New Kitty

This is Jonny's new kitty.  We got her back in August.  It took a while to settle on a name, but Jonny finally chose to call her "Missy".  Jonny LOVES her!  He thinks he needs to carry her around all day long!  Luckily she is a pretty easy-going kitty and goes along with it most of the time.  Jonny's only had a few scratches so far and is learning that if she wiggles around then she's ready to get down!

Grandma Vicki's Wedding Reception

Grandma Vicki got married in September and we were able to spend the evening with the Deming family at the wedding reception on October 5.  It was a fun evening and we had a good dinner.  But you should have been there about eight p.m. to watch the eight grandkids (who are all eight years old and younger) bounce off the walls since it was past bedtime!

A Tractor at Our House

My grandpa gave his old Ford tractor to my mom but it has just been sitting unused at her house for the last year.  Chris and Jonny have wanted a small tractor, so we brought the tractor to our place earlier this week.  Jonny is very obsessed with tractors right now and points out every tractor, swather, or combine he sees.  Jonny goes out to sit on the tractor at least once a day and wants to drive the tractor every day when Chris gets home from work (which gives Chris an excuse to start up the tractor again!).

This reminds me of another story that I need to write down so that I don't forget.  When we were at the library, Jonny found a book about tractors but it was written in Spanish.  Jonny excitedly showed it to the sweet little lady that takes care of the children's section and asked if she would read it to him.  She told him that she couldn't read it, but that Jose (another library worker) could because he speaks Spanish.  Jonny thought about that for a few seconds and then said, "Well, I speak tractor!"

Playing with Sierra

Sierra is our 10-year-old neighbor.  Whenever Jonny sees her outside, he calls across the fence to her.  Often, they will talk and play through the fence and Sierra will give Jonny rocks and feathers or will bring her animals over to the fence for Jonny to pet (goats, sheep, roosters...).  Lately, Jonny has started asking for Sierra to come over to play.  They'll play in the sandbox, jump on the trampoline, play in the pool or pick strawberries.  Sierra is really cute with Jonny.  They wanted to play a couple of days before Father's Day but it was too late so we told Sierra she could come over when all of Jonny's cousins came on Sunday.  When she came through the gate, Jonny ran right over and grabbed her hand and took her around to introduce her to everyone.  He said, "This is my beautiful friend Sierra."  Of course everyone laughed and I think Sierra was a little embarrassed, but Jonny was completely serious!

Father's Day 2013

We had a good Father's Day!  We went to church and then when we got home, everyone from Chris's side of the family came over for dinner.  Jonny had a great time playing with all of his cousins.

Jonny and I gave Chris a cook stove for Father's Day.  Jonny didn't spill the beans about the present because I didn't tell him what it was for.  (Chris made the mistake of telling Jonny about my Mother's Day present so Jonny told me what it was as soon as he saw me!)  The box was so heavy that I could barely get it into the house so I dragged it into the spare bedroom and covered it with a blanket.

Dentist Visit

Jonny had his second dentist appointment last week.  It went way better than the visit back in December!  At that visit, he only let them take pictures of his teeth and polish two teeth.  AND they had to do all of that while he was sitting up because he wouldn't lean back against the chair!  This time, he let them examine his teeth, use the mirror, take x-rays, and polish all of his teeth.  They said that most 4-year-olds don't let them do that much.  They told him he was brave.  (The funny thing about that is that he thought that they were telling him he was the girl from the Disney movie Brave!)

New Lawnmower

 Jonny found this toy lawnmower while we were browsing a local thrift store.  It was only three dollars and was delighted with his find, so I agreed to buy it.  Jonny is obsessed with lawnmowers and is always dragging out the real lawnmower to push around the yard (not running, of course).  I was hoping that this toy lawnmower would keep him busy, and boy, did it!  We've had it for a week and he spent the first three days (nearly ALL DAY) pushing it all around the yard.  He took it everywhere with him, including running errands in the car, watching tv, and even to BED for several nights!!!

New Sweater

 My mom knitted this sweater for Jonny and finished it last weekend.  Jonny was so happy with it that he wore it all day long for two days, even though the weather has been so warm that he was sweating!  Hopefully spring will act like spring so we will have some cooler weather before it is supposed to be hot and Jonny can wear the sweater again!

 These other two pictures?  I can't remember what Jonny was pretending.  He likes to do silly things and then look at the picture on the camera!

Eating Watermelon

Jonny LOVES watermelon and has been asking to buy one for several months.  I finally gave in a couple of weeks ago.  The first night we cut the watermelon, Jonny ate an entire slice of watermelon (the whole circle) and then another half circle!  So that was about six triangles of watermelon!

But this is the funniest story so far:  last week we were in the grocery store and Jonny saw corn on the cob in the produce section.  He asked if we could get some and I told him probably not.  I don't usually buy corn on the cob from the store since we grow our own but I walked closer so Jonny could look at it.  While we were standing there, he asked if he could SMELL the corn so I handed him an ear of corn.  He was in heaven and I watched an older lady smiling since she had heard Jonny ask to smell the corn.  Well, how could I say no after that?  So we ate our first corn on the cob last week!  Silly kid!

Chicks!

 As if 30 chickens was not enough, a guy who works with Chris asked him if we wanted some chicks!  Someone he knew had bought some chicks to use in their preschool but couldn't keep them.  So we ended up with four more chickens.

 And if that wasn't enough, three of our hens decided to go broody and sit on some eggs.  The eggs started hatching this week and it looks like we have eight chicks so far.  Jonny is in love with the babies and I have to keep a sharp eye on him when he is outside or else I find him in the chicken coop, trying to hold the babies!

Best Friends

Wherever Jonny is, you can usually find Mac nearby.  Sometimes it is because Jonny calls him over and sometimes it is because there is sure to be some food to vacuum up.  Whatever the reason, it's nice because if I can't see where Jonny is outside then I can usually spot Mac first and then he leads me to Jonny!

 Above:  Jonny sharing a sandwich with Mac.

Below:  Jonny eating a "picnic" on the back lawn.

Jonny's First Talk

Jonny gave his first talk in Primary on Sunday, March 31.    He was asked to speak about “Jesus is my Savior”.  Since it was Easter, we included that in his talk.  We practiced his talk several times during the week and he could even remember some of the sentences without begin prompted.  I wasn't really worried about him giving his talk because he loves to speak into the microphone.   When we did this video (a practice run at home) in front of the video camera, he added, “Lots and lots of candy!” to the talk so I was a little worried about what else he would add.  As it turns out, it wasn’t too bad!  When he was giving his talk, he got right up there and repeated the sentences that I whispered to him.  He didn’t want to hold the pictures so I did that.  When we talked about “those things are fun” he mentioned his birthday and then picked right back up on his talk.  

He did a good job.  It was nice and clear and loud so everyone could hear well.  I was too busy focusing on Jonny that I didn’t notice much else going on around us.  I was told later that we went slow enough and in short enough sentences that the little kids on the front row were repeating what Jonny was saying!  

Roasting Peeps

I happened to be in the store on the day after Easter.  As I was passing by the Easter aisle, I saw a lady throw several packages of marshmallow Peeps in her basket.  She was saying something about camping.  I thought that might be fun but I didn't grab any of the Peeps then.  Last week, I was in Albertson's and they still had a few things left over from Easter.  I noticed some Peeps and couldn't pass them up this time!  My sister Melanie and her family were at our house so I thought the kids might have fun roasting the Peeps in our fire pit out back.  It was a little rainy and the Peeps didn't stay on the sticks very well, but the kids thought it was great!  They went through all 24 Peeps in a matter of minutes!  I even tried one to see if they were better roasted because, as a general rule, I don't eat them.  I have to say that they weren't bad roasted (think warm sugar coated marshmallow) but one was definitely enough!

Jonny's Photos

One of Jonny's favorite things to do is take photos with my little digital camera.  I usually let him take 5-10 photos and then put the camera away.  One day, we stopped by the library and Jonny stayed out in the pickup with his dad while I went in.  To help keep Jonny entertained, I left the camera for him to use.  When I came back, they showed me all of the photos Jonny had taken of his new Hulk toy from Uncle Andrew.  Jonny was pretty proud!

Birthday Party

 Last year, Grandma Vicki made Jonny a Lightning McQueen birthday cake so this year he decided that he wanted a Finn McMissile birthday cake.  Grandma Vicki was able to use the cake pan from last year, used blue frosting and added a mustache.  Jonny thought it was great!

 We invited the family over for dinner and cake & ice cream on Jonny's birthday.  Luckily, it was warm enough that we could eat and play outside.  The kids had a great time running around and jumping on the trampoline.

Jonny had a lot of fun opening his presents.  We let him take two or three out of the package that night and then we've been gradually opening the rest over the last couple of days.  It was a fun birthday!

Look Who's Four!!

Time for our annual photo of Jonny with his purple bunny, just to show how big he's getting!  

(and how silly)

Hamburger Buns

I recently bought a package of those big beautiful hamburger buns with sesame seeds on top.  I set them on the kitchen counter at home and Jonny just couldn't leave the alone.  He thought that the seeds were rice and kept saying that he wanted to eat one.  I finally gave in and he took bites all around the edge.  Later in the day, he wanted to eat some more so I gave it back to him and sent him outside.  I found him sitting on the slide, sharing his hamburger bun with Mac.  Jonny would take a bite for himself and then would drop a bite down for Mac.  It was pretty cute!

Gathering Eggs

There are two sweet old ladies (who are sisters) that live in our ward that owned around 40 chickens.  When one of the sisters started getting sick, her doctor told her that he didn't want her going outside in the cold to take care of the chickens anymore.  They gave us 20 of their chickens, so now we have 20 chickens plus the 15 or so that we already had.  The sweet sisters just love Jonny and always talk to him before church starts.  One recent Sunday, one of the sisters pulled out this basket.  She said that they thought Jonny would enjoy using it to help gather eggs with.  Well, of course he does!  And it gives the eggs a better chance of making it to the house in one piece!

Imaginary Tractor

The weather has started to make it feel like spring so I've spent a couple of hours starting in on some yard work.  One afternoon, I raked up a bunch of weeds and trash that had blown into our yard.  When Jonny saw the pile, he saw an imaginary "lawn mower tractor".  He climbed onto the pile and arranged twigs and little pieces of foam to make the buttons and levers.  What an imagination!

What is Jonny drinking?

Are you not sure what is happening in this picture?  Let me explain....  Jonny loves to eat pickles, especially the whole minis, and will eat several in one sitting.  Well, one day, he decided that he wanted to try some of the pickle juice.  I tried to talk him out of it, but he was pretty insistent, so I handed him a straw.  I thought that he would try a little sip and be disgusted.  I was wrong.  He thought it was pretty tasty and kept sipping until I put it away!  Yuck!  I'm not sure that little kids have taste buds!