Jonni's Fifth Birthday

I know what you're thinking. She's HOW old??? That's not possible!! Yet, somehow or other, Jonni is five. That means *shudder* kindergarten!! What next? Dating?
At any rate, I'm not here to alarm anyone, I don't want to start a panic, I just want to tell everyone how Jonni hurdled this particular milestone. She had her first ever birthday party. Now, we've had family parties before, and even invited a few friends of John and myself to share in the momentous occasion of Jonni's birth, but this was the first one where we invited who Jonni wanted to invite, and we did the party Jonni's way. I dare say, it was a success. What else, with Jonni at the helm?
We had four girls over (we invited five, but one got sick), and we colored a mural, played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents. The girls had a blast, and the adults sat around and enjoyed watching them. Here are just a few pics of The Occasion;

Here's Jonni blowing out the candles on her cake.

I love this shot, I think it's hilarious.

She's just a bit tired of me taking pictures at this juncture.

Here's Jonni and all her girlfriends opening presents.

She got a pretty good haul this year.

Here are all the girls doing their mural. They had a blast with this one.

And what did they draw? Monsters!!

I especially liked the birthday cake monster!

So, another year in Jonni's life has passed. It's been a big one. She fished for the first time, went without her mom for almost a week for the first time, started preschool, and finally turned five. Yep, a big year, and mostly good. Happy Birthday Jonni!!

Here's to many more,

The Almighty Liz

Pre-School Oral Reports

Yep, you read that title correctly. Jonni had her first oral report this week. In pre-school. A little sooner than I expected. They were studying space for the month of Febuary, and so Jonni's report was to be on Mars. John helped her, since he is the space nut, not I. They decided the best route would be to pick some pictures, and then Jonni could describe them. Jonni picked six pictures. That's a lot for a soon to be five-year-old, I thought. Here are some of the cooler ones;

This Olympus Mons, the biggest mountain on Mars and Earth.

It is also roughly the size of Arizona, and an active volcano.

This is a sunset on Mars. That teeny tiny dot is the sun.

Anyway, so pretty cool, but still, I was way worried about her handling an Oral Report. As a safety measure, John wrote all the dialogue on the backs of the pictures so the teacher could help her. We have been assured many times that Jonni is extremely shy at school, and I just didn't know how she was gonna do this. It turns out we needn't have worried. Jonni was flawless. Not only did she do the things we practiced with her, she brought a book on space she's had at home for awhile, flipped to the section on Mars, and proceeded to expound upon her original report. The teacher said she went on for a full ten minutes, with no mistakes, and as she was reading over Jonni's shoulder, all the book stuff that she didn't practice with us was correct as well. Needless to say, her teacher was beyond impressed. Most parents just print something out, apparently, and the teacher reads it to the class while the student just stands there. She has never had anyone do what Jonni did, and she's been teaching pre-school for like twenty years! That's m'girl!!

Late Night Ramblings

So we have some friends who are moving to where we live from our home town. This is nice. John is better friends with the husband of the couple, and I am good buddies with his sisters, but his wife is super nice too, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better. I'm glad they are moving here.
The pipes in our bathroom froze again. This makes the third time in the last month. It's becoming quite annoying, but we are going to insulate the heck out of them in the next couple of days. Our floor too, with the insulation, and so that will be nice as well. We won't be losing all our heat down to the basement, and I'm hoping a fringe benefit will be the floor won't be as cold.
Also, we can get a tax return on that for next year.
Jonni and Erik haven't been sick in almost two weeks. Another thing that makes me happy.
My husband and I are getting along really well.
My sister and one of my sister-in-laws are having babies. One girl and one boy, respectively. I am not. Yet another reason for rejoicing.
I joined a choir that is not church affiliated. It's loads and loads of fun to really sink my teeth into some music that is challenging. I'll be selling tickets to our concert on May fourth soon. (a shameless plug) I require everyone who really loves me to go. If you don't go...well. At least I'll know how you really feel about me.
I got home from Enrichment night at church awhile ago, and people were nice to me. That hasn't happened in awhile (not that anyone is mean, I've just sort of felt like the invisible woman lately), and it also makes me happy.
So what is the point of my post? Nothing really. My husband is decompressing, and I needed someone to ramble too. It's a good thing I have all of you cyber people. You make me happy too.
Here's to a good night,
The Almighty Liz

Babies and Politics

Well, hello all you good people out there. (and all you bad ones, what are YOU doing here?) I haven't posted for awhile and I know that's really hard on all you Liz addicts, so I thought I'd throw you a little dose today.
My little family has not really been up to much, hence the non-postage. We are still doing damage control on the house, but it's almost there. Jonni is back in pre-school, after a three week Christmas vacation, and loving it. I had my very first Parent/Teacher Conference yesterday afternoon, and it went very well. Her teacher, Mrs. S, adores Jonni, and recognizes her genius. Always good to have an astute teacher on board. She also told me Jonni is, for the first time, playing with the girls. She has, apparently, up to this point only hung out with the boys. I'm not sure why this was, or why she has changed, but I, also for inexplicable reasons, think it's funny. Erik is still Erik. Nothing new, except that he is now counting and has learned most of his numbers up to ten. I have a new class in primary, and am getting to know and love my new kids, although I find myself missing my old ones. I did get lots of hugs from my former class this last Sunday, and that was way cool.
I also have a little announcement on my sister Virginia's behalf; she is having a girl! Her name will be Lark. Very exciting! Another niece! I hear the big sister to be is in rapture.
Also worthy of note is my husband's blog. We have been having a very lively political discussion there for some days. If you would like to join in, here's the link;
http://johnseverfanclub.blogspot.com
I, generally speaking, don't particularly enjoy political discussions. I don't, however, think you can remain politically ignorant in this day and age. Thus I have much enjoyed the different points of view and the discussions that we have been undergoing lately. Lots (and I never thought I'd say this) of fun!!
That's all I have today folks. It's been pretty quiet around here the past week or so. Very nice for me indeed, after the chaos that was my life the first couple of weeks of the New Year. I hope it holds for a little while longer!

Conclusions

Well, I have a couple of minutes here so I just thought I'd let everyone know how things turned out. First, the water heater. After we tried three different parts, one of which I drove to Decatur (one and a half hour trip one way) to get, it was finally determined that our water heater was leaking, and that's what was wrong with it. Also, warranties don't transfer apparently, so since we are the second homeowners, the water heater was not covered. So, after some yelling and crying, I ordered a new one, and my wonderful friends, who had been helping this whole time, helped me get home, and when we got there, realized it was too tall!! So, we had to get another one, and finally, we were able to install! It worked, and that night, Monday, John and I were able to get our first showers in five days!! It was bliss. I can't even describe it. And I savored it. I lingered for a full 45 minutes.
Next, Jonni's ear. I learned my lesson, because it turned out that her eardrum had burst. Not enough to relieve any pressure, or drain or anything, just enough to ooze into her ear canal in front of her eardrum, and cause another infection. So she actually needed a couple of different kinds of antibiotics to clear it all up. Lesson learned, and she is fine now. We have two more doses, and she has a clean bill of health.
I am now doing damage control on my house, and I think by the end of the day, the kitchen will be done. The last load of dishes is going right now ( I think this makes three), and everything is wiped down and disinfected, so all I have left is the floor, which I will do after the last load of dishes is complete. Tomorrow: the living room!!
This last week has definitely been a wild ride, but I learned two things. One: always go to the doctor, no matter how experienced a mother you think you are, kids are unpredictable. Two: never trust the warranty people, just go with your gut instincts, which would have bought me a new water heater days before I actually did it.
And, all you deities who are listening, I'm done for the year. You hear me? Done.
Love and Hugs,
The Almighty Liz

Just a Moment of Ranting

So, I will just quickly tell you, my beloved friends and confidants, what my life has been like for the past day or two.
You all know that we have been ill. Well, on Wednesday, our downstairs toilet quit working. (no R&B, it wasn't just a plunger issue) We figured out yesterday that the waterline to the toilet froze. Not surprising, it did this last year in the whole bathroom because the people who installed the plumbing to this bathroom didn't insulate the bloody pipes. We took care of that yesterday, although it involved tearing down some bricks, to get to the pipes, and then putting them back. I didn't do it, a friend of mine who is into realty and renters and things also has a handyman. He did it. Also yesterday, our hot water heater quit working. We have had spotty performance with the thing, and so I called the manufacturer yesterday, to find out that we have a model with a faulty thermal coupling on it, and there is actually a settled class action lawsuit on this baby. We got the part for free, but not the labor, and we had to pay to have it overnighted, otherwise it would have gotten here sometime next week. My friends' handyman should be here any minute to install said part, and hopefully by the end of the day I, and my husband, will get our first showers since Wednesday. To ice this lovely cake, my daughter was up all night with an ear infection. We have a doctor's appointment in a couple of hours, so I'm hoping that the water heater is taken care of before that, or else I will not get my shower today. The doctor insisted on seeing her as opposed to just calling me in a prescription. I miss my old doctor, who would trust my judgement (because I'm RIGHT!) and just call it in. Now I have to drag my SICK daughter into the freezing cold, and haul her to the doctor. This just does not make sense to me for some reason.
*Sigh* Well, thanks for the ear gents and ladies, I feel better. Until next time, I am the Almighty Liz, signing off, and wishing you a better couple of days than I've had. *smooch*

Holiday Overview

Well, howdy folks. I hope everyone out there in cyberland had a good Christmas and New Year. We had a very mixed holiday ourselves. For example, here would be a great place to post some pictures of the frenzy that was Christmas morning, but, although we remembered to bring our dandy bran-spankin'-new camera, we forgot to actually take any pictures. Well, we got one. Here it is:
That's my lovely husband. That shot was totally accidental, not at all posed, I promise. We were just goofing off that morning before church. That was, sadly, the only shot we got the entire week we were there. Christmas morning, though, was a big hit. I don't think Jonni has ever been this excited. I think this is the first year she got the whole Santa bit. Erik and his cousin Justice were absolutely hilarious. They would open each gift, and then want whatever their cousin opened! We also had the luxury this year of staying the whole vacation in our home town in my best friend's three bedroom apartment whilst her and her family went South for the holiday. Veeeeery nice indeed. We were having a great visit, when we started falling victim, one by one, to that most evil of holiday and vacation wreckers, the flu. Not just one flu though, two totally different kinds; Stomach and it's nasty twin Sinus&Chest. Jonni was first, followed quickly by Erik and I, and by the time we left for home last Saturday, we had all got one or both. John recovered fairly quickly, as is his annoying habit, but the rest of us are still fighting off the symptoms. Getting there though, definitely improving, but we spent New Year's totally miserable. I did at least. So, ringing in the Year, I have sworn off resolutions, because I realized I couldn't remember last year's, but instead have just decided to try to be a better person. Taking our Prophet's advice to be just a little kinder, more neighborly, attentive and so forth. I hope every one's Christmas was filled with love, joy, and awe for our Savior, and every one's New Year was illness free!!