Visit with Santa

A few weeks ago Chelsea took the kids to the mall and Santa was there so they wanted to tell him what they wanted. Tayson asked for a silver bell (we're not sure if he got nervous or what happened), Luke asked for a frog (but not a real-one he said), and of course Claire didn't ask for anything.

So earlier this week Tayson told us that he needed to talk to Santa again because he asked for a sliver bell but really he wanted a Transformer, Bumblebee of course the hardest one to find. So we took the kids yesterday to see Santa and got a picture too. So Tayson told Santa that he wanted a Transformer and made sure to tell him that it was Bumblebee he wanted. Then Santa asked Luke what he wanted for Christmas and Luke said "i want a f-f-f-f-frog". Now you might think he was stuttering, but he was working on his pronunciation even though he almost always says the "f" sound right. Because we correct him on his "L", "R", and "CH" sound he has started sounding out the beginning of every word. It was hilarious. After Santa and some sweet mall food court lunch we let the kids ride the train. They loved it.


The other great part about this season is all the fun stuff that I get to do. Besides completing 95% of my shopping in a 24 hour period, I got to address, stuff and stamp all the Christmas cards today, mail packages (hopefully they'll make it on time), go buy sub-for-Santa presents, deliver neighbor gifts, and bake cookies. There are some bright lights that you get this time of the season too. For instance, the Salvation Army man outside of Smith's today told me he loved me when I gave him a little cash - it's been a long time since a strange man has told me he loves me. :) I love this time of the year!!!

100 Things about Me

Today at Todd's work Christmas party we were discussing blogs and someone at the table was talking about putting a list of 100 things about yourself on your blog and how hard it is....so here's my shot at it. I'll write at the bottom how hard it was:

1. Full Name - Katharine Ann (Schultz) now Johnson
2. I was born in Tucson, AZ
3. I'm a Virgo
4. I love to read my horoscope :)
5. I'm 4th of 10 children
6. I'm married to Todd David Johnson
7. I was born the same year as my husbands car when we got married
8. I have black hair (naturally, and now I have to say I dye it, but only to cover the grey)
9. I am 5'9 (and the tallest of all the Schultz sisters)
10. I danced from the time I was 3 until I was 20
11. I love to read (and can be slightly obsessive compulsive with a good book)
12. My favorite TV show right now is "Heroes"
13. I have 3 children (2 boys and a girl)
14. I wanted a small family of 6 kids when I came to college (ha ha ha)
15. I graduated from Francis Howell High School in 1990
16. I graduated from BYU
17. I have a bachelor's of science in geography with an emphasis in Travel and Tourism
18. At one point in my life I had every airport code in the US memorized :)
19. I was a flight attendant for TWA when I was 19
20. I lived in NY when I was 19
21. I have been to Europe 5 times (hopefully more to come)
22. I lived in Paris my senior year in High School
23. I had 4 jobs the summer when I was 16
24. I worked at Six Flags Amusement Park
25. I met "Warrant" and took the singer and drummer to the St. Louis Arch (I have very scary pictures to prove it)
26. I never listened to "Warrant" before or after meeting them
27. I LOVE disco music
28. I went disco skating every weekend for 3 years in my BYU days
29. I had my first kiss when I was 16 (and I don't remember his name)
30. I had my only serious boyfriend before Todd when I was 19 - big Mark :)
31. I have a small birthmark on the back of my left leg (it looks like dirt)
32. I have a freckle on my chin that people always think is food on my face (I have had people try to rub it off before)
33. I have 100's of freckles and more every time I go in the sun
34. I have little or no patience
35. I am slightly claustrophobic and hate it when people touch me
36. I hate Wal-Mart (due mainly to #35)
37. I never had a zit in high school and since childbirth have way too many
38. I gained 50 pounds with my first pregnancy and almost weighed as much as Todd (thank goodness for sympathy weight gain)
39. Tayson and Luke both cracked my rib during pregnancy
40. I have an extra lumbar vertebrae in my back
41. I have 2 degenerated discs in my low back
42. I love Todd's eyes (they have been called puppy dog eyes before....and I must agree)
43. I have hazel eyes
44. I haven't left the house since junior high without my toe nails painted
45. I don't really like feet (thus #44)
46. I love getting pedicures
47. I keep my toe nails very short (which drives people at the salon crazy)
48. I don't have real pinkie toenails (it's called the "Wetzel" toenail by my family)
49. I always crack my knuckles (drives most people crazy)
50. I don't bite my nails
51. I haven't had a cavity since I came to college
52. I do have one crown though - yuck
53. I got my wisdom teeth out my senior year
54. I had braces for under a year on my top teeth only
55. I was supposed to have them on the bottom but I knocked them all off (on purpose) the day before my Dr. put the wire in - my bad!
56. My favorite vacation of all times was Tahiti with Todd
57. I don't like seafood
58. I hate fish swimming towards me underwater or touching me in the lake
59. I like to water ski
60. I can't backup a trailer
61. I got my drivers license on my 16th birthday
61. My first car accident was the same day - I hit a cemetery entrance gate on the way to a HS football game.
62. I was on drill team for 2 years in HS
63. I ran Cross Country for 2 years in HS
64. The cross country team I ran on won state my sophomore year in HS - Go Vikings!
65. I gave up running after my sister Sherry graduated from HS - and took it back up in college to stay in shape
66. I have done 8 triathlons
67. I finished my first half-marathon this summer
68. I finished my first century bike ride this summer (111 miles)
69. I love riding my bike (especially my new bike)
70. I teach spin at Gold's Gym (7 years now)
71. I taught spin on Claire's due date (she was born 3 days later)
72. I don't like mushrooms
73. I don't like tomatoes
74. I love Mexican food and could eat it every day
75. I have a "map" tongue so I can't eat spicy foods
76. I am allergic to most nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc)
77. I LOVE pecans and got hives when I was a kid from eating too many
78. I have the best workout buddies in the whole world
79. I work full-time at Nu Skin (14 years now)
80. I met my husband at work
81. I kissed my husband after our first real date :)
82. I gain all my weight around my waist
83. I have been asked more than 5 times if I was prego when I wasn't
84. I idolize my older sister Sherry and want to be like her when I grow up
85. I drive a jeep (and have since I was 19)
86. My favorite color of clothing is black
87. I double pierced my own ear in HS - don't worry it's grown in now
88. I have managed to return to pre-marriage weight after all 3 kids
89. I haven't been able to smell since my first pregnancy - what a blessing with small kids
90. I lived in Missouri from 7 years old until I came to BYU
91. All co-workers know when I'm having a bad day by my pony tail
92. Ice cream is my weakness
93. I have the best family in the entire world (immediate and extended)
94. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (closely followed by Halloween...who doesn't love dressing up as anything you want)
95. I have lots of stretch marks from pregnancy
96. I can't wait until I can get my tummy tuck
97. I have the best calling in church ever - I teach Relief Society once a month
98. I get stressed easily
99. I cry at the drop of a hat
100. I love blogging!

Christmas - the best time of the year?

I'm by no means a Grinch and I love this holiday....I'm just a slacker so it always hits me way too hard. Basically I haven't bought one Christmas present yet and I still have to do all my Christmas cards too. I'm always bad, but this year is even worse than ever because of the cruise (which was worth the stress I'll be feeling for the next 2 weeks). In order to prepare for the whirlwind shopping I'm going to have to do this weekend I have put together an excel spreadsheet with every one's names I have to get something for, what they are getting, who it is from (i.e, me, Todd, the kids, the man in red) and where to get it. I am hoping this will cut down on extra spending (probably not...I'm a sucker when I see something that someone just "has to have") and it should also help with the need for speed. I really do envy those of you out there who start shopping in the summer and finish on the day after Thanksgiving. It must make this holiday a lot more fun. I will say I have cut a big stress out this year due to lack of time .... no hand-made presents from Kathy this year. Todd is lucky that he won't have to help me with last minute crafts for once. I always bite off more than I can chew and he ends up sawing, gluing, painting and nailing for me.

Next year I'll do better!!!

Nu Skin Christmas Party

Last night was our Nu Skin Christmas Party - it is my favorite part about working here. It's a lot more laid back than it was when I started working here 14 years ago. Back then it was a formal sit down dinner - and my roommates and I would stress out about finding a date and buying a new dress and making sure everything was perfect. Now it's more casual and thank goodness I have a permanent date who also enjoys the festivities. The owners always get up on stage and do a prize drawing with lots of great prizes and you usually have the option to "pick a pocket" and hope for some good cash. Last night there were only a few pockets but if you got called up you could sing karaoke and earn from $100 - $1000 depending on if you sang and knew all 4 songs. Talk about hilarious! Thank goodness I didn't have to go up and humiliate myself - I can sing a little on a good day and do rather well in the car when I'm by myself. But put me on a stage in front of all my co-workers and I would freeze with nerves and be way off key! Then after prizes they had an "Ugliest Sweater Contest" - there were some pretty bad sweaters. I'll add some pictures when they are posted.

And of course the best part about working here is how generous they are with our gifts. We got some great products, a paid day off, a portable DVD player and 2 weeks pay. I love this place!!!

Cruise Destinations

We had 4 ports on our cruise: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk. There are so many pictures from each of these destinations so I am only going to put a couple of pictures from each destination in here and if you want to see more you can go here.

Half Moon Cay: This is a small uninhabitable (no fresh water) island in the Bahamas that is owned by Carnival. We just hung out on the beach and swam in the ocean. Todd and David snorkeled a little, but for the most part we just relaxed and enjoyed the sun and sand.



St. Thomas: The boys went scuba diving on this island while Kami and I hung out at the beach being waited on hand and foot by all the local cabana boys. I swear they would do anything for a couple of bucks :) We snorkeled at the beach then headed back to town for a little shopping. Lots and lots of stores, but unless you're planning on buying liquor, cigarettes, cigars, perfume or jewelry there isn't much to buy.





San Juan, Puerto Rico: This was a great destination. We decided to do a self-guided walking tour of the island which sounded a little sketchy to me at first but ended up being a blast. We spent time in the gardens at Casa Blanca and lots of time at the Fort of Morro - which was amazing. I didn't think we'd ever get David and Todd out of there. Then we went to lunch at "Barrachina" the home of the pina colada then back to the ship.





Grand Turk: We did an excursion on this island called "Reef and Rays". They took us out to the reef and we snorkeled for a while - there were lots of fish and 2 barracuda's there. Then we headed over to a little sand bar and swam with the stingrays ... well actually there was only 1 that was there, but they said there have been as many as 400 at other times. It was fun to feed the stingray and I even gave it a little kiss on the video. Maybe I'll post it in a few weeks when we get it in the mail. Then we ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margharitaville restaurant, hung out at the beach and shopped a little. Todd got a sweet new watch while were were here (which is his main Christmas present). This was probably my favorite of all the ports we stopped at.

Our Cruise - Carnival Triumph

This post is about our cruise ship. We sailed on the Carnival Triumph. There was so much to do on the ship - lots of food, games, great staff and shows to mention a few of my favorites.



The Entertainment: There were lots of fun shows and games on the ship every night. We all participated and got medals, ships on sticks and Kami even got a bottle of champagne. We played "Family Feud", "Name that Tune", "Battle of the Sexes", and "Liar Liar" to name a few. There were great dancing and singing shows, a magic show and comedian.



The Food: This is always a big part of a cruise and we took full advantage of all the eating you can do on a ship. Todd and David loved the pizzeria and NY deli that were open 24 hours a day. And we all enjoyed the 24 hour soft serve ice cream on board. Our waiter was great and took good care of us the whole trip. Every night Todd would drink his water so fast they were constantly refilling his glass. So after a couple nights of that they started giving him 2 glasses of water.




The Lido Deck: There was lots to do on deck: pools, mini-golf, a slide, live music, and beautiful sunsets to name a few. One of the funniest things on the ship were the people of course, and we had some real gems on our ship. I put on a picture of an absolutely crazy boy that was on our cruise. He was always dancing and acting like a rapper and one night on deck his dad was by him for a few minutes then after he left the kid turned to Todd and said "my dad is so embarrassing" which made me laugh out loud because the kid was insane.



The Service: What can I say except that our service was great on the ship. We had a great crew serving us. One fun thing they did was that every night when we were at dinner they would do a turn-down service and leave a fun folded towel, the next days events and 2 mints on our bed. Here is one of our favorite towel creations - a monkey.

A Schultz Thanksgiving

What a fun Thanksgiving we had. All the kids were here except Mark of course and we missed Mom...but she had to help her sister so we understand. We decided to start out the day with a fun (and slightly competitive) turkey trot. There were 36 of us in the different events (4 mile run, 2 mile walk and kids races). It was a freezing morning - in the low 30's the whole time, but we managed to have a good time anyways. Some of the highlights are that Danny finally beat Sherry in a race (but not by very much). Danny took 2nd in his age group in 25:29. Sherry took first in her age group in 25:55. I squeezed out third in my age group in 31:40 (my PR since High School...woo hoo). Cody took first in the men's division of the walk and George took third. And Audrey took first in Girls 3-4 years old with a 400 meter run in 2:27. Full results are on the website.



We decided it would be fun to get shirts made for the turkey trot with our numbers on the back. The hardest decision was of course what to do with Mom and Dad since we kids have always been 1-10. So they ended up as 0 and 00. Numbers are based on when you came into the family and so far we are up to "38" which was pinned onto Jeannie's tummy for her new baby boy.




We also ate dinner....and what a dinner it was. Everyone helped out and it ended up DELICIOUS. The only close call was when Dad broke the glass bowls right over the turkey Todd was carving. Thank goodness the turkey was still tasty even after being rinsed with water.




And what kind of Thanksgiving would it be without lots of computer gaming? Todd, Timmy and Dad spent the two weeks before Thanksgiving setting up the basement and getting everything ready for the big weekend. Every day and every night the computers were filled with people playing non-stop.

Claire's 18 Month Checkup

Today Claire had her 18 month checkup with Dr. Baird. She is 32" long (75th percentile) and is weighing in at 22.5 pounds (25th percentile) - tall and skinny :) Her head is in the 75th as well - so she is taking after Luke more than Tayson in head size. All in all she is pretty healthy and for the first time ever her ears looked great.

The funniest part of the appointment was Luke of course. He LOVES the doctors office and the nurse absolutely loves him because he's so silly and isn't afraid of anything. When he went to Claire's 12 month appointment he asked her if he could get shots too. Then a few months later when he turned 3 he was so excited for his shots and didn't make a peep or cry when he got two. Right when she finished he just looked at her and said "see, I'm not scared". She just cracked up. So today when we were there he wanted to get checked and get more shots which made her smile. Then I said "Luke you should be a doctor when you grow up" and he said as serious as could be "But I really, really want to be a robot". Which just cracked me up. He is so funny.

Luke Skywalker

As most of you know Todd is a HUGE star wars fan. He even claims we named Luke after Luke Skywalker, I however still claim it's from the Bible. Luke believes his daddy though and is very attached to Luke Skywalker. Yesterday after church Todd decided to put on "Return of the Jedi". The boys love watching movies downstairs. The entire movie every time Luke Skywalker was on the screen our Luke would say "it's me" or "he's going to kill me" or "i beat him" every time Luke Skywalker did anything. It was so funny. Poor Luke has had the line "Luke, I am your father" said to him so many times. Good thing he idolizes a Jedi Knight. :)

Happy Halloween

We had a fun day yesterday dressing up and playing all day. Tayson had a fun party at school then I took the kids to lunch and they came to work with me. As usual Nu Skin went all out for Halloween. It's hilarious to see so many adults get so into the holiday. I was a bumblebee and Claire was a ladybug, Tayson was Spider man and Luke was the Incredible Hulk (or creble hulk hands as he calls it).

The boys are ready to head out for trick or treating. Tayson rode his razor scooter and we took Claire and Luke in the stroller. Half the time we were carrying Claire, the boys were in the stroller or one of us was riding the scooter for Tayson.

Claire didn't go up to one house - she just sat in the stroller happy as could be until the end when it started to get a little cold and past her bedtime. Then we had to carry her. She did get a few treats though and thought she was in heaven. Reece's Peices are her favorite. She says "bite....peeaaase" or does the sign for "more" then pounds here chest with a "please".







Jeannie and Trent came by to see the kids before they took off. They caught us out on the road and it made the boys day to see them. They love Jeannie and Trent - of course seeing Trent in a fur loin cloth was a bit scary...but the kids don't know any better. :)

Luke's Arm

We had quite a scare last night. Apparently, Tayson pushed Luke off the slide in the basement and Luke landed on his right arm. We were pretty sure it was broken from his 15 minutes of straight screaming and the fact that he would move his fingers or anything. We decided to take him to instacare around 8:00 pm - just as the pumpkin carving was coming to an end. Luke missed the lighting of the pumpkins because he was screaming so hard. So Todd and David gave him a blessing and he finally calmed down and we took him in - he fell asleep on the 15 minute drive and was perfect the whole time we were there. They took 2 x-rays and luckily he didn't have a break or fracture, just a bad sprain.

He still won't use his right arm and we are icing it and doing Motrin for the pain. This morning he came in to the room with his right hand over his head and said "look mommy I can do it" then Tayson said "I think he should get a special prize" and tried talking me into giving them one of Luke's special prizes set aside for when he decides to finally potty train. I didn't fall for it though.

4th Annual Pumpkin Carving

Last night we had our annual pumpkin carving FHE. It started 4 years ago with Jeannie, Trent, Todd, Tayson and I and has grown every year. This year was by far the biggest.



Grandpa was in charge of Lexie's pumpkin - and she wanted one with 2 bats. As you can see one of the bats came off from a few wrong cuts with the knife. Good thing grandpa is so good with toothpicks. Don't worry we can barely see them when it's dark.



The kids had a blast carving, eating and playing. I think Tayson ate 8 pumpkin bars last night!!! Claire didn't do anything but walk around and pretend to shoot us with her gun.



Some sweet shots of everyone working hard on their pumpkins. I took lots of pictures because Luke and I won for the fastest pumpkin - his was very simple and easy. :)



And the final product. Thank goodness most of these will not be on my porch for the rest of the week. What would I do with all those pumpkins!!!

Claire

Yes she is our princess. Baby #3 and a girl. What can I say I spoil her rotten and I love buying her clothes, shoes and jewerly. She is a big fan of jewerly too - she would only crawl for the "bling" - when Timmy would take off his big shiny watch she would crawl across the room. Otherwise she didn't bother to move much at first.


Of course growing up with 2 big brothers hasn't always been easy for her, especially with Luke only 20 months older than her. She had sippy cups and books thrown at her from the day she got home from the hospital. Now she is tough and can hold her own. I have seen her push Tayson down when he bothers her and she walks around the house making gun sounds and shooting spider webs out of her hands saying "pssss" just like the boys. It's time for me to buy her a doll I think.



Claire turns 18 months old in a few weeks and still only has her 2 bottom teeth. I can feel one of the top ones starting to poke through, but she is a little behind the times. As you can see at one she didn't have any teeth yet.

Luke

Luke is the opposite of Tayson - he looks like a Schultz and acts just like Todd. He says the funniest things and still can't say his "L", "R" and "CH" sounds. Which means he calls Claire "Cway" and church "titch" and all words that end in the "r" sound come out like an "e". The other day he slammed the door of our closet and said to Todd "see you later suckeee". He's a crazy kid with too much energy and he beats up Tayson and Claire all the time.



What can I say....Luke is 3 and most of his sweetness left with his 3rd birthday. David and Kami were telling him not to smile in this picture - and he is doing his best to stay grouchy.



Luke was a total binky baby - it was a huge task task to get rid of it. Which didn't happen until he was 2 1/2.


And just like his older brother Luke LOVES the computer. The best story of Luke and the computer was when he was 2 1/2 and we were up at my parent's house and he was playing computer. David thought he would be funny and was shooting these nerf balls across the room at him. They were wizzing past his head and a couple even hit the monitor. Luke didn't move, he just kept playing his game until one hit him in the head - the he turned and gave David a very dirty look and went right back to playing his game.

Tayson

I thought I would write a few of my favorite things about each one of the kids and include some of my very favorite pictures that tell it all. Tayson looks just like his daddy and acts just like his mom. Needless to say, he makes me crazy because he's too similar to me.


Tayson had the hugest pot belly when he was little and to top that off he has a totally swayed back like me so it stuck out even further. (This is his 2nd birthday party at Seven Peaks with his cousin Lexie).


Tayson loves to play computer - a skill he got from hanging out with his Dad and uncles too much. This is Tayson with his cousins - Ryan, Adam and Lexie.

As you can see he started playing computer at a very young age. Todd is stitting on the bouncy ball instead of a chair because that was the only way to keep him happy.


And like his uncle Danny he finds clothing to be optional most of the time.

Happy 1st Birthday Talon

Happy Birthday to sweet little Talon. Jeannie and Trent had his party at Chuck E. Cheese which made my kids very happy! I let the kids pick out their own presents for him....which was quite a fiasco. I don't know why I thought I could take all 3 kids to Toys R Us and still be in a good mood by the time I got to Chuck E. Cheese. It was a first for me though to leave without any toys for the kids - I let them each get a book but that was it. I'm one of those bad mom's who just buys them useless things to keep them happy. I am getting better though - and this trip was proof.

I think this picture of Talon is precious and shows how cute and sweet he is. We are excited to see if baby #2 coming up this spring looks the same.

Shouldn't leave the house

I couldn't pass this picture up. I was at the post office yesterday and I saw this man and realized he really shouldn't have left the house looking like he did - especially in 60 degree weather. His bright blue underwear are peaking out of his way too short cut off jean shorts and his thread bare shirt was even worse from the front. His left nipple was completely visible thought a huge hole. Now I'm not sure if he simply doesn't have the money to get some new clothes or if he thinks this looks sexy but it almost made me laugh out loud in the middle of the not-so-funny post office. I hope you can all appreciate the insanity of this man's outfit - I know you aren't getting the whole picture ... because trust me on this one the front was so much worse.

The RedX Volleyball Team

Todd was on a city league co-ed volleyball team this year. They played hard and were a blast to cheer on. They ended up 4th in the tournament - which is great because there were some really good teams (the team that took second had 5 of 6 players who played in college). They did beat the team they were really going for though and gave the 3rd place team a serious run for the money.

We had a really fun team - Todd, Candice (also from RedX), Lauren (David's friend), Lisa (Lauren's friend), David (my brother), and Collin (David's friend - who looks like a serial killer of some sort with that crazy long beard).

This year Todd has played softball now volleyball and next is basketball. The kids and I love going to the games and being the really annoying cheering squad with Kami. Actually, the boys usually go play out in the hall - but Claire claps and cheers the whole time.

My Bike

This is my bike - the Terry Isis. I finally got my dream bike this summer after riding a mountain bike for 2 years and Todd's way too big hybrid for 2 years. Not only is this bike so dang pretty, but she's light and very responsive to climbing. I swear she pulled me up the canyons a few times. We rode more this year than other years and it has been the best. I'm very sad to see the riding season end with the snow, ice and dang cold weather.

I have the best group of people that I ride with and they push me hard to ride further and faster than I ever would on my own. The goal was to do a century - which I did in August ... woo hoo! Now the goal is to go on a "real bike ride" and do a tour of some sort in Europe. What a blast that would be. Living in Utah you have to be a biker because the canyons are amazing and there is nothing like getting to the top with your legs pushing you the whole way. I'm sad to hang my bike up for the winter ... but hopefully spin will keep me in shape for next year.