Baby G receives gift of love....

On Saturday March 20th..... We we had a wonderful get together with our neighbors... long overdue.  Here are some pictures and video of the visit.  As they arrived with broad smiles and armfuls of goodies.... Todd and I did wonder a bit why we were the recipients of such good fortune.  The Froscheiser family had a wonderful evening planned... (that they brought directly to our abode no less)... Bottles of wine, flower decorated cupcakes, Chinese lettuce chicken wraps, and an overflowing fruit bowl were a few of the treats that arrived on our doorstep.

We later discovered the purpose of the visit was to present Ms. Genevieve Meadow with a beautiful hand-stitched quilt made by Angie herself... This beautiful quilt took Ang over 8 months to make.  Words can't ever express how special a gift like this is to receive for one's child.  I'm not sure what we did to deserve such kindness but we certainly feel so blessed!

The evening was filled with good drinks, great food, and lots of laughs.   What a wonderfully loving gift for Baby G to treasure... What a great night to connect with friends.  Here's to many more!

Happy Birthday Grandma Johnson!

Happy Birthday Grandma Johnson.... Today is March 17... St. Patrick's Day.... Emily Johanna Johnson was quite a character... Born in Norway, she ultimately settled in a picturesque New England village in Connecticut.  I believe this picture was taken right before her 93rd birthday.

She was a feisty gal with quite a sense of humor.  Very generous with a strong love for God.  Every morning, I can remember her loving a cup of scorching hot Joe with a slice of pumpernickel bread layered with butter and cheddar cheese.  An equally strong memory: every day at noon when the local fire station sounded their mid-day siren.... she would proclaim with her thick Norwegian accent...."12 o'clock and all is well..."

I hope she is keeping Dad company... oh' how she loved her Johnny Boy. How I miss them both....

No room for my Costco groceries.....Maya's Cooking Creations!

My pint-size cooking obsessed 3 year old demonstrates here in this picture her favorite creation, "Birthday Cake Surprise".....  As many of you know, Lovie spends most of her down time making pretend cakes & cookies, cutting pretend veggies and cooking pretend meals! She is constantly in and out of the fridge placing her carefully created concoctions amidst mom's marinating chicken.


No cartoons here..... It's all Paula Dean, Rachel Ray, Giada, and the Barefoot Contessa.... My TV's are permanently tuned in to the Food Network.  I suppose it cold be worse... but all day long I hear... "Mom, I missed her chopping garlic.... rewind the DVR, quick....."


I can't make a bowl of cereal without having full participation of my little gal.  Sometimes it's a bit of a burden when she insists sitting atop the countertops to watch me prepare a simple sandwich.... but honestly, what a darling.


On a recent trip home from Costco, I opened the refrigerator to find this display.... not a stitch of shelf space for anything..... but oh, how sweet....!

My favorite Lovie... chasse chasse chasse.... and turn!

I know this may be Ballet overload for many of you... but I just found this clip that I never included and it's just delightful. I think maybe my favorite of the recital... You can hear the instructor telling Maya to "Chasse, chasse, chasse....." and reminding her to "turn"...

It's just darling....

Lovie's First Ballet/Tap Recital Footage

"...Your love for yourself is only shown when you are dancing freely..."

For those of you who have a few lifetimes to kill.... I have posted Lovie's first Ballet/Tap Dance Recital here on my blog.  I wanted to be able to keep this all in one place and so I posted links to Youtube via my blog which show various parts of the recital.  Some videos are longer than others.

Todd and I had a hoot of a time. It was so much fun and she really seems to enjoy every second. Certainly some clips are more entertaining then others... Maya insists on being in full drag and so sometimes finds her pettiskirt more of a hindrance than a help.

My personal favorites are videos 2,3,4,6,8,11 (check out the cranky classmate), and last but not least, "The Finale!"  Alright... maybe I just like them all.  That's a mother's prerogative, right?

She's ready for Series 2 and will be starting next week.  Yippee!

Mitchell's Happy Birthday Sing-a-long....

For those of you who are interested in what a typical Seymour/Johnson "Birthday Song" sounds like (not sure I can recommend this).... listen to the video!  I'll be the first to admit that this comes from the heart and doesn't sound pretty.  A true harmonic disaster no doubt... but oh' so much fun! 

Mitchell turned 11 on Feb. 22... and had a great birthday celebration.  He had a boy's sleepover night the week before with five of his little friends... What fun we had! 

Mitchell had a goal to raise money for The Smile Train so he could help to give a needy child a new "smile".  He asked friends and family to support him in this endeavor and he was able to raise $265.  Woo Hoo!  He was able to provide one lucky child a "new smile" and even had a few dollars to spare.  We are so proud of him.

http://www.smiletrain.org/