and David and Phil(Kimberly's boyfriend then/now husband).  My brother Kyle who was 4 at the time was our ring bearer and my cousin Ashley was our flower girl.  Eld. Ronald Lawrence married us. One of my favorite things about the wedding was my sister Kelly singing and all the fresh flowers.  We have had an amazing life together.  Although life doesn't always go exactly the way we imagined it, the Lord has given us everything we could possibly want and more.  We are so blessed to have found one another and I am truly thankful.

"Bust-a-move Brady"

Alternate Post Titles:

"So You Think You Can Dance"

"Mr. Roboto"

"Talent Only A Mother Could Love"

"Brady's Got Talent"

"No Guts, No Glory"

"He's My Shy One"

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This was starving for attention Talent Week at the kids school.  And my son decided that this performance was far less embarrassing than singing! SERIOUSLY!  And No I won't be offended if the tears of laughter stream down your face like mine.  AAAHHHH, a mother's pride and joy.

Day 17 - A piece of Art

A Young Woman Reading - Jean-Honoré Fragonard - 1776

When I was younger, my Grandmother who was living in Michigan at the time had this replica painting hung in the sitting area at the top of her stairs.  Whenever we would go and visit, I would sit and stare at the painting.  Studying the brush strokes, the colors...every little detail.  When she moved down to Florida a few years ago, she decided the painting was just too big for her house and offered it to me.  I was thrilled to have it.  When we decided to build our house we are in, I literally built the house around this painting.  We have a very large wall in our formal living room where this is hung.  Now I just need to get furniture in that room to accompany my favorite painting!

All About Abbey!

Abbey might be my mini-me when it comes to looks, but personality wise we couldn't be more opposite!  She's outgoing, chatty and LOVES to be the center of attention.  This year in 5th grade the writing curriculum focuses on persuasive writing which includes speeches.  So all 5th graders have to write a speech for student government elections.  Abbey's speech was so cute, and she wrote it all by herself.  I barely had to help her at all.  She did her speech in class today and hopefully she will find out in the next day or so if she made it through to the next level.

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Abbey also just started taking violin lessons.  The school she goes to offers it to all 5th graders during the school day...which means it's an extra curricular activity that I don't have to chauffeur any kids to! YAY!  She is loving it already and is very eager to practice and learn more.  They haven't started learning how to use the bow yet, just plucking!

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Day 16 - A song that makes me cry

It's not so much the song that makes me cry, but what it represents.  I used this song/montage when Brady started kindegarten!  I know a lot of you just sent your kids off to school for the first time ever and it is so hard to say goodbye.  I get teary eyed whenever I hear this song and watch the slideshow.  It's an oldie but a goodie!  I can't believe how much they have grown in such a short period of time!

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Day 15 - Dream House

We built a house a few years ago and had an absolutely amazing experience.  We are so blessed to have this house.  It is my dream house because of my wonderful husband and kids who live here with me.  So since I already have my dream home, I thought I would change it up a bit.

With Matthew being in the industry that he is in, real estate has always been an interest of his and mine!  Even though we have no intention of moving/building again anytime soon, we always like to check out real estate listings in the area and just see what homes are selling for.  Some of you may recall a few months ago, a certain popular golfer became a fixture in the tabloids over an incident that occurred outside his home.  Well as it turns out, this golfer happens to live not too far from us in a community called Windemere.  This subdivision is the home of several other local sporting celebrities (Shaquille O'Neal and Warren Sapp).  Recently, I was curious to see what homes in this golfing community were selling for during this housing slump and I came across this unbelievable listing:

This is a "single" family home listed for a cool $100,000,000! No, I did not type that incorrectly...One Hundred MILLION dollars is the listing price for this UNFINISHED property!  The owner of this property, David Siegel, is currently slumming it in a 20,000sf $5.5 million dollar shack.  Apparently 20,000 square feet is just a bit too tight of living quarters so he and his wife decided they needed to build this monstrosity: 66,800sf 13 bedrooms, 23 baths on 10.12 acres.  Unfortunately, as CEO of Orlando based company Westgate Resorts, the economy has stunted his income a bit so he halted construction of his property.  Now I know many of my readers out there have this kind of cash just laying around, but don't rush right out and pay full asking price for this little vacation cottage.  You could save $25M by purchasing it unfinished.  And with the $25M you save, I'm sure you and the Home Depot sales clerk could come up with a few "home improvement" weekend projects to finish up the job!  Read more about this bargain basement property here.

Day 14 - Non Fiction Book

I haven't read this book, but I love to collect books/magazines on creative cakes and cupcakes.  I've never taken a decorating class so my skills are very basic and limited, but I love to create cakes and cup cakes for different parties that we have for the kids or for showers.  It totally stresses me out to decorate a cake but at the same time it's an outlet...is that possible? 

Day 13 - Fictional Book(s)

So, I'm not really sure why these next two posts are here (I didn't make up the list) since we already discussed favorite books.  But I have been informed that since I am helping the 5th graders at our school prepare for the Sunshine State Book Bowl, that I must read all 15 of the books.  So in no particular order, here are the list of books I will be reading over the next few months.  I'm hoping since they are "children's books" they will be realitively easy reads that won't occupy too much of my very limited time!

• The Seer of Shadows
• Cicada Summer
• Masterpiece
• Obi, Gerbil on the Loose
• Kenny & the Dragon
• The Gollywhopper Games
• The Girl Who Could Fly
• Eleven.
• Bird Lake Moon
• Piper Reed: Navy Brat
• Safe at Home
• 11 Birthdays
• Mogo, the Third Warthog
• Someone Named Eva
• The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

Go pahk ya cah in the garage!

I love love love going up to visit my bestie in Boston and hearing that New England accent!  She has 3 beautiful children, Morgan (4), Maddie (3) and Jack (10 months).  We had such a great time and the weather was perfect...mid 70's in the day upper 50's at night!  We flew in on Saturday afternoon and hung out at their house.  They just recently moved into this beautiful 1920's home in Quincy (pronounced Quin-zee) with this huge double lot full of trees, but best of all are the GORGEOUS original hardwood floors throughout the whole entire house!

On Sunday, we got up and headed into Boston to catch the ferry to Georges Island.  This is one of numerous islands out in the harbor that you can tour.

History:

At the time of Euro-American colonization, Georges Island was composed of two drumlins, rising out of the bay like other nearby islands. The island was used for agriculture for 200 years until 1825 when the U.S. Government acquired it for coastal defense.

Over the next 20 years the island was dramatically altered, and one of the country's finest forts was built. Dedicated in 1847, Fort Warren's defensive design was virtually obsolete upon completion. However, the fort served as a training ground, patrol point, and Civil War prison that gained a favorable reputation for the humane treatment of its Confederate prisoners. After 100 years of military use, the fort was decommissioned in 1947 and acquired by the Metropolitan District Commission for historic preservation and recreation in 1958.

To this day, in the fort's dark corridors, the legend lives on of "The Lady in Black," the ghost of a Confederate prisoner's wife who is said to have been sentenced to death for aiding in an escape and hanged in a black robe made from the fort's mess hall drapes

Since we had to wait for the ferry, we took the kids to the nearby carousel and playground.  They had a blast.  We then caught the ferry over to Georges Island where we climbed trees, rocks and forts!  We came back across the ferry and took a little detour through Quincy Market and Faneuil (pronounce Fan-yule) Hall.  This is a touristy outdoor shopping center with lots of unique little shops and eateries.  We then headed to the North End (which is the area of Boston known for all their Italian Restaurants).  Since we were such a big party (4 adults and 6 kids) and since it was Labor Day weekend we had a little trouble finding a spot big enough to fit all of us!  We enjoyed a yummy delicious meal of homemade pastas and sauces!  We left there and started heading back to the vehicles, but had to make a detour to a Italian Gelato Shop.  WAAAAAYYYY better than any Coldstone!

On Monday we got up and made our way to Tougas Farm, an apple orchard in one of Boston's suburbs.  We got to ride a wagon out to the orchards and pick/eat all different kinds of apples.  We tried: Early Fugis, McIntosh, Courtlands, Golden Delicious and maybe a few other types.  Even Kinley and Jack got to get in on the action!  After snackin' on apples and a quick bite for lunch, we headed back home.  The grown-ups (plus Kinley) went to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox vs. Rays game.  Although our Rays did less than stellar (read: they were slaughtered), it was an awesome stadium with so much history.  We found the Red Sox fans very friendly.  Even though they trail us by 5 or so games, I think our common hatred of the NYY plus the fact that we had the cutest little "Baby Ray" at the stadium kept the harassment at a minimum (or it could be the fact that we got crushed by them).

We got up early Tuesday morning and headed to the airport for our flight back home.  The trip was way too short, but we had a great visit.  We will definitely be planning another trip up there again when Kinley is a bit older so we can do more of the historical tours!

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Day 12 - Something I'm OCD about!

This was probably the hardest post for me to come up with.  I am not one of those type A personalities that have to have things a certain way.  I have to work really hard not to be messy.  I have to work really hard to stay organized.  And my Type A defieciency means I fail at both of those more times than not.  So to say I'm OCD about something would be a real stretch, but I finally came up with something, and I'm sure Matthew will agree with me (since this is something that drives him C-R-A-Z-Y).

SEATBELTS!

I am obsessed by seatbelts.  No one is allowed to ride in my vehicle without wearing a seatbelt.  I'm talking "as long as the car is moving, seatbelts must be worn".  Matthew will let the kids go without a seatbelt if we are driving across a parking lot.  For example, in town the Publix and Target are on the same side of the road but have two different parking lots.  So many times we go from Publix to Target or vice versa and Matthew will tell the kids they don't have to buckle up.  Me?  I make them buckle their seatbelts.  I make sure Kinley is completely strapped/buckled in, even for the 1/10 mile drive at 5mph.  And where did this obsession come from you might ask?  Well when we were younger (before Kyle was even a glimmer in my parents' eye) we were driving through a movie theater parking lot.  My Dad (I think) missed a stop sign and had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision with another car and all of us in the backseat went a'tumblin.  Kelly literally somersaulted her way to the front of the van. And Kimberly and I got scraped/bruised up a bit from our spill.  So since then, it's all about the seatbelts!

Now on a funnier sillier side note, I have another OCDish habit that Matthew thinks is ridiculous.  I have to sleep in shorts or pajama pants.  No matter what the temperature is outside.  No cute little nighties for me (TMI I know).  I have to have shorts and t-shirts or pants and t-shirts on any time I go to bed.  I blame my parents for this and yes I am still in therapy over it.  When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I was woken early from a very deep sleep probably around 5am.  I was told to hurry up and put my flip flops on and to get in the vehicle.  At that time I slept in a t-shirt that did not quite cover my "undies" (I'm pretty sure I remember it was a Smokey Mountain, GA t-shirt).  I sleepily stumbled into the car not sure where we were going.  When we arrived at our destination, I was mortified to find out that my Mom (who was my girlscout co-leader) and the other Girlscout leader had planned a surprise breakfast for all of us in the troop...AT A TRUCKSTOP!  Yes! You read that correctly...a bunch of pre-teen awkward girls at a truckstop in Tampa for breakfast.  Now she claims that it was not a truckstop, it was a restaurant.  But excuse me, this so-called restaurant was located just North of I-275 near Ray J stadium and in the parking lot were a bunch of semi tractor trailers and where do you think all the drivers of those semis were...sitting in that "restaurant" staring at all of us little girls with our undergarments exposed!  Oh yes!  Therapy is still on-going!

Day 10 *Updated* with Day 11 - Recent Photo of yourself

We just got back from visiting my best friend from high school and her beautiful family up in Boston.  Nicole and I actually met in junior high (or what you youngsters call middle school) and have stayed in touch all these years.  Through college and weddings (we were in each others weddings) and now raising children!  She and her sweet hubby Tom graciously allowed us to come and invade not only their home but their routine.  With two families of five (six kids ages 10, 7, 4, 3, 10 1/2 mo. and 3 1/2 mo.) made for an interesting and exciting tour of the "Bahston" Area!

This is us in high school.  Oh yeah we were sooooo coool!

And this is us now with our families (minus Tom, he was nice enough to take the picture).  I only wish I could say I have aged as well as she has!  Thanks again Tom, Nicole, Morgan, Maddie and Jack for letting us come and visit.  There will be an additional post with lots of pictures of our fun adventures!

Day 10 - A photo of me taken over ten years ago!

Since digital cameras were not around way back when I was a youngster, you'll have to make due with these scanned images.  I would guesstimate these pictures to be circa 1992/93 when Matthew and I were dating!  Man we were young!

Day 9 - A photo you took!

This was taken from the top of the Empire State Building back in December following their first big snowfall of the season.

Day 8 - A picture that makes you angry/sad!

One of the saddest stories in recent news for the Hillborough/Polk County area.  I can't even begin to imagine what these brave officers' families are going through right now.

Day 7 - A picture that makes me happy!

Oh sure, like I'm supposed to be able to just pick one?

Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things!

Since Kelly has gotten ahead of me in days, it's going to appear that I am copying her.  But what can I say, we're sisters! We look alike, we talk alike...we think alike.

1. My knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior
2. My Husband and kids
3. My extended families
4. Our pastor and his family
5. Our church friends
6. Blogs/Facebook
7. Marco Island Beach
8. Traveling to new places
9. Fountain Coke
10. Eating "out"
11. Family game night (board games, card games,wii)
12. Kinley's smiles
13. Shoes...even tho it's hard to find them in my size.
14. Bargains! I love to shop and get great deals!
15. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy oh and Who Wants to be a Millionaire oh wait lets just say all game shows!
16. Reece's Peanut Butter Cups! My taste buds enjoy, my thighs...not so much!
17. A Florida Winter...not this past winter but the "typical" Florida Winter...which feels more like Fall.
18. Ray's baseball!
19. Ice Cream/milk shakes
20. Ironing - NOT - Just seeing if you were paying attention!  Actually it's wrinkle free clothing!