I've noticed a little weed growing in our garden. Well, I thought it was a weed, and while my mom and I were doing some yard work, she decided to pull it. As she dug around it, she saw this:

This past Mother's Day I wrote about the phone call I received that morning. My grannie's aneurysm had ruptured, and she was in ICU. (See here to read that post and see some beautiful pics of Grannie.) Sadly, the following Tuesday, my family gathered around her in the hospital room and sang some old hymns while the ventilator was turned off. On Thursday, we paid our final respects as we laid her to rest. It's very cliched, but Heaven really did get sweeter.

Since her passing, I have whispered many prayers for my family. I lost my brother in 1994 and my father in 2009. Both deaths affected me horribly, but with them being 15 years apart, I had time to heal and adjust in between each loss. I hurt for my aunt and uncles because they had less than a year in between the death of their brother and mother. I hurt for my grandfather because he spent over 60 years married to one amazing woman who comforted him through the deaths of his parents, siblings, grandson and son. And now he is dealing with loss for the first time without her. I hurt for all of them as they travel to Arizona next week without Grannie to the ranch where my dad died. I wish I was going with them, but I have responsibilities here (SG's last day of school is June 9, which shocked me. I think that is way too late for school to go, but oh well).

So, since Robert is overseas and I am not traveling with my family, my mom flew up here to spend time with the kids and me. We have had a wonderful week, and we still have 2 days left.

I love spending time with my mom. We have always had a great relationship. The kind you see in the movies where the mom and daughter shop together, talk about boys, cry together and are just best friends. I have always known that I can tell her anything, and that even if we disagree, she will still be understanding and listen to my opinion. I have learned from her how to truly listen to and play with my kids, to treat them equally, fairly and gently, and to be patient with them. Ok...I am still working on the patient part. But at least she has given me something to aspire to.

She has been the "World's Best Mom" to me, and now she is the "World's Best Nana" to my kids. They both just light up when they see her. It's been so nice to hear them say "Nana Nana Nana" rather than "Mommy Mommy Mommy" this week. She has given in to their every whim from walks to the park to toys at Target. Today she treated us to a fun trip to the Morton Arboretum, and tomorrow we are going to do yard work and make personalized stepping stones. Her visit has really helped my month of May end on a good note.

When she leaves on Monday, I feel like I have gotten the refresher I've needed to face the last week without Robert and the strength I will need to face June 4 (the one year mark of my dad's death).

So thank you Mom for being so AMAZING and loving my little family. We love you too!

I am thankful for...

I absolutely adore feather and branch. Danae makes the cutest jewelry. Robert bought me some really great earrings from her for mother's day. I wear them ALL the time!

She is having a giveaway, so go check her out at her blog or her etsy shop. But...don't enter the giveaway because I want to win this one. (smile)

On this Thursday, I am very thankful for a family who is quick to spend time with my kids at Foster family gatherings. They are loving my kids and helping to fill the gap since my dad passed away. We are very blessed to have them in our lives!

Today started out as nice mother's day. I wore the corsage necklace Shiloh-Grace made for me, and I had planned on calling my mom, stepmom, aunt, ma-maw and grannie after church to wish them all a happy mother's day. But on my way to church this morning, my aunt called me with some shocking news.


Grannie, my dad's mom, was rushed to the hospital this morning because the aneurysm in her brain erupted. They have called all the family to come in because things are not looking good at all. She is 81 and has lived a long, wonderful life. She is one of the Godliest women I know. She has loved me and my family so much. Please pray for her and for all of us. We are leaving right now to drive down to Louisiana to be with her and our family.


I had planned on writing a post about my mom and how special she is to me. I mean right now, she is trying to figure out how she can get from her home in North Carolina to Louisiana to take care of my kids while Robert and I spend time at the hospital and with the Foster family. My mom is amazing...so there will be a post about her soon!


For now though, I will be thinking on my Grannie and all the wonderful memories I have of her. If this is her time to go, then I will be thinking of her reunion with my dad and my brother. Wow...what a reunion that will be!!!


We love you Grannie!

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned how the Johnson household would be doing some downsizing. We did! And it feels great!

While Shiloh-Grace was at school and Huck was napping, I went through all of Huck's toys and the "shared" toys. I got rid of all the junk! (Well, it's junk to us, but it will be a treasure to whomever buys it at Goodwill). The kids haven't even asked about those missing toys!!!

Going through Shiloh-Grace's room was another story. I let her keep 4 out of 15 Barbies and 2 changes of clothes for each of them. She cut her My Little Pony collection in half. She went through her dress up clothes and jewelry and toy kitchen foods. I was so proud of her! She only had one small breakdown during all of this. She wanted to keep all 6 stuffed animals, but I told her she could only have 3. Robert had to come in and hold her for a bit because she wasn't liking me too much. In the end she went from having 2 toy boxes full of dolls and stuffed animals down to 1. Eventually, I want to get rid of all the Barbies because she never plays with them. I think she just wants them because she feels "cool" having some barbies. But they just sit in their box taking up space.

We ended up taking about 3 trash bags full of toys to Goodwill. WOW!

Robert and I went through our closets and got rid of a ton of clothes and shoes! Our closet had so much room after the purge that we were able to move Robert's chest of drawers in there. And that made our bedroom feel so much bigger!

We still have to get down in the basement and purge it, but that task will take a lot of time and a good babysitter!

We also emptied out our pantry and fridge of all GMOs (genetically modified organisms). It all started when we watched "Food Inc" back in January and "The Future of Food" a couple of weeks ago.

I used to be extremely healthy thanks to growing up with a vegetarian mother. But when Huck was born, we fell off the wagon! Last year, when Robert and I got into running and joined Weight Watchers (so we could lose the baby weight), we got back on the weight loss wagon, but not the health food wagon. Today I am proud to say that the Johnson family is back on both wagons in full force! :)

We downloaded Green Peace's shoppers guide to being GMO free and learned what brands to buy and what stores to shop in. I also visited eatwild.com to find out where I can buy local meat and dairy products. We have found two great farmer's markets close to our home. The Aurora Farmer's Market is only open from July - Oct, and the other is the Geneva Green Market. They have something year round. And we planted our very first garden today...I am super excited about this and will blogging about it very soon!!!

So after the massive purging that went on the last couple of weeks, our home is cleaner, less cluttered and much healthier to live in! And it feels great!

Who needs loud, obnoxious toys when you can have moments like this: