the wonders of tylenol p.m.

the other night i decided i would take 1 tylenol p.m. after a few nights where i didn't feel like i slept so well. every now & then i'll take the tylenol when i feel like i need to catch some good zzz's. lately, with my busy schedule, i'll go to bed with my head swimming of "to do" lists. then i proceed to have silly dreams all throughout the night & tend to wake up exhausted. so, with the miracle of modern medicine, i fell into a deep sleep. apparrently, later in the night, lauryn was having a coughing fit. i was somewhat aware of it but couldn't really drag myself out of my stupor. luckily for me, i knew my husband would take care of her. the next day dennis told me of our conversation in the night. it went like this:

d: if lauryn wakes up again and i don't hear her, just wake me up & i'll go help her.

j: k.

a little while later...

j: (sitting up in bed) i hear her! i hear her! she's throwing up!!!

d: jen, that isn't lauryn. it's the dogs barking next door.

j: oh...(then i promptly fell back to sleep).

happy birthday my boy!

today isaac is 6!

we celebrated on saturday since there was no way we could swing a party today, on monday. he decided that he wanted a mario themed party at home. before the party, he was able top open a few gifts early since they would be part of the party: mario kart game for the wii + controller (thanks g'ma & g'pa johnson), extra controller (thanks uncle n8, auntie dee, & lilia), & a mario t-shirt (mom & dad). isaac invited 6 friends over & we started off with feeding everyone.
on the menu:
sloppy joes
pepperoni pizza rolls
bbq chips
strawberries
cantaloupe
sierra mist

before playing the wii, the kids had to pop balloons. each balloon had a real penny in it that they had to pick up after the balloon burst. once all the balloons had been popped, the person with the most pennies won a prize. plus, they all got to trade in their pennies for chocolate coins, which in my opinion, should be the real currency. below is my favorite picture of isaac leaping on a balloon to pop it.

next, it was on to the wii mario kart tourney.

carson (batman) & dennis, sizing up the competition.

elijah was the big winner!

oh yeah, lauryn had to dress as "princess peach" for the occasion.

next it was time for the birthday...

doughnuts!

last but not least, isaac opened up all of his amazing gifts from his friends. he was so excited & thankful for everything.

this video is from the balloon popping part of the party. dennis decided he needed to show 'em how it's done!

flashback friday

this is dennis and his cousin krista at the north dakota state fair in 1981. dennis looked at this picture and told me he can remember this day so clearly. he was part of the parade with a group of bmx racers. this picture is at the fairgrounds after the parade was over. krista and her family always came from nebraska for the state fair.

do you know the song "jinger bells?"

the other night, lauryn was singing "frosty the snowman" as she lay in bed to go to sleep. dennis & i were watching tv and could here her singing. we were cracking up as she sing a part of the song, then swing into the "oh! frosty the snowman!" it was just so adorable! it made me remember that i really hadn't put much from our holidays on the blog so thought of this cute video to share. we were at the lake for a few days in december. i happened to just be walking by while my mom & lauryn were singing christmas songs. i turned around quick to retreive my camera and caught this:

we all get a kick out of her singing "JINGER BELLS".

photo tag - i'm it!

The rules are simple...
1. Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures.
2. Pick the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4.Tag 4 people to do the same.

this photo of lauryn was just a random day last april. i remember thinking her hair was so cute that i should take a picture. it's really grown since then!

now i cheated & have another picture below. i accidently went to folder #1 & took picture #4 which turned out to be the one of isaac here when he was in NICU. we laughed at this picture & titled it "one MILL-ion dollars".

i tag: n8 & d, my mom, jordan, & kelani
now you're it!

flashback friday

as i was looking back at these, i just couldn't get over how beautiful he was. i loved everything about his hair: the color, the texture, the wave & curl, the smell. baby hair at its best!

i love how he's reaching over the side of the basket to get his toy car.

in the picture below, he's attained his goal of getting the car. now it's time to concentrate & play with the darn thing!

ellie time & snack time & the pink panther

ellie time:

here are some pictures of lauryn & her friend ellie. let me tell you...ellie is a hoot! the other day we were over at her house to celebrate birthday #3 for her. ellie was so excited to see both lauryn & isaac. so cute! she & lauryn were sitting at the table next to each other while everyone else was visiting, playing, eating. i happened to be standing near them ( well, not really happened when lauryn refuses to let me out of her sight when there are more than a few people around) when i overhear ellie singing "happy birthday to me". then she looks at lauryn to tell her "you sing it to me".


snack time:
dennis told me that after lauryn woke up from her nap, she requested a snack, probably with her "i need sumpin" line. so she curled up on the couch in a midst of blankets while dennis went to get her some fruit snacks. upon returning to her with them, she says to him, "now that's what i'm talkin' about". funny or what?

pink panther:
the other morning, lauryn woke up to watch some cartoons. yes, my kids do not wake up to start the day, they wake up strictly for serious cartoon watching. she usually loves sprout, noggin, or disney at 7:00 am. isaac is the one who is into boomerang which shows the good cartoons from back in the day. you know, the ones like tom & jerry, the smurfs, the jetsons, etc. lauryn generally isn't too interested in these. so i was surprised when she chose to watch the pink panther over the really stupid show lazy town that she seems to enjoy. so i sat with her while the show was starting. the pink panther disappeared from the cartoon frame & lauryn said, "hey, where'd the pink dude go?"

i know these are all really random, but that's what you get when i haven't blogged forever. :)