Mission Accomplished!

OK, so the title should read, "One of the many things on my to do list was accomplished!". Mark and I had serious doubts that our new "bus" and our old van would both fit in the garage. I had wanted to organize the garage sometime in May, so with the threat of hail later in the day, I decided that this morning would be a good time to tackle that project. It did not take as long as I had expected, and both vehicles fit! Mark promised to bring me a Diet Coke after work as a reward! Yippeeeee!

Head to the Laundry Room!

Hurricanes were the big weather news in Louisiana during the time that we lived there, and here in Alabama it is tornadoes. We have heard the tornado sirens twice during the six months that we have been here, once in the middle of the night and once during nap time. It was a scary thing to get the children out of their beds at 3:00 AM and drag them to the laundry room, while hearing that "funnel activity" was seen not too far from our house.

These experiences have made a big impact on our two older children, especially Isaac. His standard question every night is, "Any storms tonight Mom?" Checking the weather has become part of our nightly routine. He has asked numerous times if we could move to an area that does not have tornadoes. We ate lunch out yesterday, and Isaac overheard some ladies talking about the possibilities of severe weather today. Apparently, the conditions are just right for strong thunderstorms, hail and potential tornadoes. So, my little worrier has been working overtime. I suspect that he will stay on high alert today.

I am praying that God will help me to teach all of my children to pray and be informed and prepared when life's tornadoes come our way, but not to live in fear and worry. That is a hard lesson to learn!

Farmer Kim

Isaac, Bailey, and I have been trying our hand at Square Foot Gardening. Mark built two four feet by four feet boxes, and two small ones for Isaac and Bailey. So far, I have planted tomatoes, cucumbers, bush beans, peppers, carrots, zucchini, parsley and Marigolds. Bailey chose three different kinds of flowers and carrots. Isaac planted carrots, cucumbers beans and Marigolds. Olivia planted Zinnia seeds in a pot, and I planted a few herbs in pots as well. It has been very exciting to watch our seeds and plants grow! We are about to start a science unit to go along with our gardening. I will post more pictures as our plants grow.

Our New Bus

Mark and I had the opportunity to go on a date on Saturday night. We were in Knoxville, and my sweet parents kept the children for us. We ate a yummy dinner at Connor's Steak House, and then decided to "run into" Car Max to take a look at a car I had seen on the Internet. "Running in" turned out to be a three hour car buying experience. With the price of fuel on the rise, Suburbans are not currently very popular. We were able to get a good deal on a 2005 model, with less than 35,000 miles. We kept our van to drive until October when Johnson #5 makes an appearance. It was not quite the date that I had expected, but we are thankful for our new bus!

Dollywood

We took a family "vacation" to Dollywood on Friday. We drove to Knoxville to stay with Nanna and Grand-Bob on Thursday night. We (Nanna was brave enough to go with us!) got up early on Friday morning and headed for Pigeon Forge. We met Mamaw for breakfast, and we all headed to Dollywood. Everyone was very excited! Anna Grace seemed to pretty tired, but we assumed it was because of our late bedtime the night before.

We headed straight for the rides. We started out in the Country Fair part of the park. Olivia and Anna Grace loved the Flying Elephants, Bees, Pigs and Ducky rides, while Bailey and Isaac tried out slightly more adventurous rides. From there we headed to our first water ride of the day, the River Rampage. Nanna kept the two littles while the rest of us managed to get soaked.

Nanna, Anna Grace, and I went to watch a gospel show while everyone else headed off for more water adventure. Anna Grace slept on Nanna's lap through most of the show. Afterwards, when we were getting lunch, Mark noticed that Anna Grace was feeling pretty warm, so he took her to a first aid station. It turned out, that her temperature was 103.2. He left the park, and took her to a doctor (what a dad!). Her ears and throat were red, so he prescribed and antibiotic for her. She was really a pleasant little person, despite how sick she was.

All things considered, the day went well. Mamaw was quite a trooper about riding the wild rides with Bailey and Isaac. It was wonderful to have an adult for every child. As we were leaving, Olivia said, "That was a great Dollywood!"

Quote of the Day

"At a gas station" -- Bailey (when asked where her daddy works!)

Memories!

Isaac and Bailey started asking us to tell family stories after dinner tonight. They wanted to hear stories about us and then they wanted to hear some about themselves. It is amazing how easy it is to forget the things they have said and done. I went and dug out the journals that I started keeping when Isaac was born. I filled one book for him and started on another one. I wrote a little more sporadically in Bailey's. Then came Olivia's journal, which is about a third full. She actually burst into tears because Isaac had two and she only had one (that is the stuff that Momma guilt is made of!). Anna Grace does not even have one! It is amazing how the business of life can prevent me from writing things down!

They loved hearing what I had written (and I loved reading it!). Their joy inspired me to continue on with blogging, as well as try to write a little more often in their journals (and start one for Anna Grace!). There is just something about a handwritten letter, even if I can only write once a year! Being the keeper of the memories is an important job!