First Grade Brilliance

I've never done this before, so here it goes...  (if this works, I'll try to upload some more)

Last week, the first grade sang at the downtown Ogden's Christmas Village.  It is completely adorable and bitterly cold.  It was bittersweet, knowing this was our last 1st grade Christmas program...  Well, until we get to go to Peter's (and his coming sibling's!).  

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Grace's first award!

Grace with her adorable teacher, Ms. Cotter. 

Grace won the Community of Caring Award for her class this month; the quality this month was Respect.  Good job, Grace!  The Johnston girls are on fire these days!  :-)  We're very proud.  Here is what her teacher wrote about her:

"Grace is nominated for the Community of Caring Award, because she always acts respectfully towards her classmates, her classroom, and her teacher.  Grace remembers the rules of respectful listening and never speaks while someone else is talking.  She acts kindly and thoughtfully towards other students and always tries to help if someone is hurt or upset.  Grace is very generous and will share with anyone who asks.  She uses polite language and never says mean things to anyone.  She keeps her desk clean and respects classroom materials.  Grace models respectful behavior every day.  I'm so glad to have her in my class!"

We couldn't agree more.  

Now, the girls are FINALLY out of school.  Not until today at 1:00pm.  Crazy.  And it's been snowing tons around here, which has made the fact that the girls were still in school seem even crazier.  Hopefully, we'll still get to Oregon Christmas day.  Thankfully, we fly into Eugene, which doesn't seem to be getting hit quite as hard as Portland.  

I hope everyone out there is safe and warm!

Award Schm'Award

No, we really are very proud of our little award winner.  Anna won this month's Community of Caring Award for her class.  The quality this month was "Courage."  Mr. Cottle wrote that Anna is always willing to try new things, go the extra mile on assignments, and follow the rules even when others aren't.  But, really, she won the award, because she volunteered to sit by the biggest trouble-maker in the class when Mr. Cottle asked if someone would be willing to "sit by Tegan who won't talk to him."  I still can't believe Anna was the one and only volunteer--my little, quiet Anna!   But, I guess Mr. Cottle couldn't really write that on her award certificate.  :-)

Yeay, Anna!  We are very proud of our courageous little lamb.  

All I Want for Christmas...

Grace lost her tooth!  It's been loose for just about forever, but it FINALLY came out this morning--literally fell right out of her mouth onto her tongue.  Very, very exciting indeed.  :-)  

The other front one is loose, too, so it looks like Grace just may be singing the song for Christmas!

Science Fair

So, this is a week over-due, but I still wanted to post about Anna being in the Science Fair last week.  Ironically, even though Adam dedicates two days of his time to do a really cool "Science Show" for each grade at the girls' school, neither one of us was really wedded to our girls doing a science fair project.  We figured that when they are really interested, they'll do one.  Well, or until 4th grade when it's required...  Even though Anna has wanted to be in the Science Fair for the past three years, she didn't really have the lasting interest it took to get the project done, and Adam and I don't believe in being the driving force in making it happen (or we're just too lazy...).  But, this year, Anna did it.  What was it that held her attention and inspired an eight year old's best work?  Peas.  Yep.  Anna stacked peas.  And she did a marvelous job.  (Almost) All by herself.   

In addition to sharing a picture of the proud girl in front of her poster, I wanted to include Anna's brainstorm list for her project (exactly as written):

Sience fair progets

paper airplanes.
stacking peas.
How does the World spin?
How big do pe[n]cils get? [in reference to a giant pencil she saw in Adam's office that day, a cherished gift]
How big is space?
How long has the Earth been Earth?
How does balencing bird balence so well?
How are stars made?
Why do cars need gas?
Why do people litter?
How are mountains formed?
How do trees and plants grow?
How long will it take me to sing my ABC's?
How do circles (gears) work? 
How do people grow?
Why does when mentos and coke mixed together it blows up?
Why did france give us the statue of Libertey?
How does electresety work.
Who was the first person on earth, and how were they born?
How many pieces of bacon are in a pig?

Brilliant.  If only we all continued asking such questions our whole lives.  

Hello Again

Okay.  So it's been awhile.  

I admit that I've been a bit paralyzed by the whole idea of blogging.  I want my blog to be more thoughtful and not just a string of images, but upon thinking of doing so, I end up stopping blogging altogether.  So, I'm back to posting images of my children.  That's what I feel comfortable doing right now.  I just want people to realize that I recognize that that is all I do on this blog.  

I absolutely love reading some blogs that are deeply personal; I find them engaging and brave.  I know mine is not that.  Perhaps that is for another blog.  Or a diary.  I don't know.  

I do know there are a few out there who enjoy seeing pictures of my kids--and I do like taking pictures of them--so this is the place for that right now.  If you want to see the other pictures I've taken lately, check out:  www.kjohnstonphoto.smugmug.com .  I'm really proud of the work I'm doing right now; it is fun, exciting, and fulfilling.  I want to make it into something more.  

So, with that said, here is a new string of images of my daughters:  

Enjoy!

Carving Pumpkins

After a flurry of dinner, dance, and martial arts, we finally made time to carve a couple of pumpkins the night before Halloween:

Halloween

We had a great Halloween.  The weather was unusually warm, my mom was visiting for the week, both girls had class parties, and they got to go trick-or-treating with Peter.

Anna was a free-spirited gypsy:

And Grace was a very serious veterinarian (she had this face on for every picture!):

(I made the lab coat and scrub pants and found the perfect scrub shirt with puppies all over it at a second hand store!)

Trick-or-treating at night with Monkey Peter:

Crazy Hair Day

Trying to play catch-up...

Today was crazy hair day.  What to do??  We didn't have a lot of time this morning, so we went with the stand-by "lots of pony tails and ribbons" look.  Perfect ray of sunshine on a rainy, dreary day:

And, no, Grace STILL has not lost that tooth!  It's the exact same tooth that held on in Anna's mouth, too.  Any day now...  And then we'll take Christmas card pictures.  :-)

Yellow Belt

After a very intense two-hour test, Grace earned her yellow belt last night.  She had an excited cheering section:

And, boy, did she ever earn that belt!  She definitely got nervous, but she impressed us all by how well she continued trying and stayed focused the whole time.  The test was certainly harder than I thought it would be.  There was a "movement" section where she had to show that she had mastered white belt material, and then there was a "stamina" section, which quite frankly felt like just enduring the two hours was enough, but they also ran for four minutes straight, held the push-up position for a minute, and other such torture.  There were two kids (including Grace) testing for their yellow, two testing for orange, and three testing for purple, so lots going on.  She did GREAT.  We are very, very proud of her--but more importantly, Grace is very proud of herself.  She still just loves MP and can't wait to start learning yellow belt material.

She will be a yellow belt for a while now.   While she needed to attend 13 classes in order to test for a yellow belt, she will need to attend 26 classes to test for the orange belt.  There is also quite a bit more material.  And, she will be able to start sparring!  Wow.  She's excited and nervous to do that...  

After having taken off their current belts and getting ready for the belt ceremony:

Shaking hands with Mas Pat, her favorite teacher who taught her intro class:

Cutting her yellow belt with a machete-like Indonesian fighting knife (very cool):

The new yellow belt:  

We then headed out for some well-deserved dessert with Peter (who was a champ for making it through that big test!), Jenn, and Matt.  Grace got a strawberry tart (and shared some of my malt).  It was a good ending to a big night.  

Then, she woke up and played soccer today...  Whew!  

Sweet Dreams

This is how I found Anna sleeping tonight:

Cracks me up.  (And thrills me that I can take this pic with my ISO cranked way up and not use a flash!)

Good Night!  

Soccer!!!

It's soccer time again around here!  Grace actually had her first game last weekend, but I had to miss it to go to a Girl Scout Conference.  This week, there was no way I was missing it, though.  Grace was awesome--especially in the first quarter before she got tired.  She was much more in the game, blocking the ball, turning it around, and running with it.  It was so exciting to see!  The girls have moved up to U8 soccer now, so the field is bigger and they play eight minute quarters now instead of five:  much more tired girls!  Five girls play at a time now, though, instead of just three, so they're learning positions now, too.  Adam is again the coach--and thinks he may even need to buy some running shoes for practice and games!  He is a great, patient coach with some very excited girls who love to hug each other... often.  :-)  

In other news, Grace is testing for her yellow belt this Friday.  She is very excited, especially since we went to an open house on Friday and saw one of her teachers (the only woman) kick some serious ass.  Bahk Bonnie was seriously tough, graceful, and amazing.  Two of the highlights the girls can't stop talking about was when she was sparring with two men and totally took them down, even though they were "about a foot taller than her" (Anna's words), and when she broke metal with her head!  Not a bad role model for Miss Grace, eh?!  

Anna has started her two dance classes (ballet and contemporary dance both with Miss Beth) and violin.  Anna loves it all, and she's even started waking up extra early to practice a half an hour before school, so there is less to worry about in the afternoon.  That is working out quite splendidly, actually.  Her class of 35 was just split on Friday, since they hired a fourth 3rd grade teacher.  I think there are more like 25 in there now, which should help me sleep better at night.  She seems to like her teacher and is happy.

Grace is doing well in first grade.  She comes home tired, but happy, and is truly becoming a good little reader.  She is diligent about her homework and quotes Ms. Cotter often, often describing how nice she is.  She proclaimed this weekend that she was "sure [she's] going to have a good year in first grade."  She no longer seems to be kissing Conner on the playground, but is still his--and many other kids'--friend.  I helped in her classroom a couple of days last week, and even stayed to have lunch, and got to meet many of her friends.  

I'm still adjusting to my life without the girls all day.  I was kind of looking forward to some time to be bored, which really hasn't happened yet at all.  The days fill up fast!  I've gotten lots of doctor appointments taken care of (my eyes are doing well!), had a photoshoot up in Logan last week, am compiling pictures to finally update my website, and am hoping to finally paint our bedroom (a project on hold for the past 2 1/2 years!) this week.  The afternoon/evenings are completely packed with lessons, so it's so nice to be able to breathe and get some things done during the day.  

Looking Sharp

Thanks for the new clothes, Gramma!!!  The girls absolutely LOVE them--and it was cool enough today to wear the whole ensemble.  :-)  As you can see, they look adorable.  Anna wanted to be sure I fit the shoes in the picture, since those are her favorite part.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

School Days

It's only the third day back at school, and it's all craziness around here:

We tie dyed these outfits (plus much more) this summer, and this is what the girls chose to wear to school today.  And this is how they pose when I tell them to just do "whatever they want."  :-)  

School is going well for both of them.  Grace's teacher is every bit as wonderful as we anticipated she would be, and she seems to have a nice class.  She has found friends to play with at every recess, some old and some new.  We have learned, though, that she and her best boy friend from last year have been KISSING on the playground...  Eie Yie Yie!  I suggested that they find other things to do with their time instead of kissing each other, and Grace replied that they're "only kissing on the cheeks, Mom!"  I said it would still be a good idea to have something else in common.  And, she told me that she likes to call Conner "Connie" and he calls her "Gracie."  I can only imagine this--and it scares me half to death!  She also likes to play with her friend from preschool, Will, and our neighbor, Sam.  I can only hope she's not kissing them, too...  She's been playing with some new girls in her class, too, but can't seem to remember their names.  I don't think she's kissing them either.  :-)

I'm getting less information from Anna about school (although she definitely isn't kissing anyone, because she is completely appalled by Grace thinking of kissing boys).  Her class is enormous: 34 kids.  The whole school actually is completely bursting at the seams.  The principal is currently working things out, and I'm trying to trust in her, although I admit to waking up with panic attacks and worrying about the chaos that has become the girls' school.   Letters may have to be written; board meeting may need to be crashed, but it will work out in the end.  I hope.  

Anyway, Anna likes her teacher and comes home telling his funny jokes or doing silly tricks that he showed them.  I can only hope she's learning something in there, too.  No homework has come home yet, so I really don't know.  She is still playing with a lot of her friends from last year.  Apparently they have a meeting place on the playground, so they can all find one another.  Anna is talking about some nice new girls in her class, who I'm sure she'll befriend soon enough.  

And, here is a funny picture of Grace that my Uncle Mark took with his camera while he was here on Sunday:
Hilarious.  Thanks for sending this to me, Uncle Mark!  Grace brought in a copy of it to school for show and tell today.  :-)

First Day!

Here are a few pictures of the girls' first day at school (Anna: 3rd; Grace: 1st).  This morning went well--no crying from Grace!  She only said she wanted to go home twice after entering her classroom... But then after a good hug, she sat down at her desk and was very brave.  She's come a LONG way since last year!  Once I helped Anna find out where to hang her backpack and she found some friends, she was fine to walk down the hall into her class without me.  

I can't wait to find out how their first days went!  I'll be sure to report...

P.S.  I have had a GREAT day.  I've officially declared the next two days my vacation days.  It's been a mighty long time since I've even been alone, much less spent a whole day on my own, so I'm giving myself some time to enjoy it.  I know I'm going to get busy soon enough, so for now I'm just letting myself relax a little bit.  The joy of it all! 

New Things

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Adam has been gone A LOT lately and it seems any time I try to get anything done, the girls start fighting.  So, I'm getting very little done.  I think we're all missing having him around.  I know many of you are parenting more alone than I am most, if not all, of the time.  I can honestly say I so honor what you do.  It is such hard, hard work.  

I took a few pictures today of some new things that have happened lately:  bangs for Grace and a retainer for Anna.

Grace looks adorable anytime, but she looks very cute indeed with bangs: 

And, her hair stayed out of her face during MP without any clips (great for Grace who hates having her hair done or having it styled--simple is best with her).

Anna can't believe what I asked her to do:
Show off her new stylish retainer!  :-)  She's doing great with it.  She should have it out around Christmas.
Already a pretty smile...

Adam gets back Saturday night.  He and the girls start school on Monday morning.  I have a list started of all the things I'm hoping to get done when they're gone.  I cannot believe both girls will be gone all day.  I'm going to miss them so much!  But, I have to say, this summer has felt pretty intense, so I'm excited to get back on top of things and have time to think and figure out what I want to do with my life.  Wish me luck!

My eyes are doing pretty well.  I'm on two different drops which are keeping my pressure down.  I go back to the glauc. doc. in a couple of weeks and see how I'm doing.  Thanks for all the kind thoughts and words!  

Maine

Pictures of our wonderful trip to Maine are posted on my SmugMug site! All 315 of them! :-) (narrowed down from 700...)

kjohnstonphoto.smugmug.com

We had a fabulous time visiting with family, swimming in lakes, tubing, kayaking, canoeing, going to the beach, eating lobster, jumping off docks, tramps, and paddle boats into lakes, hanging out in a really cute town for a day, jumping in puddles, knitting on the deck, and reading--and I had a blast taking pictures of it all! The weather was perfect the whole time until the last two days when it poured and thunderstormed, but even that felt perfect, too.

Enjoy the pictures!

Gramma and Poppy: You can print any pictures you want directly from that site and they will mail them to you within the week. Let me know if you have any questions or if you want any of these in black and white. Thank you for a wonderful time in Maine! We are all looking forward to seeing you again in the fall.

sweet, sweet sight

What a week I've had... Ended up with an emergency visit to the ophthalmologist on Saturday after the symptoms I'd been having on and off since April (a hazy film coming over my eyes, rainbow halos around lights, sensitivity to light, contacts slipping off my eyes easily, nausea, and headaches) got more persistent and worse.

Turns out those symptoms are not good. The pressure in my eyes was incredibly high (48-50, normal being between 10-20) and I was diagnosed with glaucoma. No, not good at all.

The doctor prescribed two different drops to get the pressure down and I spent a sad, stressful weekend at home with my glasses on reading horrible things online about glaucoma.

Monday morning, I headed back to the doctor to check my pressure again and take a battery of tests. That appointment ended up being the best-case scenario, really. I do have some damage to my optic nerve in my right eye, but the left is okay and now that we've caught it and are treating it, there hopefully won't be any more. My pressure was way down (11 in the right and 27 in the left), so I'm continuing the drops and it doesn't look like I'll have to have surgery for now.

Thankfully, the doctor said my chances of going suddenly blind are very, very slight (definitely my worst case scenario) and I found out I can't do anything physically to make glaucoma worse, so photography, working on the computer, knitting and reading are all okay. Thank God.

I go back to see him again on Monday. And I have an appointment to see my dermatologist to try to get off the topical steroid meds I'm on for my psoriasis, which could have brought on the glaucoma in the first place. Unfortunately, he could "fit me in" until the end of August. What gives with the dermatologists? I've had this problem before; I need to get in, but he's booked for months, and they can "squeeze" me in a month from now... Gee, thanks for fitting me in your schedule... I don't get it.

But, anyway, I wasn't even sure I was going to write about this here, but I started a post about Maine and couldn't NOT write about this first. This is definitely forefront in my mind. Even though the news I heard yesterday was all pretty good and I know it's all going to be okay, it's still scary and depressing and exhausting to think about. I really like seeing...

Merpati Putih Grace

This week, Grace's anticipation to take karate (or more specifically, "Merpati Putih", or just "MP" (pronounced em-pay), an indonesian martial arts) was finally fulfilled when she took a three day "try-it" camp, culminating in earning her white belt today. It would be an understatement to say she enjoyed taking MP... She absolutely loved it. She took to it with confidence and an excitement she doesn't often have for new things. It was exciting to see. She came home each day bursting to show off what she had learned: punches, kicks, and blocks. The only bad part for her was having to wait until 6:00pm every night... Needless to say, we signed her up to continue taking MP, where she will be part of the larger class and begin earning her yellow belt (and then orange, then purple, then blue...). I have a feeling it's going to be a long, long wait until her next class on Monday... She rather liked going every day! She was very tired tonight (the girls are going to sleep Utah-time, but waking up Maine-time...), but pulled through for me to snap a few pictures of her in her cool outfit and NEWLY EARNED white belt!