E.A.S.T.E.R.

Happy Easter Friends and Family (and if there happens to be a random reader or two out there... you'll fall into the "friends" category).

E is for EGGS:  Turns out Jake and Luke both prefer the "mini eggs" (the chocolate ones) over the REAL DEAL hard boiled and decorated eggs.  Imagine that. If you have never swept egg yolk off of the floor you should try it.... good times.

A is for ANTICIPATION:  After all of the waiting and talking about the possibility of the Easter Bunny coming to our house, Jake woke up very confused.  He thought that the toys were from mommy's school and that the Easter Bunny was outside.  Jake spent a bit of time in front of the window yelling at the Easter Bunny.  "Hi Big Daddy Easter Bunny, I can't see you.... I'm right here... see my new haircut?"  He then told me that we needed to go in the van so that we could drive to Daddy Easter Bunny's house. Later in the day he asked if the Easter Bunny would be coming soon.  Too cute.  

S is for SWEEPING:  Chris must do A LOT of sweeping.... because seriously, I have not cleaned up after the kids this much in my life.  My little sweeping fairy must do that job a lot more than I realized.  I fill a dust pan after each meal.. which leaves me wondering how these kids continue to grow.  Must be a miracle. 

T is for THANKFUL:  There are obvious things to be thankful for... and I (almost) always am... but I'm talking about the extras.  Maybe you called to check up on us while Chris is away.... maybe you came by with Sushi.... maybe you spoiled our kids rotten this Easter.... maybe you're just awesome in general. Either way... I'm THANKFUL.

E is for EXCITED:  I'm excited to see Chris.... 3 more sleeps.  Missing him a lot (and NOT just because he sweeps and cooks).

R is for REFLECTION:  Take a moment to reflect on the TRUE meaning of Easter.  Take a minute to watch the following video.

EASTER LINEBACKER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgNZ7RmNBX8

The Wonders of Technology

I'm just testing this out to see if it's possible to post to the blog from my iPhone. I guess if you can read this we'll know if it's possible or not.

I'm going to try and add a photo too. Let's see what happens.

PS: I'm REALLY starting to miss Chris... A lot. His arrival can't come soon enough.

Photo Review

iLove the iPhone camera... so handy to capture moments like this:


1. I started my day with this:

Notice that I went to bed at 1am and got up at 6..... GREAT PLANNING, right?



2.  My lack of sleep led to this:

If you guessed that the purple substance is a full smoothie dumped on the floor of my van YOU ARE RIGHT!!  Seriously, a cup holder would have been the smarter choice.



3.  So, then.......

Regal Services to the rescue.  $84 well spent dollars later, my van looks BRAND NEW!  Woo Hoo.  So, ladies, if you want your vehicle detailed and can't convince your hubby, just spill a blueberry/yogurt smoothie in the vehicle and you'll have no other choice.  BOO YA!!



4.  And since my vehicle was getting cleaned, Jake got this experience:

He pushed that thing ALL THE WAY home and refused to let me help.  And, by "refused," I mean FREAKED OUT when I tried to steer it so he didn't run into a light post.  Poor Luke probably has whiplash.  ;)  Good thing he's resilient.



5.  So, logically, this was the only way to end my day:

Good night.

A-HA MOMENTS

"They" say that you learn something new everyday.... who ever "they" are.  But today I think I learned more than one new thing.

How about a recap:

1. The "Easter Story" is just too deep for preschoolers.  I don't care how much you water it down, they just can't understand.  Heck, it's hard for most adults to fathom.
2. Cooking just really isn't my thing... reason # 72394827 that I need Chris.  I got creative at dinner time.... and, well, it failed.  Who wouldn't want chicken breasts drizzled with maple syrup and crushed pecans?  Sounds GREAT, right?  Jacob kept saying, "Mommy, why you making waffles?"  So I told him it was "waffle chicken."  He hated it.  I hated it.  Luke threw it on the floor.  The syrup bubbled and burnt in the first 7 minutes in the oven.  YUCK!! After supper Jake said, "daddy is a really good cooker, isn't he mom?"  The boy is one smart cookie.
3. Easter basket grass and 3-year-olds just aren't compatible... duh?!  I should have known this.  Instead, I learned the lesson the hard way and now have little pieces of blue plastic all over my house.  Great!
4. I'm gonna lose our hockey pool.  :(            Chris... check out the picture below.
5. Sometimes all it takes to make someone's day is $4.00.  Let me explain...... I was at Wal-Mart... in the longest checkout line ever.  The cashier was mumbling under her breath, "I know I should have grabbed some water... I'm parched... gonna be one of 'those' days."  So I went to McDonald's and got her a bottle of water and an iced coffee and took it back to checkout #18.  You should have seen that lady smile.  She jumped out and gave me a huge hug and got a little teary.  She said, "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me" (which I don't believe).  She marched me over to the manager's desk to tell them how I had saved her shift.  Really, it took nothing... but felt so good to bless a stranger in such a simple way.  
6. Speaking of blessing strangers... have you met my husband?  He's amazing.  Read about his current adventure at www.linkhaititrip.blogspot.com.  Today he was sending me texts telling me how hot it is and how hard they were working.  He said, "wow, manual labour is hard work."  I started thinking about the team in Haiti.... and all that they are experiencing.  And I was really struck by the thought that these are a group of educated, skilled, smart people and they are out in the humid heat carrying bricks one by one and making cinder blocks by hand.  There are nurses, X-Ray techs, Unit clerks, teachers, etc on the team.  But they are not helping in a medical centre or in a school... they are BUILDING these places.  It made me realize that when the call for help is there, we need to respond... and not take the time to decide where our "skills" could be best utilized.  

Well, the rambling is complete.  Good night moon.  This 4 second video clip will show you Jake's new trick.  

:)

Your Landing Gear is DOWN!

The title will only be funny to you if you are a Wayne's World addict like me. :)

CHRIS' TEAM MADE IT SAFELY TO HAITI... WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!  For their updates check www.linkhaititrip.blogspot.com.  I was hoping to get a little "face time" in on the iPhone tonight... but they are only allowed to have one device hooked up to the wifi at once.  So the whole team is wrestling for time on the iPad.... and, to be honest, Chris' wrestling skills aren't what they used to be.  ;)The connection is shoddy... and time is limited.  He's been sending me texts... but each one comes through 3 times.  At this rate, he'll burn through his 250 international texts in 2 days.  Oh well.  Communication with those you love doesn't have a price tag.

So... for CHRIS (the rest of you might not care... who am I kidding.... Chris might not either)..... Here is the summary of our adventures for today:

After work it was nappy time for Pookie and school time for Jake.  I tried desperately not to fall asleep, but there was no hope.  Jake had a GREAT day at school.  And Luke's walking skills are really improving.  I think he'll be running a marathon with you this summer.  If nothing else, he'll be ripping up the tennis courts.  :)  We went to run some errands after picking Jake up.  I don't know what I was thinking taking the kids to a 3-stop shopping excursion in a freezing drizzle storm.  We hit up Michael's (made it to their public washroom just in time... phew), Winners (with looking eyes and quiet hands) and "Lungen Drugs."  Jake was in charge of pushing the cart and only caused 3 accidents and one major traffic jam.  Mickey Dee's for supper and a visit with Kori (with a kahlua capp) to top off the day.

Now off to laundry, returning phone calls and toy pick-up.  Here are a few pictures from the last 2 days.

LOVE YOU.  MISS YOU.  PROUD OF YOU.  XOXO

We Be BLOGGIN'

I've had a bad case of "blog brain" for a while now...  but have always thought that it would just be one more thing on my to-do list that wouldn't get "to DONE."  So... maybe you're asking why you're here?  Well, the leader of Team Johnston (I say that to boost his ego.... but we all know who really drives the Team Johnston bus.. ha ha ha) is away on a great adventure.  And as much as we want to keep up to date on his adventures, we want him to keep up to date on ours.  So here it is.... THE OFFICIAL TEAM JOHNSTON BLOG.  

To watch Chris' journey unfold, please visit: linkhaititrip.blogspot.com . His team will be working at Haiti Arise for 9 days in Grand Goave, Haiti.  Please pray for safety.  Please pray for health.  Please pray for them to make a lasting impact in the community there.  Thanks for your love and support.