Today is the feast of St. Nicholas. In our family there is another feast we quietly celebrate and that is the feast of St. Joe, my grandpa. :) My grandpa died December 6, 1998. He lived life to the fullest and was a very holy man. He loved his wife, seven children, their spouses and grandchildren very much. He went to Mass every day and always preached the Gospel with his actions. He was a successful business man, but he worked very hard and never let the success get to him. He always gave back. I think it is so special that God decided to take him home on the feast of St. Nicholas. He was our living St. Nicholas. Grandpa especially loved Christmas. I have memories of him walking around in his santa hat and making us laugh. He kind of had that hohoho laugh as well. He loved having the family together and I know he loved bringing us to Christmas Eve Mass. After mass we would go back to their house with some of our cousins and the girls would sleep in the dining room under the table and the boys would sleep on the floor in my grandparents room. My brother would actually sleep in between my grandparents in their bed! :) We were only with them every other Christmas, but when it was their year we loved the time spent with Grandpa, Grandmommie, and all of our cousins.

When Grandpa was on his deathbed in the hospital, he had Grandmommie and all of his children around him. The grandkids were in the nearby waiting room because of lack of space. They were praying the rosary and as he was taking his last breaths he said, "the gates are open" and then he was gone. But he was not gone for good. His spirit, like St. Nicholas, lives on, especially this time of year. One of the things I have of his is actually his santa hat. Today Dan was promoting a Christmas event at school and he wore Grandpa's hat. His spirit even lives on through my husband and they never were able to meet in this life. God is good.

St Nicholas, pray for us!
St Joe, pray for us!

I am in the 12th week of this pregnancy. So far I have been blessed with a mild case of morning sickness. If you were to ask my husband however he would kindly say that on the emotional side, things have not been so mild! He loves to share the story about the time I tripped over a toy while carrying a glass of milk and a piece of cake and it spilled and I dropped to the floor and cried....not one of my finer moments... Anyway, yesterday, morning sickness, stomach bug, whatever you want to call it, hit me. I felt awful and couldn't do anything all day. Thankfully Dan was home and was a huge help with the kids and he still mananged to do what he needed to prepare for Lifeteen. My biggest prayer for the day was that I could make it through Mass without passing out. Success. Thank You Lord.

I was hopeful that I would wake up this morning and the yucky feeling would be gone, but I was not so lucky. After Dan left for work I called my mom and was hopeful she could race to my aid, but unfortunately she cannot come until later this afternoon (which I am very much looking forward to.) So what to do when you feel so sick and have two very busy toddlers. Well, cartoons are wonderful, but after an hour the kids begin to get stir crazy. At this point I decided it was time to atleast go get dressed for the day, thinking it would help, and suddenly there is a knock at the door- its time for our yearly termite inspection- perfect. Once the terminix guy left, the kids asked to color. I thought I could handle coloring- which turned into painting- which turned into kolbe painting his entire arm and face- which then brought us to bathtime- the perfect thing to keep them entertained and in one place! We will probably do bathtime again later today.

After baths we listened to Pandora's disney music channel and danced and sang for awhile. We then had a healthy lunch consisting of sprite,saltine crackers and spoons of peanut butter. Kolbe is now passed out on the couch and Emma is quietly playing with the nativity set.

So what I thought was going to be an awful day is actually turning out to be ok, minus how I feel, but I will get over it soon enough. Nana will be here soon and Aunt Jenn is bringing dinner. And I am carrying a beautiful little blessing from God. Life is good!

P.s. still no pictures- but we got our tree on saturday so hopefully I will have a fun blogpost soon!

My plan for today:

-wake up early before the kids get up around 7
-read the Scripture for my moms group
-make breakfast and shower
-get kids dressed and leave for mom/ play group at 9
-leave play group at 11 and head home
-eat lunch
-nap/quiet time
-maybe some housework if I get adventurous, go do some Christmas shopping
-Lifeteen Mass at 5:45
-dinner after with youth group
-get home and put kids to bed
-relax on couch and wait for dan to get home
-eat milk and cookies with hubby
-bedtime


What really went down today:

-All four (or 5) of us slept until 8am! Extra blessing- but then had to scramble to get out of the house for play group.
-Had a nice time with friends
-kolbe fell asleep on the way home, made lunch for emma and me
-rest time was over by 12:30 :(
-decided to go buy ribbon and mesh to make a Christmas wreath and maybe some garland
-kids played while I tried out my little project
-Dan calls around 3:30 and asks me to help with dinner for lifeteen
- he gets home and I head to the grocery store to get ingredients for a huge pot of spaghetti
-Cooked the huge pot of spaghetti, meanwhile kids start to fight and fall apart.
-decided to stay home because of the state of the kids and my mind
-stuffed my face with the spaghetti while Kolbe brushed my hair with his spoon
-bathtime and shower time!
-a few cartoons
-put kids to bed
-finish my garland and then blog about today while watching youve got mail on tv.
-still waiting for my cookies and milk- I mean for Dan to get home! :)

there you have it- a typical day in my world! I am so grateful to be able to stay at home with our children. I also love being apart of Dan's ministry and doing what I can to help. But life can be crazy and I have to be honest and say that I am also thankful for my quiet time at night and for movies with tom hanks and meg ryan in them.

Sorry no pictures for this post yet. i will work on that...maybe! Good night!

Emma has her ballet class today. She loves to dance. She participated in a little dance camp this summer and loved it so much we decided to sign her up for a weekly one hour class. She just looks so precious in her little leotard and ballet shoes. I love Tuesday evenings because Emma loves to show us the steps she learned that day. She will gracefully skip about the house and her little brother will do his best to follow her. Two weeks ago the parents were invited to watch her class. Dan was able to leave work a little early and so the four of us drove to the studio. Emma was so excited to show us her class. When we got there she realized that all of the other parents were there too and they were all lined up in the front of the room with their cameras. Emma froze. She went and sat on her dot and hid her face behind her knees. All of the girls stood up to do the warm up and Emma sat there hiding. Dan and I didn't know whether we should laugh or cry. She was so cute but we hurt for her. Especially me. I shave been there. I was that little girl too. We pulled her to the side and watched and talked with her. Dan did his best to encourage her but after 30 minutes of encouraging we decided it was time to leave. We went and got some ice cream and did our best to keep building her up. After ice cream, we were driving home and Emma said, "When we get home, daddy you be daddy, mommy you be the ballet teacher, and Kolbe you be the busy brother and we will have dance class." The next day I was telling my dad the story and he shared with me that when I was Emma's age they were so concerned about my shyness that they went to a psychologist to ask questions and make sure I was ok...I think I turned out pretty good...I know Emma will too. :) Today is her first class since that experience. I am crossing my fingers that she will go and have fun!

And we're back! After much encouragement and inspiration from friends I have finally joined the blogging world again! Since my last post in April, we have moved to a new home and we have found out we are expecting johnson baby number 3, due June 17! Dan is still the campus minister at the high school and the youth minister at our parish. Our days are spent with toddlers and teenagers, so there is never a dull moment! haha

P.S. Confession #1: I quit blogging for a little while because i felt like every time I went to write or add pictures I would have some technical difficulty and then I would get frustrated and then a baby would wake up from a nap and then I was done...so I am trying again. In fact it took me 15 minutes just to add this picture because it kept saying it was a "bad image" and wouldn't upload...why would any picture of my family be considered a bad image?!?! ;)

The past few months have flown by and I don't think I really stopped moving until this week when I ended up in the hospital with Kolbe. Since my last post we have been busy with plans for moving, Emma and Kolbe's birthday, Lifeteen and campus ministry, a trip to Steubenville with Emma and Kolbe and 30 high school seniors, teaching Theology of the Body to freshman girls and the world of toddlerhood. I have every intetion of blogging about some of these events, but for now I am going to focus on Kolbe.

On Saturday Kolbe woke up with a runny nose and a low grade fever, we saw a tooth breaking through so we passed it off as teething symptoms. By Monday he was still sick and that night his breathing got heavy, fast and wheezy. As Emma put it, "kolbe is sick, he is not smiling." On Tuesday I took Him to the doctor, hoping to get an antibiotic and go home. By God's grace it happened to be Emma's Baptism day and Sheena wanted to spend the day with her, so I was able to take Kolbe in alone.
Once we got to a room, a nurse came in and checked his oxygen levels and they were low. They did some more tests and then sent us to get a chest ray. That little experience was torture, to watch him in this contraption and he was screaming and I coudnt rescue him from it soon enough.
Thankfully his xray was fine. By 2:00 is Oxygen levels were still low so we were admitted to the hospital. It never ceaaes to amaze me how life is always changing. Of course my mind was racing thinking about what Dan has going on at work, emma is with Sheena, my mom is with my grandmom whos is in town and my dad was in jury duty. I was just trying to make plan a and then plan b and of course plan c. But God had to calm me down and I just felt the desire to let it all go and trust.

Poor Kolbe was a trooper and stayed strong. He needed extra oxygen and would not keep the oxygen cord at his nose. (i dont blame him) so he and I ended up sleeping and hanging out in his bed that was covered with an oxygen tent. By Wednesday afternoon his levels were much better and he was allowed out of the tent.

Now it is Thurday morning , we were able to check out and are now home. We still dont know what it was, the doctors think it was some form of infection that got in his lungs. Having this sudden experience allowed me to think and reflect on a few things. First I am so grateful for having such a healthy family. I am grateful for all of the prayers, love and support that we have from our family and friends. And even if there is a lot going on in our life, it is so important to stop, relax, and spend time together as a family. Life move fast. Thank you Jesus for all of our blessings and crosses!!

When Valentine's Day rolls around every year, I am reminded of how much I love the color pink...I mean, how much I love chocolate. I also love to remember Valentine's days from years past. My freshman year of college I put my intent in to the Little Flowers and for Valentines day sophomore year, Fr. Dave took me and a few of my girlfriends ourt for ice cream. Fun times! During junior year, I was dating Dan and he surprised me, with the help of my roommate Emily to sneak in my dorm room and decorate with the cheesiest decorations he could find at walmart. I loved it! I am not sure if Emily did though... And then senior yearwe were engaged and he decided to wear a shirt that said "i love lauren" - he wore it all day long. Forget the ring, that pretty much says I am committed! :) Life is a little different now, but so much better!
Last night Dan had Lifeteen and they had a special Valentines day dinner. He asked me to come and he showed parts of our wedding video and he talked about how to remain in the Father's love. It was so weird to watch over 60 teens watch me walk down the aisle and then say our wedding vows. It was beautiful and I am so grateful that we can share our love and marriage with them. I hope and pray that they will remain in the Fathers love and find their vocation through Him. I hope and pray that our family can remain in the Father's love, too.
Happy St. Valentine's Day!

I am going to start out by saying that I have always loved anything princess. Even in college my friend Vickie and I would occasionally drive around listening to the disney princess soundtrack. Silly, I know, but joy at the same time! I love having a little girl so I can continue to play princess with her! Today Dan is helping Anthony lead a Confirmation retreat and he isn't supposed to be home until 9 or so. On long days like this I have to brainstorm and think of something fun to entertain the kids. While Emma was napping I had the idea of surprising her with a princess tea party. I made a castle tent and even decided to dress up in one of my old bridesmaid dresses and play princess too. When Emma woke up she first saw me dressed up and she just looked at me. I asked her if she wanted to join me for a princess tea party and she said no. I was shocked and all of a sudden felt very silly! But then I embraced my silliness and talked her into putting her minnie mouse dress on. When she saw castle and tea party set up, she immediately jumped into pretend mode. We had a blast! Kolbe even tried to participate and was referred to as prince Kolbe. Needless to say it was a very successful afternoon and fun was had by all!

There have been many moments today that I have thought about blogging. I get those glimpses of inspiration and now that I am here typing, I am drawing blanks. What did I do today? I did recieve two phone calls back to back from two of my college buddies. Thank you Ana and Vickie for bringing more joy to my day! I started to make invitations for emma's birthday party, but sometimes I am just not tech savy and Sheena was kind enough to help me finish them. Emma's momma and Godmomma make a good team. :)

Emma is only allowed to have her pacifier at bedtime to help her fall asleep. This is a recent development and mom and dad are thrilled, Emma is dealing with it. Every once in awhile she will say things like "i am tired, it is time to rest," just hoping to get her paci back. And then there are more desperate moments like tonight when she dramatically cried out, "BUT I Neeed my paci and I Want my paci!!" I told her that I want a shower and I want daddy to come home, but sometimes we dont get what we want when we want it. She just stared at me and then asked again. Patience is a virtue. I guess.

Today I was putting the kids down for a nap and fell asleep as well. I woke up to the phone ringing, I thought it had been hours, but when looking at the clock it was only 15 minutes. hmm. oh well. I decided to get up, grabbed a diet coke out of the fridge, got a handful of pink, red and white m&ms and decided to go upstairs to the computer and try blogging again. So here I am and I don't really know what to say! I do wish that right now I was in Steubenville with the rest of the fam getting ready for Joseph's arrival. I also wish Dan didn't have to work late tonight. However I am grateful for these few minutes of quiet and for my coke and chocolate. mmmm....
Life around the Johnson household has been busy, but great! Dan and I are going to a Theology of the Body study every monday night together and I love it! it is so fun to get out with my hubby and take a theology class without having to be tested on it. :) Emma goes to the nursery and gets to play with a lot of kids and she comes home so happy too. win win. Last night I tried to leave Kolbe in the nursery for a little while, he didn't last long, he is such a momma's boy. :) When I went to get him, Emma was in the back of the room, dressed as snow white and telling the other kids where to go and what to do. She was apparently in charge of some game they were playing and they were all having a great time! I went back upstairs with kolbe and continued to listen to the session. The priest who is teaching was just ordained last summer and he is 28. ( i think :) ) He is passionate, young and on fire for Jesus! I love listening to him teach because he is obviously so in love with his faith and vocation.
Let's see, what else, I am out of m&ms and contemplating running downstairs for more...but before I do, here are a few pictures from Christmas!