Snow Day!!

We've had quite an interesting couple of days around here! We've had several recent predictions of snow and we finally got about an inch or so. I don't know about y'all but i'm really not much of a fan of the snow. I don't like to be cold. It's wet and dirty after just an hour or so. It's just really not so high on my list of favorite or even tolerable things. My kiddos on the other hand LOVE it. They are the kids that will stay out for hours, especially Jack. I thought they would be the type who would love about 15 minutes of playing in the snow and then get cold and tired and be ready to come inside, sip a little hot chocolate and then be content to snuggle on the couch and watch movies and play inside the warm house for the rest of the day. Boy, was I WRONG! They wanted to be out in the snow....all one inch of it! ha!
Another thing I'm not so much loving about the snow....snow days! Yep, no school! NO SCHOOL IN VIRGINIA FOR 1 INCH OF SNOW! Are you kidding me? I mean, I've lived in places that don't know how to handle snow (Alabama, anyone?) but I thought Virginia was a little more likely to have things under control. WRONG again! Virginia, at least the part we live in, gets as crazy over a little snow as anywhere else I've ever lived hence the decision to cancel school for 2 days over a dusting of snow! Boo!
Now, before you think I'm one of those moms who doesn't enjoy her kiddos let me set you straight. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kiddos...all four of them but I like for them to go to school on school days! AND get this, they like to go to school on school days too! It's a win win! Everybody's happy! Until those darn snow days. Yeah, i know I said they loved playing i the snow, but did I mention that I don't love it so much? Luckily, my kids have the best dad ever and he stayed home from work to play in the snow with his kiddos! (Don't worry he traded his normal Friday off for a Thursday snow day with his kiddos....no deadbeat dad at this house!) Yay for super dad! That freed me up to make lots of hot chocolate and enjoy the warm house! Again, yay for super dad!!
What would we do without him?!?!?

Check out my cuties loving the snow :)

Guess who's back? Back again....

I'll give you a hint.....it's not slim shady (or particularly slim anybody....boo!) but it is me! After taking a little break from the ol blog (for all of 2012) I'm back and hoping that 2013 will bring lots of excitement to our family and this little blog. Actually I'd be happy with just a little excitement and a lot of normal happy days! :)
It seems so unfair that y'all have missed out on a whole year of cute Thompson kiddos and I'm sure the suspense is crippling so let's not go any further without sharing a peek of these growing like weeds little ones!


TA DA! They are precious, aren't they?

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A few Christmas break activities (alternately titled I know it's February but better late than never!)

Just a few pics of our Christmas break fun!

One of Josh's youth works at Chick fil a and was also playing Santa in Miracle on 34th Street for the Christian Youth Theater so CFA had a meet and greet! We of course had to make an appearance and meet the big guy! :)

Isn't he the best Santa? I thought he looked SO good! I'm not one for standing in line for hours to get a screaming pic of my kiddos so this was THE perfect thing for us! We ordered and while we waited for our food the kids got to have their picture made. Then while we ate someone was printing the pictures and brought us several copies! Just another reason I love me some CFA! :)

G was a little afraid so Josh had to get in the picture too! Later Annie said Santa sounded a lot like William (J's youth)! Too funny! We didn't think the kids would recognize his voice!

We spent the first few days of Christmas break at home and Annie invited her best buddy, Sarah over to play one day! Sarah's mom is the assistant principal at Annie's school and had to work some so Sarah got to spend the whole day with us! We had a great day! These girls are pretty much joined at the hip and they had a great time together!

We decided to make salt dough ornaments!

We spent a lot of time playing Just Dance on the Wii! (Those ornaments had to bake for 6 hours! yikes! Good thing we put them in early!)

Finally it was time to decorate! What fun!

Beautiful!

We also got to go Christmas caroling with our church! We had a great crowd and it wasn't too cold (even for this Tennessee girl)!

E and G decided they were too tired to walk so they rode in the wagon with the Bibles we were passing out! Hope nobody judged our wrapping skills after these two sat on them!

Trying to stay warm! :)

Josh's mom made these cute ribbon tree shirts for the girls! (And a snowman shirt for Jack)! They were pretty adorable!

I spent lots of time crocheting and trying to finish up Christmas gifts! Emma modeled this monkey hat I made for Daniel! :)

Cute!

Super SPECIAL!!

October was a big month for the Thompsons! Jack's first birthday, a trip to Chattanooga and a VERY special Sunday! Annie T. was baptized! :)

Two summers ago the girls and I (I was pregnant with Jack) spent the month of July at the beach. Josh was busy with the youth and the girls and I figured it would be much more fun to be alone at the beach than to be alone at home so we packed up and headed down! We were driving back from lunch at our favorite beach restaurant when Annie started asking some questions about Jesus. Our kids have all grown up in church-their dad has been on a church staff since Annie was less than a year old so they're the kiddos who are ALWAYS there, you know anytime the doors were open! Even though I knew that Annie had heard about Jesus and knew that he had died on the cross for our sins, I was a little taken aback at some of the questions she was asking and how much she seemed to be understanding. I was so nervous about answering her questions and guiding her through some confusing stuff. I wanted to make sure I did it in a way that pointed her to Christ rather than making things muddy and confusing-that's a tall order! Part of me really wished her dad was there-he IS a minister, you know. Surely he would be better equipped to answer her questions. I'm just a mom. After I answered all of Annie's questions we spent a few minutes riding in silence. Annie piped up from the backseat "Mom, I'm ready for Jesus to live in my heart." So we prayed. Yep, driving out Ft. Morgan road in our blue Honda Van Annie T. asked Jesus to live in her heart! Favorite. Day. EVER! I let Annie call her daddy and tell him and he was of course just as excited as we were!

Later I thought about what a privilege it was for me to be there and be a part of Annie coming to know Jesus. I still wish Annie's daddy had been able to be there with us and I'm sure that he would have done a better job answering some of her questions but if he had been there I might have just stepped aside and let him do all the talking, let him be one to pray that very special prayer with her. Oh how I would have missed being a part of that! I hope Josh is able to experience it with our other kiddos but I recognize how awesome it is that Annie and I were able to share her decision together.

Since Annie was still so young, we decided to let her take the lead on being baptized and joining the church. We didn't want to push her to do anything she wasn't really ready for doing. We also knew that her age would make some people question the sincerity of her commitment. (Not me! I was there. I know what a real decision it was.) It took awhile but this fall Annie started talking about being baptized. She had seen a baptism and wanted to be baptized too. We took her to talk to our pastor and he agreed that she had made a real decision and understood enough to be baptized.
SO on October 16, 2011 my Annie T. was baptized.....by her daddy! I cannot tell you what that felt like for Josh (awesome, I'm sure) but for me it was precious. To see her make a public profession of her faith in front of her church family and then be baptized by the man who loves her more than anyone else on this earth (except for me, of course) was just beyond words. Josh's parents had already planned a trip to visit so we scheduled Annie's baptism for the weekend they were going to be here. And my crazy mom and grandmother decided they just couldn't stand to miss it either so they made a surprise visit just long enough to see Annie be baptized and eat a little lunch! What fun!

Annie and her daddy!

This one just melts my heart! I love to see her little face looking up at him! What a sweet sweet moment between the two of them!

It's been A WHILE.....

BUT we've been busy! Y'all I don't know where the time has gone and what I have been doing (other than obviously NOT blogging BUT I'm going to fix that...I hope)! We've had a super exciting and busy fall and winter and I just have not made the time to sit down with my thoughts (or pictures). Shame on me! This blog is really the only scrapbook I have so I have GOT to step it up!

Obviously there's not time or space for the WHOLE story but we can definitely get a little recap!

In October we made a trip back to Chattanooga to see Daniel play ball! We went to Senior Night (oh my word! I CANNOT believe he's a senior. I've been watching this boy play ball since kindergarten, y'all....seriously, unbelievable)! We had lots of fun cheering for our boys in blue and of course our favorite "Uncle Danimal".

Emma wearing her blue and showing off her sign!

Annie T. wearing her button. So cute!

Gracie showing off her sign! It says WE LOVE OUR UNCLE DANIMAL! Hilarious!

Annie made all of the signs and they were adorable if I do say so myself! :)

All the parents lined up on the field! That's my mom and dad in the middle...doesn't my mom look cute in his jersey?!?!? Adorable. Wish I had a bigger lens. Maybe one day! :)

Our favorite boy in blue! :)

Giving his momma a hug!

With Mom and Grandmother!

While we were in Chattanooga we celebrated Jack's first birthday! Another thing I CANNOT believe...my BABY (THE FOR REAL BABY) is ONE! WOW! Time flies! I mean seriously...FLIES! AND when I look back at where we were at this time LAST year....WOW! I am just amazed at how things can change in a year! It is amazing what God can do!

Think this boy likes cake? ha!

Of course, it wouldn't be October without Halloween! AND it wouldn't be Halloween without carving a pumpkin! Thank goodness Josh likes to do that with the kids...pumpkin guts are really not my thing! I'm happy to be the photographer! :)

YUCK!

Even Jack had fun!

Showing off all of their hard work!

It also wouldn't be Halloween without a little trick or treating! We had a great time with some good friends!

My little 50s girls and of course, the QB! They are so cute!

Annie also got her first report card of first grade! She is doing great! No surprises there! We are really pleased with all that she's learning but also so proud of her behavior and the way she listens and follows directions. She can be a little bit of a talker but I think she gets that from her daddy! HA!

Jack discovered a new place to play! This is the only cabinet in the kitchen with no child lock and of course there's nothing dangerous in there but you sure can make a mess!

We had a beautiful fall here in Virginia. In fact, several people told me that October in VA is their favorite time of year and I can certainly see why! The leaves were beautiful and full of color, the sky was SO blue and the temperatures were close to perfect!

We spent LOTS of our fall playing outside!

A favorite activity...eating popsicles in the wagon!

or while riding our bikes!

Jumping in LOTS of leaves!

Playing with riding toys.

In November we celebrated Gracie's 3rd birthday! Oh my! What a big girls she's turned into!

another cake lover! ha!

Jack started "driving" the cozy coup and LOVING it!

Annie T had wacky hair day at school! :)

AND for the first time EVER we had Thanksgiving at our house! The whole deal. I made a turkey and some delicious Pioneer Woman and Paula Deen sides (how can you go wrong with those two)! It was definitely a FIRST! My parents and brothers and my grandmother joined us and we had a really nice time! Of course, I only took about 4 pictures the whole time they were here (what a dummy)! I guess we were too busy having fun to even think about taking pictures. Oh well!

Mom and Grandmother made sugar cookies with the girls!

Jack just ate them! Ha!

I know. I know. I am THE. WORST. BLOGGER. EVER. Hopefully I'll get Christmas posted in the next day or two (or ten) and then I can get back on track! Wish me luck! :)