It is going to be too hot for Ashley to wear the monkey suit for any extended length of time. But I did take some pictures of her in it anyway...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sneak Peak
It is going to be too hot for Ashley to wear the monkey suit for any extended length of time. But I did take some pictures of her in it anyway...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Pumpkin Patch Bread
We bought pumpkins, picked pumpkins, and have been given even more pumpkins. So, what do you do with all those pumpkins? I figure you have 3 choices:
1. Throw them on the front porch with some mums and call it "fall decoration".
2. Carve and/or paint them for Halloween.
3. Clean it, cut it, scoop it, roast it, scoop it (again), mash it, and bake it into something edible.
Well, I'm sure you see where this is going. Since we have already done #1 and #2, we, um, I decided to do #3 and pretty much mess up my entire kitchen in the process. We made some pumpkin bread (which Ashley called "Pumpkin Patch Bread") for the Cake Walk at Nathan's Halloween carnival. It actually turned out really well, and I am exaggerating about the mess.
I have cooked a pumpkin the hard way before (peeling, cutting, boiling, mashing), and it was ridiculously hard and messy. I swore I would only use canned pumpkin in the future. This time, I just sliced a small pumpkin in 2 halves, scooped out the guts, and baked them for about an hour. The cooked pumpkin scooped out very easily, and there was hardly any waste. I actually froze some of it for making bread another time. Maybe Thanksgiving Eve?
School Picture Time
I must also mention that he has 2 loose teeth and is very proud of them. We discovered them on Sunday, and though they are just barely loose, he can hardly wait for them to come out!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Love this...
I usually hate those stupid forward email's, but this one is funny. My favorites are number 2 (of course) #7 and #10
Subject: Get to know you--very funny Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:05:42 +0000 THIS IS DIFFERENT - I'll be so disappointed if I don't hear back from everyone.
1. YOUR REAL NAME: Jessica Renee Johnson
2.. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus -izzle.) Ren-izzle (fa-shizzle)
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color and favorite animal) Red Dog
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (your middle name and street you live on/or neighborhood if it's a number) Renee Sherman
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name) Johje
6. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite
drink) Blue coke one
7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your last name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dads name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms first name). Ehjakre
8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (parents' middle names) Mike Lynn
9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets). BLACK fish
10. YOUR HOOD NAME:....first 3 letters of your first name plus-iqua:
ren-iqua
Now copy, paste, and send on to all your crazy friends.
Snow flurries in the forecast tonight
$1.69 for gas in Washington,PA
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Virus Alert
Friday, October 24, 2008
Carnival Chaos
I think the little girl in the black and white cheerleader costume played Duck Pond about a dozen times in a row. I'm thinking, "Girl, get back and give someone else a turn!"
Nathan and his friend Carter loved the big slide, but Ashley just wanted to sit and eat her candy! I love the look on her face in this picture. She really looks like she's getting away with something.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Pumpkin Patch - Finally!
Nathan's first trip on the school bus - he wants to ride it every day now!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
we are still alive down here
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Results Not Typical
Sunday, October 19, 2008
One More Candle
"Two Little Monkeys...
Nathan got MANY light sabers for his birthday, so against my better judgement, I let him bring two of them on the trip. He and Will fought with them (in the dark, on the bed) most of the time we were in the hotel. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.
Close One in Kentucky

Friday, October 17, 2008
204!!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Redneck Mecca
No trip to the fair is complete without...
(1) riding the Ferris wheel - unless you are like Jeff and scared of it. He will ride anything else at any theme park, but is terrified this one!
(2) Eating the biggest, greasiest corn dog you can find...
(3) Riding the Tilt-a-Whirl until you want to throw up your aforementioned corn dog...
and (4) finishing off the evening with a novel fair dessert. I looked unsuccessfully for the "Cheesecake on a Stick" trailer. (If you've never had it, you do not know what you are missing. It is a frozen slice of cheesecake, impaled with a skewer, and dipped in chocolate - truly a dessert-lover's paradise! And I can say that with authority.)
The kids wanted Dippin' Dots, but I wanted something that you can not find at the mall, so Jeff set off to find us some more appropriate fair fare. This is what he found:
I didn't even believe him when he told me about it, so I asked him to go back and take a picture. I didn't realize until I saw the picture that it was called "Pig Licker". That makes it infinitely more disgusting! I didn't go see it for myself because I was repulsed by the idea of chocolate-covered meat.
After that, I gave up on my quest for fair dessert and shared some of Ashley's Dippin' Dots. It was no Cheesecake on a Stick but surely better than the Chocolate Dipped Bacon!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Jump Zone!
Cake Drama - Part 2
Honorable Mention
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Racing for the Cure


Dear Benton High...
Kindergarten Field Trip Day





I went as an adult sponsor on J's kindergarten outing. It was really fun. I really enjoyed speding the day with J and his class. We went to Triple B's Farm. It was an interesting place. They have this huge field filled with Disney Characters and Nursery Rhyme characters. They are made with pumpkins, hay or other fall decorations. They have a big pumpkin patch where you get to "pick you own pumpkin." (pics to follow)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Happy Birthday Micah!


If you ask Micah he will tell you that he is 5, but really he is four. He just doesn't get the age/birthday thing. On his birthday I told him he was four now and he said "no I'm not four yet because I'm not bigger today"
Monday, October 6, 2008
Must See TV?
Halloween Decor
He is going to be Batman for Halloween, and if the weather's cool enough, Ashley is going to be a monkey. The monkey costume is rather warm but very cute.
Hard Times
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Foreshadowing
If you don't hear much from me in October, I apologize in advance. It is always our busiest month of the year, and this one is shaping up to be crazier than ever. I will try to keep up the blogging, but I can't make any promises.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Ten Mile Flashback
We have a patient on service with the last name “Allison”. As I’m typing it today, I caught myself saying “Hay-Hell-Hell-Hi-Hes-Ho-Hen" : )
Thursday, October 2, 2008
We're not really "cat" people
Long story short: We got a cat.
Here's a picture of our newest addition. He's white with a black tail and random black spots. We're thinking of calling him "Ike" since he supposedly was left by hurricane evacuees.
Nathan drew these for me to "thank" me for the cat.