{happy holidays}

We hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season, making memories with your sweet families :) 

I know we are!

Merry Christmas & a happy new year! 

We will be back after the holidays are over & life calms down a bit

Until we return, here is something to make you smile

Giuliana met Santa for the first time last week...

as you can see, she did NOT like him all that much

I'm pretty sure she was tramatized

Is it awful that i think it is hilarious?

Merry Christmas :) 

{here we go..}

So, this happened yesterday

We could not believe it!! 

We were at my in-laws house & Giuliana was playing with different ornaments from their tree, passing them back & forth to her Jojo {grandpa}.  

We were all just talking as she played & talked, then we all looked over & there she was, standing! All by herself!!! We were all just in total shock! She stayed standing long enough for us all to fumble & grab our phones to get a picture. 

After she sat back down, we couldnt get her to do it again. Of course!

But, this is proof that it DID happen, & I think that she will be walking & standing on a regular basis very very soon!

& so it begins :) 

Happy saturday, hope everyone has a great weekend!

{A special birthday}

Yesterday was Giulianas 1st birthday

I cannot believe she is already one! 

I know i speak for both my husband & I when i say that this year has gone by faster than any year of our lives!

Our sweet girl seems so grown up now. She crawls around super fast, stands & holds onto things as she walks around, she tries to sing, she dances, she points at things all day long saying "uts dis?" she is so curious & smart! 

To celebrate her birthday, we invited all of our friends & family over to our house. All the kids played while the adults just spent time talking. It was nice to see everyone all together.

The theme for her birthday party was a winter wonderland, which was perfect since we have our christmas tree & other decorations up for the holidays. 

I made a giant snowflake out of popsicle sticks & stuck it on our door to greet our guests, My sister & I hung cotton balls on thread from the ceiling to look like snow, & we had a hot chocolate bar with all kinds of toppings & snacks. It looked awesome & was a lot of fun! 

{Made this banner from doilies & sticky gold letters}

{The Birthday Girl!!!}

{She loves her daddy}

{Playing with her silly friends}

{Eating her cupcake, her first sugar!! Needless to say, she LOVED it}

{4 generations. William, G, WIlliams Grandma & mommy}

Yesterday was also WIlliams Grandma Virginias birthday! Its so sweet that G shares a birthday with her great grandma :) Happy Birthday Grandma Virginia! We love you!

& Happy birthday our sweet, happy, lovable, cuddly, talkative, curious, smart little munchkin!

We cannot wait to see the fun things you will do in the years to come. 

We love you so very much

Love mum & dad

{DIY pallet garden}

Want to make this?

Here's how!

You will need a drill, Wood screws, flower bed liner, {or i just used a frost protection blanket, much cheaper!! $11 at home depot}

Oh & a pallet :) 

Ive had this pallet sitting in my backyard for 6 months waiting to do this project. So you can imagine my excitement when it finally came time.

Ok, so using your drill & screws, Attatch a DOUBLE layer of backing to your pallet.

Cover all the sides & the back & secure with screws. This will ensure that no dirt leaks out.

I put screws in the back of the pallet too, along the beams, just so that the dirt wouldn't accumulate into one big pocket in the back once i leaned it up against the wall. 

I chose to use annuals. They came in packs of 6 plants.

I cut them all into individual plants & this made it easier to play around with plant placement, before planting. 

Once you have decided where you want to place your plants, pour a layer of potting soil into the pallet. Take your plants out of their little containers, & place them in the slats. Then, handful by handful, use the rest of the potting soil to fill the empty spaces. Be sure to pack it tightly so that everything stays in its place. 

Place your pallet up against your chosen wall, water it, & you're done! 

It was a pretty easy project! My little sister, Sarah, came over to help me with it & we finished the entire project in a couple hours.

Oh.. & my other helper, little miss Giuliana, decided that instead of helping mama, she wanted to sample some of our other plants while mommy was busy working away. Yuck!

Sneaky girl! 

Hey, at least she chose the mint plant..

Happy Sunday :) 

{happy thanksgiving}

This was G's first thanksgiving & i am pretty sure she had a great time munching on turkey, green beans, stuffing, & sweet potatoes :)

We spent the entire day with our family & friends & it was Fabulous!

We have so much to be thankful for this year & always.

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!

love the johnstons

{happy birthday my love}

To the handsome, sweet, hard working, loving man that is my husband:

23 years ago you were born, & i am so thankful 

Over the last 8 years, you have become a big part of my life in so many ways

You have been such a wonderful friend, boyfriend, husband & now, a wonderful father to our sweet little girl

words cannot express the amount of love, respect & appreciation i have for you

I promise to love you for the rest of forever

Happy Birthday

{our family celebration}

{William, his broher James, My mother in law & g, My father in law, My mom, my sister} 

{Willy wanted devils food donuts as his special treat this year}

Make a wish!!

Happy birthday Daddy! 

{from our very VERY dirty lasagna covered baby}

{Halloween 2012}

This year was G's first halloween! 

We went with a disney theme for our costumes. 

Little miss G was Cinderella! We bought her sweet little cinderella onesie at the disney store & I made her Crown.

William & i were "A hipster version" of rapunzel & flynn ryder :) We just threw together clothes we already had and made it work! It actually turned out pretty well! I was surprised.

We walked our neighborhood as we always do & visited with friends & family, then came back home & TONS of our friends, family, & other people showed up at our house. Seriously, people we didnt even know were walking through our door! It was crazy! But oh so much fun :) We put G to bed & everyone ate snacks, drank apple cider punch, & played old school Mario Brothers on our Nintendo NES. It was a great night :) 

Hope everyone had a fun halloween!!

oh, & here are the recipes for the Cider punch & our halloween snack!
Enjoy :)

Apple Cider punch

6 Cups apple cider

2 Cups OJ

1/2 C lemon juice

1 Bottle Martinellis Sparkling cider

Monster munch

ok i just threw stuff in the jar and mixed it together

this is what i used:

Candy corn

Chocolate gold fish

Golden Grahams 

Caramel corn

Cashews

honey nut cheerios

Pretzels

Pretzel m&ms

Reeses pieces

{Walk for life}

What is it: a fundraiser for Crisis pregnancy center, a non profit organization

When is it: November 3rd 2012

Who does it benefit: The mothers who come into Crisis pregnancy center, seeking help, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, parenting classes, counseling, etc.

My friend Illyssa is an employee at Crisis pregnancy center here in Arizona.

She, along with her co-workers, are trying to raise money for the center so that they can better help mothers to be that may come into the center. 

This year, the walk has a super hero theme. 

How fun is that?! 

If you would like more information, please Click here.

By following this link & Choosing to donate, it will place you on Illyssas' team

Hoping to see you there! Miss G & I will be waiting :)

{oh & if you feel like spreading the word, please do! just post a link to this blog post on your facbook, twitter, etc.}

{DIY lace crown}

If you are on pinterest, i am sure you have seen this tutorial for making crowns out of lace.

I have had my eye on this project for quite some time, & with halloween just around the corner, i knew that now was the perfect time to finally get the chance to test out this seemingly easy project. 

It really was as easy as the tutorial made it seem! 

since i was making it for G, our 10 month old daughter, i decided to make a mini version to go with her halloween costume, one that would actually stay on her little head! 

You will need:

A toilet paper/paper towel roll

fabric stiffener

tacky glue

Glitter

Paint

Lace

Paint brush 

Jewels 

a headband

Soak your lace in the fabric stiffener for about 15 minutes

{Wrap tape around your toilet paper roll, to make it easier to slide the lace crown off once done}

once the lace is done soaking,  wrap your lace around the toilet paper roll, & connect the ends with lots of glue

Place your toilet paper rolls  in your parchment paper lined microwave.

Heat in 30 second increments until DRY

Once dry, spray the lace crowns on the toilet paper rolls with fabric stiffener & replace back inth microwave & heat in 30 second incriments until DRY

Repeat spraying & microwaving until crown becomes hard

once crown is done, pull the crown off the roll

Paint your crown & add some sparkle! 

Once done painting, return crown to the toilet paper roll & leave there until dry

The roll will help the crown keep its round shape

Once dry, your crowns will look like this!

arent they cute?

I glued a crown onto a silver headband so that it will stay better on G's sweet little head :)

After halloween, i will post a picture of G in her costume with her little homemade crown 

I cant wait! 

Is anyone else working on a project for halloween?

Happy friday!