New blog!

Well, the time has come to part with this blog. We have moved from mi (michigan), so I need a new name. I am still working on the other one, moving my people I follow over there but that's about it. the new one is johnsons4america.blogspot.com. I don't really know how to set it up as a link, so you'll have to just type it in . . . sorry about that! But anyways, we look forward to seeing you over there!

Picture of Abby

I love this picture of her. She looks so sweet and nostalgic. I enlarged it and matted it with a cheap $3 frame from Wal-mart. It looks professional! Once in awhile you get that great shot, even if they are two years old!

Calvary Baptist Temple, Our House and Easter Pictures, . . . in reverse!

Here are a few pictures of the church. It is a small building, about 100 years old. It used to be an old Lutheran church. It has been really exciting being here. Our house is smaller than the one in Grand Rapids, but it has more living space so it really is bigger. I have three rooms I absolutely love. The kitchen, it's great and the greatest thing is, it's in the middle of the house. You can come to my house and I could have counters of dirty dishes and you would never know it, unless of course you had to go to the bathroom which is right off of the kitchen, but if that were the case I would take you over to my neighbor's house, she really sweet and you could use her's! No, seriously, it is great! It has a dishwasher (the best ever), a garbage disposal (how did I ever live without one before now?), and best of all, it's in the middle of the house. I can't tell you how that excites me! I have two more favorite rooms and I really can't decide which I like best. The laundry room. It's right off the kitchen and it is great. I can't tell you why but I love that room! Then there's the "all purpose room". It has the futon for guests, the children's toys, but only a few because I rotate them out now, less mess and surprisingly they play with them more. It also has my scrap desk and a book shelf as well as my sewing room. It is such an easy acess. I can be sewing or scrapping and the kids are in there with me. If they are in the front room I am so close that it doesn't matter. If I need to sew something quick I can, if I need to make a quick card, I can also do that. If I need to shove stuff in there so my house gives the appearance of clean :o) I can! I love it! The front room is nice and cozy and the dining room is coming . . . it just needs a table and chairs! The bedrooms are upstairs and that is wonderful! I love this house. Right now we are painting it and it is great!

The lamb pictures she did all on her own. She got that in or rather holding her easter basket. She loves that lamb. I told her we were going to take some pictures and she wanted to do it with the lamb. They turned out pretty cute. The hat you see was last year's hat and it got just about as much wear as last year, a few pictures and about 10 minutes worth of wear at church. Oh well, at least I didn't spend money on it this year! The Easter dress, the Lord blessed us with at a yard sale! Only . . . $0.25. Isn't God good? I personally think she looks like a million bucks, God provides not only our needs but our desires as well!!!!!!!! The other pictures were taken after her nap. The dress was wrinkled and ketchupped by this time so we put on something more comfortable. We were going for a bike ride anyways, so it was time to change.

The first pictures were taken right before she laid down for her nap. She had taken off her ketchupped wrinkled dress and was running around in her slip. She was supposed to be laying down taking a nap. I love how these turned out. I'm thinking of sepia toning them and enlarging them then putting them up in the house. I almost felt like steve troell when I saw these pictures, almost but not quite. I felt like he might say, they're good for a ammature! It would have been my crowning moment in my history of my limited photography!

Pictures!

I was going to go and get pictures of the kids taken, but these came out so good, that I decided not to. The only problem with not being a professional photographer is trying to get two children, one a baby and the other a toddler to both look at you at the same time and look cute. I have several of them together, but none that were really that good. If I had photoshop or something where I could cut one out and put one in, I would have a cute picture of them together. I’ll have to come up with some new noises so maybe that will shock them into both looking at the same time! I think they get too used to mom’s voice, that’s why they’re able to tune me out.

This was the best of them together. All the others were even worse than this. . . It'll come with time!

Isn't he so cute? He was really studying the grass and flowers. After awhile he had had enough!

This is her new "cheese" face! She will now smile upon command which is great for pictures!

He looks like his daddy ALL the way! I've had to cut his hair 3 times now. It grows so fast. When he was first born it was dark brown, but when I cut it off it was this lighter color!

This is her, I'm about to get into something face. . . like cutting her hair or something like that.

This was one of Joshua's favorite pictures. She loves this old floppy hat of mine she wears it all the time and I knew when Summer came I was going to try and get a few pictures of her it. The day was not planned. I was working and came outside. Our back yard was covered in these dandelions and it was an impromtu "photo shoot" but I ended up loving the pictures!

Random Thoughts

I'm thinking of changing our blog because we have moved from MI to OH. I don't know if I will yet or not. I'll let you know and I won't do it until we get faster internet here at the church! THURSDAY!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. Joshua came in and told me and I said, "Oh, Good! Now I can blog again!" THe look he gave me was one only a husband can give a wife when he realizes she didn't fully appreciate what it means to him to have internet, good things like, better service so he can get more done for church, so he can listen to church services at nvbc.org or templebaptistchurch.com without having to download it overnight. You know, important things like that . . . NOT blogging! He doesn't mind my blogging which I'm thankful for. He is really such a good husband! The best one I've ever had!! Seriously, He is the Best! I'm so thankful for him. But back to the beginning of this random thoughts, I have over 200 pictures . . . I've continued to take pictures even if I can't blog them. But I can't decide which ones to post! Not that they are all that good, but they are all a story in themselves. We johnsons have been busy in our little bit of green earth over here. The church is doing exetremely well. We are taking, or rather, Joshua is doing a discipleship/soulwinning program with them and next week we're going to take them out door to door! Pray for us . . . They have not been soulwinning in years! We got a zoo pass for the year and hopefully we are going on Thursday. The zoo pass was actually cheaper than us as a whole family going so I thought well, save some money and if the zoo is good we can go again and again. We can also use the pass at participating zoos for either free admission to some, or discounted admission. We go to the library often now, which is a lot of fun. In Grand Rapids we were always incredibly busy, we're still busy but we've slowed down quite a bit. So, I've written an extra long post because I was going to try and post some pictures and it's taken forever to tell me that it can't so now all your'e going to get is words . . . yeah for you, I know! Hopefully this weekend you'll get pictures. The kids are growing so much and I just can't tell you, I'd have to show you! Hope everything is going well for each of you and I'm going to go now! SEE you soon . . . hopefully!

Another writing post . . .

So here we are again with another writing post and no pictures. . . I will post some of our very cute house and wonderful church when Joshua's office is up and running. The other computer is still crashed . . . I did a doozey on it! Right now I am at the library here in Delta, OH, which is right across the street from the church and about 3 blocks from the house. Everything is going well. I opened the last box yesterday or maybe the day before . . . I can't quite remember! But it is done! Now, I just have to get to cleaning . . . you'd think the house would give me a break but it didn't. Do you want to know the VERY best part of this house? The kitchen is in the middle away from the front door. It could be a total mess and a visitor would never know it! ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL? Yes! It is is. It's also got a wonderful dishwasher and garbage disposal. . . I love the house and once you see pictures you'll love it too! It's great! Well, that's about all. I've got some more e-mail to check and then go and get some books for Abby. Will post pictures soon . . . I hope!

Moving . . .

Well, yes. It is with a lot of sadness but a lot of excitement that I announce that we are moving. Sadness because of the people we are leaving but excitement because we know we are following the Lord and it is exciting to see what God will do. We are moving to Delta, OH. Joshua has taken a position as some say "the head pastor" (which is kind of funny) of Calvary Baptist Temple. The reason that is funny is because The church is so small there's not room for another pastor. But yes, I know what they mean, he will be the pastor. I am personally very excited to get to hear him preach every week. He is SUCH a good preacher. I'm not just being a "dutiful wife" and saying that. He is honestly a VERY good preacher. He does an excellent job with the teens but when he stands up in the pulpit, especially at Delta he does a superb job. He is so good. He holds your attention (not that that is the most important part), but he also gives you meat. It has been neat to see the way the teens have grown spiritually, mostly due to his excellent preaching. We are hoping the Lord does great things with us and especially with Joshua. Anyways, back to leaving. We are going to be extremely and already are really sad to be leaving. We do have a house in Delta and are moving this coming Thursday. It's a nice house, two levels, three bedrooms, one bathroom, big kitchen (the most important part!) dining room, living room, laundry room, DISHWASHER!!!!!, garbage disposal, big back yard, 3 blocks from the library, 3 blocks from the park, 5 blocks from the church. . . we are excited, about getting there but not about leaving. We are going to miss everyone at Gospel Light terribly!

I have had my snow-fix . . . for the year!

So today I was reminded why I don't like snow.: (I can't say I hate it, but I do strongly dislike it.) 1. So far this winter, I found out 3 of my shoes, the main three I wear, have holes in them or the soles are coming off . . . how do I know that? Because the snow crept in to tell me. 2. I also have had those bitter days of January where you don't wear earrings because your ear instantly freezes if you do. 3. I also have been reminded of why I don't like the cold because my already fat body just looks humoungous . . . if that's how you spell that! 4. Today, I was reminded all over again why I stay INDOORS during this season! Trying to be a "good" mom, I asked my sweet little girl if she would like to go outside and maybe we would go sledding down our hill in our front yard . . . yeah! That was fun. 30 minutes later, that just included trying to get dressed and realizing that Abby's gloves were in the van (that was with daddy at the church), we made it outside. The snow that has not been walked through in our front yard was up to my knee . . . I had to carry her. The sled's handles were broken, and I couldn't find string to tie to it so I could at least pull her around. We braved it out to the middle of the yard and I put her on the sled. I then realized I would not be able to get on. I gave her a push, she fell off into the snow and was half buried in it and at that point, SCREAMING! Remember she had no gloves and I wasn't planning on being out long enough for her hands to get cold and I wasn't going to let her play with the snow . . . sigh, that was stupid! So now, the "sweet" child is freezing, her face was covered with snow and her hands were incredibly cold, AND the sled barely moved because I didn't realize that snow that has been coming for weeks and has not been packed down is not the best sledding material. So amidst her cries I got her calmed down and asked her if she wanted to make a snowman. I tried to make one little ball, but I had no gloves on because I had given them to her and I can't stand the cold even less than she can! So the snowman is still out in the yard and needs some major assembly. Then I realized I had to stand up, but remember I'm fat and I have had 3 months of inactivity because I was on bed rest before he was born and then had some complications after he was born, plus the surgery and the snow pants that were meant for men so they don't fit right. At first I honestly thought I wasn't going to be able to get up. I had on Joshua's snow suit that fits wrong and so I was tripping and falling, but as you can tell, thankfully, I made it out of the snow (I will spare you the gruesome details). We walked around the wonderfully cleaned driveway and then Abby decided to come in because, seriously, that was boring! We came in and made snow cream! Because what do fat people do to enjoy the snow? Make Snow Cream and enjoy everyone elses snowmen! Maybe next year!

Awesome Pictures . . . are coming!

So, I crashed my husband's laptop . . . one of my biggest fears and he is such a loving, kind, and understanding man that it wasn't bad at all . . . not that I'm going to be doing anything to his computer again for a LONG time. Well, his computer is still crashed . . . I don't know that it is crashed completely, we can still get pictures off and get on things and use word and stuff like that but if you try to log on to anything online it won't let you, so no e-mail, blogspotting, etc. basically all the stuff we use the computer for. But the saddest part is that I have really awesome pictures . . . at least they are awesome for someone who can't even consider themselves at amatuer photographer level, but they are pictures, ones I'm sure the grandparents would really like! They are all on the other computer and to put them on this computer, would probably throw this old thing into shock so . . . until then, you just get to hear my random thoughts! Aren't you lucky?
Seriously, I have a short, kinda funny story. My daughter via little children she knows in the nursery has learned some great words. For awhile there she had a favorite cuss word that someone had taught her. THAT was embarrasing but we finally broke her of that. Now she likes to say, "Shup-pup" aka "shut up". It's not very funny. I know some of you parents who are done with this "wonderful" (as I roll my eyes) learning years may give a slight smile but seriously it is not funny. . . which brings me to why I was saying all that about words, her new words is "searsislee" I was rushing around trying to do stuff, you know important mommy stuff that keeps you busy from dawn till night and manages to make it look like you did nothing at all, all day long, anyways. She was trying to get my attention and I wasn't being got and then all of the sudden I hear: "Searsislee, mommy, searsislee" She said it about 3 times before I caught it and I have to say it was one of the cuter things she has said. Every once in awhile my child does things that make me stop and think, "Where did she get that?" and then I realize it is something I do without even realizing it! "Seriously", things are definately more CAUGHT than TAUGHT, now if she can just catch that saying "shup-pup" is not acceptable!

So Sweet . . .

Abby has got to be the sweetest girl alive. She has been such a good big sister. It was amazing to see how she transformed from this cute little baby to a big sister toddler, literally overnight. We brought Andrew home and after she realized he was here to stay she grew up. Sometimes I miss my baby girl, but I am looking forward to real communication, complete with full sentences and being potty trained, (which if any of you older wiser people out there have any suggestions, let me know, my e-mail is shmilym@juno.com). I just love this picture of her. I didn't tell her to do that, she just did it on her own and have you noticed we have pictures of her smiling! She knows what cheese means! I am very excited about . . . now if we can just make the smile natural! Well, i just wanted to post this picture! I know I have it in color on here but I liked it so much sepia toned, I thought I would put it up again! Aren't children great? I'm so glad God has given us two great kids! I can tell you, it didn't come from me, it must have been Joshua! We are truly blessed!

Some Family Christmas Pictures

This is one of my favorite pictures. We had such a great Christmas! We opened presents on Christmas Eve. By this time abby really enjoyed the whole presents thing. She would open a present, then have to play with it before she went on to another. On Christmas day we relaxed, watched movies, ate lots of food, played games and just enjoyed one another! It was a lot of fun. Abby played and played with all her new stuff! It was good day!

Abby and her Birthday Presents

We had so much fun on her birthday. Some of her favorite gifts were the cheapest ones. She loved the shoes. The plastic clompy ones that she constantly slipped on the floor with and the house shoes from her Mamaw and Papaw. It was fun watching her figure out what presents are. She is so cute!

Abby's Birthday Cake

Abby was very scared of the candles on her cake. Just two days before this I had a candle going on the end-table . . . it's been awhile since I did that I forgot that a curious two year old might want to investigate. She stuck her finger IN the flame, OUCH! It didn't really burn her, it did blacken her finger and make her extremely cautious about fire after that, even fire on her cake. Her dad had to convince her to get close to it and as you can see she got a big high five for being so brave!

Abby welcoming Andrew into the house

It was really neat the way it worked out for Abby to see Andrew in the house for the first time. When Abby came home Andrew had already been home for a day. He was in the bedroom in his cradle. She came in and saw me and talked to me and then looked at the computer and realized the background was a picture of a baby and it wasn't her! She talked about the baby and I told her it was Andrew, then she went on and talked about other things. A few minutes later Andrew started crying. Abby said, "Oooh, Baby" and pointed at the screen. Then Andrew started crying again so she looked for him and we let her find him. After she found him she was very excited. I think she thinks he is her own personal baby doll. She loves to kiss him and "houg" him. She is always asking to "hold him" and if you leave him down, she likes to pick him up, even if he is not crying and she likes to try and bring him to you . . . that gets scarry when she pulls him down off the bed . . . or brings him folded in half down the hallway, but I have had several people tell me babies are a lot more resiliant than we think and they bounce really well . . . let's hope we don't have to find out!