Oscar Stew

School’s out for summer! We enjoyed watching Drew & Brinley participate in end-of-the-year sports activities, graduation, prom…Ok, got a little carried away on that last one…

Where should we start? On the field of course! Are these girls BFFs? Attached at the hip? Well, they’re attached at the ankle for now. They are ready to win this alien race!

In case the races weren’t exciting enough, Rowan doing the Riverdance was quite the sideshow…

Hey Binnie, that’s a pretty sweet sag in them gangsta jeans you’re wearin’. I think they be Drew’s! And spots, ruffles and stripes? Only the Binbob can rock that style!

Rowan got first place in the clown-hairball shotput competition…not sure what the rules are on that…

Ryan said, “Where’s the war paint? The mud pit? The kilts? This ain’t a real tug ‘o’ war!” I don’t think they care…

This picture of Eleanor pretty much sums up the rest of field day…thud.

This is what Drew got to do instead of field day! Isn’t his little tooshie adorable, though!?

Flippin’ funnel clouds Batman! What can we do to keep the troops entertained while hunkered down inside this scholarly shelter? Creepy puppets are a sure bet! 

All’s well that ends well. We finally got to go home in time for dinner and bedtime. We had to get up early the next day to get the best seats at graduation. The Beacon of Cuteness helped us save seats…as long as she had a cracker.

C’mon, sing it! Daaah, Da-di-da, daaa-daaaah, daaah, da-di-da, daaaaah…Class of 2023!  Brinley made another fashion statement by insisting on wearing her clunky old gym shoes. Gotta  love a girl that knows what she wants…

Each graduate had their name read and any advice they had for next year’s class. The kids in the back are riveted with excitement, can’t you tell!? Are any of these kids on the Honor Roll?

Juice, cake, and hugs were served afterwards in the cafeteria. You ok Brinley?

Aw, Binnie is gonna miss her teacher! We’re gonna miss her too…We’re now without a kindergartner for the next 2 years!

Brinley told us that one of the things she will miss the most is the routine…Art, Gym, Music, Library, Recess…not to mention riding the big yellow bus! Dry those tears Binnie, we have plans for you! Summer School is now in session! Enrollment? Mandatory! Bwahahahahaaa! 

And just like that we have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader!

I know this might come as a shock to you, but I love fabric. I love the colors, the texture, and knowing that I can create something that never existed before. So, when the fabric makers of the world came to Salt Lake to strut their stuff, I had to be there. I couldn’t just stand on the shore in this ocean of fashion and wait for whatever the tide would bring in; I had to drown in this sea of creativity!

Now I couldn’t show up to the International Quilt Market looking like a rookie. I just happen to have the coolest Aunt in the world that runs the best quilt shop in the industry. I picked up the supplies for this bag over a year ago, and I knew I would find plenty of treasure to haul back home, so I finally made this monster of a carry-on for my voyage through the threads… I call her Beatrice; she is so big she deserves a name!

Kelsey and I aren’t giddy with excitement. Nope. Not even a little.

Everyone is gonna think we’re full-on fabric freaks! Quick, do something that’ll disguise who we really are! This spy act is fooling everybody! See, nobody is noticing a thing! Nobody at all…

Uh-oh, something tells me we’re gonna get stuck in this quagmire of quilts all day! Let me in! Let me in!

Ok, so we got there way early. Can you blame us? We felt like a couple of 5 year-olds on a field trip!

Once we finally made it in, there was awesomeness and inspiration at every turn!

Meeting some of my favorite companies & designers was so much fun!! If only I hadn’t been so camera shy…I only snagged pics of empty booths, to save myself the embarrassment of looking like a groupie.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that my friend Joel stole the show. I wish I had been brave enough to take a picture of the whole booth….but in my defence, the show was packed! There was never a right time to take a picture!

After the show we were quite exhausted. Kelsey wanted to nap…I couldn’t wait to dig into my bag of goodies!

This is just some of the lovelies that we snagged along the way.

The day after the show I got to hang out with my mom & all my sisters. I present to you: the Johnson girls of the present and future! I would say past, but for now that would only be me…and only my purse is in this picture. Pretty good lookin’ bunch, eh?!

After spending 4 hours at IKEA you can’t go wrong with some fro-yo and a place to put your feet up for a while!

On Day 3 of my vacation from motherhood (thanks Ryan!) we spent the day hangin’ at Jenna’s place enjoying the three F’s: food, fabric, and friendship! 

Even if we weren’t feeling like friends first thing in the morning, a whip cream topped scone always does the trick!

What would a weekend at the Quilt Market be if we didn’t quilt? Remember what they say about idle hands?

Johnson girls don’t get together without cooking either. This time we tried our hand at homemade tomato soup…

The ingredient list was extensive. The stems you ask!? They pack some serious flavor!

This quilt ain’t too shabby either. Thanks Joel!

The only thing that could have made this soup even better, was a grilled cheese sandwich. Then we’d really be 5 year olds!

 

It’s been over two years since the last time we did a “one hit wonders” gallery. In the past these posts contained fun/funny/awkward/etc pictures of the kids doing random things that weren’t part of a story. This one feels more like a bunch of mini-stories, all of which we don’t want to forget. Fire away!

It’s graduation day in Brinleytown today (we’ll talk about that soon) but what would graduation mean if you didn’t know where she started? Once upon a time there was a little girl who told the world what she was all about…

Those all look like fun things about Brinley, but did you know she’s also quite a risk-taker? We finally muscled up the courage to roast some brussels sprouts. We actually enjoyed these broccoli-tasting leafy delights. Brinley gave this veggie a thumbs up, which means a lot coming from a 6 year-old!

One of the side effects of eating too many brussels sprouts is hairy spider eyes.

They might also give you the desire to wash your sister while half-naked…Oh the horror!

Deep in the Jungle of Suburbia, some animals have evolved and learned to provide for themselves…

Take this rare horned dwarf elephant for example: The large changes this creature has made make it almost seem as though it is not an elephant at all!

She has shed her horns, grown a longer shaggy coat of fur on her head, and has developed opposable thumbs!

As I approached this mysterious beast with great caution, I could not imagine what other changes might have taken hold. The animal stopped and stared at me for a moment, as if deciding whether I was a meal or a menace…or both!

I quickly discovered that this critter had developed a strong liking for clementine oranges that had drifted from the Island of Corian.

I checked my watch; it was almost noon. There was no reason this wild thing should be sleepy. Had she also become nocturnal? Maybe the clementine oranges were causing some kind of sedative effect?

The eleaphant sighed, belly full and contented, then disappeared back into the jungle…

Self-reliant Rowan is also a high-maintenance girly-girl. Case in point:

But honestly, how do you get nail polish on your forehead, ear, and ankle while painting your toes?

Le Scoob might not have a very big part in this post, but rest assured that this dude is busy! Drew enjoyed family recipe day with our favorite pot o’ gold!

Something else we are really enjoying is being mostly done with our interior painting. The main floor is done, and we even painted the front door! All we have left is the bedrooms…woot!

Hey Mommy! Eleanor’s got something to tell you…shhh, it’s a secret!

Hear ye, hear ye! Eleanor can descend stairs…this is NOT good news.

Hair out, shirt up, socks loose…the boys are sure to notice! Get that hoochie back inside!

Cross the laces, put the bunny in the hole; wrap the loops around the ears…

Loop the loop around the loop and we’ve come to the end…the bitter end…

…Brinley (and Ryan) can now tie shoes. Hooray!

We want an encore! Alright!

The premiere of the big show finally arrived, and these two blonde bombshells arrived together wearing the latest in high fashion…

Hold on a second! These dresses are the same! How embarrassing! Oh wait, they’re not quite the same. See, mine is one of a kind. Mine is too! Oh yeah?! Well, mine is…(sigh)…

Another Sunday, another premiere…and Rowan doesn’t even want to know if Brinley has the same dress…

Like we said, Drew was pretty scarce in this post. But that has a lot to do with him being abducted by aliens. At least they couldn’t scan his brain. See ya Drew!