Nick Universe

Our neighbor gave us some free! unlimited ride wristbands for Nick Universe at the MOA.  The kids WERE so excited to go as the only one that has been there before was Carter.  Carter's friend Ben came with us - sometimes it is hard because he is so much older - so I thought he would have a blast going on all the rides with his best buddy Ben!  And, I am not much for "spinny" rides and neither is Dave (don't even ask about the ride that he had to go on with Carter in Florida, unfortunately I was pregnant at the time and could not go on too many rides - poor Dave felt awful for like 2 hours afterward!). 

First of all let me start by saying that for 7 unlimited ride bands it would have been over $200 - seriously, who can afford that for RIDES!  Yikes!  Thanks again to Julia, our neighbor, for the tickets and thanks to the VIKES for handing them out one day at a game!

The kids. HAD. A. BLAST!  They were having so much fun!  I thought that we would stay a few hours and we did not get home until like after 4.  Guess you have to take advantage of those FREE things when you can.

the kids mini-frog hopper!  they went on the big one too, but those photos are on daddy's phone!

 Carter and Ben were cracking up the whole time on this ride.  It spins upside down and all around!  I loved that Ben was wearing flip-flops and his feet were so dirty!  I could see the dirt in my pixs!

 You can't tell too much from this photo, but Dawson's face is hilarious!  It is like he was holding his breath and his cheeks are all puffed out!  He and daddy went on it again, but Kendall opted out!

 The big boys and pedro from the backyardigans!  nice!

 Carter slipped at the chili party last night and this is what the cement patio did to him!  Ouch!

 Most bumper cars the kids need someone to ride with them - not these ones!  They got to drive themselves and they were so excited!  Another reason to update our camera - even on the sport setting most of my pictures came out blurry!  :(  But they loved it and you can sort of see their emotions in the blurry pictures still.

 Ben really wanted to go on this obstacle course and he finally talked Carter into it.  They must have been on it for 45 minutes...and they loved it!  it is so HIGH in the air.  I am not sure that I really have a fear of heights, but can say that I probably was ok with passing on doing this!
Carter is in the photo on the LEFT - Ben is on the top, CJ on bottom of RIGHT side pix!

I wish I would have gotten Reese's face on the Diego bus.  She was not sure what to think, but then saw that other kids were holding up there arms in the air, so that is what she ought to do.  So, soon enough both the girls were holding their hands in the air!

 Notice which side of the car Kendall was on... see below for what side she ended up on.  I was almost crying I was laughing so hard at how Kendall was just squealing with delight on this ride.  A few years ago Dawson went on a ride like this at the MN State Fair and they had to stop the ride to get him off of it.  How funny!

this is so cool!

 the home plate is absolutely on the other side of the park!  I cannot imagine hitting a ball so far!

Chili party...and way super exciting news!

Today is the day of the Annual Johnson Chili Party at mom and Tom's house.  I think that this must have been the 13th or14th year of it (minus a year for the year that Dave and I got married).  Every year towards the end of September or beginning of October we gather at their house...for the CHILI compition of HUGO!  ;) 

It has become a HUGE competitive thing for us Johnson/Greene family members.  Last year I won 2nd place...don't recall who won 1st!  It has been Tom quite a few times, or Brad or Kevin... we won't even go into details about some of those wins.  Ha!  So, I made my chili Friday night as I had done some reading a few years ago that when chili sits overnight, it is actually better the next day.  The spices come out and if it is spicier, it will be even spicer the next day!  So, I have started making mine the day before.  Dave gave me a hard time cause I used 4 meats in it this time.  I think that his actual comment was "what?  4 meats...I never get 4 meats in chili that is made for us!"  Dammit, I am going to win!

I made DAve try it on Friday night and he & I both agreed that it was one of the best chilis I had ever made.  Guess we will see!

This year there were only 7 chilis in the competition...2 major players were "out" - Brad and Kevin as Brad was at something with his son Evan during the day and Kev was out of town fishing!  We have had as many as 12 chilis if I recall.  That gets hard deciding on which you think is the best and which is the 2nd best.  Voting was a little different this year - Jen created a ballot where you could write notes about the chilis so that you could figure which you were voting for.  And you voted FIVE points for your 1st choice and THREE points for your 2nd chili.  I heard a little chattering about chili pot #1, which was mine!  But there were a few others that we good too - one with bacon in it, one that was a white chicken chili (ended up winning the #1 chili and belonged to my brother-in-law, Joe!), Tommy makes a good "buffalo" chili that is good with chips and blue cheese! 

There was a little confusion on the voting...but Joe ended up winning the #1 chili and for the 2nd year in a row, I got the # 2 chili!  Darn Pop-Pop is always razzing me about my chilis!  I don't think he would vote for me even if mine was hands-down the best chili!  Thats okay though.  It is all in fun!

Kids were running around in the back catching Frogs.  they must have caught like 25 of them by the end of the night!

 There is always a little beanbag competition going on too!  A little smack talking to go with it!

 

All the grandkids with their sily glasses on that Nana found for them!  

Joe and I with our plaques!  Every year who ever has the plaque has to bring it back and the new winner gets to write their name on the back for the year!

AND THE FUNNEST NEWS THAT I CAN FINALLY SHARE!

I GET TO BE AN AUNTIE AGAIN!  I AM SO SO EXCITED FOR MY SISTER JEN AND HER HUBBIE JOE!  SHE IS DUE IN APRIL 2013 WITH THEIR FIRST BABY (IN MY OPINION A BOY, BUT THAT IS TO BE DETERMINED).  DON'T CARE EITHER WAY AS LONG AS HE OR SHE IS BORN HEALTHY!  YIPPEE!  (Auntie Jamie made this signfor Nana on Mother's Day - it has the birth dates of all the grandkids on it as well as the day that Nana & Pop-Pop got married which is highlighted in yellow - next year she will have to update it).  So if all goes as planned there will be 2 grandkids with bd's in january, 1 in march, 3 in April, 2 in May, 2 in August and 1 in December!  Not too bad... 11 grandkids in 13 years!

Broken no more!

Our window in our patio door was broken over a month ago!  Today it was finally repaired!  It looks so shiny...guess we need to just clean the rest of the windows now so they match.  The company that came out to repair it said that they try to clean up most of the glass, but since the window came out in litterally a million little pieces, it is not always possible to get every piece.  He said to be careful and keep an eye open for small pieces.  The kids wanted to play outside after naps, so after going outside, I noticed that there were some teeny-tiny pieces of glass on our patio.  Luckily the dirt that had been washed on to the patio this summer had been swept off!

Literally, the window broke in a million little pieces - he took a little rotary like saw and just cut it out of the frame so the glass just shattered as it hit the patio.  These are all the pieces that I found.  I thought they looked so pretty....too bad they were diamonds that I found!  Guess that is not that many considering how many pieces the window was actually in!

Girls Weekend...so fun!

The girls and I had lots of fun on our girls weekend...in the lovely city of Des Moines, Iowa.  Cassandra and I were originally going to fly down to Missouri to hang out with Cindy down there - we thought we could go to St. Louis and do some sightseeing and shopping, etc.  Cassandra did a little checking out and there was a local salvage place, West End Architectural Salvage that was having an outdoor market Saturday the 22nd of September.  And, Des Moines is about the 1/2 point for Cindy and us!  So, Des Moines it was!

Cassandra and I drove down there meeting Cindy at the hotel at about 6.  We got "lost" trying to get to the hotel...we have become to reliant on technology and sometimes technology doesn't have a CLUE what is is directing you to do!  Luckily we were right across the street from it - Cindy's GPS must have been better cause she made it without incident!  WE had a quick dinner at a restaraunt across the street then went to the grocery store for some snacks (and a bottle of a CHOCOLATE RED WINE!).  Whenever we have had a chance to get together over the past few years, there has been up to NINE kids between the 3 of us, so there is just never any conversation going on.  It is all about chasing kiddos!

The next morning we got up and decided that it was too chilly out to go to the Cherry Street Market, so we headed to Jordan Creek Mall (a recommendation from a Blaine friend of mine that grew up in DM).  How much time can 3 ladies spend in the sporting good store Scheels - um, about 1.5 hours...seriously!  Then we crusied the mall for a little bit and decided we better head to the market since they closed at 4. 

I just love all the "old" stuff out there.  I wish that I had the creativity to make "new" things out of "old" things.  The market had lots of antiquey stuff and repurposed things.  Inside the West End Architectural place there were 4 floors of STUFF!  Old windows, doors, tin ceiling panels, mirrors that had to have been at least 8-9 feet tall, old doorknobs, lighfixtures - all salvages stuff.  So cool!  The girls and I walked around for probably 2 hours...and only ended up with an IOWA license plate (for Cindy) and a neat old kitchen scale (Cass)!  I could have bought a few things but did not have a few hundred $ that I wanted to drop on things.

Next we headed out to find some souvenirs for my kiddos and found a neat little shopping area in West DM.  We were wishing that we had found that little area first as most of the stores closed by 5 on Saturday!  :(   We also went to a winery called Jasper Winery!  I love trying new wines...a lot I have not cared for, but I guess that is why you have to sample them!  Sampled some wines, bought a few bottles (some might be used for a little crafty project I want to do with them...guess I better drink them fast so they can be used).  After the winery we headed to a little local natural deli/grocery store for a little dinner/lunch!  Yummy!

Cindy had brough along Scrabble just in case we wanted to play a game.  I have not played Scrabble in a long time!  I tell you, that Cindy, she sure knows how to cheat!  Seriously, QI as a word.  I don't think so!  Especially when it is used on a TRIPLE WORD score or something like that.  Good thing she is such a good pal, I still lover her even though she cheats!  ;)

Sunday we had our complimentary breakfast (after Cindy ran like 8-9 miles) and headed out to the mall again for a little more browsing!  Cindy took off about lunchtime so she could get home to bring the kids to a birthday party.  Cass and I got in the car probably about 1:30 or 2 to start our teck back.  We stopped in a cute little town - we had seen a sign for COFFEE and thought we could stretch our legs a little, too!  I was such a nice day out and the lake in this little town was just a shimmering away!

Thanks Girlies!  I had a great time...until next summer/fall!

 How cute is this arrangement!  I love the corks on the sticks!  I think that I need to do one of these for our house!  Love!

 Guess I need to brush up on my Scrabble skills for the next girls trip!

This is what I saw out the window...

The kids were out playing yesterday and I did not even notice that Reese brought this outside.  I happened to glance out the window this morning and this is what I saw!

One of Reese's favorite animals hanging out in the swing.  It actually sprinkled a little bit last night but luckily polar bear wasn't wet!

Moments for the boys to treasure

My dad is battling Stage 4 Cancer.  It stinks.  Though I did not have the best relationship with him for a few years, the last few years have made up on some of that lost time.  The boys love to play catch with the football in the yard.  Dad stopped out today to see the kids after one of his appointments - he just finished his 2nd round of radiation therapy to the left side of his neck (he previously had RT to his pituitary gland in February of 2011).  He is feeling a little worn down. 

Dawson wanted to play catch, so dad went out with him.  Not sure why I did not take my camera out then, but I didn't.  When Carter came home, dad was sleeping on the couch.  But not for too long.  The boys went out to play catch and shortly after, dad followed.

 Carter threw the ball to grandpa and grandpa forgot that he is almost 63...and he took a little tumble.  He laughed it off and eventually got up and kept playing catch!

He made a comment after he came inside..."a few years ago, that would have been no big deal to play catch with them, but boy, I sure am tired after playing catch!"  I am sure that it did not help that he just finished with RT.  They say that it is more apt to cause tiredness, more so even then the chemo and he is on a low dose of that too!  I am sure that it would have been easier back then but sure that it means more now!  Thanks DAD/GRANDPA that boys had a blast playing catch with you!  Same place same time next week!

Um, tastes like chicken...

If there is one food that i just cannot stand it is TUNA.  I used to eat as a child but as an adult I cannot even stand the smell of it.  Dave loves tuna and occassionally will ask if I can buy him some when I am at the store.  So, about a week ago I purchased a few small cans for him.

He made himself a salad tonight and added some fresh tomatoes and some tuna.  I, of course, starting gagging upon him just opening the can.  I jokingly went up to the open window to "get some fresh air."  Kendall, who was sitting at the table putting together a FRIENDS Lego set, said "hey, can we get some fresh air in here?"  Dave asked her if she would like to try some.  She said sure.

Kendall:  Tastes like chicken
Dave: Uh-huh
Kendall keeps chewing for a minute
Dave:  Its good, huh?
Kendall, very blatenly: um, not i do not, can I get a drink!

For some reason this just struck a funny chord with Dave and I and we starting cracking up!  He said that it sounded like something Dr. Seuss would say.  Gets me to thinking, the next Dr. Seuss book title, UM, NO I DO NOT!

This goes along with what she said last week when the kids and I stopped at DQ for the buy one, get one for $0.99 deal.  Kendall sometimes can be a slow eater (i know...good for you, but when it is bedtime, not the best thing!) and this night she was still eating some of her blizzard when I dispersed to get REese ready for bed, CArter was taking a shower and Dawson was getting his PJ's on and this is what we hear:

"UM, I AM ALL ALONE OUT HERE!"

Ha!  Get you need to eat faster!  Though I did feel bad for her sitting out there all by herself as I am normally the one that finishes last (other than those nights when DAve is home late from work).

This girl has some funny comments!  Love you, KC!

Feed My Starving Children

I made a BIG mistake a few weeks ago. I did not have my calendar (that hangs on my door) updated.  I have become "addicted" to following that calendar and if something is not on it, I WILL FORGET!  Carter had a project coming up and he wanted to do a community service project. So, along with a few buddies & family members (Ben, Matthew and Dylan, and Dylan's sister & dad, and Matthew's mom & sister, and Dawson) we made plans to go to FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN on 9/17! Now, I know that this is Dave and my anniversary, but for some reason, it just did not register when Sheri and I were talking about dates that we could make it all work. I know, I know. TERRIBLE WIFE!

Anyway, the boys and I got up to FMSC and there was a short video to watch and we would learn that women made something called "dirt biscuits" to sell at the local markets in places like the Dominican Republic, Haiti, etc. These "biscuits" are made up of dirt, salt, water and a little something else which I cannot recall at this time! They sell these to parents who are looking to help their children fight off hunger pains when they don't have enough food to eat. Can you imagine? I cannot. So many times we just take forgranted how lucky we are. Yes, there may be times that are tough and crummy things happen...but dirt biscuits?

Our food was being shipped off the first week in October to the Domician Republic.  The kids had a great time and I really think that they enjoyed knowing that they were helping other kids (and adults).  We are truly blessed and so fortunate to have what we have and have access to such "simple" things that we take forgranted - food, shelter, clean water, education and so on.