Quick Update

Here's some info for those of my loyal friends who notice when I fail to keep my blog current!

Great News!

Lyndsey and Michael Martin are expecting a baby! This is truly a God thing, as those of you who know their story are aware.

And, my sister Amanda and her husband Ben are on their way from Boston back to Seattle. We cannot wait to see them again and have them nearby for babysitting. (Just joking, it's your friendship we treasure not your childcare!)

My contract as a Teaching Assistant at Mars Hill Graduate School was renewed with an increase in hours and an increase in pay. I'll be the personal TA for Dr. Roy Barsness, who I really enjoy and learn a lot from.

Good News!
I'm headed out of town to Astoria, Oregon with my sister Randi and all 9 kids to visit my father and brothers. We've been invited to the 50th Anniversary celebration of a dear couple Randi and I have known since we were little girls. So we are taking a road trip without the guys (Chad is in Connecticut with the Coast Guard Academy and Mike works Sundays!).

Sasha and I had a better day at math yesterday. We're taking the weekend off and looking forward to better days ahead. I' m learning all about incentive (versus threats) and things are looking brighter today.

Thanks for tuning in!

Homeschool Woes

We are doing our first round of "Summer School" at the Johnson house. Sasha did not-so-hot in math and standardized math testing this year, and so we agreed to do math summer school.

Sounded like a good idea at the time.

I am now considering Military School.

As much as I believe in what we're doing, as much as I believe the options in our area are limited, as much as I believe in the social/educational/spiritual benefits of homeschooling. . . I'm fed up with 9 year old attitude and tears over subtraction. And addition. And multiplication. And division. Well, you get the point.

This is just a chance for me to lament. Any pity would be appreciated and taken in exactly the right spirit.

Ballet Recital '06 and The Jungle Book

Chloe's First Ballet Recital: Red Rose in the Emperor and the Nightingale.
Sasha as a Spanish Dancer in Swan Lake with Lily

This time of year comes around more and more quickly, it seems. With three girls dancing recitals are a family affair that essentially eat up most of June. But I'm not complaining! Some of my best memories from childhood involve dancing, and I hope that my girls will have great experiences to remember.

Sasha finished her (gulp) 7th year of Ballet and her second year of Jazz. Lily took a year off of dance to try out gymnastics and did just great. Chloe is in her first year of dance, taking a combination ballet/tap class. Isaac says he wants to take tap next year, and I guess I'll have to arm wrestle Mike about that one. As broad-minded as he is about things, I'm not sure he's ready to have a son in dance lessons.

Sasha danced Swan Lake this year as a Spanish Dancer. Her class of girls are all on the verge of going on to pointe shoes next year, which is a BIG deal for those of you non-dancer types. She is a really beautiful dancer and it's such a shock to see this little kid get up on stage and reveal a completely unique and independent personality. When she dances she is bold and self-assured. And all of this is completley outside of me. It's all her. I think I'm okay with this.

Chloe, I must say, is probably more of a football player than a ballerina. She's built for soccer, or swimming, or rugby. The girl is sooo strong. But she is also beautiful and danced with so much personality. She loved tap more than ballet, which makes sense because it's noisy. As is Chloe.

The two bigs girls, Sasha and Lily, auditioned and were accepted into a children's theatre production of the Jungle Book! Missoula Children's Theatre travels around the country in the summer and does these one week workshops and then productions. Sasha was a Wolf Pup with a speaking part (!) and Lily was a monkey. They both worked really hard all week and then did a singing/dancing production that was great fun. I ordered the DVD so I'm sure to bore you all with the show when you visit!

Sun in Seattle and Swim Lessons

The sun is shining in Seattle! It's a beautiful first day of summer, with temperatures expected to reach the 80's! For my dear friends in Texas, I understand this is a cool spring day for you all (oops sorry, for ya'll) , but this is the height of hot sunny days for us! I've read posts from Gina and Arlene about the heat and I wilt just thinking about it! Remember you all have a cool place to visit whenever the heat gets too hot.

We're a week into swimming lessons for the three girls. They all love the water and can really swim like little tadpoles. Sasha was slow to catch on, but is now swimming the length of the pool and can do a variety of strokes. Lily just jumped in and hasn't stopped paddling since. Chloe, who is 4 now, is really a riot in the pool. She's fairly plump, which makes for a super swimmer. She truly does float!

Like most things Chloe does, she swims with passion. She puts her face in the water, starts kicking her feet, and just keeps going. She has to be reminded to come up for air! Her swim teacher talks to her as she goes down the pool lane and you can hear her saying "Breathe, Chloe! Breathe!" So she pops her face up for about 1/2 a second, gulps in some air, and goes back to it.

I like this about her. I like her determined personality and her persistent drive. Someone I live with may say that she's a lot like me. . . and I'd take it as a compliment if he did! She is a stubborn little thing. She wants her own way and works hard to get it. If you resist her she fights or cries, or both. (I'm pretty sure I'm talking about Chloe here. . .) But then she offers up the most incredible kisses and hugs, and has a longing for "snuggles" that surpasses even her longing to get her own way. If Chloe doesn't get her one on one holding, snuggling, talking time she really is a mess. You'd think being one of five that it may be hard for her to get that one on one time, but she certainly makes sure she does not get overlooked or left out. Her middle child personality has not left her "invisible" as some middle kids are called. Rather she has claimed her place and reminds us all pretty consistently that she is here to be adored. And she is.

Lemonade Stand

Do any of you remember the days before kids when you envisioned parenting as idyllic days of lemonade stands and children with general good will to all mankind? So perhaps I read too much as a child. Stories like The Little Princess and The Secret Garden left me discontent, even as a child, for what childhood could have been. Should have been.

And now I parent 5 kids, and I really do believe in the innocence of childhood. What I've come to discover, however, is that innocence does not equal goodness or mild manneredness or inherent other-centeredness. In some ways, innocence just means that my children think they are the first ones to do the thing (good or bad) that they are about to do!

Sasha and Lily bugged me and bugged me until I finally gave in and let them have a lemonade stand. I tried to put it off until Papa got home with the excuse that they needed him to carry the little table down the driveway. Oh me of little faith! 3 minutes later the girls had mixed lemonade, found cups, got a money cup, and pulled the table down the drive. They made name-tags for themselves and a sign asking 10 cents a cup. Good deal if you ask me!

What made this moment cute beyond words and heart-touching in a way worth blogging is this: Sasha and Lily had a second money cup set out with these words written on it: Fore Pore pepole. (Okay, now is not the time to comment on my teaching abilities.) They had decided to give part of their proceeds to a charity organization. Needless to say, everyone who stopped gave over and above the requested 10 cents.

When a customer asked who they money was going to, Sasha decided that Children's Hospital was a worthy recipient of their efforts. Our nephew was recently in Children's for a surgery and ever since then the hospital has taken on mythic proportions in our home. They ALL want to go now! It's like the Madeline story, "Boo hoo! We want our appendix out too!"

I have great kids. They have tender hearts and loving spirits. Their creativity and love of life inspires me to put down the vacuum and enjoy the lemonade!

Yard Work

Isaac loves to be outdoors. More than anything, he likes to be outdoors with his Papa!
He discovered the wheelbarrow this spring, and much like prehistoric man with his discovery of the wheel, Isaac is thrilled with himself!

Here he is helping Mike build a fence. Our backyard was fenced, but the front was open. Now the entire yard is connected and completely enclosed. This gives the kiddos lots more space to play and allows us not to annoy our backyard nazi-neighbor as much as we (allegedly) have been.

Isaac discovered the wheelbarrow and I discovered something I have long suspected: I have always believed that my husband loathed and despised yard work. However, he has always denied this to be true. It only took 15 years of marriage and owning 3 houses before he finally confessed to the truth I have always known: He Hates Yardwork!

That fact is what makes my fence even more special to me! This and a maple tree are what I asked for Mother's Day, and I got them both! Mike didn't believe that I really wanted a fence instead of a massage or jewelry. Those of you who know me may find this equally difficult to take in. . . but it's true!

Backyard Pool

10 Year College Reunion

Did I mention we went to Texas for our 10 Year College Reunion?

Sasha, Lily, Mike and I flew into Dallas and took that long and flat drive to Abilene. For those of you who know me, you know how shocking this news is. For those of you who don't know me that well yet, let's just say Texas and I did not get along very well. At all.

Driving away from Abilene after graduation was such a strange day for me. I cried and cried as I said goodbye to my many good friends and memories. At the same time, I heaved a sigh of relief to be heading West again. Water! Mountains! Trees! Halelujah!

So going back to Texas, on purpose, still surprises even me. We talked my sister and husband into going with us. Well, maybe they would have gone anyways, but since we all went together we got a free place to stay out of the deal since Chad's mother, Jane, lives in Abilene. She graciously put us all up, a total of 10 extra house guests!

We went to the Homecoming Parade and I cried through the whole thing. What was that all about!?! I felt very sentimental and proud of my Alma Mater and could even envision my children moving off to ACU for college. (And then I came to my senses: NO WAY are they moving that far away!)

We spent some wonderful time visiting with our dear friends the Kasselmans and their two children. It was great to catch up and realize that no matter how much time you spend apart, good friends pick up right where they left off after all these years. We were saddened not to connect with more of our friends from those years. The Robinson's could not make it, but we know their hearts were with us! Now they'll have to come to Washington, since we made the trek out to Texas! (That of course is an open invitation meant kindly and genuinely.)

An odd and overwhelming realization for me: We are ten years out of college and 9 years out until Sasha goes to college. 11 years until Lily goes. 8 years until Chloe goes. 7 years until Isaac goes. 6 years until Gabriel goes.

Response? Terror and relief. Simultaneously.

Spring Happenings

The Johnson 5 are gearing up for summer!

The count-down is on:

• 2 weeks until Lily's gymnastics performance.
• 3 more weeks of school!
• 3 weeks until our 15th Anniversary! (wow, how did that happen?)
• 4 weeks until swim lessons start.
• 5 weeks until Ballet/Jazz recitals for Sasha and Chloe.

The swimming pool is already put up in the backyard, which is sort of like tempting the Rain Gods if you live in Seattle. However, we had 3 days in a row when the temperatures hit the high 60's, and since that is basically as good as it gets in the Northwest, we brought out the shorts, tank tops, sun screen, and pool toys. I confess to having a sunburn.

My sweet husband has been working on the yard for me non-stop. It's not that he loves yard work or anything. (He finally confessed after 15 years of marriage that he hates yard work. I've known it all along :) ) But he prefers working in the sunshine than in the rain, and so he put up a new fence that encloses the whole yard and then we puled up about 2 tons of ancient junipers. Those things of from the dark side. I hate them. They are dead now.

Summer in Seattle is an odd thing. We come out from the woods (sometimes literally) with flesh white and ghostly. And although it's only in the mid-60's, everywhere you look we are wearing sandals and tank tops. Within a day or two of sunshine, you start to notice that the white ghostly shades have been replaced by a vibrant pink. I'm not sure which is worse. . .

But it is a beautiful place to live and spring doesn't get any greener anywhere in the world. We'll spend the next few months leaving work early, taking 3 day weekends, skipping church, calling in sick to work, and generally making the most of absolutely every sunny day. By August we'll be complaining about the heat and running our fans non-stop. Air conditioning? What's that?

Wherever you are spending this spring, I hope you enjoy it as much as us Washingtonians do ours!

Family Photographs

I have discovered something about myself: I hate bad pictures. Call it vain, call it snobby, I'm sure you'd be right. But, what can I say? This picture is just awful.

So the question is: Why post it?

Well, to be truthful, I think it's a funny picture. You know how Olan Mills comes into churches and does their directory, and tries to sell you their pictures? That's what this is. So, this picture is what will go down in history for our church. This is what we'll be remembered by and this is what people who don't know us will see and this is what the other kids will make fun of when they see it. It's ripe for mocking, if you ask me.

Despite it's less than quality portrayal, it also is amazing in how utterly it misses the personality of every single person in the shot. But what can you do? Free is free.

Boys and Trucks

Isaac (left) and Gabriel (right) love their trucks. In addition to trucks, they also love: sticks, guns, dirt, noise, balls, jumping, yelling, and climbing.

What a shock after 3 girls! I was telling a friend earlier today, that God knew I needed these boys because before they came along, I thought I knew all about parenting.

Humility comes in many forms. My humility takes on the form of 2 and 3 year old boys.

Not only humility, but also joy and fun and playing in brand new ways. I learn a lot from these guys!

Washington Winter

Occasionally we get some snow around here. Not much, mind you, and it doesn't last for long when it does snow. But we make the most of it when it does snow!

Mike took the kids up to Snoqualmie Pass, which is a great place to go play in the snow almost all winter long. They had a great time sledding together, while I stayed home and had a quite morning to myself!

The first two pictures are from our yard, the third is at Snoqualmie Pass. Notice the look on Gabriel's face. . . He spent most of the time in the van with the heater on!

Catching Up

Hello all! It has been brought to my attention that I am extremely delinquent in my posting. What can I say? 5 kids!

Well, here is an update for all of you who faithfully follow the 5JohnsonKids.
October 2005: Chloe turned 4! This crazy kid has not stopped moving since the day she turned 1. (She was sooooo sweet and QUIET up this then.)
November 2005: Lily turned 7. My sweet Lily is so smart, so tall, and so helpful. She is doing gymnastics this year and loves it. She really is strong and built for a competetive sport.
November 2005: Sasha turned 9. I'm not sure how this happened, but all of the sudden she is in 3rd grade, having sleep overs, wanting her ears pierced, and truly a delightful person.
December 2005: Christmas. . . . . I survived.
January 2006: I turned 35. Mike turned 37. We both are hoping to age gracefully.
February 2006: This was a great month. Mike and I took 8 days vacation and went to Boston and Washington DC. We spent a few days with my sister Amanda and her husband Ben at their new home outside of Boston. We had a wonderful time catching up with them, saw their adorable apartment, their campus at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and doing the tourist thing in Boston. As great as the visit was, now I miss Amanda more than ever and can't wait for them to wander back to the west coast.
We then went to DC for the National Prayer Breakfast and had an amazing time. We met some wonderful people from all over the world, spent a day or two being tourists in DC, visited my Aunt Kathy, and saw the President and First Lady at the Breakfast. Bono was the keynote speaker and really challenged the Christian world to be serious about living out the gospel to the orphans and the widows. This group of people seem to concentrate in the continent of Africa in the AIDS ravaged communities. His call to service was timely and godly.
February 2006: The Johnson Grandparents came to Seattle to watch the kids when we went to DC. What amazing people! They loved on the kids, kept house, got the girls to dance, made it to church, and even managed to sleep! We are eternally grateful for Richard and Betty, who certainly qualify for "Best Grandparents in the World."

Well, that's my recap. In addition to all of the family stuff, we also have made some good friends at our new church.

We've been blessed by the friendship of Terry and Marrell Greutman who open their homes to us each week, and we've so appreciate the phone calls and emails of Arlene Kasselman, Michele Harris (after more than 10 years!) and the tremendous joy of watching Micah, Samuel, Joseph, and Elijah get bigger.

Sasha's Portrait of Grandma as a Bride

Sasha adores brides. She saw a black and white picture of her Grandma Betty as a bride and this is her representation of the portrait. For those of you who know the picture, you may notice what a great imitation she did!

In addition to adoring brides, Sasha absolutely loves her Grandma. She tells me often that when she is grown she's planning on moving to California to live with Grandma. I think that sounds like a superb plan!

Lily Johnson's Night-House

Lily Rene’ Johnson September 2, 2005 Night-House


Lily is a great artist. Her pictures are a unique combination of reality and imagination. We are studying the moon, stars, and sun in science right now, and so her pictures reflect what she is learning. What I like about this picture especially is the way the windows are orange, showing light from within the house at night.

Lily takes great pride in her art-work and shares her drawings with people as a special gift. If you’ve ever received one of Lily’s pictures, you know that it is a gift of love and of her heart. Consider yourself blessed!

Brothers-In-Law and Family Rules

It has been brought to my attention that I am also the fortunate relative of two fantastic brothers-in-law (brother-in-laws?). I humbly accept the rebuke and gratefully acknowledge my blessings.

Ben, the newest addition to our family, is responsible for this timely reminder. I might point out that being the newest addition to our family, he obviously doesn't know the number one family rule: Don't be a smart-alek. Actually, that might be Rule Number Two. Rule Number One is: Don't mock your sister-in-law.

With that said, I would like to thank him for all of the many ways he is rocking this family boat. Any man who can love my sister the way he does is more than welcome aboard. It is a delight to see him challenge her, comfort her, confront her, and love her with such consistency and passion. How could anyone not adore someone who clearly adores my sister so much?

The other brother-in-law is Chad. What a guy. He is not unlike Ben in his consistent and persistent flouting of Rule Number One. He keeps me in check, and in stitches. If I had to choose one thing about him that I enjoy the most (which would be a hard task) it would be the way he laughs until he cries. I've looked over at him on a number of occasions to see tears running down his face as he is laughing at something that just hit him the right way. I've never known anyone else to do this, and it really means the world to me. It makes me laugh harder, but also it makes me appreciate the beauty of that moment even more. It makes me pay attention more closely to the experience, the joy, the guffaws and snorts.

Like I've already said, I'm a lucky woman. I love and am loved by some pretty fantastic people.

Amanda's Wedding

I am the lucky big sister of Amanda and Randi. Despite all the grief I've dished out over the years as the overbearing and bossy older sister, they still love me and fill my life with amazing friendship and wonderful times together.

My sister Amanda (The Bride) started this blogging ordeal, or rather her husband Ben did. (Check out teamlanghans.blogspot.com) They have recently treked crosscountry to begin seminary at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. Great, just what this family needs, two more theologians!

As I said to Amanda the other night, I miss her tremendously and have come to the realization that the unique role she plays in my life is that of Trouble Maker. Everybody needs someone in their life who instigates crazy ideas, or who at least is ready and eager to go along with crazy ideas! Amanda is my eager, crazy, sister and I am missing the opportunities to be silly with her.

Randi is my sane sister. Better said, Randi is my sanity. Don't misunderstand, she is equally fun and adventuresome (any mother of 4 boys has to be) but she is also a calm and lovely woman. People have often said to me after getting to know Randi, "She's really funny!" As if I didn't know this! She's my best kept secret.

I am truly blessed to have such sisters. They make me laugh, make me cry, and hold my feet to the fire like only those who truly love you ever do.

Sasha Anne

This lovely young lady is Sasha Anne. I find it simply astonishing that she is about to turn 9.

I look at this picture and see the hints of the beautiful woman she will someday be. Already she is quite a lady.

As a person, she possesses such charm. She is the social butterfly of the family (outside of her Mama and Papa, of course). Sasha takes very seriously her role in planning for any event our family may undertake. If someone is coming for dinner, she hustles around to set the table with the "pretty tablecloth" instead of the "just family tablecloth." She wants the candles lighted and the pretty napkins. She thinks of special music for the evening, and usually will rope her sisters Lily and Chloe into preparing a performance for the guests. She is all about entertaing.

What I love about this is how much it mirrors my own heart. Sasha gets as excited about baby showers or bridal showers as I do! Besides the purely narcissistic aspect of my enjoyment, I also admire this trait in Sasha because it shows her love for others, her desire to serve and please, and a heart that gets filled and blessed through interaction with others. She understands and experiences community in a way that most of us have ceased to do. She still gets her hopes up, she still gets butterflies about meeting new friends, she still gets heartbroken when people let her down. My prayer for her is that this tenderness does not grow hardened as people (me) disappoint her.

Gabriel's Adoption Day

This handsome man is Gabriel Richard Johnson. He doesn't know it yet, but his middle name honors another handsome man, his Grandfather Richard Johnson. If Mike and I were the "fertile type" we'd call Gabriel our "oops baby." Suffice it to say, we were not planning on 3 children under 3!

We received a phone call from the state the week we finalized our older son's adoption, informing us that his biological brother was about to become legally free and that because we had already adopted his brother, we had the option of choosing to adopt Gabriel, too. With my heart beating very loudly, I called Mike at work and told him the news. Fully prepared to hear him say all the wise and appropriate things about finances, stress, our large family already, etc. I was stunned to tears to hear him say, "Well, I guess we'd better let them know we'll take him." What a man. What an amazing, big hearted, brave man.

We went to court to finalize Gabriel's adoption 6 short months after he came home. Now that we're old hands at this, we were able to relax and dress up in Hawaiian Theme for this adoption day. Who'd have thought we would have so many adoption days that we would distinguish them by what we wore!?! Our Judge, a man named Judge Wilkins, was himself one of 7 children. He was so kind and supportive of our family that he really made the day special for us.

Spring 2005 Ballet Recital: Cinderella

These beautiful ladies danced their hearts out in the ballet Cinderella this spring.
Sasha finished her 5th year of ballet in 2005. In case that doesn't seem amazing, consider the fact that she's been dancing longer than she's been: reading, riding a bike, brushing her own teeth, sleeping through the night, and going to school.
Lily has also been dancing since she was 3. This is her third year of ballet and she danced beautifully in Cinderella. Her slender and tall body make it hard for people to believe she is only 6! She's begging to begin gymnastics, however, and she seems to have the courage and strength of an athlete. Mama will accept this gracefully. I will.