Easter 2011

Well, I'm getting better at posting sooner.

I'm getting my post done before it's been a full week since the event!  Wow.  Good Job Mom!  I've impressed myself!

It has now become a Johnson family tradition to get our pictures taken on Easter morning...

seperately - to show off our pretty new dresses...

and together, as a sane, happy, loving family!  (no sarcasm there whatsoever!)

As far as previous Easter mornings have gone...   it can be a very stressful, not so happy of a morning!

But...

I am happy to say, this year was different!

Maybe it was because my mom and dad were here...
Or maybe because I have learned that you MUST get up several hours early...
or maybe we are just getting better!

Nonetheless, I was a happy momma that I didn't have to get angry or stressed over Easter Morning!

It kept me in a much better mood for the REAL meaning of Easter and to remember what Christ has done for us!

So... on to the pictures.

The girls love showing off their Easter Sunday dresses!   It's such anticipation to get to wear them...since we usually buy them really early so we get the "best" ones.  I think Ashlyn asked me to wear hers for at least three Sunday mornings prior to Easter.  So, they were DEFINITELY ready to wear them!

And, we did get one (out of 12) decent picture as a family.  It is so hard when you have to get everyone to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

And so, with hair curled, pictures taken and looking "beautiful" as Brooke would say...we made it to church ON TIME for once and with time to spare... and we even went to early church!  (can you tell how surprised I am that Easter morning went so smoothly?)

After church, we all headed to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house.  And, after lunch, we finally got around to the all anticipated annual Easter Egg Hunt!

The little kids did very well finding eggs and had a lot of fun.  This year Drake and Addi got to participate as well.

Then...it was the big kids turn...

and they had a big desire to find the "golden egg", which had a $50 dollar bill in it!

But us adults hid it REALLY good...  and it was frustrating...

so we gave them a hint... 

I mean....they were EXTREMELY HOT...

and after a little digging...

Kelsi ended up with the "loot".

After the hunt was all said and done...my nephew Cody decided to have a little fun and play a joke on the adults...

Chris was suspicious, so he wouldn't open the egg...

but, Aunt Mindy wasn't so cautious...



and she was surprised to what she found in the egg....  well, maybe surprised isn't the right word...

YUCK!

But, even with a dead mouse in one egg...we still had a good Easter!

It seems...

It seems...

that SPRING is almost here!

It seems.  Although, it also seems that mother nature is confused.

Spring does not mean hot, calm, 85 degrees one day and a windy 50 degrees the next!

Spring means...

70ish degrees
short sleeve shirts, jeans and flip flops
birds singing in the morning
tulips beginning to bloom
lilac bushes turning different shades of purple
playing at the park
sipping ice tea on the front porch
the smell of fresh mowed grass

I LOVE SPRING!

And, even though we are still getting a little back and forth weather...it still seems that SPRING has come.

I mean, my tree FINALLY bloomed.

I LOVE this tree! 

It is the only tree in my yard, but it looks so PRETTY when it has bloomed.

Unfortunately, it only lasts about a week.  :(

But, when it is blooms, you know that SPRING is here!

I love the pretty flowers while I can enjoy them.  So, I'm going to continue to look at my beautiful tree!

and not this...

because this... is the "not so fun" part of the season...  and I am NOT looking forward to weeding all the dead out of my flower garden.

I will deal with that another day...

And instead will enjoy the beauty of my tree's flowers while I can!

Car Conversations

Some of the most interesting and funny things the girls say are while we are in the car. 

This morning Ashlyn was practicing her reading while we were waiting on the school bus.

She was reading a book about kittens.  The first page was talking about how a kitten is growing in the mommy cat's tummy.

This brought up an interesting conversation...

ASHLYN: "Mommy, why doesn't Charlie have babies?"

MOMMY:  "Well, Charlie is a boy dog and boys don't have babies."

ASHLYN:  "Then he should get married, so he can have a baby."

MOMMY:  "He can't have a baby because he is a boy, and boys can't have babies"

ASHLYN:  "If he got married, his wife could have one for him."

I couldn't argue!