Morgan's Last Day of Preschool & More

This will come as a huge shock to all of you... it was another busy day for the Johnson family. The kids and I kicked off the morning by attending a play date at our friends Stephanie, Drake & Ethan's house. We tasted lots of delicious treats from Tastefully Simple (Steph is a rep) and the kids had a great time playing and eating Otter Pops.

Adam LOVED this dino. It roared, twisted and its eyes lit up. I would pretend it was eating my finger and he would just laugh. His friend Will kept telling me "Again! Again!"

Jillian, Morgan, Paige and Drake ..... The Otter Pops came out after Morgan and Paige collided and Morgan split her top lip. Steph was wise enough to know that Otter Pops can cure any owie.

Then, it was time for Morgan to head to her last day ever of preschool. I admit I got a little choked up when I dropped her off. She seems to have had a wonderful last day - they practiced for their graduation (next Friday) and had pizza and cupcakes. I had a doctor's appointment so I couldn't help out at the class party and didn't even get to pick her up from school so she told me all about it when I got home. Adam happily spent the afternoon at Emily & Anthony's house.

Morgan's First Days of Preschool and Her Last...

Morgan's first day of preschool - "Toddler 2's" - August 16, 2005 - Awakening Seed

"Toddler 2's" - August 16, 2005 - Awakening Seed

First day of "Toddler 3's" - August 15, 2006 - Awakening Seed School

Morgan's first day of Pre-K at Rogers Ranch Preschool - August 13, 2007

Morgan and Ms. Krysten on her last day of preschool - June 13, 2008

After we all arrived back home, the kids and I went swimming. I presented Morgan with new Disney Princess diving sticks for her last day and at first she wasn't all that excited - "I can't use these." Then when she, Adam and I went in the pool we started playing with them as if they were just dolls. After awhile she decided to dive for one. Soon she was going to the bottom for all three at once! I watched her underwater and she was so cute the way she would arch her back and float back up. When I commented on how I liked it, she said, "That is just my style." She came up after one of her dozens of underwater Princess hunts and said, "This is the funnest day of my life!!" And she thanked me several times for the gift. I guess it was a winner. :) I can't believe I didn't have my camera out there, but I am sure there will be plenty more opportunities coming soon.

To wrap up the evening we headed to Taco del Mar for dinner with Daddy. We just didn't feel like cooking. The kids went to bed pretty easily tonight - so much action and, for Morgan, an ending of an era and the excitement of new discoveries. Jeremy and I watched "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (skip it) and now it is time for me to go crash. Until next time.....

Movies, Food & Legos!

Today we met Gina, Mason & Madeline at the mall for a special adventure. The kids went to the Harkins Play Area while Gina & I went to see "Sex & the City". It was a real mid-week treat! Mason & Madeline hadn't been to the kid-watch there before, but they were excited to check it out and did great. Adam was a little hesitant at first, but as soon as he found the Star Wars computer game (dare I ask) he was happy. They watched "101 Dalmations", did crafts, ate popcorn and had fun. Meanwhile, Gina and I were laughing, crying and thoroughly enjoying the grown-up movie. It felt like a whole season of SATC packed into 2 hours - so much happened and while I am not sure how I feel about some of it, it was definitely a great movie.

After the movie, we headed to our favorite haunt, Wildflower Cafe. Today they had their Vegetarian Rice and Spicy Lentil soup - YUMMY! The kids were crazy, as always, and gobbled down their food quickly once we told them our next stop would be the new Lego Store.

Must we take another picture?!

Beautiful Madeline agreed to pose for the camera.

My sneaky camera on the table shot.

That isn't salt you are eating, is it?! (yes)

We were excited to discover that the Lego store had just opened today. The kids have been seeing the "Coming Soon" signs for months and it was a stroke of luck that we happened to pick today to go to the mall. Of course all four kids found loads of cool Legos they want to buy - race cars, Star Wars, ponies and princesses. I have to admit there were lots of things I wanted to buy as well, but I contented myself with just a couple of green building surfaces and some generic 'stock' Legos. The kids will have to save up their money or wait for birthdays/Christmas for some the fancier options. Truth be told it was so exciting that Adam had to be dragged screaming from the store when it was time to go. I had to carry him flailing his body for quite a distance then strap him in the car and listen to "I want to go back to the Lego Store" for at least 20 minutes before he calmed down. I am going to attribute it to being tired since I don't want to rule out ever going back. :)

Madeline and Adam were happy to hang out at the Lego table...

while Morgan and Mason explored all the neat choices of Legos.

On the drive home we decided to swing by Morgan's future school - EAGLE College Prep - and see how construction is coming along. We were excited to see that there is actually a building going up now. School is scheduled to start in 2 months... I am thrilled for her (and a bit jealous - I loved Kindergarten), but sad at the same time. My first baby is growing up so fast!

Hooray! We'll have a school building.

When we got home we discovered some fantastic news - Jeremy had caught an early flight home! So, instead of getting home at 10 PM as planned, he arrived home about 4 PM. We celebrated with a family swim (it was a HOT day) .

As always, I am loving my family, my friends and my blessed life.

HOOTS (no HOWLS)

In our MOMS Club we sometimes get together at night for HOOTS (husbands out of town) and HOWLS (husbands out working late) potlucks. Last night Kimberly arranged an impromptu HOOTS for Mary, Tina, Jen H., herself and I since all our hubbies are traveling this week. It was chaotic and fun!

We all went swimming and then enjoyed a delicious dinner of fajitas, Mexican rice, beans and tres leches cake. Good times with good friends!

Morgan did an AWESOME job swimming - jumping in from the side, going deeper, floating. She is becoming a terrific swimmer.

Fun in the pool.

Our hostess Kimberly and cutie Connor.

This food is delicious!

MOMS Club Banquet & Kids at Grammy's

Tonight was our annual MOMS Club end-of-the year celebration. It is hard to believe that this is the third one we've had here in Laveen. It seems like our chapter just started! The party was at our house and since Jeremy left for Denver this morning, the kids got to go to Grammy's for the night. They were thrilled. I dropped them off at lunchtime then came home to clean and set-up for the event.

Sixteen moms were able to make it to the party. The theme was Awards Show and each of the moms was given a personalized award and a little trophy. I was given the "Oprah Award" for most generous. Very flattering. Some other awards included the "Eva Longoria Award for Best Dressed" to Kimberly, the "Ellen Award" for funniest to Laura and the "Dear Abby Award" for best listener to Tina. Everyone in the chapter was named something even if they weren't able to make it tonight. It was a lot of fun. We ate LOADS of yummy treats. Rather than have a full meal, we asked everyone to bring either a dessert or appetizer. There was plenty to eat. Our "Rachel Ray Award" winner, Jen B., made a delicious Greek pizza that I snuck seconds of.

Dear Abby (Tina) and I pose for a picture.

Enjoying the delicious food and fabulous company.

Ruby, Cindy and I cleaned our plates.

After dinner and awards, we watched a slide show with pictures of the kids and moms over the life of our chapter. I worked on the show for a couple hours this afternoon - much of that time working with Jeremy (via phone) on setting it all up on the tv. He is such a great hubby. I really appreciate all his tech savvy. Everyone at the party seemed to really enjoy the slideshow. It was fun to see the kids age over time. We all forget how much they have grown right before our eyes.
We also shared our favorite moments from the past year and toasted our incredible chapter. It was a great evening.

Here's thinking we are going to three-peat our Outstanding Chapter designation!

Thank you to Grammy/Mom/Nancy for watching Morgan and Adam. I haven't talked to her yet, but from the pictures she sent (below), I am guessing they had a great time!!

Playing with the animals.

Keeping cool.

We love Cherry Garcia ice cream!

Catching Up

It has been a busy week so I have a lot of blogging to do... since it is late and I am tired, we are going to go with the synopsis post this time.

Our family was excited to have Gramma Sue & Grampa Lou visit this past week. We swam, went out to eat, swam, watched movies, swam.... you get the idea. :) Then, on Friday morning I headed to Rocky Point with four of my girlfriends for a moms only getaway. We had a great time! While we were gone, Jeremy, Lou, Sue and the kids went to Makutu's Island, swam, went out to dinner, swam, saw Kung Fu Panda and yep, you guessed it, swam some more. Morgan got quite the tan this weekend! Unfortunately, I took the camera with me to Mexico so I don't have any pictures of their adventures while I was gone, but the kids say they had a fun time with their Daddy, Gramma and Grampa.

Fishing with Gramma Sue.

Wii Bowling - Gramma & Grampa each won medals for their talent.

Adam loved having Gramma Sue as his audience.

Reading with Gramma.

Morgan loves her Grampa Lou!

It was a terrific weekend getaway for Laura, Kimberly, Mary, Cindy and me in Rocky Point. A big shout out to my mom for letting us stay at her place. We had a great time lounging by the pool, sunning at the beach, eating way more than we should at El Capitan, Regina's & Flavios, sipping lattes and eating bagels at Guiseppi's Coffee Shop, watching movies our hubbies wouldn't like, shopping and just hanging out together.

Looking forward to Rocky Point 2009!

Cindy, Laura and I relaxing our first evening out at El Capitan.

Mary & Kimberly enjoying breakfast at Guiseppi's.

Tonight on our way home from Mexico, my friend Cindy (who was fabulous enough to drive us all in her minivan) dropped me off at my mom's house where a birthday party was happening for my brothers Tommy & Chris. Tommy turns 24 tomorrow and Chris turned 21 in April but since he was in Tucson at school we didn't get a chance to celebrate before tonight. It was a nice homecoming. The kids were happy to see me, but not clingy as they had their cousin Sydney to entertain them and all the family to love on them.

Happy Birthday, Tommy & Chris!

Morgan in her new dress from Mexico.

Tommy's girlfriend, Nikki, found a baby bird on my mom's back porch.

Life is wonderful. I hope to get back to regular posting again soon.

Bowling & More

This morning the kids & I went bowling with our MOMS Club at the Glenfair Lanes in Glendale. Let me just say that I don't think Wii Bowling helps you be a better bowler... if anything it has made me worse. Now I am spoiled by the light Wii "ball". LOL Still, we had a nice time and it was great to see so many of our friends. Adam lost interest in bowling after the first game. He was more interested in running around with his friends and drinking from the water fountain. Morgan did great! She won our first game and I won the second, but we think she only lost the second one because she was bowling for Adam as well.

Waiting to see how Adam's shot went.

Showing me how many drinks he'd had from the nasty water fountain. I am pretty sure he was undercounting by that point!

After bowling we headed to Macayo's for lunch with Tina, Lexi, Laura & Paige. The kids were all very well behaved and the food was yummy. We had to have a speedy lunch to get Morgan back in time for school, but we still were able to chat a bit and enjoy catching up with our friends - especially Tina & Lexi who we haven't seen much lately due to their many travels.

Cuatro Amigos: Morgan, Lexi, Paige & Adam

The rest of the afternoon was nice as well.... While Morgan was at school, Dylan came over to play with Adam. They had fun playing cars, Wii, playdough and doing hidden pictures. The two of them really bring out the mischief in each other... I'll leave it at that. Then, after school, Morgan, Adam and I went for swim. Those two are swimming fools. They just LOVE to be in the water!

Morgan asked me to take a picture of her in her new "Princess Tent" (mosquito net) from Grammy. She loves it! She is still trying to decide how to decorate it. For now, it is keeping good dreams in and bad dreams out.

The Princess Tent and the Princess who sleeps in it.

The kids and I have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow getting the house ready for Gramma Sue & Grampa Lou's visit. They are both soooo excited - only 2 more sleeps!

Family Swim

Today marked our first all-family swim of the season. The kids were so happy to have both me and Jeremy in the pool. Here is a picture I took before jumping in.

Splish, splash!