Flu Vaccinations

I took the boys to get their flu "mist" which most of you know is a spray in the nose instead of a poke with a needle. The nurse and I were both surprised when Felix requested the shot instead of the mist. We asked him over and over if he was sure, and he said he was so, Felix got the shot instead. When the nurse was about to poke him he said, "Why did I ask for this?!" Later he told me he chose it because he wanted it to hurt. Should I be concerned about that??

Soccer Boy!

Rex is finally old enough for team sports. He is playing soccer and likes it after one week. I think he's more interested in the footwear than the actual game because he often wears the shoes and socks around the house and on his bike. This concerns me after his first game today because he was paying more attention to kissing his teammates than the actual game.

Waiting for the Bus

Felix decided to try the bus coming home from school. I have driven him each day for a few reasons. 1.) We live so close it's just quicker. 2.) They don't separate the elementary kids from the middle school kids lending to some undesirable learned behavior. 3.) His day is so long to begin with I don't want to add an extra hour to it on the bus.

So, in the end, he rides the bus home 3 days a week and the rest of the time I pick him up and take him. Each day he comes home with a language log for the day. He lets me know how many bad words the big kids said. Now, let it be known, his idea of bad words are the words you hear on SpongeBob Squarepants. I don't think he'd know a really really bad word if he heard one...except the "F" word, which he learned in kindergarten last year. (Funny side note on that...I was in line at Wal-Mart with Rex last week and he randomly asked me very loudly, "What is the 'F' word, Mom?" I said "You don't need that word in your head, and I will not tell you...plus, it's too bad for me to ever say." This was not acceptable and he continued pleading to know the 'F' word and threw quite a loud tantrum about it. He thought he came up with a good compromise and asked me to just tell him the 1st 2 letters in the word...definitely not appropriate, either.)

We walked down to his bus stop on the 1st day to wait.

Rex is bored

Daphne is not bored

Here comes Felix

Chef Felix

Felix has taken to making pancakes all by himself. He asked me to show him how to do it one day and after that, he became the pancake chef. In fact, this morning I woke up to find pancakes cooking on the griddle. These pictures are from last weekend when he made breakfast for the whole family. Best pancakes around!

Felix has the spatula and Rex the towel...Felix put him on clean up crew

The final product

Felix enjoying his hard work

Daphne enjoying her share

Clean up crew comes with risks...in Rex's case, a burnt finger

California

The kids and I took a trip to California for my brother, Andy's, wedding. Scott wasn't able to come due to work, so it was just the 4 of us. It's amazing how therapeutic the beach is. I was a very nice mommy when I was near the water :) I love the ocean.

On the plane. Felt more like down in the barracks.

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and Aunt Amy came to spend a couple of days with us. Awesome!

The boys always look forward to seeing cousins Drew and Matt.

See? Happy on the beach!

I'd love to share a picture of Andy and his lovely bride, Sara, but between wrangling kids and losing my mind, the camera didn't find it's way out for the wedding festivities. Believe me, though, the bride and groom were smokin'.

Daphne Loves Shoes

Hi, my name is Daphne, and I love shoes. Well, I love most shoes...as long as they are not my size I love them. Just try to put me in a size that actually fit my feet and I'll fight it tooth and nail.

Daphne in Mommy's shoes...

in Rex's boots...

in Caleb's shoes...

in Rex's shoes...

and in Madilyn's shoes.

Summer Adventures of 2 Sister Wives and 6 kids

We will always remember the summer of 2011 when Aunt Julianne and cousins Caleb, Madilyn and Luke came to stay with us in Pittsburgh. It was a summer of constant motion and great memories.

No summer is complete without smores...

or a giant inflatable slide.

This is the red tailed hawk we tried to keep away from the baby robin in our fosythia bushes. The hawk won out in the end. It was a sad start to the day.

We thought we'd brighten the day by taking a bike ride...Beverly Hillbilly style

Our bike ride took us to the water steps.

Here we are on the trail.

Next stop...a walk in Fall Run Park. Here's Daphne sporting her hot pants.

On the trail...

We made it to the waterfall for some slip-n-slide fun.

Some days at home felt like an episode of Survivor. At this point in the game, I think Daphne and Luke had formed an alliance and were applying their tribal markings.

Since the 2000 mile drive from Texas to Pittsburgh wasn't enough, for us all, we decided to drive up to Niagara Falls, NY and Palmyra, NY. Don't they look excited?!

Daphne knows how to kick it in the car.

Here we are on the Maid of the Mist headed into the Falls. It was spectacular! Put it on your list of things to do.

Sporting the ponchos

Now on to Palmyra. This is the view from the top of the Hill Cumorah.

This is a trail through the Sacred Grove.

Here is the Joseph Smith family home. Now don't we look like a dutiful polygamist family?

Palmyra Temple

Back home in Pittsburgh...Juli and I took Felix and Caleb for a paddle on the Allegheny. The boys enjoyed being out of the kayaks more than in.

Bombs away!

Margie and Felix

2nd Annual Summer Boy Party (plus 2 girls)

Classy Camping Lady

Here we are on our last adventure together...camping at Raccoon Creek.

Notice the angle of our campsite?Whoo-Hoo! Summer Rocks!