Beauty & The Beast

This is baby Violet's first smile captured on film. She has slept through the night a few times now but it is still hit or miss - mainly miss.

I'm not sure if this is a smile or not - but it is pretty gosh dang cute. She was just in for her eight week check up and the doctor commented twice on how unusually long she is. She was in the upper 90th percentile for height and elegance. I think she was about eleven pounds. Otherwise she is normal and perfect in every way. She still has a little purple thing under her left nipple. I think the doctor said it was Chuck Mangione and that he will go away after a while. She got about four shots and then passed out for 18 hours. Henry got his two year check up at the same time and she said he is still totally radical and for some reason she said is circumcision is great!? Yep. So he's got that goin' for 'em - which is nice. Henry is like three feet tall now (closer to 3' 3" if he puts on his Bob sneakers and teases his hair up). Henry got one shot and cried for a bit but was able to shake it off.

Henry is such a little gentleman with baby Violet. In the morning he will say something like "Good morning, Baby Sister!". If she is upset and crying he will say "It's ok baby Violet, Henry's here, mommy's here, Daddy's here." He is hardly ever mean to her and has only thrown things at her a few times and usually these items are soft plush dolls or pillow and that sort of junk. He likes to give her kisses, too.

Henry can count to ten in English, German and Spanish. We are fast-tracking him since I won't be able to afford to send him to Ken's School of TV & VCR repair, let alone a serious institute of higher learning such as UW Stout.

Henry is back to sleeping through the night again. Not sure if it relates to his new bed with the side rails or if it just took time.


I think it is safe to say that Henry thinks he is the balls with his new Bob the Builder velcro shoes with optional blinking LED lights. He uses an overexaggerated run and will make endless laps around the house if he straps them on. Also, Julie and I were both surprised at how interested he was in watching me play softball. I do play catch with him in garage. But at the softball game it would seem like he would want to just run around or try and run out on the field or something. Nope. He sat on the bench and would sit on the bench and cheer for his dad. Pretty sweet. I think our team is now 1-18 with a week to go in the season. But we have heart and sometimes that's all you need. And beer. The playoffs are looking like a long shot.


Henry has successfully hidden about half a dozen DVDs somewhere in our house and will not reveal where he keeps them. Note the custom baby gate to the left of the stairs.

Still putzing around with the house. The soffit and fascia dude is allegedly coming in a week or so. I should be siding soon. The shower should get tiled next week. After that we are getting pretty darn close to being done. I also mowed a couple of walking trails for us to go on nature hikes and pick rasberrys and stuff. I am kicking around the idea of getting some livestock if for no other reason than to help take care of the grass. Icelandic sheep or Dexter cattle perhaps... Too much grass and I currently just have a push mower. No good.

Henry loves to brush his teeth. Henry thinks he knows karate. He will scream HIIIIYAAAAH! and do running kicks or kung fu jabs. I might start training him for cage fighting. He is that dangerous. One time I think he bruised my kidney.

House, Birthday, Trees, What Not...

We have had an dead standing elm tree just north of our driveway for a while. The other night, after we put the kids to bed, Julieand I decided to go out on our porch and have a drink and relax for a bit. We happened to notice that our elm tree looked like it was leaning more than it had before. Before we retired for the evening Julie mentioned the tree again and I decided I should move our Honda since it appeared to be in it's path should it fall. It should be noted that this was extremely out of character for me...

The following morning we found the tree laying across our driveway right where our car was parked.

At this angle you can see the tree also fell onto our little Colorado blue spruce tree. This was Julie's favorite tree and this sight literally brought tears to her eyes. Meanwhile, Henry assesses the situation in his chore boots and big boy undies...

Luckily, I have been eager to have a situation present itself where I could finally use my Jonserud 2145 Turbo chainsaw. There is nothing quite as enjoyable as chainsawing in my book.

Henry scampers across our newly stained porch.

This is our clawfoot tub and currently our only means of bathing until we get the downstairs bathroom shower tiled and what have you.

Here is the Hankster doing his little monkey impersonation. For now we just have our matress flopped on the floor in our loft area near the kids bedrooms.

This is Henry's old toddler bed. He just got a new one with rails for his 2nd birthday from his cousins.

Momma took Vi & Hank to see the real life Curious George. I guess he lives in North Branch.

Henry is getting better at using the potty. Still only does tinky winky. No poopsy doopsy.

Henry makes mud pies.

Henry celebrated his second birthday last Saturday with an intimate collection of family. Julie made him a froggie cake for a cherished childhool memory. Behold...

Henry blew them dawgs out all by his self!

Henry has an obsession with Bob the Builder that I find to be downright unhealthy... His favorite cousin Jada agrees.

Henry with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Fred.

Henry keeps a close eye on his loose meat sandwich as Great Grandma Evi gives Henry the business. Great Grandpa Walt looks on.

Granpa Fred and Violet take a break from birthday madness...

Family of four... (Note Vi's fabulous party dress and Henry's new Twins jersey courtesy of Auntie Em.)
Henry chills out in his new swing from Grandpa Fred.

Healthy White Toddler For Sale: $15 / Best Offer

It is currently impossible for science to quantify or accurately measure elegance. However, in the future, if science can find a way to accomplish such a feat, I am pretty sure it will somehow involve this photo.

Henry is beginning to show a real flair for the arts. Channeling his intrigue for Mr. Rogers into his Warhol phase has produced his latest masterpiece: "Rogers in Spectravision!". As a medium, he excels at screen printing.

I think this is Violet's first bath in the new house! (Note the Aberdeen by Moen in Oil Rubbed Bronze kitchen faucet.)

STUNNA!! Check out Lil' Vi in her party dress. We took her out for an afternoon cruise on the Upper St. Croix River on my brothers houseboat, The Mrs. Valdez. We forgot our camera and subsequently missed out on several very good photo opportunities. Here is an old photo of the Valdez in dry dock. It should be noted that significant remodelling has taken place since the photo was taken.

Here is a wax sculpture of Mr. Rogers that Henry recently completed called "Hey Rogers, You're Invading my Comfort Zone."

Henry is a complete firecracker. He is almost two and can be terrible. We moved into our new house and decided it was time to transition Henry into the toddler bed. I think the combination of new house and new bed was a bit overwhelming. He did not cotton to the toddler bed so much. First, we decided since he can open our lever style door knobs that it would be best for everyone if I switched around the knobs so we could lock him in his room when he is sleeping at night. Does that sound bad? We thought it was mostly a safety issue since we didn't want him crawling out of bed and stumbling down the stairs or some other such tragedy. The first night after we tucked him in he got out of bed and starts pounding on the door and saying things like "DADDDDDY! WHY?! WHYYYYYYYYYYY??!!" and "NO NAPS!!" and DADDY! WHERE ARE YOU?" We decided to execute plan B for temporary relief. Plan B was to put him in the pack'n'play (This whole transition started because Violet was sleeping in a bassinet and we wanted to let her start sleeping in the crib so we had o figure out something). We discovered the hard way that he can escape from the pack'n' play. All we heard was a huge THUD. Judging from the goose egg over his eye, I have to guess that it was his head slamming into the wood floor in his room. After that, we decided the twelve inch fall from the toddler bed was a better deal than Hank the Tank taking Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka flying leaps from the top rope of his pack'n'play. We also decided lots of rugs and padding surrounding the bed were in order. I think he gets his sleeping habits from me. He is a violent sleeper and thrashes and moves around alot.

In light of recent events, Henry has actually been much more of handful than eight-week-old Tiny Elegance. Violet has slept through the night a couple times now. Sweet relief for the Johnson Family.

Henry also says "Dang it!". I'm not sure if he knows what he is saying but he seems to occansionally use it in context. Not cool.

He got some some "big boy undies" a while back. We thought Bob the Builder undies might get him geared up for potty training but he has figured out a way to circumvent to whole process and just puts on his big boy undies over his diaper -- offering the sophistication and dignity of the big boy underpant while preserving the function and utility of the diaper. The best of both worlds...

As I mentioned, we moved into our new house. It is bittersweet since we are still basically living out of suitcases because we aren't totally done yet and don't want to move in and arrange furniture and crap until we are seriously done. The inside is mostly done. Siding is the big "to do" yet. And a million other little things.

We have two toilets hooked up and our clawfoot tub is functional now. Radical. Let me tell you, I have no idea why these clawfoot delights ever fell out of favor. Ergonomically shaped for soaking and relaxation.

Grandma Judy graciously agreed to watch the kids this past Saturday evening so we could celebrate Karl Oscar Days with the citizenry of Lindstrom and the greater Chisago Lakes Area. For the uninitiated, Karl Oscar Days is a local custom celebrating the eradicatiion of Norwegians from the area in the 1880s with 2 for 1 Grain Belt Premiums and country western music at the Lindstrom Municipal Bar.

OK, so this is mainly about the house...

Hank and Vi are eagerly waiting to move into El Rancho Johnson Estate. Grandma Judy watched the kids while Julie & I worked on the house. Julie cleaned, organized, and stocked the kitchen. It is pretty cool to have a couple of rooms that look virtually finished. I've been saying this for a long time but we are really getting close now.

Julie is seriously in her element here. Her biggest passion in life is organizing stuff. I could hear her saying things to herself like "oh my God, where should I put the cheese grater??" and "Ah shit, do I put the holiday plates in with the good plates or in storage with the seasonal decorations!!"

The handrail is now basically completed. Henry can now meander freely throughout the house with less risk of injury. The ballasters were milled from some of the left over timbers that we had from the timberframers.



This is the interior view looking easterly from the west end of the great room. Note the beautiful wide plank rustic hickory floors installed by Johnson & Son Construction... not too shabby for amatuers if I do say so myself.


Mortise and tenon stairs with handrail...

Julie runs and jumps Flashdance style...


Looking westerly across the great room...


The loft level...


The master bedroom filled with doors to varnish.

So that's the house. Our children continue to impress us with their beauty and finesse.

Henry simply refers to Mr. Rogers as "Rogers".

Violet is almost smiling and is a rather dainty eater.

Westward the wagons!

Long Legs, Haircuts, & Cupcakes

Just look at those long legs. I think she is still in the running to be America's Next Top Model... I bet it is pretty hard work being so dainty and beautiful and perfect - somehow she pulls it off with grace, integrity and sophistication.

Hi, my name is Violet Sophia Johnson and I am as precious as a flower and no bigger than a bread basket. I am wearing a bonnet. My passions include naps, pretty dresses and Nestle Good Start with DHA and ARA (the same enzymes and what not found in breast milk).

Sometimes I get so tuckered out from being pretty and have to have seepy seepy time.

Hi, my name is Henry James Johnson. This week in my life my mommy took me to the barber to get my awesome hair trimmed to look even more awesome. There was an old man in a blue shirt reading The Power of Positive Thinking waiting for his turn in the rotation. I didn't say it out loud, but I was thinking to myself, "Hey lady, what in tarnation is this thing around my neck? Elton John just called - He wants his Christmas tree skirt back."

I love this picture of Henry. He really isn't a baby anymore. He is a little boy. His vocabulary is growing every day. We are also thinking that he is starting to get dialed in for potty training. Since momma has been staying at home with the kids, she has noticed he likes to sneak off and hide in the closet and fill up his diaper. It's all very confusing. She discovered him doing this once and he got mad and said "Mama, get out." Does this mean he thinks pooping is shameful? I guess I will have to instill in him a sense of pride. He will go pee on the toilet sometimes. It is pretty entertaining. He lets out a loud grunt and pees just a little bit of a tinkle then says "All done!"

The other day he pooped a decent sized log on momma's foot at bath time.

I am Hank Sanchez. You killed my brother. Now I will eat a cupcake - the breakfast of champions and captains of industry. Bring me my sippy cup and the head of Alfredo Garcia.

Varnishing lots of woodwork lately. Fumes bad. Brain cells diminished.

Cable TV is truly amazing. We just started watching a new Discovery Channel reality program Ice Road Truckers. I think we are hooked.

Babies, Mud Baths, Jailhouse Delousing -- All the Good Stuff...

This is baby Violet Sophia in moms bed at the hospital. I put her in their to give momma a laugh when she got out of the shower. Little Violet pretty much sleeps about 20 hours a day and is awake from 1 am to 5 am. She is your basic perfect little angel. Henry likes her. He gets upset when she cries and says "Baby, check!" He also likes to set toys by her head and point at her and touch her -- usually pretty cute.

We recently completed a very cute photo shoot of the baby in capri pants and oversized sunglasses. However, I am under strict orders not to make the photos public until after everyone gets the birth announcements, so as not to steal their thunder.

Here is one of Violet thinking.

I took Henry with me to the lumber yard on Saturday to pick of some building supplies and what have you. We hung out for a good portion of the day and had a lot of fun. The above picture is of what Henry decided to do while Dad was unloading the trailer. Right after I snapped this one he bent down and tried to drink some water from the puddle. Momma was not impressed when we showed up for lunch with Henry wearing a soggy diaper and mud caked all over his body like a water buffalo on the Sarengeti. I think she said something like "what the hell is this -- Lord of the Flies?"

Henry loves playing outside and any fit can be averted by telling him we should go outside and do some stuff. Like this:

Remember in the movie First Blood when the over zealous local sherriffs department take John Rambo in for a delousing and jailhouse-style shower? That is one of Henry's favorite games.

He also likes bubbles in a major way. Here he is playing with his cousin Emmie last weekend.

The house should be done by Christmas. Holla!