Poor duckie...

I just had to write a little blurb about our experiences at the petting zoo today. Well, it wasn't exactly a petting zoo. More like a petting area at a park. They also had a firetruck and ambulance that the kids could go through.

The firemen were definitely not over friendly or anything. I mean, I think the only reason they uttered any words at all was because Cash stood right in front of them, stared at them and said hi. Tripp also was constantly waving and telling everyone hi. They were not very friendly. Bummer.

Then the petting zoo. It was more like a little playpen that they shoved a bunch of animals into and let a huge group of kids go in and terrorize them. They had a pig, duck, rabbit, baby goat and some chickens. They kids loved it though and kept trying to feed all the animals grass.

I went in with them to make sure they weren't manhandling the animals. I made Tripp stay in the stroller and watch from the fence specifically for that reason. I don't trust that little tank in there with all those tiny, fragile animals.

All the while, the one I shouldn't have been so trusting of was Riley. We were having fun and I was trying to keep an eye out on my two and my friends kids as well. All of a sudden I saw Riley with the duck by the neck. She was trying to get the duck to follow her and the poor thing was just swinging his head back and forth like get this girl off of me!!! I grabbed her quick and got her out of there. Hopefully no one saw the mayhem.

I wouldn't have thought this little situation was very funny, but I know she was just trying to get the duck to come with her and she didn't know she was probably hurting him. All I have to say is that just proves to me that its a good thing that we have a big dog who is very patient with children and a cat that runs when she hears the kids a comin!

Thank God for Ponyville and Zofran!

Happy Father's Day!!! Darin golfed yesterday so that was his present. He had fun and doesn't get to golf that often so he enjoyed it.

Instead of small group, our Pastor, which I guess he is technically a Father now, preached at the 5 o'clock service so we went to that. It was awesome to hear him speak and be in that environment. He does such a great job of making you really listening to what he is saying. He can make you cry and laugh all within one sentence. The church even had a nursery that we were able to put the kids into which was great! They had fun too.

The big news is Riley wore a dress! Yep, I got her out of her Cars pajamas and into a cute little sundress...with a Cars tattoo on her arm of course. The one thing that made her okay with having the dress on was that Darin told her she looked like an ice cream cone. She liked that. God job Dadda!

We have a new obsession in the Johnson house too. I bought Riley some My Little Pony items off of Craig's List and she LOVES them. She really likes the Ponyville toys the best. She insists on sleeping with most of the toys every time she goes to bed which is a little annoying, but not worth the drama to tell her no.

She plays with them nonstop. She looks at her little Ponyville ferris wheel and, in her little dreamy tone, says "mom, look at all my ponies." It quite possibly might be one of the best purchases I have ever made.

Oh, and if anyone cares...the Zofran works pretty well. I still have some moments, but they are much better. Hopefully only a couple more weeks and this will all be just a bad memory.

Come on 2nd trimester!!!

Whew...

My brother finishing the Hy-Vee Triathlon. The only picture I could get on this post and only at the very top. I guess...where it should be, right?! I mean, you'd think the kid could squeeze in a work out or two here and there. Nothing like surrounding yourself with a bunch of really muscular triathletes to make your pregnant body feel really out of shape. But, more on this later. But, good job Adam.

It feels like I haven't posted in a while, but I have my reasons!

First, I can't get my pictures uploaded onto my computer. I guess I have no more space to store them, but I don't want to remove any. I will have to make a trip to Best Buy and see what my options are for photo storage.

I just like pictures to go with my posts. I think it makes it more fun to read. Plus, the grandparents like it!

Secondly, I have been feeling awful most of the day, everyday! I mean, I was pretty nauseous when I was pregnant with Cash and Riley, but that was a twin pregnancy. That is to be expected.

Ugh. This time its just one and still my gag reflex gets going when I even think about making my kids favorite meal of little smokies wrapped in crescent rolls. Yuck. Makes me a little ill just to type that.

Good news is that my doctor gave me a script for some Zofran so we will see if that helps. This baby has to be a girl then right?! I wasn't sick at all with Tripp. And I have heard that you do get more morning sickness (or the all day hungover feeling as I like to call it) when you are pregnant with a girl because you have more hormones in your body. Who knows, just can't wait until this first trimester is over and this goes away...hopefully.

We have been very busy. We had a baby shower for friends of ours. They are expecting their first baby in July and have been trying to conceive for a very long time so that is exciting. We had couples over and kids. It was really hot out so the kids played in the pool, sprinkler and water table out back. Tripp had his first bout with complete exhaustion and just got overheated. He was a mess. Poor little buddy. He was having so much fun and then, wham, he just lost it, was bright red and freaking out! We got him cleaned up, something to drink and laid him in bed for a little while. He was much better after about a half hour. That was rough.

Darin and I went and saw Pink Martini at the Midland. http://www.pinkmartini.com/

They were awesome and it was fun to get out and do something "grown-up". We went with Pastor Dave, his wife and his son. Darin and I had went to see PM about 5 years ago when they were in town, but this time I enjoyed the show much more. Last time we went, Darin told me to get dressed up because he had a surprise for me. Well, Darin never does stuff like that so I naturally assumed that that was going to be the night that he proposed to me. He got me all dressed up, drove me downtown, walked me around the corner and I saw Pink Martini on the marquee. Well, I was surprised and tried to be a good sport even though I was expecting something a little different.

So obviously, this time I was more focused on the music and the show itself instead of stewing in the fact that I did not have a ring on my finger. It was much better this time! =)

Last weekend, the kids and I drove to Des Moines to watch my brother in the Hy-Vee triathlon. Well, watch isn't the right word since the thing started at 6 am and I was not about to wake up 3 little ones and take them out in the rain. We cheered him on from the hotel and were just getting down to breakfast when he got back. My mom and dad, my sister and my brother, his wife and their two girls were all there so we had a fun weekend. We spent a lot of time swimming in the pool at the hotel and just hanging out. With half our family living in Virginia, we don't get to do that a lot! It was great.

So now we are home and soon I will buckle down and do the potty training thing. I have procrastinated long enough and I think they are ready.

To be continued...

Short & Sweet

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. Ours involved a lot of pool time, grilling out, ice cream and just doing nothing!

The kids were excited to get their pool out in the backyard. Riley even had the idea to put our Little Tykes slide in the pool so we could have our very own water park. Darin and I were wondering how she even knew what a water park was?!

So, that's it. A relaxing weekend and not a single picture was taken. I promise to make up for that in the next couple weeks!

Oh, and by the way, if you haven't tried the new Pretzel M&M'S, I recommend you do. They are pretty great.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

Wish we were there for you to play with and entertain!!! Have some pie for us!

We love you!!!

Busy, busy, busy...

Things were very busy this week! I guess that was why last week was so slow...God was preparing me for what was to come!

First of all, I had my first prenatal appointment and we are having ONE baby! Having twins again would have been fun, but I am pretty sure having 5 kids under four years old may have been a little rough. We are happy and so starts our next family journey!

We had dentist appointments for all three kids. We have the best dentist ever! Dr. Matt is a pediatric dentist and the office is so friendly and fun. Dr. Matt even brings his chocolate cocker spaniel to the office which the kids love!

After the dentist, we went to the Arboretum which is where we had Cash and Riley baptized. It was so nice out and we were all happy to be outdoors in the sun!

There were a ton of little waterfalls all over the park.

A fairly good attempt at a group picture!

And...I am losing them.

Tripp, happy to be out of the stroller!

This is the sun room where we had their Baptism. Funny to see them in here now. They were so small then and now they are 3 years old!

My friend from college, Erin and I took our kids to Little Monkey Business to celebrate their birthdays. We had to open our presents in the van because they wouldn't let us bring them into the play area. Whatever. There was nobody there, but we are rule followers!

Here is Maddie with Cash and Riley. Maddie just turned four on May 23rd which is also my birthday!

It actually got really hot this week so we decided to get out the sprinkler ball. Cash and Riley loved it. Tripp, not so much.

I also decided to give the boys haircuts! Cash has always had a short, buzz type haircut. Tripp has always had longer hair and even had a ponytail when he was really little. Nothing like a mom holding onto the baby hair and refusing to cut it. After many a comment about how cute "she" was, I gave in. Well, this weekend I REALLY gave in and buzzed his hair too!

He looks so cute. Well, we think so anyway. And, he has the biggest head on an 18 month old I think I have ever seen. =)

And finally, Sunday was my birthday!!!

I got my fridge for the garage which I will be loving once it is delivered next week. I never thought I would be so excited about an appliance, but it will make my life much easier!

Darin got me a cake which the kids were super excited about.

It was really sweet!

He even got candles!

My mom and dad sent me flowers!

Darin and I had a sitter stay with the kids while we went to our small group with Pastor Dave. Afterwards we went out to eat at Cheddar's and it was sooo good! It was nice to eat with out having to cut up somebody's food or pick up the floor when we were done, but we were excited to get home and have cake with these three!

And so were they!

Kinda Quiet...

Not too much going on this last week. It was rainy and cold almost everyday. We did have one fairly nice day which was nice because that was the day of the truck show!

Darin works for Murphy Hoffman Company where they do something with Kenworth trucks. I don't know. They have dealerships for trucks like they do for cars, I guess and Darin is the sales manager for all their Kenworth branches. I hope that is right anyway.

Sounds good.

They have their truck show every year and I took the kids out. It was at the Kansas Speedway. They had hamburgers and hot dogs, booths with a bunch of candy that I could not keep my kids away from and a band.

Of course, when Cash and Riley saw the racetrack they immediately started looking for Lightning McQueen. They just sat there and waited for some race cars to come out. I felt bad telling them that there would be no race cars. They would have loved to see one race around the track. They did have a couple trucks drive around the track, but it wasn't the same. We needed Lightning or The King. Even Chick Hicks would have been good!

They liked the truck though and just getting out of the house was good for all of us!

On Saturday, Darin took Cash to a bodybuilding contest at The Folly downtown while Riley, Tripp and I did some shopping. One of the guys from our gym was a contestant. He is the one on the end with the dark hair. I think Darin said he is almost 60 or something! This was the senior mens group. The guy on the opposite end with the white hair (if you can see in this picture...stellar photography work I tell you) was 67!

Makes you wanna go work out, huh?!

Well, for a little while it did and then I was back to being happy that I could eat pizza instead of two heads of lettuce for dinner.
Good for them though.

I don't know how they do it!!!

Well, I FINALLY go to the doctor tomorrow.

I am pretty sure that there is only one baby in there, but it will be nice to know for sure. That and Grandma can quit praying that there is two. I don't know why she would want to do that to me! 5 kids under four would be a little much, I think. We will see!!!