Cooking and Friday Nights

Often we like to have a family movie night on Friday nights. Everett gets very excited, and we enjoy showing him some movies we enjoyed as kids. There are so many to choose from, and Everett has liked all of them. Last Friday was our Stuart Little night. Everett especially loved this movie and learned what it means to be an orphan, that mice can drive toy cars and model boats, and that he would like to have a mouse in this family.

We also like to do pizza on these nights. Everett loves to help make it, and he is thrilled that I let him make his very own little pizza. He calls it his "Everett pizza" and is very careful with the assembly. I like doing pizza because everyone likes it, I can just throw the crust ingredients in the dough cycle on my bread machine, and it is a good way to use our WIC cheese.

(before toppings)

We also like to have homemade noodles. I like pasta just fine, but I love it when it is homemade. We put it in soups, have it with meatballs, or just with regular sauce. It is a nice thing for us to do because it is very cheap and easy, but the result is great. Someday I will get a pasta press and then I won't have to roll it all out by hand. I'm sure we'll have them even more often then.

Last time we made noodles, I gave Everett a pizza cutter and let him cut out his own noodles. I cooked them separately so I wouldn't have to fish them out of the main pot, and even though I wasn't watching and overcooked them, Everett scarfed them down. It is always fun to see him so very proud of his "Everett noodles".

It is fun to have a little kitchen helper. Everett is just lucky he is the oldest child. When the kids are older, there is no way that I'm going to start cooking noodles in five different pots just so everyone can have the ones they made!

Why My House is Rarely Quiet. . .

My feeling, with almost three little ones in this house, is that if the noises are loud but happy, it is a good thing. I have no problem with monsters roaring or doggies barking or children yelling out songs and dancing.

Gales of laugher? Check. Delighted yells of anticipation? Fine by me.

There are too many other things to worry about that take up my time, like whether we have enough diapers.

And, I try to enjoy the noise somehow--In 15-20 years when the kids start moving out, I know I'll miss it. Besides, in a few years a lot of the noise will be due to bickering. I'm just glad we're not there yet.


It has been a while since I've posted a video, so I took this one the other night of Joel playing with the kids. It is a movie that makes the kids giggle and giggle as they watch it, and it shows why our house is often a little on the noisy side.

(it's a bit long, but at least we still kept it under a minute.)

Password: doggies

Doggies from Elise Johnson on Vimeo.

Kitchen Helper (or, Ashley Update for Journaling Reasons)

Ashley and Everett both like to help in the kitchen. Ashley has really enjoyed being able to stand on the stool and help or observe with whatever dinner preparations I am making. I involved Everett a lot more at this age, but Ashley gets the short end of the stick because she is the younger one now.

She really loves having Everett for a playmate, though. She has learned a lot of things from Everett, most of which I like. Some things, though, she just does on her own.

When I give her a snack, she always holds her fingers up and asks for "two" of whatever it is, especially graham crackers. Fortunately she is young enough that I can break it in two pieces if I don't want her to have an extra one, and she doesn't notice.

She loves shoes. Today I bought her two pairs of shoes and she was tearful the entire way home because I didn't put them on her feet when we got into the car. As soon as we walked in the door, she took them out of the bag and wanted to put both pairs on for a few minutes each. She is always taking everyone's shoes and wearing them around the apartment, and sometimes she even gets some of Joel's shirts and wears them around her neck.

She loves to brush her teeth. It is a real treat for her to brush her teeth twice a day, and she laughs and laughs in anticipation whenever we tell her it is time to get out the toothbrush. She also doesn't mind us helping, which is nice because she mostly just likes to suck on the toothbrush.

She has wanted to sit on the toilet a couple of times after watching Everett go, but she got a little scared when I put her on there. I don't blame her; that opening is pretty big!

When she goes to bed, she will grab any and all of her stuffed animals, move them around, talk to them, play with them, and laugh at them until falling asleep. I love hearing this go on except for when she is keeping Everett up, too.

We have two kinds of pacifiers: one with a flat-ish nipple and one that is the standard shape. She refuses to take the flat one now. Yes, she still sleeps with a pacifier. No, I'm not going to worry about it until after the baby comes.

Last night at dinner, Ashley decided we were not paying enough attention to her, so she bit her own hand and feigned a very pitiful cry. After seeing that her tactic worked to get us all to look at her, she did it again and again. I tried not to let her see me laugh, but I don't know how well I did.

Ashley's favorite animal is the horse. She can spot horse pictures and figurines (even abstract ones) from surprising distances, and she never hesitates to let us know she found one by shouting "neigh! neigh!"

Ashley also loves buses. Whenever we drive somewhere or go near a window, she always looks for a bus. She isn't thrilled that Everett gets to ride a bus twice a week without her, but she does enjoy seeing it come.

Lastly, she is a movie junkie. She never watches for very long, but if you ask her whether she'd like to watch a movie, she'll shout "Movie! Movie!", shake her fists with real excitement, and laugh hysterically.

I am so glad to have Ashley. It is fun to look at her and know that she is mine.

Proof That it Happened

A couple of weeks ago, Notre Dame hosted a fancy dance for all of us in graduate family housing. Joel was so, so excited to go!

To tell you the truth, neither of us are dancers, and neither of us really enjoy dances that much. However, I do like going out and doing something different, maybe dressing up a little, and socializing. I didn't have anything to wear besides my basic black church dress, but the fact that we had free babysitting available to us made the decision to go a no-brainer.

We met up with some good friends at the dance. The four men you see are all in the same program, and I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone. The three of us women to the right are all pregnant, and we're all due within a few weeks of each other. We all got to ride from our housing to the ballroom in a stretch hummer limo, which was a fun touch. The atmosphere inside the limo was subdued, and people were talking about job prospects, graduate work, and moving plans. It made me smile because if we had been a bunch of high schoolers in there, you can bet it would have been pretty rowdy.

We enjoyed sitting and eating hors d'oeuvres. When a slow dance came on, I made Joel venture onto the dance floor with me. He only complained a little bit.

In all the time we've known each other, it has taken us this long to have even a single dance together. Between my waddling and Joel's lack of rhythm, we didn't look very good but at least we danced while we were at a dance. What a concept!

Another slow song followed this one, but I couldn't convince Joel to stay on the dance floor. That was okay, as I am over seven months pregnant and wore three inch heels. Surprisingly, I never lost my balance, but I did underestimate the difficulty of getting in and out of a hummer a) in heels, b) in a short dress, and c) being very pregnant. The limo driver was quite startled by my slide/jump to get out, but that's just the way it goes.

It was a fun night, and it was made even better because of the great friends we've found here. Oh, I guess I did like my date pretty well, too :).

One of My Favorite Things

This morning both kids were moaning and wailing and whining because they couldn't shake some major grumps. When I decided I didn't want to listen to them anymore, I told them they could read some books on my bed.

You'd think I just promised them candy.

This face. . .

. . . and this face

Soon turned into

these faces. . .

and these faces. . .

. . . and pretty soon, all was peaceful and quiet.

Then I put Ashley down for a nap, after which Everett announced that he was going to bed too, and laid himself right down on his bed with his stuffed doggies and dinosaur pillow.

Fine by me. No way was I going to argue with that logic.

Now the house is quiet and the kids are sleeping, and I had time to have lunch by myself without sad, starving, malnourished little faces pleading for bites.

A Little Bit About Joel

I think most of us know that Joel really loves sports. He loves watching sports, he loves playing sports, and he loves comparing everything to sports (a common phrase: Joel saying "it's okay; all that matters is that I can take him on the court.").

Our downstairs neighbor is a tennis expert who often likes to invite Joel to play. Joel would drop almost anything for the opportunity to have another good tennis match, and it always makes me happy to see him so excited to play.

Last Friday, Joel was planning on playing tennis with this neighbor. After he started throwing up at 2 am due to the same bad stomach bug the rest of us fought earlier in the week, I assumed his tennis match was a no-go. I checked on Joel at around 9:30 am, hoping he might feel up to some gatorade and crackers. All I got in response was a miserable grunt and half-opened eyes.

A few minutes later, I got a phone call from the tennis-playing neighbor. I was in the middle of expressing my regret that Joel had a stomach bug and wouldn't be up to a game today, when I hear a "Elise! Elise Elise Elise Elise!" reverberating off my bedroom walls. Joel came thundering out of the room with the energy of four kindergarteners; I laughed and told our neighbor that he'd better just speak with Joel. I barely had time to extend the phone to Joel before he swiped it out of my hand.

"Hello?" Joel's voice, having sounded earlier like it was dead and gone, must have made a miraculous recovery in the last fifteen seconds.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. No, it's one of those things that doesn't last very long. If you give me an hour, I'll be ready to play. 11? Sounds good. No, I'll be ready. Yes, I can do it. See you then."

Joel got off the phone, jumped in the air, and grinned wildly at me. I rolled my eyes. I was just glad I knew the key to abolishing all signs of illness from my husband--give him an opportunity to play a good game.

However, Joel's love for tennis or sports in general is no match for his love for basketball. When a favored team wins a big game, Joel spends the rest of the evening talking about how "we" did it, as though he scored the game-winning shot himself. Around November of every year, I start hearing about how March Madness is coming up. Joe Lunardi begins to absorb a larger part of his daily espn reading. Joel also begins compulsively checking game stats; when I ask him why a particular game is so important, he will quickly outline for me that if such-and-such a team wins this game, they'll have to play so-and-so, and if they do well, then they will go somewhere and play a certain team Joel likes. "That's gonna be a good game," he'll comment, his eyes momentarily glazing over with dreamy anticipation.

Last night Joel and I were looking at BYU's current basketball season. They're doing well. Some people hope they'll be a top three seed; as it stands now, they're already a three. For reasons I've forgotten, there is a chance BYU will play in some final games in Salt Lake City (if they make it to the final four, it will be in Indianapolis).

Being across the country when and if these games are held, when until recently Joel has always lived in Utah, will be torturous for him.

I saw the wheels spinning fruitlessly in his head as he considered his options for making it to the Beehive State. It's a two-day drive, one I wouldn't let him make solo. Plane tickets will most likely be prohibitively expensive once the games are announced.

Joel couldn't stop grinning. "I'll find a way," he said. I believe he would. I almost believe he would hitchhike to Utah if I wasn't here to stop him.

"This is going to be the best!" Joel commented excitedly. His grin was spreading; I suspected his face might actually get stuck that way.

Then I felt a little impish. "Yeah. . ." I agreed, "Almost as nice as you having another son."

The baby is due March 21st, just before the height of March Madness. Timing could be insurmountably bad.

Joel looked a little worried. "Oh yeah. That." He considered everything for a moment, turning the details over in his mind as though he was trying to find another side to a two-dimensional index card. Suddenly his face brightened. "Wait! Your mom and sister will be out here for the baby. I don't need to be here!"

I laughed and poked him in the ribs.

I know he wouldn't leave me to have the baby without him, and I know he wouldn't leave me a few days after having the baby (unless, perhaps, I did something to make it happen), but it sure would be a terrible strain for him to watch a BYU game taking place in Salt Lake City and know he could have been there in person.

But I am happy that Joel loves something this much. It makes me glad to see him get so excited, even if I could never match his enthusiasm. Maybe his energetic interest in sports will manifest itself in our children. If so, they'll always have plenty to do outside and I'll be glad they won't be messing up my house.

Win-win, I always say. I think having my husband and kids excited about the same thing will be a nice plus to their likelihood of inheriting Joel's very dominant competitive genes.

The Price I Pay

The other night when Joel was gone, I had to get my dirty, sticky kids in bed and clean up the dinner dishes. I decided to multi-task (as I always do), since the bathroom is right off the kitchen and I can easily hear anything that goes on in there.

But, this kind of efficiency comes with a price. If I am not physically in the bathroom, the kids have too much fun splashing and dumping cups of water various places until the floor in front of the tub is completely covered with a large puddle. I could come in every two seconds and discipline, but I'd rather get the kitchen done in one fell swoop.

Here are the little monsters. I am just glad they have fun together. I'd rather wipe up a puddle of bathwater than sit and supervise when I could be getting something else done.

The puddle you see here looks smaller than it is. In reality, the entire underside of the bathmat (and a good portion of the surrounding floor) is a sopping mess.

But getting the dishes done quickly is, without a doubt, worth every bit of the minute it takes to clean all this water up.