Happy 10th Birthday Maddie!

I can't believe 10 years ago my precious daughter was placed in my arms. She, much like her brothers, melted my heart instantly. Today, Maddie turned 10 years old. Her Birthday is a special day for many reasons but also because...she shared it with her Great Grandmother, Nanny Johnson. Today, Nanny would have been 100 years old :o)

Birthday Pictures will follow tomorrow...

Happy Birthday Maddie...you will always be Mommy's little princess!

The Johnsons were BEACH BOUND!

So, a little time has passed since my last post. Not too great for a first time blogger, but I am a devoted mother of 3 very busy children. Before our family trip to Gulf Shores over fall break, Seth had 3 major projects due in Language Arts that consumed most of mine and Shed's spare time helping him! We even called in all forces such as Aunt Sherry, Uncle Randy, Mal, Lindsey, Maddie and Aunt Tana to help out! Now it's over and done with, we are pleased to say all that hard work, tears, and sweat paid off...he got a 95%! Way to go Seth!!!

This photo starts just a few I am going to show you of our trip we took to the beach! If you are reading my blog, then you know me well enough to know that my family has endured a lot this year. We needed this get away... it was a very peaceful week we all enjoyed!

Caption for this photo: THE JOHNSON FAMILY :o)You should have been there for this photo!HILARIOUS...took me a few times running back to reset the timer. Needless to say I had the camera set too far away the first time :o) Live and learn!

My Three Monkeys on the Beach!

This is my children truly at their best! Gotta love their personalities...

The Little Zoo that Could...

We went to the Alabama Zoo...though you can't tell it in this photo, Will loved his first zoo experience. As always, I did too. The zoo is one of my favorite places! Can't wait to take the kids this spring to Aunt Charla's and go to the Cincinatti Zoo!

Shed & Kayla on the Beach

Here we are in our matching outfits...Shed always makes fun of me because I try my best to coordinate our family's outfits when we go to church or to a family function. Pictures on the beach were no exception :o)

Shed and Kayla like them HOT!

Kayla & Shed's Tradition

This is our tradition...when Shed and I were dating it was a Friday night thing to go to dinner and to Krispy Kreme. YUM! So when we went on our honeymoon it was natural that we found a Krispy Kreme...and every vacation we all look for when the HOT light is on!

Seth on the Dolphin Cruise

Here is Seth being all cool on the Dolphin Cruise we took...he's hanging out at the end of the boat checking out the dolphins.

Will did not love the sand

We had to go buy him some beach shoes just so he would get down the next day to play in the sand! :o)

Maddie loves FUN in the SUN!

One of my Dad's favorite photos of me is one similar to this one of Maddie...strange, huh? I didn't realize it until we got back home and I uploaded all 950 photos I took at the beach! I was much younger than she is here but look how happy she is in the sand!

A Special Stop in Alabama!

This is Maddie with her best friend Rachel. They have been friends since kindergarten. The summer before the girls went to 3rd grade, Rachel and her parents moved back to her hometown of Molten, AL. When we decided to go to Gulf Shores, I knew a stop to see them was a MUST! Rachel, Mike, & Brenda are very dear friends of ours and we miss them so much! Good friends like these don't come along every day. The best part is, regardless the distance...we just picked up right where we left off last time and enjoyed a wonderful visit at their house :o)

One of my favorite photos from last year..can't believe how they have grown in a year!

Little Will...I tell him all the time that he is Mommy's little man.

My beautiful little girl, Maddie

My handsome young man, Seth

Maddie & Will love to play together :o)

One Little Monkey in a Tree!

Picture Day...

Yesterday must have been picture day at my house :o) That always makes this Momma happy! After 2 hours in the van waiting and getting the kids from school very patiently I got Will out of the car and he starting twisting and turning around. I had Seth run in and get my camera and I started taking his picture. Maddie and Seth were freshly from school...a little bit of a mess so they went in by their own choice (which never happens) and changed and came out for their pictures too. It was a fun afternoon. Good weather and happy smiles for the camera. What more could a mother ask for! Well...maybe for all three of her kids to look at the same time but I may have even got a few of those too! I love the fall weather, the leaves are starting to fall...I see a bon fire in our future soon!

Will's Smile

As funny as it may sound, this is how my precious two year old may greet you one day. He will be the class clown one day...always keeping us smiling that is for sure. It's funny how my three children look so much alike and act so differently. They all have personalitites of their own, even Will at such a young age. Seth is the shy and more quiet one of the three, Maddie is bold and out spoken at times (Shed would say like her mother; not a bad thing I might add), and Will as you can see he is outgoing and happy all the time. Oh these children...they do make me smile :o)