Easter Continues...

Mark riding his new bike
Makenna riding her new bike

Mark and Makenna with Grandpa and Grandma J.

The Johnson Family

After we left Lafayette we drove to Matt's parents house to continue our Easter Celebration with them. It was really nice to spend time with them and Judy made a wonderful dinner for us. Craig and Judy decided to get Mark and Makenna each a new bike for their house so they can all go on bike rides together through their new neighborhood. They were of course super excited to pick out a new bike and start riding. After changing clothes, they were outside in no time. After that they flew kites and ran around. It was a crazy busy day, but we had a great time seeing everyone. There's nothing better than spending time with family.

Family Time

I know...amazing...a pic with ME and the kids!
I call this the Marci and Matt Prom Picture :)

The Girls

The Boys

We got some great family shots when we were in Lafayette!

Easter Brunch - Lafayette, IN

As soon as Church ended, we (+Marci) were off to Lafayette, IN to have Brunch with Cebra, Mike, Myrna, Jeff, Courtney, Terry, and AnnaRose. It was a really cute place that was like a big barn in the middle of nowhere. We lucked out and the weather was really nice so we were able to get some great pictures before and after we ate. It was great to see everyone, especially AnnaRose, since she is getting so big. We had a great time visiting with everyone!

Easter Morning

Their Easter Baskets
Before we went to Church

He loves his new Wii Game!

Chocolate Bunny...Yum!

Well...our Easter Morning was a quick one. We were up at 7am, had to get dressed, eat breakfast, and "find" Easter Baskets all before we had to leave at 8am for Church. It was a rush, but we made it through. And Mark and Makenna enjoyed all of their Easter treats!

Football or Softball?

Here are some videos of Mark and Makenna playing football with Uncle Mike. After having a bad "tackle" experience with Mark pulling Makenna to the ground, we had to incorporate the 2 hand touch rule. Then Mark took a break and it was just Mike and Makenna. I don't think football is Makenna's game, but the way she was throwing the football she may be a softball pitcher someday. She can really whip the ball around! Enjoy the games!

Easter Egg Hunt

Mark playing catch with Uncle Mike

Makenna throwing the football with Uncle Mike

Mark so pround of all of his eggs!

Makenna running to get more eggs

Makenna and Mark being The Easter Bunny

Cebra, Myrna, and Makenna in their aprons

Matt's Aunt Cebra and Uncle Mike has us over on Saturday for an Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch with the family. Mark and Makenna were so excited and it couldn't have turned out to be a nicer day. Finally, the first nice day in probably the past 2 weeks. It was great. Aunt Cebra and Aunt Myrna outdid themselves and had about 100 eggs. Not only were some of them filled with candy, but others were filled with money, and some had little pieces of paper with prizes on them that they got to pick out of a prize basket. It was amazing. They were in Heaven. Afterwards they went outside and played football with Uncle Mike and blew bubbles. It was a great day and they had so much fun!

Happy Easter

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Easter Beauties

The only picture of Mark where his eyes are almost open
Isn't she just the most beautiful girl ever!

The only decent one I got of the 2 of them...

Here are some of the Easter Pictures I took of the kids. I took these the one nice day we had a couple weeks ago so it was really sunny and Mark couldn't keep his eyes open so I didn't get a lot of good pictures. But here are a few that were somewhat decent...

Twinkle Toes

You can see the sparkle
Stomping her foot to make them "light up"

Finally a cute picture of them together!

So who knew that my 3 and 5 yr olds would be shoe snobs, but here we are. I was looking through a Kohl's Ad one day and Makenna said, "Look Mom, Twinkle Toes Shoes. I really want a pair." I thought she made up the whole "twinkle toes" part b/c they had little sparkles on the front. And then I saw the words next the the shoes..."Sketchers Twinkle Toes." I couldn't believe it. Turns out they are all the rage and my 3 year old daughter was wanting a pair. Then Mark proceeded to say, "Why can't I have a pair of Sketchers? I want a pair." Wow. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that this would start so young. My friend said that her daughter who is in Kindergarten was being made fun of because she didn't have Sketchers. Kindergarten! What has this world come to. But anyway, my mom and I were at Kohl's the other day and since they were already on sale and then she had a 30% off coupon, she agreed to get them for her for her Birthday and since she won't be here next month for her party she decided to give them to her before she left yesterday. Makenna was ecstatic. She was sooo excited to put them on and wear them to school to show all of the other girls. I'm glad she's so happy, but I still just think it's a little crazy that fads are starting so young!

Happy Birthday Aunt Bethany!

Here is a video of Mark and Makenna singing Happy Birthday to my sister, Bethany, for her 33rd Birthday today. She will really like the video though b/c when they try to say 33rd, it comes out sounding more like 30st. So there you go Bet...You have subtracted 3 years! :) I guess now you're younger than me!

Mark Soccer - Game 2

Mark had his 2nd soccer game this past Saturday. It was wet, rainy, and muddy, but he didn't seem to mind. He is definitely starting to get more agressive toward the ball which is good. He even kicked the ball so hard at one point that it hit another player in the face and then he stopped cold, because he didn't know what to do after that and I think he felt so bad. No goals this week, but I think he is doing much better every time.

Happy Birthday Uncle Mike

Mark trying to help Uncle Mike blow out his candles

It was Matt's Uncle Mike's birthday last week and Aunt Cebra and him were nice enough to come over and let Mark and Makenna sing Happy Birthday to him. They brought over cake and cupcakes, which would win them over anyday. Afterwards, Mark asked Uncle Mike to fight with him of course, because that is still Mark's favorite thing to do, and Uncle Mike agreed. It was so funny listening to Mark's rules for him. He has such a great time with him and they just love their Uncle Mike so much!

Ice Cream Shop Field Trip

Eating Ice Cream Mark's class

Matt and my mom took Mark on his field trip the other day to an Ice Cream Shop downtown Valpo. Makenna was allowed to go too and she was thrilled. They were studying the letter "I" and were able to walk down the street from their school to go to the Ice Cream Parlor. They had a great time! Of course, Mark got chocolate and Makenna got vanilla. Matthew and I still don't know where she gets her love of vanilla, but it's definitely not from us!

Play Time with Grandma H

Grandma took Makenna to play at the park during Mark's practice Grandma pushed Makenna on the swings in the backyard

Grandma played Kan Jam with Mark and Makenna

My mom came to visit this past week to help me out since I had to have knee surgery. Mark and Makenna were SUPER excited to see her and spend time with her. They have loved playing numerous games with her and especially going outside to play. The weather was a lot nicer at the beginning of the week than it has been the past few days. They can't get enough and Makenna has wanted to do anything and everything with her Grandma H. She is quite the Grandma's girl!

Rainy Easter Egg Hunt

We had an Easter Egg Hunt at my work today, Rain or Shine. It happened to be raining, but Mark and Makenna didn't seem to care. They were just happy to be getting as many easter eggs as they could and then opening them up to see all the candy they got. Luckily it didn't take long to get all the eggs. Even though it was a wet day, they still had a good time.

Office Time

Mark and Makenna have a new love for playing on the computer. They love to play Nick Jr. games and PBS Kids games online. This particular day we had played outside for a long time and needed to come inside for some down time, so instead of watching a show, they each played on the computer while I got my own quiet time. It was very nice!

Deja Vu

Mark 4/10/11 Mark 9/9/06

This is still one of my all time favorite pics of him!

Mark was dressed so cute on Sunday for church so naturally I wanted to take his picture. After I did and I was looking through the pictures, I could not believe what I saw. It was like the day he was dressed for the Cutest Baby Popcorn Fest Parade, but 5 years later. So I have included the pictures from 5 years ago when he won. Even 5 years later, he is still just the cutest boy ever!

Beautiful Day

Last Sunday it was absolutely beautiful outside. I thought it would probably be my last chance to take the kids outside to play since I had to work all day Monday and Tuesday was my knee surgery. I took their Easter pictures, and even though they didn't turn out great, I thought after the torture they deserved to go and play, so I took them to Valplayso. After that we ran a couple errands and then went over to Craig and Judy's where they played outside again. It was a busy, but fun day!

Tennis Anyone?

We have definitely had our ups and downs with weather out here lately. It's beautiful one day and crappy the next. Once the kids got a taste of playing outside, that is all they want to do. So this particular day it was just way too cold and windy to play outside so we decided to bring the tennis inside. Mark and Makenna had a great time hitting the ball against the wall, and then even started making up games. They were getting empty bottles of water out of the recycle bin and seeing if they could hit it with the ball and knock it over. They were so proud.

The Star Wars Knight and Cowgirl

Here is a video of Mark and Makenna acting Silly. I think Mark thought I was taking a picture of him at first, and then realized it was a video. He still loves his knight stuff, but loves his star wars light savers. Makenna is still making up songs and dancing around. Enjoy!

Stylin'

Here are some pictures from Mark before Church. He was Lookin' Good!