Livin' Large

With our "built in pool"

After All

To have only a small taste of the truth in this song!

Can't get enough of it.

David Crowder Band: "After All (Holy)"

Sick and tired...but encouraged

You know, it's been a long time since I (Amanda) have been really sick. This past week the kids and I have come down with a cold, and it's been hitting me really hard. To put it plainly: I am sick and tired...even miserable at times.

But I am encouraged. Would you believe that the two days that I have felt the worst, Ellis was unexpectedly given off early from work? Never happens. One of the days, Ellis said he was just talking with the nurses about me and the kids, and his Attending (who didn't even know I was sick) said, "you, know, it's a little slow here, go home and be with your family." Never happens!

And the next day he got off early to participate in the new resident orientation (wasn't originally part of his schedule). Two days in a row that Ellis got to come home before the kids were in bed and spend time playing with them and eating dinner with us. Couldn't have picked a better two days!

The view from my bedroom window: Ellis and the kids playing outside 

while I get to rest and enjoy writing about these wonderful blessings.

Something else that has been a wonderful encouragement to me is the garden in our backyard. I planted a bunch of seeds in early May...pretty much just thinking "Hey, we'll see what happens!" Then, when I realized what our soil was like (hard, dry clay), I thought the whole garden idea was pretty much a lost cause. "Darn! I really should have prepared the soil better!"  

I realized at that moment that the garden wasn't really even mine to begin with, but God's. He is the one who really makes things grow and He is the one who allows them to wither away. You can imagine how encouraging it was for me to go out yesterday evening and pick our first little harvest:

Our first "harvest." Baby zucchini's and zucchini blossoms.

And fresh parsley to add to our chicken soup!

Mac and Corrie have been particularly sweet (aside from the general "sick" stuff like crying and extra tantrums and not sleeping). Yesterday morning, Mac went to his room and brought out his pillow and blanket. 

Mac is saying, "Corrie! Get your pillow!
Lay down with your blanket!"

Next thing I knew, he had dragged his mattress down the hall too. He went and found a pillow and blanket for Corrie and asked me to get Corrie's bed too. He got some of his favorite books so we could all have a little rest together out in the living room. You know, it was really fun. And it was really sweet.

Of course, Corrie just wanted to jump around on her bed, and she despised having any pillows or blankets on her mattress. But it was still a pretty relaxing time for me and Mac :).

And, another exciting thing that cannot go unmentioned (don't make fun of me for this), is that yesterday I located a Vernor's Ginger Ale Vendor in Virginia! Ever since I accidentally drank Dan Rocke's only can of Vernor's several months ago (sorry Dan...not really!), I have been dreaming of it every time I feel sick. I was sure I would have to drive to NC to taste it again, but it turns out there is a place that sells Vernor's an hour away from here in Manassas, Va...which turns out to be exactly where Ellis has been assigned to work right now! Yes! 

I know the Lord is working in our hearts and continuing to bring His life to our family. And He is encouraging me in such sweet ways right now...when I feel so horrible physically. Just knowing Him and having a heart that has grown more sensitive to Him is enough - more than enough. He hasn't had to give me these blessings these past few days, but He has. And I am so thankful. 

Mac

Something about Mac that is really blossoming these days is his imagination. It has been really fun to talk and pretend in creative ways with him.

When we go outside, we might find some of Eyore's favorite thistle, or we might see the honey tree by Pooh's house. We see a lot of "grickle grass" in our back yard (the grass in Dr. Suess' The Lorax) and sometimes if we are really lucky we see the Lorax in a Truffula Tree when we are driving down the highway.  Every time we walk up a big hill, Mac makes sure to point out that we are climbing up "Gordon's Hill" (a very fast express engine from Thomas the Tank Engine).

Yesterday, the first thing he told me when woke up was that he needed to "taste the honey in the honey pot." It seemed extremely important.  So here is a picture of him "tasting the honey in the pot" :)

Sometimes his imagination is not so fun for his poor little sister. The other day, Corrie was playing nicely by herself in her room, building a tower of blocks. Next thing I knew, Corrie was crying and the blocks were everywhere. "Mac! What happened to Corrie's tower?!" He said, "Oh mommy, that's just my super power."  

Something else Mac has started doing is using adjectives. He must pick them up from stories we read and I guess things I say, but he doesn't always know the right context for the words. The other day I went to get him out of bed in the morning and he said, "Mommy, you see the wonderful poopy Macky made his bed? See that mommy?" 

More shameless plugging...

Hey Rocke's! Couldn't help joining in and offering another shameless plug for Aldi!

*Not pictured: Corrie Johns, who is completely terrified of the wiggly water squirters and cried the whole time the sprinkler was on.

And don't forget the $6.00 Hydrangeas!

To my husband

To my hard-working, amazingly resourceful, talented husband,

Mac and Corrie got a chance to tell you how thankful they are for you in an earlier post, but now it is my turn to say I love you. I am thankful for you...growing more so every day.

I want to tell you thank you for finding the most creative and unique ways to make sure that our family is provided for. Somehow, even when things are not looking so hot on paper, you keep finding a way for me to stay home and spend my time investing in our children. The Lord is blessing us. Thank you for looking to Him as you lead our family.

Do you know what we got to do today while you were working hard and (literally) saving lives? We went on an adventurous bike ride in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia with The Beaune's. It was just a tad hot out there, but we all had a pretty memorable time.

Here was our posse...ready to ride!

Getting psyched! 

The (mostly) shaded trail

View of the river from the trail

Here is the spot that we stopped at for lunch. You can probably imagine that neither kid ate much...not with a river and rocks around! 

Before I even had the lunch bag open, Mac and Thomas were already having a blast in the water. Forgot I had put a diaper on Mac in case he decided to go #2 during the ride. Darn! That thing was so heavy and full of river water...had to lug it all the way home and then it exploded in the carport when I tried to throw it away!

Corrie was as cute and sweet as ever (except for the fact that she was really whiney and cried pretty much the whole time).

All in all, we all had a lot fun...but we missed you!

On the bike-ride back to the car, the kids finally ate some lunch. Yes, this picture is a pretty accurate depiction of each child's nutritional preference!

And lastly, here is the scene from when we got home.  Who gets to spend an afternoon like this? Mac and Corrie playing with trains while I got to lay on the couch and watch the Euro 2012 quarterfinals...yes, days like this are a wonderful gift. A hard-earned gift. Thank you honey, we love you.

P.S. You just nailed me square in the forehead with my elastic hair band while I was typing this...and now you are celebrating the "most accurate long-distance shot ever." Sigh...I think better go back and re-read this post!

Hey Ames and Jer...

If you ever get around to actually reading our blog (cough, Amy!) Just want to tell you guys thanks for stopping by today. Love any time we can get you guys!

 

Daddy

Just want to say we love you Daddy! 

Thank you for working so hard everyday to make sure we are cared for.

Thank you for praying for us each night.

We hope your rhythm gets passed down to us.

Love, 

Mac and Corrie

Aunts and Uncles & the best part of any day

Yesterday Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Joy flew into town all the way from California, and we also got to spend some quality time with Aunt Rachel. Miss you guys so much!

 

 Jeremy pushing Corrie on the swings

 

 Jeremy and Rachel on the swings

And we also got to try out the neighborhood pool for the first time this year!

 

Aunt Meredith's wedding is this weekend, and yesterday we had a very fancy and delicious rehearsal dinner. Look at that beautiful bride-to-be (if you can avoid being distracted by that guy on the far right...he made that face on purpose!)

 

And a very beautiful Aunt Rachel

But the most special thing about the day - the thing I wanted to write about so that I don't forget (because I do forget) - is the sweet time that I was surprised by after all of the festivities were over and it was late and time to go to sleep. 

Before going to sleep, I had a small inclination to kneel by the bed and spend a few minutes with my Savior, Jesus Christ. I was so tired. I was not expecting much, just a few minutes to thank him for such a wonderful day and open my heart up to him.

How sweet those moments were, abiding with him! It is very true what the Psalmist wrote: 

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy" - psalm 16:11

I remember thinking, "Jesus, spending time with you like this is the best part of this already amazing day...better than any day or anyone...thank you!"

This morning I read an recent post from an amazing blog that I would highly recommend reading. The blog is written by a girl who went to Africa and ended up staying there and adopting a bunch of kids. Love reading her posts...they are So Real. She explains what I am trying to say so much better than I ever could: http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-weve-been-up-to.html

Jesus, I just want to tell you that you are the treasure of my heart...and I love that even when I forget (how often I forget!), you are always faithful to remind me.

 

Darn!

Corrie's first doctor appointment in a year is today, and she fell out of a chair this morning.

The Trimans

Dan and Julia, if you get a chance to read this post, I want you to know that the first thing Mac said when he woke up this morning was, "Mommy, I want my friends to come back. Please my friends come back to see Mac?" He loves you guys.

Yesterday the Trimans ventured out of their cool urban apartment in the heart of Washington, DC to visit us Johns' in the mountains of Front Royal. 

What a relaxing and fun day we had watching the EURO 2012 soccer games and then going strawberry picking at a farm just up the road. You can see from the picture below that the scenery was beautiful. Even though we didn't exactly find a bountiful harvest to pick (apparently, it was the very last day for strawberry picking), we still made some good memories. You know, now that I think about it, it was probably a good that there were not tons of huge ripe strawberries hanging off of every bush...I think it seriously cut down on the strawberry squashing factor.

Julia was very exciting to start the picking!

Mac was ready with his trains in hand. Those are must for any adventure these days.

I started off by letting Mac hold the container while I picked the strawberries. I worked very hard to add 5 or 6 great strawberries, and then I heard, "Mmmm! Good! Mmmm!" I turned around to see this. I changed  my picking/gathering strategy after that.

Mac and Corrie were both enjoying the fresh strawberries.

After finding enough strawberries to fill four containers, I smelled something interesting. "Oh man! Mac! you have poopy pants!" Mac has really grown up the past couple of weeks and is now in real underwear. The only thing is that he has only made it to the potty once when it comes to going #2. We all decided that it was a good time to call it quits so we could find a place to eat our picnic dinner (and I could attempt to reconcile our poopy pants situation).

It turned out that there was a great little picnic table under the shade of some peach trees. We couldn't ask for anything better!

Corrie and Julia

Mac and Dan

And one last picture to end with: Julia and Corrie getting dressed up and ready for our strawberry adventure. Corrie is checking out her sweet hat in the reflection in Julia's glasses.

Our Yard

I was trying to remember if our yard had any actual grass in it last year. I thought for sure I remembered at least a little grass.

Well, this year we have a yard full of nothing but clover. Great for attracting bunnies! Not so great for attracting bees.

The clover has gotten pretty tall and thick these days, but we are still finding ways to enjoy it.

Mac being Mac:

The clover is so thick, the kids can pretty much disappear in it

They like to pretend like the long pieces are "fishing poles"

Quoted:

"Cinders and ashes! Thomas must roll carefully!" - Mac

Corrie Johns

Yesterday Corrie didn't take an afternoon nap, and we had some time to just enjoy her and capture some of the cute things she does right now. She has always been very observant of animals and she loves making the various animal sounds. Here is a video of some of her animal sounds:

Later, Ellis needed a haircut, so I put Corrie at the table with what I thought would be a pretty good amount food. I thought for sure she would be occupied long enough for me to cut Ellis' hair outside in the carport, which is just outside the kitchen... 

Well, our hair buzzer is pretty loud, so I guess I didn't hear her sneak past me and escape outside. When I looked over, I saw that she found a nice rain puddle to play in...complete with the bib still on and her nice church dress...and bare feet!

The funny thing is that my mom got Corrie a pair of rain boots on Saturday, which she has insisted on wearing 24/7 (even to church...see picture below). I couldn't believe she was in bare feet for the rain puddle!

Speaking of church, we tried riding our bikes to church again yesterday. I would say it went slightly better this time...but you can tell from this picture that Ellis was pretty exhausted after hauling the kids up the huge hill that the church is on. He is laying on his back, desperately trying not to throw up. 

In fact, the stress on the bike was so intense that it broke Ellis' wheel...which meant I had to pull the kids home...yeah, the ride home was a little slow. So slow, in fact, that Corrie fell asleep in the bike...which is why she didn't take a nap!

Canoeing 2012

It's been a few years since the last Johns' Family and Friends Canoe Trip,  but now that we are living in the official Canoe Capital of Va, we decided it was time to plan another adventure together. I am a little late on posting this, but I wanted to document this trip so we can always remember our first Front Royal canoeing adventure.

Since I was in charge of organizing the trip, I had the special blessing of getting to see "behind the scenes" the various ways that God made all of the necessary plans fall right into place. I knew how inadequate my own planning abilities were, and He provided so faithfully for us the whole time.

We all saw His goodness and His beauty as we floated down the river and camped together. Below are a few...okay, a lot of pictures from the weekend. :)

The whole crew! The biggest group yet. And plenty of kids this time!

And here is everyone in each canoe/kayak, still full of energy after just starting the first leg of the trip (Sorry Jenkins family...how did we miss getting a picture of you guys? Probably because you were so fast and already up ahead!):

Bobby and Tanya Stepp

Nathan, Lilly and Joel Foster

Uncle Scott, Aunt Joyce (and Taylor, who is lying down in middle)

The first collision. Not surprising that Uncle Scott was involved.

Derek, Ginger, Landon and Bryar Baker

Mac, Sue and EJ Johns

Jeremy and Amy Brooks

Jay, Lynn and Reed Kimmel

Chris, Kristy and Thomas Beaune

We hit our first set of rapids just a couple miles in the trip...and they were a little more exciting than we expected! The Foster canoe had the most exciting time of all of us...we looked back to see a capsized canoe and lots of items floating down the river. Nathan was holding onto little Lilly, and Joel (9 yrs old) was hooting and hollering and trying his best to rescue all of their stuff. He kept saying, "That was awesome! Let's do it again!" His little sister, Lilly, wasn't so sure about that.

We all decided to pull over and take a little break to dump the water out of our boats and eat and fellowship for a little while.

Here is Nathan re-gathering their stuff. Notice how he only has one shoe. I think the missing one was found eventually in the bottom of Mac and Sue's canoe.

Ellis and Jay

Bobby, Tanya, Robin, Elaina, John and Kristy

Uncle Scott, Nathan, Derek, Lilly, Sue, Joyce, Tabby and Taylor

Ames and Grams (Amy and Amanda). Roommates, teammates, and now canoe trip buddies. Love you Ames.

The little guys (Joel, Reed, Landon, Bryar, EJ and Thomas) were having a blast throwing rocks in to the river.

We stopped for another break along the river and kids had a blast playing in the water. I believe this scene is capturing all of the kids trying to rescue Thomas' little red car from floating down the river. They were successful. :)

We arrived at campsite  in the afternoon on Saturday and had a great time relaxing and eating. The kids were running around and enjoying each other. We even had a great big soccer game after dinner with kids and adults...it was some serious fun.

I think C.S. Lewis summed up our time together pretty well with this quote:

“Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?”

 

On Sunday morning, Big Mac was up bright and early to start cooking everyone one of his famous breakfasts!

 

 After breakfast, we put in the river for the final leg of the journey. Day two was much shorter and a little more relaxed.

The views were beautiful.

Too bad those Brooks' wouldn't leave us alone!

And the award for getting stranded on the rocks the most times goes to the Johns canoe!

We are looking forward to the next adventure! Thanks to everyone who was able to come and share the weekend with us. 

"We had sweet fellowship together..." (psalm 55:14, AMP)