Dear Santa...

I'm reverting back to childhood and making Santa a Christmas list :-)

I'm not sure if I made it onto Santa's "Nice List" this year.
So just in case....I'll post this for friends, family (and hubby) to see!

All the kids:
Books, books, and books!
Clothes, PJ's, Shoes
Paints and brushes
Art/school/craft supplies
Puzzles
Games
Cards
Toy box
Aprons/Apron/oversized bibs
Any books by Susan Boynton

Owen:
He likes anything/everything BOY -
pretend hunting things like guns, sling shots, bow/arrows, nerf guns (and other "manly" things)
Transportation stuff: Trucks, planes, cars, trains, rockets
Animals: dinosaurs, bugs, birds, animals, dragons, frogs
Character stuff: Spiderman, Mario Brothers, Harry Potter, R2D2 from Star Wars, Curious George, Clifford, Scout (from leapfrog)
hoola hoop
fruit, crackers, candy
balloons
games that are played with 2+ people
balls of ALL kinds
bubbles
art projects, play dough
books
music and audio books
anything with a screen/movies/games
pre-reading helps/preschool activities
Currently wearing size 5T in the baby/toddler section or XS(5-6) in the boys section. And currently wearing shoe size 11 or 12 in kids.

Katelyn
She likes all things GIRL (and non-chokeable stuff)
jewelry
babies
dolls and doll accessories
Animals: ponies, puppies, kittens
purple and pink things
toys
books
music/songs
Characters: Any princess, Clifford the big red dog
Currently wearing size 2T and shoe size 6-7


For the Baby (Baby boy due Jan 29, 2014):
Lotion/baby wash - Lavender scented would be fun to try
Bibs
Burp cloths (I like the embellished ones...but the plain ol' single layer Gerber cloth diaper ones can be bleached easily. Love 'em both!)
Diapers (I like "Pampers Swaddlers" for newborn and size 1)
Dresser for baby's room
Infant car seat
Small diaper bag
One of these as a keepsake for baby.
footed baby pants - aren't these cool?
Newborn hat for his newborn pictures

Brian:
Motorcycle, snowmobile, 4-wheelers
Bow hunting stuff (I have no idea what this entails)
Gun re-loading supplies/materials/stuff
Shed
Materials to insulate our garage
Really really bright flashlights
Bow hunting things
Hiking things
Bug-A-Salt salt gun
Bow case


Adri:
New PC or Apple computer
Pomegranates...Mmmmmm I love these sooo much!
Mormon Mom Planner 2015 (overview of planner)
Small perfume
To have my feet "read"
Jewelry organizer (maybe for wall, or top of dresser)
Coconut oil (so many uses for this!)
New sharp blades for my Wahl hair clippers
Cape for cutting Brian and Owen's hair
Lavender pillow mist (can be a DIY)
Makeup: makeup primer (Mabelline Baby Skin), concealer (Mabelline Dream Lumi Highlighting Concealer in Ivory), lipstick, chapstick
Water pick (need all the help I can get to clean my braces!)
Smock type apron like this or this.
Jewelry (staples that will go with lots of different clothes. All my jewelry seems to be broken or missing)
Lens cleaning kit
50mm 1.8 canon lens for my Canon 7D
Newborn posing pillow - They look like this :-)
Photography backdrop stand and clips and strobe/flash
At home laminator
Glam Glow clearing treatment.
Pinking shears
Cutting mat and rotary cutter



Household:
New Computer
Ironing board
Pictures of Temple or Jesus, or frames so put my own pictures in.
Pastry brush
Meat tenderizer mallet/tool
FOOD STORAGE/PREPAREDNESS ITEMS
Blackout curtians for master bedroom

Happy Mothers Day 2014 - Miss You Mom!

Mega "SHOUT OUT" to my special Mother. Wish you lived closer so we could do this in person. But these videos are super fun too :-)

I had a very nice Mothers day, thinking about the heritage of  mothers before me, and the posterity of mothers to follow. Hoping I will be a strong link in the chain of my generation.

Brian brought me breakfast in bed. Mmmm Mmm good!
The men took over primary, so I went to gospel doctrine class and then relief society. Wow, I miss mingling with the wonderful women of our ward!  Of course singing time in primary is a blast, but there is a lot to be learned in the other meetings.




2014 M-Day Video from Adri Johnson on Vimeo.

I Stand All Amazed - Senior Primary Activity

BIG hit in Senior Primary today!
I taught I Stand All Amazed last week to the Senior primary. They caught on so fast to the first verse, so today was a review/reinforcement activity.

Materials:
Poster
Paper
Cutting Tools (scissors, cricut, or big circle punch)
Glue
Ruler (optional)

How to make your code poster:-decide what words are important to color-code. Usually words referring to Heavenly Father, Jesus, I or Me, etc... In "I Stand All Amazed" I also chose words that meant Love (Love, Grace, and Care).
-cut out your circles
-glue them on!


This is how it all played out:
I asked the kids to look at the poster and tell me what was different, what was the same, what did they notice. I accepted all answers and then we sang the 1st verse (I didn't do anything except hold the poster as we sang the first time). I got a few more responses as to what the code would be. Then I sang the 1st line and I pointed to the dots as we sang (one dot per word). I had alot of responses after that! We sang it one-two lines at a time until we got to the end. **The best part:. I split the primary down the middle. 1/2 sang the black dots, 1/2 sang the colored dots. But I told them to STAND UP when it was their turn to sing. There is a section in middle where everyone was bouncing up and down in their chairs trying to keep up with the color changes. So fun and funny at the same time. For the most part it was very reverent. Only 1 time did i need to remind them that this is a sacred song, and we shouldn't sing it silly. They understood and it was A+ the rest of the time!


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPGug1zPmsE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

First Primary Talk - Owen is a Sunbeam!

Oh my, what a darling little sunbeam we have! He gave his first talk in church on Sunday, and I couldn't be more proud. He stood up there without hesitation in front of 50 children and 15 adults.
Way to go buddy!

Owen's First Talk in Primary for the LDS Church, 4 years old from Adri Johnson on Vimeo.

Kids Book of the Week: Mom Says I Can

Winner of the 2009 Mom's Choice Award

Why we picked this book: Someone in my ward was selling some books, and this book was part of a 'bundle' that I bought from her.

My Review:  This is my favorite kids book to date. Probably because of all the hugs and kisses I received at the end. This adventurous little boy is searching for the "worlds greatest treasure". He pretends to be a pirate, indian, spaceman, cowboy, knight in shining armor, etc... I love when he finds his treasure! The illustrations are perfect! I just love them. I am so excited when he chooses this book to read at night. I can't wait to read more books by Judy Cooley: I Love You More, and I Want to Be a Mommy.

Owen's Reaction: My sweet little Owen (4 yrs, 1.5 months old) studied and enjoyed every picture, and asked questions. He is so similar to this little boy in the book, everything is an adventure in his little world.

Mommy: What's your treasure, Owen?

Owen: "YOU!" followed by big kisses and hugs. Every time. How lucky am I? Seriously!

Kids Book of the Week: Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea

Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea, by Jan Peck



My Review: I liked the repetitive rhyming words. This helped especially to get Owen involved in saying the words with me. By the way, the illustrations were darling.


Owen's Response: He asked for this book every night (right after this one about unicorns). He loves all the different sea creatures, so this book was spot on the mark! Owen giggled at the ending. :-)


Owen's age: 4.1 years

Kids Book of the Week: Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great

Why we chose this book: Owen picked it off the shelf at the library.

My Review:  My favorite line is "taste my cloven justice". SO FUNNY! Darling book about friendship, unicorns, and rainbows too! (I was skeptical at first, but after reading it to Owen 5 nights in a row I came to really like it.)

Owen's Reaction: He loved everything about this book. The characters, bright colors, silly storyline about a goat and a unicorn becoming friends.  He asked for this book almost every night (whether I wanted to read it or not! haha)

Owen's age: 4 years

My Little Musicians on the Piano

These two little buddies love to play the piano. I use "play" very loosely. Lets be honest...they are 'pounding' on the piano. But they are so darn cute. Whats a mother to do? Well, take pictures of course!
Not staged at all, this is totally them in real life.
A while after I got the camera out, they both wanted to 'pose' for the camera. (see the bottom 2 pictures) They both make sure cute 'camera faces'.
Love these two buggers more than anything!

Cars Party Preparations!

I'm getting ready for Owen's 4th birthday party. Wow...4 years old? Really? TIME FLIES when you're having fun! :-)
I live far away from my mom, who wants to be part of the festivities so badly! So here are a few pictures to help her feel included in my preparations.

I created the design in photoshop, and printed them on plain white paper sacks (purchased at walmart for less than 2 dollars for a huge pack!)
The paper sacks go right through the printer SO easily. What a cool idea! I'm sure I found it on pinterest years ago...and filed the idea in the back of my mind. I did this same thing for his 3rd party, with a different design of course.

Here ya go, Mom! Enjoy :-)

 

Kids Book of the Week: Robot Zot

Why I picked this book: I thought my son would enjoy a book about robots (oh, I know him so well! He loved it!), and because it was illustrated by the very talented David Shannon

My review:
It's a clever book about a robot who plans to take over Earth. "Robot Zot never fall, Robot Zot conquer all!" is his mantra. I love his ambition. It has nice artwork, and a cute message about love. My son giggles every time we get to the page where Robot Zot blasts the TV into pieces. Yikes! "Dont try this at home"....comes to mind. haha! The illustrations and colors in the book were nicely done. Images were clear, yet detailed at the same time. So after reading it several times, we pointed out different things to eachother making it more interesting.

Owen's reaction: LOVED it. It really kept his attention, and now he is absolutely CRAZY for robots. He wanted to read it over, and over, and over again. I know children learn with repetition...but I'm ready to send this one back to the library after reading it every night for over a month.

Mommy: Why do you like Robot Zot?
Owen: Because I like him so much

Owen's Age: 3 years, 11 months

Primary Music: Snowman Bowling Activity

This week in Primary we went bowling!
Here is our little "Olaf", so lovingly named by our Junior Primary.

First, I taught them about dynamics, and when to sing loud/soft during our song. Then, we reviewed "He Sent His Son" using dynamics. They sang beautifully. So much, in fact, that they earned a game!

(I found this idea via our wonderful LDS Primary Chorister facebook group. Best community ever!)

1- Wrap 10 toilet paper rolls in plastic wrap using a little tape (so you can use the tp later. hehe)
2- Add buttons, face, hat, gloves. I used tape to secure the buttons.
3- As children are signing, stack the TP. The better they sing, the taller your snowman will be.
4- After each song, I asked a teacher to choose a very reverent child who was signing really well to come knock down the snowman with the ball.

5- Repeat each song!

WOW - This was a GREAT motivator. I had every child (senior primary) sitting up straight, with arms folded, singing LOUD. Everyone wanted a turn. I wish they all had a chance to do it....I think some of them felt bad they didn't get picked, especially when they were all working so hard to be good. It was a bitter sweet feeling for me, actually. 

Tips:
**Use a big tote or bag to take to church. (I love my giant striped tote bag!)
**Have a teacher or member of the primary presidency do the "stacking" so you can still lead the music.
**I didn't use the gloves while playing the game...too difficult!
**Put 2-3 rolls as the base, otherwise it falls to quickly

** Use a ball that is heavy enough. I ended up needing a volleyball. The ball pictured was too lightweight to knock it down.

Beanies with Labels - Crocheted Christmas Gifts

This was one of my most exciting Christmas gifts to give. I crochet the beanies with very chunky yarn. Then, I added custom labels! Overall it was a very fun project, and I'm so excited to share it. (I had to wait until after Christmas...so as not to spoil the surprise!)

Link to label tutorial below.

 

I've been wanting to make labels for FOREVER! Finally a REALLY good reason to buy the materials and try it out. It took a LOT of practice/mess-ups/mistakes to get the labels to work just right. Often times the ink would smudge if I didn't remove the iron ever-so-carefully. Or if I tried peeling off the top side of the transfer paper before it was cooled, or after it had cooled too long. Needless to say...it took about 15 tries to get 5 labels that looked good enough to use.

How I attached the labels:
I cut the label down to size AFTER I did the iron-on.
Then, I used a lighter to singe/seal the edges of the twill tape so it wouldn't fray. And to give it a crisp edge.
Next, I placed the label where I thought looked best.
Lastly, I carefully sewed the label to the hat with the sewing machine. Since my twill tape was only 1/2 in wide, I just went forward for 1/2 in, and the back stitched 1/2 in. It was too short of space to do a back stitch at the beginning and at the end. So the whole 1/2 in was back stitched. Does that make sense? I used white thread, and almost no seam allowance. You can see from the pictures that its sewed really close to the edge.

HERE IS A LINK TO MY PINTEREST, WHERE I FOUND THE LABEL TUTORIAL:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/165155511308933592/

Primary Music Leader: First Sunday!

My First Day in my new calling!! 
Today was my FIRST Sunday as Primary Music Leader! I walked in for Singing Time in full-out ski clothes and said how excited I was for "skiing time". The kids giggled when the primary president clarified that it was "singing time". I made a huge deal about how embarrassing it was that I made a mistake on my FIRST DAY!!!. And that I needed HELP going from their Skiing Teacher to their Singing Teacher. I told them since I was in my snow clothes, I wanted to sing some "snow-y" songs. Of course they picked Once There Was A Snowman. As they sang, I tried to get off all the snow clothes! I didn't quite make it (on purpose!) So we sang a 2nd song: Do as I'm Doing, and they preteneded to throw snowballs while I continued taking off the snow clothes/hat/boots. By the last note of the song, I had all my snow clothes and snow boots off and my sunday clothes were underneath. They were so happy that they helped me become the "Singing Teacher" . Junior primary, Senior primary, and even the teachers were grinning from ear to ear at the charade. I had them eating out of the palm of my hand!

We had plenty of time to sing/learn He Sent His Son. The junior primary learned the first 3 questions and answers with hand motions (Not fully ASL...we did actions and a few ASL signs). They were engaged the entire time. We didn't need to do any other wiggle songs. The Senior Primary was SO familiar with the song so I just taught them the motions. We got through the whole song in Senior primary. They loved the actions, and I had them help decide what hand motions to do on "faith, hope, live like his son".

Nursery singing time also went well. we sang ABC's with ASL, Sunbeam with jumping, Eeensy Weensy Spider with props, I am a Child of God with sticks for them to 'lead' the music with me, the Monkey/Alligator song, AND If You Chance To Meet a Frown. 

**special thanks to my Aunt Debbie for the idea of "skiing teacher". She did the same thing many years ago when it was her first day as the primary music leader. :-) 

*I also had on snow boots - cant see them in the pic :-)