So Proud...

We are SO PROUD of Daddy!!!

This past Sunday, Daddy ran in his very first half marathon!

He did A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Unfortunately, it was not that nice of a day.  It rained almost the entire time he ran...so he was soaked when it was all said and done.  But, he never stopped.  He kept to his own personal goal of not stopping to walk.

The girls and I mapped out a couple different spots on the route where we could stand and watch him run by us to CHEER him on!

They even slapped his hand as he ran by us.

The girls were so PROUD... Mommy was pretty PROUD too!

It was definitely not something that I could do.  We joked that I would have probably been calling for a paramedic by mile 1, and honestly that is probably the truth of the matter.  Mommy is NOT a runner!

But daddy is and he is an awesome one at that!


Good Job Daddy!  We are so PROUD OF YOU!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter...from the Johnsons!

I love getting all dressed up on Easter.  It seems like this is one of the only days that my girls wear really girly girl dresses.  This year I took both Maddie and Ashlyn out shopping one on one.  I have learned the hard way that any clothes bought must have their approval or they will not get worn.  Brooke, on the other hand, isn't that picky....YET anyways.

We did pretty good keeping in the budget.  It amazes me how expensive it can get when purchasing Easter apparel.  However, this year... we were able to find all the dresses on sale or clearance and mommy was sure happy about that!  I think the shoes were the most expensive thing purchased.

Anyways...the girls love to show off their Easter dresses.

Brooke

Ashlyn

Maddie

I was so proud of Maddie today as we were leaving church who says..."I know why we celebrate Easter."  When we asked why she responded..."because Jesus died for our sins and rose again."  I am so glad that they are starting to understand the real meaning of Easter and that it is not about the candy, the eggs or the Easter bunny!  

However, Easter can be also a fun event with family...and Grandma Johnson always make sure that happens on Easter.  After Easter dinner with all of the Johnson family...we headed out to hide easter eggs for the annual Easter Egg Hunt!

Now that we have different ages of kiddos...we have to break it up by ages to "make it fair".   So the little kids got to go first and Brooke, Drake and Addi had a fun time searching with a little help from moms and dads...but they did a great job filling their baskets.

Next...was the "bigger" kids.  The biggest kids (the teenagers) are now in charge of hiding the eggs...so they were on first while the kids all patiently (ha ha) waited.

          

And finally, they were done...and the bigger kids could start finding eggs...

READY....

GO!....

A good day!...filled with family, fun and remembering that Christ is Risen!  

Hope you had a Happy Easter as well!

Catching You Up Till Now...

Well, the end of February was SUPER busy for me!  

At work, we put together a 5K run to raise money for the American Heart Association.  We plan for this to be an annual event; however, this was our first one…so there was L-O-T-S to create and plan!!  We started planning this event the latter part of December, and I am glad we did as it was much more time consuming than we ever expected.  But, it was well worth our efforts and time!  And, on Sunday, February 26^th, we held Ottawa County’s 1^st Annual Red Dress Run.  This 5K run/3K walk event was better than we could have ever expected…we had 468 participants…many of which participated wearing red dresses…and we raised $5,000 for the American Heart Association.  You can find out more information on the Red Dress Run here.

It was SO MUCH FUN!  Our girls, along with Grandma Johnson and Aunt Gayla participated in the 3K walk and wore their red dresses to support the event (and to get the free water bottle – which you can never have enough of those around this house!)

Chris helped me by volunteering as I was “Directing” the event as Ashlyn said.  Truth be said…I was not the “director”…because we had a committee that put this event together…but Ashlyn was proud of her mama…so I have to smile at that!

One of the more important things that happened in February was that Ashlyn turned 8! Sometimes I really just have a hard time with the fact that my girls are growing up so fast. Chris saw a picture from Ashlyn’s 1st birthday party the other day on his mom’s computer and sat there in shock to how much our Ashlyn has changed and how big she is getting. See what we mean…

Speaking of big…she has definitely surpassed her big sister in height! She is probably one of the tallest in her class. And, she wears a 4½ size tennis shoe! How can that be? I guess she gets her height from her Great Grandpa Birket!

We were able to celebrate her birthday with family on her actually birthday (February 25th)…which was a day before the big Red Dress Run event, so I wasn’t sure I was going to get it pulled off. But, we DID! She received lots of fun things for her birthday and we got to enjoy spending time with family.

Ashlyn loved on her cousin Dylan, (remember Baby Dylan?... who  I watched back when he was a baby…almost 4 years ago!)  

Well Dylan has a little sister now…Baby Emma, and we got to love on her for a while at the party.  She is such a pretty girl!  

Makes me want another one!  

WAIT!...NO….I HAVE PLENTY OF GIRL DRAMA IN THIS HOUSEHOLD ALREADY!  

Well, maybe we can just “borrow” her on occasion to get a little “baby snuggle time” in!

Ashlyn was kind enough to postpone her “friend” birthday party until a couple weeks later so that I could concentrate on getting the Red Dress Run done and over with at work.  She was super sweet to let me have a breather before we had 6 little girls over for a slumber birthday party!  

But, that’s my Ashlyn!  Always thinking of others!

So, a couple weekends ago, Ashlyn had 6 little girlfriends over to spend the night.   

We ended her “friend” birthday party at the bowling alley.  The girls had such a good time bowling  and spending time with each other.  They really were pretty good…no big drama issues…and that was a miracle in itself with that many little girls!  

I love birthdays…but I am sure glad when they are over!  All the birthday “mania” wears me out!

The newest thing for me is that I have been reading books lately…which is new for me as I  usually do not like to read books.  I’m not sure why, but that is something that I never have liked to do much.  I read the Twilight Saga a while back and really enjoyed those books, but other than that…I haven’t found much that catches my interest. 

Well…I must have had a change of heart!  I have started reading more and more and have really enjoyed everything that I have read.  I recently read the book, The Lucky One, by Nicholas Spark...mainly because I saw it was going to be made into a movie and I really enjoy watching the movies after I have read the book.  I also read The Vow, which is the real life story that the movie was inspired by.  It is a wonderful book about a couple’s faith, which helps them through probably one of the most difficult challenges a marriage could face…losing the memory of your spouse!  It was GREAT and INSPIRING!  

Now…I am reading The Hunger Game Triligy, which has been a book that I cannot lay down.  It’s really be a lot of fun, because my mom is reading it at the same time I am, so we talk every night about what’s happening!  It’s awesome!  And, I can’t wait to see the movie this weekend, when we take my mom to it for her birthday!  

If you are an avid reader and have any suggestions of other books that I could like…let me know!  I would love to have a “TO READ” list!  

Well…that seems to catch up to now!  

Till next time,

Jen

New Recipes

Today there is nothing on the radar as far as plans are concerned...and I am taking advantage of it!

I LOVE days like this...

ones that we can stay in our pj's...
and do a little cleaning...
and organizing...
and marking off of the endless TO DO list...
and catch up on Facebook...
and Pinterest...
and email...
and do a little cooking..
and baking...
and trying new recipes!

That is what I have been up to today!

With Pinterest now available, I have "pinned" TONS of recipes that I want to try!

And today...we tried a few.

We had these for breakfast. 

And this is in the crockpot for supper. 

And I had this for lunch!  This is the third time I have made this receipe and it beats any restaurant's french onion soup I have ever had!  It is D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!  And it freezes well too! 

But unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the rest of my crew doesn't like onion soup.  So I made these for them.  And they were a HIT!

So...as you can see...we've been busy around here today, especially in the kitchen.   In fact, I think I'm washing my third load of dishes right now. 

I even inspired my girls...who got a little tired of helping me out for real...so they decided to play pretend "cook class". 

They were making pretend pizzas! 

I have had so much fun with trying out new recipes...that I have several more scheduled for this week's menu!  And yes, I am actually keeping up on my menu planning!  It's not easy though...it takes time to think about what your doing each evening and what will make sense for time and ease when it comes to preparing supper for each night. 

I must confess...I did have one week that I didn't do so well at planning...but we are ready to go for the coming week!   And the refrigerator is STOCKED with all the food and ingredients necessary to fix what is planned.

Now...back to cleaning up...the unfortunate task that comes along with cooking! **SIGH**

Have a great Saturday!



Musings of a 5 Year Old

Our Brooke says some of the most interesting and off the wall things!

Today, when she was asked by Jessi, (the best daycare provided EVER) to get down from climbing on this thing at the playground, she says...

"Why does God want me to get down?"

Things to ponder...huh?

Girly Do's

Today has been a lazy day around our house.  Therefore, we have been trying out different hairstyles...

Here is my attempt at a waterfall braid on Ashlyn.

Here's a tutorial of how to do it.  SUPER CUTE!

On Maddie, we aimed for a headband braid!  Very cute...although not my best braid.  I'm going to have to practice on skinny braids that are tight to your head!

This idea came from Girly Do Hairstyles!

And for Brooke... we tried lattice ponytails!  These were super easy and gave a cute style to a pulled back look.  Great for keeping hair out of your face!

I found this style over at She Does Hair. 

All of these...and MORE...I have found through Pinterest!  This is a AWESOME site!   You can follow me on Pinterest if you like.  Check out my boards here!

Resolution #1 - Getting Organized with Meal Planning

This idea of planning out your meals for the week is a GREAT idea...but for some odd reason, I really struggle with it.

HMMM.... is that because I tend to struggle with all aspects of "getting organized"?

Don't answer that!


As one of my New Year's Resolutions...I decided I am going to try once again to organize my life a little by planning out my meals!  I think my dear husband would appreciate it!  I KNOW I will appreciate it!  It just is brilliant for making life more simple!

So... I'm gonna try this...

I found this on Pinterest... one of my newest obsessions...but that is for another post!

Lindsey at Artsy Fartsy Mama is the proud creator of this idea and I'm gonna borrow it and try it out for a year. 

I am SUPER excited about these and I LOVE the bold colors!  It helps to brighten your day, don't ya think?

Now...the next challenge will be to incorporate some of my favorite recipes with new ones that I want to try and be as intentional about planning it out and getting all the necessary ingredients BEFORE the week starts!

Oh I'm looking forward to not having to run to the grocery store for one stray ingredient that I forgot to buy!

Wish me good luck!  And let me know if you decide to give this a try too!