189 of 365 memories...here we go again!

yes, the school supply aisle has thrown up on my dining room table and

I have to say I'm not to happy about it!

188 of 365 memories...just because its been awhile

Hannah informed me the other day as she was looking at pictures on my blog, that I haven't posted any of our "girls" lately.
They haven't changed, I told her.
They still look exactly the same as the last time I posted pictures of them, I told her.

Well mom, so do me, Jakob and Alex and you ALWAYS put our pictures on there.

It's sad when a 7 year old (who was not sassy about it) puts you in your place :)

187 of 365 memories... A country time lemonade picture

my kids could swing for hours!

our summer is QUICKLY coming to a close (boo hoo),

were trying to soak up every last drop of our lazy time!

what a better way to end the day than with an outdoor movie

and sitting on the top of mom's truck watching it!

186 of 365 memories...the many faces of my girl

checking out her board

getting ready

to go

getting ready

to fly

From the moment my daughter was born there has been nothing about her that is a "typical" little girl. As she is growing into her own little self she amazes me more and more each day.

The other day she came in and told me she was going to skateboard down at the end of our street (the flat part) by her brothers.

Have fun and be safe I tell her.

A few minutes later when I check on her, I was totally expecting to see her shuffling around on the board. And to my surprise she was REALLY riding it. Popping it up at the end of her ride and everything.

Her brothers even made a few (nice) comments to her that night at dinner.

When I tell her about how she can change the world with just her brain and her smile, I will have to add and your skateboard, to that now :)

MY GIRL!!

185 of 365 memories...my sweet tea therapy

You know how you have certain friends in your life that God has put there for 1 specific reason?
Sometimes you really don't understand that 1 specific reason right away.
Sometimes it takes many many months or years. Sometimes it takes a crisis, sometimes it takes lots of drunkenness together. Or sometimes there's no 1 specific reason, but lots and lots of reasons.

God has put this little lady in my life for SO MANY reasons. Most of which if I told you all, well I would have to kill you but what I can tell you is she is my partner in crime, my sweet tea companion and keeper of my Georgia heart. She loves me and all my silliness, all of my miss pronunciations and all of my sauciness.

Lena, just in case I ever forget to tell you, please know that my life and my children's lives have been greatly enriched by knowing you and your babies. Living in Georgia has been an easier transition because you have always made me feel like I'm where I need to be.

You challenge me to be the best Heidi that I can be and I will FOREVER be thankful to you for that!

I love you sista and I will continue on, know matter where I am :)

184 of 365 memories...36 looks SO GOOD on him!

helping momma make daddy's traditional birthday cake and dinner.

Happy Birthday to daddy!

that's A LOT of candles!!

Brian and my daddy share the same birthday date. My dad always makes a joke and says that I will never be able to forget his birthday, as if I would! We celebrated with Brian by cooking his favorite dinner and making his favorite cake. We had a nice quite evening together and Brian and I were able to share a little conversation time alone on the back porch.

Happy Birthday to my very first knight in shining armor, MY DADDY!

And Happy Birthday to my "I do always and forever" knight in shining armor, MY HUBBY!

I love you both and am beyond blessed to have you in my life!

One Step forward and two steps back

Lately with all the talk around my house about momma going to school, my kids have been having a field day with the idea that I will have homework and I will have a teacher and I have a school bag. OK really the school bag idea is the funniest to them :)

They also think its funny when I say I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Their all like MOM you are grown up, remember we have to do what you say because YOU pay the bills and if we don't like it, it will get better when we grow and pay our own mortgage!!

(Seriously, they really do listen. Who knew?)


Well after I met with my advisor (excuse my smirk right now), the very young and very thin and very cute advisor was in stitches as she talked with me. Apparently I'm funny and charming when I'm trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

Again, WHO KNEW?


We talked about my reasons for entering school at this stage of my life, my likes (writing, cooking, talking about my kids :), what I did up until now and how REALLY nice the weather has been, you know all the important things you talk to an overly peppy, cute, little advisor about.

At the end of the meeting, I took away from it that maybe I should major in Communications of Journalism and Media. In the Spring I will take a Communications class and hopefully know after that if this is what I want to "declare" as my major.

Still haven't quite figured out the whole "being grown thing".

But at least I'm one step closer to figuring it out.

I hope it just won't take me two steps back!

183 of 365 memories...a little taste of my childhood

in Woodstock, Georgia and there GOOD!!

decisions decisions

loving the snowballs!

getting to share green, red and blue lips with good friends

PRICELESS

This New Orleans girl, loves to share the goodness with her Georgia peach :)

182 of 365 memories...returning visitors

We get this same bird on our porch every year. Let me rephrase that, we get the same KIND of bird every year. Of course Hannah thinks it's the same bird and well I'm in the business of letting dreams be dreams and so IT'S THE SAME BIRD PEOPLE!

if you look closely you can see the beak of the baby under the mother's foot. I had to take these through my dining room window, so this is as close as we can get.

They make a mess on our porch but the excitement we get when we hear the chirp chirp chirp after they hatch is so worth the clean up. I asked Hannah the other day to think about all the momma bird goes through to get her nest ready for her babies and then the life she gives them once they are here.

And I told her I would much rather be a human momma, I think.

She said (with her eyes beaming like 2 blue marbles in her head) but mom one thing different is that momma gets to fly!

How right is she, through the eyes of babes!

181 of 365 memories...when the days seem longer than the years.....

Our summer is fastly approaching the end. 7 days and counting to be exact.

This morning when I woke up, I walked downstairs to find my oldest son asleep on the sofa, the remote control tucked tightly under his chin and his IPod touch on his chest.

(sigh) he is a BEAUTIFUL child.

The awkwardness is setting in. This year will be the last of ANY trace of boy left in him. And surprisingly I'm excited for him. To watch him transform into the person that he is today has been an OVERWHELMING but also a MIRACULOUS task.

So the next part, I'm praying, is going to be much like the same.

Holding him tight when he needs me....

Letting him go when he needs me to.....

Finding the delicate balance between being an overprotective mother and just being a mother.....

And letting him know EACH and EVERY day that he is a child of God and that my world is a better place because I get to see his smile everyday.....

How we got from here

to here

so quickly I really don't know.

But the journey has been amazing and I can only look towards the sky with prayer hands as we continue on.

180 of 365 memories..... I DO

14 years ago we said

I DO!

And 14 years later

we still do!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Mr. Johnson, I love you more than my sweet tea and french bread PUT TOGETHER! I am honored to be on this journey with you and am loving every (OK maybe not EVERY but almost every :) second of it! Thank you for ALWAYS loving me and letting ME be ME and for giving me my 3 babies. Your dedication to me and to our family is unmeasurable. I love you babe!!!

179 of 365 memories....who's afraid of the big BAD dark?!!

At some point in time all three of my children have slept with us.

OH THE HORROR, A BABY SLEEPING IN THEIR PARENTS BED!!

If your one of the ones who thinks your SO much better of a parent because your bed was YOUR bed and no one ELSE'S bed, well God bless you.

Me I would much rather snuggle with my babies falling asleep and listen to them breathe in the middle of night and of course get smacked in the face, throat, and stomach through out the night, just because.....well it's fun.

Hannah being the LAST baby that Mr. Johnson and I have brought into this world, she has slept with us the longest. She has been sleeping in her bed with no problems since she was about 3. She would still sneak in in the middle of the night and we wouldn't even feel her (sneaky little squirt) I would wake up in the morning with a mouth full of blond sunshine in my mouth. I swear that girls hair is EVERYWHERE when she sleeps.

Recently if Brian is up working late or just because I am to lazy to get up after stories and tuck her in, Hannah has been sleeping with us.

The other night we were laying in my bed reading and she started taking pictures with my phone.

"Mom", she asks. "Why are things so much scary in the dark?"

"Well probably because you can't see and not seeing whats coming is kind of scary." I said.

"So why when I'm in your bed, I'm not scared of what I can't see?" she says.

"Because you think that me and your father will save you from what you don't see." I say

"What?" she says, looking just as confused as I was.

"Your afraid of the dark and you think sleeping with me makes you safer, RIGHT?"

"I'm not afraid of the dark, just the really BAD dark!" she says.

"Hannah are you asking if you can sleep with us tonight?"

Yes mom that sounds good and don't worry I will protect you from what you can't see when your old!"

Thanks babe, that's just what I wanted to hear.

GOOD NIGHT......

178 of 365 memories...the official illegal one.

We had um teen pictures to choose from, from Marathon foto. This is the one we chose! This one was copied from their website, that's why it is so small. What a great day!!

177 of 365 memories...this story is dedicated to my boys

Right when you start the race, the amount of people is unbelievable.

I watched certain people and wondered, what THEIR chapter would be in my story from the day.

Chapter 1: AND WERE OFF

Chapter 2: GOD BLESS AMERICA

(this flag is what it is all about people!)

Chapter 3: THERES ALWAYS A BUTT!

Chapter 4: BREATHTAKING

(Each string that hangs off her skirt was a woman's name that was affected by breast cancer,

she walked for all those woman.)

Chapter 5:FEELING THE BURN

(half way there)

Chapter 6: MEMORABLE

(as I was feeling the burn with my son, this woman walked for hers.)

Chapter 7 :"THE" FUR BUS

(just because)

Some where around mile 4, Alex and I started to drag just a bit. We were searching ever so hard for the next mile sign, so we could be one step closer to finishing. And then we saw this young man...

Chapter 8 : INSPIRING

(there was nothing to complain about after this,

we could feel the breeze and the sky turned 4 different shades of blue)

Like any race, the prize for the common, not the non human Kenyan winner of the thousands runner is a t-shirt....

Chapter 9: VICTORY

(size medium please.)

When the day is all said and done, your 6.2 miles, is more like 8. something. The walk BACK to the Marta station must be like the walk to the execution chamber. SLOW, MIND DUMBING, and NOT OVER FAST ENOUGH. And if your my 10 year old son who had to UMMM let's just say potty sitting down, it's was (trumpets playing) the DEATH MARCH.

In the end, Brian and I had a wonderful morning with our boys.

And my blisters on my heels and bruised toe nails (yes I know I have wimpy feet) still can't take away the joy I felt when the 4 of us crossed that finish line TOGETHER. Because once again we showed our kids (by example) that its always better when it's done with family.

THE END....

176 of 365 memories...the prep work

this year each runner was given a little device to strap on your shoe. It is activated when your cross the start line and then deactivated after you cross the finish line.

And it gave me a (sort of real) reason to take more pictures of our feet :)

proper lacing is SERIOUS business!

and of course the DUN DUN DUN port a potties.

Hey when you gotta go, you gotta go!