Fall Festivities

We've been busy with Fall Festivities lately. I even made a pumpkin pie Sunday because I thought it sounded good. I don't know whether it was Fall fever or pregnancy cravings, but either way, it was good. A couple weeks ago we went to a pumpkin patch just outside of Omaha with Jason's cousin, Broc's family. We had a really good time with the two little girls. Here's Addy in a pile of pumpkins and gourds.

Last week Jason had meetings in Austin, MI, Hormel's corporate office, so Addison and I tagged along. We went up a day early and went to Minneapolis to the Mall of America. We had a great time at the amusement park and afterward went to eat at the Rain Forest Cafe. We'd never been there, but we thought Addison would love it. We were wrong. It scared her to death. She didn't take her head out of my chest for the first twenty minutes. She slowly came around, but was never completely sold.

After Minneapolis, it was down to Austin. We went to the Spam Museum. Yes, there is a Spam Museum. And there's great news for our relatives at Christmas. We went nuts at the gift shop!

Once home, we decided it was time to decorate jack-o-lanterns. Jason and Addy did traditional, but I had Jason drill tons of holes in mine, for a Martha Stewarty look. It turned out pretty neat.

Last week there was a trick or treat event downtown, so I took Addy. After locking my keys in my car and calling a locksmith, we had a great time. She thought it was amazing that she could just walk around and people would give her candy. The little monkey was pretty cute. Here she is all hopped up on tootsie rolls.

Cool and Cloudy

Our air conditioner is off and the house is all closed up. It feels like Fall, rainy and chilly. I like it. I'm not excited about another Nebraska winter, but I am excited to see what Fall is like up here. Our backyard has gone crazy this summer. The grass, flowers, and the garden are all very full. Jason is excited because the grass mowing has slowed down a little.

Here's a shot of our new patio furniture.

We have decided to put our house on the market. The sign will go in the yard Monday. There have been several police incidents lately on our block and frankly we're tired of it. We need to be in a better neighborhood where we're not scared of the majority of the neighbors.

I joined MOPS and that starts in a couple weeks. Addison's gymnastics starts up again next week. I'm sure she'll be doing cartwheels soon.

I've been trying to get Addison's birthday party planned. We're having a barnyard theme. It'll be fitting since she's really into animals right now. I never appreciated all those cliches I heard before I was a parent, but now they make perfect sense. They change your life. Life is too short. They grow so fast. My little baby is going to be two. She's such a little person now, so full of personality. Speaking of being all grown up, she is officially swearing now. We've hit that milestone and we are so proud. It's too bad she doesn't go to daycare, or I could blame them. We have been working on it and she has cut down. She only says $hit now when she's really mad.

We bought the Nebraska game on pay-per-view today and watched it. Here she is in her jersey.

We're all a little homesick up here. We're ready to get home to see everyone.

Home Improvements and Red Nails

The weather has been gorgeous here in Nebraska. 80's in August is pretty rare. We took advantage yesterday and did some repairs around the house. We repaired the crumbling cement front steps and Jason put in a new light fixture in the family room. We're toying with the idea of putting our house on the market to buy something else with more room. Why didn't we think of that last winter, when we bought our house? Hmmm....yeah, that would have been a great idea, but we didn't. We also didn't anticipate a new baby Schubarth, so soon. But God blesses us unexpectedly so often, we just try to roll with the punches. Anyway, the housing market here is about the same as it is everywhere else, slow. So we're not too optimistic, but we'll see what happens.

Last week we got back into the gym routine, so we'll continue that this week. Except for tomorrow, because we have dentist appointments. Tuesday is probably out, because we're looking at some houses. Wednesday, I have a prenatal appointment. Thursday......yeah, we're definitely going Thursday. Yep, we're back in the groove.

This afternoon we went to the Hormel picnic. As you can imagine, they serve some pretty mean grub there. The menu was pulled BBQ pork, hot links, smoked mashed potatoes, BBQ beans, and pasta salad. They had inflatable bouncy toys for the kids, carnival games, cotton candy, face painting, and pony rides. Addison loved the pony's. Surprisingly, she wasn't scared in the least. She rode them twice, saying "Yah-hoo" the whole time. Tonight after bath time, we were watching Bernstein Bears. Sister Cub had her nails painted. Addison started looking at her fingers and frantically mumbling indecipherables. So we painted her nails. It's the first time I did it and it went well.

Anyway, remember all that wonderful food from the picnic I described.......unfortunately after coming home and smelling our trash, I lost all of it. That will teach me to take it out more often.

Here's An Update

Okay, okay, okay, so it's been like four months since I last posted. Big deal, get over it.

My sincerest apologies to all of those who obviously take this blogging thing a little more seriously than I did. Hopefully, the hate-mail will cease now.

Since it has been so long since I last blogged, I don't feel like I can really go back in any detail and describe everything we did this summer. I also don't feel comfortable just going on now, like nothing ever happened. So here's my solution. I'm going to do a brief overview of the happenings of the last few months. Then we'll resume like none of this ever happened. Okay? Good, here goes:

June: Went home for my sister-in-law, Melody's birthday party. Had a really great time. Drank too much.

July: My boobs started to get sore, took a pregnancy test.........positive........started throwing up, quit going to the gym.

August: Still throwing up, but not as much because I have some good pills. But the doctors office makes me feel like a crack head every time I call and tell them I need more. Started going to the gym again.

Okay, so that didn't even begin to tell the half of it. I'll be back with many more riveting tales.

Going Home

The weekend of Mother's Day, we came home. First we had a BBQ at Curt and Bobby's and found out some exciting news. They are expecting a baby this Christmas. I'm excited about being an aunt again, even if the poor child will go to school at Olpe...........no comment. Here's the whole crew...Jason stayed the weekend, then he had to go back to work. Addy and I stayed another whole week. We stayed with Grandma Logan, but we did quite a bit of visiting. Here's Addy and Great-Grandpa Frank on the porch swing having a good laugh.

One day Grandma and Grandpa Logan took us for a tour of the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve (http://www.nps.gov/tapr/) near Strong City. There's a large stone barn, house, and outbuildings that were build in the late 1800's. There are also trails and a bus tour that takes you out to the prairie. We were surprised to get so close to this little lizard and get a picture.

It was a very nice trip, but it was nice to get home as well. We couldn't believe how much everything had grown and filled out in the yard in ten days. Jason had Memorial Day weekend off. After I had a slight gallbladder attack on Friday, just to get the party started, we had a great time. I was a little down that I wouldn't be able to visit my dad's grave this year, but we decided to take a ride over to Columbus, NE. Jason's Grandfather and an uncle that died in infancy are buried there, at the old country church where his Grandfather was a Lutheran pastor. It was a nice drive and a nice day and I was glad we did it.

Today we went to the park and Addy and I raced on the slides. I won.

Fremont puts out hundreds of flags down the main street, Military Avenue. It's a really neat sight.

I hope you all had a safe Memorial Day!

Life Update

I'm sorry for my absence. I was gone to Kansas for ten days, for the other ten, I have no excuse. So let's go back. All the way back on the weekend of May 3rd, my wonderful husband purchased a new vehicle. He was sad to see the old Corolla go, but none of us missed the fragrance of cat urine. Here's a side note. If you have outdoor cats and are unloading groceries with the doors open, always check to make sure nothing gets in the car before closing the doors and going inside for the evening. Cat urine will linger in a car for a full year. Sorry, Focus! Okay, he bought a 2007 Mitsubishi Radar. What's a Mitsubishi Radar, you ask? It's just like a Dodge Dakota, but it's Mitsubishi.
He washes it everyday and is always talking about how much he "loves" his truck. It's Lava Red and he wants to name it a sexy woman name, but I won't let him, because I'll get jealous and I'll have to slash the tires.

The following week was pretty uneventful other than getting all our plants in around our back patio and some pots filled.

Before spending $177.00 at Earl May Nursery:

And After:

Everything looks so good right now. This is the first time in four years we haven't had 10 acres of land to worry about. I miss the country, but I love to be able to dote on our little yard.

I have to tell you all about our adventures in Kansas, but we'll have to save that for my next blog. I went to the gym tonight and worked out super hard. Then I came home and ate supper and half a sleeve of Chip Ahoy cookies. Boy, I am Beat!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Today Addison and I went to the zoo with Jenny and Graceyn. Here's the relation: Jenny is Jason's cousin Brock's wife and Graceyn is their daughter. So we're like second cousins twice removed or something like that. Anyhoo, we had a really great day. If you've never been or haven't been for a long time, you really need to check out the Omaha Zoo. We got a season pass for a reduced price through Hormel, and I'm sure we'll get our money's worth. It was sunny and warm and full of adult conversation. Graceyn is a cutie, just 4 months older than Addy, so I'm sure they will be fast friends.

Aren't they cute? I know it looks like Graceyn is trying to choke Addy, but it was all love. Sorry for the smudge on the picture, I need to clean the lens of my camera. The girls were really good, even for not having naps. The only trauma was riding the carousel and Addison screamed the entire time.

I went to the chiropractor yesterday and got adjusted, so I'm feeling much better. Tomorrow morning I go back for another crack. I can't wait.

Ouch

The new phrase of the week is "Aww, Geez". Addison says it all the time. Again, she's not cussing, so I'm good with it.

I threw out my back this afternoon. How, do you ask? Making my bed.

In July, Jason and I are taking a trip to Florida with friends to lay on the beach and drink rum. No museums, or snorkeling, or anything. We'll be celebrating 10 years in June since we were married on the hottest day in recordable history. In June we're taking a family vacation with Addy and Jason's sister Michele. We have narrowed down where we're going to 1. The Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, WY 2. Branson, MO 3. Chicago and Springfield, IL or 4. Colorado Springs. We can't decide. If anyone has any suggestions, please share in comments.

Anyway, some people give me a hard time if the blog isn't updated regularly, but I'm keeping it short tonight. I'm off to take mass quantities of pain pills and hopefully a night of sleep without shooting pain.

The Answer is Always "NO!"

Don't you love green? Green grass, green leaves, green stems on colorful flowers, that's what I'm seeing and I love it. I've been getting enough vitamin D lately. That's broke me out of the winter funk. Spring is here in Nebraska and it didn't come any too soon. Our grass seed has sprouted, so we've been diligently watering. Onions and lettuce are in the garden and I planted some pansies in the front flower garden. That's been keeping us pretty busy, but also we've been doing some spring cleaning. The garage sale was a success. I ended up with only four boxes to go to the Goodwill. We've straightened the garage and there's so much more room, but we need to put plywood on the floor of the attic, so we can store some totes. If Jason ever has some time off, that's the next project. He's working ridiculous hours right now. He averages 11-12 hour days and only has every other Sunday off. So that's 13 days straight, then one day off.

Addison's new word is NO.

Mommy: "Addison, do you want some candy?"
Addy: "No"
Mommy: "Did you have fun at the park?"
Addy: "No"

It's been challenging to communicate lately, but at least she's not swearing. I'm not worried about her anymore, not making some friends up here. For about the past week a squirrel has been hanging out with her in the back yard. He's not concerned in the least how close she is to him. As long as we provide the sunflower seeds, I think he's our new pet.


Addy's also been busy building up antibodies and resistance to West Nile Virus. She is obsessed with drinking out of our patio fountain and birdbath. What does she use for a cup, you ask? Duh, she uses her plastic Easter Eggs, what else?

Schubarth's In The Hood

We live in the hood. Our neighbors are strange and have really long toenails. Our front window got broke out and there was a hostage crisis two doors down last week. Need I say more? This isn't the house we're going to retire in, so I have to remind myself that it's temporary. Also, it keeps life exciting.

We've had lots of company lately, and it's been wonderful. Addison has really been warming up to all the men in her life, lately, which if you knew her, you'd know this is a big step. Here are some pictures of Colby's 5th birthday, Easter, and of Uncle Curt and Aunt Bobby's visit.

"Two goofy looks on two goofy Johnson kids"

We've been busy working on landscaping the backyard. I planted the back fence with day lily bulbs we got from one of Jason's employees. We're continuing to water grass seed and cross our fingers it grows. Jason and Curt hauled railroad ties in for my raised garden, so it's ready to be planted. Hopefully, in a couple of months I'll have some wonderful before and after pictures. I'm getting ready for a garage sale on Saturday. Hopefully, after that's over, we'll be able to park two cars in the garage.

Speaking of cars, Jason's on the hunt for a pickup. We haven't had much luck yet, but hopefully soon he'll find one that works.

I Really Have No Excuse

Sorry it's been so long since an update, but I'm full of excuses, believe me. Easter was nice. We went to church, had a big dinner, then did an egg hunt, but we did feel the void of being apart from family. Mom and Sarah came up and we had a nice visit. Some of the highlights were shopping and a morning at a day spa. Jon, Wendy, and the kids came up for a few days. The kids had a great time playing together. They introduced Addison to the joys of playing in the dirt and making mud. She's been busy building her antibodies ever since. Then Addison and I went down to check on Karen, my mother-in-law, after gallbladder surgery. From there, we trucked out to western Kansas for my nephews fifth birthday. They have a great backyard setup with a playground and trampoline, so the kids had a ball.

We came home after all this excitement to runny noses and coughs. We laid low for about a week, but we're back in the groove of things again. There are many adventures brewing around here of reseeding the lawn and preparing for a garage sale. We're looking forward to a visit from Dirty Curt and his bride Bobby early next week. That's all for now, I'll try to keep this up better than I have. I digress.

I'm Obsessed With Curls

I've never particularly liked my hair. When I was little, my hair was quite fine and stringy. My mother would always say it was a ratty mess five minutes after she brushed it. To prove her point, Exhibit #1:

Holy Moly, look at that! I would love to say that is the most unflattering picture that has ever been taken of me, but sadly, it isn't.

I remember around mid-elementary school some pretty crazy trends going around. My mother, being the conservative Republican she is, never would allow anything too off-the-wall. Looking back, I need to thank her for never letting me get a spike or a rat-tail. Unfortunately, she did let me get a permed mullet.

I guess technically, I did have curls, but my offspring's are much more impressive.

I know I sometimes complain about how unruly her hair is, but I truly do love it. It seems to get curlier every day. Here's Miss Thing looking cute in her new Easter Outfit.

Going to the Y and library has been keeping us busy. There's been a little break in the weather so Jason put up the horse swing in the back yard. We're looking forward to some company soon. Several family and friends are scheduled to come in the next few weeks. Last Sunday was Jason's lone day off for a 3 week stretch. We met Corey and Tracy in Lincoln and watched a UNL baseball game. Addison had a great time getting acquainted with her god-parents.

My First Ride On The Party Bus

March came in like a lamb. It was 60 degrees while I was sipping my coffee in my t-shirt on the back deck. 24 hours later, the temperature had dropped 30 degrees with rain, sleet, and snow. Gosh, I love the mid-west.

We've been very lucky this winter, all of us avoiding the flu, until now. Addison has been running a low grade fever since Friday night. She has had a runny nose and a cough, so I'll be making a doctors appointment for her later today.

We went home the weekend before last. It was the first time Jason had been home since Christmas. When we left Nebraska, it was cold and sunny. That night in Kansas, we got about 4 inches of snow. Mom was nice enough to watch Addison while Jason and I went out. It was a friend of ours birthday and her husband rented a party bus to drive us around town. I won't go into too much detail about that night, but it was filled with drinks, dancing, and general tom-foolery.

Here's my favorite brother-in-law, Jon and his lovely wife Wendy, right before I "accidentally" kicked a glass of an unidentified substance on them.

We were lucky enough to catch Curt and Travis on a night when they didn't have to work late. This was right before the party bus came to pick us up. When it got there, Curt's wife Bobby was on it. Why you ask was Bobby on the bus? We never did figure that out.....hmmmmm?

I took this picture of my good friend Samantha and I while I had some coordination left. It was downhill from there.

Here's my super cute, fun, kind, weight lifting, marathon running, hairdresser friend Amy and I.


Here's some guy that kept hitting on me. He was very persistent, so I decided to take him home with me. I think I'll keep him.

Happy Endings

They called off school yesterday due to the severe windchill. I never heard the official temperature, but I'm sure it was severe enough. Addison and I still braved it and headed for the YMCA. I've been very diligent in the exercising, not so diligent in the watching what I eat, but oh well. I bleached my hair the other day and it gave me groovy tints of blue around my temples. I decided just to leave it. It's my "cool mom" look.

Jason booked me a massage for Valentines Day. It was heaven. If you've never had an hour long Swedish massage, I highly recommend it. It cracked me up when I was filling out the form before it started, at the end it stated that any "request of overture" would result in the session ending, that the massage was for therapeutic purposes only. All that kept running through my head was "You want happy ending?" with that Chinese accent. I wanted to ask the lady if she had ever had a "request of overture" before, but I chickened out.

David and Karen came up last weekend. It was relaxing and very nice to have some friendly faces up here. Addison enjoyed all the extra attention and she kept us all entertained. We all went to church on Sunday. They spoke with the pastor after church and found out they knew some of the same pastors from Columbus, NE, which is where David's father preached, so that was neat.

We possibly have a babysitter lined up for this weekend. Jason and I haven't been out alone since we moved up here, which was Jan. 10th. Before that is all a big blur, so I'm not sure when it was. One of the girls who babysits at the YMCA seems to be very sweet and responsible, so we're going to give her a shot. Addison runs into her arms every time we walk in, so that's a good sign.

Sorry I haven't blogged lately, just not alot to report. I'll keep my eye out for anything weird or interesting, but it's been slim pickings lately.

Want To Hear All About My Rash???

I haven't had much to blog about lately. I had a horrid reaction to some laundry soap last week that gave me a rash that I won't even go into detail on the locations and severity of the itchiness. Apparently, we have extremely hard water, which doesn't rinse soap out very good. After Benadryl and a dose of steroids, I'm on the mend. Here's a shot of my rashy leg. The pictures don't do it justice. Let's just say, leprosy was one of my self-diagnoses before I went to the doctor. Other than that, we've been very healthy, thank God.

Addison and I are getting into a pretty good routine of working out at the YMCA every day, along with her activities. Jason is really struggling getting used to working weird hours again. He gets home anywhere from 2:30am-4:00am. We try to let him sleep in as much as possible, but he just hasn't found his routine.

Addison's vocabulary has really started to blossom. New words of the week are cheese and please. She also has gotten the hang of using a straw and she folds her hands to pray. When we sit down to eat, she points to the cow picture above the table and says, "moo".

Then she points to the other cow picture and says "moo".

Then she plays peek-a-boo and smears whatever sauce is on her hands all over her face. She moos a couple more times and ..................well you get the idea.

I finished painting my bathroom walls and vanity. I replaced the hinges and door pulls on the vanity. I bought a new light and medicine cabinet. I'm just waiting for Jason to have some time to put them up. David and Karen plan to come up this weekend for a visit, so maybe we'll give the men a little Honey do list. The bathroom really needs a total facelift, but we're just trying to get by with this for a while.

Last Sunday's church shopping was pretty successful. It had a good feel and I think we'll go back a few more times. Here's a shot of my two favorite people before we left.

Spring.......Hello, Spring? Are you there?

Geez, it's cold here in Nebraska. I'm feeling the winter blues. I dream of green grass, trees with leaves, and flowers. I'd kill for a pansy right now. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Wal Mart? Well I can add this to my list of reasons. Is it just me or is it cruel for them to start filling up their garden area with weed eaters and lawn furniture in February? I think so. Anyway, we've been keeping busy shoveling snow everyday. Jason has a snow blower but hasn't got it running yet, so we've been doing it by hand. He's been doing the lions share, but today I took a turn.

Notice the ice cap on the end of our driveway. It'll be there until May, I'm sure.

Addison went to gymnastics Tuesday. She did really well. They worked on jumping. She got to jump on a little trampoline and a big one. They played with balls, a parachute, and at the end, the teacher got out a bubble machine and the kids went crazy. Here's a picture with her teacher. She weighs slightly more than Addison, but not much.

Here's a shot of all the cool stuff they get to climb all over.

I hate to admit it, but I'm getting a little homesick. I knew it would come, just didn't know when. My big brother stopped by last Wednesday and Saturday on his way to and from Omaha to catch a flight to Arizona. It was so great having him here and it gave me a little relative fix, but I'm like a crack head. I need more. In a few weeks, Jason should have a weekend off and we'll come home. I can't wait. It would be easier, I think, if the weather was nicer and we could enjoy the outdoors without getting frostbite. Spring can't come fast enough. But, in the meantime, we'll try to keep busy with all our little activities.

Addison was "helping" me with the laundry last night. This is what her hair looks like in the evening. From the time she gets up in the morning, until the time she goes to bed, we really only have about a two hour window when it's under control.

The Next Mary Lou Retton Has Crazy Hair

This is what the poor child looks like when she gets up each morning. Although my hair was never as curly as hers, she has inherited my stringy, ratty locks.

Check out the one spiral curl in the back. I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but at the end is an untangable knot. No More Tangles does not work on these. You must yank and jerk until the baby screams in agony. My Grandma Johnson used to sing to me while I cried, "Call the cat to get the rats". I sing it to now to my daughter. It's not comforting.

We went to the Library today for Toddler Time. Addison had fun. There were lots of kids and mommy's. Addison didn't hit anyone, I was very proud.

Every time the teacher read a book, Addison ran up and sat in her lap. The teacher tried to get her to go back to her seat on the rug a couple of times, but then gave up. The only problem was, it was like a chain reaction with the other kids trying to jump in the poor lady's lap. She was really great about it though.

I signed Addison up for gymnastics at the YMCA today. We'll go every tuesday morning for 30 minutes. I don't know what gymnastics a 16 month old can learn, but I guess we'll find out. I wonder if they make leotards in 2T. I can see it now, big belly sticking out in the front and the diaper booty in the back. If I find one, I'll definately be posting those pics!

I also checked into ice skating lessons. First of all, it's pretty expensive. Since she's not all that slick at walking on land, I don't think we're quite ready for the ice. Second of all, the smallest skates they have are two sizes too big. The guy at the Y told me to look on Ebay for double runners that attach to the outside of her shoes like old fashion roller skates. Then if she had a pair of those, I could take her to the public skating times. Jason has a phobia of iceskating since the "accident". For those of you out there don't know about the "accident", it's a long story. But if you're interested, I could write a blog about it. Let me know if you'd be interested.