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!

Ashlyn's Belated Birthday Post...Part 2

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Picking up from the end of my last post...

Saturday morning the girls that spent the night with her spent all morning playing dressup and hanging out!  That was GREAT for me as I was on to making Ashlyn's birthday cake... and it was my first time using my new "toy" for making cakes...

I was siked! 

And a little nervous...

but mostly anxious to start working on the cake!!

I had no idea what I was going to end up with.  And, let's just say it didn't start off well.

In addition to using the "Cricut Cake" for the first time, it was also my first time working with fondant.

I had heard that store bought fondant was not very tasty, so I found a recipe for Marshmallow Fondant and used that instead. 

It was very good... and relativey easy to make... and to color...but it didn't cut well in the machine. 

So, after trying several different things and searching for answers on the Internet with others that have used the machine... I determined the best way when cutting fondant is laying it out on the cutting sheet and then putting it in the freezer for 20 minutes before cutting.  Then you have to freeze it again after cutting before taking it off the sheet.  That worked the best.  However, I think I will be trying gum paste next time as I have heard it is the best for using with the machine.

Anyways, there were other problems throughout the cake making process that day...

It first started when I noticed that my yellow fondant was missing. 

I had unwrapped it and set it on the counter to start rolling out when one of the girls asked me for something and when I returned to my fondant, I couldn't find it.  I retraced my steps thinking I had set it down somewhere else, but after thinking about it... I called Charlie over to see if my suspicions were true.  I opened his mouth wide open...and determined that I was correct!  Yellow...attached to all of his teeth. 

That was the only fondant that Charlie ended up getting a hold of, but he did eat one of my small cakes before the day was over.  Needless to say, he slept in his crate that night!  I wasn't going to deal with a mess if he ended up getting sick.

I did finally finish the cake.  And, I think it turned out okay for my very first one! 

On Sunday, we celebrated with family, which is what I was making the cake for in the first place.

Ashlyn received lots of cool stuff...especially stuff for her new bedroom!

And, then after lunch and opening presents... we had to serve cake!

I think this was the hardest cake for me to cut since I knew how much effort it took for me to put it together.  But, it was worth it!

But, after Ashlyn blew out her candles, we cut it open and gobbled it right up!  And, it was yummy!

 It was a GOOD day, a GREAT weekend and an AWESOME birthday for Ashlyn!

Shame on Me...Ashlyn's Belated Birthday Post...Part 1

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I cannot believe it has been over two weeks since my beautiful Ashlyn turned 7 years old and I am just now getting around to posting about it!

SHAME
ON
ME!

It was a busy weekend around her birthday and it took me several days to recover, but I think she had a GREAT birthday!

One of the biggest excitements for Ashlyn was that she got a “bedroom makeover” and we worked it out so that it would all happen around her birthday. We painted her bedroom on the weekend before her birthday and her new furniture was delivered just a few days before and we were able to get all her new bedding on her bed before all her friends came over for a sleepover.

Just a little history on the bedroom switcheroo…we recently moved Maddie downstairs to her very own bedroom…and therefore she inherited our old bedroom furniture complete with a queen size bed. She has done so well adjusting to being downstairs by herself…personally, I think she LOVES having her own space and her own bathroom. Therefore, because she moved into a different size of bed, she got to pick out new bedding.

Of course, Ashlyn was extremely jealous and we had several breakdowns, but we promised her that she would be getting an upgrade as well. And finally she did…and right in time for her birthday to show it all off! She picked pink and black for her bedroom colors! 

Very Cute!.....  Very Ashlyn!

On Friday the 25th (her actually birthday), I was able to take off half the day from work and have lunch with Ashlyn at school!

These are the gentlemen that sat and ate lunch with us that day!

After lunch, the had "indoor" recess with a fun game of "red light, green light"!

I stayed the rest of the afternoon and she was able to show me what she does at school all day…

Ashlyn was VIP the week of her birthday...meaning she got to be in the front of every line, she got to bring show and tell and do calendar...

and after the kids all sang "Happy Birthday" to Ash...

(sorry Mrs. Harris...it was just one pic!)

we got to hand out treats!

The kids in Mrs. Harris’ class are great! They had so much fun with a “visitor” for the day. And, since I had my camera out, they loved posing for it!

Ashlyn's class was challenging the other two 1st grade classes to "Math Olympics".  They did such a good job and Ashlyn's won the challenge.  Mrs. Anderson presented them with their award...



Ashlyn was so proud of her class for winning!

I got the opportunity to visit Maddie too, at lunch and then sat with her during her “chinese” class.

Maddie & her friend Kailee at "indoor" recess



That was VERY unique to say the least. First, they are learning CHINESE! But more than that, they are learning it VIRTUALLY! I tell you what, technology is mainstream in the 3rd grade class at Southeast! Not only do they learn on their own Ipod Touch, they have virtual classes.

I did find out that the “teacher” wasn’t actually in China, but instead was at a Learning Center in town and the technology allowed her to teach the class without going to all the schools.

It was amazing!

After school, Ashlyn brought three little girls home for the night, two of which were able to actually sleep over! It was her very first sleepover… and to say the least… they did VERY well.

We ate pizza, watched movies and colored... we did some crafty things and we even got to go swimming at the YMCA!

Ashlyn & Erica

Ashlyn & Ivie

Ashlyn & Meghan

They even went to bed on their very own…all three of them in Ashlyn’s new bed! (I knew that would come in handy!) and that meant that mamma bear got to sleep in her own bed and not on the couch! 

Yippee...  Trust me...everyone benefited from that.  I don't function too well when I don't get a good night's sleep.

That wasn't all the fun...but this post has been long enough.  I will share the rest of the story next post!