from black to bronze....

Congratulations Madison!!

As you may know, Madison is a member of the Swim Belton swim team here in Belton, TX. But, what you may not know is that last week while at practice, Madison's Swim Coach, Coach Windy, promoted Madison up a level!

Madi has been a member of Swim Belton for about nine months now and has really surprised us at how quickly she has progressed through the levels. We are beyond proud!!

When she began at Swim Belton, she was at the Pre-comp level. Pre-comp is an intro/beginners level. She was there for about 6 months.

Then, she moved up to the Black Team which is an advanced beginners level. She was there for only three.

As of today, she is on the Bronze Team! The Bronze Team is the lowest level of the competitive teams which focuses on training development. There are two levels above Bronze which are, Silver and Gold.

We have no doubts that Madi will be on the Silver team before the school year is out. She works hard (going to practice 5 days a week) at being a great swimmer and in the process she is having so much fun! She is also spending time with like-minded-kids who are pretty awesome!

Looks like Madison's first meet as a Bronze Team member will be November 20th - 21st, in Temple, Texas. So, look for lots of pictures in the near future of our competitive swimmer!!

We are so proud of YOU, Madison!

How do we dive? - Deeper

How do we swim? - Faster

How do we work? - Harder

DEEPER! FASTER! HARDER!

~author unknown

~Being your best is not so much about overcoming the barriers other people place in front of you as it is about overcoming the barriers we place in front of ourselves. It has nothing to do with how many times you win or lose. It has no relation to where you finish in a race or whether you break world records. But it does have everything to do with having the vision to dream, the courage to recover from adversity and the determination never to be shifted from your goals ~ Kieren Perkins

creatures, critters and other Halloween treats..

Halloween was defiantly a treat for us this year! Madison and I made cupcakes, Notre Dame won their game, we spent time with Mom & Dad Johnston, Jason spent the night and Bella had her first outing in 8 days.

As I mentioned, Madi and I made Halloween inspired cupcakes. I got the recipe and decorating ideas from the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine. They turned out pretty good and were pretty fun to make. We baked them at our house but, because we ran out of time, we decorated them at Cami's (momma Johnstons) house. The decorating was a little time consuming so, after making a few pretty ones for pictures, I let Madison and Jason do whatever they wanted with them. Here are a few pictures...

Monster Face, Mummy & Caterpillar Cupcakes

Can you tell which ones the kids made?? a few pretty & a few....um, creative cupcakes.

A Big~Nosed~Monster~Face~Cupcake. The nose was a yummy white-chocolate covered espresso bean!

Roach Cupcake...The "Roach" is a big Chocolate Covered Almond.

Skeleton Face

Madi & I, proud of our creations

In the kitchen with my little Rock Star.

Madison and Jason handed out the candy so that the adults could watch the Notre Dame game. Jason was awesome at handing out candy and often started up conversations with the parents or kids that came to the door. He greeted everyone by enthusiastically asking, "How are y'all doing tonight?" and would call out "Happy Halloween" when they left. We had to of had the friendliest door greater/candy giver in town! Madison on the other hand was quiet and a little shy. She got scared easily and totally freaked out when a big guy dressed in the SAW costume came to the front door...guess she thought everyone coming to get candy would be dressed as princesses or ninjas.

Jason and Madison, Rockin' & Grovin' on a break from candy duty

Max wore a pumpkin around his neck and Bella wore the same hated and feared Lady Bug Costume from last year.

Not the best picture of Max and Bella; Bella doesn't have her Antenna on and you can't see Max's pumpkin. But, you can see that Bella was uncomfortable and that Max was doting on his treat, Bella. Even the new edition, Sammy, got in on the action! He was dressed like a Postman and was the cutest four-legged-creature around... Cute, cute, cute!! The best treat of all however, was that Bella had a great day!! She seemed totally over her strange & unexplained illness. We were so happy to see her playing and goofing around again!! She seems to get better with each passing day and we want to thank you for your thoughts and prayer for our goofy~smush~face~Bella! So, lots of treats this Halloween for the Johnston Family. We hope your Halloween was full of treats too!