Tom's retirement gift!

Tommy and I are still adjusting to the newest member of our household! Meet Alton, Tommy's retirement gift from Donna Tomlin, a lady who works with him at Goodwin Animal Hospital. Tommy is deathly afraid of spiders - has been ever since I have known him. Poor baby turned green when he realized that we would be taking a TARANTULA home with us!

Tom attributes his fear of spiders to an incident in his childhood. His older (by nearly ten years) brother, Alton, was watching him while Grandma Johnson was at work. Alton, however, was working nights and sleeping during the day. Little Tommy went out and climbed a tree. After he had reached a fairly high point, he felt a sharp pain and looked carefully at the branch he had just grabbed. Away ran a spider! He bailed out of the tree and ran into the house for help. Alton was sound asleep and totally unimpressed so Tommy sat down and wrote a note to Grandma that read something like this: "I will be dead before you get home. A spider bit me and Alton doesn't even care. love, Tommy"

My sister, Barbara, is somewhere between California and Arkansas. I am so excited! Watch out world - 2/3 of the Jurkens girls are on the loose! (I guess the whole world doesn't have to watch out - just Little Rock , Atlanta, Shreveport, and El Dorado!)

Judge agrees with proud grandmother: Hannah ranked SUPERIOR+

Hannah had piano auditions on Thursday. She was judged to be Superior+! Today was her recital and I can understand why the judge was so impressed! That girl can play the piano!!!!

While I was in Little Rock last week for the Pauls' house hunting visit, I got to go to one of Lanie's softball games. My favorite picture of Lucy hanging on the fence looking up admiringly at her older cousin, Lanie, keeps loading sideways from the way I want it so I'll just post this one. Lanie is in a "coach pitch" league so you can just barely see Stephen out on the mound. The other picture showed Lanie's broken left pinkie "buddy taped" to her ring finger but you can't really see that here. Didn't slow her down much though: she was 3 for 3 at the plate!

I just love this picture of Coach Fussell with the bat girl in his lap while their team is out in the field. Kate loves her job and takes it very seriously! When she hears the bat hit the ball, she is headed to the plate like a shot.

"Is the Johnson Wedding Chapel still open for business?"

Yesterday, long-time family friend, Steve Cottrell, e:mailed me that he had bought "the engagement ring". He even sent pictures and I can honestly say I have never seen a more beautiful piece of jewelry! Anyway, as I was busy sending good wishes his way, he was typing the exciting question, "Is the Johnson Wedding Chapel still open for business?" I was afraid that he was being a little premature, since he still had the ring burning a hole in his pocket, but he said that the location had been discussed and his future fiancee was in agreement that 263 Sunny Brook Lane would be the ideal setting for the ceremony!

Steve and his family have been important to the Johnsons for many years. He and his brother were part of the street baseball/football game we would break up every time we drove through the neighborhood to look at 307 Mimosa before buying. I just knew that Jimmy would not be included in anything because we had been such pests! Steve flew to Canada to be one of Jimmy's groomsmen and his brother, Kevin, is the minister who married Jenny and Eric. (Note: to us Steve is Weavie/ Weevie - according to him, Webster's says either spelling is acceptable - and Kevin is Spud!) Our families have been intertwined in too many ways to detail here but it is logical, important, and exciting that Steve wants to be married here. I have not met his bride-to-be, Wendy, face to face as yet but we have gotten to be facebook friends. I have a very good feeling about this union!

Kristi (Kriqui) Wetherington and James Wisinger were married here on March 21, 2009. Steve was in attendance and Spud performed that ceremony also. I am thrilled the occasion made such a positive impression on the current groom-to-be that our home will be the site of another wedding!

P.S. Steve is the generous friend I mentioned in a recent entry. He gave us many items of furniture when he moved to the Buffalo, NY area from Baton Rouge!

Maddy's first dance recital!

Maddy enjoyed every minute of her stage debut! This is the pose she struck when I told her I wanted pictures. Talk about an adorable drama queen! She had been planning on having stage fright until the dress rehearsal; then she found out that being on stage was the ultimate high! She was front row in both dances and knew exactly what to do! Her Aunt Jenny would have been proud!
After Sunday's performance, we went for ice cream. Unfortunately, our only Baskin Robbins is in a convenience store! She didn't stop dancing just because there was no music on in the aisle!

Hattie meets Hattie!!

The introduction of Hattie Elaine Paul to Hattie Belote Johnson was a very special moment!

Time to go to the ballet portion of Maddy's dance recital but I wanted to get this picture posted before I left home. Hopefully I will have time to elaborate on the fun week I have had later.

OOPS!

Fiddle, I misspelled "octopi" and messed up a few commas! If anyone know how to edit an already published post, please let me know. The only time I tried to edit something, I lost everything! Thanks!

Bunnies everywhere!

I belong to the world's most wonderful Book Club. My friend, Suzie, and I "organized" it nearly seven years ago. We started out as a group of a dozen ladies, some of whom I knew well, some I was acquainted with, and one I did not know at all! We have bonded in a very special way and our monthly meetings are eagerly anticipated and every absence is felt - both by the absentee and by the rest of the group. During our time in existence, we have lost a member, Carol Daugherty, to cancer. When we realized that we could never replace her we simply vowed not to try. At that point, our membership became closed.

One of our special traditions is to give a children's book shower for first time grandmothers. I missed last month's meeting while I was in Atlanta celebrating Hattie's arrival. Imagine my surprise last night when I was showered with packages and gift bags. My friends had decided that an Easter birthday could NOT be ignored. Everyone had shopped for a book featuring bunnies or Easter!

Most of you know that Jenny was born on Christmas Eve. Every year she gets a different copy of THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. The poem remains the same but illustrators have such fun depicting their vision of Santa and his visit. Anyway, the book on the bottom right of this photo is THE NIGHT BEFORE EASTER, a perfect companion piece for Jenny's collection. Another sentimental donation is PETER RABBIT'S GIANT STORYBOOK. When Jenny was in kindergarten, she played Mother Rabbit in a production of "Peter Rabbit". Coincidently, the son of another member, not the one who gave the book, was Mr. McGregor! (Since Tom has been spending so much time in his garden, Jenny has taken to calling him Mr. McGregor.) Naturally, I sat down and read all of the books as soon as I walked into the house. Thank you everyone for the thought you put into your purchases, the special books you found, and, most of all, the generosity and love you have shown for the extended Johnson clan, not just last night but always!

I have had several questions about the octopus I was making when I bailed out on Tom at the U-Haul place. Below you will see a few of my octupi and one little fish. These are "tawashies".

A child slips a hand into the octopus' head or into the fish while bathing - a fun washcloth!