Saying Goodbye to Muscatine

We moved away from Muscatine, our home sweet home of three years, about two months ago.  Before that, Joel went back and forth for a while between our home and Des Moines after he started his new job.  Thankfully, he was home on the weekends, so we tried to do some fun activities.

It was perfect weather one day for a hike.  The best place to go was the state park a few minutes from our home, Wildcat Den.  We love this place!

Once within the boundaries of the park, it doesn't feel like you are in Iowa anymore.  Even the humidity seems to dissipate a little.  Stone hills soar around us as we walk on the dirt trails.  Plants grow on every horizontal surface these stone cliffs have to offer.  The landscape is lush and green (although the leaves weren't all the way out when these photos were taken).

The kids never tired of climbing rocks and exploring new crevices.  Everett's main goal seemed to be to discover a secret cave.

It was at this park that Ashley decided she wanted to be a mountain climber when she grew up.  But why wait that long?  The angle of this picture makes the ascent look quite dangerous but it was very safe.  Ashley, however, felt the euphoria of risk and would have tried to climb to the very top if we had let her.

She was pleased to "summit" in the middle.  "Now I'm a real mountain climber!" she'd exclaim periodically that day.

This tree was my favorite of the day.  The spindly root-web is fascinating and breathtaking.  Everett was impressed by it, too.

Walking on fallen trees is always a highlight.

After walking through a lightly-forested grassy field, we stumbled on a hidden bend of the sandy creek people like to wade in.  I don't think many people get to this part; there is no trail and there are plenty of animal tracks leading to the water.

It was the perfect place to stop and eat our trail mix.  James made sure to add lots of sandy flavor to his.

William had to gulp his drink down before venturing into the water.

Ashley didn't bother finishing her snack before she gave it a try.

And it didn't take the kids long before they discovered the deliciously messy, sandy sludge at the bottom of the water.

They would have played in it for hours and hours.

What is it about kids and mud?  Maybe I should go stick my hands and toes in it sometime and see if I can remember what all the gloppy, tactile fuss is about.

Ashley didn't want to leave the water.  She loves water as long as it doesn't go above her waist.  She panics every time her face gets close.  She took swimming lessons this summer (level one) and after I watched the teachers try to certify her to move onto the next level, I just laughed.  The teachers would hold her by her sides and ask her to make the swimming motions, but even though her face was still far from the water, Ashley screamed bloody murder each time until they righted her again.  The first time she did that, the teachers stopped immediately in alarm, thinking something was desperately wrong.  When they realized the problem, they looked at each other and I knew right away what they were thinking--I'm not sure if we can get her to pass this one. . .

They did try, and so did Ashley.  She tried very hard.  But the screams kept coming and a few days later at the end of the swimming session, she brought me a note that said, "Ashley, you are a great kicker!  See you here next time!"

Ashley didn't seem to mind that she did not pass level one.  All she knew is that she was done with the pool for the foreseeable future.

All that is to say, the knee-deep creek was the perfect water for Ashley.

 Thanks for all the fun, Wildcat Den!  We will miss you!

First Day of School, basically a novel

I have TWO KIDS in school!  I can't believe it.  I don't know what to do with myself.  

We recently moved to the Des Moines area, as most of you know, and Everett and Ashley have been anxious to go to school and make some friends.  We were planning on going to the school we can see from our backyard, but we found out their (five!) kindergarten classes filled up back in February.  The choices were to put each child in a different school (crazy) or have them both go to a school that is farther away but just barely under the 2 mile qualification for the bus route.  

So we chose to send them both to the farther school.  Next year we will switch them again.  The city we live in is growing too fast to keep up with the schools.  Many of the elementary schools here are less than four or five years old but people keep moving here and filling the buildings up.  A new school is due to be finished by next year which will alleviate a bit of the stress on the city's education system.

I do appreciate that the city caps the class sizes at 25.  It is much better than trying to throw 40 kids in a classroom and expect them all to learn.

But, this is an inconvenience, to be sure.  We will get over it.  I don't have anyone to carpool with because we don't live in the school's boundaries, so I am spending 20-30 minutes dropping off and the same later in the day to pick up, and trying not to look longingly through our backyard at the neighborhood school .  All in the name of education, right?

OK.  On to the kids.  They are the most important part of this post.

Ashley is in Kindergarten this year!  Kindergarten is the hardest transition for me.  I am not worried about Ashley.  She is reading and doing math and will be great academically.  She has blossomed socially and is excited to make friends.  

It is hard for me to send her away because we had such an enjoyable year last year.  Almost every activity we did was mutually enjoyable.  She is old enough to carry on fun conversations with and loves art and crafts, and riding her bike and running around and having tea parties and nursing her little stuffed animals.  I will really miss her.  But I can't keep her home just for my entertainment, so off to school she went without looking back.

I only cried in the car on the way home.  It was sad, and pathetic, but I did feel a little better after I had shed a few tears.

Ashley fell in love with this purple and turquoise backpack with twin kitties on it.  It is so her.  She couldn't wait to bring it to school, and she was thrilled to discover that another little girl in her class has the same one.

We always do thumbs-up and thumbs-down about our days, and Ashley couldn't think of anything negative to report.  She did say she was excited to have made some friends.  "Do you know their names?" I wondered.  "Uh. . . no. . .oops," Ashley replied.  I told her that was perfectly ok and I was glad she had a nice time.

Now Everett, my exciting boy, is in First Grade!  I can't believe it.  He is very proud.  He earned all green faces for good behavior last year and he is anxious to do the same this year.  (This school has a different type of reward system, but he's excited about it anyway.)

He is going to do great.  His kindergarten teacher said he was friends with everyone in his class and could really get along with anyone.  First grade will likely be the same story.  Everett is reading quite well, even though he loves to rush through the story and hates when we ask him to slow down to sound out words.

His main goal in kindergarten was to be the first one done with his work, every time.  His teacher sometimes had to send him back to do it again.  "He is very smart and always gets it correct, but sometimes I have to remind him to make it less messy," she told me at a parent-teacher conference.  I just laughed.  Those of you who know Joel's competitive side are probably laughing, too.

I am curious to see if he does the same thing this year!

At the start of the school year, Everett's favorite books are: Cam Jansen--the young version for him to read and the older version for me to read, anything Star Wars, Roald Dahl books, and anything that is super-duper easy for him to read (aka get done fast).  I am interested in seeing how this changes throughout the year as he discovers more books.

He is still using the same backpack with the fold-out cape.  He went through a few months last year when he refused to wear the cape out after a girl told him she liked it, but he is over that now.  We will see how long he lasts this year.

Everett has very proudly been explaining school to Ashley and loves to walk her to her class.  Someday when they are both older and don't want to hang out anymore, I will remind them of this.  

William and I put together the traditional "Happy First Day of School" rice krispie treat cake to surprise the school kids with, which is, like, the easiest cake ever.  It is also less messy to pack leftovers of this kind in lunchboxes.

William and James really missed Everett and Ashley.  James and Everett have an especially close relationship.  Everett loves to get him out of bed in the morning and make James's breakfast of choice, bread and peanut butter.

"Eh-eht, Mama?"  James kept asking me throughout the day.  Occasionally he would ask about "As-hee" too.  

William said several times to James, "I just want to give Everett and Ashley a big hug.  Do you want to give Everett and Ashley a big hug, James-y??"  

"Yeah. . ." James would respond soberly.

"Me too, kids," I'd chime in, uninvited.  Me too.

Everett and Ashley's school is doing a healthy kids initiative, which means they have discontinued using treats as a reward.  Instead, they give out tickets for positive behavior, and at the end of the day each class draws a ticket and that child gets a prize, such as bringing a stuffed animal to school, choosing an item from a treasure box, or something similar.  I have to say, my kids are much more excited about these prizes than they would be about getting a piece of candy.  

I think both their teachers will be great.  Everett's is young and energetic, and is the sweet, pretty type that little boys tend to have crushes on.  Ashley's is all about hands-on learning and exploration, which will be great for her even though she is totally a cut-and-paste kind of girl.

And this morning during drop-off I couldn't help but smile as the kids hugged me, kissed me, blew kisses at me, and then shouted "I love you Mommy!" from the school doors.  I'm going to enjoy this while I can before the thrill of going to school wears off for all of us.  Think we can make it another week before that happens?

Catch-up: A Day With the Animals

A day with the animals, you say?  Isn't that how my day goes every day, you say?  Well. . .maybe.  But this was a lot more fun than an average day.

We have some friends (where we used to live, *sob!*) who own lots of animals and who invited us over to play with them waaaay back in March.  I've been hanging onto these pictures for who knows why, but it is about time to unload.

Ashley was enchanted from the beginning.

I don't think she even noticed anyone around her.  For this girl who wants to be a veterinarian/mountain climber/artist when she grows up, an outdoor play date with a bunch of animals is blissful sunshine and rainbows.

William was excited but felt a little nervous when the baby goats literally jumped (on him) with excitement over seeing him.

James started jabbering to the goats right away.  "Dog!"  he'd squeal merrily.  "Dog!  Mama!  Dog!"

Well, they do have four legs and fur. 

A bunch of goats jumped at Everett as soon as he walked near them, and the poor guy spent the rest of the time feeling panicky.  I kept him close to me until he felt more comfortable, which unfortunately for him didn't happen until the end despite my best efforts to encourage him.

The goats were just as fascinated with James as he was with them.

They'd get right up to his face, sniff him, and sometimes try to climb up on him.

(I kept James in the stroller so he wouldn't get knocked over, but he didn't seem to mind.)

James loved having close contact with the animals, even the excitable climbing goats.  He is a fairly serious little boy and I can't think of too many times I've seen him more giggly than this particular afternoon.

And, he came away understanding a new word and a whole new category of four-legged, furry animal.  Goat!

Ashley's dreams came true when one of the teenage girls got out Ellie, the miniature horse, for Ashley to take care of.

"Ashley has really impressive balance!" they told me.  What they didn't know is that she has pretended to horse ride almost as long as she's been walking.

I called to Ashley a few times in an effort to get her to look at the camera (why do I do that?), but she didn't seem to hear me.  

Ashley made a very special friend that day and was disappointed to leave.  I was too--we were going to start riding lessons on this beauty but we moved away!

Other animals were almost as interesting to Ashley as Ellie the horse, which is to say, she was still pretty fascinated.  Here is an alpaca, with extremely soft fur.

The baby goats ARE cute.  Anyone can see that.

William really started to take to them.  He followed them around for a long time.  

He also fed them lots of hay (grass?).

LOTS of hay.

They all became pretty good buddies.

He wasn't as interested in the horse, but William gave him a pity rub-on-the-nose anyway.

We all laughed when William tried to feed the cats hay as well.  They all ignored him, in usual cat fashion.  But William didn't seem to mind.

One of William's highlights was gathering an egg the hens had laid.

And, by the end, Everett started coming out of his shell.  I think he wished we could go back so he could have another go at the animals.  Maybe someday.

We are so thankful to our friends who invited us over for a memorable day!

Last Snow of the Year

Back in March, we had a pretty good snowfall.  It was several inches deep and dense.  I knew it would be perfect for building an igloo.

So that's what we did!

These pictures were taken the next day when it had deteriorated due to the warmer weather (we're not experts, ok?).

Unfortunately, we didn't quite get to cap it.  It took a few hours.  It took so long, in fact, that I completely lost track of time and when Joel's good friend from college arrived to see us for the evening, the house was a complete disaster.  I don't know if this has ever happened to me before (or I should say, if I have done that to myself and a guest before).   Total embarrassment!  He was a good sport about it and even helped the kids clean up their legos.  For days afterward, the kids talked about "Papa's friend Scott."

Thanks for the help, Scott!

After some playing and re-arranging by the kids the next day, it didn't look quite as good as good as when it was freshly-built.

But we made it, and that is the important thing.  Hopefully next year we can try again!

April Fools!

Deep down, I've always had a fondness for April Fool's Day.   I always wished I had the guts to pull off some great pranks, but the risk of making people mad stopped me many times.  (My siblings would probably want to strongly interject here, but since the one I hog-tied is serving a mission and can't read this, I will continue.)

BUT, now I am the Mom and I get to make the rules.

Be afraid.

Really, I figured this holiday was made for my family.  We love joking around with each other.  We don't mind being a little silly.  We appreciate the effort it takes to whip up a neat trick.  And, since most of us greatly prefer to be on the giving, rather than receiving, end of pranks, there is no possible way anything we do could go wrong.  Right?  (Ahem.)

Well, this year I decided to make April Fool's Day an annual Johnson Family day.  It was tough because we had returned from Cincinnati late the night before, but we managed.

First up was a breakfast prank.  I served the kids "juice" which was jello with a straw in it.  Their initial excitement at actually drinking juice (I'm lame and don't buy it regularly) gave way to confusion, and then sudden delight.  They thought it was hysterical.

Jello for breakfast is even better than juice, right?

Everett and Ashley finished theirs up quickly.  But you will notice that a scowling someone did not think this joke was very funny.

Poor William.  All he wanted was to enjoy his juice in peace.  He was so upset I'd do that to him, he refused all day long and into the next day to eat any of the extra jello, no matter how many times I offered it to him.

I have a feeling next year might be a little rough for him.  I will have to give him the upper hand once or twice.

William did perk up later in the day when the kids laid a trap for Joel.  They went for massive quantity over anything intricate.

The barricade worked!

We had cupcakes for dinner.  The kids were really excited.

I served the cupcakes with a fried egg.

(Ok, ok.  It was meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top, and vanilla yogurt with a canned peach half.)

Everett was thrilled to catch on immediately.

After seeing Everett's reaction, it took Ashley a while to even try her dinner, but she did.

If I remember correctly, William didn't each much of his dinner.

We are already getting ideas for next year!  Do you have any good ones?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Whew!  I don't think I've ever gone this long without blogging.  We've had a lot of fun things happen in the last couple of months.

• Everett finished kindergarten
• Ashley finished preschool
• James turned 18 months old
• William discovered a love for goats

AND:

• Joel got a new job

That's right!  Joel is a great financial analyst and when an opportunity popped up at a fantastic company, he couldn't help himself: he had to apply.  The location was Des Moines, which I just laughed about.  "Go ahead and apply," I laughed, thinking nothing would happen.  IF we moved, we were going to move closer to family than that!

After a great interview (Joel interviewed downtown while the kids and I interviewed the surrounding areas by scoping out some other places), I think Joel and I just knew.  It was right.  And most importantly, it was time, even though I didn't expect it to be.

Joel started working at Mid American Energy, his new company, at the beginning of May while the rest of us stayed behind to sell our cute home.  Never fear; we still get to see him on the weekends!  Muscatine is only a little over two hours away from Des Moines.  

It has been a month now of living apart.  I think we've all gotten used to it, except for Joel.  He gets pretty bored in his tiny studio.  And I, well, I have four little reasons to avoid being bored. 

I didn't feel ready to commit to moving to Des Moines.  I have great friends here.  Joel and I both had demanding and rewarding callings.  The kids have friends just down the street.  The church members here are amazing.  Joel had a very low-stress job with great hours, and working only five minutes away allowed him a lot of flexibility.  

But it was time.  We decided to try to sell our home ourselves to avoid paying the realtor commission.  It was tough getting everything ready with short notice, but we had two strong offers within a week.  We were (are) very lucky.  I don't know why it was so easy.  I hope I have been grateful enough.

The best part of this whole arrangement is seeing energetic joy enrapture the kids' faces when they know their papa is pulling into the driveway every Friday night.  Even little James shouts "Papa! Papa!" as he rushes to the front door, and back to the window, and to the door again, laughing and dancing from one leg to the other.  

We are closing on our current home on June 15th.  We will be traveling to see family for a few weeks until our next home is available.  Everything works out.  We are heartbroken to be leaving the wonderful people we know here, but we feel ready to leave because we know it is time.  Joel is enjoying his new job.  We are excited for the educational opportunities the kids (and I!) will have.  

We are blessed.  When I think of the experiences we've had and people we've known in Muscatine, the words to a song in Wicked pop into my mind: "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good."  (Freshmen roommates, I'm sure we sang this one together in our apartment more than once!).  

Living in Muscatine has made me a better person.  I am grateful for our time here.  We've all been blessed.  Thank you, thank you to all who have helped us in small ways and large.

So maybe I get a pass for not blogging for two months?  Yes?  No?  Well, it's too late now.