Snow Angels....Finally!!

We have waited all winter for snow to fall so we could play outside. We've had snowsuits and snowboots ready but no snow. Finally, we have snow and a lot of it. For those of you who don't live around here we got about a foot of snow. (I know for you Diann, that is nothing but for us hoosiers it's a lot.) So, out we went!! Zayda loved playing in the snow and she helped her daddy build an igloo - well, their version of an igloo but they had fun none the less. We made snow angels and attempted a snowman but the snow wouldn't pack very well yet. We tried to go sledding but the parks we attempted to go to were all closed. Zayda really enjoyed pulling Garrett in the sled, down the driveway. Garrett enjoyed the snow but got frustrated trying to walk in it after awhile. Afterall, it is up to his waist. Now, we have played in the snow, I am ready for warm weather!! Bring on Spring!!

A Bouncin' Good Time

Yesterday, my dad had promised Zayda that we would go to bouncertown. Since my dad is getting ready to start back to work, yesterday worked the best for him in his schedule. Zayda and I had dentist appointments so the plan was to have my dad take Garrett and put him down for a nap while Zayda and I were at the dentist. Then after he woke up from his nap we would head to bouncertown. Well, little did we know that the snow we were supposed to get would come in the form of ice for the first 3 hours so when Garrett woke up from his nap, we went out to icy windshields. With a 4.5 year old with her heart set on bouncertown, we decided we would trek out and see how bad the roads were. Traffic was a little slow going but since bouncertown is close to home we decided to go. I was really glad that we went. We got to spend some quality time with Grandpa (my dad) and the kids had a ball. Garrett really enjoyed it as well. I wasn't sure how much there would be for him to do but they had 2 sections that he could play in and he loved it. Zayda was her true monkey self bouncing, climbing and running everywhere. Thanks dad for a great afternoon!

Billy the Bullfrog

You may have noticed that several of the pictures that have been posted have this cute little frog in them. Zayda goes to school at Mount Pleasant Christian Church and she is in the Frog Class. They take turns over the weekend getting to take home "Billy." Billy has a book that goes to each persons home and they get to write down everything that Billy gets to do with them while he is with each child. It is really cute to read his book. Zayda has not been very happy with me lately because she wanted to know why we had given her a name that started with the letter Z because they have gone in alphabetical order to bring Billy home. It was finally her turn and she was so excited. The irony of the whole thing is that last year she was in the Tiger class and they had Titus the Tiger. When she brought Titus home last year, cousin Andra was born. This year, when she brought home Billy, cousin Brooks was born. Zayda thought that was pretty neat. Billy went back home today and Zayda was a little sad about that but she had a great time with him.

Fun Day With Brady

Even though Brady and Zayda are 2 years apart, they are the best of friends (cousins). They love to spend time with each other and they are able to see each other alot. Especially during the summer when we are all down at the lake. We were so excited to get to keep him for a day while Benjy and Jenny were at the hospital with Brooks. He was perfect and I think he had a good time with us too. Zayda had gymnastics class and we took Brady with us. He played in the balls, jumped on the trampoline, and played basketball. We went to the Pizza King Train Station for lunch and Brady and Zayda really enjoyed that too. I had promised them that they could take a nap together after gymnastics but I wasn't sure how well that would work out. I think Brady was asleep before his head hit the pillow. He was absolutely perfect!!!! We must do this again soon!!

Another new Johnson

I know it seems like I am always writing this as a heading but when you marry into a family with 5 boys who are all married, the kiddos just keep popping out. Brooks Kidwell Johnson became the newest addition on Jan. 22, 2009 at 5:45pm. He weighed in at 7lbs 13oz. Big Brother Brady is very proud of his new little guy. We went to visit them in the hospital the next day and we got to keep Brady with us for the day. We had a ball! I really thought Zayda would be the most excited about Brooks but it was Garrett that just couldn't get enough of him. He held him and rocked him and kissed him and grinned ear to ear the entire time. It was really cute! Zayda and Brady seemed much more entertained by the glove balloons that Uncle Benjy had made for them. Congratulations Benjy and Jenny. We can't wait to watch him grow and make new memories with him.

Bathtime Bubbles...Bubbles...Bubbles

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Gandolf, the kids received a toy for Christmas that is called Zillions of Bubbles. Lets just say that Zillions is probably a pretty good estimate of the number of bubbles that this machine can put out. The kids LOVE all of the bubbles and I have to say that it really is pretty cool. Both of my kids have always been water bugs but Garrett has just discovered 2 new tricks he can do in the water. He loves to put his face in the water and then laugh as the water runs off of his face and head. Second, he has discovered that he can lay down on his tummy and kick his feet and make water fly everywhere. This seems to be his new favorite thing to do in the tub. Normally, I wouldn't be too happy about water everywhere but since we spend so much time down at the lake in the summer, the more comfortable they are in the water the better. Splash away kiddos!

Uh Oh Spaghetti....

For all of you who know Garrett for such a big kid, he is a very picky eater. He eats great for a day and then will hardly eat for 3 days. It is very hard to come up with meals that he will actually eat and then sometimes he eats the craziest things. This particular night I was in the mood for something quick, easy and satisfying. So......Spaghetti it was. Now, Garrett is also becoming very independent and he pretty much refuses to let you help him eat. I tried to give him a bite of spaghetti and he just turned his head away and reached up for his plate. "Okay buddy, you're on your own." This picture is the result of Uh Oh Spaghetti.

Way to go Ryan

I know over the past few months I have talked a lot about Play group. Well, I just can't help but talk about it. It is something that we all look so forward to each week. Unfortunately, for the last several weeks, we have been missing one of our members. Corbin had to have his tonsils taken out and between not feeling well the week before his surgery and actually having his surgery, he hadn't been able to make it for the last 3 weeks. Now, I know you think that they are just kids but let me tell you, there is something special about this relationship between Corbin and Zayda. When they say each others names it is almost dreamy. They all enjoy each others company but these 2 are starry eyed about each other. When we play our most recent get together the only day that most of us could get together was Thursday and Corbin's mom had to go to a class for work. Corbin really wanted to come see Zayda and the other kids so his brave daddy packed up Corbin and joined all of us women for playgroup. What a great guy. I couldn't help but capture the moment with a photo - plus I thought we might need hard core proof to show to Beth that he actually showed up. We all had a great time, however, I did hear Ryan mention that this was his first and last playgroup. HaHaHa!

Out of Order

Sorry, I was messing with my posts and somehow I got the Gandolf Christmas out of order. Now, I don't know how to get it back in the right spot. Sorry!

Gandolf Christmas 2008

Every year, we do Christmas at my parents house on Christmas Day evening. It is great because most of the excitement of Christmas is done but for us it is still going on. My parents have the most beautiful tree that I have ever seen and they have the neatest ornaments that the kids just love. It was fun to spend the evening with my family and not have to worry about where to go next. We were exhausted afterwards but the kids were all great!!!

Go COLTS

Well, unfortunately, the game didn't produce the results that we had hoped for but we are true blue fans none the less. We did end up with a great family photo so I thought I would share it with you.

Green Thumb Zayda

My mom used to get an amaryllis bulb every year around Thanksgiving time. You plant it then and it blooms around Christmas time. I bought one this year for Zayda and it became her pride and joy. She loved watching it grow and she couldn't believe that it was almost as tall as she was.

Oh What Beautiful Hair!!

Now that the holidays are over, we are back to regular playdates which I think us moms look as much forward to as the kids do. Amanda loves to have her hair messed with so she was really excited that Zayda wanted to do her hair. I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into. Once Zayda finished Amanda's hair, it was on to Marilyn's hair. Arent' they just beautiful!!

Zayda working on Amanda.

Marilyn's finished product!

Our Christmas Morning

The day began at 8:00 a.m. when Nancy finally woke Zayda up. She had such a hard time falling asleep the night before and had had such a busy day that I think she was just exhausted. But, once she was up, she was crazy excited!!! She immediately looked to see if Santa had eaten her cookies that she had left. He had and much to her concern, he had left a couple of other things. Santa had written her a note and while he had been writing he must have taken off his glasses and his glove and accidently left them at our house. Later on, she found his driver's license too. She took them everywhere she went that day to show everyone what he left at her house. Garrett was much more into opening presents than I thought he would be. He really seemed to enjoy the day too. Santa was very good to our kids this year so they must have been really good!!

Our Christmas Tree

This was Zayda's Christmas Tree in her room. Santa wrote her a letter and told her that since she had been such a good girl and she had been such a good help with her brother that he left her a special present under the tree in her room. Once she got back there, she found this present and a special ribbon hanging on her tree that was the "Best Decorated Tree" award from Santa. This present happened to be the American Girl doll "Ruthie" that she had asked for.

It think Daddy was more excited about the Lincoln Logs than Garrett was. None the less, Keith enjoys building things while Garrett enjoys knocking them down.

Zayda was really excited about her American Girl Movie Kit Kittredge. She also decided that she needed to wear her new gymnastics leotard.

Garrett once again on top of the present!!

Christmas Eve Excitement

This year Zayda was really excited about Santa coming. She really understood it this year. Garrett love to do anything that Zayda does so putting out cookies was great. Except Garrett really just wanted to eat the cookies and of course Zayda kept saying "No buddy, those are for Santa." It was too cute. Zayda also thought that the reindeer might be hungry so she left them some carrotts. We also had a little get together at my parents house with my mom's side of the family but we were a little late since we were at the Johnson Family Christmas. Both kids received a bear from my Grandma which is their Great Grandma that she made for them at build a bear that has a voice recording in it from her. Zayda really liked that and when she got home, she wanted to sleep with here new bear but was concerned that he was a little cold so she put some clothes on him to keep him warm. My mother-in-law spent the night with us since we had already had the Johnson Christmas. Zayda slept with her on the blow up mattress in the basement. It took her forever to go to sleep!!

Johnson Family Christmas

Johnson Boys: Standing left to right - Mike, Kaden, Nicholas, Alex, Nathaniel (Frog), Garrett, & Keith. Sitting Brady and Benjy.

Johnson Girls: Standing left to right - Erin, Jenny, Heather, Laurie, Nancy. Sitting - Aunt Evelyn, Sabrina holding Kiersten, & Zayda.

Garrett discovered that he loved opening presents and he loved standing on them even more. This pretty much became his theme for Christmas.


Zayda has really become attached to a series of books called Fancy Nancy. If you have ever read any of these books and know Zayda at all, you will find out that there are some very scary resemblences to Fancy Nancy and Zayda.

This year we had the entire Johnson Family Christmas on Christmas Eve. It was wonderful....It was mass chaos. Just to put it in perspective...2 grandparents, 5 boys with their spouses, 5 grandkids all under the age of 5, dinner and presents from all of the family - oh and santa too. It was crazy fun. We did somehow manage to get a Johnson boys picture and a Johnson girls picture. It is always a riot to see all of the cousins together. They love each other so much and I hope that continues throughout their lives. They are all in matching outfits thanks to Nana. They were my favorite outfits so far. Next year, Brooks will also be joining this craziness but this year he just hung out in Jenny's tummy. Thanks for a wonderful Christmas everyone!!!!