My Church Bag!

The past couple of days, I have been feeling kind of crafty. So, I've totally ignored my child (Elmo has been an excellent baby sitter) and gotten together a church bag for Kirk. My kid is just too little to sit through church without a lot of entertainment. He is also too little to go to nursery. Something had to be done because we were only making it on a wing and a prayer (and a lot of fruit snacks). I got the idea from my mother in-law to have a special bag only for Sunday, that way the things inside would be new and more exciting. Months ago, I started cutting out squares for a quilt. I got really angry (I'm not patient enough to cut out a thousand squares) and threw what I had already cut out in the back of my closet. During my craft session, I pulled those squares out and made a little bag especially for church. Its not the best bag ever, but it will do the job. Then I set out to find stuff to put in the bag. I cannot take credit for any of these ideas. I stole them all, 100%. The first thing I made was the match stick parsley shaker deal. I washed out an old parsley container and chopped the heads of a few matches. He can shake out the matches and put them back in over and over again. Then, I made a crayon holder. I put a few more of the ex-quilt squares together and fixed it up. I'm pretty proud of that one. He also has a Dollar Tree folder full of paper. Then we have the picture flip book. I printed out like, maybe 20 pictures, wallet sized. There are pictures of church things, like Jesus and the temple and a little boy praying, then there are pictures of family and friends, and then pictures of his favorite animals. They are all pictures that he can recognize. I laminated those and hole punched them and put them on a key ring. Excellent! We also have a picture book of "Sunday" things. It has things from socks and ties to the sacrament to the church water fountain. It is pretty neat-o. I'm also thinking about making him a quiet book. I'll have to work up bravery for that one. I guess I've said all this to say, if anybody else has any ideas to pacify the mind and hands of a 14 month old for a few minutes, I'd love to hear it. After a few Sundays of coming home wet in sweat and tears (of my own) I'm open to suggestions! We are going to try out the bag at church tomorrow. Danny is going to be on stage singing in the choir, so wish Kirk and me luck!

Fun with Baby, well Toddler.

Sometimes, I feel like I don't engage Kirk in enough things. I mean, yea, we play and do stuff, but sometimes I feel like it's too much like "Go get your toys". Yesterday, I found this website. www.toddlertoddler.com It has lots of fun games and arts and crafts for 1 yr to preschool age. It's got stuff that I can play with him and also stuff that he can do by himself. So, now I don't feel like such a bum mom! :-)

Forth Family Fun!

Wow! What a great Forth of July weekend we've had. We kicked it all off with a fish fry at my Grandparents house. The whole Johnson brood was there and we pigged out. Nothing like good ole fried catfish. After that, we headed over to the beach to meet the Williams/Pendley clan. We got the kids out in the water and had a blast! When we got back to Paul and Gwens house, we took a family picture. I am a picture fanatic, so I loved this. I guess its the thought of looking through pictures with my kids when they are my age and saying look at your family....we were crazy back then too! We had lots of fun, lots of ice cream, and lots of fireworks. I love my family, on both sides and am glad we got to spend time together. I have lots of pictures from the weekend on my facebook page (don't worry family, I excluded most of the beach one), but here are a few!

Evelyn, Madeline, Caitlin, and Allie Grace

Spencer and Kirk

Sweet Madeline

The Girls in their "firework" glasses

Why I Get Up In The Morning

My 2 precious boys! Eating Cocoa Pebbles and reading Scriptures. This is the life!

Climber baby

For a few weeks, Danny and I have been discussing getting Kirk a little table or something for arts and crafts, snacks, whatever. Today, my mom and I went to a yard sale and found the cutest little art desk for a grand total of $3! I was very excited. When we got home and cleaned it up, we got out his colors and let him go to town. He loves it! He sits in his chair like he is some big kid. However, within an hour he was on top of it. This makes me very nervous, but of course, I had to grab a few pictures before I rescued him.

Note: Regardless of what my many pictures may lead you to believe, I do, in fact, dress my child. This was right after lunch and I have a food thrower, so clothes during meal time are out of the question.

Dad's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. So, here I am, writing a little bit about the Dads in my life. I guess, when I really think about it, I have a lot of "dads" around me. Grandfathers, Uncles, close friends, etc. But, I guess I really want to focus on the 3 closest to me and my family. First of all, my Dad. I read somewhere that a girls first love is her dad. This is so true. I look at some of the things that I really like about my husband, and I realize, my dad does the same things. He has helped in the molding process of my life, good or bad. I love him and how he has brought me up. Second, my father in law, same thing, only in reverse. I know that as a little boy, you learn how to treat women based on how your dad treats your mom. I've seen how Paul stands up for Gwen sometimes (often scaring me a little when I first met him, ha. I was afraid for my boyfriends life!) I know that, again, he has influenced Danny's life in a way only a father can, so I am very appreciative to him for that. Third, Danny. Wow. When I think of what kind of person I would want to help in rearing my children, no other person than Dan comes to my mind. He is such a great dad and does all that he can for this family. That little boy looks at him like he hung the moon. I am thankful that Kirk has such a great example for a Dad. So, here's a shout out to all those Dads out there! We love you!

Part of Fathers Day Supper

Danny announced as he was bringing Kirk out of the bathroom "Kirk Schrute"

:-) (-: