Our Big News!

Next May we will be welcoming the newest Johnson. Kathryn drew this picture at her grandma's house the other day and it seemed the perfect way to show the world our new family :-)

Friday Fun Day

A while back I posted about being afraid that the summer would pass us by and I thought I'd give you all an update. We decided (ok I decided) that we should do Friday Fun Days this summer. In order to accomplish this goal I made up some Friday Fun Sticks. I dug into the wonderful craft supplies from my mom's teaching days and found some tongue depressers. I wrote all of the fun things that we wanted to do this summer and then put them in a jar. Each week we pick one out for our Friday Fun Day.





 I am happy to report that we have already accomplished all but two of our fun sticks. We have had fun modifying and adding some as well. But, more along the lines of my last post, last Friday - we skipped Friday Fun Day. Do you know why? Because sometimes it's just as fun to stay home and enjoy your family :-)

My how they've grown!

Jeremy and I were looking at the old camera to get it ready for his trip to Guatemala and we found this fun video Kathryn took on 11-16-2010! I can't believe how much they've changed in a year and a half!! Rachel's hair is longer and thicker, and she's potty trained! Kathryn's voice is more mature and well she's as bossy as ever! In case you can't tell they are saying:
Kathryn: Now do a video
Rachel: I'm Rachel
Kathryn: What does Buzz Lightyear say?
Rachel: And Beyond!
Kathryn: What does Woody say?
Rachel: Reach for the sky
Kathryn: What does Bullseye say?
Rachel:
Kathryn: Nothing?
Kathryn: What does Jessie say?
Rachel: Yeehaw!
Kathryn: Yeehaw?
Rachel: Yeah
Kathryn: 'Kay, What does the penguin sing?
Rachel: Noone
Kathryn: Noone? That's silly!

As you may have guessed at about this time one of Rachel's "tricks" was quoting things from Toy Story... Kathryn was a very good interviewer!

Enjoy!

It's Summer... and I'm afraid

Yes, you read that right. It's summer and I'm afraid. For some reason I am afraid of not doing enough fun things this summer. I'm afraid of missing opportunities to play at the park, go run in the fountains, or see an outdoor movie. I am afraid of missing chances to hang out with really great girlfriends and let our kids play together. I am afraid of not being a good "summer" mommy. But what I am beginning to realize is that my girls are happy! They don't need huge adventures to have a fun summer. They can be quite content just blowing bubbles on a sunny afternoon :-)

 Daddy is perfectly happy with that too :-)

My Craft Fair Booth

This year when our MOPS group was finalizing plans for our annual craft fair, I decided to try my hand at having a booth. In the past I have put together little kits for Moms to buy and make crafts with their kids. These have been pretty popular but they don't have a huge profit margin. So, I decided to make a few of all of the things I love and just see what would sell. My expectations are pretty low so I don't think I'll be disappointed :-) My greatest hope for this Saturday is that I will have a fantastic day at a craft fair next to a fabulous friend who has helped me immensely to get me to this point. I am so glad to have had her help!! So, if you are in Rapid City this weekend, stop by and see our craft fair (and buy something from me)! We will be at the Minneluzahan Senior Center from 8 to 2 on November 12th! (And if you won't be here - I take email orders ;-) ) So, here are few pictures for those of you who like crafty things. The booth layout pictures are first, followed by some of my favorite things.Beaded Spoons
Stretchy Headbands that go well with the Flower Barrettes
Flower Barrettes and Flower HeadbandsBent Spoons that can be used as business card holders, picture holders, or even cell phone holders
Towel Hangers - Crocheted rings that neatly hold the kitchen towel that you already have.Scarf Holders - These are my own invention that I came up with to hold all of the girls winter scarves in our coat closet :-)Kitchen TowelsA cute little purse made out of a baby dressPicture Frame Earring Holders (I don't have any earrings to show you how they work - oops!)Snowman Candy Bars - They come in 5 varieties: Hershey's, Hershey's w/Almonds, Reese's, Mr. Goodbar, and Snickers. If they don't sell one you may just get one from me this year!
Kid's Craft KitsFlower DishclothsI didn't have a picture of the fuzzy flip-flops currently on my camera (other than the layout picture) but they are really cute, too! Seriously, if you know anyone that would love to come to a craft fair (and bake sale) send them our way, this Saturday! Thanks for looking at all my pictures :-)

My sweet Rachel

Crafts, Crafts, and more crafts

We've been doing some crafting here at our house to get Mommy in the right mindset for MOPS. This weekend is our Steering Team retreat and I have to be all ready to present my ideas for the year. I'm about 1/2 way there at this point but an unexpected flu bug kept me from getting too much done this weekend. Thankfully Grandma Pat is always very happy to babysit if I need some extra time to get things ready for the weekend. (I may just be calling you Grandma!) So, in the spirit of crafting here are a few projects the girls and I worked on last week.
These are the girls' new chore charts that I got finished about a week 1/2 half ago. Then I made up some quiet time boxes for them. They worked really well this last week.

Then the girls and I picked up some 3/4" blocks at Hobby Lobby this week. We tried two new projects with them. Story Dice and Puzzle Cubes. I wasn't 100% satisfied with how the puzzle blocks came out but I may try again after I am caught up on MOPS stuff. Here's another cute way to do them.So, while we had the Mod Podge out I had to try this great idea for making window clings. I didn't have a really smooth surface to do this on but I think they turned out all right anyway :-)

And that just about sums up my busy crafty week. (Other than the mending that I don't have a picture of :-) ) I did work on one MOPS project for this September but I don't want to spoil the surprise! I hope I've inspired some of you to have a crafty time this summer!