Hello!
We are headed out on the road again today! The kids are beyond excited! Loaded up the bus last night and they brought all their special things for the bunks:)
Auntie Sara bought Saylor a Hello Kitty purse with big girl lipstick in it -and it has not left her side for days. She was ecstatic that there is a pocket in her bunk the exact size of her new purse. She can keep it with her at all times so ‘no one takes it’. She also carries in this special purse a ‘phone’, tissue in case of ‘crying and buggers’, magic lasso(a ribbon), mirror, kitten and princess cash register…you know, the essentials…
While packing, Raimy informed me that while on tour we will probably see a camel. “If he doesn’t have a family will he fit on the bus to bring home and we’ll name him Moon?” Apparently our home is lacking a camel…”a camel that’s alive and real”. “If we see a camel on the road, I promise I will find out if he has an owner. If he does not…Yes, we will bring him home!”. I just got major points…I will be hugged 4x as much today:) Saylor piped in that it would be nice if we found “An alive and real baby pig that does not like mud. OOOOOOOOOOO I will snuggle her in my bed and love her with all my heart!!!!!” Grabs her heart and squeals while I literally see her brain picture a 3 inch pink piglet that is so cute she almost cries. “Her name will be Santia(said with a thick hispanic accent which came from…where…I don’t know)”.
They go off talking about the maybe new family members we might need to rescue and bring back with us:)
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While in the hospital after birthing all the kids they tell you to sign up for babycenter.com updates. You get an email once a week for each child that gives you info on what they should be doing at that exact age, tips, advice etc. My letter today for 11 month old Rennix said that If I am giving her soda I should stop until she is at least 1 year old…………………………………….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me!! A survey of thousands of families found that the normal age a parent starts giving their child soda is 7 months old…..in their bottles!! I am so disgusted! What moron would put soda in a baby bottle. The fact that this needs to be written on a widely spread email in the US is very depressing to me. Yes I am one of those moms that thinks food is the root of almost every problem in our nation right now. Call me a freak but I really believe it to be true. This has made me so angry. If I saw a baby with a Coke in her bottle I would tell the mom off. You only have so many years that you can control everything your child eats before friends with Twinkie’s at their school invade! Why would you not take advantage of that!! A babies body uses food to grow their brains. Nice job moms of America!
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I should not be admitting this….I got place mats for the kids with all the presidents on them. Is it pathetic there were names I had never heard of? haha. Glad to know my 3 year olds are more advanced than me…pathetic. Although I do know the Bush’s are not “Baby Bush” and “Daddy Bush”, so I’ve got a one up!
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Can’t wait to sleep tonight in the bus bunk. AAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! pitch black, freezing cold, snuggled in a down comforter and the rumbling of the engine and road to lull you away.
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And last but not least- It is my very best friend in the whole world’s birthday!!!!! My sister Ashley!! I can’t believe I will not be home tonight to celebrate with you! I am so proud of you and I love you more than words can say. Remember when that “25 things you don’t know about me” was going around facebook? Well, I wrote instead “25 things you don’t know about my sister” I will repost here so you know how cool my little bear is if you haven’t met her:)
25 Things You May Not Know About MY Sister Ashley Johnson!
1. If you are ever in a bad situation you want her on your side. In emergencies she is quick thinking and protective. Like that time we were held up in a gas station and she almost stabbed the criminal with a pen in the jugular. Yeah he gave up quick. Thought she was some crazy fighter! HAHA.
2. She is an extreme hermit, if she had it her way she would NEVER leave her house. We sometimes don’t hear from her for a week at a time. She is not good in big groups and she hates parties!
3. Has a massive knives collection. She is an amazing knife thrower and surprisingly good with Chinese stars.
4. She is UNREAL with guns. Once she was taken on a SWAT team training base in New Orleans and beat the top sniper at the shooting range. She was offered a job as a sniper on the LAPD. Crazy right!?
5. God has apparently told every guy that she is “the one”.
6. She received a scholarship to Harvard, Stanford, USC, and UCLA for English.
7. She’s had a long running love affair with Ernest Hemingway and Abraham Lincoln. She has read every book about Lincoln and every Hemingway novel at least twice.
8. She is truly fearless. She’d base jump off the empire state building if she could. (although if she lived I would beat the living daylights out of her!!)
9. She almost went to school for astronautical engineering.
10. She has a wit unlike anyone I have ever met. She is the funniest person to grace this earth in my opinion. Many a time I have literally peed my pants after a zinger of hers. There was one time with a penny at an Italian restaurant that was the hardest anyone in the history of the world has ever laughed!
11. I feel bad for anyone who would ever mess with me. My sister would kill you. Yes I have brothers…but Ash would ruin your life!! HAHAHA just puttin it out there!
12. She has been called the female Travis Pastrana on many occasions.
13. She is an amazing singer. She will blow you away if you ever have the honor of hearing her angelic voice. But she rarely will let anyone know. She also plays piano and guitar beautifully. She has so many gorgeous songs that she has written. Oh how I wish I could get an Ashley Johnson album that I could play on repeat all day long…:)
14. She is an amazing snowboarder.
15. I happen to think she is a genius actress. She is such an incredible talent in all ways. Hopefully there will be a script that will show everything she is capable of one day!!
16. She’s the most competitive person I know. She gets a sick thrill out of beating people. She will be quiet and unsuspecting during the game and just shrug and smile when she wins like “you never really had a chance but it was cute watching you try” But doesn’t rub it in!
17. She has such a pure heart. You have to know her to truly understand what I mean. There is no way to put into words what a special spirit my B has. You will never meet a more honorable, kind, honest and loving soul.
18. She was the Fantasia hippo for 9 Halloweens in a row. Chris would send Ashley to the door with a tiny empty bag and everyone who answered said “Oh sweetie you have such a small trick or treat bag you poor thing. I’m gonna fill it. ” She would then stuff the candy down the neck of her enormous costume and walk to the next door with her tiny empty bag. She got more candy from a few houses than most kids got their whole night.
19. She will try any food. She would be the perfect ‘Survivor’ contestant because she would catch ANYTHING, cook it up and eat it. Not kidding! My dad traveled the world with his job and would dine on all the local delicacies wherever he went. He would tell us stories of eating the most outlandish dishes (most of which would make you barf!) and that sharing in someone’s culture by letting them feed you is an honor and you should treat it as such. So us Johnson’s were raised to take food VERY seriously. Mom and Dad would take us to 4 and 5 star restaurants on a regular basis from the time we were born. Dad would always order the most unique dishes on the menu so that we would get to experience ‘eating around the world’ like daddy did. I would always dry heave but Ash would trust whatever was offered, giving a loud ‘mmmmmm’ to the grossest of foods. “Compliments to the chef” her and dad would say to the waiter!! At 4, Ashley’s favorite foods were Oysters, escargot, frog legs etc. Every person in the restaurants would watch as this tiny girl expertly ordered from a caviar menu. She used chop sticks before spoons and forks. And still today she will try the strangest thing on menu as if it is a sweet adventure thru an unknown world.
20. She is addicted to coffee and drinks 5-7 cups per day. She drinks it BLACK…Gross
21. If she puts her mind to something. Whether it be a sport, game, hobby, subject etc. She will work her butt off until she’s the very best at it. Ash can cram in a week what people take years to learn.
22. She can fall asleep anywhere. When she was little her head would literally fall in the cereal bowl, her sleep would come on so suddenly. She used to sleep at breakfast, lunch and dinner even if we were at a restaurant table.
23. She has many a time broken a bone and hidden it from my mom. My mom gets mad if you do something stupid and hurt yourself. Which is the scenario in which Ash has broken every bone! Like when we had just watched the Matrix and Ashley flew into the family room at 3 am and ran up the wall and tried to flip and crashed to the floor smashing her tailbone. When asked “Did you really think you could flip off the wall” she said “No but it was funny right?”
24. She doesn’t try to fit in. If you don’t like her she doesn’t care. I think it’s so rare to find someone who is so true to themselves. What you see when you meet Ash is honestly her.
25. I will never laugh with anyone as hard as I do with my sis. She is my very best friend and I love her with all my heart. She is the truest friend you could ever have. She loves you with everything she has. She is an amazing sister, daughter and the BEST Auntie this world has ever seen. She will be the one making pipe bombs with Raimy to blow up in the backyard in the name of science or building a crazy fort on the roof, that they will not leave for a week, while reading the Swiss Family Robinson. I wish I could grow up with Asher again and again. She has made my life so amazing by loving me.
My Smash, My side kick
Happy Birthday my love!!
Happy travelling crew! I hope any camels and piggies you come across have families to stay with 😉
I get the Babycenter updates too. I remember seeing that when Ava was around that age and I was like, really? She is going to be two this month and STILL isn't allowed to have soda.
Happy birthday Ashley! I have three sisters and we are all best friends, we were all really clsoe with my brother too. Isn't it awesome to have that bond with another person? That's why I told my hubby that we have to have at least one more child because the bond that siblings have are remarkable.
WOW! I think she might be "the one" for me too! HA!
Happy Birthday from NYC!
I can't think of a better gift than having words like that said about you…unless of course I can get my husband to relinquish his own claim on Abe Lincoln….
C&Co.
thanks Jacquie! Kids should not have soda period! Good for you for not giving your Ava soda. Isn't that crazy? The bottle part blew me away but also the 'wait until they are a year old"!!! Unbelievable. PS-Have more kids ASAP!! Send pics:)
I had that President placemat for years. I'm actually thinking that if I look for it, I might find it. How funny are those??!!
it makes sense that you can feel good or bad according to what you put in your body. i bet those parents are sitting there scratching their heads at why their kids are acting out all because they're hyped up on sugar. 😐
Awesome post!! LOVED every word of it.
Have a safe trip
I think I saw Ashley in the movie The Help? If it was her, she looked great in the period clothing! Happy belated birthday to her!
Ashley was on of the first people I met at Lighthouse. And I knew from the moment I met her that she had a sweet, and deep spirit. Eddie appreciated her, because she was one of the few that saw him for who was. She would never overlook him, which many did, cause he seemed so quiet and shy. (Ha! If they only knew!) She would always say, "Hey Eddie! Still keepin' it real?" Lol! We miss her. She was so genuinely happy for us when we got engaged. She ooohed and aahhed over my ring and noticed the detail of it like no one else. Everyone else seemed interested in it's size, Ashley knew it had been specially designed and asked right off, "Did Eddie design this?". Your sister is one of a kind. I don't think I've met a sweeter person to date. <3 Happy Birthday Ashley.
Living here in Arkansas we saw a couple put SWEET TEA in the baby bottle! I don't think that my eyebrows have ever gone so high in my life! And yes other one for the record books MOUNTAIN DEW in sippy cups at a 1 year birthday party!
Mountain Dew!! Wow!