JunkMonkie N Magnus

Class of 2012~ Stephanie

Stephanie is my cousin, but she calls me Auntie Jen. The story on why this is so is way to long to repeat – but I love being called Auntie Jen by this girl. Steph will be graduating High School on Friday – and we are so very proud of her. 

I remember the day Steph was born (like it was yesterday!!), and she and I have been close buddies for 19 years. She means the world to me and I love the woman she has become.

Steph is a super driven young woman. She excels in athletics and academics. She won her division state gymnastic title a few years ago and took 2^nd in her high schools division pole vault event and first place in the 4x400 relay at state this year!

She’s also a pretty awesome cheer leader – and is so much fun to watch (she’s rubbing off a bit on Lilly!).

Steph will be traveling a bit further south this fall than I wanted to, choosing U of A over ASU – but that’s alright with me. It means I get to visit a part of Arizona I haven’t really paid attention to yet! She’s going to be in the honors college and I know she’ll knock that out of the park!

Lilly and Steph are now developing the type of “sister” relationship that Steph and I have. If you were to ask Lilly who her favorite (anything) is – she would say Steph.  I hope these two continue to strengthen their bond over the years. Lilly needs someone to look up to and considers Steph her “big” sister.

 

Steph and I have a super secret “hand sign” that we’ve perfected over the years. I taught Steph our secret when she was a year old and we’ve used it since. Wherever she is (usually performing of some sort) she’ll look for me in the crowd and I’ll “flash” the sign. It lets her know that I’m rooting for her, all is well and she’ll do great whatever the outcome. Well, I won’t be at her graduation – not because I don’t want to but because it’s going to be complete chaos (no tickets, open door for everyone) AND I’ve also signed up to be the paparatzzi at Project Graduation and I’ll need a nap first….. but I know in her mind I’ll pop in for a quick “flash hand sign” and she’ll know I’m there with her in spirit!!

Great job Steph! You should be so proud of yourself! You have nothing but opportunity in front of you – and with your determination – YOU WILL CONCOUR THE WORLD!!!!!

 

Class of 2012~ Lilly

On September 15, 2007 my life became immensely perfect, with the birth of my most precious baby girl, Lilly Rose.

And now, 4 ½ years later we are celebrating another huge milestone in her life – and are so proud of her!

Lilly graduated from her preschool with the most amazing group of kiddos we’ve had the opportunity to know. Lilly has made so many great friends and I hope these relationships can continue once each child goes off on their own path to Kindergarten. Lilly is so excited to be going to Kindergarten next year –  she asks to drive by the building every day. I hope her love of learning and experiencing new things continues for her entire life. She is truly an amazing human being and brings smiles to so many people!

Lilly – My wish for you is to fully embrace all life’s opportunities and challenges. I can’t say I hope you love every minute of your growing up – because frankly – that is completely unrealistic. But I hope that the MAJORITY of your life experiences are amazing and you truly enjoy as many steps of your journey as you possibly can.  Your daddy and I love you to infinity and beyond and will be with you, supporting you every step of the way!

Be creative, be inquisitive, be joyful, be kind, be a true friend, be honest, be happy – most of all – BE YOU!

Love ya Lilly Buggy Boo!

 

Class of 2012~ Alyssa

Three of the coolest girls I know are enjoying a very special time in their lives right now. It’s really neat that these three amazing girls are all GRADUATING this month from their respective grade!

I have a bit to say about each of them over the next few days.

 

My niece, Alyssa, is a great kid. She is graduating from 8^th grade and moving into high school next year. I am amazed at how cool and laid back she is. She’s smart, funny and very athletic! She plays tuba in her school band (which I think is very cool!). She is also on the high school crew team (If you don't konw what that is....she rows a boat.. don't fret, I didn't really know what it was either till she explained it to me)! Yes - as an eight grader, Alyssa is playing high school sports!

I think of Alyssa as the “world traveler” of the family. This kid has taken been on an airplane more than many of our family members combined! She is such a joy to be around – we have the greatest time when we she comes to visit!

The first time I met Alyssa I was fully in love with this child. I didn’t get to see her until she was 3 years old, as her family used to serve in the Army and had moved to Germany shortly after she was born. She was the spitting image of Boo (from Monsters Inc) and had the best disposition of any child I had ever met.

(This pic was taken in 2008 at her dad/my brother's wedding)

A few summers, Alyssa came to Arizona and Oregon to spend time with Justin and I and we loved it. We’ve been all over the Oregon Coast (with Steph and Mikey Joe), San Diego/Sea World and all over Arizona. She was with us when I was 8 months pregnant with Lilly – and we had such a special time together.

(This pic was taken with the kiddos in Oregon at the Sea Lion caves in 2004 - wow - look how small they were!)

This pic was taken in San Diego 2005. Alyssa's favorite song was "Move It" from Madagascar and we heard it the 6 hours to San Diego AND the 6 hours back! :-)

I am so proud of Alyssa and the fine young woman she has become in her early teen years. I look forward to seeing how she blossoms as a teenager and through her 20s!

Love ya Lyssa!!! xoxoxo

 

Ballerinas and Birthday Bulls

We had such a busy weekend! 2 preschool birthday parties with Lilly's buddies, Lilly's Dance Recital and Grandpa Howdy's Birthday! And this upcoming week is going to be just as busy..... graduation!!!!

Lilly participates in Twinkle Toes at her preschool. All the girls worked very very hard to put together a dance to Disney's Tangled. How appropriate!  

Lilly patiently let me curl every inch of her hair - she looked like Shirley Temple! After a liberal dose of hairspray and glitter spray - our princess was ready for her big day!

 

 

 

Lilly shined like a star! The entire performance was magical and all the girls did a fantastic job! I teared up every time she took the stage, I was SO proud of her! Lilly really enjoys dancing - and we'll encourage that for as long as she is interested!

We also celebrated Grandpa Howdy's birthday. Lilly wanted "steak" and what better place to go than Ruster's Rooste! The food was good and the company was great! 

Happy Birthday Grandpa Howdy!!!

 

 

Pink-errific!

Lilly, Grandma Rose and I went to the Broadway Palms last week to see the "Off Broadway" rendition of Pinkalicious! 

We had a great time! Lilly was very familiar with the Pinkalicious story told in this play, as we read it just about every week! 

Lilly dressed up super special in one of her "many" pink dresses, hair glitter, make-up and jewlery! She looked super-pink-cooper cute!

Chemistry Lab in the Kitchen

Justin is going back to school to get his degree in Engineering and is currently taking online classes. One of the classes he's taking now is a Chemistry class, with a lab. 

Needless to say, Lilly wants to be in the middle of the beaker/pipette action - and "assist" her daddy with his chemistry experiments! 

She didn't quite understand the cosuming M&Ms while doing science experiments doesn't really work out. 

This is Lilly's response to me asking her, "Lilly! What is in your mouth?" (Notice the drink cup is now included in the mess of the chemistry lab?)

While her help didn't turn into a disaster, we make sure now that she and I are out of the house while he's working on his classes!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome, amazing, beautiful mom's in our lives. Today is a day to reflect on all the great things that we love about being moms!

My favorite thing about being a mommy is my daugther, Lilly. She is the joy of my life - she is the most amazing kid!

 

My two favorites

The start of summer is here!

It's been warming up in the Valley of the Sun and Lilly has wasted no time checking the pool to see if it's warm enough to swim in. Her parents still think it's a bit to cold for their taste, but she's all ready for it!

Our summer goal this year is for her to learn how to snorkle. This cheap snorkel gear is going to soon be replaced by quality gear that we can use in the pool, nearby lakes and ultimately, the ocean!

 

Lilly Breadsticks

Getting Lilly to try new foods is a struggle. I know at school she eats a wide variety of foods - she tells me everyday the new food she's tried. She is starting to show some interest in cooking - and I want to foster that. I love to cook and trying new dishes. I hope that by fostering her interest in cooking (mostly baking) she will venture out of her standard dinner meal.

We had a great time creating breadstick letters and home made sauce (referred to as "dinosaur blood"). She loved making the letters, helping to bake and making up the sauce. She especially loved grating the parmasean cheese with the micro planer! She ate the whole thing! Next time, we might try "calzone" it up a bit with some of her favorite veggies and cheese. :-)

Note: Lilly's eyes look very dark because I let her put on her own make-up for this photo shoot. That included some extra dark purple to go with her Rapunzel dress! :-)

Girls Date

We had a little "girls" date this past Saturday. Lilly dressed in her favorite "gown" (anything black and pink made the inital cut) and prepped her Rapunzel doll for the big day.

 

Lilly took her Great Grandma Arizona and myself to go to Disney on Ice in Phoenix. 

We all had the greatest time!

Our seats were amazing! 

While my wallet is lighter, our memories are richer with this great experience of a little girl, her great grandmother and their chaperone!

Fun at the park

Who can't get out and enjoy the AMAZING spring weather we have here in Arizona! It's been so great!

But, for anyone who's lived in Arizona at least 12 months understands that the brilliant spring weather soon gives away to incredible (sometimes almost unbearable) summer heat (thus, why most everyone has a POOL!)

We spent an amazing day at the park, near my parents house. Lilly enjoyed playing on all the equipment and my dad and I enjoyed watching a dog agility club put their dogs through their workouts!

 

 

<3 from Ireland

I am blessed to work for an international company. I have co-workers in China, Israel and Ireland - and they are truly amazing people. A recent business trip of an Ireland co-worker to the states included a special gift for Lil Miss Lilly. She couldn't be more thrilled at a special present, and "it wasn't even my Birthday, Mommy!"

Lilly took great care with removing the ribbon from the package, but took no time getting the paper off!

What was our surprise underneath?

A super cool tin (which I will keep FOREVER) filled with the most amazing beads - perfect for Lilly's creativity to come through. We've beaded, and re-beaded and re-re-beaded the same elastic necklace string many times over.

Also part of the surprise were two amazing books! I am in total love with them!

The Kingdom of Mourne and The Mysteries of the Avoca Pony. Two great reads!!!

Thanks Ms. Mary!

Egg-hunted out!

Lilly enjoyed 4 egg hunts over a 2 day period. She is pretty much done till next year!

The neighbors held a wonderful lunch-hunt, with tons of fresh dishes from their native country (Iceland, who would have guessed!)

Easter morning, the Easter Bunny made a visit to Lilly's cousin's house - where her basket was filled with chocolate and she had to find 180 eggs!

We then went to the house of my Aunt's boss - they live in a beautiful ranch house near the Verde River and have a horse, bull, 2 bunnies, 3 chickens and 3+ dogs. Lilly was in heaven! Of all things, I forgot my camera in Chandler - so I am relying on my auntie to send me some pics from her camera. 

These were taken from my phone!

 

 

Lilly found the coveted "gold" egg - which had $20! The kid made a total of $41 off her egg hunts!

Our final egg hunt was at our house, Sunday night. The Easter Bunny hides a special extra-large golden egg for Lilly every year. He hid it after Lilly's Daddy came home from work. The backyard is a chaotic mess right now, undergoing a major renovation - so the Bunny's hiding options were rather limited.

Lilly found her egg pretty quickly! It took longer for her to pick it up then anything - mainly because she was negotiating with us to pick it up for her - she said the tree would stick her! :-)

Inside was a special message from the Easter Bunny. 

It read: This certificate entitles you to 3 days in Disneyland (The Happiest Place on Earth) in California. You may bring 2 adults of your choosing (Hopefully Mommy and Daddy).

YIPPEEE!!!! When are we going? No clue yet. We need to see what school she'll be enrolled in for Kindegarten and then we'll know what our schedule looks like!

BTW - did you notice Lilly's Blue and Pink fingernails? She and her Auntie Coleen (Great Auntie if we want to get technical) had a nail painting party at the house on Sunday. Lilly had a great time painting her Auntie's fingernails.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Whatever your religious (or none) views are, we wish you a day of happiness!

Lilly's preschool had an Egg Hunt - which was so much fun! Lilly had her outfit for the special day picked out weeks in advance. What can I say, the girl wanted to be in style! I got more comments (all good, of course) from parents and teachers alike. She is truly a unique child!

 

We hare having a weekend of Easter celebrations....

Friday: Dinner and egg dying with the grandparents

Saturday: Easter lunch with family next door and going to Cottonwood to visit everyone up there

Sunday: Easter Brunch and travel back home

It will be a long (and super fun) weekend!

Ducks and Dirt Angels

Lilly's Preschool has a pond next to it. We love visitng the ducks in the early morning before school or when I pick her up in the afternoons (which, it's going to be getting a bit hot now to do that in the afternoon!).

We had a great time feeding ducks and watching enormous fish.

Photo Shoot = Not happening Mommy!

We are in the middle of a huge backyard transformation at the moment. We've had 4 inches of the entire backyard (which is rock/dirt) sifted to remove the rocks and are going to put grass in. This is happening at a snail's pace - but with good reasons - so we are not stressed out about it.

Lilly LOVES having a backyard full of dirt. She is getting as dirty as a 4 year old can get!

Her favorite thing to do is make dirt angels! We can't get upset - we were made to be washable and the child has been asking to go play in snow for 6+ months (and we never did get a chance to do it) - so why not in the dirt?!?

 

Arizona Scotland Highland games

This past weekend we loaded up our Camelpack with ice water and headed to Steel Indian Park to partake in the 48th Annual Arizona Scottish Highland Games & Celtic Gathering! Not as big as the Renissance Festival, but very fun. Mom wanted to go because of her experience with a similar event in Washington - one of her favorite "bands" was even in attendance! The Wicked Tinkers are pretty awesome!

Lilly had a great time as well. I had a cute "kilt" type skirt for her to wear and she looked so cute!

We shelled out the (gasp) $8 per activity for her to play in huge water balls and catapult trampoline. 

Who can resist that smile? 

They had a really fun car show of European cars. Lilly ran up to this one and said it was HERS!! (I can't blame her!)

The day was HOT HOT HOT - we stuck around until noon for the grand march - which featured 100 bagpipers + a heck of a lot of drummers. It was pretty amazing to hear musicians from all over the southwest (as far as Las Vegas) play together. The grand march of the Clans was fun to. We joked about putting together a Forbes clan and marching next year!

 

Arizona Renaissance Festival

St. Patty's Day Justin and I took my parents to the famous Arizona Renaissance Festival. We didn't take Lillybug, as we wanted the parents to experience the "adult" version of the festival (ie, all the good shows that she would be bored with). Plus we wanted to be able to drink from 10 AM - when we left (and we did!)

We saw the great acts of Tortuga Twins, Don Juan and Carlos, London Broil Show and Hey Nunnie Nunnie!.

Whenever we go to the Festival, we always seem to have at least 1 person in our party get called up on stage, or is part of the show. Justin has been on Tortunga Twins and The Ded Bob Show and I've been on the London Broil show. 

Well, this year was no different! At Hey Nunnie Nunnie! we had GREAT seats, sitting in the 2nd row from the stage. The show is about 2 very funny nuns (from the Sisterhood of the Wailing Souls) "counseling" various audience members. Mother Redempta told us the story of why she became a nun - her heart was broken by a man named Tex! Tex just-so happened to be sitting in the audience and had a green hat on and a "curly mustache", sitting next to him was his "new woman". And then she pointed right at my dad! It was so funny - I wish I could have recorded the entire thing! They kept referring to him during show, saying "Howdy Tex!" - well - if you know my dad - you would understand why that was funny (and for those of you that don't - my dad's nickname is Howdy. It was even on his checks at one time!)

After the show we got this really good picture of the 3 of them.

I'm pretty sure when we return to the Festival again - this show will be a top priority to attend - it truly was one of the funniest shows we've ever seen!

The entire purpose of attending the Festival the day we did was to see an author that has always been a major favorite of my mom's - and now has become one of mine! Remember this post from January?! 

Mrs. Diana Gabaldon was doing a book signing at Lady Chamberlain's Book Shop. Diana wrote (and is still writing) the Outlander Series. I have a GOAL to have all my mom's first edition Outlander books by her (especially after we saw how much they were worth - signed, first edition copies!). I double bagged the first book, Outlander (to keep it protected) and we carted it around the festival with us all day. 

Diana was lovely, and we chatted a bit. I got a picture for my Facebook Outlander Book Club and got mom's book signed (Diana commented on how we do need to take care of it very much!). I told Diana that we'll be seeing more of her at future appearances (Especially when MOBY is released) and we'll eventually get all my mom's books signed! 

 

The weather cooperated, somewhat. In Arizona, chances of March being close to some climates summer high is common. We enjoyed an overcast day (although the winds could have cooperated some!)

2012 Az Ren Fest - 2 thumbs up!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cheers to you and wear a bit o' green today!

This is an early morning (6AM) post - we have a busy day ahead of us!

We started at Fibber McGees last night. We had a great time with friends, listening to the Brazen Heads and (of course) partaking in Irelands famous beverage.

Today we are off to the Arizona Renaissance Festival, taking my parents to their first time. Bug is with her other grandparents, and will be getting (and receiving) kisses from all the old people at the retirement park!

Then (if we are up to it) - we are thinking about hitting up Flogging Molly at the Tempe Beach Park. All this and Justin as to be at work @6AM on Sunday - Think we'll make it through today?

Here is a pic of us at Fibber McGees St. Patty's day bash 6 years ago (SIX YEARS!) This was before Lilly AND 8 months before we even got married!

Have a safe, fun and happy day!

Our weekend

This weekend was spent Spring Cleaning and working on our back yard. We've decided that rock/dirt/6 leafy trees is to much for the pool (and our house!) Bronco is a dust magnet and our floors have dust trails all through the house. 

The grandparents came over for a visit:

The Craft Room is on the top part of my long list of things to organize (read - PURGE) and so lots of fun stuff, tucked away for Lilly has been uncovered. And someone just can't help herself from sneaking into the room to see what has been unearthed.

I found this cute castle at Savers, and it has a ton of mini/micro fairy tale figures. I assume there are alot more that should have come with the castle, but for $3, I can't complain. I'm going to be doing some research to see if I can find out what this is, and if there are more figures I can procure for her castle. She played with it for over 2 hours!

This is my favorite "time" of the weekend. Lilly is a self-professed "momma's girl". There is no question about it and everyone on this earth would agree. Justin understands - he's so busy with work and school, then home improvements - he catches any chances he can with spending some time with his little bug.

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.

    -- Sigmund Freud

 

It's next time, and she's 4

To say I've waited for this day for 4 years....... is rather quite accurate.

Happy Leap Year!

4 years ago today, we were HERE.

What have we been up to these past 4 years? Let's take a quick look back through time!

(Click any pic to enlarge in Flickr)

 

And a pic frm 2/29/2012. What an amazing 4 year run we've had.

And next time, she'll be 8! :-)

Weekend of fun

We spent a quiet weekend at home. With all the frenzy of post-holidays and vacations, we all needed a bit of downtime.

Lilly is really enjoying coloring this huge coloring castle. Bought at black-Friday and brought out of the box this past weekend! :-) 

 

And we also practiced "floating" in the canoe. I say floating because we can't really practice rowing. One swipe of the oar and we go from one side of the pool to the other. Oh, and Justin is practicing holding a beer and fishing pole in hand!

 

A camping trip is in our near future!

Digs any diva-bird would love!

Lilly and I were able to do some girl-bonding this weekend - our first weekend back together since Justin and I were in Cozumel. Of course, the weekend included some killer crafting time!

These birdhouses are only for the most excelectic-fun loving-diva bird. I hope the scrub pigeons don't think these are for them! The hummingbirds are more than welcome! :-)

Searching for 'our' lost shaker of salt

Justin and I took an amazing trip the 1st week of Feb to Cozumel Mexico.

We had the time of our lives - and are still trying to re-adjust to reality.

This is the view from our hotel room.

In a heartbeat, we would sell everything we have, buy a sailboat and sail the crystal blue waters around the world. Lilly could be "home/boat" schooled and we would have the times of our lives.

But until then, we have some amazing pics to remind us of a moment in time where we didn't have a worry in the world. And to top it off, we met some AMAZING people, whom we are honored to call friends. 

 

~ Dave and Jessica ~

~ Jesse and Tracy ~

~ Cassie and Jill ~ 

(+6 more, whom I don't have pics of!!!)

We are tagged on Facebook to alot more pics than what I took. I didn't even pull out the camera until the last couple of days!

This trip was one of the best we've had. We love the water and can see ourselves venturing back to the great oceans many many times more.

Super Bowl and Happy Birthday

I've assessed my ability to blog daily @ the 1 month mark. We're moving it to less frequent..... weekly?

We had a great Super Bowl watching and Happy Birthday day today. Tomorrow, we are off to Cozumel  for a week. So, see ya lata!

 

 

Day32: 2012

Happy February! Tonight we started the celebration of Justin's Birthday MONTH. 

Here is where went.