Happy EIGHTH Birthday to you Marin!

She is sooooo grown up. I just can not believe that she is eight years old. I feel too young to have an eight year old!! haha She has definitely changed in the last year... way more grown up. The toys have taken the back burner & she loves to spend her time doing gymnastics {she's always vertical} listening to music, dancing, and texting on her ipod. We had a mini photo session yesterday while it was still nice out... today it is 55 and raining, not nearly as nice. It is so funny to see her just sit down & turn on the posing. She is still a little model at heart! Definitely enjoys the camera...

 When she got home yesterday I saw her friend Rylie & thought "that shirt looks familiar." I went into my closet & dug in Marin's birthday bag to find this...

I had bought the same shirt AND she also had the same shorts in her drawer. Marin was so excited. They thought it was so fun to have matching outfits.

 This morning on her birthday while I went to yoga {yes, I went to yoga on my child's birthday... I NEEDED a workout!} Gary made her breakfast in bed. She has been talking about how badly she wanted breakfast in bed all week... so cinnamon roll on the special plate is what she got!

Once I got home she was eager to open her presents. In addition to the bike we bought her a few weeks ago so got a new bike helmet, a new scarf, LOTS of new clothes {workout stuff, maxi dresses & a few shirts} and some new water guns. Then her friend Rylie & her mom Wendy treated her to her favorite gift of the day... a manicure & pedicure. Here is her before & after.

I think she smiled the entire time. She had never done that before & was pretty darn excited! I think she's had a pretty good day so far. We have plans for dinner with friends tonight & then family dinner to celebrate Marin & Mike's birthday tomorrow. Big weekend for sure! Lots of cake included...It's great to be eight!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! We love you so much & are excited to keep celebrating with you!!! xo

We had a busy & fun Memorial Day weekend. I am still unpacking & trying to catch up on laundry. That is a good sign that the weekend was a success! Friday & Saturday Gary and I went up to Door County with three other couples while the chicks spent some time with Grandma. It was so nice to get away for a night. Gary did some golfing, us girls shopped, we played some yard games & enjoyed a few great meals together. It was definitely hard to leave after having such a relaxing & fun two days.

The chicks had a great time with Grandma as well. They visited the zoo where Grandma treated them to blue slushies {their favorite!} and even got to have dinner at Culvers {another favorite}! We totally appreciated her helping out for the night. Once we got home we packed up & headed out again. This time to Madison so I could photograph a wedding. The weather didn't cooperate... rained the ENTIRE day which made it extremely hard to take photos, but I did it! So glad it's over! While I was busy at work the girls spent some time with Grandma CeCe, Grandpa Larry and their cousins. It was another busy day for us all... the girls were clearly exhausted. Slept the entire way home.

The rain was SO bad on our drive home. Really bad down pours the entire way, but we made it home safely by about 11pm. Everyone crawled into bed & we were up early to go to the Memorial Day Parade! We were a little unsure because of the weather but we gave it a go. It did rain on & off throughout the parade but we all still had fun.

Tons of candy as always & this year some fun balloon animals too. I love this pic of Hayden, Margaux, Bhodi & Maeve all holding hands waiting for the parade to start. They all had so much fun!

On to the next big event. Three more sleeps until Marin turns EIGHT years old. I can hardly believe it. She is beyond excited & we can't wait to celebrate with her! xoxo

Hard to believe that in a few weeks Margaux will be done with Kindergarten. The year went by way too fast & she definitely seems too little to be going to 1st grade!!! My little Margaux is growing up too fast. Yesterday she had her end of the year program at school. Gary, Maeve & I went and had lunch with Margaux & brought her a few treats before her program started. {Her program was right after lunch.} They sang a few adorable songs & even had a little number that included some of the group playing instruments. Margaux was picked to play the whistle. It was a long little whistle that made the cutest noise. Made us all laugh.

After the program we watched a cute slideshow of the kids throughout the year & they had a small cookie/juice social for the families. She's had a great year with her teacher Mrs. Schmidt. She has been so wonderful to Margaux & taught her so much. Margaux is even beginning to talk a bit more! She is soooo shy at school. No idea where that comes from, she's CRAZY at home!

She was fortunate enough to have some of her close friends in class with her. Fingers crossed some of them get placed in the same class again next year! They have so much fun together.

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Katie & baby Sloane joined us for the program too! Margaux had a big crew there watching her. Marin even got to skip class to enjoy the show. She felt pretty special.

We were so proud of her, she really did a great job singing. It was an adorable program. We think Margaux is the cutest kindergartener in town...Love you to pieces Margaux! xoxo

Whoops! I forgot to post on Mother's Day!

I had a great day with Gary & the chicks. They let me sleep in a bit in the morning. As I was waking up I could tell that they were peeking in at me waiting for me to wake up. Once they realized I was awake I could tell that there was a rush of something going on in the kitchen. Minutes later this arrived on my lap in bed...

I have never had breakfast in bed before. They worked really hard to make my favorite cereal and even placed in on the special plate for me. The breakfast was nice but seeing how excited the girls were made it all the more special. I think this is the first year that they even knew that breakfast in bed existed. Now Maeve has been telling me for days that all she wants for her birthday is breakfast in bed!!! It was a fun, relaxing day though. Exactly what I wanted.

Tuesday was National Bike to School Day. Perfect timing for Marin, she got a new bike on Sunday!!! She was pretty excited to be able to bike to school with a few of the neighbor girls {I rode along with them since it was their 1st time}. 

Since then, they've been biking to school every day. It's become a normal thing. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been great. Hopefully next week will be warmer... it's been so cold all week!

The good news is there are not many days of school left until summer break!! Seventeen to be exact. I saw this cute little countdown today while I ran into school. Had to snap a pic...

 Crazy to think they'll be done so soon. Margaux had her end of the year kindergarten program today too. I will post those pics tomorrow!! Adorable, just as we expected! xo

It's been a while since I've posted. We've been a little distracted with the new addition to our family. 

Sloane Sara Johnson! {Pretty great middle name if you ask me!} Between the 50 hour labor {we were there a LONG time} and now them being home... the days are just flying by. There has not been a day that has gone by in the past week that the girls haven't asked if we can go to Mike & Katie's to see Sloane. They all just love their little cousin to pieces. Here are a few photos of their 1st meeting. Maeve made it very clear before hand that she was going to be the first one to hold her & she was! We heard a lot of "aww's" and "she is so cute!" Makes my baby look so big!

Marin was second & equally as excited. It is so great to see how well she does with the baby. Being almost 8, she is a little pro! Even asked if she could walk around holding her! 

And then Margaux took her turn. She was content just holding her & looking at all her little features. All three of them smiled so perfectly for my camera. {which they NEVER do} You could definitely see the love & excitement in their smiles. They gave her many kisses & each took turns holding her twice while we were there.

We even brought cupcakes & sang Happy Birthday to Sloane in the hospital. The chicks thought that was pretty cool! Home now for over a week & we are all in love. She is just too precious. We can not get enough of her!! We are fortunate to have them living so close so we are able to walk over there many nights to say hello. Maeve loved feeding her a bottle too...

Who wouldn't love this sweet little face & full head of hair?

She is such a fun little addition to our family. We can't wait to watch her grow! xoxo