This is day 2 of this painting. I spent an hour on it today. Favorite feature is still the bridge. A fantastically boring post, I know, but it makes me happy. So there.

Painting number 4 officially in progress

For those of you who don't know, I've been taking oil painting lessons from my grandmother. I've enjoyed it so much! I painted an ocean scene and a snow scene, a dog portrait and a cat. This latest one brad picked out. I would tell you where its at but I really don't remember the name of it. Its of a garden in Canada. (Thats all I know)

I started painting this today. It took 1 1/2 hours to bring it to this point. I really like the red bridge in the background. Funny thing to like, I know, but right now its my favorite feature.

The family is doing great! Eleny's Kindergarten graduation will be on the 19th. Alyssa loves playing outside, Isabella is full of all kinds of attitude fitting for a 2 year old and Bethany is growing up so fast! Brad is working for qwest still and hopefully he will be starting school in the fall. We have added a kitty named Mufasa to our allready crazy family and the kids enjoy playing with him. Mufasa likes to torment the dog and they chase each other all over the house. (that's right, the cat does chase the dog)

I'm looking forward to the summer and playing with the girls all the time. . . its too bad Brad can't have a summer vacation and get paid for it so that he could join us in all the adventures we are sure to have! I LOVE YOU BRAD!

Sorry i haven't kept up very well on here. Well to catch up, Brad got notification at work that he won't have a job as of Oct 15 (or was it 14, i honestly don't remember). So we are searching for a job. Okay that was really the only bad news in this situation. Here is some of the good news: First of all, the church has some fabulous programs that will help us find a job. Also, because Brad is being let go, the company will continue to pay for his education for the next 3 years! So he can go back to school and get his degree. And Finally (though not by the least measure the last of the blessings coming from this) we have both received confirmation from the Lord, that this is the best thing for our family in the long run. So we continue to be faithful and pray for direction. Brad has applied to a couple different jobs so we'll see how it goes!
Summer has been good to us so far. The girls like to play outside and ride their bikes. I'm still not ready to think about the fact Ellie is going to school. But she's so excited to go! Alyssa wants so badly to go with her that i will probably end up putting her in preschool. Isabella is growing up so big! She likes to pretend with her sisters and she would be sooo happy if she could just sit on my lap and read stories all day long. Bethany is (finally) getting bigger. She's so alert and likes to grab things. She's trying to sit up and crawl. My girls are all so beautiful and fun to be with!

One other thing that has been changing in my life is my house. Any one who knows me well enough to have come to my house knows that i'm not the best housekeeper in the world. But i found a website that has really helped me get a grip on it. Okay so it really shouldn't be such a huge deal, but i feel like celebrating the fact that i've finally kept my kitchen, living room, bathroom and the bedrooms at least mostly clean for the past month! (CLAP CLAP CLAP! YAY!) Not to mention i've also stayed on top of the laundry! (that never happens!)

Okay, now that i've done that i just want anyone reading to know that it hasn't been easy, and doesn't look like it will be soon, but I love my family and look forward to the changes that are coming! I especially want Brad to know that no matter what, I will stand with him and by him in the decisions that have to be made in the next 3 months. I know that our marriage will only be stronger through these trials we are experiencing! I love you, Brad! And I ALWAYS will!

Thanks for your support everyone, we really appreciate it!

Welcome extendeds!

Wow! Time sure flies when there's so much going on! Eleny had her kindergarten evaluation a few weeks ago. The lady that interviewed her said that she was ready to go and I'm only freaking out a little bit. lol. This last week we worked really hard to get Eleny into her own room. She says she loves it. It was quite the investment of time to get the back bedroom cleaned out enough to make it habitable. It was the place to store all things that had no home, like an entertainment center that wasn't being used, a large coffee table that doesn't fit in the living room, a couple of sewing desks, all of my misc. crafting supplies and all manner of junk. But after 2 days of solid cleaning we got it done and now Eleny is enjoying the freedom of her own room.
Alyssa now gets to sleep on the top bunk of the bunk bed and figured out how to climb down on her own after only 2 days. She's afraid of heights, so we are soo proud of her for conquering the ladder of the bunk bed. Also with this move Isabella went from the crib to a big girl bed (the bottom bunk) and she's experiencing the thrill of not having to stay in bed just because mom or dad put her there. And probably the most sad of all is Bethany was finally able to make the move from the Bassinet in Brad and My's bedroom to the crib in the other room. I know its all a good thing but when no one is looking I still put Beth down for naps in the Bassinet, shh don't tell. J/k.

My baby is now 3 weeks old! She is growing soooo fast! When we went to the doctor, she weighed 7 lbs 9 oz. The older girls all love to hold Bethany. Alyssa's birthday was on the 4th, and we had such a Great Day! We went to the Treehouse museum and let the kids run and play. They made crafts and played in China, Mexico, Africa, and Japan. Then we came back and paited with karo syrup and made a BIG mess! All in all our family is adjusting well to the new addition and we are looking forward to the changes that are still on the way!

So I had forgotten how quickly a simple diaper change can turn into a need to scrub down the entire room and bath both baby and self. Bethany Annette Johnson was born on January 21 at 4:44. She weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 19 1/2 in long. So far she sleeps better than i had expected. usually around 3 hours at a time in the night. After she was born, while we were waiting for her to be weighed and measured, Brad was holding her, and she totally peed all over him! Haha!
My other girls are adjusting. Some better than others. Eleny and Alyssa are helpful as long as i bribe them with pennies. (It works surprisingly well) Isabella is very protective of her baby. If Bethany cries, she gets upset and looks to me like 'fix it mom!' Its hilarious! The first day that Brad went back to work, Eleny went to the sink and got a nice big cup of water. Then she dumped it on Alyssa's head. While I was getting Alyssa into some dry clothes, she did it again to Isabella! We've all been adapting in our own way, and with any luck we'll all survive!

i told you so mom!

A couple of weeks ago we were visiting Nana and Ellie got her thumb smashed in the front door. So the other day when the nail started pulling away from her thumb she started to cry and was very upset. A few days later she could see the new nail growing in and got so excited that she wouldn't leave it alone. Eventually she ended up playing with it so much that she pulled the nail off of where it was still atatched to her thumb and made herself bleed. This of course upset her a great deal (again) and i had to calm her down and remind her that the new nail was growing and that everthing would be fine. So today we were on our way to church and she showed me her nail all excited and said, "See mom, i told you it would grow!" ya i know.

So, my sister Heather has been bugging me to update my blog so here i am. Brad had yesterday off so we packed up the kids and went to the pumpkin patch. The girls had so much fun picking pumpkins and playing in the dirt. Alyssa did a lot of following her daddy, and was quite distressed that there were so many pumpkins that were broken. Eleny however was constantly picking up the smallest pumpkins she could find saying "I want this one" as she put it in the cart. We eventually had to banish her from picking up anymore pumpkins. We still ended up with about 8 tiny pumpkins that can't be carved. When we got home (after naps) we set to the task of carving the pumpkins, Alyssa had a blast emptying the guts out of hers but when it came to the carving wanted nothing to do with it. Eleny on the other had wanted nothing to do with the de-gutting but carved practically her whole pumpking by herself! When i get the pictures I'll put them on here. Isabella contented herself with putting herself in daddy's lap so he couldn't do much with his pumpkin. (Hilarious!) anyway it was great fun! After it got too cold to continue outside we were up to the table when isabella decided to help daddy with his pumpkin, she sneeked a carving knife and stabbed his pumpkin a couple of times before we took it away.
I'm so excited for halloween! mostly because the kids are so excited and because then its time to get ready for thanksgiving then christmas, and i am so ready for christmas! not necessarily the whole run around trying to get everything we need but the music and the smells and the snow and the whole shebang!

i hate today! i feel sick, my children are monsters and i can't for the life of me think of one good reason not to give them away

Just so that everyone out there knows, Eleny's name is now Sally. that would be the name that her new mother gave her when i gave her away in the Wallmart parking lot the other day (just so everyone knows it was to someone i know, and only for about 20 min) But she likes her new mommy much better than she likes me and now has her sister convinced that a new mom is a really great idea.
On a more entertaining note i have some pretty awesome pictures of my girls to share with whoever it is that might happen upon this piece of crap blog I'm writing.
This is my 2 year old, Alyssa. She is really quite adorable as long as she's not throwing one of her screaming fits that she seems necessary on a twice daily basis (at least). Her new favorite thing to do is torment her older sister in anyway she can including but not limited to: bashing her in the head with a plastic cup(1 hour ago), eating Eleny's scrambled eggs while her head is turned(earlier this morning), telling her that I'm her mommy and not Ellie's(Daily, and always gets a great reaction from Ellie), and ripping her own paper doll in half and then stealing Ellie's. (The latest incident that got her sent to bed.) And these are just the ones i can remember from the last few hours. But that's OK because Ellie gets hers in too.
On the right here is my oldest, Eleny. She is three and in this picture looks like a complete angel doesn't she. Well in just the last few hours she has: Pushed Alyssa into the couch causing her to smack her head(which of course resulted in some fabulous fit throwing from Lyssa), peed on her bed, changed the channel in the middle of her favorite show, and flushed her bracelet(my watch) down the toilet. I know what you're thinking. She looks so innocent. HA, don't let the face fool you, she's part monster you know.
And lastly there is my Isabella. so far the worst thing she can do is poop and that happens daily and i really don't mind, besides, she's so cute! Her laugh is about the only thing that gets me through the day anymore. Anyone who needs some good old fashioned intervention for a teenager who wants to be a mother today, send them to my house and let them see how much fun they are on a frighteningly daily basis!

Today is another one of those days that i can't seem to wrap my head around. I have a migrain and everything is irritating me. If i could i would just leave the house and go shopping, but as it is we have no money for such frivolity.
Brad is working until 8 tonight and so i'm here at home with the three girls going out of my freaking mind! Though they are quite adorable. Except when Eleny tells me that she doesn't love me and wants a new mommy because i did her hair or wouldn't let her go home with strangers. But hey isn't that what being a mom is all about? Making your kids hate you? I'm just the over achiever, why wait till they're teenagers when you can do it when they're three right. (or something)