The Sun Will Come out Tomorrow!

Big, big, big changes for our family this year! Livie is attending public school, and LOVING it! She is very smart...they only have to take spelling tests when they get a word wrong on the pretest, and she has only gotten one word wrong so far this year! Emma is going to preschool two days a week while I work at a local coffee stand. Mike, Livie and I are all in the local production of Annie! Mike is Daddy Warbucks! More later, but I've gotta go to work....

Spring/Summer things!

Mid-June finds the Johnston family busy and looking forward to vacation and camp in July! I planted my veggie garden, but it is looking kinda sad. Some bugs have gotten to my beans, only 1/2 of my carrots have popped up, and I can't see ANY of the lettuce I planted. The peas are the only thing thriving, and it looks like I may have a few cucumbers. Next year, we are doing things differently!

Besides our usual things, I am now walking on Tuesday nights with three friends, part of a moms group on Thursday mornings, going to the summer reading program at the library on Fridays and considering taking the girls to Kid Zone at New Life on Wednesday mornings. Whew, I'm gonna need a break from my summer vacation! We are enjoying cooking out on Mike's new grill and enjoying the sunshine until 10:00!

We are very excited for the family reunion in South Dakota. We leave the 1st of July! I have not met most of Mike's extended family, and am told there are lots of kids for the girls to play with. It sounds like it will be a group of 30 +! We are planning on going to a chuckwagon dinner, Mt. Rushmore for fireworks on the 4th and other family fun activities! I am hoping to talk Mike into going to Wall Drug and the corn palace, but it might be too far away!

We spend most of July at camp, and this year I will be there more than Mike! Mom is coming the first week I am there to watch the girls because I will be the camp nurse and kitchen help! The next week, Mike is at camp, and mom will stay at our house. After that, comes Junior camp which I am the assistant director, followed by Livie's first chance camp in August.

Spring 2009

Spring is here! We have been enjoying being outside again. The girls already have their wading pool set-up, Mike has a new grill and we dragged a picnic table over from the covered picnic area. My veggie garden is starting to sprout and my flowers are blooming!

I am starting to plan for Emma's birthday party. All I know is it will probably be sometime in mid-morning on July 18th (a Saturday). She says she wants a monkey party and I finally figured out that she wants us to sing "Happy Birthday to you, you look like a monkey and you smell like one too" from Madagascar! I think it is hilarious that things we used to do in our childhood are fresh and new to my children.

We have a fun and busy summer planned. We will be celebrating the 4th of July at Mike's family reunion in South Dakota near Mt. Rushmore, and then spend almost the rest of July at camp. mike and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage on July 16! We want to go see Casting Crowns at the Missoula fair in August and I want to got to Washington and Oregon sometime around Week of Missions (by the way, does anyone know the dates for that?). We will need a vacation to recover from our summer!

In the fall, Olivia will be attending 2nd grade at Mission Valley Christian Acadamy and Emma will be going to Good Shepherd's Little friends preschool. I will either work as a barista or at Emma's preschool.....BIG changes. I am excited for them, but also wondering how I am going to get up and out of the house by 8:10 5 days a week! And to think I used to work the 7 am shift, and have an hour long commute! I don't miss those days.

Just a quick update on us, it has been since Feb! I enjoy keeping up with my friends on FB now!

A Great Week!

Wow, this has been a GREAT week. God has really blessed us. Church was awesome on Sunday. The preaching was great (I'm not biased or anything), the music was superb and everything just fell into place.

Monday, we did school even though it was President's Day because we had taken Friday off. Liv did really well. I went to work out with Judy like I do three times a week and came home to discover a piano in my living room! Mike's friend, Rudd is letting us borrow it! Yea! I have wanted a piano for YEARS!!!!! It looks so pretty sitting here in my living room.

I was able to do Em's room for around $20.00 thanks to the bargain section at Wal-Mart. I posted pix just for you, Synova! Let me know what you think.

Hope you all have a great week!

Love, Heidi

Rearanging Furniture

I absolutely love moving our furniture around. Partly, because I truely like change, but also because I am always trying to figure out the most efficient use of space. Today, I did Emma and Olivia's rooms...so much fun!

I realized, Olivia has a really cute room with lots of personal touches, and fun things on the walls, and Emm'a room only has one thing on the wall, and it is Livie's stained glass window. Poor Emma, I guess I need to get working on her room.

Any ideas for a theme for Emmy's room? She has a fairly new quilt that has pink, purple, green, blue, and yellow, so there is some flexibility. Her walls desperately need new paint, she needs window decorations and wall decor. I am thinking of getting her name in big white letters, painting the trim and furniture white, and making some sweet curtains, but am wondering what color to do. Right now she has pepto bismal pink walls!

Olivia's room is blue with clouds and butterflies on it. I would like to paint her trim and furniture white too. SHe has darling pink gingham window valances. I think Livie's room is my favorite in the house, but I like my room, the living room and kitchen too. I like the yard too-does that count as a room?