Share your girly wisdom

* I learned yesterday how to stack hair bows (so glad a little girl shared this with me, otherwise I may have gotten rid of Audrey's baby bows.)

* While stocking up on cotton shorts at Gymboree yesterday, a fellow digger in the $3.99 bins told me to save Audrey's outgrown cotton shorts to wear as bloomers under her dresses the following year(s). Especially when dresses do not come with bloomers or girls are wearing underpants and it's too hot for bike shorts or leggings.

* I remember Kelly Fisher telling me how she would save Charlotte's outgrown dresses and use them as shirts the following year. (If the arm holes allowed for it.)

What are your suggestions? What basics do I need? How many and what kind of leggings, tights, shoes, etc. What are your favorite brands for little girls?

I welcome all advice and suggestions... Comment here and include links if you can :)

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Untitled from crystal johnson on Vimeo.

Johnson babes

OWEN at 7 months
BEN at 7 months
AUDREY at 7 months

Owen goes to the Fish Hatchery

Today Owen's preschool went on a field trip to the Davidson River Fish Hatchery in Brevard. The kids were able to see, feed and learn about Rainbow, Brown and Brook trout.

Here is Owen and his friend Sammie...
the kids patiently waiting...
learning about the local trout varieties...
Ben tagged along and was not exactly interested in sitting still (I was not surprised.)
splashing in puddles was way more fun...


taking a look at the fish and fishermen in the river...
playing games...

Owen volunteered for something, but I was too far back to hear what it was...
and his favorite part...feeding the fish.
I am so glad I get to go on trips like this with him and see how well he behaves and listens to his teachers.

Weekly Report

Week of: July 18, 2011

This week we learned about: The 5 Oceans, Oceans vs. Rivers vs. Lakes, Animals that live in or near water, How our Bodies Move: Muscles and Bones, Letter and Number Recognition, Reviewing Pattern, Floating vs. Sinking.

Our Integrated Art Project activities were: Jacob Lawrence style collages (they are hanging up in our room!), We began Edgar Degas style mixed media works – both artworks were about showing movement!

Show and Tell Next Week: Something to do with the letter S!

Field trip THIS Monday!! We will be going to the NC Wildlife Fish Hatchery on the Davidson River near Brevard, NC. I have emailed about rides, etc…to confirm who is and who is not going to come! Thanks!

__________________________________

7 months

at 7 months...

Audrey is sitting. is trying to crawl. pushes up onto hands and knees and rocks back and forth. great with her hands and very busy using them to play. grab and hold onto things. has the cutest belly laugh. the sweetest. melt your heart. smile. is still playing with her feet. which I love. rolls and scoots to things she wants. loves to be held and cuddled. can drink out of a sippy cup. eats three meals a day and nurses 3-4x a day and 2x at night. usually naps on the go. in the car seat. stroller or Ergo. says baba and dada. starting to imitate us shaking our heads back and forth. blowing raspberries. making popping sounds. lights up when you sing and read to her. loves bath time. still bathing in the baby tub. loves to splash and have you sing to her while she's in there. we sing 5 little ducks. her favorite. mirror me is her favorite book. pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo. still loves the jumperroo. has completely grown uninterested and out of the baby swing. I am in denial. still sits in the bouncy seat. for now. gives the best open mouth kisses and sweetest hugs. super ticklish under her chin and on hr cheeks. wearing size 3 diapers. barely. comfortably wearing 6-12 month clothes. I imagine weighs 19-20 lbs. very interested in the dogs and watches her brothers' every move.

SHE. is the apple of her. daddy's eye. the daughter. I. dreamed about. and the little something extra. our. family needed! So glad she's ours!!!

giveaway!

Check out this adorable giveaway over at InkSpot... who wouldn't want a $50 credit to this Etsy shop?!

Hump Day Giveaway – Gorno Couture

Have I mention that I won :) Can't wait to see the shirts I ordered!

I scream, you scream. We all scream for ice cream!

We celebrated Ben and his 3rd birthday today.

Ben and the traditional 3rd birthday door streamers (I'm too lazy to do it every year (to be honest, I usually forget.)
Birthday Muffins for breakfast (pumpkin bran.... it doesn't matter to us that it's summer....we love pumpkin year round!)
He was so excited about it being his birthday, that he made us re- light the candle 3 times and sing to him again.
We wanted to keep the party simple and small this year, so I ordered 10 invitations and had Owen and Ben make the guest list to keep me from inviting everyone we know.

Coming up with a "theme" wasn't the easiest and when I asked Ben what he wanted for his birthday, all he said was cake and candy, but when I ran across these invitations on Etsy, I thought an ice cream/kiddie pool party party would be fun.

I had planned to make those cute ice cream cone cupcakes, but I was disappointed in my trial run ones and how soggy the cones were the day after I made them. I thought about doing cake balls to put on top of cones, but started to stress and so at the last minute I chickened out and did sundae cupcakes. Ben picked the liners... I wanted either white, silver, ice cream or waffle bowls, but he wanted Toy Story, and well, it is HIS birthday:)

Owen wanted a lemonade stand, so along with water and juice boxes, we had lemonade for everyone to drink. As each kid arrived, Owen greeted them with a cup of lemonade and a colored straw. It was cute and just how he wanted it.
Ice cream cone bubbles, balloons and wafer cookies as favors...
A simple lunch... self serve sandwiches, chips, pasta salad, fruit salad, and veggies for the adults and PB&J and cheddar bunny trail mix for the kids...
Ben and Liam helped fill the pools....
while Owen passed out lemonade...
Ben and "BawBaw"
Time for cupcakes...
and to blow the candles out...

















I contacted Norman's Ice Cream Service about a month ago and arranged for them to come to the party. We had $2 bills for the kids to buy their ice cream with (obviously we could have paid for it all at once, but we thought it would be more fun for the kids to get to pay themselves. And do you know how hard it is to find $2 bills?!!!)





Ben was ready for a nap before the party was over, so he didn't open presents until he woke up....

He was spoiled with lots of new toys and clothes!

After he opened his presents, we went to the Japanese Steak House for dinner...


Happy 3rd birthday to my sweet Ben!

Ben's 2nd birthday...HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

Ben's 1st birthday HERE

and just for fun, HERE is Owen's 3rd birthday