Living With An Artist...

Living with an artist is a mess; a beautiful mess!

Just now Caden drew a lovely picture of one of our neighbors walking her dogs and wanted to deliver it to her.  I sent him over by himself (a very difficult task for a shy little guy).  A few minutes later he came home just sobbing with his picture still in his hand.  He would not tell me what happened.  I finally deduced that someone else had answered the neighbor's door and Caden didn't say a word just ran away.  So I grabbed the picture and headed back over, Caden came with me to the driveway and then ran away again.  Come to find out, our sweet neighbor had just had surgery, so her daughter had answered the door.  I explained that Caden was a little shy, but he wanted our neighbor to have his picture.  She loved it.  When I told Caden after that his little picture had helped cheer her up after her sugery he was thrilled.  He told me he must have listened to the Holy Ghost to know that she really needed that picture to cheer her up when she really needed it.

I would love to be able to see just a glimpse into Caden's beautiful mind.

I fondly call him my absent minded professor because he has such a quick, sharp mind and a memory that remembers EVERYTHING...but he can't be bothered with the small details in life, like wearing underwear, putting shoes on the right feet, or wearing his pants the right direction.

His art is constant, and it's the biggest mess in the world.  As many times as I've tried to organize him little "art studios" the art just can't be contained.  There is a constant parade of cut up paper scraps, crayons, and markers scattered all through the house at all times.

Sometimes his need to create art feels almost manic, he can't stop...he continues his masterpieces on his way to the bathroom, under the kitchen table, in Quinn's crib, all over the house!  When it's time to get in the car to go somewhere there's always just a last minute addition to whatever project he is working on, he just can't stop!  Part of me loves the constant creations that he tapes to every wall with Scotch tape, right now there are race cars all over the house, even found one taped to the shower this morning.  The other part of me has to really work on letting the mess go, not worrying about my oddly decorated house where every wall has a lot of Scotch tape, and reminding myself that the messes will get cleaned up at some point.

The Heart Family is the newest art installation at the Johnson home.

But every once in awhile (like this week after scrubbing the banister with a Magic Eraser for 20 minutes to remove the new Sharpie decorations) I had to ground him from his markers.  It's been torture!  I bet Picasso's mom would have never taken away Pablo's favorite medium.

Clark made his day this week by taking time one night to color Caden a picture and left if for him to find the next morning.

Oh Caden, my artist, you are a beautiful little mess!

Merry Mother's Day

We woke up Mother's Day morning to a beautiful blanket of snow!!!

 After going to church Clark and the boys tucked me in for a nice winter's nap.  It was a highlight of the day for sure.  

Everyday I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a mother.

Here are a few of the boys cards from the day that I'd like to remember.  

The longer I'm a mom the more and more I realize how much my own mother did for me.  I'm so grateful to have the best mom in the world, who is my best friend no matter where in this big world  I happen to be.  She has always had impeccable fashion sense too, and awesome hair!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there that make the world go round!

Brotherly Love

A few weeks ago Caden started complaining about his leg hurting.  He kept pointing to a little patch of eczema on the back of his leg so I didn't think much of it.  He cried for several hours straight, I just thought he was tired and being over dramatic (which happens with this 4 year old).  Since Clark was gone, I was at my wit's end so we face-timed Grammy!  She saved the day and got him laughing.  

However, a few hours later though he wouldn't put any weight on his knee and was in a lot of pain...I assumed it was because of a scooter crash and still didn't think too much of it.  The next few days the severe joint pain started moving around to different joints, his wrist, his ankles, and his knees.  He also ended up with a strange looking rash.  I started to worry when Clark took the afternoon off to take him to his pediatrician while I was on a field trip with Ethan's class.  

After many blood tests, throat swabs, nose swabs, and a urinalysis the pediatrician in conjunction with an infectious disease doctor at Denver Children's Hospital determined that he had rheumatic fever probably caused from an untreated strep infection.  We started treatment right away with antibiotics.  They also decided he is probably a chronic carrier of Strep A and will need a penicillin shot every month until he is 21 years old!

Caden was a trooper for all of this testing!  He is still bragging that the nurse told him he was the "best patient of the day" for his blood draw, he is still giggling that they made him pee in a cup.

Because rheumatic fever can also cause heart disease he has had an EKG, and and ECG.  We are still waiting for the results of that last one.

Loved my brave little cowboy undergoing his test!

  Hardest part of the ECG was holding still so long.  Luckily his Dad got to come and was able to snuggle on the table for the test.

Getting lunch at the hospital with Dad after all the testing makes it all worth it!

Last Sunday many members of our extended family joined us in fasting and praying for Caden's heart to be healthy, and that he would fully recover from this illness.  I started telling the boys about everyone that was fasting and praying for Caden, when Ethan heard about it he wanted to fast too for his little brother.  Going without food and water is hard for a little boy!  As the day went on I could tell Ethan was getting really hungry, so I told him he did a good job and he could stop if he needed to, but he refused.  He wanted to make it all the way to dinner, he had faith that his efforts of fasting and praying for his little brother would make him better.  I learn a lot about faith from my boys!  I also learn a lot about love.  The way they love each other is very sweet.  And it goes all 3 directions among all the boys.  A few days ago I found Quinn taking a little nap on the couch, a few minutes later I found him like this (Caden had found his and Ethan's best dogs to snuggle with and had covered Quinn with a blanket.

These boys fill my heart with so much love, they are my greatest blessing.

Field Trip to the Zoo

I was so happy I got to go on a field trip with Ethan's class to the Denver Zoo (especially because the buses were too full for parents so we got to drive our own cars).  I had a group of 4 very active little boys to chaperon.  It is always fun for me to see Ethan with his peers.  He's kind to everyone, all day when we passed the other little groups all the kids would run up to Ethan to tell him hi.  He also likes being the class clown and making everyone laugh in very obnoxious little ways that first graders think are hilarious!  I'm just happy that he'll still hold my hand in public.

Gorilla photo bomb!

His teacher sent me this one, fast asleep on the bus ride back to Greeley!