Tuesday, December 24, 2013

More Christmas Fun!

Here are a few more photos of some Christmas fun we've been having around here...

Heath's Preschool Christmas Party
Singing a song during Circle Time before the party began. I love watching him so engaged and having fun learning! 

The party started with two quick songs. Heath was adorable and so proud to sing! 


Then we made a fun Snowman snack! 

Here is a picture of Heath and his best buddies from school- starting with Heath and going clockwise: Heath, Lincoln, Matthew, and Camden. 

After we ate, we made a Candy Cane ornament. 

And we played 2 games. 
Bean Bag Toss

And Pin the Ornament on the Christmas Tree! 
Mark had a business lunch so he couldn't make it, which we were bummed about! But Brooks and I had such a nice time hanging out with Heath in his classroom for the morning. 

He made us this adorable card! Wish he really was always an angel! :) 
And he also gave us this gift...
Inside was a "stained glass" tea light candle holder that he made. Love all of my home made Christmas decorations from the boys! 

Nolan's classroom celebrated by riding "The Polar Express"! They got to wear their p.j.'s and watch the movie and eat popcorn and have hot cocoa. He had a fun morning with this class! And he came home with lots of fun little gifts from various teachers and friends! 

Speaking of teachers and friends...here are some of my favorites! 
We planned a little last minute Happy Hour at Rebecca's house after school on Thursday! It was so nice to chat and eat and drink together! Life is too stressful sometimes, so it is important to just slow down, and BE with the ones you love! I am so thankful to work with these ladies who encourage me both professionally and personally! 

Eckabee having a little "snow angel" flour fun! 

And we actually got a real dusting of snow. Just in time for a "White Christmas". Nolan and I enjoyed a little one on one time making some late night tracks in the snow! 

We are enjoying the start to our Winter Break and really spending our time resting and relaxing and being together! Can't wait for all of our Johnson family to get here for Christmas! 

Monday, December 23, 2013

B.W.J. is TWO!

On December 17th our little turned TWO! 
Not so much little anymore! 
The boys were all so excited to race downstairs to see his Birthday Chair! 

Brooks' Birthday was on a Tuesday during a school week. So much of the day carried on as usual. After I dropped the boys off at school Brooks and I headed out for a donut date. 

Then he went to Oma & Opa's house for the afternoon. We came home at the end of the day to Skype with Grandma & Grandpa and Auntie and to open up some gifts! 
 We had another football themed b-day for my sports lovin' dude. This year it was a Broncos theme. 



He was so proud sitting in his big chair! 

And he was so expressive with every gift he opened! He got a farm Duplo set from the Sloothaaks. The perfect reminder of our Western Michigan friends! 
And they always write such sweet notes for our kiddos too! 

I love to see his brown hair coming back for the Winter. 

Ooh...new pants from Grandma & Grandpa! 

And they sent him this fun football target game! 

Checking out the gift from his brothers. 


A new, soft Broncos football! 

Looking at a card from Oma & "O"! 

Two dollars for the 2 year old! 

Mommy & Daddy got him this cute Broncos stocking cap too. He is sporting it here while throwing footballs into the targets. 


After Skyping and gifts and dinner we had a left over slice of Birthday cake from their party a few days earlier. Brooks was so cute blowing out his candles over and over again. 
So much celebrating and he's not even done yet! Uncle T & Auntie Mal both sent cards and are bringing gifts with them when they come out this week! What a lucky boy! 

We just love this kid so much! (Despite his teething, whining, & clinging at times! Ha! Gotta love 2 year olds!) He is truly our joy!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Boys Birthday Bash!

This year we decided to just have ONE birthday party for all 3 of our boys who's birthdays all fall over a 5 week time period- with Christmas in the mix as well. The theme was simple, small, classic, colorful, birthday fun! I didn't even create or send an invitation. SIMPLE! Which is so unlike me when it comes to throwing a party, but the boys really don't care, and I don't think our family minded either. An email with details would suffice! 

The party was held at our house at lunch time after church last Sunday. Even though I wasn't going all out, I still tried to incorporate a few special and fun details! 

I wrapped the kids table in white butcher paper and gave each family crayons, markers, and colored pencils as favors. 

I found this colorful felt banner at Target and thought it would be perfect and durable for many birthdays to come! 

I let each kiddo pick the flavor of their cakes. 
Nolan chose Funfetti.

Heath chose Chocolate. 

And we chose Cherry Chip for Brooksie as a third flavor option. 

I saw this idea on Pinterest of simple white frosted cakes topped with just their age in sprinkles. I thought this would be super cute for my boys and their even ages this year. I drew out stencils on paper to use to shake the sprinkles into. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, and I baked and decorated all day, but I still think they turned out cute! And the boys LOVED them! 

I just bought simple plates and napkins to go with the multicolor theme. 

The decorations were simple too. I just picked up a few balloons from the party store that day. 
I placed a few on the mailbox. 

And then I set out number balloons to indicate where each boys' gifts were to go. 
Brooksie's

Heathy's

Nolan's 

All three...super fun! 

When everyone arrived the kids played for awhile and then they sat down to do some drawing & coloring! 




It was really fun to see the progression of drawing skills- from Landon not wanting to draw at all to Payton's cat family! It was so fun! 

Next it was pizza time! The boys each picked out a favorite snack as well: Nolan- pretzels, Heath- Cheetos, Brooks-Doritos. We had Cuties and juice boxes as well. 

The adults and little guys ate in the dining room. It was nice to all be together to eat and chat- we've all been through a lot the past couple of months, making our time together that much more special. 

Nolan ate and ate and ate and was the last one at the table scarfin' down every last bite! 

Then it was time for GIFTS! 
So excited to open! 


I was hoping to have Brooks open one, and then Heath open one, and then Nolan open one and then so on and so forth. But it didn't really end up going that way! They each just kept opening one after another. But it was fun and they couldn't contain their excitement long enough to wait! 


Ninja Turtles are still a HIT with these boys! 



Brooks got this cool airplane from Oma & Opa. And 2 identical Nerf basketball hoops & balls from Uncle Brad & Auntie Jayne and Uncle Wes & Auntie Cara! He LOVED them both of course, so we put one in his bedroom and one in the boys' bedroom. We also have a sturdier hoop on our main floor and a Little Tykes one in the basement. 4 hoops- one house! The life of a mom of boys! 

Of course new TMNT weapons from Cohen & Arie meant they needed to get out their masks too! 

Then all the cousins got in on the mix! 
They were running around together and then Nolan stopped them and said, "Come on everybody put your hands in!"So they all put their hands in and shouted, "Go team!" So cute! I think he's ready to start soccer again in January! 

After a little play time the boys were ready for CAKE! 
Heath was smiling so cute! 

Here are some videos of our singing for each boy! 


I had no idea Nolan's candles were sparklers or trick candles, I just happened to have them around the house. But they didn't seem to want to light or go out! He was a good sport, poor guy. He kept trying. I like how when he finally got them out he said, "FINALLY!" Ha! 

They sure loved their cake! Only crumbs were left! 

The rest of the day was spent playing with balloons and all of their new games and toys! 


Nolan had fun with this Ninja Turtle game from the Syers fam! 

And they got Hungry Hungry Hippos from Oma & Opa! 

And Connect Four from Payton, Brady, and Landon. We've been teaching strategy around here this week. So fun! And we've been doing a lot of game playing every day! It's so fun to get new games- they bring the family together! 

Thank you Jansen Family for such a fun day! Thank you for loving our boys. They love each of you so much and felt so celebrated that day! 

It was nice to plan and throw just one party this year. We aren't sure we will do it every year, maybe we will, maybe we won't. But this year it was needed and ended up being very special. On each of the boys actual birthdays we planned something special for them and did/will do our Birthday Chair tradition! We still want them to feel celebrated for the unique and awesome boys they are! So stay tuned for posts on Brooks and Nolan's birthday too. We are SO blessed!