Peyton is 9 months old!

On the day she was born

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months Old

5 Months Old

6 Months Old

7 Months Old

8 Months Old

Today at 9 Months Old

1st day of 1st grade!!

1st day of Preschool at St James

1st day of Kindergarten at Memorial Elementary

1st day of 1st grade at Buel Elementary

Wow! Where has the time gone? Maddy Grace is a 1st grader. She started 1st grade at Buel Elementary School this morning. She is an amazing little girl and I am proud to be her Momma! I love you Maddy!

Vacation recap

Shoot.. We're home. I wish vacation could last longer! We had a great time in Sunriver. Swimming, playing games every night, playing at the park, playing basketball, eating great food, and for me reading and taking pictures. I took over 300 this week. I can't imagine ever doing that will 35mm film. Ah, I love technology! And I also read 4 books. Big books. Totalling approx 2200 pgs or so. Granted they are considered "teen" books and were also very fast reads. But I became addicted! It was the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. They are books about Vampires and Werewolves, among other things. But I truly enjoyed them. I guess it shouldn't be so hard for me to understand why I liked them so much. I loved the Harry Potter books. I would read all day everyday if I could. But I think my family would have a tiny problem with it...

Maddy learned how to "swim" this week, and Alex learned how to float on both her front and back. Alex was swimming from the wall to us by her self also, but we were only about 10 or so feet away and most of it was the pushing of the wall part. BUT she was comfortable which is a great thing! Maddy is like I said able to "swim" now. What I mean by "swim" is she can move her arms and legs to propel herself forward. But, she has to stand up to breath. I tried to teach her to roll over onto her back and float for a while when she needs to take a breath, then to switch back to her tummy to continue the swim but heck no! Momma doesn't know anything.. I am very proud of her though. She has always been my most, um, cautious child. Peyton sort of enjoyed the water. When I was holding her. She is turning out to be a total Mommy's girl. As much as I love it, it can be really hard when she will go to no one else but me. Oh well, I am sure she will outgrow that phase soon enough. Pey is also cruising against everything now! She will even take one step to go from the couch to the coffee table. Crazy huh! She will be 9 months tomorrow. Well I am going to end here with some pictures of vaction.
(I am asking for forgivness now.. There are a bunch! Sorry!)

Momma's gots a new toy!

Oh yeah.. I got a new camera! I am SO excited about it too. It is a Nikon D40 SLR. LOVE IT! And right before vacation too. I can just imagine all the great pictures I will be able to take! Of my girls, the sights, and what ever just suits me at the time.

And another Oh Yeah for Vacation, TOMORROW! We are leaving town around 10:30 or so. We rented a house and we will be spending 8 nights there. Love that too. I very much need some time off work. I did have to sweet talk my Mom into coming to my house to pick all of the tomatoes & zucchini we have growing.I went out this afternoon to pick them and got a bowl full and 5 zucchinis. She is being paid in, yup, tomatoes & zucchini!
(this picture was taken with my new camera)

That's it for now. I will post pics & stories after we get back!

WOW!

I have been so busy these last couple of weeks.. I guess Blogging has been one of the last things on my mind. One thing that has kept me busy is watching one of my favorite things. The Olympics! I love watching them. Especially the swimming. And WOW can you believe what Michael Phelps just accomplished? That is totally and completely awesome! Granted it wasn't all him. Those relays. Man, Jason Lezack.. He deserves a WOW too. Swimming in the Olympics was always a HUGE dream of mine that I obviously never achieved. But I love the thought that maybe one or all of my daughters will one day be an Olympian. Can you just imagine the PRIDE the parents of the Olympic athletes must feel? Their hearts must just constantly feel like bursting from it. I know I feel like that with things my daughters do. Like Maddy going into the 1st grade. I know every kid goes to the 1st grade.. But every kid isn't my kid. Or Alex. She is so smart, and I am just so proud to be her mom. Not to leave out Peyton. I am just tickled that she is crawling everywhere and cruising around the furniture. It's like she is going to take off walking at any minute. At only 8 months! In all honesty, I think I feel more pride in being a mom then I would ever have felt as an Olympian. And I want to be the kind of parent that her kids feel safe with, who feel like they can come to with any kind of problem. That will make me feel SO accomplished. So anyways..

We are also Off on Vacation next week! Yay for 8 nights in Sunriver! We love that place. It is so relaxing, and fun too. Maddy is, I think, more excited then I am about it. She was upstairs for a while on Saturday, and I didn't know what she was up to, so I called her down. When I asked what she was doing, she replies with,
Maddy: "packing for Sunriver in 7 days"
Me: "oh yeah, what did you pack?"
Maddy: "Uh, 8 pairs of pants, 8 pairs of shorts, 8 long sleeve shirts, 8 short sleeve shirts, 8 tank tops,8 dresses, 8 skirts, 8 pairs of panties, 8 pairs of socks; 5 swim suits; my swim suit cover up, my goggles, my hat, my sunglasses, my iPod, and uh, I think thats it."
Me: "Oh..Thats alot of stuff, did it all fit?"
Maddy: "Yeah, but Alex is stronger then I am, because she had to zip my bag up when I sat on it"
Me: "Ah, I see. Do you think that maybe you will need some of that stuff this week?"
Maddy: "No, I don't think so."
Me: "Mmmm. Ok kiddo."

So, needless to say, she is ready for vacation!

I will try to post once more before we go if I find the time. Check back later! S

Swimming Lessons!

The big girls had their very 1st swimming lesson today! They were so very excited to start learning how to swim. And yes, for all who know me, this is truly pathetic of me, the swimmer, one who spent 12 years of her life on the swim team. The one who lived and breathed swimming. Who broke her foot and still swam in 3 races in the High School State Championship finals. The one who actually TAUGHT swimming lessons. To wait until her oldest was 6 years old before getting her into swimming lessons. I saw my one of my old swim coaches/boss/mentors there, and he looked at me and said "these couldn't be Stacey Murphy's girls. If they were they would know how to swim by now." This would be the same man who dubbed me "Spacey Stacey" at age 7.. Granted it was and is still true to a certain extent. I would sort of just zone out, uh I mean really focus, sometimes. I think my oldest might take after me.. If you watch the slideshow I am sure you will pick out the picture I am talking about. 8-0



All in all, my girls did GREAT! Maddy did have a scared moment, but she worked her self out of it pretty quick. Alex is just a natural. Future Olympians? We'll just have to see!

Yummmm...

I have decided to start posting some of my favorite (easy) dinners. Last night I made something I don't have a name for.. So lets call it Stove top enchiladas.

Take:
1.25 lbs ground turkey (or any ground meat if you please)
1 can tomato soup
1 can cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup
1 can of corn (mostly drained)
1 pkg taco seasoning
5 or 6 flour tortilla (burrito sized) cut up
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the ground turkey, drain. Back on the stove top in the skillet used to brown the meat add taco seasoning to browned ground turkey. Mix. Add the soups & mostly drained corn. Mix. Add cut up flour torillas. Mix. Top with shredded cheese. Let cheese melt & serve! So yummy and easy too..

An Alex dinner prayer

Every night before we eat dinner we always bless our food. And more often then not its the girls who are saying said blessings. Here is an example of an Alex prayer..

Alex: "Deaw Jesus, Thank you for all dis yummy food. Momma, whats dis called wight here?"
Me(with one eye on her plate looking to see what she is pointing too): "Pork roast, sweetie."
Alex: "for the powk woast. Momma, what is dis one?"
Me(again looking at her plate): "Mashed Potato's."
Alex: "and for the mashed tomatoes. What is dis part momma?"
Me(once again looking up): "That would be corn on the cob"
Alex: "oh, and the corn cob. Oh and my yummy milk, can't fowget the milk. Oh wait I hab water. Oh and I guess thank you for Peyton's food too. And her milk from Momma's b.."
Me: "OK, ALEX... Time to wrap it up kiddo"
Alex: "uh, dear Jesus, Amen"

A little thrill for the week

I get to leave work today at 3:00! And I get to go HOME, with OUT kiddo's! Oh my goodness I am so excited to have 2 whole hours of quiet time. Time, all to myself. No questions, no work, no being a mommy. I am thrilled! I might just take a bath or something. Who knows. Just me & my book. Can't wait. Only 1.5 hours to go.

Mary Mary quite Contrary, how does your garden grow?

We planted a vegtable garden this spring and boy oh boy are some of our plants growing! Our tomato plants have grown the most and we have about a bazillion green tomatos on them. I only bought 4 plants, two of the red cherry tomatos, two of the little yellow tomatos.. I think I got 2 too many. I have no idea what I am going to do with all of these tomatos! Especially when we go on Vacation at the end of next month.. ALl of my plants will be overflowing with fruit and I have no one to pick them. Unless someone wants to drive 15 minutes out to Sheridan from McMinnville for some Cherry tomatos and Zuchini.. Maybe some corn & chili peppers too. Who knows? We have had a few strawberries ripen.. But not many and the ones we had were a bit watery. Here are some pics of our garden.





And here are a few of my great kids.

Sleep, who needs sleep?

I am right now sitting in my office/Peyton's bedroom waiting for the little monkey to fall asleep. I don't trust her anymore! I walked in here earlier today after I put her down for her "nap" to find her standing up and leaning out of her crib. I swear I just caught her before she tumbled head first out of it. For cryin out loud.. The baby is refusing to fall asleep. She took one nap today, and that was on our way home from Church at 11:00 am. It totaled approx 20 minutes long. Now she is little miss fussy pants.. Hmmm could it possibly be because she needs to SLEEP?! So, now I need to tally up all of the new milestones she has done in the last month..

1. Army Crawl
2. Going from a crawling to a sitting position
3. Crawling (very fast might I add) on her hands and knees
4. Pulling her self up to standing
5. Wave Bye Bye
6. Saying Dada

Whats next kid? Running a marathon?

Nothin new

Hey all, nothin new goin on here. Just living life one day at a time. Girls are good. Hub's good. I am good. It's been hot here. Which is nice, but I want it to get back into the 80's. Much more comfy. We are only 1 1/2 months away from Vacation. Hallejulah! We are going to Sunriver for a week the last week of August. I can not wait! The girls are excited to be able to go to the pool everyday, and to ride their bikes there & back. Plus just being able to relax will be so nice.

Peyton had a big day the other day too. She went from a crawling to a sitting position, and started crawling on her hands & knees instead of the army crawl. She also had her 1st solid poopoo.. But we really don't need to go there..

I will try to post pictures in the next couple of days. It's been a while!

Cracker Jacks

Who used to love Cracker Jacks? I know I sure did. Thinking back, I am not sure if it was the treat itself, or maybe the anticipation of what "treasure" I was going to get from inside the box. Life is kinda like that I think. Not so much what you know what you are going to get, but the anticipation of what you don't know yet. Sometimes its the greatest thing in the world to you, and other times it just kinda sucks. I have been in kind of a funk lately, and I think I just need to get back to the anticipation of life. Sometimes its the best part..

A few cute stories from the past

I have been thinking back alot lately, about what the big girls used to do & say and I just had to document some of them.. Here are some of my faves.

~Literal Maddy ~
One evening when Maddy was 4 years old, I went out to get the mail. I was flipping through all of the envelopes, seeing what bills we received & whatnot, when I found an envelope address to Miss Maddy Johnson. I told her, "Maddy, you got a letter in the mail!" She got SO excited, and said, "Which one? An M?!" Yes, my ever so literal child thought a letter could only mean one from the alphabet...

~Envious Alex~
Alex, as we have determined in prior posts is a "free spirit". She also hates to lose, and gets very very envious.. Well... She went through a time where she REALLY wanted to have a penis. I was actually quite disturbed about all of it. Here are two stories from that "phase"..

One afternoon, I was picking the girls up from daycare.. I noticed Alex wasn't wearing the pants I had put her in in the morning. I questioned Diane, and she told me that, yes, Alex had an accident. That didn't bother me too much, because she had just turned 3 and had only been potty trained for about 6 months at that time. What disturbed me the most was when Alex walks up to me, pulls down her pants and shouts, "LOOK MOMMA, DEESE UNNERWARES HAB A PENIS POCKET! THEM ARE WEALLY COOL." Yes, she shouted that her panties had a penis pocket in them. Turns out she had run out of panties in her spares there so Diane loaned her some of her extras.. Which just so happened to be the little boys underroos. Oh joy.

Another GREAT penis envy story...
One night I was downstairs and the girls were up in bed "sleeping". Well I heard a bunch of noises coming from their room so I decided to see what in the heck they were doing. BAD IDEA. I walked into the room and found baby wipes all over the place. And Alex's panties were wet. Not soaking wet like she had had an accident, but damp. I asked her "Alex why are your panties wet?" And being the honest little girl she is said, "Cuz I put wipes in dem so I could have a penis".. WHY?! "WHY, Alex do you think you need to do that?!" "I not know" was my precious daughters reply..

~Back to Maddy.. Literal Maddy strikes again! ~

This is one of my Mom's favorite stories of Maddy's. Probably because she was right there when my oh so charming daughter said it.

I was making dinner one night, and my parents were over for the evening. We had just started to eat, when my mom asked me what I put in the food I had made. (I can't remember what I made that night) I replied with "just some seasonings". Maddy's eyes got really big, like whoa.. She said, "What kinds of seasonings, Momma? Fall, or Winter?! Christmas ones maybe?!"

My girls make me smile & laugh so much.. What a bunch of goofy girls!

What a doll...

Isn't she just the cutest baby girl ever?! I sure think so.. I am having a really hard time with the fact that yet another month has gone by. Peyton is now 7 months old, and crawling EVERYWHERE. I had forgotten how much work a mobile baby is. I had also forgotten how much fun a mobile baby is. I just love watching her learn new things. She also says Dada, and I swear she says Hi as well. She also LOVES her big sisters. Last night Travis took the big girls up to Vancouver to buy some fireworks for tonight (the 4th of July) and Peyton totally missed her sissy's. She would look around, crawl to each corner of the downstairs trying to find them. When they finally got home at 10:30 last night, they went up stairs and Peyton woke up and litterally SQUEELED with joy when she saw them. Then she proceded to start to cry when they went into there room to get ready for bed. When Trav walked in to console her, she was up on her knees, trying with all her might to pull her self up to standing. All I could think was NO, NOT YET! I seriously don't think I could handle another baby milestone yet.. I guess I am going to have to drop her cribs mattress down now. I don't want my baby to fall head first out of her crib and get a concussion. No thank you.

Hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July!