Addilyn Reads a Book

If you have "Good Night Gorilla," feel free to follow along as Addilyn masterfully reads this story. Her emphasis and expression are exemplary so you won't even need a copy to appreciate the beloved children's picture book. Enjoy!

My hands felt just like two balloons

Due to the highly technical nature of this post I'm afraid I, Addilyn Elise, must pass the keyboard to my father. I apologize if you find he has no penchant for the English vernacular but I really don't have a clue about cars. So without further ado...

A couple of weeks ago the Heater/AC controls went out in our Chrysler. I took the control box out and looked it over and found that a circuit chip had broken loose and I couldn't fix it. So we had to get a new one. It wasn't a big deal but whenever we drove anywhere hot air would be expelled out the defrost at a rate proportional to
our speed. Needless to say it was not fun to travel on the highway. Luckily we found a part on Ebay for $20 and got it fixed.
Shortly after that issue surfaced the starter in the Mazda, which has never been really trustworthy, decided to fail us for good. I've included pictures of this portion cause the starter on this car is a royal pain to get out. In the first picture you can see the state of the car when I'm ready to put the starter in . The second shows the starter installed and the third shows the engine back together. If you can't find the starter don't worry, I couldn't either at first. It took me a full evening to get the thing out but

only a couple hours to get it back together. Luckily again we found somebody near St. Joe who rebuilt it for $50, instead of the $150 for a remanufactured one.
In the midst of these two problems we drove down to my parents in El Dorado and on the way noticed a weird feeling in the car. When we got down there we found that the front brakes needed to be replaced and that one of the rear tires had a very bald spot which was bulging. So two new tires, a pair of rotors and some pads later we are about done with car issues.
All in all we got a lot of stuff done at minimal cost which was nice. And now we have two cars which run, until something else happens.

On another note we went to Erin's parents for Easter and while there I was suddenly suckered into putting crown moulding on the top of their cabinets, which was fun. So if anyone would like some crown moulding on their cabinets, I'll lend you a saw.


Tyler

Checking In

Hello all. It's been an eventful week in the Johnson household. Well, sort of. First off was my one-year doctor's appointment. This time I measured 30 inches long and weighed in at 21 pounds, 8 ounces. We sat around in the office for a really long time and then they prick me with not one, but two needles. Needless to say, it wasn't a good trip. Other than that, there has been a lot of time and money put into our two vehicles this week but I think I'll let Daddy elaborate on that in a later post.
As we are just about ready to embark for an Easter weekend at G & G Butts' house, I will curb the verbosity and simply leave you with a few pictures from this past week (or thereabouts).

As always,

Addilyn Elise

Birthdays and such

Hello all! I thought it was about time I updated everyone on the events of the past week.

As many of you know (because many of you were there), last Saturday was my 1st Birthday Party! Boy was that a new experience. All in all, it was pretty cool. You get all dressed up and a bunch of people come to your house to fawn over you. You get to eat cake (which is definitely one of my favorites now) AND you get presents! "Can life get any better? I submit that it CANNOT!" (Mommy and Daddy listened to a Brian Regan CD once on our way to G & G Johnson's house; that guy's pretty funny). Anyway, it was a pretty good time. G & G Butts came from Nebraska to spend the afternoon, as did G & G Johnson and Aunt Courtney (only they came from El Dorado/Wichita). Mommy's best friend Candice & her husband Eric also made the long trek from Wichita. We got to eat Subway (which meant that I got to mooch food off of a whole lot of people at the same time, mostly my Grandmas and Aunt Courtney). Then we had snacks, well actually I didn't have snacks (nor did most people because they had just eaten lunch but anyway...). After a long bout of doting and passing me around, they set me in my high chair and then did the strangest thing. Mommy came walking in holding a plate with a big, sugary carrot on it that had a waxy stick stuck in it that was LIT ON FIRE! Really, it was the strangest thing I have seen so far. I mean, who lets their one-year-old play with fire, let along encourages them to do so by giving them a firey stick in their food. Anyway, while Mommy brought me the "Carrot of Death," everyone sang and smiled. Weird people, right? But, on a sidenote, the cake was good. At least, it was good once I got past the sticky factor. I think I'd try it again. Anyway, after everyone had eaten their fill of cake (by the way, I was given a carrot-shaped carrot cake while everyone else ate pieces of the ginormous bunny-shaped carrot cake as pictured below), we started in on opening presents! That was pretty fun too. Let's see... I got a doll, a dog (that picture is from right after I had opened it), a classic "Little Red Wagon," a shiny coin, a super-cool book that has pictures that actually pop right up off the page when you open it (apparently they call it a "Pop-Up" book) that was written by some guy named Seuss, a neck pillow (so I can travel in style), and quite a bit of witty/cute clothing. On the whole, I'd say I made out like a bandit. After opening presents, the party dispersed fairly quickly since the grandparents and Courtney all needed to be back to their respective churches on Sunday morning. Candice and Eric stayed the night to chat and hang out with us. Mommy & Daddy seemed to really enjoy getting to see them and I certainly enjoyed a continued audience for my antics.

Anyway, since this weekend (which, mind you, was still covered in snow) we've had some beautiful weather. We've gone on walks and even a bike ride. It's a good thing it has been so nice because yesterday morning, the Mazda's starter finally gave out. Daddy's had to ride to work on his bike (which he didn't mind at all when it was his decision). It's been making funny noises for years (the starter, not Daddy) but finally decided to call it quits just in time for Mommy & I to miss our daily walking appointment with some ladies at church. After quite some time and a whole lot of elbow grease (whatever that is), Daddy finally got the starter out of the Mazda and has sent to a shop to rebuild it for him. Fun, fun.

This weekend we are headed down to El Dorado/Wichita/Newton to visit family and for Oliver's birthday party. Hey, I wonder if I'll get to eat cake there too?!!

Until next time,

Addilyn Elise

The ventilators rise and leave city.

We've been trying to publish this post since Friday but something on Blogger wasn't letting us. We'll have a more up-to-date blog to post with some pictures from Addilyn's birthday party to share later this week. Enjoy!

This is Tyler and I don't have much to say, so instead I've done something that a coworker and I used to do at Siggins when we were boredish. I've taken the lyrics to a song (The Distance by Cake) which all of you of my generation should know (and if you don't you should get to know because it's a pretty good song), Enyahow, I translated these lyrics into Spanish and then back into English. The results are pretty comical and since you all don't typically like these fun sort of things I've highlighted some of my favorite bits. Enjoy.


Lyrics to Cake's song "The Distance"
Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,Engines pumping and thumping in time. The green light flashes, the flags go up. Churning and burning, they yearn for the cup. They deftly maneuver and muscle for rank, Fuel burning fast on an empty tank. Reckless and wild, they pour through the turns. Their prowess is potent and secretly stearn. As they speed through the finish, the flags go down. The fans get up and they get out of town. The arena is empty except for one man, Still driving and striving as fast as he can. The sun has gone down and the moon has come up, And long ago somebody left with the cup. But he's driving and striving and hugging the turns. And thinking of someone for whom he still burns. He's going the distance. He's going for speed. She's all alone In her time of need. Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course, He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse, He's going the distance. No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine, He's haunted by something he cannot define. Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse, Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force. In his mind, he's still driving, still making the grade. She's hoping in time that her memories will fade. Cause he's racing and pacing and plotting the course, He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse. The sun has gone down and the moon has come up, And long ago somebody left with the cup. But he's striving and driving and hugging the turns. And thinking of someone for whom he still burns. Cause he's going the distance. He's going for speed. She's all alone In her time of need. Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course, He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse. He's racing and pacing and plotting the course, He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse. He's going the distance. He's going for speed. He's going the distance.


Lyrics after being translated into Spanish and then back to English.
Bent reluctant in the line that begins, motors that pump and that strike heavy in time. The green light flashes, the flags goes for above. Beaten and burning itself, they yearn for for the cup. Capably they maneuver and muscle for the row, fuel that is burned quickly in an empty tank. Imprudent and wild, they spill with the returns. Its value is powerful and secretly stearn. Whereas they hurry with the end, the flags go down. The ventilators rise and leave city. The sand is empty with the exception of a man, to lead immovable and to make an effort as quickly as it can. The sun has gone down and the moon has been coming for above, and wishes for somebody to the left with the cup. But it is that he leads and who makes an effort and that embraces the returns. And thinking about somebody for whom he still he burns himself. It goes the distance. It goes for the speed. It is all single one at her time of the necessity. Because it is that he competes with and of establishment of the step and that draws up of the course, he is that he fights and biting and mounting in his horse, he goes the distance. No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine, something frequents it that it cannot define. Intestino-sacudariendo earthquakes of the doubt and the remorse, invádalo, empalan it with the force of the monster-car. In his mind, he still is leading, still that makes the degree. It is hoping in the time that descoloran their memories want. Cause he is that it competes with and establishing the step and drawing up of the course, he is that it fights and who bites and that mounts in its horse. The sun has gone down and the moon has been coming for above, and wishes for somebody to the left with the cup. But it is that he makes an effort and who leads and that embraces the returns. And thinking about somebody for whom he still he burns himself. Cause he goes the distance. It goes for the speed. It is all single one at her time of the necessity. Because it is that he competes with and of establishment of the step and that draws up of the course, it is that he fights and who bites and that mounts in its horse. He is that he competes with and establishing the step and drawing up of the course, he is that he fights and who bites and that mounts in its horse. It goes the distance. It goes for the speed. It goes the distance.

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