My Best of 2010

Well...here we are.  Almost at the end of 2010.  I find myself wondering where the year went, most of it seems to be a blur to me.  It seems like one minute, it was summer and now we are at the end of December.  Whew.  Time goes by too fast!  I have been pondering 2010 in my mind and thought I'd post it here for everyone to relish in my 2010 highlights!

1)  My sweet little Logan turned 4 in 2010.  We had him a birthday party at Gatti Town and had a blast!  Later that night, I ended up with the most  horrific stomach virus, ever.  While the stomach virus part wasn't a "highlight," I am thankful that it held off until that evening, after the party.

2)  My pretty girl, Leah, turned 9 in 2010.  She had a skating birthday party which was loads of fun.  I got to show all the kids my amazing skating abilities.  There was a horrible storm that come through while we had her birthday party - the storm sirens were going off and it was pouring the rain.  But we all had a GREAT time!

3)  2010 was an awesome year because we had my Grandad with us another year.  He turned 91 in June and I am just so super happy to have him in my life.  We had him a birthday party at the church and had lots of fun.  Of course, it is hard not to have fun when Grandad is around.  He always amazes me!  I sometimes reflect on how lonely he must be at his house without my Granny - they were married for over 50 years.  He has held up so well and I just love him to pieces!

Birthday dinner at Ryan's

Grandad and his sister, Lucille at his birthday party

4)  One of the biggest moments of 2010, for me, was taking both of my kids to the beach for the first time.  Neither had been and it was so neat and exciting to see them playing in the ocean!  Logan was fearless and in his own little world the whole time.  Leah found some pretty neat sea shells as well.  We had a great time, once we got there, and I hope that we can go back again sometime soon!

5) July was full of adventures as well...the Lincoln County Fair, 4th of July (which is also my Mom's birthday), and Brad's birthday.  

My family at the LC Fair

Happy Birthday to my MAMA!!!

Grandad with his plaque he got for being the oldest member of the American Legion Firing Squad

Daddy Brad's birthday cake!!!  

6)  In July, we also got to venture to Girl Scout Camp which is so much fun!  Granted, at night, I am terrified, but other than the darkness and the bats and the spiders, it is a blast!  I had some great girls in my tent this year and we all had a good time.  The first night we were there, it was burning hot and it was hard to go to sleep.  About every 5 minutes, Kaitlin would say, "Mrs Erin, it's SOOOOO hot."  We all had fun and I love getting to spend some quality time with Leah.  I did the zipline again this year, and seriously, it was more terrifying this year than it was the previous year.  There's not enough money that can make me do it the next time we go!  Some pictures and video highlight from camp:

The rest of the year had many highlights as well...Leah started 4th grade (*tear*), we went to the zoo, Kids Fest, and had Halloween adventures.  The pumpkin patch is always one of our favorite things to do and this year we went with my friend Victoria and her cute kiddos.  The Forkland Festival was also on our list of "accomplishments" although it wasn't the same this year since Grandad didn't go and Leah was sick and couldn't go.  Mom, Logan, and I had a good time though.  

Fall Break was another wonderful highlight for us this year.  An adventure to Pigeon Forge is always one of my kids favorite things to do.  Lots of go-kart riding, putt-putt golfing, and having fun!  This year we went to the Titanic place too and it was really neat.  The wax museum, however, was by far our funnest time there!!!

2010 has been a trying year, don't get me wrong...it was the year of my horrible ear infection/sinus dramas which resulted in non-stop dizziness.  Physical therapy and doctor visits took up a lot of my summer.  Trying to pretend that I felt good and trying to do things with the kids while my head was spinning was hard to do.  Thank God I managed somehow.  I spent a lot of time praying, a lot of time crying, and a lot of time wondering what was wrong with me.  Finally, back in November, I went for an MRI and was so thankful to know that my brain was NORMAL!  Now when I have the dizzy spells (although they aren't as frequent), I can rest easier because I know that there is no tumor, there is no nervous system disorder, or anything like that going on.  I think that, for me, 2010 has been a very trying, but also a very rewarding year!  

Thanksgiving has passed and so has Christmas.  Another year has passed that I have been without my precious, sweet, and ever-faithful Granny.  I still miss her so terribly.  Another year has passed that my kids have grown and my hubby has continued to work so hard to provide for us.  Although time passes and the years go by, I am truly thankful for all that God has blessed me with.  My family, my friends, my faith, my health, my home, everything!!!  

2010

You have been a rough year

You have been a great  year

I am just thankful to have had another year!!!

Looking forward to what the New Year has in store for the Johnston's!!!

The Great Christmas 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I love Christmas, don't you???!!!  My kids are super excited on Christmas Eve night and especially on Christmas morning.  Last night,  I don't think that I slept much at all.  I kept waking up every 30 minutes or so and looking at the clock to see what time it was.  I knew that the kids would be up early and ready to tackle the presents.  Leah and Brad woke me up, chatting, this morning.  We got Logan up and headed downstairs.  Santa left the kids an air hockey table - SWEET!  That's something we ALL can enjoy :)  

Brad fixed his turkey - the man gets SO excited over cooking things like this.  He was so proud of it that we had to document it when it come out of the oven.  If you look close, you can see some steam coming off the turkey!

The food has been eaten, the dishes are washing, air hockey has been played, the dogs have gotten their Christmas presents and I am completely worn out!  

The next few days will be full of washing new clothes, playing with new toys, watching new DVD's, listening to Brad ask repeatedly if we can take the trees down yet, and eating lots of leftovers.  I always get sad when Christmas comes to an end.  I love the festiveness (is that a word?) of the holidays.  The house always looks so bare when the trees and decorations are gone back to the attic storage.  

We had a great Christmas of hanging out together, being goofy, and having fun!  Leah and I wore our "fancy dresses" last night and did karaoke - she thought that was so much fun (I must admit, I did too!)  Christmas Day has been just as fun!  

I guess we'll wrap the Christmas season up and prepare for a new year of new adventures!  Hope that everyone else has had a wonderful day!

I had a birthday...

My name is Erin and I had a birthday.  I have found, over the years, that birthdays just aren't what they were when you were a kid.  I no longer have that anticipation of "my birthday is almost here."  I just wake up and think, "huh, it's my birthday," and then go on with my normal business.  It's not that I dislike my birthday, I like it...It's not that I don't care about my birthday, I do.  I guess it is just an age thing that makes me just not excited about it anymore.

This year, my sister in law, Sara wanted to have my brother a surprise party.  His birthday is also in December, 10 days before mine.  Her mother, Sue, was in on the plan, and I thought I was too.  I was so super excited about his surprise party - I just kept trying to picture his face when he jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE" at him.  For any of you who know my brother, you know that these things can be iffy with him!  Luckily, he was a really good sport and he really did seem pleased with the party!  What I didn't realize, however, is that the party was also for me.  I was so shocked and then so excited!  I was excited for my birthday!  YAY!

We had a great birthday party, complete with an appearance by Elvis (for me) and Elvira (for Jason)

The next week was my "official" birthday.  December 18th, in case any of you want to add that to your calendar for next year :)

I had a great day on my birthday - Brad got me the 2nd season DVD's of "The Big Bang Theory," which is one of our favorite shows.   I love me some Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Rog.  Leah picked me out a napping garden gnome which I love.  And Logan wanted to get me a stuffed dog...actually, he wanted to get me a stuffed moose, but Leah told him that it would probably be too hard to find one of those, so he went with the dog.  

We ventured to Stanford on my birthday, where we did Christmas with my family.  The next day, on Sunday, we ventured to Harlan to do Christmas with Brad's family and also attend my niece's birthday party.  It was a super busy weekend, but we survived.  Especially me, with my age, these parties can be too much at times!  LOL!

Although getting older isn't exactly a pocket full of sunshine, I don't mind it too much.  Sure, the achy knees, sinus issues, ear issues, never ending face full of zits, fat rolls, cellulite, and general aches and pains aren't fun...at all...but I am thankful for each and every day that God blesses me with!  34 years.  To some, it is old.  To others, it is young.  To me, it just is.  Here's to another year of aches and pains, screwed up inner ear, zits, fatness, and sinus troubles.  Next year, I will be half way to 40, and wonder if I will feel any different than I do this year!?

Stay tuned - next year will be here before you know it!!!

Saluting the Potato Peeler

I love food.  We all know that.  Just like we all know that we need air to breathe.  That's how I am with food.  One of my favorite foods is potato soup.  It is just so good.  Sprinkle some cheese on it.  Dip some bread in it.  My, my, my...yummy!  We found an awesome recipe online for potato soup that is supposed to be like the potato soup from Outback.  Here it is if you are interested: 

http://www.recipezaar.com/Outback-Potato-Soup-253163

The thing that I hate about potato soup, however, is that it takes so long to make it.  Wash the taters, peel the taters, cut the taters, boil the taters.  My life has always been pretty easy with taters, though, thanks to my trusty potato peeler.  I have used the same one since I was married I think.  Not that I ever peeled many potatoes in our early years of marriage - we were more fans of Chef Boyardee back then :)  

My trusty tater peeler...I loved it...it fit in my hands great, it peeled those potatoes like magic...and then, tragically, it BROKE!  Along with the broken potato peeler, my heart also broke.  I might be able to super glue it back, we'll see.  

I hadn't peeled anything since my broken potato peeler incident, my heart just hasn't been able to accept it's fate.  However, today, my urge and desire for tater soup proved too strong and I had to give in.  I peeled potatoes with *gasp* another potato peeler.  This one is too big, my hand doesn't grasp it as comfortably as it did the other one.  It cuts too deep into the potato too, I think.  However, with it being bigger, it also made potato peeling a bit faster.  I might not be able to use my  hand tomorrow since those muscles got a good workout, but at least the taters were washed, peeled, cut, and boiled and are now resting, happily in the pot on the stove top.  

Today - I salute you, hard to hold potato peeler, because you stepped up and helped  me fulfill my stomach's desire for tater soup.  Thank you tater peeler...you can never replace potato peeler #1, but it is nice to know that there's always someone else to lean on when I need to.

Baby...it's COLD outside!

This cold weather is already driving me crazy and we are just a little over half way through December.  I hate being cold.  As most of you parents know, cold weather also means lots of indoor time with the children.  Here are some sights from our past few days/weeks.

The Grinch and his trusty sidekick, Max provided
my kiddos with some fun

Leah was sick with Strep on the day of the Christmas parade.
The Girl Scouts were supposed to dress up like characters from "The Grinch."
Since we couldn't go to the parade, we did our own thing at home 

Cold weather even makes Cosmo pretty lazy...

We got up and got ready for church, and then it started snowing.  We chose to stay home and
had our own story and activity at home.  The birth of Jesus!  It all worked out well and Leah
even suggested that we have our own church service EVERY week!  LOL!

The first snowfall of the season was lots of fun for the kiddos!

Our beautiful snow lady

I hope that all of my blog followers, friends, family, and Facebook friends have a wonderful Christmas!!!

And most importantly - STAY WARM!!!

Poop - from one extreme to the other

A lot of you know that my son has had "poop issues" for a long time.  He has been constipated the majority of his 4 1/2 years.  We have had such drama over pooping...from screaming...to running on his tip-toes...to squeezing his butt cheeks together so tight that if a turd did manage to slip out, it was as flat as could be.  Up until a few months ago, he would NOT even let us get him near the toilet to use the bathroom.  He would pee like a champion but not poop.  Pull-ups were our BFF.  FINALLY, I got him to the toilet one day and for some reason, his Hulk watch was in there.  His Hulk watch is really a projector type thing that, when you push a button, displays Hulk onto the wall.  I turned out the light and made Hulk talk to Logan while he was on the toilet.  It seemed to distract him and when I made Hulk's image appear in the toilet water, he pooped so he could "beat Hulk!"  This is how we've been pooping up until last week or so.  He was still acting scared, we were still using the Hulk watch and then...something happened...he pooped by himself one day.  Let me just tell you, there's been no turning back.  This child is a champion pooper now.  He poops all day long!

As I was showering this morning, I hear him, downstairs, just yelling as loud as he could.  I am all shampooed up, but turned the water off so I could hear him.  When I yelled, "Are you yelling at me, Logan?"  He replied with, "I pooped, come wipe my butt!"  Oh my.  I told him he'd have to wait.  As I turned the water back on to rinse my hair, I found myself wondering how I was, at one time, convinced that he would be graduating high school while still wearing pull-ups.  We have most certainly gone from one extreme to the other...and I must say, I am super happy about it!!!

Thumbs up for POOP!!!

The retirement of Cleopatra and the fireman..

Another Halloween has come and gone.  This year seems to have flown by!  My kiddos had a great Halloween I think.  Fall is my very favorite holiday so I am always excited to participate in as many Fall activities as we can.  I love trick-or-treating night so I can see all the kids in their cute, unique, and sometimes down right freaky costumes.  My kids were a fireman and Cleopatra.  Logan was the only fireman I saw this year, although Leah said she saw another one.  Leah got more compliments on her costume this year than I can ever remember from previous years.   This year was a lot of fun in the fact that Logan actually went to the doors without me or Brad.  He would proudly say trick-or-treat, proceed to stare into the bag to see what he got, and then say thank you, and run back to us.  He ended up getting bored and tired with it all and he and Brad headed back home to feast on his Milk Duds, while Leah and I continued on.  It takes a lot to get ME, Big Mama, to stop getting free candy!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from our Fall/Halloween.  Enjoy!

Cosmo Johnston, our 11 year old Shih-tzu

Lily May Johnston - our 1 1/2 year old Pug

Logan at the pumpkin patch

Cleopatra

The Johnston Kiddos
Logan 4 1/2 years old
Leah 9 years old

The Johnston parental units
Photo taken by Logan :)