We're off to see the Wizard....

the Wonderful Wizard of Oz! Ok, so on Friday night Josh and I took the girls to rent a movie. We were thinking the orginal Alice in Wonderland since Annie and her daddy had seen the new one but to our dismay, Blockbuster doesn't even carry it! So, the girls started searching for the perfect movie...quite a feat when both girls must agree! Finally, we came up with one that everyone could be happy with...The Wizard of Oz. Personally, I'm not really a fan...I think it's kinda scary and just not my cup of tea BUT my girls had seen it once on tv and liked it so I figured we could give it another try!
So here are a few Wizard of Oz related conversations we've had around our house lately:
Emma: Mom, who are you going to be?
Me: I don't know. What about you?
Annie: I'm going to be the good witch!
Emma: I'm going to be the Wicked one!
Me: The Wicked One?
Emma: Yep...she's my favorite.

The girls really wanted someone to watch with them but like I mentioned before, the Wiz is really not my cup of tea so I was trying to beg off.
Annie: PLEASE watch with me.
Me: Annie, I really don't like TWOO
Annie: Do no grown ups like it?
Me: Some grown ups do. Bo likes it. (This was safe because Bo wasn't with us so he wouldn't be roped into watching if he didn't want to).
Annie: I hope soon Bo will come babysit us AND watch TWOO with us!
Me: Me too, Annie! Me too!

So then later when the tornado comes and Mrs. Gulch rides/flies by and makes the switch from mean old lady to wicked witch of the west Emma looked at the tv and yelled "Look! There I am !"

Even later...
Annie: I want to be Dorothy for Halloween.
Me: We'll see. And Emma could be the scarecrow and Gracie could be the cowardly lion and daddy could be the tinman!
Emma: I'm not being the scarecrow! I want to be the wicked witch!
What was I thinking...of course my sweet Emma would want to be the old, ugly, green-faced wicked witch!!!
Hilarious!

One other side effect of watching The Wizard of Oz around this house is the constant talk of tornados! After watching the girls have TONS of tornado related questions:
Will a tornado get us?
Can we get in the closet and read a book if a tornado comes?
What is a tornado?
Does it thunder in a tornado?
Will you come and get us if a tornado comes?
Sometimes the tornado talk sticks around for several days but hopefully since this is our second time around it will hurry on out of here! :)

Burying St. Joseph

So, I don't know if y'all know this or not but if you've got a house to sell apparently you're supposed to bury a statue of St. Joseph (yes, the father of Jesus-well, earthly father-you know what I mean) in your yard. I heard this a few weeks ago and I just gotta tell you, it was all news to me. I told Josh about it and told him he needed to find a Catholic bookstore asap and bring one of those suckers home! I asked if we could use the Joseph from the nativity scene in the meantime but that was pretty much frowned upon! :)
Anyway, the other day Josh happened to be at Cokesbury (not the Catholic bookstore but close enough) and what did he find right on the shelf? You guessed it, a St. Joseph statue-and for the bargain price of $7.95. Sounds like the right price for something you're going to bury in the front yard! So last night Josh came home with our St. Joseph in tow. Right after lunch (and before the rain came in) we decided to bury him. There are a few directions/suggestions like bury SJ upside down close to your for sale sign AND don't forget to dig him up and take him with you when you DO sell your house-he will is the patron saint of happy homes and you'll definitely want to take that along to your next house!
Here are a few pics of us burying our Saint Joseph!

Putting myself out there!

Let me first offer a little disclaimer: Everything on this blog is for my family and me. It's pretty much a scrapbook of our year...stories and pictures, milestones, hurts, excitements, disappointments...all of it is just a record of the things we do and feel and think. I don't speak for anyone but myself and I don't kidd myself into thinking that there are tons of people visiting this site each day (nor would I like that). It's simply a tool to remind me of the things going on and keep our friends and family in the loop. If you happen to turn up on these pages, it is simply beacause you are important to the Thompsons and we care about you.
Ok, with all of that said, let me get into the meat of this post! I am in sort of an emotional place today. I have hurt (and been hurt by) someone I consider a friend and I hate that. I really really do. I would do anything to change that situation. So, as you can tell lots of stuff is going on around here and even though sometimes it comes back to bite me I feel like sharing (again, so I can remember this place in my life). So today is a friend's birthday....actually she's not really a friend anymore. We haven't spoken in almost a year and maybe never will again. It is a situation that makes me so sad but there is really no resolution in sight. There is nothing (at this point at least) that can be done to repair this relationship-we have reached an impasse. Anyway, like I said, today is her birthday so naturally I've been thinking about her. And today I did something a little risky. I sent her a birthday card. Shocking, I know! It says very little-just your basic happy birthday and i miss you-wish things were different. I know some of you are saying "What's risky about that?" You must think I'm a big weenie if something like this a risk for me. BUT here's the risky part. As much as I miss our friendship and what was and what could be, I've become comfortable with the state of our relationship (or lack of relationship). I've become used to not seeing her everyday. To not talking on the phone or meeting at the playground (and now choosing a different playground from the one I know she frequents). AND all of that may stay the same (and to be honest I would be probably be thankful) but the ball's not in my court. She may pick up the phone and call me or send a note and then maybe I've opened myself up to more than I bargained for. Who knows?
So why do it? Why do anything that puts yourself...your real self...out there, exposed for the world to see. Especially in a situation where the result may not pretty, may not be what you want or expect. Why even do it? Well, for one thing I'm learning (slowly but surely) that everything is not about me or what I want or think is best. Sometimes we're called to love and that's all. To not expect anything in return. This is easy(ish) with people who love us (or our children and family) but it's not so easy with people who hurt us, who misunderstand us or who are different from us. But I think the real test (and the real reward) comes when we put ourselves out there-when we allow ourselves to love and to be used and expect nothing in return.

HURT

I wrote earlier that on Friday night we had an incident that left one little girl with some very hurt feelings. :( Sad! Especially because that little one was my sweet Annie T. Double sad! So, here's the rundown.
On Friday afternoon Annie went to a cartwheel clinic (her cartwheel is looking GREAT)! Three of her friends from her old school take gymnastics with her and they were all there too. As we walked in the door one of the other little girls ran up to Annie and told her that she was going to Mellow Mushroom after gymnastics with _______ (another friend of Annie's). Of course Annie turns around to look at me like hey, I want to go to. Well, we weren't invited. How do you tell your four year old that without her totally falling to pieces? I did what any mom trying to salvage the cartwheel clinic (that I paid extra for and hadn't even started yet) would do. I said run on out that and practice your cartwheel and we'll worry about that later. So she did. And again let me just say....she did AWESOME! So all too soon the cartwheel clinic is over. I'm hoping we can just get our clothes on and run on out of there without any mention of Mellow Mushroom or dinner or who's going with who where BUT that simply wasn't the case. Again Annie's friend started telling Annie that she was going to dinner with _______. AND again Annie's little face lights up like are we going too? After a few more minutes avoiding the subject and trying to rush out the door I just had to tell Annie the truth. I had to look at my sweet girl and tell her we weren't invited so no, we wouldn't be going to Mellow Mushroom with _______ and ________. Her face just fell. Tears just absolutely poured down her face. I scooped my girl up-her heart obviously breaking (mine too) and just talked to her a minute and the things she said, I swear it just makes me crazy. "They don't like me. They don't want to be my friend. They never want to play with me." Now, I don't for one minute believe that's true (and really I'm sure Annie doesn't either) but in that moment that is truly what she was feeling.
So here's the kicker. I'm reading Beth Moore's new book, So Long Insecurity, and it's (obviously) all about how people but women specifically let insecurity lead them to make stupid mistakes and just really clouds their perception and totally kills their self esteem and I'm looking at my four year old and thinking Wow, she's already dealing with that. And to be honest, that really sucks. I want my girls (and myself) to be confident enough in who they are in Christ that things like this don't knock them for a loop, don't take the wind out of their sails or bring them to their knees. I want them to know when they really have been treated poorly and remove themselves from those situations and at the same time realize that their friends can have other friends without taking away from their relationships. I'm really going to work on getting that right for myself so that I can be an example of that to them.
Now, Annie's story has a happy ending. At four she is easily distracted and all it took was a special offer from her daddy to make everything better! Annie and her daddy had a special date night-just the two of them-to see Alice in Wonderland. Josh told me that on the way home Annie told him that he was REALLY FUN. I think in all honestly it was a confidence booster for them both. :)
***Now just an aside, please don't think that I am so petty as to be mad or upset with another child for talking about something she was excited about. I just really hate that my sweet kiddo got caught in the crossfire. I am totally ok with our friends going out without us BUT please don't let my girl catch wind of it and end up hurt. That makes me want to tear your eyeballs out, child or not!
So, this weekend was a rough one for the Thompson girls. Gracie also got hurt-just in a little different (but no less tear your eyeballs out inducing) way. This morning at church when I went to pick her up she wasn't in her regular room. No big deal. I wandered across the hall and found her. When the teacher came out with her I noticed she had a big red spot on her cheek. I assumed she fell but instead found out that she had been bitten! Oh no! On her face! I assured everyone that it was fine-those things do happen but oh how I hate it for my Gracie. The other mother came down the hall apologizing and again I told her that I understand, these things certainly do happen but man, do I hate it. Oh well. By the time I got her she was not fussing and she didn't seem too bothered by it all afternoon. Thankfully it didn't break the skin so according to my pharmacist friend, Katheryne (my go to for all things medical) it shouldn't get infected. And again, I really do understand that kids don't mean to bite or hit or pinch or any of that. That they're just expressing their frustrations the only way they know how BUT that mama bear in me just wants to snap (but only for a second). Then I'm reminded of all of the times it's been my kid on the giving rather than receiving end and send that mother bear packing for another day!

The Damage (Isn't that a sweet picture of my girl?)

The BIG 3-0!!!

So, yesterday was my 30th birthday. YIKES! No, it really wasn't too bad. In fact, I had a pretty great weekend with my sweet family. On Friday night Annie went to a cartwheel clinic at the gym where she takes gymnastics. She is SO close to getting it down! After the clinic we had a little incident where Annie's feelings got hurt (that's a whole separate post)that ended up with Annie and her daddy heading out for a date night (to see Alice in Wonderland-that lucky duck)! Emma, Gracie and I stayed in and had our own movie night (Carebears) and Phineas and Ferb marathon! I enjoyed some good one on one time with Emma T. (she's one heck of a snuggler) after Gracie went to bed! Annie and Daddy came in full of excitement about their date and the movie they had seen (good thing-I was a little afraid that Alice would be a little too scary for Annie).
Saturday morning my sweet girls actually slept in a little bit so mom and dad got to sleep in a little too :) We ate birthday bisquits and spent the morning working around the house (a constant job when your house is on the market). About mid morning my dad called and said since he was headed to Atlanta to pick up Matthew (flying in for spring break) that they would come visit a little later in the afternoon. :) After a quick lunch we decided to run to the bookstore and pick then up a birthday cake for me! YAY! We hurried back so Bo and Uncle Matthew wouldn't beat us home. Once Bo and Uncle Matthew got here the fun really started. We spent some time playing and climbing trees in the front yard. And then racing Uncle Matthew on the Wii! Around dinner time we had one little meltdown (Annie) but then headed out to the restaurant of choice (the girls' not mine but that's what happens when you're a parent) for a quick dinner! After dinner we headed home and had some of my icecream cake (yum-you just can't beat a DQ icecream cake), kissed Bo and Uncle Matthew goodnight and goodbye and brushed our teeth and headed off to bed!
Pretty much a perfect birthday (it would only have been better if Mom and Daniel could have been here too)!!
So..turning thirty?!?! NO big deal! Besides, everyone says the 30's are the best! I'm definitely looking forward to finding out!

Another Note

Are you kidding me? More trouble at school? Yep, more trouble at school. This is the note Annie came home with the other day.

In case you can't read it, this is what it says:
Annie's car moved to yellow today because she pulled down her pants and showed her bottom. (What?!?!?) Another child told her to do it. We talked about our bodies and that they are special and private because God made us htat way and that we don't show our bodies to anyone except mom and dad or a grandparent if/when they are helping bathe or dress her. Also, I told her she does not have to do what her friends tell her to do.
SO....Annie and I had another talk about listening to our teachers and what is and is not appropriate behavior at schoool, etc. Here's a funny little snippet.
Me: Annie, what's this note from Mrs. Nina about?
Annie: Don't read it, mom. It will make you sad.
Me: It will? Why?
Annie: Because I did something wrong and moved my car.
Me: Oh.
So I read the note.
Me: Annie, this note says you pulled your pants down? at school?
Annie: Yeah
Me: Why?
Annie: Jarrett told me to.
Me: But Annie, you know that's not a nice way to act.
Annie: I know Mom but it was only a little bit of crack!

Now, I know I shouldn't have laughed but it I just couldn't help it. Hearing Annie T. explain that it was just a little crack just send me over the edge. SO after a quick (and much needed)giggle, Annie and I continued to talk about all of the reasons showing your bottom in public is not ok.
Thankfully, Annie's teacher handled this bottom flashing incident with kindness and love. When I saw her the next morning she told me that she and Annie had had a long talk about how special Annie is and that Annie never has to do something that a friend tells her to do that she knows is wrong. She also assured me that Annie was not the first student this year to give a little show (and probably not the last)!
WOW! The things that happen in Pre-K!!!