Braces....again!

On Monday Brinley had her second set of braces put on!

(BEFORE)

Her first set included a palatal expansion process along with braces.

This set included a 6 month rubber band on bracket process 

prior to her teeth being ready for braces. 

(AFTER)

Here we go again!

Super Daddy

We made SUPER cards for a super Dad yesterday. 

These photo's are worth a thousand words.

We simply adore and admire this amazing man!! 

See how Avery is looking at him? Total admiration.

To a husband and father who embodies 

selflessness, sacrifice, commitment, faithfulness, charity, diligence and prioritizing family and fatherhood first!!

You are our HERO, mentor and friend. 

We are safe and happy when we are with you!

The Country Farm School Camp

The big girls are back from a week at 

The Country Farm School Camp in Amish country!

From the time I picked the children up at 3:00pm until 9:00pm we heard story after story about what an incredible time they had.

The girls were actually quite delighted about the 

strict rules and high expectations 

set by the "Grandma and Grandpa" that have run this farm camp for 40 years! 

They felt at home amongst a group of children whom where 100% electronic free all week. 

No mirrors, no watches, no make-up, no nail polish, no jewelry, no logos AND ABSOLUTELY no complaining allowed! Country farm school shirts, solid colored pants and straw hats were the attire for every child every day. 

The girls loved the dress code too!

Chores throughout the day 

included milking goats, feeding pigs, scooping poop, moving hay, shucking dried corn for animal feed, preparing food, cleaning up meals, exercising bunnies, bottle feeding baby goats, corralling various animals, washing laundry by hand and on and on. 

They LOVED these "chores!" Truly genuinely loved them!!

Creek walks, spinning wool, woodcrafting, bedtime stories, jumping in bails of hay and making forever friendships were plentiful when daily duties were completed. 

Cody and I always dream about living on a farm to provide the beautiful simplicity, built in responsibility and healthy freedom for our children to learn and explore and grow in...but for now The Country Farm school is the closest we can get!

Upon departure the tears were plentiful and discussions about next years camp started right away!

Fitness Instructor for Fifteen Years!

For the past 15 years teaching fitness has been a part of my identity! I love it! I love motivating people, I love pushing myself to grow and learn, I love developing relationships & friendships with members at the clubs I have worked at throughout the years...

HOWEVER, you know the truth?? It's also been really hard/ uncomfortable/difficult/exhausting at times.

It's HARD to be awake all night long with a baby and then head out to door in the early morning to teach back to back classes. It's HARD to teach when I've been sick, injured, nine months pregnant four times, nursing a newborn, it's HARD when you have four kiddos and you simply CANNOT be late to a class EVER and that list goes on.

It's always UNCOMFORTABLE the first time I stand on that stage to teach a new format...ALL 30 times I have taught new formats. In this picture I was teaching at a training to a room FULL of instructors. Guess what? When I was asked to teach at a master training 7 years ago do you think it was flowers and rainbows? NOPE, it was super intimidating and took some significant prep, and even though the thought of it made my stomach sick, I said "YES" anyways.

Sometimes it's hard to realize that you have a massive mountain to climb when you feel like you have only taken 10 steps...which is exactly how I felt the entire FIRST YEAR I was teaching, however, as I focused on just what that next step looked like and took it, soon enough I found myself at the top of my "Instructor" mountain.

I am SO glad I overcame, pushed on, climbed over and journey through those "hard, uncomfortable, difficult, exhausting" times, even though a part of me wanted to just give up many times!If I would have given up when the road was rough I cannot even fathom what I would have missed out on!

We teach our children ALL the time, that the most important accomplishments/decisions in life often times come only after and indeed through some of the utmost challenging obstacles. Take any worthwhile accomplishment and plug it into that scenario and I bet you it fits perfectly.

As I journey through motherhood I think of this often, because indeed, it is by FAR THE most challenging mountain I have every struggled to climb, EVER! Yet as I find the peeks the view is more miraculous than I can describe.

Aunt Kelty

Kelty has a heart of gold! 

She has made the effort time and time again to visit and be involved in our girls lives in many ways! When she is here she is totally engaged with the girls acting out original plays, doing face paint, playing games, jumping on the tramp...you name it! Even with a little girl of her own she never seems to tire of being SUCH an awesome aunt! She also calls and skypes the girls weekly to check in and connect and ask them how they are doing.

Over the years I have observed as Kelty has silently made ongoing efforts to love and serve those she sees who need an advocate and friend. 

She is compassionate and very sensitive to the needs of those around her.

I just went to get the mail and FOUR letters arrived from aunt Kelty, one for each of the girls. 

The girls LOVE getting aunt Kelty letters and other surprises in the mail.

Cheers and gratitude to my sibling Kelty Grace Johnson!

The Storey Family Visits

What a pleasure it was to host my cousin Ross, his wife Katy and their four beautiful children. 

They arrived yesterday evening and left this afternoon to continue on their cross-country journey. Even a night and half a day with this 

amazing couple and their children was lovely in many ways. 

Ross and Katy are salt of the earth people! Their devotion in their roles as parents is inspiring, their teamwork and commitment to one another is evident and the way they live their faith makes us want to become better people. 

It was heart-warming to observe the sweet friendships that quickly re-blossomed between the children. I am pretty sure there will be a tear or two come bedtime tonight!

Growing a TEAM

It's been a fast and fun launch into business over the past few months and I have been delighted to welcome 15 new consultants onto my growing team.

When we hit levels our sponsors do shout outs for us on social media.

My friend Kristin Tracy offered this sweet shout out when I hit level 3!

"I have the honor today to announce Leah's most recent promotion in her business to Level 3!!! Not only has she promoted 4 times since she started 4 months ago, but she also is getting her ENTIRE business kit reimbursed! So that means she has started this business for FREE!!! Leah leads an incredible team, she is dedicated, hard working and most importantly believes in this business, her team and most importantly herself!!! CONGRATULATIONS on your promotion to Level 3, I can't wait to see what you do next!!!!!"

And THEN, she created this one when I hit Level 4!

"This girl is on FIRE!!!!! I just made her Level 3 announcement a few days ago and now I am SO EXCITED to make her LEVEL 4 announcement!!!!!! Leah leads such a successful team, she is all about team work and helping others succeed. She is TRUELY passionate about what this business can do for her team and stops at nothing to support them in doing so! Leah I am tremendously proud of all that you have accomplished these past 4 months, you know what's next!!!!! Congratulations on LEVEL 4!!!!!"

Learning to balance all of my roles is tricky, no doubt, it provides a wonderful platform to get even more wise about how to spend my time wisely and put priorities in order!

Mama is in Business

There are many reasons that I have chosen to take on this new role, 

most of which are far from what I had envisioned. 

One of those reasons is to teach my girls that women, even full-time mommies of four can enrich, support, grow, develop, create, inspire, motivate, lead and support 

their families in outside endeavors that are fun and fulfilling. 

The ongoing gifts are definitely a fun perk too! Today the mailman brought beats headphones, a beach towel and shiny new keychain, compliments of the doctors.

I  have also been given a $1000 Nordstrom shopping experience as another "thank you" gift from this awesome company! I have an appointment next week when I will be working with a "personal shopper" to find some great new outfits!

Spring Piano Recital

The girls recently performed in their spring piano recital. 

It was held at a rest home so that the residents could enjoy the music. 

A bitter sweet recital this time around because last week we learned that our beloved piano teacher Shauna is going to be moving out of state. 

We have all shed a goodly amount of tears, especially Brainily. 

Shauna walks on water to our girls and the thought of attempting to replace her seems impossible. 

The other heart wrenching part of this is that we love her little Lucy to death. Lucy tags along with her Mama when Shauna teaches the girls at our home and Brinely, Avery and Aspen take turns caring for her. 

Brinley did a little photo shoot with Lucy a few weeks ago 

and this is one of the pictures she took.

We were so excited to have baby #2 joining our piano afternoons in June. Alas, we know we must let her go, but 

she may have to depart with us kicking and screaming a bit!

She taught the girls their very last lesson this week and as Brinley was wrapping up her lesson I heard the crying start. Shauna sweetly reassured her, 

but boy, this is so hard to see her go.

A Quilt and Motherhood

 In ninth grade I took a sewing class. 

I remember very little about the class except for making this quilt. 

I wanted to make a beautiful quilt for my someday children. 

I remember spending time picking out each piece of fabric I would use and then cutting and laying them all out so perfectly, then rearranging with precision until I had each piece positioned to sew. I so clearly recall each step it took to produce this gift I had created for my someday children. 

The other night Reese and Aspen wanted to have a "sleepover" on the floor of their bedroom and out came the quilt. 

They snuggled it in as they offered one another 

foot rubs and I reminisced about making the quilt.

Motherhood is so different from what I thought it would be back in ninth grade. It is harder. It takes most of my energy, 

patience and devotion every single day of my life. 

What I have discovered through motherhood is that 

we fiercely love and appreciate that which we give our all to. 

As a mother we are endlessly striving to better ourselves so that we can teach them, love them and parent them better. 

For those mothers who look to me and think I've got it all figured out, here me now, 

I DON'T! Who does? 

We are all just trying our very best each day and that is all we can do. 

To my fellow mothers I say way to go! Way to wake up each day with a willing heart to do the very best you can with all the weight that you carry on your shoulders. 

Way to go for getting out of bed, for making breakfast, packing lunches, dealing with outfit drama and sibling rivalry. 

Way to go for scheduling doctor/dentist/orthodontist appointments, volunteering at school, paying bills, fulfilling church assignments, planning meals, grocery shopping, nursing, chore charts, taking care of sick kids, laundry...oh the laundry...oh and then being a happy camper when Daddy shows up after a long day of work. 

WAY TO GO MY FELLOW MOTHER FRIENDS. 

Keep on keeping on and remember, none of us are perfect, not you, not me...and we were not put on this earth to be perfect...

just to do the very best we possibly can!

My friend Mallory

I LOVE my hairdresser Mallory at The Charles Penzone salon in Dublin. 

She is as top notch as they come! 

Not only does she absolutely excel in her hair skills, but she is a 

delight to talk with! 

How I admire this friend for perusing her passion and gift as a hairdresser while simultaneously being an excellent mother to three little ones, 

a wife and lovely friend to so many!

Our New Toy!

My new business bought our family quite the exciting new toy...

a 50 foot long slip and slide!

In just two uses I am quite confident that the price tag was worth every penny.

The HEAVY delivery arrived just in time for Aunt Kelty and Rella to be the first to experience it with us!

The first afternoon we set it up the kids slid for hours, it was awesome!

School is OUT!

 When your first grader  (Aspen) is in the office writing a thank you card to her teacher and you notice that she has tears streaming down her face, 

you secretly snap a picture and try not to cry yourself.

Ms. Simons went above and beyond in every way one could imagine. Reporting that Aspen had a "great year" would be an understatement. How we love and honor these teachers who work tirelessly and stay committed, continually marching forward with greatness even as the governmental bricks continue to pile upon their shoulders. 

Similarly Avery's teacher Mrs. Johnson was perfect for her! 

She offered one on one help and attention when Avery went through some struggle with her math and was wonderful at communicating with me throughout the year. Unfortunately we could not get a picture with Mrs. Johnson because she was at her sons graduation on the last day of school.

Avery and Abby tried out and made it into the talent show on the last day of school. 

They performed a few Irish dances and Avery made the poster above, 

which was really quite sweet!

Reese had a great year in the Tiger preschool classroom with Mrs. Erica and Mrs. Jen.

She is excited to go back to her preschool for a few summer camp opportunities this summer.

Brinley is in middle school and it's not always easy.

While I know that there are many good teachers at her school, she has graduated from the 

"picture with your teachers" at the end of the year.  In fact, she opted to not attend the last day of school because she wanted to be home with cousin Rella instead.

It was a great year and we are looking forward to a 

very fun and FULL summer!

Memorial Day 2016

We participated in our annual church breakfast and spent the rest of the day swimming, but we know that memorial day is not about food or pools, it's about so much more!

Here is to a grandpa who started his life as an orphan. 
After a challenging life in the orphanage he left as a young teenager and worked tirelessly on a farm for food and a place to stay...he slept at night in the hay loft barn.

My Grandpa Lewis served in a variety of leadership roles during his lifelong service to the US Air Force. He fought as gunner in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Meanwhile my Grandma Lewis raised their four children, often without her husband in the country for support. They moved all around the world. My Dad (little blond boy) has shared stories about being raised in places like Germany, Korea and Africa. 

My Uncle David (seen in uniform below) also served in the U.S. Marine Corp. He enlisted at age 17 and served in the front lines in Vietnam for almost a year. He was infantry which means he was on foot in face to face combat with the Viet Cong. David remained in the Marine Corp for 4 years active duty and then in the Marine reserve for many years.

To all the men and women who hold the pains, the pride and sorrow of combat. The visual scars, hidden scars and tombstones of bravery are real and evidence of your loyalty to our country. 

Today we honor you. We love you. We are thankful for you. We are thankful to your significant other, who sacrifices everything to support you as you support us. Thank you.