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He did a great job! He spelled it wrong by just a little bit – he wrote “Issac.” His name is spelled with one S and two A’s.

So I thought of a better idea for the whole room sharing thing that Peter and I are going to try out for two weeks and then decide if it will be a permanent solution. Sydney is going to leave most of her things in her current room and have about 1/2 of the space and half of the closet to call “her room.” That way she has some private space and has a place to play and when friends come over Isaac cannot bother her or get into her stuff. By moving that queen sized bed out of her room I can put the sewing table, exercise equippment and a few storage boxes in there.

She is only going to sleep on the top bunk in Isaac’s room at night time. That is it. Both of them are heavy sleepers. Isaac always falls asleep before about 1/2 hour before her so she can read in my room and then go climb in the bunk bed.

***This is only for 1 1/2 to 2 more years while we are living in this house. I informed Peter that we probably won’t be living in base housing anymore after this unless it is necessary (just so you know I’m not a big bossy wife he agrees with me on this matter) – in my opinion we could use a 4 bedroom place – not a bigger place. Even if we are unable to find a suitable house in the next place we live, Sydney will be 10 years old by then, and will have her own room even if it means we are cramped in our space again. Although we live in military housing it is not owned by the government and there is no place in our lease stating that kids of the opposite sex have to have their own bedroom.

I will let you know how our experiment goes and if it will continue after the two week trial period.

So we have STUFF. Too much of it to be precise. And I am NOT a pack-rat. Some of this STUFF that is always in the way is the treadmill, stationary bike, food storage and my sewing table. Oh, and two pianos which really do take up a lot of room which is precisely why everything else is taking up a lot of room when it wouldn’t in a normal persons house (normal meaning those who do not have the crazy idea to try and house two pianos).

We have a 3-bedroom house with NO basement (basements are a bad idea in Florida). The kids each have their own bedroom. I am tired of having the treadmill downstairs in the kitchen/family room area and the stationary bike in my room. The food storage is crammed into Sydney’s room (which has been difficult when she has friends over – I’m actually worried about someone getting hurt). My sewing table is often in the family room (I shove the couches over and completely cover access to the treadmill making it unaccessible for days at a time). And don’t even get me started with the extra large dog crate.

So now I am seriously considering having the kids share a room. I always planned on having enough children that they would have to share a room anyway but that is just not going to happen. If I had had two girls or two boys I would not even have given it much thought – those imaginary children would have shared a room. But I have a boy and a girl.

They shared a room at our last house and it worked well most of the time. I realize that society these days does not usually consider it kosher for a boy and girl to share a room but for thousands of years boys and girls shared rooms, huts, beds and so forth.

The bedroom that I am considering is Sydney’s current room. We could get rid of her queen size bed and bring the bunk beds in. There is a large closet (half of which has some of my stuff in it anyway) so the kids would each have half a closet for clothes and toys. They each have a dresser and a small bookcase. They can take turns getting dressed in the bathroom instead of changing in their room.

Sydney usually reads for a while in her bed after Isaac is already tucked in. She could read in my bed and then quietly climb up to the top bunk when it is time for her to go to sleep.

If we do this then the smallest room could be used for food storage, exercising and sewing, camping equipment, misc. storage, etc…

Let me know what you think. You can leave a comment or vote on my poll.

Wow! Is November almost over? I have NOT had time to sit and write on my blog this month. To much has been going on and too few pictures have been taken. In fact, I am going to post every picture I took this month (I did delete most of the pictures Isaac took when he got a hold of the camera). You will notice that one of my children is noticeably missing from the pictures. I will not be winning the “Mother of the Month” award. Here it goes:

We’re just waiting for her other top middle tooth to come out… It’s hanging there by a thread.

“Don’t cross your legs when you’re playing the piano, Sydney.” Will she ever be tall enough to reach the pedals?

Giving Roger my monthly 2 minutes of attention. And if you think I look pasty white in this picture, you should have seen it before I attacked it with my handy photo editing software…

Peter’s better at giving Roger the loves he needs but sometimes I have to remind Peter that his wife needs some head scratches too…

• I spent all morning today at Isaac’s preschool helping set up their Thanksgiving “feast.” It consisted of cornbread, ham and turkey (deli slices), cubed cheese, grapes, carrots and brownies. Yeah – I didn’t have to feed him lunch when we got home!
• We are having two families over tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Our new neighbors and a guy who works with Peter is bringing his wife and kid. We have usually had 4-5 families over every year so this one is going to be very quiet. I don’t think I am going to mind that.
• Peter will be busy making rolls tonight and getting our turkey ready tomorrow. The rest of the food should magically appear when the guests arrive. All I have to do is set the paper plates on the table! Thanksgiving is always so easy for me!
• Sydney went to the eye doctor after not being able to see the hymn numbers posted during sacrament meeting. The doctor wrote her a prescription for glasses. We went to Sam’s Club and picked out some frames for her. She only has to wear them when she needs to see things far away like at church and school. I think she’ll look so cute in them! I’ll post pictures later.
• After griping and complaining about all of the modern women’s clothing styles I went on a date with Peter to Kohl’s and actually found some cute stuff. Two new pairs of jeans, a few t-shirts and a gray sweater to wear with my black skirt. As much as I hate shopping for clothes, I like taking Peter with me. I appreciate his opinions and he has kept me from buying things that I don’t really like.
• On that same date, we went to Men’s Wearhouse and bought Peter two new suits! I have been wanting to do this since we were first married but they are so darned expensive. I can’t wait until next week when we get to go pick them up! And no… he did not get called into the bishopric or anything. I think Peter and I are done buying clothes for a LONG time.
• I did not actually smoke our new Kitchen Aid like I thought I did. It just got overworked and stopped. It started up later that afternoon just fine. Phew!!!
• I did have some shoe shopping drama this month. After wearing a pair of brown leather shoes for about four years I finally decided this was the year I was going to replace them. Now mind you, I should have replace them a year or two ago but shopping is not my thing. I went to a few stores that actually had some cute shoes, but did they have them in a size 7 1/2? Of course not – I even asked the very knowledgeable shoe sales people if they had extras in the back. No. No. No. The last store I went to (and it was the last because I was actually able to get some shoes) was a department store called Beall’s. They had way cute brown leather shoes – but not in a 7 1/2. BUT – they ordered them for me and shipped them to MY HOUSE WITH NO SHIPPING COST! They came the next day in the mail and they fit great! And the bonus is they cost about $21.00 – not the $60.00 I was planning on.
• I did way more shopping this month than I want to do in the next four years. I feel like saying damn. I hope you’re not offended. I only swear about once every four years (it probably coincides with frustrated moments of intense clothes shopping).
• I am done Christmas shopping. I think. I hope. Oh wait…

I have many more exciting things to say but I want to go read a book.

That’s all folks…

The reason I have missed two Sundays in a row is because we have been so BUSY! But the funny thing is, is that now I have time to sit and write a little bit, nothing is coming to mind. This may take some time to rack my brain – I have not been writing little tid-bits in my planner to help me remember the events of the last couple of weeks.

• I smoked our new Kitchen Aid this morning. I had bread kneading in the mixer and when it only had about two minutes left it starting smelling like hot metal and then it just went kaput. Good thing it came with a warranty! Just my luck…
• I am sick and tired with the moms at Isaac’s preschool who are SO into the whole fund-raising thing. I’m not going to expound. Instead I am going to put a fake smile on my face and just grin and bear it.
• I added some new book reviews to my Dizzie Lizzie Can Read blog. After a long, drawn out four week struggle, I finally finished reading The Last of the Mohicans.
• I am almost done Christmas shopping!
• Isaac is doing a great job with reading. Today he read “This cat is sad. This cat is sick.”
• Sydney has been doing a great job with her spelling words lately. Historically, spelling is not the best subject in the Johnson side of the family. She is starting to learn multiplication and her handwriting is improving some. Yeah Sydney!
• I am working on memorizing scriptures in the New Testament (the scripture mastery verses from seminary). So now instead of reading a book while I am in the car loop picking up Isaac, I am trying to memorize. So far this week I have memorized four scriptures.
• We just found a new white shirt and tie for Peter at Ross. There is a brand new Ross store down the street from us; it has been very exciting. I bought a new purple dress and a black skirt with gold embroidery. Two Sundays ago I showed up at church in the new black skirt only to find a good friend of mine wearing the same thing. The thing that is even funnier about this is that she and I bought matching skirts about a year ago with a similar experience. At least we’re consistent… Most women would be horrified but I think it’s funny.
• We have been experiencing some nice cool weather this week (in the 60’s). I wouldn’t have any heartache if it stayed that way all year. I’m pretty sure that heaven is about 65 degrees outside all the time.

I feel like Peter and my kids got the short end of the stick on this post, but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes. I am looking forward to having friends over for Thanksgiving and watching Peter cook the turkey and make the rolls; food tastes so much better when I don’t have to cook it.