The Month of May

I can't believe it is already June!  May flew by and now we are in the midst of summer and boy is summer keeping us busy...more to come later about that.

But, for now...I need to catch you up with what happened in the Month of May!

1.  Maddie is now in double digits!  She is 10!  OMG!  I refuse to believe it.  I told her that I wasn't going to let her go into double digits and that she would have to stay 9 forever, but she refused.  She insisted that she continue to grow and get older, and bigger and that just makes mommy sad.  :(

Ok....maybe it just reminds me how old I am getting.  *sigh*

Maddie decided to celebrate with her friends by having a "pool party" at the Ramada.  They had a blast!  Mommy...not so much!  Sharing a hotel room with five 10 year olds, an 8 and a 5 year old is a little crowded.  But, they didn't care so much...they had way to much fun!

She got lots of "cool" stuff (as she put it) and most of it was from one of her favorite stores...Justice!

She also got lots of money for her birthday from family...so she was finally able to replace her broken iPod.  So, thanks to the fam....you got her EXACTLY what she was hoping for!  She's been playing on her shattered iPod (that miraculously still worked) for months.

2.  Brooke graduated from Preschool!  Yeah!  Another milestone in this family...all kids are officially in grade school.   Here comes my sad face again... :(   It is so hard to face that my kiddos are growing up.  I think milestones that Brooke reaches are the hardest, since she is my baby.

She had her little program at preschool.  She was a cute little star.  

And, then she officially graduated and got her "diploma" from her teachers.

3.  Maddie and Ashlyn both had their spring music programs and ended the school year with their track and field day.  This year was exciting for me as I was able to go.  The last couple years, Chris has gone and I have had to work...but this year I took off work and was able to watch them compete in their track and field day.  I was pretty excited to go.

They had a lot of fun... Brooke, not so much.  She tuckered out on me pretty early.

4.  Chris had his birthday at the end of May!  I am so glad he is 4 years older than me...ha ha!  It makes this feeling of getting older a little easier to take.  He did have a good birthday and we were able to celebrate over Memorial Day weekend with a pool party at his parent's house with family.

5.  Lastly, I have been super busy with my new photography business.  I guess I am officially calling it a side business as I have picked up...adding a lot of shoots since the spring and am now taking pictures for people I don't even know as well as family and friends.  I even have started designing invitations, baby announcements, and logos!  Crazy huh?

I just LOVE doing it!   I have been extremely busy...but I don't mind because it is fun and it just makes me happy!  I created a Facebook page so I can share some of the photos I have taken...so if your interested...check it out here.  Or, if you are interested in a photo shoot, give me a call, email me or leave a comment and we can schedule something....I would LOVE to do it!

Even though it is only June 8th, I have so much to share about this summer already...but we'll save that for another day....

see ya soon!

Jen

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

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!