washing coats

Step 1 in packing for Germany... washing and packing coats. We've begun the packing process. Saturday morning Katey and I went through the process of washing up the coats we bought for everyone to wear in Germany (Christmas 2009). I put them in a bag and discovered they take up nearly a full suitcase. We'll be wearing coats tied around our waist. Before this is over we may be wearing multiple layers of clothing. Yes, we want to avoid extra bag fees, but also we just don't have enough people capable of wagging 50lbs through customs.

I keep looking at the Kindle for book reading purposes for myself, school, and my avid young reader. The weight of books limits what we can take. Laurel found out she could have books in seconds and so now she is sold on the idea even using Kindle PC. Now if she only could pay for them....

Counting down...two months to go..

Today is July 1st. We depart Sept. 2 for Germany. I can say Guten Tag and a couple of other standard greetings and that is about it. Scary. Needless to say our focus around here is going to have to be on learning a little German-QUICK! After planning and pondering for a year and a half, two months doesn't sound like much time. The kids are excited and yes they still are looking more forward to getting a dog when we get home but hopefully they will enjoy life abroad nonetheless. We've started planning our itinerary. So get ready for more activity here on the blog in the coming months, get Skype loaded on your computer if you want to talk to us, and most importantly keep this crew in your prayers. The Johnstons are headed to Europe, who knows what might happen.

Overheard

Sometimes it is funny to listen to the conversation around here. Today it was the conversation between Tim and Katey. We have had to remind her to go to the bathroom to avoid her waiting until the last minute. I heard Tim ask her "Katey, when was the last time you went to the bathroom?" Her reply was "Hmmm, I think I went yesterday." It was 4:00 pm. Of course she had gone several times today, but perhaps not at home as we were at church and small groups. Further questioning was pointless however so Tim simply replied "That was a long time ago, go now."

Several weeks ago it was in the car when Katey said "My armpit really hurts." Moments later she said "Wait a second, where is my armpit?"

It keeps us laughing.

My junk runneth over

Today was house cleaning day. I am continually amazed at all of our junk and the amount of time I spend dealing with it. The clothes, shoes, toys, books, dishes, etc, etc, etc. Its overwhelming to try to keep up with it and downright daunting to think of how to permanently declutter/organize it. Right now I'd say we have creative organization that allows us to be occasionally company ready. In other words we have places to stick all the junk when someone is coming over, but on a daily basis its "junk on display". Recently I told a friend I would love to spend a day pitching stuff out the windows into a rented dumpster. The freedom of purging the house, it sounds like a day of joy to me (not green or charity-friendly, but a whole lot of fun). So tonight when I saw an ad for a portable dumpster in a bag (the Bagster) I had to check into it. $100 total- so its expensive, but its a day of joy- can you put a price on that? Too bad for me though, they don't pick up in my area. I told Tim about it and he said I could get insurance for our truck and purge to my heart's content. No throwing stuff out the windows though. Where's the fun in that?

Detroit

We visited family in Michigan over the last few days. The kids had a great time visiting Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, going places with their Aunt and Uncle, and we all went to a Tiger's game. We debated bringing the children as my grandmother is not in good health. We are glad we did, she really enjoyed them. I enjoyed spending some time with her. Here are a few pictures:

World's Biggest Fish Fry

Well we were in the neighborhood on our way back from Jackson,TN so we thought we'd check it out. We've heard about it for years, but never made the trip down to Paris to check it out. We parked (amazingly close) ventured out into the drizzling rain to see what it was all about. The rides, funnel cakes, and fair type attractions were present, but we really wanted to check out the fish tent. All you can eat for $10, kids $7, under 6 free. We found the tent, took a peek at the cookers, and then we found the line. I am sure it has been worse. It was under a covered tent, but the idea of waiting in disney style lines and then paying $34 for fish was more than we were willing to go for after a long day. The kids aren't big fans of fish so there would likely be no end to the "can't we just get something else to eat" monologue as we waited in line. So- World's Biggest Fish Fry: we came, we saw, we left and ate fish in our local restaurant the next night. Maybe some other time.

Carter is on the mend

Carter is feeling better today. He was sore yesterday and not quite himself until late in the day. Today he is feeling much better and ready to show off his toothless grin to all.



Here is a picture of the staircase. Our best guess is that he was one or two stairs from the top. It truly was God watching out for him that he wasn't seriously injured.