Girl's Night Rule

Raelee likes to have "girl's night" when daddy is at the fire station and Colton goes to bed. So, Tuesday night, instead of just watching movies and having popcorn, we had an all out slumber party. She had tons of things picked out for us to do.....and eat. She tried to convince me Colton was ready for bed at about 5:30 because she knew the party couldn't start until the boys were away. So, after Colton was in bed, we headed upstairs with our salty and sweet snacks, (shhh...don't tell daddy we ate upstairs), and started our party. By the time we watched a movie, ate our snacks, and read a book, Raelee was ready for bed. So, I guess we'll save the make-up and board games, and puzzles for next time. When sissy is ready for bed, it's lights out and she means business. She had fun taking pictures and sleeping upstairs on sleeping bags. She said that it was a "real" girl's night. I don't get to spend a lot of alone time with Raelee anymore, so I think I enjoy girl's night even more than she does. I'm taking advantage of it while I can, because I won't be included in girl's night too much longer!

Don't you hate it when......

.....you return home from the grocery store and decide to dig in to one of the tasty treats you bought( let's say, spinach artichoke dip), only to find that someone had already opened it at the store.....ugghhh!

.....your baby has slept 2 hours longer than normal, so you peek your head in to make sure they are breathing, and the slight sound of door wakes them up. Geez....did I take a stupid pill or something?

.....you go to put on a new dress you bought, only to find that the sales lady ripped a hole in it where the sensor was. That's what I get for shopping when I wasn't suppose to :0

.....your daughter is "dying" for pizza, so pizza it is......then when it cools off, decides peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have been fine.

.....you try to take a family pic, and someone is always looking the other way.....or screaming.

Not trying to be Negative Nelly, just thought these where funny, yet aggravating things that happen day to day. Leave me a comment on some of your own! Maybe tomorrow will be " Don't you love it when...."!

Back to Normal

Well, Rae made it back today around 1pm. Grandmother and Pawpaw looked a little, shall we say, EXHAUSTED. She came home with souvenirs from all the fun places. Mom will post pics and a blog soon. Colton had quite a fun weekend by himself. No one to to tell him which toys he could touch at the moment, and what shows to watch. My poor boy has no choice but to like pink and princesses! So, when Raelee got home, everything was right back to normal. Aggravation and fighting have resumed. They love each other so much that they drive each other crazy. Raelee could not keep her hands off Colton when she got home. I guess she missed him so much, but she was driving him insane. He was literally running from her. My two monkeys are now tucked into bed sound asleep. Tomorrow they will awake and the chaos starts all over again, but you know what.....I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so lucky to get to watch everyday of their lives. They are my life and I love my little family so much (even when they are in time out)!

Tick...Tock...Watch The Clock

OK, so my parent's took Raelee and Dylan (my nephew) to Dallas for the weekend. They left last night so that they could hit the road running this morning. I could barely get Raelee to talk to me last night when they called to let us know they had arrived. She was having so much fun in the hotel. I told Dad he could have just drove around town a few times, then pulled into a hotel, and Raelee would be totally happy. They got up this morning and went to the big Dallas Aquarium. Raelee loves animals so of course she had a blast...from what I understood from the few seconds I actually got her to talk to me! They went a few other places, then they were heading to dinner tonight at Medeival Times. It's a dinner show with horses and a princess......I hope Raelee doesn't faint. Those happen to be two of her most favorite things in the world. So, now I'm patiently waiting for a phone call for her to tell me how FANTASTIC it was. The house is so quiet without Chatty Cathy here. Brad came upstairs just now and said, "it's really boring around here without Raelee"......Uhh, thanks honey! He actually got to spend some bonding time with Colton. Raelee is a MAJOR daddy's girl, so Colton doesn't get a lot of alone time with daddy. Sissy is usually supervising. Anyway, this is the longest that I will have gone without seeing my little Raelee Rue. Even when I had Colton, she came to visit me. That makes me stop and think....Brad and I REALLY need a vacation! Jotting that down now.
So, I'm sure Grandmother and Pawpaw will have lots of great pics and stories from their wild adventure in the big "D". I told mom she could post a guest blog when she returns and recovers. I miss my sweet baby girl, but I know she is having a good ole time without me. So, for now, I'll just sit and wait for my phone call. Maybe I can at least get her to tell me goodnight tonight ; )

Raelee-isms

~Mom....LOOK....my elbow is "blooding"!

~Daddy....are you going to work or to the fire station today? (I thought that was priceless!)

~Brad was trying to think about something and told the kids they need to quit screaming for just a minute. Now, as a mom, I would just be glad they were running around screaming, and not holding on to my leg screaming. Just saying! Anyway, Raelee politely asks Brad," can you just hold your ears for a minute, I really need to scream a little." (then she laughs very softly like Ernie on Sesame Street)

~ Raelee has an outfit that she loves and it's long sleeve but the sleeves are too short. She wanted to wear it to Dallas this weekend, so I told her to put it on and I would fix the sleeves. I made a mark with a pen where I was going to cut it off and sew it. She had this god awful look on her face. I said, " It's OK, I'm going to cut it and you won't be able to see the mark." She said, "NO, not that! If you cut my arms off, everyone will know, because I won't have any sleeves.!" I assured her that I was going to use the scissors, AFTER she took the shirt off.

~An outfit came in the mail yesterday that Raelee had been waiting on. She was dying for me to give it to her.
Me-How much do you love me?
Rae- I love you for a WHOLE week!
Me-OK, well show me how much you love me
Rae- I love you from my toes to my fingers and everywhere in the middle
*OK....everyone together....aaawwwww!

~ And lastly.....Raelee has a bear that sings one of the songs from GREASE. Here is a look at the lyrics, then Raelee's version.
Lyric- You're the one that I want....oh baby....ooohhh,oooohhh,ooooohhh
Rae- You know what I want?..... A baby....ooohhh,ooohhh,ooohhh
Lyric- You better shape up, cause I need a man
Rae- You better shape up, cause I don't need no man
*So basically, she's saying.....she's wants a baby, but no man!

That little munchkin never seems to amaze me. She has got such a vivid imagination. I hope she never loses that passion that she has to pretend. She is going to grow up to be such an amazing woman someday, and I can't wait to see what she'll be. I love you my Raelee Rue!

1...2..3.....ooohhh we give up!

Right before mom's birthday, Alisha and I had this brilliant idea to take the kiddos and try to take some pics of them together for mom. We thought we would just dress them up in their cute matching outfits and snap away, right.....wrong! I guess we just lucked out on the day we took Colton and Alyssa for their birthday pics, because this was total opposite. Crying babies, hungry older ones, and HOT mammas! We at least managed to get some cute ones of them just being themselves and having fun playing. They were FINE as long as they were not in POSITION! These cousins love each other, so at least we got that. We're going to actually go to a photographer this fall and get some good family portraits made. This was just all in fun.......or torture! Hope you enjoy.
"c'mon Alyssa, I know the way out"In both pics, Colton is crying, and Alyssa is worried about the hayIf I could just get one curl!
The Leaders

A Day With The Foursome

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We all had a bit of a stomach bug last week, so it was a little wild in the Johnson household. But, all is well, Daddy is back to the fire station, Raelee goes back to summer camp tomorrow, and mommy and Colton hit the road running errands.

Mom, Alisha and I took the 4 kids to Sci-Port a couple of weeks ago. They have such a blast playing together. We had a GREAT....but exhausting....day. Raelee loves to follow Dylan, and Colton and Alyssa just run in every direction. That's the fantastic thing about Sci-Port! I am so glad they get along and play together so well. There's nothing better than having a family day. Here are a few of our pics.

He has landed on the moon!

Cheeeessseee!

Colton loved splashing in the water, in which you are not suppose to do, I might add.

Hard at work.

Alyssa is driving and Colton is keeping a lookout.

Happy Cousins

The Musical Piano and the Dancing Divas
After Sci-Port, we went to Strawn's. Dylan and Raelee sat patiently at the bar watching the food and desserts being made. If you're not from Shreveport, Strawn's is the BEST stop for some good ole pie after an afternoon of fun!

Happy 5oth Mom!

Today is mom's "actual" birthday. After I took Raelee to school, Colton and I picked mom up. We went to a few stores, then met Pam at Superior for some yummy puffy tacos. Can't get a much better b-day lunch than that! Colton hung with us as long as he could. He's not much of a shopper, but he was a trooper today.
I'm not going to get all mushy, because I did that enough in mom's birthday book. I do want to say that I have the most amazing mother. She is my best friend and the most incredible grandmother to my children I could ask for. I love you with all of my heart and I hope you had a wonderful birthday. ~HAPPY 5OTH MOM~MUAH~

Special Events

Well, this weekend we had some pretty special parties to attend. My niece Alyssa had her "1st" birthday and Sunday we celebrated mom's "5oth".

Saturday, we went to Alyssa's birthday party. It was a princess theme, and boy, does that suit her well. She is a total Diva. Kevin and Alisha are in for some trouble. She has to be the cutest little thing with blonde curls you've ever seen. She is 9 days younger than Colton. She was born 5wks early and spent a few weeks in the NICU at WKS. That hasn't stopped this little firecracker at all. She holds her own, and never slows down. She is the most affectionate baby I've ever seen and she is such a blessing to us all. Happy Birthday Sweet Alyssa!

Aunt Christi buys the BEST gifts!No instructions needed!

Sunday we celebrated mom's 5oth birthday. Her actual birthday is tomorrow. She made me promise not to throw a party, so I came up with a different surprise. I asked several friends and family to gather birthday messages, stories, pictures, whatever they wanted. I put them all together in a birthday scrapbook for her to keep. Thank you to everyone who participated, she absolutely loved it! I cried the whole time I was putting it together. Everyone's messages were so sweet and that's exactly what I wanted her to have. We tried to take pictures of all 4 of the grandkids together, but that's another whole blog for later this week! Mom had a great time with all of the kids over and we had a wonderful afternoon. I'm taking her for some good ole' Superior Mexican food tomorrow for lunch!

Hope you all had a great weekend : )

Monkey see~Monkey do

Colton starts standing on his head when he gets sleepy for some reason. So, now, sissy thinks it's funny to look back at him. Don't ask me how a boy that big can be so limber!

Only a princess

So, Raelee and I are having a princess tea party last night. She informed me early on when we have tea parties, we must talk with an English accent. We always have to have the same 2 names, Dinka and Fashion.....don't ask because I don't know. We switch up and are never the same ones. Not that it matters, but this particular party, I was Fashion. We are pretending with our best English accent and sipping our pretend tea when Raelee turns to me very proper and says(still in an English accent), "well I do believe I have to poo-poo". I couldn't help but die laughing! I had tears in my eyes so bad I couldn't see anything. She couldn't understand what was wrong, but I couldn't even catch my breath enough to answer her! When I finally composed myself I told her I just thought that it was funny and she says(again in an English accent), "Well Fashion, princesses do have to poo-poo too, and sometimes it's during a tea party."
I'm sorry, but I just had to share that. My cheeks are hurting now from laughing so hard. It may be one of those, you had to be there moments, but it was to good to pass up. Only my little Raelee could make pooping so proper during a tea party!

A Fabulous 4th

We had a wonderful 4th and I hope all of you did as well. We started the weekend off at Raelee's school (Ellerbe Road Baptist Church) Thursday night. They had a fantastic firework show for the whole community, along with food and drinks, live music, a firetruck, and a spacewalk. Lisa and I took Josh and Raelee and the guys stayed at home with a sleeping Colton. The kids loved getting to sit on the blanket and watch the show. (besides the fact that the mosquitoes just about ate holes through our body regardless of what kind of repellent we had on....good ole Louisiana!)

Friday we went swimming at mom and dad's and dad cooked his famous "secret family recipe" ribs. The only way to get this recipe is to marry into the family. That does cause me to wonder sometimes if that's the reason Brad married me. We all had a great time in the pool, but the little ones were to pooped to wait on the fireworks.

Just thinking of something mean to do to his sister!

Colton loves to touch the waterfall and let is splash his face.

So, after the babies went home, Raelee and all the remaining adults went swimming again that evening. She had fun showing us what all she had learned in swimming lessons this week. The country club next to mom and dad's house does a big firework show, so we went out front an let Raelee do sparklers until it started. It took a little help from Brook before she was comfortable with it, but after that, I think she did about 2o of them.

Saturday night, Brad and I got a much needed night out. The kids stayed with mom and dad and we went out with Lisa and Randall. One of the fireman plays in a local band, Losing Anna, and they were playing at Harrah's Louisiana Downs and opening for Cowboy Mouth. It was set up outside, but it actually turned out pretty nice. Well, I had on a dress, Brad was about to die in 2 shirts and khaki pants. We had no idea it was outside until we got there. The bands were great and we had a really good time visiting with everyone. By 9:00 I was yawning...pitiful, I know. I think the best part was when we first got there, all me and Lisa could see were the big corn dog and funnel cake stands they had set up. We looked like kids in a candy store. The guys really didn't have to take us to dinner, we would have been satisfied with a foot long corn dog, a funnel cake and some cherry lemonade. I did get a lemonade by the way, and it did not taste like it did when I was a kid. Very disappointing!

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. Hope you all had a fun weekend as well!

Little Mermaid

Raelee started swimming lessons this week. Mom signed her up, then informed me later. She knew it was not the number one thing I was wanting to do with Raelee. She swims all over the pool with her vest on at mom and dad's, but is spastic about getting her face wet.

Well, the little diva proved me wrong. We had our 3rd lesson today and she is doing great! Coach Beaudreaux got her to do more in 30mins than we have all summer. First of all, she actually wore her goggles. Then he had her jumping in and putting her face in the water. Also, he had her swimming on her back.

Colton learns just as much from the side lines. He heard the coach telling Raelee to blow her bubbles in the water. He was saying, "blow, blow, blow"...so Colton was blowing! She is doing so good, and I am so proud of her. She has conquered a lot of her fears in just three short lessons, so I can't wait to see what she does by Saturday.
Swimming lessons are a wear out....for BOTH babies!

After lessons today, mom and I took her swimming. She wasn't scared at all. She wanted to practice all of her new tricks. I was glad that she wanted to do it at home, and not just for the coach. Thanks Grandmother......you were right!