Sophie's First Day of Preschool

Sophie was so excited to go to her new school the same day Claire had her first day of kindergarten. She wore her new school dress and put on her new backpack and was ready to rock. She is so dang cute! I love how excited she is about being a big girl. I think she is growing up way too fast but I love how happy school makes her. The school looks like it will be awesome. She is going to a different school than the other 3 went to since it's so close and the same one Roman is going to.

Claire's First Day of Kindergarten

This little girl was SO EXCITED for her big first day of school. She has been asking every morning for a week if it was the day yet. When it came she couldn't have been more excited. Last week we went in and met her teacher and did her assessment test (158/210). She surprised me with how well she did - not because she isn't smart but because I was worried about how shy she is and that she would clam up and not talk. She did a great job.

Claire was so lucky to have her grandma come in town to be there for her first day of school.

I can't believe my sweet little Claire Bear is old enough to be in school. Speaking of Claire Bear when her teacher asked her what her first name was she said "Claire" then her teacher asked her what her last name was and she said "Bear". So funny. She did end up answering Johnson in the end :)

70.3

Danny came up to Utah for the weekend to compete in a 70.3 mile half-ironman race. He is truly amazing. The race was right in our backyard (seriously 2 miles from my house....yippee) so I cruised down in the morning to see him swim. He raced in the 3rd heat and finished his 1.2 mile swim in 24 minutes. I missed his transition because one of the volunteers said "did you see that guys body" to another one of the volunteers so I stopped and chatted with her for a minute. Then I met Traci and Kami and went for a quick 5 mile run while he was on his bike. After that I ran home to shower and he finished his 56 mile bike ride so fast I didn't see him transition. He averaged 26.6 miles per hour and finished in 2:06. Then he was off on his run. My dad and I jumped on his little dirt bike and rode to one of the parking lots that he would pass by 4 times (mile 3, 5, 9 &12). We jumped in and help set up and hand out drinks & gels to the runners until Danny passed us the 4th time then we headed to the finish. He finished his half marathon run time in 1:32 (7:06 min/miles). And finished the race in 4:05 and took 3rd overall. Honestly I am so amazed by how incredible he is. To do that good on his very first half-ironman is crazy. I am a very proud big sister!! Way to go Danny you are the man!

End of Summer Bucket List

The kids and I made an end of summer bucket list and one of the items on it was to go to the pool with dad. So this weekend while Todd and grandma Johnson were in town we headed to the pool on Luke's birthday. The kids loved swimming and Tayson got to try the flow rider out. I love how much fun my kids have with Todd. He is one heck of a dad!!









After swimming we hurried and got dressed (no showers or hair fixing) and went to Mimi's for Luke's birthday dinner. He really wanted nacho's and our waiter was amazing and did a special order just for him. It was such a fun night hanging out together as a family.

Another Garden Dinner

I decided on my way home from work to swing by my parents and get some fresh veggies for dinner. Once my mom and dad got outside things got all sorts of crazy. I was only planning on picking a squash and zucchini. But my dad grabbed a box and loaded me up with peaches, cucumbers, red & yellow tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, fresh basil and an onion. My mom also had beets and potatoes from her garden cooking but I passed on those since I wanted to make pasta.


I threw butter, onion, squash, zucchini and the basil in a pan to saute while I boiled the noodles. Cut up the tomatoes and put a little balsamic on them then threw it all together and added a little salt and parmesan. SERIOUSLY SOOOOO DELICIOUS! Claire and Sophie ate their noodles with just cheese, Luke had fresh tomatoes and cheese with his and Tayson had red sauce, veggies and cheese with his. Then later the kids helped me make peach cobbler. I really do love love love my mom's garden!

Dad to the Rescue

I walked in after work and the boys were both on the couch watching a movie in their underwear. WHAT? Then after being in the house for about 2 minutes I realized it was way too hot (and was tempted to strip down into my undies too). I checked the thermostat and it was on cool, but it was 87 degrees in the house. UGH. So what did I do? Called my dad. He told me to check the breaker and I couldn't find it so he jumped on his bike and rode over. The breaker ended up being outside but that wasn't the problem. My a/c unit was overgrown by the bushes so I started trimming them back but it was completely frozen. So my dad went home got his phone book out for some coupons and brought me back a number to call. They were going to be able to come in the morning from 8-10 so of course my parents were going to come over to take care of it since I'd be at work (seriously, best parents ever!) My dad brought over his portable a/c unit so I could at least sleep that night.

The repair man came and fixed my a/c and all is well at home now. I am just so glad that my dad is always there to help me since Todd is traveling so much. It makes life so much easier for me and I know Todd is grateful in knowing I am taken care of when he's gone and can't take care of me himself.

Fall Harvest

I love that my parents are amazing gardeners. I have benefited from it greatly. On Monday I asked my mom if she could work on my back and she said sure come over for dinner too. BEST MOM EVER!! It was so nice to not have to cook or clean up on the first day back at school. She made a delicious dinner with so much food from her garden. It was soooooo good! While we were there she sent the boys out with a basket to pick peaches. They came in with a full basket and then we got to take them all home since my mom already had a big box of them (and she threw in a yellow squash for me since they are my favorite). I really need to learn how to can so I can benefit even more. They have way more food than they can use.

Pack Meeting

I am not cut out for cub scouts. I'm not a den mother or cub master I'm just the mom of a cub scout so once a month I go to pack meeting with all of my kids. Maybe if Todd were home during the week he could take Tayson and I could stay home with the kids and only go when he was getting a big award. Then maybe I would like it.

But I try to be a supportive mom so I rush through dinner, leaving a full sink of dirty dishes (one of my very biggest pet peeves) so I can get to the church by 6:30. Last night Luke refused to go with me so I let him stay home alone until Timmy got home (it was quite a discussion we had before I finally agreed). The girls were simply crazy. They hate sitting on those hard chairs and I feel guilty letting them go play in the nursery because then someone else has to watch them. Luckily there were a few of my awesome young women there last night and they said they would rather be in there with kids then in pack meeting so for half the meeting I was kid free. Sophie kept going in and out of the rooms though and would walk right across the front where they were doing presentations (sorry to everyone who has pictures of her).

When we first got there I let Claire play with my phone to keep quiet and since she couldn't watch youtube I guess she pulled out the camera. Today when I looked at my phone I found 49 pictures.

pictures of the boys presenting

close up pictures of Sophie

pictures of my feet

pictures of her princess app

and many many more. I know I need to have a better attitude about scouting or I'm going to have to do time as a den mother but it is just SO HARD for me.

P.S. did I really take Sophie out of the house looking like that? What is wrong with me????

"I no need help"

Sophie will NOT let me help her do anything. She is fiercely independent but too small to actually do everything she wants to do. She wouldn't let me help her get dressed this morning. She picked out her 2T shirt and tried putting in on feet first and couldn't get it past her belly. When I tried to help and tell her it goes over her head she said "I no need help" then put it on right. Then she picked out stripped leggings and put them on. I tried explaining to her that it didn't match and could we change her (too small) shirt. "No I love iceream". I asked her if I could comb her hair and put it in a ponytail and there was no way she was going to let me so I didn't fight it. Then she decided to pack her new backpack to take to Jeannie's house. Here is what I found in multiple pockets: swim suit bottoms, Rapunzel doll, granola bar, and a book. Then we got in the car to leave and she wouldn't let me buckle her she "no need help" so I sat there for several extra minutes while she fought with the darn thing. I know in the long run I'll be so happy for her independent nature but I sure don't love it right now. After reading this please don't judge me for her appearance in public. It's not from a lack of trying!

p.s. Claire also got herself completely ready this morning (picked out her own outfit, put in her headband and packed her lunch box and backpack).

First Day of School

Tayson and Luke ready for another year of school. They were champs this morning when I woke them up to get ready. Tayson said "the first day is always the hardest". Even though most mornings he's awake well before 7:30. Luke had a hard time waking up so while they were showering Tayson poured a cold cup of water over his head. Listening to them while I was getting ready was hilarious.

I didn't drop them off at school - Luke rode his scooter and Tayson rode his bike.

Tayson - 4th grade
Luke - 2nd grade

The Boys Birthday Party

Both boys wanted to have their party at PPT (progressive power tumbling) so we combined them into one party. I let them invite friends as well as family. There were 23 kids there!! The hardest part of the entire party was arranging who was driving in what car to ensure we got all the kids from my house to the party. Once we got there we split them into 5 & under and those over 6 so I could figure out how much to pay. Then we had to go through and make sure everyone had a waiver. Once that got finished it was party time. It was such a great party because everyone just went to town jumping, climbing, running & flipping. There was something for everyone and I loved the little kids section that was blocked off. The only problem was that Sophie wanted to go off the big trampolines instead.

Trent & Todd having more fun than the kids

Roman & Tayson on the climbing wall

Tayson was fast getting to the top

Then you just let go and jump into the foam pit

Josephine jumping from the tramp into the foam pit

After a few minutes Sophie's ponytail was gone and she had lion hair

The girls ruled the kids area

Tayson & Luke with their friends

Playing king of the mountain

After jumping for 1 1/2 hours we had the party room. I decided to do cupcakes and little ice creams to avoid a lot of extra serving and messes.

We sang to the boys
(Annabell actually blew out Tayson's candle during the song )

I love how many of us had on our Schultz shirts :)

Jeannie and I serving the cupcakes & ice cream

Sadly we dumped over a few of them and I almost swore loudly.

Look at all those kids!

I love how sweaty Todd is!!!

This picture is hilarious to me - there is ice cream on Claire's shoulder

Happy happy birthday to my boys!
I love you both so much and I had so much fun at your party.