A whole lot of nothing

Ever felt like you are so busy but when you think about it you ask yourself, "what is it that we have been busy doing?" I guess we are just busy enjoying what life has to offer.

Last night I went with a little group of my mom friends to eat Thai food for the first time. LOVED IT! All four of us ordered something different then we shared. I like Chinese cuisine so I was sure that I would like Thai. I actually liked it more then Chinese. The restuarant we went to is called The Spice in downtown Ames. I won't be eating there very often though. Ben and Ryan would not like it. Our group of moms goes out on the last Thursday of every month so I hoping that we can go there again along with trying other unique places that my boys would not appreciate as much as myself.

This morning Ryan and I went swimming at a friends house. Yes, they have a heated indoor pool. And very generous to let us come and enjoy some nice warm swimming in the middle of winter! After swimming the kids played a little bit then made pretzels. Ryan must of thought his pretzel tasted pretty good because he got sassy when I wanted to taste a little piece. He usually is willing to share me but NOT that pretzel. We had a great time.

Swimming

Making pretzels

Final product Our friend, Julia eating her pretzel. She's so cute. I love her hair.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am going to spend the day scrapbooking at a friends house tomorrow. I haven't been able to scrapbook much lately so I am looking forward to it. I always feel a little guilty for leaving Ryan all day but I remind myself that it is good for Ryan and dad to have one-on-one time (grandma and grandpa are usually involved in that one-on-one time). It's good for mom to get a break from "mommy mode" once in awhile too. Everyone comes back refreshed!

A couple little stories from the week

A DISGUSTING STORY!
A week ago, Ryan and I stopped at Panera Bread for a late lunch. I had just gotten Ryan's coat so we could leave, I turned around to throw our trash away and I heard Ryan say with a quiver in his voice, "mama, mama, MAMA!" I turned around to this freaky, weird, sicko middle aged man laughing with his arm reached out to Ryan. In his hand were his TEETH (dentures). The man looks at me, still laughing and says, "I think I scared him." Then says to Ryan, "Do you want to touch them?"

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I just about died. I stood there in shock then grabbed Ryan and headed straight out the door. I didn't say a word to this guy because I was so shocked but now I can think of a million things I should have said. Ryan was very confused and asked me a whole series of questions once we got in the Tahoe. I did take the opportunity to stress how important it is to take care of your teeth.

A CUTE STORY

Ben was home Thursday morning because of the bad weather so Ryan was begging Ben to take him to grandma and grandpa's. It was still pretty early in the morning so Ben used the excuse, "You aren't dressed yet. You can't go over there in your jammies." Ryan disappears to his bedroom. He comes downstairs 5 minutes later, completely dressed! He picked out his own clothes and dressed himself. Ryan's comment to me was, "I picked out a cool shirt, cool pants and they match." Ben and I were both laughing. The socks were a different story. They didn't match at all. I let him wear them anyway because he was so proud of himself. So Ben HAD to take him to grandpa's now and he did. Ryan would do just about anything if it meant that he gets to go to grandma and grandpa's house. Good for mom to know that Ryan CAN get dressed by himself if he really wants too. Here is the outfit...

We try and get fresh air everyday even if it 0 degrees out. BBBRRRR! I didn't stay outside very long but Ryan survived for about 15 minutes. We were just walking from the Tahoe to the house but Ryan decided to stay outside so that is why he isn't bundled up very well. Wasn't expecting him to WANT to be outside in the freezing cold.

Playing at our friends house today.

Our wild child, Little Miss Libby. She looks cute but don't let her fool ya.

Life is getting back to normal

Geez, I know I stated in my Christmas letter that I am pretty good at keeping this website up to date but Christmas was so hectic that it just didn't happen.

We had a wonderful holiday season. On Christmas eve, I thought we would be stuck at home all week with a sick child. Ryan was not feeling good at our Christmas celebration with Ben's family. He threw up 3 times while sitting at Grandma's beautiful table. But it was one of those times that when you finally throw up you feel much better. I took him straight to the bathtub and he came out feeling fine and back to his normal self. So we moved along with our plans as scheduled.

Christmas Morning - Santa visited our house!

Dad and Ryan playing with the huge firetruck that Santa brought

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson gave Ryan a really neat fireman outfit
We spent a lot of time with family, received some very thoughtful gifts, ate way to much food, and did a little traveling. We left for Washington on Christmas day. On Wednesday Ryan really wanted to try ice fishing so we took him. We just fished at dads. Wednesday night, I went out with several of my friends from high school. It was nice to sit down and enjoy their company without the kiddos running around. It is amazing that we all keep in contact and are still good friends 10 years later. We can go without talking for a few months but when we get together again it is like the good ole days. That is what you call lifelong friends, you definitely don't find that much anymore. I didn't get back to dad's until 1am and was up at 4:45am to leave for Branson. Good thing Ben and Ryan were well rested because I was dead tired.

Ben had to bring Ry's new remote control 4-wheeler out to the ice

Ben says, "Let's drive around the pond" Not a good idea- STUCK!

Lookin cool while mom and dad are trying to get me pulled out of the deep snow We met up with my family (my mom's side) in Branson on Thursday afternoon. We went to Silver Dollar City that evening. It was pretty cold so we didn't stay long. We ate supper with the family, rode a few rides, HAD to ride the train since we didn't get to last year because the waiting line was to long. We tried staying warm by drinking hot chocolate but it didn't help so we headed back to the hotel and went swimming in the heated pool. Friday we headed to West Plains, MO where my aunt and uncle live. We all stopped for lunch at Lambert's Restaurant. They are known for throwing rolls. Ryan loved it. He got to catch the rolls all by himself. We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in West Plains. We celebrated Christmas and hung out. We don't see that side of the family very often so it was nice to catch up with them. We truly enjoyed ourselves. We went to Mammoth Springs in AR. That was a neat little state park. I think I read that it is the largest spring in AR and the second largest spring in the Ozark mountains. We happened to be walking along a path in the park as a train passed by. Both Ben and Ryan were pretty impressed with that. It was a beautiful spot to take photos but my camera was not working very well :(

Playing with his new smart click at the hotel

HILARIOUS! Groceries and salvage all in one spot!

Mammoth Springs - Attack of the geese

One weird looking bird Ben and Ryan in front of the spring
Me and Ryan - a rare picture - I am usually behind the camera
Train!!!

Cousin KatieWe weren't sure if we would be home for New Years Eve so we didn't make any plans to celebrate. We ended up being home so we had a movie night as a family. We ordered pizza, got a couple movies and Ryan requested popcorn with M&M's. We didn't make it to midnight though. Ryan zonked out around 9 and we went to bed at 11.

Things are starting to fall back in place. Ryan went back to preschool this last week. He was asking to go back. Ben went back to work. It took me a couple days to find a place for all the new toys, unpack our luggage, and take down the Christmas decor. We missed our friends during all the hoopla of Christmas so we have had several playdates.

This weekend, I am working on Ryan's bedroom. I bought new bedding, decor and paint about 10 months ago but hadn't gotten around to actually redecorating. We bought him a new bed 6 months ago and it was back ordered, we finally got to pick it up last week so I decided it was time to get the room done. All the painting is done, now we just have to put up the chair rail, put the bed together, and hang stuff on the walls. Next up: painting the upstairs bathroom. I wonder how long it will take for me to get that done?? I will post pictures of Ry's room when I get it completely finished.

Our letter for Christmas 2007

A sweet little voice singing We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year has been ringing through our house for the last two weeks. Christmas 2007 has already been like no other Christmas in my past. Yes, we had wonderful Christmas' as I was growing up but seeing the Christmas spirit in my own child is amazing. This is the first year that Ryan really "gets" Christmas. I find myself taking mental pictures (and digital) constantly so I can remember these special moments forever. The idea of Christmas, both religiously and commercially, is so pure and fresh in the world of a three year old.

I might as well start with Ryan since he is number 1 in our house. Ryan continues to be a smart, funny and charming little boy but with age 3 came Mr. Independent. There are pros and cons to newly found independence. I no longer have to watch him like a hawk because he can play responsibly on his own or with friends but when it comes to getting his shoes or coat on by himself, it takes forever. I have been working on being patient but that is tough when you are in a hurry. I am always reminding myself to take a deep breath.

Ryan's biggest accomplishment of the year is preschool. It took a couple of weeks to adjust to the idea of preschool but he loves it now. He is doing great academically, it is wonderful to see the eagerness in him to learn. I love it. His social skills have also greatly improved. I am so glad we made that last minute decision to enroll him in preschool because it has been a positive influence in his development in the last 3 months. Don't get me wrong, he still has his 3 year old moments but most of the time he is a true joy to be around.

The farming blood runs thick through Ryan's body. He spent lots of time in the tractor this year. When he isn't riding in the tractors he is playing with his gazillion toy tractors. We have inside tractors, outside tractors, bath tractors, tractors in mom's purse and tractors in the Tahoe. We recently dug up some of Ben's tractor that he played with as a child. It is neat to see Ryan treasure the same toys that Ben got so much joy out of. There are a few other things that Ryan likes such as trains, games, firetrucks, swimming, being outside as much as possible and spending time with grandma and grandpa.

We took several trips this year. I love to travel so I am always looking for opportunities to hit the open road. In the beginning of July, Ry and I visited my aunt, uncle and cousins in southern Missouri then met up with my grandparents and headed to southern Alabama for a family wedding. At the end of July, all of us went to Colorado. We visited Ben's sister and brother-in-law in Colorado Springs, went to Pikes Peak, Black Canyon, Durango and other places along the way. My favorite part was Black Canyon and Ryan's favorite part was riding the Durango/Silverton narrow gauge railroad. I have been to Colorado lots of time but it always a place I have no problem returning too. In August, we joined my family in Omaha to celebrate Ryan and my nephew's birthdays. It was nice to have all of us together for a whole weekend. Ryan and I took our 2nd annual trip to Prairie Du Chien, WI and spent a few days on the Mississippi River. Ben's aunt has a place on the river. We go in the fall when the leafs are changing and the apple orchards are having their festivals. We take this trip with Donna but we were very happy that Lynn could join us this year. I am already looking forward to returning next year, I love it over there in the fall.

Ben has been busy farming and trucking again this year. We had a pretty good crop this year. Not as good as some years but not as bad as others. His annual "guys" trip was to Canada this year. They fished for a whole week. The 2008 trip is already planned...fishing in northern Minnesota in July. Ben says he is taking Ryan this year, we'll see ;) Ben has taken an interest in old tractors this year. He has bought and sold several. Mostly John Deere two cylinders but he just purchased an IH 1026 so that is something different. Now you know where Ryan gets his tractor fever from.

It is so hard to come up with things about myself. I continue to be a stay at home mom, best but hardest job ever. I help out in Ryan's classroom as much as possible, I joined the local MOPS group, we were also involved with playgroup again this year. I enjoy scrapbooking and stamping. I created a lot of cards this year so hopefully next year I can do more scrapbooking. I also have a secret passion for photography. My goal in 2008 is to learn all the technical aspects of taking photos. I am just starting to work with the manual mode of my camera. If I can talk Ben into getting a SLR digital camera, I would like to take a few photography classes next year.

Wanna see some photos from the past year? I don't have to worry about using to much paper or ink so sit back and enjoy.

Early Spring

Easter

New colt

Tractor Ride

Fishing

Fishing at Grandpa and Grandma Knerr's cousins Father's Day
New quad

Love riding horses

Fourth of July in MOBiloxi, MS
Durango/Silverton Steam Engine - CO
Becoming a Godmother to Madelyn MaeWater Bug - Omaha
My side of the family in Omaha
Best Friends - Jack, Maddy and Ryan

Riding Thomas the Train in Boone

Driving Great Aunt Cina's boat on the Mississippi River

My birthday

Halloween - Pirate

Playing with daddy's toy tractors before bed SNOW ANGELS! Talking with Santa I guess the best way to end would be simply...We are healthy and happy, we wish the same for you and your families. Have a great 2008! May God bless you many times over.

Feel free to check our website as often as you would like. I do a pretty good job of keeping it updated.

Surprise!

Dad's surprise 50th birthday party was a SUCCESS! He did not know about the party until moments before arriving. I can't believe he didn't find out. Growing up, dad told us many times not to hide stuff from him because he finds out everything. NOT ANYMORE! I hadn't talked to dad for a couple weeks so I wouldn't accidently spill the beans. He didn't even know that we were going to be home that weekend.

The weather was awful on Saturday. We drove down to Washington in a snow storm and it snowed all day. Fortunately, we still had a GREAT turnout. We estimated about 70 people showed up. We had yummy cake, punch and the chocolate fondue fountain was a hit. We all had a good time visiting with family and friends. I think dad had a great birthday party.

Emilee created a very touching slideshow but I am having trouble uploading it to this blog. Hopefully I can get it to work very soon.

The 3 amigos

After the party a bunch of us went to the casino for supper and played slots for a little while. Ben was the only one who walked away with more of a winning then $10. You will have to ask him how much he won.

Ryan and Myles before the wrestling began

My niece, Izzy! Isn't she beautiful?