Hellloooooo

I have not blogged in a LONG time.. Like a really really long time. I've meant to and it just never happened because time always seems in short supply. But I need to blog again. I appreciate having a stock of collected stories and memories because as much as I hope to remember the details, I know there are so many I will forget. 


SO first things first our most recent happening - Morgan turned 8! Eight is a fun age - eight is older than seven. Eight will undoubtedly be a great year.

Memories...

Today my friend sent these two pictures to me.  She found them in her email from when I had sent them a long while back. I loved seeing my cute little bug. She is getting so big it almost made me cry to look at them. I love her "big self" indeed - it just goes SO fast...   


Thanks Brianne for sending!!!

Party Wear

One thing that is never a problem for Morgan - finding her perfect outfit... The party outfit (and nails) = 

Party Problemo (1)

Last Sunday we had Morgan's "kid" party.  We did an "off site" party this year at an indoor bounce house place. I knew she would be inviting quite a few kids and I didn't want to manage a group for a home party, plus I was attempting the "easy route" this year. 


Now, as is the case with most events, perfectly easy with no problems - yeah, that's a nice thought but reality was this -


Problemo #1 - Cupcakes. Just one week prior my mom had seen cupcakes at Costco. Perfect. Costco has good cake and cupcakes are awesome because you don't have to slice a bunch of cake. Saturday (day before party) drive to Costco for said cupcakes, do not see cupcakes, ask person in bakery - cupcakes? Bakery person "discontinued as of last week, no cupcakes for you".  Insert sad face here.


Leave Costco and think, think, think. I think - where else can I find cupcakes? Grocery store cupcakes = gross. Cupcake shop cupcakes while good = expensive and not enough time for the amount I need. Cake =  not an option, I've already decided  on cupcakes. ha ha


So - to Walmart we went to buy ingredients for cupcakes. Hours later - vanilla / vanilla cupcakes, chocolate / chocolate cupcakes, chocolate / vanilla cupcakes, marble / ganache cupcakes - lots o' cupcakes. Thank goodness my mom has large counters and two ovens. :-)

The verdict - while time consuming - homemade cupcakes far surpass store cupcakes. Morgan said they were the best cupcakes she's had, can't beat that end result. I guess I'm glad Costco had no cupcakes after all.... 


But wait, yes I did label this Problemo #1, which means there was in fact a Problemo #2! But you have to sit with suspense until I post about that one. Stay tuned!

Seven

Morgan is officially seven. I told her she was seven in the morning and she said - no, not yet. Not until I blow my candle out. Well, the candle has been blown and she is now undeniably seven years old. 


She celebrated her birthday with family and her new best friend - Stripey. She loves this stuffed animal more than I can say she has ever liked anything. Stripey comes everywhere with us (I mean everywhere...) Yesterday he joined us for: 


The morning bday photo shoot.

Breakfast (at which it was decided Morgan really likes breakfast at home, she enjoys the atmosphere of eating out, but not so much the actual food...) 

Shopping for her new big kid bike at Toys R Us. She picked a puppy themed bike, but he was not offended. When we pulled up in front of the store after breakfast she was like - what are we doing here? She had a HUGE smile when she found out it was to pick out her brand new big kid bike (that she was greatly in need of). It is good to have nice grandparents. :-)  It took her a couple of minutes to get used to the size of it, but she was riding around in no time.

Next came presents, cake, and a round of her new squinkies game where you get to say outloud "So Cute" everytime someone gets the so cure card (it stops being cute after a while, ha ha)... She got some very nice certificates from Grandma and Grandpa - so her birthday will last quite a while redeeming them. Plus some money to add to her bank, or spend, or save, or spend (TBD) from Auntie Ellen. 

Then.... Horse riding lessons at her new barn. I found another barn for lessons recently and we had her first lesson yesterday afternoon. She enjoyed her lesson and her teacher (Ms. Jessica) very much. Jessica is a barrel racer and roper - so how long Morgan stays with her will depend on which style she decides she likes best - very far down the road. :-)  Thank you to Auntie Nedra for providing our first few lessons back! 

Stripey watched her lesson from afar... He actually was nicely settled in the barn but Morgan ran over to get me to retrieve Stripey so he could watch.

Afterward dinner at BJ's (where she actually ate) AND got her very own personal birthday pizookie. The best part -  they don't do a mass singing, they just bring you your free pizookie. 

AND THEN... yes, there was an and then. She finished off her evening at Build A Bear workshop. Uncle John took her to pick out a new animal friend and outfits. Because it was Wednesday night she had the store to herself, like her own private BAB shopping experience. So now, Stripey has a friend- Swirly the lamb. They share clothes already - so I imagine they are destined furry BFFS. 

Seven was indeed a GREAT birthday!

Staycation...

Every year I take Morgan's birthday off from work. Since the 4th was on Monday and her birthday Wednesday it only made sense to take Tuesday off too. :-) For the first time in as long as I can remember we stayed in town the whole time. It's been quite relaxing and fun.


We - went to open gym at her gymnastics center..... She actually ran into her friend Emma from school while we were there.

Sunday was church (and seeing two more friends in her church class), swimming, and an Aces game. The Aces always have a special 4th fireworks show, but they weren't playing on the 4th so they did it on the 3rd.  Morgan was also lucky enough to get a ball. We were at the front near the visiting team dugout so when they came in they would hand kids a ball (at least in the beginning they did). She would wait until the 2nd out and get ready to head down to wait and try to get one. She got a wave once from a player but no ball. At the very last inning she was heading back to our seats and a boy in front of us handed her a game ball. He had gotten two that night, one for him and one for his brother and his mom noticed Morgan going down inning after inning trying to get one, so he offered his up to her. It was such a nice thing. Grandpa told his mom she did good raising him and I have to agree.  Morgan loves her ball... 

It was a great fireworks show too. I don't know when I've had to crane my neck up to watch them. Morgan also ran the bases afterward, needless to say she feel right asleep in the car.

4th of July - we slept in - made breakfast - watched Mr. Popper's Penguins (her favorite penguin is Nimrod) - went swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool (and worked on her cannonball) - made smores in their new firepit and then had an emergency run to firework watch #2. I had asked her in the morning if she wanted to watch fireworks again and she said she was good - she had seen them at the Aces and they are loud so that was enough for her. But when it got close to firework time she told Grandma she wanted to see them so they made an emergency trek up the street to the top of the hill where it overlooks town and were able to see them perfectly. Good to know for next year..

Today we slept in again (late nights in a row have added up) and then headed up to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe. I didn't dare try it for the 4th and was a little worried about today - it fills on busy days and if you can't park in the lot you have to seek out another beach. We got in no problem and found a spot right near the water.  We finished our afternoon with a stop at Yogurt Beach - a new frozen yogurt shop in town that definitely beats the other one we have.  Then home for showers (including Stripey the tiger) and early bed. Early bed was a request of Morgan's - she wanted to make sure she is well rested for her birthday tomorrow. T-12 hours to 7!!!!

Summer Is Here...

Summer is officially here... Yesterday was Morgan's last day of school - she is now a second-grader. She said goodbye to her classroom and her very favorite reptile Poseidon. 


We find out her new teacher next week, she is very hopeful it will be Ms. Lolli, but either way she'll be fine. 


In the mean time she has six weeks off, her birthday right around the corner, Girl Scout day camp, sleeping in, swimming, and lots of other great summer events to look forward to.

Rodeo

Thursday night we went to the rodeo, Morgan's first time actually sitting in the arena and watching all the event. She liked the barrel racing and bull riding best, plus the pony herd that ran around.

And, was lucky enough to run into a nice lady who let her try roping.

Ragamuffin & The Dog

This last weekend we went camping. I have one theme that is common throughout camping photos - ragamuffin status. At camping showers are optional, so is brushing ones hair as you will see modeled below. Camping = freedom from grooming. A much welcomed freedom for a 6-year-old... She is a proud ragamuffin.

We also brought the mutt... Okay, we never really call her a mutt. She HATES baths - but she actually went fairly far into the lake (she also hate swimming) and got cleaned up a bit so while one gets dirty the other gets clean . Fair trade I think.

The Lonely Puppy

Yesterday was Morgan's "Author's Tea" event. They have been writing and illustrating their own books for the last month or so and this was their day to show off their creations to parents. 


Morgan's book is "The Lonely Puppy" and you can see her "brag" piece below about the book. :-) 


The sound quality is not the best - DVD to come from the teachers this week - I'll repost when I get the updated version.

It's Been A While...

I know it's been awhile... And my blog tells me so. 


The last post was April, the background of snow.


I'll get back to it - hopefully someday soon.......


until then here's some pictures: 


(thought I would finish in a rhyme didn't you.. ha ha)


Morgan and her "pig" balloon... 

During Easter we made a bunny cake - my first chocolate one ever. I always think of Grandma Dutra when I make a bunny cake since she is the one that taught me. So they make me especially happy!

We were busy with Girl Scouts. Our final 2010-11 meeting wrapped up just a couple weeks ago. We had a good year and did a lot of fun trips. Next year is going to be even better and they will be BROWNIES! :-)

 Took a really long day trip to Six Flags for Girl Scout day. Highlight of my day - Morgan is too short for any of the big coasters still..... Okay that was not really the highlight, but I was secretly grateful. This was her first big trip with a friend and she LOVED it.  We did it all in one day - drove down in the morning, stayed all day, and then were home right after midnight. Normally I might not have set such a schedule - but a birthday party and GS meeting the next day said - one day it is! 

Managed to have a little Spring Break time. It just so happens the week of Spring Break was also the week of focus groups at work. Groups that were scheduled for the evening hours - luckily I was able to have a couple long lunch breaks to take her to lunch, and on one day golfing with Brandon.

And this..... this is a recent picture that I could not help but take. I saw her sleeping like this and instantly was brought back to when she was a baby. She would sleep flat on her back with her arms up like this right near her face. (when she slept that is...) 

And now.... back to work and school. She has just over one week left and then Summer vacation!!!  I actually have a few days scheduled for a little staycation in the next couple of weeks too.... 

We're both looking forward to some "free" time,  and she of course is counting down the days until her birthday. Seven arrives in T- 20 days.