Meet Benjy

Meet Benjy... Noelle's preschool class' "pet". Yesterday was her day to bring Benjy home with her for the evening. She had a grand time with him. Pretty much whatever she did, Benjy did too. At first I wasn't too sure what we were supposed to do with Benjy... right after I picked her up from school we went to Target and she wanted to taken Benjy in... well, I didn't want to leave Benjy at Target and LOSE the class pet, so I said no and then upon getting home I read the letter from Benjy that was included in the bag and saw that Benjy could go anywhere Noelle went (except the bathtub) and realized I should have let her take Benjy into Target... oh well... Noelle & Benjy still had a splendid time watching Clifford, helping me make dinner, reading books (Benjy was even choosing the books, he's a puppet and so Noelle would put her hand in and Benjy would pick out the book), yes Mom even got him a "water" dish and pretended to put water in it for Benjy... she slept with Benjy and his water bowl sat right next to her cup in bed with her. Benjy definitely was loved in the Johnson home for his 24 hour stay!!! :) 

And, just in case you're wondering what Parker has been up to lately... well this pretty much explains it... 

I can assure you that he has no idea what he's looking for in here... when I take him out of the fridge, or out of the pantry, or off the countertop, etc... and ask him what he needs he says... (after screaming and crying for a bit) "Wewa, actuee (actually) want um, um, stuff..." We should have named him George, as in Curious George!!! LOL!! He absolutely gets into EVERYTHING... I thought it would get better as he got older, like I remember it did with Noelle, but it's actually getting worse, it's almost impossible to leave him alone for more than 1.2 seconds!! Haha! It's a good thing he's so stinking cute!!! : D

First Day of School

Yesterday was Noelle's first day of preschool at Aldersgate Preschool Plus! She was so excited! 

Here's her backpack... it's almost as big as she is! :) 

Walking into school... she's getting so big! I didn't think I would get emotional at all as I think I was almost as ready for her to go to school as she was. ;) But, getting her dressed and ready I got a little teary... knowing this is the beginning of a new journey for her... school.

Parker was a little disappointed when he didn't get to stay at school with Sissy. There was a car there he wanted to play with and when I told him we couldn't stay he started crying and when we got home he mentioned again that he wanted to stay with Sissy. :( Poor guy. 

Here's Noelle in her classroom (Blue PM class), meeting her classmates and one of her teachers Ms. Susan. After picking her up yesterday I asked her all about her first day. Here's a little bit of our dialogue: 

Mom: Did you make any new friends? 

Noelle: Yes, but I don't remember their names. 

M: That's ok, you'll learn them soon. 

M: What was your favorite thing you did today? 

N: Ms. Leslie had a wand and she tapped me on my head and then I went to put my bunny rabbit mat away. 

This is going to be a fun new adventure for us both. I am so excited for her and know that she is going to have a blast and learn so much this year! We are so proud of her! 

Quote of the Week

Brought to you by Noelle: 

"Oh Mom, something smells inhorrigible!" 

Fifteen Things Friday {Special Colorado Edition}

#1. Colorado or Bust! A 12 hour car ride to Breckenridge. We departed at 11:00am on Wednesday, August 4th! 

#2. We arrived very late Wednesday evening and when we woke up Thursday, this was the site in our backyard! Gorgeous... 

#3. We shopped...

#4. We rode the lifts to the top of the Alpine Slides! Definitely a highlight of the trip for all of us! 

#5. We ate... Empire Burgers, Downtown at Eric's, Breckenridge Brewery, Butterhorn Bakery...

#6. We enjoyed spectacular views...

#7. And time together... 

#8. Noelle loved to sit on rocks and pose for photos... I heard this often... "Mommy, how about I sit on that rock and you can take my picture!" Do you know how many boulders there are in Breckenridge? :)

#9. We biked... 

#10. We hiked...

#11. Favorite quote from the trip... "Just deal with it!" 

As we were hiking, the kids were leading and we had to make them turn around because we decided to go a different way than the way they were leading and we hear Noelle say "Just deal with it!" to the other kids... lol! 

#12. We played...

{Breckenridge Amphitheater Park}

and played... 

and played...

and played! 

{photos taken at the Mountain Top Children's Museum}

#13. There were wildflowers a-plenty... at every turn, everywhere...  

#14. We saw a black bear, oh yes, we did... in the middle of the road right out in front of the house... 

#15. And of course... you can't be in the wilderness without a night of roasting marshmallows and eating S'mores!!! 

We're Back!

We pulled into the driveway about 10:00 last night and although it feels good to be home we truly miss the mountains not to mention the 30-35 degree cooler weather! No joke, as you can see we were wearing jackets and pants in Breckenridge! The weather was absolutely gorgeous!!! There were several times yesterday while driving home we wanted to just turn around and go back!!! We are already looking forward to our next trip to the mountains, hoping it's soon! 

Today we are getting back into the routine though... Rodney is back and work and the kids and I are unpacking, doing laundry and just enjoying being back at home despite the fact that we can't just run outside and go for a hike in the mountains in our jackets and jeans! :( 

I'll share more photos from the trip soon! 

We are preparing for a family trip to Colorado, we're leaving tomorrow and I am SO ready! 

Ready for family time, ready for cooler weather (highs there are mid 60's, highs here are mid to upper 90's!) bring it on!, ready for crisp mountain air, ready for hiking, biking, shopping, campfires, ready for being one with nature, ready for watching the kids see the mountains for the first time, ready for a break from the mundane routines of everyday life, ready for a date night with my hubby while we're there, ready for fun, ready to make new memories! 

Hoping that I can get over (or at least mostly over) this cold before we hit the road, hoping no one gets altitude sickness (or any sickness for that matter) while we're there, hoping it's not too chilly, hoping I don't forget to bring anything, hoping for sunshine and little or no rain, hoping I still want to stay another day when it's time to leave because, it's always better to wish for more time than to be ready to go!

{Above photo was taken in Estes Park on our last trip to Colorado in 2005}

Lake Weekend

Just wanted to share some photos from our lake weekend! We had a great time with our friends the Kaeb's & Jones'! 

The kids both LOVED riding the jet ski's with Daddy

Noelle & I had fun riding the tube a couple of times as well. 

She definitely had a great time and was always ready to go... if we couldn't find her, chances were she was sitting on the golf cart, buckled in, waiting for everyone else to join her and head to the lake or pool! 

Although Parker loved riding the jet ski & the boat, he was not a big fan of getting into the water. He did however love throwing rocks into the water off the dock! He and Noelle spent a lot of time doing that. 

He also caught his first fish with Daddy on Sunday afternoon before we left! I was not at the dock with them so the actual fish is not caught on camera, but it was caught on video so you'll know it's not a "fish" story! ;) Hopefully I'll figure out how to share the video later, it's still on Rodney's phone. 

And there you have it a summary of our lake adventure last weekend! :)