ROLLER SKATING!!!!

Yep, you read that correctly, I said Roller Skating! :) Today we had an open house at our house (it was relatively successful for a FREEZING COLD Sunday afternoon in January....by that I mean people did come) so we had to be out of the house most of the afternoon! Josh got up EARLY this am and headed to Birmingham and the girls and I got up (a little later) and headed to church. I didn't really have an open house plan yet....a couple of ideas but nothing firm...but when I talked to Katheryne at church she suggested that we take the girls (7 of them) roller skating. Three of her four had been before and LOVED it and we figured between the two of us we could handle the bunch. My girls had never been skating before and were estatic at the prospect. They could hardly wait!
Around 2:00 we piled in the car and headed off the the skating rink! Keep in mind we had two adults and 7 kids (ages 7,5,4,4,3,2,1...YIKES)!!! We made it to the skating rink, paid, got our skates...they were out of both Elise and Emma/Anna's size so we had to do a little finagling...but we were finally ready! Everyone was raring to go...they were so BRAVE!!! Even Emma and Anna, the littlest skaters, were chomping at the bit to get out there! There were many slips and spills but no serious injuries and everyone had an AWESOME time!
Kinda of a crazy day but definitely a fun one...one worth repeating if you ask me!

A taste of my own medicine!

This afternoon (literally like 10 mins ago) my three came into my room requesting jams. Now it's only 5:00 here and I don't know about y'all be we usually hold off on the jams until after dinner and bathtime(at least 7:30-I know we are such party animals)! Anyway, it's cold and dreary outside and I guess jams just seemed snugly and warm. I'm not one to fight over silly things (well, I'm trying not to be) so I hunted up those jams lickedy split! They were content and snuggled up on my bed to watch Arthur so I could get started on dinner (what I should be doing right now). I just couldn't resist; I crawled up on the bed for a minute of snuggling and chit chat (which for some reason Annie thinks is a bad word). We started playing one of our favorite "games" where we pretend to be characters in our favorite movies, tv shows, books etc. So Emma started up.
E: I'm D.W. No, I'm Cinderella.
Me: "I'm the Little Mermaid.
E: I'm Giselle.
Me: I'm Belle.
Annie and Gracie are glued to Arthur and not playing along.
E: I'm the wicked witch (from The Wizard of Oz-for some crazy reason she LOVES that movie. Annie too!)
Me: Nope I'm the wicked witch.
E: NO! I AM!!
Me: No! Me!
All of the sudden Annie is a little more interested in our conversation.
A: Mom, just let her be the wicked witch! You're making her yell and I'm trying to watch Arthur. If you let her be the wicked witch she'll stop!
Oh how many times have those words (or something VERY similar)come out of my mouth!
Hilarious! :)

Cartwheels!

Today at gymnasatics the girls were working on cartwheels. Annie so wants to be able to do one all by herself! There is a cartwheel clinic coming up so we may have to make time to be there! This is one wild and crazy bunch! Their teacher has SO much patience! Better her than me! :) I think you see Ari, Zoe, and Annie in the video. Annie has on the hot pink leotard! It's fast so pay attention! :)

This little video is of Emma and Zoe's sister Sophie singing and playing at gymnastics. They are so cute! They play so well together and have a blast!

The NOTE!

Today when I picked Annie up from school I noticed a note pinned to her tote bag. This is the normal from of communication between 4k parents and teachers so I really didn't think that much about it until a little voice in the back piped up.
Annie: Mom? (kinda timidly)
Me: Yeah?
Annie: Did you see that note?
Me: Yep, what's it say?
Annie: Well, it says we're in trouble.
Me: Trouble? What kind?
Annie: Well, we just aren't being very nice at school.
Me: Who's not being very nice?
Annie: Everyone, mom! Not just me!

As you can imagine after a conversation like like I hurried home to read "THE NOTE"! This is what it said
Dear Parents, (Whew! At least it's not specific to my Annie T.)
We have had a hard time being kind at school this week. There have been a lot of unkind words and actions. We had a long talk today and if anything is done or said that is unkind your child's car will straight to red. No second chances. We have children snatching toys, saying "I don't like you", "I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party", I don't like your clothes-they're ugly" (this is hilarious to me because they wear uniforms so basically their clothes are all the SAME!!!). Children have also been messing up their friends art work or puzzles/activities other children are playing with, as well as pinching and making ugly faces at their friends. These actions will not be tolerated. Today several cars were moved to red even after we talked about our behavior and attitudes at group time. Please talk to your child about the importance of using both kind words and actions like Jesus.

YIKES!! I wouldn't want to be in that room! Now, if you're anything like me you would look at that letter and your first response would be "Well, Annie just got one of those letters because EVERYBODY got one! She would never do any of those ugly things." Oh how I wish it were true! Not that I think Annie T. is the ringleader BUT I have seen some of those behaviors in our home as well. That really kinda makes me sad. Am I failing as a parent becuase my child doesn't always act right at school? Is she just a bad kid? Should I just give up on her now-cause you know, if she can't act right now, she probably never will? Of course not!!! But it reminds me the ways that we sometimes view God and his love for us. We think that we're no good, we've done too much bad, we're a lost cause. And yet nothing could be further from the truth! Would I ever give up on my sweet Annie T? NO! and I'm just human! Think how much more God is willing to do for us! Will i forgive Annie T. 100 times over? Yep. Will I hold a grudge? Nope. Will I love her as much as I did this morning? You betcha! And let's be honest, my love is sorta conditional. As a human, that's the best I can do! But God's love has no conditions, no boundaries. The psalms say it "endures forever"! Pretty awesome, huh?
Well, just like when we do things to disappoint God there are consequences and Annie T. had to face some consequences of her own today. You see, her car was one of the ones that got moved. That means she won't get to go to the treasure box on Friday. She'll have to miss out on something she really likes to do. Kinda stinks, huh. BUT all is not lost! While we were having lunch today Annie and I had another interesting conversation.
Annie: Mom, I'm sorry I acted ugly at school today.
Me: I'm sorry too. It makes Mommy sad to hear that you weren't kind.
Annie: It makes Daddy sad too. And Mrs. Nina. And God.
Me: Yep.
Annie: Mom, I'm going to do better.
Me: I know you will. We all do the wrong thing sometimes but when we ask for forgiveness we get to start over.

Then we got a pretty good idea (if I do say so myself)-Annie decided to write Mrs. Nina and Mrs. Joyce a note telling them she was sorry and she was going to do better the rest of the week (a good chance to practice her penmanship and more importantly make ammends).
Again, I'm reminded of God's awesome capaciy for forgiveness. Just like when Annie apologizes and asks forgiveness she gets a clean slate with her teachers (and her mom) we have the same opportunity with God. And all we have to do is ask.

Chapter Books!

Are you kidding me? A little one in my house is old enough to be reading chapter books?!?!? Yikes! These kiddos really do grow up fast!
Yesterday after school Annie came home talking nonstop about The Boxcar Children. Her teacher reads a chapter to the class at the end of each day. Mrs. Nina has been doing this all year but just recently Annie has REALLY gotten into the stories. So yesterday afternoon she came into my room while I was folding some clothes and asked if she could get a Boxcar Children book to read at home. Well, if you know me at all you know that I'm a sucker for a good book. Fiction, nonfiction, short, long, new, old, picture books, story books, kids book...you name 'em. I love 'em! So when Annie T. asked for some chapter books to read at home I was pretty much sold immediately! Plus, I really want to encourage ALL of my girls to be readers-that makes me a supporter of a book buying trip (although I think we will start to frequent the library! Books are expensive!). The teacher in me knows that good readers are good learners!
After we got everything checked off our list for the day, we packed up and headed to the bookstore. Annie was deadset on another Boxcar Children book but she couldn't help but look and touch EVERY SINGLE BOOK in the store! She picked so many that she wanted-I've got a good list stored away for gifts!! She could hardly stand to leave any behind but we finally narrowed it down to two. The Boxcar Children: Mike's Mystery and Beezus and Ramona (I love the Ramona books). Emma and Gracie found lots that they liked too-don't worry nobody left empty handed. The little girls scored some new Fancy Nancy books! It seems like it was everyone's lucky day!
AND as an added bonus let me just tell you that I just scored some of the sweetest one on one time with my Annie T while the little girls were sleeping! We snuggled up on my bed and read a chapter or two in our new book! That alone makes me certain that chaper books at home are a good idea! :)

Better Late than Never!!!

Over MLK weekend (I told you I was late), Josh was taking his "big kids" to the Student Life ski weekend in NC. The girls and I decided that we weren't really up for spending the weekend home alone so we made plans to go and visit Gleigh and Bo and Uncle Daniel in Chattanooga. It actually turned out that we were able to meet Josh and the youth for lunch in Chattanooga on their way to NC so we were able to squeeze in a short visit with him too. :) The weekend was fun-filled as always but the highlight came on Saturday afternoon. Gleigh and Bo had gotten tickets to take the big girls to see Sesame Street Live! It was during naptime so Gracie and I stayed home. Since Gracie is a good napper, this was a treat for EVERYONE! It means even mom got a few minutes all to myself!! :)
Gleigh, Bo, Annie and Emma headed out right after lunch. The girls had a blast-I hope Gleigh and Bo had as much fun! I got the full report as soon as they got home! The show was about what Elmo wants to be when he grows up....a cowboy? a policeman? a firefighter? So many things to choose from!
So thanks Gleigh and Bo for a fun-filled day on Sesame Street!

A new kind of recliner?

Our car is in the shop overnight :( (nothing big) so I pulled the carseats out in case we needed one between now and tomorrow morning. I had Gracie's seat sitting in the dining room to get it out of the way. Gracie kept disappearing around the corner and I would find her sitting happily in her seat. Hilarious! Believe me, if this were the car she wouldn't be sitting so contentedly! Now don't get me wrong, Gracie is a good rider but... Anyway, the other girls were watching a veggie tale while I was working on dinner and I really needed to finish dinner so that's when I got my brillant idea! I picked up Gracie and the seat (separately) and carried them into the living room to join the other girls. TA DA...three happy girls and dinner got to the table in record time! :)

Spirit week 2010!

This week at school is SPIRIT WEEK!!! YAY! This means there is all sorts of craziness going on at school including dress up days! Even the 4k gets to participate! Yesterday was tacky day-Annie looked cute as can be sporting her striped leggings, polka dot dress, argyle knee socks, rain boots and Auburn hat! Tacky for sure!:)She wouldn't let me take a picture...maybe she's smarter than we think and minimizing the opportunity for embarrassing photo viewing down the road :) Today was cowboys and Indians day. Again, Annie looked cute as pie in her vintage (it was my moms) cowgirl outfit and real cowboy boots (Uncle Daniel's hand me downs)! I did get to snap a picture this morning on the way to school. It was raining-excuse the umbrella!
By the way, see if you can catch a glimpse of that BIG bump above her left eye!

That's one BIG bump!

Yesterday was a relatively calm day UNTIL about 5 minutes into prayer meeting at church! We had just said the blessing, listened to the announcements and were about to break into song when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked over at a woman whose face I recognized but whose name I did not know. "Excuse me. Can you come with me?" she said. I'm like ok and start to follow her out. I'm thinking this is church. She's not going to like abduct me or anything. Plus Katheryne would come look for me if I'm gone too long AND I could take her if I really had to! :) So, I followed her out into the hall and she said "One of your little girls bumped her head." Ok, I'm thinking Emma (because if you know Emma you know she is the most likely candidate). But no big deal. Then she said "I just want to warn you....that is one BIG bump." We get downstairs to check it out and lo and behold it's not Emma but Annie. And boy was she right; that was ONE BIG BUMP! So, Annie is crying and obviously upset. This is not like my girl. She's usually really tough so I know she's hurt. I asked her what happened and she gave me the scoop. (She was twisting on the swing and bumped into another kid-we think the chain is what popped her on the forehead). After filling in the details and getting a bag of ice for her noggin Annie T. was feeling much better. But not quite good enough for me to leave. So, I stayed with her until Mission Friends was over and then grabbed the other girls and headed home....BIG bump and all!
A little disclaimer lest you think I wasn't careful enough with my little one's "head injury". She immediately had a goose egg...out is supposed to be good. Her pupils were evenly dialated, I had my friend Katheryne give her the once over before heading home for the night (2 heads are better than one and all that)AND I did wake her up (a really dangerous thing to do unless you are prepared to be up for the long haul) once last night just to check on her. Today the bump is gone but has been replaced with a lovely purplicious bruise-the perfect accessory for Cowboys and Indians day at school (details and pics to come).

A Doozy of a Day!!!

Today has been a crazy crazy day!!! It really started yesterday when the realtor came to take pictures of our house and get the ball rolling so to speak. I had cleaned every single nook and cranny from top to bottom and EVERY space in between. I mean seriously, this house was SPOTLESS! So, the realtor gets here and everything looks great; we are ready to go and OH NO! the batteries in the camera were dead. I know you're thinking no big deal, he'll just come back later and take the pctures then. Well, that would be the logical conclusion BUT if you lived in a house with three (darling yet messy) kiddos under 4 you too would understand the challenge this represents! However, I must say, my girls did great. They played yesterday with minimal mess and helped clean up (as much as they could). AND they all went to bed without one bit of complaining or fussing ON TIME! Yep, ON TIME!! YAY for my three sweet girls! So, I was able to keep things spic and span until our realtor got here to take pictures this morning! YAY one crisis averted!
So, I'm thinking things are moving along pretty well until about 12:30. I started to make a little lunch for the girls (the often requested noodles) and when I turned on the water, there was none there! Not one drip! Ok, this started a minor freak out on my part. I KNOW I paid the water bill (in fact it was due today so I paid it yesterday) but I have had water company mix ups before so I jumped on the phone to get to the bottom of this! I talked to the water girl and she said yes, my bill had been paid but there was a busted water main close to our house so the water had been turned off but "ought to be back on sometime this afternoon". I don't know if you know this or not but it is nearly impossible to make noodles (as well as lots of other things) without water. I also had a few errands to run, including one to the post office to find out what the mix up is with my new wii fit plus (my mailman says he hasn't seen it but the tracking email says it was delivered yesterday) :(!!! So as you can see, this has been "one of those days"!
So, I was really starting to get bummed about all of the junk going on when I decided that now would be the perfect opportunity/excuse for me to take the girls to grab a late lunch and run a few errands! Just as we were about to leave we had one minor meltdown when I asked the girls to please put on their tennis shoes instead of their princess high heels! When they balked, I just backed down! My mom always says you've got to pick your battles and this was one I just wasn't willing to fight! Here are a few pics of the girls and their princess shoes headed out the door! Amazingly all four princess shoes made a safe return home!




P.S. The water is finally back on! YAY! :)

Hi, my name is Gracie...

I'm 13 months old and cute as a button. I'm super social and smart as a whip..just ask my mom! I am a super fast crawler. I like to stand around and "cruise" along the furniture or with a push toy BUT I have shown NO interest in walking on my own. No worries...both my pediatrician and my mom think I am simply LAZY or SPOILED (I think it's just smart..there's ALWAYS someone willing to pick me up)! All of this is to say that I gave my mom quite a shock when she came back from moving the laundry to find me doing this!

Kick 'em in the butt big GLUE!

Ok so tonight is the night of the BCS (talk about a broken system) National Championship game. What should be exciting and fun...even with all of the trash talk going on...has quickly turned into a BIG disappointment! Not only is Alabama winning (BOO!)but they are doing it pretty handily. I know lots of you are saying it's a good thing...even you non-Alabama fans...because it makes the SEC look good (Mom, I'm talking about you!) BUT I say you NEVER EVER EVER cheer for your RIVAL! Against anyone. At anytime. You ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS want them to lose...especially when they are going for their 8th (not 13th) National Championship and you will have to hear about it (and how proud it must have made "THE BEAR") for the rest of the year. GAG! So, anyway I was getting pretty bummed out thinking about all the trash talk I'm going to have to listen too (thankfully we don't live in Alabama YET...tomorrow would be nearly unbearable) and thinking what a bummer that was going to be when 2 things salvaged my night and my mood! (I told you I have A LOT to be thankful for!) First, my sweet Emma T. (who should have been in bed but felt like she really needed to watch the ballgame) started doing AUBURN cheers (the only kind she knows, thank goodness)! My favorite was her own personalized version of Bodagetta. It goes something like this:

Bodagetta Bodagetta Bodegetta Ba
Rah Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah
Weagle Weagle War Eagle
Kick Em In The Butt Big GLUE!!!

I'll have to get a video...it is too cute and funny for words!
Second, my sweet and thoughtful hubby brought me a present when he came home tonight...besides just being home for the WHOLE weekend...a fabulous (I know because I am wearing it as I type) Brookstone version of the SNUGGIE! I have been eyeing this for weeks...honestly since before Christmas..but I have been too embarrassed to buy one for myself! BUT it is awesome and I am so excited to finally have one (and thankful that I have such a thoughtful husband who's willing to brave the embarrassment of buying a SNUGGIEish garment all for his wife's happiness)! Those two (plus the two peacefully sleeping ones) really DO know how to make me smile (even if Alabama is winning! It is afterall just a ballgame).

THANKFUL!

Today I am thankful. Thankful for SO much. In a time when so many people are suffering from worry, illness, fear, depression, uncertainty and so much more I have so so much to be thankful for. Don't get me wrong, my life is certainly not a bed of roses BUT I am thankful for so many things including (but not limited too):
*an awesome hubby who is willing (and able...thanks to a GREAT job and COOL boss at an EXCELLENT new church...yet another thing to be thankful for) to drop everything and rush to our aid from over 200 miles away when we need him.
*3, yep 3, beautiful, smart, fun, kind and HEALTHY girls who I am so very very privileged to parent each and every day...even on the days when they make me CRAZY!
*Family and friends who encourage and assist me on a DAILY basis...I couldn't make it without y'all!
*A warm, safe home (even if I can't quite seem to get rid of it), 2 paid for cars (even if one is currently crashed up...not my fault! it will be fixed soon!), an awesome new church FAMILY that has welcomed these five Thompsons with open arms and hearts!
*Health, happiness, freedom and security in uncertain times because I know that HE has a plan for me....and not just any old half way plan but a plan to give me a hope and a future!
My prayer for 2010 is that I will be aware of each of the ways that I have been blessed. That rather than wish for something more, better, different etc. I will be content with what I have. That I will be thankful for every blessing and difficulty and that I will look at EVERY situation as an opportunity to LOVE others and bring GLORY to the Father....in the end isn't that what matters? Isn't that what we are called to do as Christians? Love God and love others...my New Year's Resolution!

Emma's new favorite movie!

Most of you are probably familiar with the movie Monsters Inc. It has become a favorite at our house lately. The big blue guys name is Sully and the little green one eyeball guy is named Mike Wazowski or as Emma prefers to call him HUSKY BADUSKY! Don't ask me why but lately she has been talking about watching Husky Badusky quite often! At first Josh and I were at a loss as to what she was even talking about but thankfully big sister, Annie, speaks Toddler quite fluently and was able to set us straight (unlike my movie pic which I can't get to rotate the right way)! :)

2010 started out with a BANG!

Leave it to us to start the new year out with a little excitement! Not always happy excitement but excitement nonetheless. Yesterday morning the girls and I were on our way home from Josh's parents house and we decided to go to Target before heading home...we needed to pick up some diapers and I figured it would be better to go ahead and go while we were out instead of unloading and then reloading all of the girls into the car! We were literally like 1 mile or less from home and we stopped at a red light. Our light turned green and I started to go through the intersection. I proabably hadn't gone 10 feet when a man blew through the red light and smacked into the girls and me. Thankfully no one was hurt in either car. But both cars were pretty smashed up. The girls were a little freaked out but overall they handled it really well (they were a little upset when their tvs turned off)! The police came and we got everything settled...well, as settled as possible. My car had quite a bit of damage...hood, quarter panel, bumper, wheel etc. and the electrical stuff like sliding doors, clock, locks all stopped working and the car wouldn't crank at all...it was definitely not budging! We had it towed to a body shop and now comes the fun part...the wait! :( Thankfully, he hit us in a place that was far away from all of the girls AND me! Also, thankfully it was not my fault and the man who hit us quickly fessed up that he was to blame AND thank goodness, my friend Valerie was able to come pick us up and help us get home! God is good...even in the midst of pain in the butt stuff like wrecked cars!
A funny aside to this story...Josh was in Birmingham at church when the wreck happened so I couldn't call him right away. I did text him however and this is what I sent. "Had a wreck. We are fine. Not my fault. Call when you can. Love you." Josh had a pretty good insight re: our crash! Two things you want to be able to say (and in his case hear) when you have a wreck. 1. We are fine. 2. Not my fault. Luckily I was able to say both. AND an added plus to all of this mess: Josh was able to be home with us for an extra day or two! :)
Now we just have to wait and see how banged up we are...at least we have a rental car now (no fun) so we're able to come and go as we please! Hopefully we'll be reunited with our OWN car soon!

Like her daddy always says...

I guess crack is the new cleavage!!! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE FAB FIVE!

We celebrated the New Year with Josh's family in Gainesville. Josh's sister and brother in law and their son, Walker were all there too so the whole crew was together. We enjoyed just hanging out and visiting and of course celebrating Christmas and the new year! It was SUPER cold so we spent most of our time playing and watching movies in front of the fire although we did brave the cold long enough for a few short adventures. One day we headed to the Mall of Georgia to ride the train and carousel-and for Josh to get some ski pants for his upcoming ski trip. I have to admit that I checked out the Brookstone version of the Snuggie with some interest. So far, I just can't bring myself to jump on that band wagon! We also made a return visit to Babyland General, home of the Cabbage Patch Kids. If you don't remember our first visit you can read about it here . Anyway, we decided to go and check out the new crib for the CPKS. The girls had all gotten dolls for Christmas so they were anxious to take their babies back to see where they came from. While we were there the big girls each got a CPK accessory. They were plannig to get outfits until they saw the stroller and carseat! After seeing those, nothing else would do! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We also saw two new babies being born...unfortunately someone beat us to the punch with names! All in all a big improvement over our last trip!
The last hurrah of the visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house were the Sparklers Daddy brought for the girls! It was EXTREMELY cold but these girls would not be deterred! They WERE going to go OUTSIDE and play with sparklers NO MATTER WHAT! SO our pajama clad cuties ended the weekend with a bang (and a little sparkle)! We hated for our visit to come to a close!