Cade Miller Johnson

I've waited to write anything about Cade on our blog mostly because I didn't know what to say and I also wanted to respect Lindsey and Brandon's privacy. She has since given me the ok. I still don't really know what to say...my heart breaks for Lindsey and Brandon. I have no idea what they are going through but I wish we could wipe it all away. They have been so strong through all of this and I am so proud of how brave Lindsey has been. Cade's memorial service was on Monday and it was beautiful. Ryleigh and Tanner both attended and took flowers. Ryleigh really liked getting to take the flowers up to the grave. She felt like she was doing something good for him. Ryleigh and Tanner have been so good about everything. Isn't it funny how kids take in everything. They talk about Cade daily as if they knew him. They talk about coloring him pictures and wishing he could spend the night for 88 days. They talk about how much fun he is having in heaven. Tanner even said "Well I bet he's happy up there. He has Paw Paw Chuck, Uncle Sean, Paw Paw Buddy, Jesus and God. He has all kinds of friends!" As adults we tend to shy away from using names of babies who have passed or we don't talk about it often because we don't know what to say. I love how Ryleigh and Tanner embrace the memory of Cade. I plan to do the same. We love you Cade Miller Johnson!

Weekend

It's amazing that we had a jam packed weekend but I didn't take any pictures. It was actually kinda a nice break to not be worried about snapping pictures of everything but now when I sit down to do this I wish I had some. :(

Friday night we had cake for Mom and Aunt Lisa's birthday. Afterwards Ryleigh was spending the night with a friend and poor Tanner was heartbroken. He said "Ryleigh gets to have all the fun! It's not fair!" So Aunt Velvet felt sorry for him and he stayed with her. They love getting to sleep in her big bed!

Saturday we got up bright and early to get ready for opening day at Tball. Tanner's game was at 9:30. (Should have taken a picture of him in his uniform to insert here. He was so cute!)
He did so well! He played catcher and third. After his game we picked up Ryleigh and went to watch Evan pitch. He did great! Bless Aunt Velvet's heart though because I would be so stressed out if that was Tanner out there pitching.

Once we were done there we walked over to the azalea festival. I normally LOVE the azalea festival but by the time we got there it was pretty hot and the kids were getting tired. So we just stayed for a little while. It still was fun though. I love the Semmes Community and any event that promotes the community.

We then headed downtown for lunch. We went to The Spot of Tea and then headed to the boat show. Yay air conditioning!! They have a room there where it's a lot of stuff from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Tanner LOVED this. He literally played in there for a hour before we went in the boat show and a hour when we left. They had all kids of fish and things that live in the ocean in this shallow tank that you could touch and hold. He was in heaven! (Insert wish that I would have taken a picture). I don't want to say to much about the boat show because my stress level was high going into it but you all will be happy to know that at the end of it Ryan and I are still married. I know a few people were worried that we may end up in divorce court! :)

We ended Saturday night with Foosackleys and a boat ride on Fowl river. It was so beautiful. The moon was huge!! We were out on the boat until almost 9 so when we got back to the dock and loaded the kids up in the car they were out before we even pulled out of the parking lot. We had a fun but busy day. We all were exhausted!!

Sunday we went to church and then grabbed lunch at Subway. We were planning on taking Gill's boat out but his grandmother had to be rushed to the hospital so we headed home instead. The afternoon was spent riding dirtbikes and 4wheelers back and forth to Aunt Lisa's and Uncle Terry's. They love going back and forth 100 times a day. I'm so thankful they live right beside us even though sometimes they probably aren't! (Like when they are trying to take a Sunday afternoon nap!)

Now we are looking forward to a busy week ahead. It's going to be full of Tball games and practices, dance, school, homework, bridesmaids lunches, rehearsal dinner and weddings. Very Fun week ahead!!

Friday's Letter

Dear Ryan, The boat show is this weekend. I hope you have fun drooling over all the boats you wish were yours. I also hope you are smart enough to know not to come home with one. Dear Mcallister's Manager, thank you for making my lunch today delightful! You are a wonderful example of great customer service! Dear Tanner, I'm sorry you can't spend the night with Madisson and Journey tonight when Ryleigh does. I know it doesn't seem fair but you aren't a girl. Looks like you'll be hanging out with me and Dad! Dear Lindsey, I love you. Just thought you may like to know that this week. Dear weekend, I'm looking forward to a beautiful weekend. We have opening day of tball and the azalea festival tomorrow. Nothing sounds better to me than a Saturday with my crew. Dear Ryleigh, this past week I had to register you for kindergarten, KINDERGARTEN. How are you old enough for Kindergarten??Dear Ryan, I really, really hope our marriage is strong enough to survive the boat show. Like I said last week I love you more than you would love a new boat but that is subject to change this weekend. This boat show is making me very nervous. :)

Ryleigh & Tanner's Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had the kids birthday party. This is the first year since Tanner's first birthday that we had it at home. We normally rent Jumps a lot or something like that. This year though the kids decided they wanted to have it at moms and have a inflatable slide. They also wanted to have some kids spend the night.

I can't believe my baby girl is almost 5! I LOVE their shirts Gill made them. Every year he makes them shirts as their present to wear at their party. He does such a good job and I really appreciate it. Thanks Gill!

Tan Man is now officially 4! He said he wasn't going to be 4 until his party. He didn't understand that he was 4 3 weeks ago!
I LOVE Ryleigh's face in this picture!

We had a ton of kids there. I think I think I counted one time and there were like 21. Thank you to everyone who came!

This is Ryleigh's friend Madisson. Madisson made Ryleigh the cutest shirt for her birthday. She wrote her name on it and I love you and then BFF. She also decorated it with hearts and things. It was so sweet! Thank you Madisson and Katrina!

Will someone please cut that poor boys hair. It's starting to look pretty bad. :)

This was their present from me and Ryan. It's a yamaha 50 dirt bike. I had a ton more pictures of all the kids riding it and Ryan running behind them with a rope he tied to it but my computer wouldn't upload them.

Funny story about the dirtbike-The night before Tanner went out to Ryan's truck without us knowing to get something he left. Well he found the helmet, goggles and chest protector. He brought them all in and asked what they were for. We told him they were Austins (Gill's nephew who has a dirtbike). He was fine with that answer and tried them on and then went and put them back. So the next day at his party when we gave them the dirtbike he didn't act real excited. We thought he just was overwhelmed at all the people and presents so we didn't think much about it. Later that night he told us that he was glad Austin had brought his dirtbike over. The whole time he thought it was Austin's dirtbike and he was just getting to ride it! When we assured him that it was his he went crazy with excitement! I was glad because we were a little disappointed at first!

After the party the kids had some friends spend the night. Originally it was going to be 2 friends each for a total of 4. In the end we ended up with NINE!! Here is a picture of some of them. We added more as the night went on. They had SOOOO much fun and I'm so glad everyone got to stay. They were all so good and didn't argue at all. They just played and played and played some more! All the girls got dressed up in costumes and makeup and put on Ryleigh's new Justin Beiber Cd she got for her birthday and put on a show for us. They were so cute!

The next morning they got up and played outside all morning until everyone started leaving around lunch time.

I honestly think Ry and Tan had more fun at the slumber party and playing on Sunday than they did at the actual party!

Thank you so much for everyone who came! We are so thankful to have so many friends and family members who love us so much! They had a great birthday!!

Happy Birthday Mi Mi

We want to wish Happy Birthday to the greatest Mi Mi ever!

She knows that no matter how old you are you you are never to old to spend a Sunday playing on an inflatable slide with your grandkids and their friends. We wish you many more years to make memories with the people who love you the most. Thank you for everything you do for us. We love you!

Happy Birthday!

Friday's Letter

Dear Ryan, Your text to me yesterday morning made me smile. I'm so glad that after 10 years together I still smile when I see your name on my phone. Dear people who live with me, I am not thanking you guys for turning the inside of our house into a soccer field. You guys are lucky you didn't break anything. Dear Weekend, I'm so glad you are going to be beautiful for the kids birthday party! Thank you! Dear Tanner, I bet tonight you are going to be the best 2nd baseman we have ever seen! Good luck in your first game. Dear Ryleigh, even though your party is tomorrow I would like to remind you that you will not officially be 5 until April 6th. Stop rushing it! Dear Mom, I hope the letter Ryleigh sent you in the mail this week made you want to come home to Wilmer. We miss having you next door. Dear Aunt Velvet, operation starve ourselves officially starts on Monday! Don't eat anything until you feel like you are going to pass out and then eat a cube of cheese! (FYI-we aren't serious it's off a movie) (Well actually I may be a little serious..bathing suit season is coming up ya know.) Dear Soccer Star, in the above letter to you I failed to mention that although I love seeing your name on my phone I don't like reading any messages that refer to any type of boat you want to buy. I'm sick of boat talk. I love you more than you would love a 30 foot center console cape horn with twin motors. AND BELIEVE ME THAT'S ALOT!

Let the Tball season begin!

So it has started again...yep, I'm talking about Tball. To be honest I was NOT looking forward to it. Any time I even thought about it I would have flashbacks to last year. It was TERRIBLE. Every game and practice was a struggle. He hated it and I hated making him go but think if you start something then you have to finish it. So he finished the year out. Every game and every practice. There were still many tears shed but he finished and I was so proud of him.

When it came time to register for Tball again this year I didn't really want him to play. I asked Ryan about maybe letting him try soccer instead. In soccer you just practice one night a week and have one game a week on Saturday as opposed to Tball where you are literally at the ball park 4 nights a week. Ryan said no, he really wanted him to try Tball again.

When we asked Tanner about it he seemed pretty excited to play. His first practice was Monday night and I'm happy to report he did EXCELLENT!!!! No tears, no fighting, no whining. I was so proud of him!!! He got to play pitcher all night so the majority of the balls were hit to him. He would get them and throw it straight to first just like he was suppose to. It was so great!!

You can see Ryan in the background of the first picture. Tanner said he wanted Ryan to coach if he was going to play. I thought that was a horrible idea and told them both that. I just knew if Tanner hated it and spent most of the game crying and pouting then he wouldn't want Ryan out on the field! :) But I will admit that maybe I was wrong...I think that Ryan being out there really helped Tanner and made him pay attention and play. I guess we will see a few games in if I was actually wrong or right!

Let the Tball season begin...Go Braves!!

Paint Pals & Slumber Parties

I know it's Wednesday and I'm just posting the weekend but we have been crazy busy. This past weekend we went to Lincoln and Lindell's birthday party at Paint Pals. The kids had a lot of fun.
Ryleigh really enjoyed it and surprisingly Tanner did to. He normally doesn't like crafty type things but he painted his whole picture. The lady that owns the place had her dog Tucker there and Tanner loved playing with him. He has still been talking about him since then!

Here is Ryleigh's picture.

And here is Tan Man's. Ryan actually painted one as well and I think I'm going to hang all 3 in a row in Tanner's room. I thought the kids pictures turned out really cute.

Saturday night we had a lot of friends over to eat and just hang out. I love nights like that. Everyone just brings a finger food and we just hang out. A lot of us have kids so they just go in the kids rooms and play. My friend Katrina's daughter Madisson wanted to stay the night that night.

The thing about Madisson staying is that she never spends the night with many people other than like her grandmother. So we really didn't know if she would stay. Thankfully she did just fine! I was really hoping I didn't have to call Katrina at 2 am! :)
I love all 3 of those sweet girls! I hope they grow up to be friends forever!

Friday's Letter

Dear Ryan, The above picture shows that you love me. who else would stop by the store on their way home from work to buy all of my favorite things. Dear Ryleigh, making you turn off your TV every night after 30 minutes of watching it before bed has made all the difference in you getting up in the morning. Dear Tanner, 4 shots this week! You did pretty good. Well pretty good if you don't count all the screaming and crying. Dear Weekend, it's kinda nice not having any real plans for you. Dear Lil' Ryan, Happy Early Birthday! I think it is terrible that your birthday falls on a Saturday and the DMV is closed until Thursday of next week. That's just awful! Dear Lindsay, I cannot BELIEVE I missed your "Facebook Official" status! Dear Steven Tyler, I had just told Ryan the night before how cute I thought you were. He said I was crazy and you solidified his argument when you wore the shirt you wore last night. What were you thinking?? Dear Ryan, I enjoyed our night last night. Nothing beats a cup of milk, cadbury eggs, reese's cups and you by my side! I love you more than chocolate binge and reality TV!

Favorites

Tanner had to do this project for school so I thought it would be fun to as Ryleigh as well. We added a few questions to. Ryleigh's answers are first then Tanners.

Favorite food: cookies | lemon pie
Favorite TV show: Dora | Dog the Bounty Hunter and Billy the Exterminator (I know, random)
Favorite color: light pink | yellow
Favorite story: Bible | Noah
Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast | Monsters Inc.
Favorite time of the day: Lunchtime | lunchtime
Favorite thing to do with Mom: Stay home all day and play | color and play playdough
Favorite thing to do with Dad: play outside | fishing
Favorite place to eat: Shogun | McDonalds
Best Friend: Karlee | Austin