welcome to the johnson family blog~ my name is mindy & my husband is brian, aka baja. we have been married since 08.08.08. the two of us became the five of us! our tiny baby bird, vivienne, arrived 04.12.12, baby lucielle came on 08.06.13 and baby edith on 11.19.15. thanks for stopping by our blogsite. here you'll find our photography work & our personal life, everything from family portraits to what’s going on in our life. it’s both a blog (to connect with friends and family who live a little too far away) & a journal/scrapbook (to remember all the little details as our family changes). so welcome, thanks for coming & enjoy! contact me at: hopefeathers {at} me {dot} com.

Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts

October 29, 2016

Holiday Traditions with Hanna Andersson

It's no secret that we love LOVE the holidays. To us, the holiday season begins the first of October. When there is a nip in the air and the leaves begin to turn to rust, mustard and maroon. When we begin to snuggle under blankets with hot beverages. When everything is covered in plaid. When we pull out our scarves and boots and sweaters. And the holiday season lasts straight through Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! Basically, we are in the best three months of the year! Hooray!
I love the holidays because I get to decorate my house, my children, and do all things festive! Every fall we start our holiday bucket list. And this year, we wore our Hanna Andersson Bear Hugs sweater collection for our family traditions! First and foremost each year is a family leaf fight! This is Edith's first fall and she wasn't too sure about all the crunchy leaves. She did enjoy shoving fist fulls of them in her mouth but thought her big sisters were crazy for throwing them. Vivienne and Lucielle couldn't have loved it more! Whether they were simply tossing them up or trying to get Papa, they were delighted!
I mean seriously! How cute is Edith in this Sweater Jumper?! I die!

Even though the sweaters are made of unbelievably soft cotton and warm Merino wool yarns, we went home to make S'mores and warm up by the bonfire. The smell of burning leaves and roasting marshmallows will always trigger happy autumn memories!
How cute is the back of this bear sweater! It cracks me up and the girls like to poke the bears butt when being silly, which of course causes a giggle-fest!
And of course we can't forget all the holiday baking! I have always pictured my little girls patiently waiting at the table sweetly ready to mix, pour, and spread whatever delicious treat we were baking. In reality, baking with kids is a whole lot messier that I anticipated. We made some Cranberry White Chocolate scones because it's my favorite kid friendly (aka, they can't mess it up with less than accurate measurement haha) recipe. Plus, a warm scone and hot tea just screams the holidays to me!
An obvious fall Family Tradition for so many is Pumpkin Carving! The girls loved watching Papa carve and help plan what they wanted our girl pumpkin, named Jill, to look like! They were NOT a fan of trying to get the seeds and "slime" out from the inside haha. They would erupt in giggles every time they touched it.
 "It's so slimy and ticklish!"
 Plaid is always a staple for the Holidays. I love it. Like LOVE it!!!! So Vivi's Buffalo Check Flannel dress will be on repeat all season!
It's no surprise that I get the most excited about Christmas. While I have been trying to curb my unbridled enthusiasm until after Thanksgiving, there are some things I sneak in. Our first Christmas cocoa is a big deal! The second it's cool enough, I pull out our special Christmas mugs, some peppermint sticks and marshmallows to make the best cocoa ever! Every once in a while, when it's really cold out, we also listen to Christmas music. Shhhh don't tell! And of course it never hurts to pull out a strand of twinkle lights.  Since it gets dark so early now, they make our home so cozy and festive!
'Tis the season for family traditions! What is on your family bucket list this season? 


*This post is sponsored by Hanna Andersson, but good gracious we love the Bear Hug Sweater collection so all thoughts and opinions are our own*

October 26, 2016

JORD Men's watch

Wooden Wristwatch :

Who are the hardest people in your life to buy gifts for? If you are anything like me, the answer would be husband, brother, dad. Why are boys so tough!? I could go to any store and find something for all the girls in my life, but never for the guys! Maybe that's why I'm a girl mom? haha. When JORD wooden watches asked if they could send me a men's watch I was like, YES! Brian's Christmas gift! Done! I knew I would like it, but I had no idea it would be so GORGEOUS! The dark sandalwood is stunningly paired with the smoke watch face. It's the perfect weight for a men's watch... not too bulky or too petite. It arrived in it's beautifully carved wooden box and was already sized for Brian's wrist. Love! Sure he has already seen it, but I will definitely be putting a bow on that wood box at Christmas and giving it again ;)
Now here's the fun part! I have partnered with JORD to giveaway a $75 e-code toward your very own JORD wood watch! All you have to do is fill out your name and email here to enter. And just by entering, you will receive a $20 e-gift code! Win, win!

This blog was sponsored by JORD wood watches, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Wooden Wristwatch

November 22, 2014

15 months

Lulu is 15 months old! Actually she was a few weeks ago but I'm so behind! Last minute, Brian let the girls and I fly to California to visit my parents. It was a really fun trip! So that's one reason her monthly post is late :)

At 15 months:
  • Lulu is becoming our little firecracker. She has an opinion about everything and lets us know in various shrieks and squeals!
  • She is learning new words and signs all the time. They are too many to count! Some of my favorites are "What's that?" and putting her finger to her mouth and saying "shhhhh!"
  • She is silly and loves to run! Especially if it's away from where we want her. Specifically anytime I ask her to come here so I can change her diaper. She gets a twinkle in her eye, giggles, and takes of running.
  • She LOVES food, but on her own terms. She will lick each bite I feed her before she takes a bite just to make sure it's the right temperature and flavor haha. Olives are one of her favorite foods. Along with mac and cheese, rice, clementines, and anything in a pouch like applesauce.
  • She is obsessed with balls and balloons. Like OBSESSED!
  • Foxie and her blankey will cure all that ails.
  • We seem to be beyond the putting things in her mouth stage... except for paper and crayons. For some reason, she still love to take a bite of those, spit it out and then bite again and again haha.
  • She loves to make animal noises. Specifically dinosaurs, lions, and bears... because they growl!

October 22, 2014

Autumn Leaves

We are thoroughly enjoying a gorgeous Autumn in our new house. And a big perk of that is enjoying the piles and piles of leaves in the backyard. And pumpkins. And mums in our flower pots. And a cutie blue eyed girl. And a sweetie brown eyed girl. My life is rich!