Back to School

Today was Emily's first day back at school. We are now on our second quarter of second grade. As you can see it is a big deal to the boys too. Andrew asks how long until Emily gets out of school about every five minutes. It is very cute and quite ironic since they can not get along for more than five minutes at a time. I hate that she is gone again. I love having her home (except for the bickering between her and the middle monster). She has learned so much in school already. I can't wait to see what she learns the rest of the year. Did you know that she read the entire first Harry Potter book over track out. My seven year old read Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone- all seventeen chapters- I happen to think that is pretty cool. What do you think?

Sliding Down

Lately I feel as if I am stuck in a rut. Things have been just blah. It has been a crazy and crummy past few months. Now I am stuck at the bottom of the slide unsure of how to get back to the top. It has been a crazy slippery ride down. I haven't been sleeping well. I have been stressing about countless things, changes with Billy's work, his mother's stay in the hospital, health insurance, the kids staying healthy until our new insurance kicks in, why our roof that is only 8 years old decided to leak, how much that is going to cost to fix....I guess the point is it has all been on my mind lately. I don't know why I stress about things that I have no control over. I can't change them yet I continue to do it. I suppose it is the type of person that I am. I know that things are going to get better. I know some of the worrying will cease when we once again have health insurance at the end of the week. When Billy finally transfers to Greensboro and we know what his schedule will be like will bring a sense of relief. He was hired for nights, but is rumored to be going to the day shift. Will I put our kids to bed 4 nights a week by myself and get them up by myself? I would just like to know what our life is going to be like, so that we may return to some sort of normalcy. Billy's mom is doing better. She is still in the hospital. They are giving her lots of meds for her pneumonia and her congestive heart failure. I am glad that she is doing better but wish that she would be a little more willing to listen to the doctor's advice and help herself out. It is just frustrating. Billy's long days at work have been followed by visits to the hospital. We spent 2 1/2 hours there the other day with all three of the kids. That really helped our stress levels. The boys were miserable the whole time we were there. While trying to keep them quiet, I was going over all the illnesses they had probably contracted while we were there. Thinking " Please God don't let them get sick at all and if they do wait until after Thursday." Mom and dad came up to visit yesterday and that really made me feel better. It is amazing what seeing loved ones (even those we get to see often) can do for ones emotional state. We did nothing at all really. Mom and I ran to the grocrey store and cooked a big pot of chilli and Dad nad Billy fixed the leaky roof and mowed the grass. Then they settled in for an afternoon of NFL. Normally a whole evening of Nascar and NFL would annoy me but yesterday it helped me feel a little more like our normal life was returning. I really felt better after their visit. I think I may feel even better after getting all this out . Our Little Monkeys
What a sweet smile

Teetering back and forth

What a great big sis
On our way down

A Happier Thought to Sleep on

Kissing Angels
Our Little Flower Girl
Off through the Woods

Two Roads Diverged....

Mums the word -2008

My first fall picture of my perfect trio-2008

Emily in the Fields of wheat-2008

Andrew running through the grass -2008

Emily and Drew 2007

I thought after such a sad two days I would try to give myself something happy to think of while I sleep tonight. I went through my pics and found a few of my favorite fall pictures from the past few years. Looking at these makes me remember several things.

1. How much I love this time of the year

2. Hands down fall colors are the best

3. How innocent children are

4. One smile from your child always makes your day brighter

5. I love my beautiful children. I am truly blessed.

Long Night

Yesterday my Mother in Law came over to dinner. We grilled out, enjoyed great food, and visited for a while. Things went well. When it started to get late Billy and Andrew left to take her home and I stayed home to clean up the mess. Billy called a little while later and said his mom was not feeling well and was having trouble breathing, I could hear her gasping for breath in the background. He said he was taking her to the hospital. About three miles down the road she was unconscious. He called 911. She was unconscious for around 20 minutes before they got there. All the while my three year old son was witnessing this in the back seat and was freaking out. When I got to the parking lot they met the ambulance in, I saw my little man standing there with his Lightning McQueen pajamas on, no shoes, hair still damp from his bath . He was standing there outside the closed ambulance door with Billy and was scared out of his mind. I took Andrew home with the other kids and Billy followed the ambulance to Rex Hospital. It was a long night for everyone in our household. It took me a long time to calm Andrew and Emily down. Emily was crying and Andrew was..... well he was freaked out. He just kept asking "Is my Granny still alive?" How in the world does my three year old even know what that means. It took me two hours to calm him down enough to get him to sleep. There I was laying in bed with our three precious and innocent children unable to sleep. Billy was sitting at the hospital waiting to hear what was going on. It was going to be a long night full of phone calls.

His mother was having such a hard time breathing that they put her on a ventilator. She was completely unresponsive . When she finally was alert she had no control of her left side. We were told that she had suffered another stroke. They moved her into the ICU and Billy stayed at the hospital. This morning they told him that she had pneumonia and would to stay on the ventilator for a few days. They also said that she had heart damage and had not had a stroke. She now can move her left side. Billy came home, showered, and napped for an hour. When my sister got here we headed up to the hospital. The heart doctor had come by while Billy was gone and we got the report upon our return. They told us that she's suffering from congestive heart failure, has a flutter in her heart rate, and the left side is only functioning at 30 %. She has severe pneumonia and is on the ventilator and a feeding tube. It is so hard for Billy to see her like that. She is so uncomfortable and tries to communicate with us .We can tell she gets frustrated because we can't understand what her hand gestures mean. It's horrible to see and completely frustrating to not know what is going on. One minute we are told one thing and the next something different. We were told that she had had a stroke and the next that she hadn't .It has been a long 24 hours and my husband almost fell asleep at the table tonight. I am really tired and I should be trying to sleep, but I am still so wired from the past day . We will head to the hospital again tomorrow and hopefully will have better news to report.

Grandpa and Gracie

Great news. Grandpa has finally been cleared to drive, Yippee!! That means that he no longer need his wonderful daughter to chauffeur him around to physical therapy. The kids are disappointed because they love to tag along and drive Mr. Daisy around. Grumpy Grandpa is a thing of the past. We have moved on to more important things.... meet Gracie. Gracie is our dog. Last week we took her into the vet expecting to be told that she had a thorn in her pad. When the vet asked how old she was I knew something else was wrong. My poor dog walking on only three feet was diagnosed with a malignant tumor on her foot. A few days later she went in for a partial amputation . She had to have a toe and three joints up removed. Good news is Gracie came through and is doing fine. She is not putting much weight on her leg and is scared of the boys when they come around. But do you know what makes taking care of Gracie so much better than taking care of Dad.... she doesn't gripe nearly as much as a man.

A Trip to the Roadhouse

Saturday night we were once again treated with a mini Johnson reunion. This time with some attending from out of state and even out of the country. We missed those absent from the last (Kathy, Bob and Fred), but loved that others were able to be here. We enjoyed a trip to the America's Roadhouse for dinner. We were lucky to be able to visit again with Susan and Jodi , and were blessed to have Aunt Dianne in from Georgia and Laura and Latham in from New Zealand. What a nice time. We met for dinner and got to visit with everyone for an hour or so. We even had a little birthday celebration for Laura's birthday on the 13th. The food was great, but the company was even better! It was so great to visit with everyone. I wish that we had all been able to sit at the same table . It was the first time we met Laura's husband Latham. I must say that he has three little fan's in Jodi, Emily,and Andrew. He was so nice and was absolutely wonderful playing with the kids outside. My son is still talking about him. It was great to see them and wonderful seeing Laura look so happy. Aunt Dianne was as sweet as ever. I understand why she was always mom's favorite Aunt. We have enjoyed all her recent visits to Central North Carolina and look forward to seeing her here again soon. Unfortunately for us and everyone else in the restaurant, my littlest man was not in a restaurant mood. After 20 minutes of screaming and fighting with us, my poor husband and Alex left the restaurant and headed home. We hope to see everyone again soon and wish you all a safe trip home.Kat, Emily, Dianne, Susan, Jodi, Latham, Laura, Ann, Andrew, and Chip


Emily and Jodi


Latham and Laura


An update for you all- I have not said anything about Dad and his surgery lately. I feel that Dad is doing great. He has been released from in home therapy and started out patient today. He is walking well with his cane. Has gotten to use the pool and walk in there ( great for his rehab ). He even went out and changed the air filter in his truck yesterday. His knee has been a little stiffer since he graduated from his CPM machine, but that just means that we need to make him start working more around the house !! He is going nuts and can not wait to be released to drive. We have let him drive to get the paper, but he is supposed to do no more. The therapist says he is doing great for 3 weeks out and that they will talk more in 2 weeks about driving. He will have to be a big boy and wait until then!!

A Night at the Ballpark

Last week we decided to spend a night out at the ballpark. We went to see the Carolina Mudcats game in Zebulon. It is a nice little park, very family friendly. It made me miss going to see the Indians at Jacobs Field. Five Counties stadium was a nice stadium however it was not quite as nice as the Jake! Go Tribe!! It was a perfect night for a game. The weather great , it was in the 70's and not a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect night to sit outside and watch baseball while enjoying a hot dog and a beer( $1.00 draft night). Well at least we got the hot dog part out of the way!! Alex was surprisingly well behaved, he was happy just standing in front of us watching the game. Emily was really into the game - watching every swing, throw, pitch, slide- constantly asking questions about the rules....Billy and I loved that! Andrew . Well he was Andrew. He was so excited and then we get there and he has complete ants in his pants. I think the only time he sat still was to scarf down his hotdog. At least he has mastered that part of going to a ballgame! I think there were too many people to watch, he forgot he was supposed to watch the game!! Unfortunately we didn't stay for the whole game. We decided that the boys had probably had enough fun for the night plus it was a school night. I think we left in the 7th inning. I can't wait to go back. I miss going to baseball games. It was such a huge part of my childhood. I feel like I spent more time at the baseball field in the summers than I did my own house. I pray that all my kids will learn to love the game like I did. Emily wearing Drew's hat.
Look at this cheesy little smile! Priceless!

Look at this strong girl picking up her little brother. They actually look like they love each other here.... no yelling or fighting!
The scoreboard during the game

How cool is the Mudcats water tower. The kids thought that this was the greatest !

This is Muddy the Mudcat. The kids got to meet him and get his autograph!

Pisgah Covered Bridge

While spending time in Asheboro helping Dad with his rehab. We decided to take the kids for a drive. We ended up stopping at the Pisgah Covered Bridge. It is a lovely little bridge near Seagrove NC . It has a nice little path through the woods with little bridges over the creek. It is an easy walk for kids(especially the one year old). Emily and Andrew loved walking over the rocks in the water. They were laughing all the way across even as Emily fell into the water. Andrew had fun until he bumped a pricker bush with his hand. Cue screaming, cut to running in circles while yelling "I don't like this place, lets go home". I think we need to pack our bags and head out to Hollywood, he may have a future in drama!! I can't believe they are all looking in the right direction for once!!
Just monkeying around (notice the wet butt)

Having fun crossing the "raging" stream! Emily and Andrew on the bridge

The Pisgah Covered Bridge

Billy picked up a hitchhiker along the way!

A look over a bridge on the walkway

What a beautiful shot (except for the muddy water)