Jeffrey's Preschool Christmas Program

I have to say that I LOVE THE HOLIDAY SEASON!!! Why else would I have squeezed almost our entire family's 'dates' into 3 months? 

My Birthday is October 18, Grace's the 26th, Our Anniversary is November 26th (yes, on Thanksgiving this year) and Jeffrey's birthday is ON Christmas Day! That leaves poor Greg's birthday all the way back in June.

This year's Holiday Season proved to be our busiest one yet. 

We started off the Holiday Break from Preschool with Jeffrey and his classmates putting on the most adorable Christmas Program I have ever attended (also the first with my kiddo as a participant of course). They sang all sorts of Carols and I was so happy that they also sang Happy Birthday to Jesus but included all the children with birthdays close to his as well. Jeffrey got a little solo time on stage with Ava during this part. I can admit that Yes there were a few happy tears seeing my little boy a part of something so cute. 

We absolutely love his preschool Joyful Learning Christian Preschool and his teachers there are wonderful, Miss Veronica, Miss Bonnie and Miss Shelley. The program came to a close with the 'surprise' visit of who else, but SANTA!! Jeffrey's face just lit up at the sight of him and he was happy to sit on his lap, although Grace would have none of it. This was a great kick off to over a week of Christmas Joy!

On a COLD Winter's Morning!

This year we started a tradition if you will and made a trip to Thornton's Tree Land to pick out the Johnson Family Christmas Tree...

First however, too much to list on one blog entry so stay tuned actual tree photos, we stopped by the Barn where they had a Goat and Llama you can feed. In the adjacent barn they had a gift shop where they offered free hot cocoa and a warm fire. Aunt Annette was able to join us which was very helpful for warming up the kids and going to frequent hot cocoa runs for Jeffrey. 

Five One Year Olds, and their Momma's

A little over a year ago (and within about 6 weeks of each other) FIVE new babies were born. A culmination of what seemed like an eternity of being pregnant came to an end. Claire (born 10/20), Adalyn (born 10/24), Cameron (born 12/5), Gracelyn (born 10/26) and Cole (born 11/30) as pictured below with moms, Amanda, Kim, Julie, Me and Erika, were all welcomed to the world by their families and friends.

That first 'play date' in January consisted of  tired momma's, all of the 1st borns and the new additions. We didn't know what the year would bring us but are thrilled to be a much closer knit group of women and their children. There have been many many laughs, firsts and some tears but we are especially thankful for 5, no 10, beautiful and healthy children.

As a group we all decided to celebrate their First Year together and rented Cafe Sip 'N Play for this big event! It was wonderful to see all of the Mom's and Dad's and their kiddos have a relaxing time and celebrate the First Year of each of our second babies.

Taking a ride...

Greg has this fun little game he plays with Jeffrey. It is easy, CHEAP and FUN! Jeffrey has now taken his own initiative to make it fun for Grace too. Since she does whatever her big brother wants she happily sits on the blanket while he S-L-O-W-L-Y pulls her around on the floor. It produces lots and lots of giggles and one of my ONLY photographs of the two kids together smiling too.

The Thanksgiving trek home to Moscow!

Thanksgivings for us are usually spent with My Mom in Moscow, Idaho. It is a very looong 6 hour drive these days but Greg and I always love to return to the place we met and although we don't always see familiar faces everywhere we look now, it is great to hook up with those who did stick around. 

This year we were able to spend a lot of time mingling with old friends as Mom and Lyanne helped out watching the little turkeys while we had a lot of fun! Thank you for the much needed break.

This Thanksgiving also marked out 4th Anniversary so instead of time alone out on a hot date, we spent it over-indulging on a fantastic Thanksgiving meal with my Mom, Lyanne (her bun in the oven), her boyfriend Loren and our two little ones. Grace fully enjoyed the entire meal while Jeffrey was a little less hungry this year than most.

We do love the craze of Black Friday in Moscow and meticulously plan out our attack on retailers in the wee hours. This year Grandma stayed home while we split up to score great deals. Thanks Grandma! 

 

Another thing we were able to do this year was attend the Final Vandal Football Game of the season. My longtime friend from school Adrienne and her boyfriend Brad shared some of their season tickets with us and we tailgated with them enjoying 'warm' drinks and yummy food. The Vandals didn't win that day but we had a great time. An event I would like to make a tradition, maybe!

Our Pumpkin Patch

We have had a great time this year growing a patch full of pumpkins. Greg enjoyed a competition at work betting on who could grow the heaviest and nicest looking pumpkin. Out of the entries he did win the 'heaviest' with his pumpkin weighing in at a whopping 98.5 pounds!!! It had a unattractive features so he didn't win that entry.

Every (well the past 2) year we go to the pumpkin patch with Aaron & Serena and family. Grandma and Grandpa have been joining us on the excursion too. This year all of the little kids were able to tour the corn maze. Last year Gracelyn was still waiting to make her entrance into the world. It was a prime opportunity for some great photo ops, although your could pay Jeffrey enough to actually "smile" at the camera or even really look at it these days. After the corn maze we enjoyed a great hayride to  the Pumpkin Patch. Thankfully this year it was a gorgeous day and there wasn't any rain. We were able to pick out a very nicely shaped pumpkin for carving. After the pumpkin patch we enjoyed some special treats at their food vendors and purchased some produce from the little general store. As we were leaving both of our little monkeys sacked out from all the running around and excitement. We love Halloween and especially the chance to spend great traditions with family.

Our Cupcake Turns One!

Finally I am blogging about this...

One year ago on October 26, 2008 I was introduced to the most beautiful little girl I know. Gracelyn Diane Johnson joined our family, the final precious piece to our puzzle.

We have had such a great time this year raising our little girl. Jeffrey went from telling us to 'put baby back' to morning hugs and kisses and saying 'good morning Grace'. He has been a major contributor to her rough and tumbling personality. She has had to learn quickly that her big brother has a little jealousy and she has to be on guard at all times for his sweeping clothesline arm that can knock her clean over.
Grace is a sweet sweet little cuddly bug though and melts any heart with her adorable smile. 
She has proven to us that all babies really are different, the one common theme she and Jeffrey share is their ability to keep us laughing even through the many trials of parenthood. We are looking forward to watching her grow this next year and witness all of the firsts we saw during Jeffrey's second year and how she will be her own little person.


HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY MY SWEET LITTLE GIRL!!!

Funny things they say...

A couple days ago...

Jeffrey: "Mommy I tooted"
Mom: *giggle*
Jeffrey: "Wanna smell my butt?"
Mom: *ROFL*

Yesterday...

Jeffrey was standing behind Greg on the couch and says, "Daddy, I can see your skull!" Ha ha, for those interested, NO GREG IS NOT BALDING :) So funny though.!!

Today...

We went to get an oil change at Oil Can Henrys, where you sit in the car the whole time. I let him out of his car seat so he could sit next to me. He was very interested in what was being done under the hood....

Jeffrey: "Mom, it is like a diaper change for the car!"
Mom: "Yes, that is exactly right!"

Girlfrieds Half Marathon 2009

Within a span of about 6 weeks a group of Awesome Mom's I know delivered their second babies. Without knowing it those babies or rather the extra baby weight gained during pregnancy would be a major factor in setting a Goal. "Let's all run the Girlfriends Half Marathon next October!"

There was A LOT of skepticism on my part as I had never ran more than a mile in my life. After hearing another fabulous mom I know talk about her training for a 5k (Couch to 5k program), I thought that I would try that first. In April I finished my first ever 5k, the Starlight Run with great family and friends. It was supposedly one of the hardest 5k's I could have picked because of weather and terrain...lol.

The torture didn't end there and I continued to train with 'the girls' and even got my little sister Annette into running when she moved here in June. She finished her first 5k Race for the Homeless in August. She quickly decided to train with us and jump on the running bandwagon for the half marathon.

In early September I did an 8 mile trail run and injured my left foot. Apparently my left leg is about 1/2 shorter than my right which causes overcompensation on my right leg and cause for injury on uneven surface. I saw a fantastic Sports Medicine Physical Therapist, Dr. John Majerus who helped me return to running by October. Thankfully he cleared me to run the Half :)

October 18, 2009 (my birthday) at 9:00am came very quickly and despite injury in September I was able to run it, an accomplishment I never saw in my future before training with the women pictured next to me. Amanda Simonelli, Erika Henry, Julie Roy and Annette Robarge are incredibly inspiring women that I am happy to know and love.

Amanda finished in 10 minutes under her goal, Erika beat her time from 2 years ago when completing her first half marathon (also Girlfriends) and Julie a seasoned runner is an all around rock star  and the backbone we all leaned on for strength as we trained. Annette ended up finishing 2nd Place in her age bracket-an incredible accomplishment for someone who had never run before moving in with me in June!! She is amazing!

I think I may try it again next year to shave about 40 minutes off my time...until then...Happy RUNNING!!

Our Getaway/Great Columbia Crossing 10K

Greg and I planned to run the Great Columbia Crossing 10k as our first quick trip away from both kiddos!

The longest I have been away from Grace is about 6 hours back in August. Jeffrey and I have been separated for only a couple sleepovers with Grandma and Grandpa, and while I was in the hospital delivering Grace he spent those 2 days and nights with Aunt Serena and Uncle Aaron and family.

We left on Saturday around 2:30 during naptime, after our Traditional Pumpkin Patch visit with Greg's Parents and Brother's Family. Happily we left the kids with Aunt Annette, who has truly been a blessing in our house!

We arrived in Astoria at a B&B at 475 Harrison St. Having never stayed at a B&B, I was pleasantly surprised as how homey and comfortable everything was. The hosts Judy and Bob were wonderful and very knowledgeable about Astoria's history and local events.

Our packets for the race included little wooden tokens that were accepted at local restaurants for the race weekend. We decided to celebrate my birthday a week early and have a semi-fancy dinner at The Silver Salmon, a quaint yet superb restaurant in downtown Astoria. Greg enjoyed the 'special' a flame broiled Coho salmon topped with fresh crab. I had the Smoked Salmon Spinach Salad, which was fabulous. Of course we shared and both dishes were delectable!!

After dinner we proceeded on a tour of downtown Astoria visiting local Art Galleries on their "Second Saturday Art Walk". It was definitely great to remember the 'good old days' when we spent a lot of our pre-parent vacations touring galleries for fun.

We were tuckered out and in bed by 9pm. I didn't rest as peacefully as I hoped, I think my body is used to waking up all night now but I didn't have to get up once to make a bottle or comfort anyone which was in its' own way a special treat.

The race went great! The weather was COLD and 'a little breezy' as the locals say which means 'windy' in my book. We met at the Red Lion and we shuttled to the rest stop on the WA side of the Astoria-Megler Bridge and joined about 3000 people waiting for the start. The race went off without a hitch and the incline or GIANT HILL was more of a killer than I thought it would be but I finished with Greg cheering me on. Greg finished in a little under an hour and my time was 1:25:31, which is about 8 mins faster than my last 10k.

We made our way back to the B&B where we showered and scarfed fresh homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, toast, cantaloupe, coffee, OJ and water...yep we ate whatever we wanted cause we could!

A Great Weekend!!

Funny things they say...

My cousin started a log of the funny things her kids say, and following her example so will I.

Mommy: "Your Dad is making me nuts"
Jeffrey: "No Mom, Daddy makes Pies"

It is definitely funny the things he thinks is mommy related and daddy related. Another one is this when talking about what Daddy does at work;

Mommy: "Jeffrey, What does Daddy do at the office?"
Jeffrey: "Daddy makes money"
Mommy: "And what does Mommy do?"
Jeffrey: "Mommy spends Money"

We are at one of my favorite stages of Jeffrey's vocabulary and understanding of concepts. I love hearing him explain different things and how they work.

More to come...

Jeffrey's First day of Preschool!

via Facebook Yesterday...

I thought it is about time to start some sort of journal or log about the growing lives of my children and family!

Today was Jeffrey's first day of Preschool. He woke up asking about it. We made his favorite breakfast of fried eggs and toast with jam, then spent some time watching a new favorite movie.

We had to switch his car seat to the drivers side so he can be easily retrieved from the car by the teachers as we pull up to the 'Kiddie Drive Thru'. It is so convenient to just drive up and the teachers get him out and put him back in. They also check for his name badge to match the parent badge in the car. Very safe.

We parked in the lot today so I could walk him in and take pics. He was excited to see Karina, one of his good buddies and they discussed their backpacks, hers has pink hearts and his has blue designs. We missed seeing Ava because she was sick but can't wait for her to join the kids next week. Karina and Jeffrey held hands and walked to the doors and inside...I said bye and he was off to a new world.

I returned at pick up time and the teachers brought him to the door. It was great to see him happy with a big smile. I was nervous because he does not spend a lot of time away from me. I asked him what he learned and said "A song, Hokey Pokey", he also said he cried but "That's okay because I am 2". On the way home he wanted to sit with his backpack in sight and had to get it out of the car when we got home too, so independent.

New to this...inspired by Sally

I have been inspired to start a blog...I still am not sure where I will find the time to journal and upload photos...but I will make a valiant effort!