Banana Seat Bike, Beard, Appendix, etc.

Violet gets boxes of hand-me-downs pretty regularly from cousin Jada. She was especially jacked up to get this Hannah Montana shirt although I don't think she is really into that music scene. She does know who Michael Jackson is but when she says his name it sounds like "Uncle Jason".

Henry is still trying to refine his technique on the training wheels.

Unique Thrift Store was had some good deals on bikes a while back when I found this classic banana seat for Violet. I guess it will just have to sit in the basement for a few years -- but for five bucks it's pretty sweet. It says "RAINBOW" on the chain guard and it has a custom white wicker basket.

This likely qualifies as animal abuse on some level but it's cute as all get out.

This is the coop and garden after the big harvest.

Henry has somehow willed himself to have to poop every night at around 8:30 or 9:00 so he can get out of bed. The other night he came out in the hall and said "Bad news, Dad -- I have to take a number four".

Henry seems to be getting along just fine in pre-school. He has a couple of buddies he seems to get along with.
Violet looks so grown up in this one.

Mama and Violet...

I came down with a little tummy ache a couple weeks back and ended up having to get the ol' appendix taken out. It kinda put a damper on my week but now I'm back and better than ever. I'm also a couple months into my best beard ever. I was put on lifting restrictions for a week so I couldn't pick up the kids. Violet is at a stage where she really likes being held so I had to sell her on hand holding and now she likes it. The other day when we were running errands she wanted me to hold her hand while we were driving.

Back to School, State Fair & Wayward Goats

It's back to the grind and the start of a new routine this fall. Henry now has preschool three days a week and gets to ride to school with mom on those mornings. He seems to be adjusting well. Prior to the open house, he was a little nervous about the whole deal. We met his teachers and stayed and played Lego's for a while until he remarked "I think I'm gonna like preschool."

So with that he took his lunch...

and officially began the odyssey of his formal education.


Where the hell does the time go?

We also went to the State Fair. It went really well. We spent almost the entire day there. We last went when Violet was still an infant and we made it about 90 minutes or so. Here's mama and Henry in action on the Tilt-a-whirl.

I tried my darnedest to win Henry a large stuffed animal but failed.

We met this guy...

Henry had his four year check up a while back and everything seemed good. He was about 65% for height and 45% for weight if I remember correctly.

The harvest is in. We have way more tomatoes than we know what to do with. Lots of onions, carrots, and variety of peppers.

The chickens still haven't given us any eggs yet. The turkeys are getting huge. We took in two wayward and morbidly obese goats from a gentleman who is moving out of state. Status quo for Rancho Johnson.

Yes, Henry has a panty liner on his head -- and on his shins. For some reason, they hold some novelty value amongst the youth in our household. I guess it offers some protection from bumps and bruises.

Henry has a wicked temper. If he isn't getting his way he has taken to screaming "YOU'RE FIRED!" That, coupled with the fact that he is very sensitive and a pretty intense dude has made it kind of trying at times with him at this particular stage in his life.

Violet and Henry started with their first and second seasons of dance class, respectively. Violet especially digs all aspects of dance.

Violet will sneak off to her room and change clothes like ten times if given the opportunity. Her vocabulary is still growing like crazy. She had a brief stage where she was carrying dolls with her everywhere she went but seems to be over it.

We took a detour to Stillwater on our way home from the State Fair for old times sake.

Summer Shenanigans

Henry loves critters. He found this tree frog and scooped it right up. I like that he has no fear when it comes to stuff like that. He is very good with the chickens. He will pick them up all the time and can round them up and get them in the coop in no time.

He can also be an out of control beast at times. This photo captures that sentiment.

The both of them love to play in, on and around my truck for some reason -- Violet especially. Violet likes to sit in the cab and play around. She calls it "Violet's Truck". A couple nights ago she was in her truck with no diaper on and whizzed on the seat. Not cool. It hard to stay mad at her though. I swear Henry wears pants sometimes.

This is your basic Tuesday evening here. I get home from work, the kids jump in the truck and act crazy, I run around and feed goats and chickens and whatnot. I bought two turkeys on a whim at the co-op last weekend. They are very akward looking creatures. I plan on eating them for Thanksgiving. Their names are Bachman and Dan. I believe they are Royal Palms. I will get pictures soon.

They are pretty good together about 85% of the time.

Went up north on a Sunday fishing trip with my brother and our boys.

The weather wasn't the greatest but it cleared up long enough for Uncle Jesse to pull one up. Eli manned the net while Henry made observations and yelled whatever came to mind. "THAT FISH IS CRA-ZEEE!"

Eli has perfected the sneer...
I have no explanation for this one. This is apparently what goes down while dad is at work.

The harvest has been slow to come in this year. Kinda mild summer and kinda dry. We just had our first half dozen or so tomatoes ripen so it should be fast and furious from here on out. I made some pico de gallo last nite. Next: Heritage Tomato Bloody Mary Mix! (Side note: Henry insists we call them "Spicey Henry's" around him because "Bloody Mary" sounds kinda gross. Alright.)

I have to work on my carrot picking technique. I had a few snap off as I worked them up with a trowel.

Summer Fun: Nature & Giant Headphones

We spent last weekend -- our sixth wedding anniversary and Mama's 29th birthday -- up at an island retreat in Wisconsin with some friends and family.

Mama and Violet got dolled up in matching toenail polish for the occasion.


Me and niece Jada chilled out on the beach with our ipods and giant headphones. She is all into the High School Musical scene and thinks Troy Bolton is an absolute dreamboat.

Henry took in some sun with Jesse & Brandi's newest addition, their Boston Terrier puppy "Rick".

Mama & Henry hang out on the dock...

Henry could put on a clinic when it comes to peeing in the out of doors. As you can see, he didn't even have to take off his life preserver. Note the clenched butt cheeks and jutting pelvis to avoid swimsuit drippage. I have him using both hands for better aim until he proves he's focused enough for one hand.

We put a few miles in on the paddle boat. Please pay no attention to my doughy and undefined mid-section.

Some of the gang hang out on the beach in front of the cabin -- an elegant design with a danish hip roof covered in cedar shakes.

This picture is a classic -- Henry, Eli, and Rick. It kinda sums up the current relationship between Henry and his favorite cousin Eli. They have a lot of fun together but after about a half hour or so one of them is usually crying or running away. I should have never taught them "heart punches".

Jada and Henry chilling out by the beach...

Jada and Violet on the dock...

Local Man Saves Baby Cardinal From Certain Doom

Cuban philosopher Jose Marti once said that there are three things that a man should do in his lifetime: Plant a tree, have a son, and write a book. And if he were alive today, he may very well have said that a suffiently updated blog could replace the book part of the equation. Henry and I planted this arborvitae last weekend. It's only taken three years but we are starting to get to the landscaping...

On Saturday,Mama was watering the hanging baskets and found out the hard way that there was a mama cardinal with some babies had made a nest in the basket. One of the babies wasn't quite big enough to fly on his own and kind of fluttered to the ground. Here he is...

I didn't want this little guy to end up like Gary the Hummingbird so I decided I would act fast and get him back in his nest. He made a break for it under mama's car...

But I finally managed to scoop him up.

Home sweet home. Mama Cardinal came back a while later and everything seemed to turn out OK. I wonder if Jose Marti ever rescued a baby cardinal from certain doom.

Violet has been doing very well in her transition to the toddler bed. I think we implemented the perfect blend of love, fear and paranoia in laying down the groundwork for the big switch. She proudly proclaims to be a "big gowal" now. Indeed.

Here she plays with the new kitty. It's been so long since we have had a cat but it did not take long to remember why they are questionable housemates -- they puke and crap everywhere and they won't look you in the eye. I can only hope that her presence is a deterrent to the mice.

On Sunday morning Henry and I went to watch the weigh-ins for the annual Taylors Falls Catfishing Contest. Cousin Eli and Uncle Jesse did not disappoint. They just missed a top 10 finish with this baby:

Uncle Dave and Cousin Matt took 5th place with these two:

And, as usual, Jethro and Cooter took home the big money with these monsters:

Happy 4th Birthday Henry!

We celebrated Henry's 4th birthday last weekend. He should be set in the toy department until Christmas. He wanted a Spongebob cake.Grandpa Fred and Violet...

Henry loves his Darth Vader mask with built-in voice modulater. Thanks Grandma Judy!

Henry cashed in all his birthday money for a kitten to help contain the local mouse population. This is Charlie...

Karl Oskar Days Kiddie Parade

We decided to have Henry and Violet partake in the Karl Oskar Days Kiddie Parade at the last minute. The only problem was that momma had to figure out something for them to wear....



Not bad for the last minute. The pirate / Captain Hook costume is mostly improvised but we had some pirate regalia laying around. Violet is rocking the Tinkerbell costume. She didn't want to put on her costume but really wanted a moustache like Henry -- so we had to compromise. Henry's moustache is a little bit crooked from giggle attacks during the application process. This one I call "The Thinker".

Henry, Cousin Jada, AJ, and Violet line up for the parade.

Not sure what to tell everyone what to get Henry for his birthday -- surprise him! Also, he LOVES bubble gum although he is still learning how to properly dispose of it when he is done chewing.

'Til the Wheels Fall Off...

The training wheels are off. Henry is pumped. We are about 36 hours into this ordeal and it is not going to be easy. We will keep practicing.

Balancing the bike with Henry on it and going up and down the driveway is actually a very serious workout. I guess that means I am getting old.

Henry didn't actually fall off the bike. He was running toward me and just plain wiped out.

Violet inherits the trike.

The quintessential hot mess...


Henry has the uncanny ability to round up chickens when needed. We call him the chicken wrangler. I told him he is the best chicken wrangler out there. Tonite Henry was following me around as I was on patrol cleaning up dog turds in the sideyard and Henry told me I was the best turd wrangler out there.

I have returned to vegetable gardening with a vengeance. It's a pretty small garden but I thought it would be best to ease back into it with something that I could stay on top of. Mostly salsa ingredients and a few other things with some heirloom varieties of tomatoes such as Purple Cherokee and whatnot. We should have more tomatoes than we know what to do with.

This picture shows the chicken coop, the garden, the sandbox and the new landscape project. Just a couple years ago this area was a big pile of dirt! There are some sunflowers planted behind the garden fence courtesy of mama that are growing like crazy.

Here I give gentle instruction to Henry on the nuances of carrot thinning and other gardening secrets.

Here is a better look at the ongoing landscaping project along the front elevation of the house...

Henry has been big into watching Peter Pan lately -- a favorite also of Michael Jackson. Here is a glimpse into the artwork of a young boy about to turn four. It's a drawing of Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Not bad, I say. He has an eye for detail that is developing rapidly.

Details...

Just a quick post since I seem to be getting so lazy with this thing lately. We have been doing lots of fun stuff -- too much to document.

The kids went to the Como Zoo a while ago -- I think it's a Minnesota rite of passage to have your picture taken with the monkey statue.

The big news is that Henry starts part-time summer pre-school TODAY! I swear he was just a wee lad not too long ago and now he's all growed ups.

Here are some pictures from houseboating with my brother and his family...

Violet is fluent in english. She can bang out a complete sentence from time to time if you ask the right question. We should be transitioning to a toddler bed soon.

I think Henry is a southpaw but maybe ambidexterous like his grandpa. He is writing/drawing left and throwing with both hands still. His drawing skills have reached a new plateau -- advancing beyond simple "stick people". He was drawing with cousin Eli on the houseboat a few weekends back and told us he had to add some "details" he called them. It turns out "details" is his code word for weiners. I asked him what he would do if he could do anything for his birthday and he said he wanted to cruise in the houseboat and draw pictures with "details" witcousin Eli. I couldn't help but think of a scene from the film SuperBad.

Glitter Vests, etc.

This is the entire Johnson Posse so far -- Henry, Eli, Zoie, Jada & Violet. When we all get together they basically keep themselves entertained.

Say Violet, Mrs. Roper is on the phone and she wants her wardrobe back.

Violet has her baby totally potty-trained. Now that Mama is home for the summer I'm sure that Violet will somehow get it figured out pretty soon as well. Meanwhile, Violet's baby uses about twice as much toilet paper as the rest of the family combined.

Henry performed a few numbers in his highly anticipated dance recital and really delivered the thunder. I'm not sure what the future holds for my son as a song and dance man but he looks cute as all get out in his red glitter vest. Below, Henry poses with his cousin and fellow dancer Jada.

Henry and I are now working on a one act, two man reinterpretation of The Glass Menagerie. It's still in the development phase --we haven't decided if we are going to go with puppets or what. Stay tuned...

I *finally* have my little boat trailer roadworthy after a couple of years of non-use and just have one little part that I need for the motor. Meanwhile, I can putz around on the little lakes around here using the oars. Henry and I took out my boat for the first time last weekend. We had a couple bites but didn't catch anything. Henry had a really good time. When we had supper that night he told mama "Me and Dad only have one rule on the boat -- we don't have to say excuse me when we burp!" This was a little funnier considering when we left momma told me to make sure and teach him all the safety rules and whatnot.

It's really obvious that he loves the one on one time when we get it.

Violet's Birthday, The Chicken Massacre of '09,& Other Ramblings...

Violet is two. Everyone asks where does the time go and so do I. We celebrated her birthday last weekend with some family and friends. She got a whole bunch of awesome new stuff. I took the occasion as a reason to buy a new Weber grill. Below, Baby Lila demonstrates her obviously sophisticated tastes.

For her second birthday, Violet had a Dora cake and some Dora balloons. She is big into the Dora scene.

Elsa and Gracie enjoy the party...

Violet was a perfect sweetheart for her birthday. She knows how to put on her game face for company.

Here is an impromptu shot of Gracie and Violet-- as she ponders another year in the books. I guess we caught Violet in deep thought.Henry talked momma into buying a stuffed animal. It is a puppy and he calls it Spot. He has been accumulating stuffed animals at an alarming rate. He is the preschool equivalent of one of those weird old ladies that you hear about on the news with a trailer house filled with one hundred and seventy cats. I think his heart is in the right place though.

We had a minor catastrophe with the chickens. The neighbor's dog ate and or maimed seven of our chickens. I think we have six hens and a rooster left. A couple of the survivors have some battle scars from the Chicken Massacre of '09. The remaining rooster we have taken to calling Bubble Gum since his wing was chewed up so bad. They all seem to be pretty well recovered. I thought it would be in everyone's best interest to get my remaining chickens an enclosed run so they could enjoy the outdoors with some sense of security. The minute I had the run enclosed, Henry had shimmied through the little door and claimed it as his new home. Somehow, he coaxed Violet close enough to the hole and yanked her through.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing, but Henry always seems to be dragging along a chicken with him outside. A couple days back I was trying to round them up and one was missing. I thought we may have another casualty until I realized Henry had stuffed a chicken into a plastic crate in the sand box. I believe I saved that chickens life.


More family fun...

I guess it's a good way to keep track of them.

Grandma Judy gave Violet an old doll crib as a birthday gift and both of the kids seem to get a kick out of playing in it.

Henry performed a few dance numbers with his troupe in an open practice session as a treat for Mother's during Mother's Day week and as a sneak preview to the big dance recital next weekend. Below, Henry accepts a medal for achievements and excellence in dance. Henry has an obvious sense of rhythm and the ability to improvise on the dancefloor. I don't recall if I've mentioned to my readership that I had one year of formal breakdance training back in the mid-80s, for what that is worth.

For my birthday, me and momma took Henry to his first Twins game. For the most part things went pretty good. However, next time I try to take a young one to a game I would opt for a matinee game instead of an evening game. It just so happened we had four super drunk college age kids that were unable to manage drinking a beer without significant spillage. I think they may have also managed to teach Henry a new word or two. The breaking point ended up being the guy right in front of us almost getting charged with a hate crime. A young asian fellow who ambled by with a footlong hotdog was having trouble locating his seat when the guy in front of us made a snide comment. Basically, they ended up nose to nose and yelling "F-You" at each other for about two minutes straight. That was around the fourth inning. Henry was starting to get antsy anyways so we called it a day.

Henry is now a big fan of cotton candy.

At least Henry will be able to say he saw a game in the old Dome. Here we are at Gate H.

Sometimes we use time-outs to discipline the kids. Violet has actually gotten to the point where she will put herself in time-out if she knows she has been misbehaving and sometimes she will put herself in the time-out chair if she is really upset. We were confused the first time it happened but just kinda went with it.

In the picture above, she has her purse. Her favorite thing to carry around in her purse is a handful of rocks from the driveway and a pair of sunglasses. I like that she keeps it simple.

I'm not sure what to say about this picture. Violet was just in a goofy mood and was taking of clothes and putting on jackets and glasses and hats. I guess I like the posture.

Violet has gotten into the habit of taking off her diaper at night. Most of the time she ends up with soaked sheets. Amazingly, the other morning she woke us up in the morning with screams and she was nude in her crib but it was totally dry. Momma put a diaper on her which she quickly saturated with pee to the point of soaking through to her pants. Maybe she is ready for potty training.

Fairmont or Bust / Busted in Fairmont

We recently went to beautiful Fairmont, Minnesota to visit Henry and Violet's great grandma Dina, who is recovering from a stroke. We drove down with Grandma Judy. We rolled five deep in the Honda Accord with Grandma Judy flanked by car seats on both sides. There were no major meltdowns on the way down. Our pit stop at the Dairy Queen in LeSeuer may have been our saving grace. It was a Brazier.

There was some of this...

And some of this...

Dina was in great spirits for our visit and Henry and Violet wasted no time in challenging her to a wheelchair race down the hall. I honestly don't remember who won.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn and it is the most exotic vacation we have yet to take as a family.

Violet thoroughly enjoyed herself in the pool.

There were only a handful of near death experiences in the kiddie pool under my watchful eye.

This was bedtime -- after I returned from dropping of Grandma Judy at Dina and George's house. I was given a ticket on the way back to the hotel for failure to display current registration and failure to provide proof of insurance. I was unaware that it was my duty to keep current vehicle tabs on the wife's vehicle and we had been driving with expired tabs for about five months. And I didn't know where the proof of insurance was. We were able to get that dropped. Anyhow, I wasn't about to let the stiff arm of the law ruin our exotic vacation.

Violet was pretty excited for Easter.


She quickly got the hang of the Easter Egg Hunt...

And was on an unadulterated sugar high for at least the next six hours. She ate all candy as fast as she could find it. She may have look disinterested and aloof but she has several peanut butter cups in her mouth in the photo below.

Henry got the hang of things pretty well too...


Living with a three and a half year old continues to be a never ending source of amusement and aggravation. The things that come out of Henry's mouth can astound and befuddle me all at the same time. Henry and I have been working on fixing the Subaru without success. I think it might be a lost cause. I have been unable to re-thread the spark plug that blew out a couple weeks back. The other day, I was working on the car and Henry was crawling around under the hood randomly hitting things with a ball-peen hammer. I was getting nowhere with what I was trying to accomplish when Henry turned to me and said matter-of-factly "Dad, this is pretty tough. We better do a high-five when we're done." He really comes through with some gems when I need them the most.

Henry is totally potty trained except that we normally have him wear a diaper at night. Lately, if we feel confident that he hasn't had to much to drink and went pee before bed we will just let him wear the big boy undies to bed. It didn't work out so hot one night. It must have been about 5:30AM or so when momma and I woke up to Henry's angry and confused screaming.

"WHO POURED WATER ALL OVER ME IN MY BED?!"

"WHY DID SOMEONE PUT WATER IN MY BED?!"

"MY CLOTHES AND BED ARE WET!! WHY?!"

He was screaming, hysterical and inconsolable for at least five minutes. I think momma and I had to try pretty hard not to bust out in giggles while tending to his emotional needs. It seemed to fall in line with his current stage.

Henry had an absolutely brilliant idea the other day. I'm just going to go ahead and put it out there. He was running around naked and I was trying to convince him to get dressed. I told him to put his underwear on and he said he wished that there were pants with built-in underwear like swim trunks. It blew me away. I waste at least twenty seconds ALMOST EVERY DAY putting on underwear and I'm guessing some people take even longer. He obviously has the mind of a truth seeker and pragmatist.

Henry was eating out of a box of Teddy Grahams the other day and pointed to a recipe for a smoothie on the box -- a container of yogurt, some applesauce, ice cubes, and a handful of Teddy Grahams. Not bad. He now calls it a "swirlie".

AREA YOUTH STABS SELF IN EYEBALL WITH BUTTER KNIFE, NOT KIDDING...

I really should be updating a little more frequently to keep up with current events. To say the past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride for the Johnson Family would be more than a modest understatement.

I guess the thing that sticks out most in my mind is that earlier this week Henry STABBED HIMSELF... IN THE EYEBALL... WITH A BUTTER KNIFE! None of that is an exaggeration. I was outside feeding the chickens and whatnot and came inside to see find my momma tending to our son with an eyeball wound. Apparently he was trying to cut an apple with his little butter knife and somehow he ended up stabbing his eyeball. Momma and I discussed a plan of action. I said let's wait it out and maybe put some frozen peas on it. Then they went to the ER. The doc gave him some ointment and said if it had been a quarter inch toward the business parts of his eye he would have been in serious trouble.

The photo doesn't really do it justice. If you look at it close up you can see the stab wound.

A wood whittler will always tell you rule #1 is to whittle away from your body. I guess the same logic applies to cutting up apples with a butter knife and you're never to young for that advice.

We refinanced our mortgage which is was pretty sweet, but then a couple days later I got a letter in the mail from the IRS! Not so sweet. My accountant goofed up on our 2008 tax return and it turns out we owe an extra thousand bucks. Oops. He said he'd cover the $56 dollars in penalties and interest though so I just have to cover the thousand dollars. Thanks buddy. The best part was when I got back in my car from the post office I opened the letter from the IRS and said a few swear words and threw it aside and started my trusty '92 Subaru Legacy (223,XXX miles) and it let out a REALLY loud bang. I thought the motor finally blew up. Turns out a spark plug just came unthreaded and shot out when I started it. I've been expecting the car to blow up for at least three years or so. I sometimes honestly can go a month of commuting without seeing a crappier vehicle on the freeway and I have also seen people openly snickering at me for what I can only guess is the general appearance of the old Subaru. It is so badly rusted that some of the body panels actually flap in the breeze as I amble down the freeway. Despite the lack of aerodynamics, the car routinely tops 35 mpg.

The children enjoyed their tradition of decorating Easter eggs over at Grandma Judy's.

Basically everything Violet does is adorable. Including this.

Last year Henry ended up crushing most of his Easter eggs because he would sit on them and roost. He has matured quite a bit since then.

Best Quote of the past few weeks: "Daddy, could you maybe get me a band-aid? I have blood leaking out of my body." Do you want Sponge Bob or Spidey?

This was a couple weeks ago -- Henry prancing around in my safety glasses that I stole from an old, old shop teacher at a middle school in Minneapolis back in the mid 90s. There must be some irony there somewhere.

Violet is totally off the nuks and we have basically banished sippy cups from the house. The nuk thing was a breeze. We did the same deal as we did with Henry -- snipped the ends off of some nuks. She quickly lost interest. The sippy cup situation affected both of them and has been kind of annoying with all the spills. On a random note: Henry is a staunch sweatpants enthusiast. He is Mr. Sweatpants. He says he likes them because they are soft and denim is to hard and crunchy on his body. One more note: He got his costume for his upcoming dance recital -- a red glitter vest!

I can now say from experience that having chickens in a kiddie pool in your basement for one month is enough to try a man's tolerances and thresholds. From what I have read, it is still a little early in these parts to be putting chicks outside in the coop but I put a heat lamp out there and they seem to be doing just fine. We found our chicken coop on craigslist. It is awesome. We haven't decided if we are going to leave it with it's rustic finish or paint it red and white like a barn. I kinda like it the way it is.



I still have to fence in a little run for them and tend to a few other things. The neighbor is setting me up with some free chicken feed in exchange for some eggs. I love the barter system.

Look at the guy in the back. He looks angry.

I actually bought this watering can right after we closed on our land knowing pretty well that at some point in the near future I would have some chickens. It took about three years or so.

White Rock Chicks!

I bought 15 baby chicks a week ago. They are White Rocks -- a variety of Plymouth Rocks. They are good for eating or laying eggs. We are going to butcher the roosters in about 12 weeks and keep six or so hens for laying eggs. I found them on Craigslist. Before I bought them I had scribbled down a note that said "20 WHITE ROCK CHICKS -- $30 -- HINCKLEY" followed by a phone number. I left the note on the counter and my wife saw it and said "What the hell is this? Are you going to some stripper party at the casino?" I had to explain a little.

So now we have some chickens in the basement. They are super cute and the kids love 'em. I can tell you this -- chickens grow fast. The little buggers have already tripled in size.

Once in a great while the planets align and we have a moment like this...

About once a week we have a moment like this... Roller skates, Transformer mask, Hulk smash hands, and a baby chick -- Uncle Sam is a pretty good sport.

Henry is a nasty old pirate. I wish he would respect the no shoes in the house policy though.

Vince and Drama are enjoying the onset of spring.

Whenever Henry tries to get his way he has a go-to phrases -- "Daddy, TRUST my plan!" I'm not quite sure how he came up with it. But it usually goes something like this:

Henry: Daddy, can I have a big ol' glass of chocolate milk?

Dad: Um, we're gonna eat in like ten minutes. Can't you wait? Maybe you should ask mom.

Henry: Daddy, just TRUST my plan!

I have finally recovered enough from the emotional and physical trauma from building our house to where I have started a few small projects around the house. Henry is very interested in helping me. He is very curious about my tools and helping me carry stuff and doing anything he can to be a part of the action. I finally put some cabinets in the laundry room for mama and put some pine tongue and groove paneling on the ceiling from the stash I had left over from building the house. A little bit of trim work and the laundry room will be totally done. I bought treads and risers for the stairs going to the basement to replace the temporary ones. Henry helped me sand prep them for installation. Henry will stay on task for a half hour to an hour depending on the situation. I wouldn't quite say he's earning his keep yet but his natural curiosity and desire to help out is pretty cute...

Mama got a new camera and has been getting lots of cute pictures of the kids.

Violet has been sporting a Bill Murray/ Caddy Shack look lately. She is at a fun developmental phase where she is starting to use language to communicate. Sometimes she will just start shrieking and stomping and we'll have to tell her to take out her nuk and use words and she will take out her nuk and tell us what is going on. I would say three word sentences are about tops but she can almost always get her message across. One of her new catch phrases is "GO AWAY!" She uses it basically anytime something displeases her.

Violet is way more affectionate than Henry ever was. With Henry, he would very rarely wrap his arms around us for a hug or rest his head on our shoulder if we were holding him unless he was super sick or something. Violet is the opposite of that. If I'm laying on the couch she will crawl up and lay on me and if I'm heading out the door or dropping her off at daycare she will say "daddy, kiss... hug!" Now that Henry is three and a half and grown up he will always hug and kiss me when I come home or leave.

Probably the Most I Will Ever Mention Squeegeeing...

It is utterly mind-blowing how grown up Henry is. He started taking showers. He still usually takes baths but this is all happening too fast. He takes special pride in mastering the mandatory post-shower squeegeeing of the shower door. Monitoring the squeegee situation reminded me of the Sienfeld episode regarding good naked vs. bad naked. Squeegeeing a shower door falls into the latter category.

The other thing is that he totally mocks me. He will run off and put on some of my clothes or shoes or socks or whatever and then stomp around yelling "OH, I'M JERE! I'M DADDY!" I just love that he can already bust my chops and already finds me to be mockable and ridiculous. Below he is mocking me and flexing his muscles for the camera all at the same time. (Note: I bought the "Johnson" stocking cap at a thrift storeto be ironic since my last name is Johnson and all. I don't think I have gone a day wearing it without being approached by an excited St. Paul Johnson Alumni.)

For some reason it is high comedy for both of the kids to put on my grotty athletic socks.

Possibly the best Henry quote ever: "Dad, don't look at me for two minutes -- I'm going to do something dangerous."

Close second: "Dad, you freak me out." He told me this because I picked out an outfit for him that offended his sensibilities.

Violet loves getting dressed in her winter gear but doesn't always like getting out of her jam-jams and into her regular clothes for the morning. Violet is the least lactose intolerant person I know in the world. I think she could knock down a gallon of milk and a 5 lb. block of cheese if we let her. Her attitude is starting to show. She will sometimes try to hit when she doesn't get her way. We still love her despite the violence.