My three boys....just before their first birthday...

Here is Isaiah! One day before he turned one year old. :) He's showing us his cheerio. So cute!
















Here's Daniel! This was a few days before his first birthday. He had already mastered getting up and down off of the couch. Very big stuff...













Here is Elijah! He's eating the blackberries Jeremiah and Daniel went and picked. He LOVES his blackberries!!

I can't believe my third baby is about to turn one!! Its goes way too fast. He's a big guy now....a...TODDLER!! Oh no!!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great time yesterday. First we went to one of Jeremiah's friends' homes. The boys all dug for clams since the tide was out and his friends live right on the Puget Sound. I actually tried one! I wasn't a fan! I'll stick to my clam chowder, anyday. Little pieces, that's the key! The taste was good, but the texture...bleh. My camera wasn't charged, so I don't have pictures of that.

After that we went to our other friend's house. The same one we are moving into next month! Of COURSE I forgot to take pictures of the actual house/property. I did get a couple of good ones of the boys though! They both tried out tubing behind the boat.



Isaiah wasn't a huge fan at first, but tried it again when Jeremiah, Daniel and I were going. It was a blast!


Jeremiah wakeboarded. His first time in YEARS! He's sore today. As was the pattern yesterday, I didn't have my camera out on the boat for that. I wish I would have! Jeremiah did GREAT! He took a couple of hard spills, but really did good, especially since he hasn't done it in SO long.

The fireworks on the lake were amazing.


They are ALL legal out here, and the people on the lake really went all out. The show lasted for well over an hour, almost 2! All three boys fell asleep during the fireworks.



I made a cheesecake. It cracked, which wrecked the decoration I had on it, but still tasted good! Everyone seemed to like it. I got a few "this is the BEST cheesecake EVER!" comments. I like those!! I don't make it often because its so much work, so when I do I really like it when people enjoy it.


Today we were busy cleaning. I'm trying to get the house in order before my BIG HUGE AWESOME trip!!! Yup! In case you haven't yet heard, I'm going to Minnesota July 9th to the 15th. It'll be just me and the baby this time. I can't wait. I'm SO nervous leaving my big boys, but we'll all be ok. (I keep repeating that to myself!) I've just never been apart from them for so long, especially so far away.

I'm sure it'll be fine. I don't know what I'll do with myself having only one child to take care of for 6 whole days! I bet I'll figure it out though!!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Just another update!

Its been a long week in the Johnson house. The kids were all sick, and had runny noses, coughing, the whole bit. Not fun. I've been covered in boogers and snot all week, but surprisingly enough I haven't caught it yet. For that I am really, really thankful! As little patience as I have now for the seemingly constant whining, it would be substantially less if I was sick too.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

That pretty much sums up how we all felt this week. Hopefully they get better, and soon!!

I'm trying to figure out the Audacity program, that edits mp3 files. I have a bunch of songs that I've done at church, but they are all strung together and I'm trying to figure out how to split them up. I'm not having much luck. I usually pick up programs pretty quickly, but this one has me baffled.

Ok, I have to go break up yet another fight. Wish me luck! (is it nap time yet???)

Sleeping babies....

My kids sure do fall asleep in some weird places! You can click on that collage to see a larger version.

I kept telling my mom I was going to put this together, so this morning I finally went through my Picasa and picked out all the cutest sleeping kids pictures I could find.

Next will be the biggest messes collage. :) That one should be interesting!

Elijah has now officially entered the 'troublemaker' stage. He spends his days searching out coins on the floor that the boys have found somewhere and dropped, and crumbs to snack on. I think my vaccuum will be officially worn out after this one! He loves chasing his brothers around and trying to take all of their toys away. He's a professional at crying when Isaiah comes near for hugs or to play. He's still love to cuddle though, when he's not crawling laps around our house! He is pulling up on things to stand, and starting to let go for little bits of time to stand on his own. I'm hoping he doesn't figure out the walking thing as fast as Daniel did!

He's eating lots of real foods now, and love....wait for it....spaghetti! Surprise surprise!

Isaiah is my little book lover at the moment. He'll sit and listen to stories for hours, if he could. He loves tormenting Daniel with "NOOOOO!!!! Mine!!! Gib Me Dat Naano (his way of saying Daniel)!!!!!!" and following him around in tears. "Take turns" is taking a while to sink in with this one!

Daniel just turned 4 years old and now is a 'big boy' according to him. He will *not* stand for being referred to as little, at all. He got a fishing pole for his birthday, and its been hard to get it out of his hands to even go to bed! He can't wait to go fishing for real and catch his first fish.

That may happen sooner than we thought!! Some friends of ours from church are going to be renting us their house in August. They live RIGHT on a lake. The deck out the back door goes right up to the water!! We are so excited! They have a beautiful house, and we can't wait to move in. The boys will get to fish until they can't fish anymore. Jeremiah too, as a matter of fact. I'm looking forward to bonfires out by the lake, and soaking in the HOT TUB (woo-hoo!!) this winter! Its only a 10 month lease, but believe me, we're going to fully enjoy those 10 months! Hopefully pictures will be coming next week sometime. Anyone up for a vacation??

Who is who?

Leave your guess in the comments...

Ragout of chicken legs...

Ragout of Chicken Legs Recipe #72497
You will not believe the sauce that results from this dish. Mashed potatoes are a must so you can puddle on the sauce and let it soak in. by silky
35 min 15 min prep SERVES 4

Ingredients
4 even-sized chicken legs with thigh
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup dry red wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons madeira wine ( I used Marsala)


Directions
1. Let the chicken legs sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the butter.

3. When the butter melts, brown the chicken legs a few at a time over a medium-high heat until they are all browned.

4. Remove them from the pan and sprinkle in the flour.

5. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, then pour in the chicken stock, wine, garlic, shallot, bay leaf, salt, pepper and Madeira.

6. Bring the liquids to a boil, then replace the chicken legs skin side down and cover the pan.

7. Let the liquids return to the boil, then lower the heat and let the chicken simmer gently for 15 minutes or until the legs are cooked through.

8. Transfer the chicken legs to a platter and cover with foil; keep warm.

9. Let the sauce return to a rolling boil and let it bubble vigorously until it is reduced by half.

10. Remove the bay leaf and spoon the sauce over the chicken legs. Serve at once.

We liked this recipe. I'd give it about a 4 start. Its definitely worth a try, especially if you enjoy cooking with wine!

Just a couple of boys!

These two are going to be best buddies I think! Isaiah LOVES to play with the baby, and as you can see, the baby LOVES playing with Isaiah!!!

Yuck...teething. Do you see those bulging gums? They look so painful! I wish they'd just poke through already!!

This is my new favorite dessert. Homemade strawberry shortcake. SO STINKING good. I'll post a recipe for it as son as I have a chance. NOT diet friendly, but so nice for a treat. Everything is homemade, the whip cream, strawberry sauce, and shortcakes. YUM YUM YUM!