Fall Fun 2013

Billings has a great corn maze on the west side of town that everyone makes at least one visit to this time of year. They had plenty of activities for kids, though they were pretty redneck, but the girls loved it.

 

 We rode two different tractor-trains that pulled us around the cornfield. We played carnival-type games, played on playgrounds, and we went through some mini-mazes. We didn't attempt the full corn maze because we heard it took 45 minutes to get through...which translates to an hour and a half with this group.

 

 

 

 Then it was time for Halloween! We went to 5 Halloween Parties. Yep. We looked the same in all of them so I won't post all the pics. The girls were fairies, Josh and I recycled our Toy Story costumes, and Hadley was a dalmation (I went as Cruella DeVille to our church party with her).


Handing out candy at the Trunk Or Treat



The Johnson's Halloween Bash

 And the three Cutest Fairies EVER!

 

Happy Hadley

I feel a little bit of "mommy-guilt" for not documenting the life of my 4th child the way I did my older ones. Hadley is now 7 months old! Holy cow soon she'll be walking, eating at the table, and my days with a baby will be gone for good.

 

After having 4 babies I must honestly say that Hadley is the Best. Baby. Ever. No joke. I thought Lydia was a good baby, I thought Scarlett was my easiest, but so far Hadley just blows away the competition. Here are some truths to support my case.

 

- Hadley was sleeping through the night at one week old. After the first week we just moved her to her own room. She's been solid ever since.

- Hadley never, well rarely, cries. If she does there is always the same solution: food.

- She lets her sisters manhandle carry her anytime. No complaints

- She's gone camping, boating, hiking, swimming, and on long roadtrips with the family. She is never ever a problem. She just rolls with it and never makes a peep.

- She eats well, she naps well, and she's never sick.

 

 

 But what makes me happiest is that she is happy in our family and happy with her sisters. She lights up when she sees Lydia walking home from the bus. She laughs and dances with Scarlett. She giggles when Claire tickles her, and she smiles when daddy smothers her with kisses. And all I have to do is smile at her and I see that cute little gummy grin smiling back at me. We are really enjoying Miss Hadley Sue.

 

The big storm

In Billings we've fully experienced what the term "microburst" means. In late summer there were some storms that came through that were violent. We've had bad storms in Texas for sure, but our neighborhood got caught in a microburst that really tore up a lot, with 75mph winds. It was so scary to watch, we didn't dare go outside. We lost our playset, as it toppled over and the roof flew off. The trampoline just took flight, jumped a few fences and ended up in a tree down the street.

 This from a crazy hail storm the day before the big storm.

 

We felt sorry for ourselves for a little bit...then we heard about all the problems some of our neighbors were having. LOTS of basements flooded when the hail and other debris broke through the windows. Cars were flooded, trees and other backyard equipment were ruined. So we felt very fortunate. In the end the things we lost were just things, and weren't essential to our happiness, and no one was hurt. We could fix or replace everything in time, and it would all be fine :)

Bear Lake Triathlon & family vacation

Josh and Sarah signed up for the "Bear Lake Brawl" triathlon in September, so we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it and rent a cabin for the weekend to support them, and have fun! Chelsea and Madison joined us, so the girls were thrilled.

 

Sarah competed in the Sprint course, and Josh did the Olympic course. They both did very well. Josh had a personal best time, and finished 5th in his age group. Sarah did awesome and finished 1st in her age group..and this was her first open-water swim.

Josh & Sarah went for a warm-up swim the day before, and it was pretty choppy!

 

It was a gorgeous on race day, so we got all the girls out to the park to cheer on the runners as they finished.

 

 Done! Now time to go get some food...and Raspberry Shakes for dessert.

We couldn't leave Bear Lake without doing some boating! The water was too cold for me, so we just did some "safe" tubing with the girls.

 It was a fun weekend with cousin Madison. The big girls had so much fun together.

 

 And Hadley, as always, was a perfectly content lil' baby.

 

Happy 3rd Birthday Scarlett!

Scarlett turned 3 on September 15th, and we had a full day of celebrations for her!

First, I got to volunteer at her preschool, which was a real treat because we got to do crafts and games together, and play together at the playground! Then we had special princess cupcakes after lunch.

 

 

 

After school, it was time to get ready for her party! Her friends from church are Kenna, Riley, Leah and Brittyn...but they all have big sisters that we're friends with too...so we invited them all for a splash party. We borrowed a friend's waterslide, set up our slip-n-slide tarp, and played some music to dance to.

Dad played babysitter and dj. Hadley enjoyed the festivities too!

 

 

 Cupcake time!

 

 

 We came inside to play musical squares, hit the piñata, have treats and open presents. It was full afternoon and Scarlett loved being the center of it all!

 

That evening we had our family party, and Scarlett opened special presents from her grandparents and her sisters. She was spoiled. I never feel bad for only getting one present per sibling, because her grandparents step in like its Christmas or something!

Happy Birthday my love! You deserve all the happiness that you have given me, and more!

First Day of School 2013

August 28, 2013

Lydia's first day of 2nd Grade, Arrowhead Elementary

Claire's first day of Kindergarten, Boulder Elementary

 

(I could get on my soapbox to complain about overcrowded schools and kids getting bussed to different schools for different grades...but alas...it turns out the kids don't really care)

Yes, my girls go to different schools. Arrowhead is our "neighborhood" school, but it's too crowded and so Kindergarteners and 6th graders get bussed to different schools. BUT at least they get to ride the bus together in the morning! I wish we could have made a bigger deal about the first day of school, but Josh travels every week and wasn't here to help see them off. So on the first day, Lydia just got on the bus on her own, and I drove Claire to her school and walked her to class. They were both excited about the first day, I never had to worry. I was a little concerned about Claire finding the right bus to ride home, so I came to pick her up after school. She was not happy - she was mad at me for not letting her ride the bus! Love my independent little girls!

 

September 4, 2013 - First Day at Mother's Day Out

Speaking of independent - Miss Scarlett also started school. She goes to Mother's Day Out at Grace United Methodist two times a week. It's one of the few programs in Billings that accepts 2 year olds. With a September birthday, Scarlett misses the school deadline and will actually have 3 years of preschool before she starts Kinder! Yikes!  But she is quite the entertainer around the house, so I'm happy to have more time with her.

Anyways, we were actually 30 minutes late on the first day because of a miscommunication, but when we rolled in Scarlett didn't miss a beat, and just went to play with her new friends. She is very excited to have a backpack and lunch bag like her sisters, and after school she now gets to be a part of the "show mommy what's in your backpack" routine with her sisters.

 

They are all growing up! But I am so happy with the lovely little girls they have grown to be.

Bighorn Canyon

Our last getaway before school started was a trip to the Yellowtail Reservoir in Bighorn Canyon. It's a true gem just a couple of hours south of Billings in the middle of the Crow Indian Reservation. The locals compare it to Lake Powell or the Grand Canyon, which seemed laughable, but when we got there we were in awe of this gorgeous canyon. Unfortunately my phone camera could not capture its real beauty, but man we had so much fun.

 

 

We rented a pontoon boat with our friends the Thomas's, who have two little girls that our girls just adore. We weren't allowed to tow any skiers or tubes because of the driftwood in the water, but we had fun just anchoring the boat in little coves and going for a swim. We also tried fishing, but with no luck.

 

 

 

Josh and Cameron did some cliff jumping, while the rest of us got our thrills just jumping off the back deck of the boat.

 

All the girls got a turn driving the boat. Not sure if that was legal, but the waters were pretty open, and the pontoon boat isn't too fast. Hadley was happy in her chair the whole day. She is such a content baby we often forget she's there!

 

 

It was a fun day, and we've checked off another item on our "Montana Bucket List." There's still so much to explore, but I imagine we'll be back to Bighorn every summer we are here :)