Happy Birthday to Thalia!

I love this picture... Thalia and her Mimi. (That's me!)

I can hardly believe how much she has grown... she's in 4th grade, the same grade I teach. She and I have talked MANY times about how fun it would be if she lived here and could be in my class. I miss being close to them, but know they are happy where they live.

I have been going back through pictures I've taken since I had a digital camera...and some of my favorite pictures of Thalia. When 'my favorites' became too many to post, I went to 'my favorites of my favorites' - which is still too many. So, here are some pictures of Thalia that I love -
Thalia with her Uncle Gabe - in April, 2006With her Aunt Lindsey - April, 2006How cute can you get?Oh, how Thalia loves Ozzy!
April, 2006April, 2006Thalia and I had gone to the zoo...April, 2006

Thalia absolutely loves to draw...and she does it so well!

It was on this trip in April, 2006, that Thalia learned how to ride her bicycle!This was taken in late 2006 or early 2007. What a cute apron... is Joshua requesting scones?Erica sent me some photos taken this day at the beach. This is probably my favorite of that bunch.

I love, absolutely love this picture! So sweet, laying in bed reading High School Musical. Thalia is an incredible reader!

Ahhh, Erica and Thalia... I'm so glad they came into my life!In June, 2007, Joshua and Thalia came up to visit. Thalia wanted to 'go see nature.' We did.

Not only did she want to 'see' nature, she got up close and personal with a banana slug, which ended up putting us in a national magazine! This isn't the photo they published, but I actually love it better than the one they did.In June, 2008, Josh, Erica, and Thalia came to visit...actually, all our family came, including Saddy! Thalia, still crazy about Ozzy, brought him over to play!

Thalia's love of art is still strong!

Still wanting to 'go see nature', we ventured north.

Thalia and her Papa.

Sometimes, seeing nature, can make a Mimi a little nervous... Even though Thalia is an EXPERT RIPSTICKER, a Mimi still gets a bit nervous watching!

This was Ladies-Day... all of us went out to eat Japanese food. Thalia instructed her Saddy how to use chopsticks!

The Ladies....


Happy Birthday, Thalia!

An Addendum to "The Boy Grows Up"

Being in Medford brings back a lot of great memories. We never actually lived in Medford, but I spent a lot of time there in my younger days... younger days with the boys. That was BL (Before Lindsey) (If you click the title of this post, it will take you to "The Boy Grows Up.")Oh geez, you must be thinking, Why in the world would there be a picture of this on The Johnston Chronicles?

Come on, let me take you a little closer:You are correct if you are thinking this looks like a Wendy's Hamburger place. If you know me, you also know I haven't walked into a fast food restaurant (except to use the...well, the facilities!) in YEARS. I would rather not eat than eat somewhere like this.

Now this is not just ANY Wendy's...no, it's THE Wendy's in Medford, Oregon... the one my guy and I went to just hours after the Boy was born back on October 2, 1978 - 30 years ago! I told my guy we just HAD to go take a picture of it. He told me I should get a pumpkin and put it under my shirt so he could take a picture. "You'll look pregnant," he said.

"Dear, I was NOT pregnant when we went there with the Boy," I informed him. "Remember, we had just LEFT the hospital after he had been born!"

Then my guy said we should have stopped on the way to the hospital in 1978 and had someone take our picture.

Uh, No... I was like, in LABOR with a MOOSE OF A CHILD!

Then my guy also remembered it would have been dark at that time.

Enough... we drove off having a discussion of whether or not I had eaten. I don't think I did. But... the moral of this story is... the Boy loves fast food... as does the Older Boy ... they don't get that from their mother!

Our annual fall mini-vacation to Oregon

This past weekend was the fifth weekend in a row I've traveled...but this one, I was really looking forward to. My guy and I love to head to Medford, Oregon and go to their jazz festival. The weekend did not disappoint...it was a much needed and welcome rest!

Even though I must say that summer is my favorite season, fall is a close second. It's just so beautiful with the leaves changing colors... and then, there's pumpkins. In Medford, there were GIANT pumpkins...to the tune of over 1,300 pound pumpkins - well, there was ONE 1,300+ pound pumpkin!

My guy told me to stand next to this whopper so readers of this blog (of which he is NOT) could really tell how big it was.
On Saturday, there had been a Pumpkin Weigh Off... We didn't have a clue about it because we were enjoying listening to some of our favorite jazz musicians. This 'Weigh Off' happened at Harry and David's, one of our customary stops on the Sunday after the Jazz festival!
Look at all these pumpkins! Harry and David's always has them displayed so... well, old fashioned... or, well, you can figure it out.A little extra bonus we had was driving to the Medford Costco and seeing gas for $3.08 per gallon! That's pretty sad that we were excited about over $3 gas... but everywhere else in town it was about $3.50 a gallon... ridiculous.

What a wonderful weekend with my guy!

Pictures with my 30 year old boy and my nearly 28 year old Linz!

I'm happy when I'm with my kids. I'm usually always happy, but I'm happier when I'm with my family.

This past weekend, my guy and I went down so I could interview students for this coming summer's People to People trip. (England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands) It also happened to be the boy's 30th birthday (Oct.2) and Emily's 28th birthday (Oct.5). Linz and Donnie came up for the weekend too. I didn't think I'd brought my camera... but then discovered it right before we left. So...we took a few photos. Unfortunately, Emily was snoozing so she didn't make the photos. San Diego is also a bit far for a weekend trip, so Joshua, Erica, and Thalia couldn't join us. The Boy may be 30, but he's still the same toward his sister - sometimes.
A Happy Birthday weekend!

P.S. I just discovered...this is my 301 st post on the Johnston Chronicles!

I finally spent my birthday money...

My birthday was in August. Quite a few years ago, on my birthday, I put aside the money I had received as gifts. I added to that the money I received from having student teachers... and I kept adding to it every August. I had decided I would just wait and buy something I really wanted instead of just buying little things...

I found what I wanted...
I've been watching this curio cabinet for... well, I don't know how long, but it's been quite awhile! It was a bit expensive, but then it went on sale October 1st... at 10 a.m.

I had signs in two places in my classroom reminding my sweetheart students to remind their teacher to CALL AT 9:55 to order the curio cabinet..and the...
coffee table! I called, gave them my credit card, and to put icing on the cake, they delivered it at 3:30 that afternoon!

The room's getting cozier!

Tragedy in Room 8

These are three precious girls... Vanessa, Ashley, and Nicole. Ashley and Nicole are twins, and Vanessa might as well be the third triplet. All three of them are in my class.

Nicole was tragically taken from us Monday afternoon in a car wreck - a senseless car wreck - people racing on the freeway knocking their car off the road. Vanessa and Ashley survived, Nicole didn't.
Vanessa, Ashley, and Nicole

It's been a tough week teaching...
Vanessa and Nicole

The Boy grows up

See the boy? No, not sweet little Josh...but Gabe..."the boy." He's there, still hidden. I must have been about 6 months pregnant here. My dad and brother had come to Oregon to visit... I think it was in June.

We didn't have ultrasounds and all that, so I didn't really know I would be having 'the boy', but I knew. I knew with each one of my kids what they were. Mother's instinct?

Josh and Gabe, Gabe and Josh...they were best buddies. Oh, Gabe dealt Josh some misery here and there, and Josh dealt Gabe some misery too. Brothers will be brothers.I would think Josh was doing a good thing here, but Gabe obviously had another opinion.Ok, here they are...singing in the tub!See that truck in Gabe's hand? It was his birthday, his first birthday, and that truck was a gift from his big brother, Josh. Now Josh seems to be a bit fed up with the whole picture-taking scenario. You can see he's saying "Cheeeeeese" but without any enthusiasm whatsoever!
Gabe got this tricycle for his first birthday....

Fast forward... the boy is growing up....
Doesn't he look.... fierce?
and strong....Yep, that's our boy...our baby boy (Of course, Josh is also still our baby boy. Lindsey is still our baby girl...do they ever grow up? The answer is NO...)

Yesterday, October 2, 2008, this baby boy turned 30 years old! How can that be? I remember when the kids use to sit at our breakfast bar and I would say their ages to myself... 7, 9, 11... and here they are, almost 28, 30, & 32! Oh my!

Happy Birthday, Gabe!