It runs in the family...

After watching Bryan train for and run his first half-marathon earlier this year, I decided to test out the waters myself.  After a few months of 5 a.m. runs, chafing, and sweat, lots and lots of sweat, the race weekend finally arrived.  


Seeing mommy and daddy prepare for their races (Bryan's is coming up in November) also got Becton motivated and he decided he wanted to run too.  So Becton's big race debut was the day before my own and he was excited!  He had a few friends who would be running the strenuous, .17 mile course that wound through a parking lot. :)


Here are a few of the competitors: (Cue "Eye of the Tiger" background music)

Becton "I want to go the spaghetti dinner" Johnson

Lily "the real deal" Steel

Carson "Need for Speed" Billingsley

Here are the boys sizing up their competition...  And Becton does this while holding his mawmaw's hand. 

And they're off....

 Carson leading the pack!

Run, Becton, Run!

Becton was the last to leave the start line, but we thought he might be using a Tortoise and the Hare strategy.  Alas, he wasn't, but he did cross the finish line eventually; there were a few interesting rocks he had to check out before he finished the race. :)

He was so proud of his medal that he wore it the next day too. 

Hopefully I'll get the next day's race posted tomorrow, but that will depend on naps and schoolwork. 

Love,

The Johnsons

Blueberry Bounty

Long time no post!  The kids and I were able to get to Bridgeton, NC for some wet and wild blueberry picking in June... or May; I can't remember!  Either way, we were picking the day after some pretty heavy showers, so the areas between the rows of bushes were wet and muddy.  I will say I am thankful I made sure Molly had an extra change of clothes in her diaper bag.  

 Not only did she sit in a puddle but the sweat made her twice as icky!

 She was so loaded up with blueberries I thought I would need to weigh her on our way out. 

 That may be the only blueberry Becton picked that made it into the bucket... 

 Shortly after this picture was taken, Molly was no longer satisfied to eat one or two berries at a time; she sat on the ground with the bucket in front of her and proceeded to gorge herself on blueberries.  We're still working on teaching self-control ;)

Despite the mud, heat and sweat, I'm sure we'll be back next year, because who can say no to a face like this?

And thanks to Lindsay Corrigan for going with us and for bringing her camera! Also I must say that these blueberries tasted great in the Best Blueberry Muffin Recipe Ever!! And I've made quite a few muffins.

Love, 

The Johnson

Old Swampy Lives!

I love to make special cupcakes for Bec and Molls birthdays, since I only have to do it two times a year.  This year Becton told me he wanted alligator cupcakes, and thanks to Hello Cupcake by Karen Tack, "Old Swampy" came to life in our kitchen. 

 This book does an amazing job of showing you how to make beautiful cupcakes that are super easy to put together. 

 Are you checking out those banana runt claws? Nice!

Thanks to Lindsay Corrigan for the excellent dental work; there isn't a whole lot you can't make out of marshmallow. 

Love, 

The Johnsons

Our Little Herd

For those of you who have a Chick-Fil-A, you may be aware that yesterday was Cow Appreciation Day. I have never gotten into the bovine spirit before, mostly because I usually forget until the day of. This year wasn't much different, except that I was able to throw some costumes together for the kids during nap time. Not. too. shabby.


Bryan and I were going out for a "Big People Dinner" later that night, so we dressed the kids up and let them get their free Chick-Fil-A entrees. I think they're pretty cute, but I am partial.

The Arrival: Becton won't look at the camera because he is afraid the Chick-Fil-A cow he saw standing out at the road is coming to get him. 

 Still on the lookout...

 I mean really... so cute!

 Extra felt and fabric glue= cow jerseys (Not to be confused with Jersey cows ;)

Happy Cow Appreciation Day!

Summer Get-It-Done List... first mission accomplished!

I decided to tackle the easiest project on my list first.  Not Jane Eyre, but the seriously dated $1 yard sale frame.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Here she is in all her 1970's glory before:

 I loved the detailing, even though it looked like someone tried to fix her with caulk at one point. 

After a quick trip to Lowes for spray paint, I got cracking. 

 At first I thought the color was too blue, but it dried perfectly. 

Note the toes of Bryan's new Vibram shoes... they are a pretty color but he looks like Aquaman when he has them on.  


I was going to buy some antiquing glaze but since the frame was already white underneath, I just took some sand paper to the edges. 


Did I mention I have never done this before?

I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with her.  I was either going to hang her on the wall or prop her on the mantle.  Our mantle looked like it hadn't been changed in four years... and that's because it hadn't.


Finally, I went with this:

 I tested it out on the mantle first, but liked it much more on the wall.  I still don't know if I'm going to add anything inside it; I like to test things out for a little while. 

Not too bad for $1 frame and $3 spray paint. 


Love, 
The Johnsons


I linked this to:

Fourth of July Fun

Our little Bec is a Yankee Doodle baby, in that he was born on the 4th ofJuly.  This is the first year he's been able to really understand what his birthday is and how old he will be.  We've never decorated for the Independence Day, but this year I thought it would be fun to start teaching him about how special his birthday is, so we started with an American flag wind sock. (I confess I called it a wind puppet for a few days... I was getting confused with sock puppets... having children really does diminish your brain cell count.)

I got this idea from the Brilliant Beginnings Preschool blog and modified it. Here's what you need to make one like ours:


Empty canister (we used a grits canister... gotta love the South!)
Blue Felt 
White Ribbon
Crepe Streamers in Red and White 
Aluminum Foil
Thin Cardboard (we used a Cheerios box)
Twine or String
Tape
Glue Gun or other strong glue


1. Make sure your canister has both ends open.  We had to cut the bottom off of ours. 


2. Wrap blue felt around canister and secure with hot glue.  Then use the glue to secure a strip of white ribbon around the top.  You could put ribbon on the top and bottom. 

 3. Cut long strips of red and white crepe paper streamers and tape them to the inside of the canister. Alternate the red and white. 

 If you're brave and/or crazy, let your preschooler cut them himself. 

4. Draw stars on your piece of cardboard; cut them out and wrap them in aluminum foil.  Your foil only needs to be slightly larger than the star itself. Glue them onto your blue felt. 

Notice the triangle? That was Becton's star!


5. Punch three holes under the ribbon trim and use twine/string to hang it. 


6.  Hang it on a hook outside or on a tree limb and then sit back and feel patriotic!

 We want YOU to make a wind sock!

(I promise he did the Uncle Sam finger point on his own!)

Happy Fourth of July!!
Love, 
The Johnsons

My Summer Get-It-Done List

For those of you who don't know, I will be going back to teaching in September.  Granted, I will be teaching from my dining room through The Potter's School.  I am super excited to have this opportunity to teach English from home and to keep my teaching license current... huge bonus!  All that being said, there are a few things around here that I... have... been... putting.....off.   I didn't realize until recently that I am a master procrastinator; so here is my summer to-do list:  (disclaimer: I say "my" to-do list, but Bryan is undoubtedly going to be helping; he will realize this if he actually reads this post.)


1. Make Living Room Window Treatments.  We've lived here four years... I mean really!

 I have to tell you that I had eyed this fabric for a year, but for $20 a yard, it was way beyond our budget.  One day I checked out Fabricguru.com and found the same fabric for $6 a yard.  Sweet! 

2. TV Console Project-  Yes, thanks to our lovely friends the Mansfields, this beauty made it from curbside trash pickup to our carport, where it still sits.  I think our neighbors have given up hope for us ever getting rid of it.  

Check out the original project that sent me on a hunt for a console tv here.

3. Yard Sale Frame ($1... can I get a whoop whoop!)

 She may not be much to look at now, but I have big plans for her... BIG plans. 

 You can't find detailing like that on frames at Big Lots... and that's usually where I buy my frames. She isn't going to be used for pictures though; She will be a stand-alone beauty when I'm finished with her. 

Bec helping me clean up the old girl. 


4. La-Z-Boy Reupholster- I'm deathly afraid of taking this chair apart and never getting it put back together, or getting it back together but having some "extra pieces." 

 Instead of buying nice fabric and wasting my money if this project goes awry, I have decided to use drop cloths. I've seen some fabulous chairs and couches here and here that were reupholstered with inexpensive drop cloths (and since Kinston has a Lowes but no fabric store, this works in my favor!)


5. Jane Eyre- I have recently joined up with Lindsay Corrigan and her Finer Things Club.  Our summer reading is Jane Eyre and I am loving it!  We're reading this so we can watch the new film version guilt-free. (Because the books are always better...right?)

Check out the trailer!


http://www.focusfeatures.com/video/jane_eyre_the_trailer

Summer Cuts for the Babies!

It's that time of year again, where Becton and Molly begin sweating ten minutes after stepping outside.  Gotta love humidity! Can I tell you how well they both did getting their haircuts?  Bribing children with chocolate to sit still through a haircut is highly effective!

 Before

Before

 After

I think our kids are pretty stinkin' cute, but I am biased!