Date Night

It has been soooooo long since CJ and I have been on an actual date. Occasionally we would go out together but we would have one or two of the little ones with us so it wasn't a real date. CJ got an "Above and Beyond" award from his work that came with a gift certificate to the Cracker Barrel restaurant. We have been saving it not knowing when to really use it. Today was not a good day for me so when I got back from Parent Teacher Conferences and he asked me what was for dinner I just looked at him and said it was time to use the gift certificate. We asked the girls if they would watch the babies and we left. I just needed to get away and CJ was looking forward to eating out (his favorite activity.)

We walked around the gift shop for a few minutes just having a good time looking at all the fun stuff they had, especially the toys that I had as a child and had forgotten about until I saw them again. Then we sat down to a really, really good dinner and talked. After dinner we went to the gift shop again and bought the girls some candy sticks just for fun. We didn't want to go right home so we sat outside the restaurant and played a game of checkers on their giant checker board. It was really nice (even though I didn't win.) I was ready to go back home and face it all again after such a good little break. I just hope it won't be too long before we get the chance to go on another date.

Gummy Bear

I love baby's gummy smiles. I think there is just something about a gummy smile that makes me want to smile. I like the gummy smiles to last as long as possible but my kids like to teeth early and quickly (Rebecca was born with her first tooth.) Alexander decided he was going to be merciful to me. I kept expecting teeth around 5 months, 6 months at the latest. I checked everyday and there were no signs of teeth. The girls and I were so happy to see his gummy little smile last so long. Then around 7 months he started showing signs of teething...runny nose, rosy cheeks, diareah, and swollen gums. He was not irritated by any of this and kept smiling his gummy smile all the time. I kept looking for that first tooth that would pop out any day now but as the weeks went on I wondered if I was wrong about all the signs of teething because there was nothing happening. I started to wonder if he had any teeth in there at all. lol

Then last week on Wednesday, after 6 weeks of teething signs, he woke up with a fever so I knew something was about to happen. I checked in the morning and there was no tooth. I checked in the afternoon and THERE WAS A TOOTH! He finally popped out his first tooth! It was a bittersweet moment. I was so excited because he would find some relief from his swollen gums but sad to know that the days of his totally adorable gummy smile were very short now.

I put in the arrow so that you could tell the tooth apart from the shiny spit. I'm sure he is excited because once his teeth come in a whole new group of foods will be available to him.


Okay, this has nothing to do with teething but I wanted to put this in. He has always played with his tongue but he started doing this lately and it is so funny. It's hard to describe but he keeps touching his tongue to his top lip over and over as fast as he can. Sorry there is no video but I just love this picture.

Labor Day and other days (long post)

The month of September has been a busy one but the busy really starts back in August. The week of August 16th, CJ's mom came to visit which was really fun, then the following week was the first week of school for the girls. In the middle of that week I get a call from my mom who said that the annual Labor Day family trip to the Someday Ranch (the land our family owns by the Grand Canyon) was going to be extra special this year because we were celebrating my dad's 65th birthday and she really wanted our family to be there.We don't usually make the trip because of our lack of reliable transportation. Anyway, arrangements were made and we had transportation to the Ranch. I was really excited to go but had a lot of last minute preparations that were going to be needed and so the busy first week of school got even busier. It was a good busy though and I was so excited. I'd say the whole family was but unfortunately CJ had to work so he wouldn't be able to go and I didn't tell the girls we were going because I wanted it to be a surprise so I was the only one who really was able to be excited. The girls knew we were going camping for Labor Day they just didn't know where. The last week of August was busy to say the least.

The second week of school wasn't any less chaotic as every day's schedule was full leading right up to Sept. 3rd (my Dad's birthday) when we were to leave on the 10 hour drive to Arizona. We were a little late getting started but we were off. We were about 2 hours into the trip before the girls asked why we were headed so far south to go camping. That's when I told them our real destination. They couldn't believe it and were so happy...it's moments like those that make being a parent so fun. The kids traveled so well and really didn't complain. Even poor Rebecca who had car sickness and a migraine didn't complain. Side note: Traveling in a car for 10 hours by yourself with 5 kids (including a toddler and an infant) would be daunting to most people, but our kids have always traveled well so I wasn't stressed.

The time we had with our family at the Ranch was sooooo much fun. We celebrated my Dad's birthday of course

as well as my niece's birthday with a luau complete with pinata. In the pinata were gold coins that the kids used to buy prizes. My Mom had also set up a family challenge where all the families would compete in activities for a trophy. The winning family would get to keep the trophy until the next family challenge in 6 months. I wish I had taken a picture of the trophy because it was a beautiful crystal cup on a black base with silver glittery lettering. Some of the activities for the trophy were tug-o-war

(My brother David's family)

and our family favorite, horseshoes. That's Dakota doing her best horseshoe toss.

My brothers David and Matt. I had no chance of winning against these pros but I had fun trying.

They also had a treasure hunt set up for the kids, arts and crafts, the traditional pick-up truck rides, and quad (4-wheeler) rides. (Lizzie taking Megan on her first quad ride.) And of course plenty of dirt for the kids to roll in. This is how Megan looked almost the entire time. Needless to say, she had a blast.

How can you not have fun with all those activities going on. Well...I guess you wouldn't have any fun if you couldn't do any of those activities because you were always stuck in "jail" watching everyone else run around and have fun.

Just kidding. Alex did really well considering the fact that he was never allowed to get down on the ground (he would instantly have picked up the dirt and tried to eat all of it.) He was only mad in this picture because I wouldn't give him the camera (yes, my smiley boy does indeed get angry on occasion.) He had plenty of people that wanted to hold him...especially when the kids learned they could earn their family points for the trophy for holding and playing with him.

For the celebration there were 16 adults and 16 kids. There would have been more but many family members couldn't make it.

15 of the 16 kids that were at the Ranch...Alex was sleeping.

It was really fun and we were sad to have to leave the family but we had to get back to reality. We spent the morning of Sept. 7th with my parents and they took us to lunch before we loaded back up in the van for the trip home. We got back home at midnight after a very long drive. Alex of course was not ready for bed though because he had slept most of the day in the car seat so I had to stay up with him until he was ready for bed. Thankfully he went to bed at 2am.

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The next day, Wednesday last week, I had so much to do because I had to take care of things from the trip to Arizona while preparing for my next big trip to Colorado the next day on Thursday. The most important thing on Wednesday though was taking Lizzie to the Orthodontist. She finally got the news she has been waiting for. On her next visit the Dr. will be putting in the finishing wires. Her teeth are all aligned the way he wants now he just has to do a little tweaking here and there and she is done. He told her she could be done anytime from November to May depending on how the tweaking goes. Her goal is to get them off by Christmas. Wish her luck.

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Thursday morning last week Megan had her first day of school. It was something that has really come together quite quickly and will only last for a few weeks but for now Megan is in pre-school 4 days a week. She is so excited to finally be going to school like her sisters. When I went to pick her up she came running to me and jumped into my arms, threw her arms around my neck and held on so tightly that I almost couldn't breath. She held on to me like that all the way to the car. I know she had fun but I think she was not prepared for how long she would have to be away from home. She is loving school and it has done wonders for her communication skills already. This public pre-school will only be for a short time then she will be part of a neighborhood pre-school. The moms of the other kids and I will take turns being the teacher of the pre-school two days a week.

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Then Thursday night I flew with Alexander to Colorado and stayed with CJ's grandparents for a day. When CJ's Aunt passed away she left a beautiful kitchen table. CJ's grandmother wanted the table to stay in the family and we are the only ones with a dining room big enough to fit the table. The only way to get the table to us was to rent a moving truck and drive it here and since I am the only one without an obligation to an employer I volunteered for the drive. We had set this trip up long before I knew about the trip to Arizona otherwise I would have waited a while before going to Colorado. We had to fly to Las Vegas before we could fly to Denver so I was a little nervous about Alex. He had just spent 5 days confined to a little area not to mention two 10 hour drives in his car seat so I wasn't sure how he was going to react to 5 more hours of airports and airplanes. He did great though flirting with the ladies in the seat behind me on the first flight and sleeping the entire second flight.

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We spent Friday with his grandparents just playing with the baby, resting up for the next (and final) long journey on Saturday. Again I wondered how Alex was going to react to such a long car ride this time without his sisters to entertain him, and again he did wonderfully. By Saturday night I was exhausted. I am so gald that Sunday is a day of rest because that is just what I did.

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We couldn't wait to put the table up in the kitchen. It fit better than I thought but it is also taller than I thought. I have to climb up into the chairs and I feel like a little kid when I sit at the table but it is beautiful so I don't mind. It looks small in the picture but there are 8 chairs around it so it is bigger than it looks.

It has been a long few weeks for me but I would do it all over again in a heart beat.

Glad to be home!

I have been busy these last two weeks with out of town trips. I will post about them soon, after I have had some rest. Right now I am staying up late wating for the girls to get home from their trip with the youth group so I can hear all about it. Then I get to go to bed, yeah.

Newsworthy

Our neighbor is a reporter for the Nebo Reporter. This is a local paper that comes out every Thursday and is included inside the daily newspaper. She heard about the girls cutting their hair for Locks of Love and wanted to write a story about their experience in the paper. When I told the girls they were really excited. They had their picture taken for the story and then waited to see the story in the paper. I got a call from one of my neighbors this morning telling me that she saw the girls in the paper and wanted to make sure I didn't miss it since we don't get the paper any more. I immediately went to the news stand and got a paper so that I could see the article. I couldn't believe it when I saw their story right there on the front page! My girls are front page news. The story was so well written and turned out so beautifully I had tears in my eyes. I was there when they cut their hair, the one who actually did the cutting, so I knew the story but I was so unprepared for the wave of emotions that ran over me as I realized that this beautiful story was about MY girls. I really am so proud of them for their charitable hearts.

The story was also printed on the internet. Here is the address of the online story for however long they leave it there.

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/south/payson/article_67a4cd9f-bcb8-57e6-a21d-ef5fb84aad88.html?mode=story

First day of school...for everyone else

Since 7th graders started yesterday they get to have today off and all the other kids in the school district starts today. So tomorrow will be the first day with all of my schoolers back in school at the same time. Today Lizzie and Dakota got to go.

I can't believe Lizzie is in 8th grade! She is looking forward to most of her classes and not so much the other ones but she is still going to give it her best. I am so proud of her and all she has accomplished so far. I will really miss having her home with me though. I just can't offer all of the extra classes she wants in homeschool so she will go back to public school full time.

Miss Dakota was counting the days until school started and they just weren't coming fast enough. She loves school so much. It would be perfect if it weren't for a few boys that give her grief. She won't let that stop her from enjoying school though. I love to see that her passion for learning hasn't missed a beat since kindergarten.

First day of Jr. High

Today is it! The day Rebecca has been waiting for with excitement and the day I have been dreading. Rebecca went to Jr. High for the first time. This was a 7th grade only day at her Jr. High. They wanted the 7th graders to have a day to get used to the school and the new kind of class schedule before they were thrust into the claws of the beast (otherwise known as 8th and 9th graders.) She came home with stars in her eyes and a resolve to make this year the best year ever. We'll see if she still feels that way when she starts getting homework from all those "fun" classes. She has signed up for Drama and Choir classes and there are already auditions for the school musical this week. She can't wait to audition so she hopes this week doesn't drag on. I'm so happy that her first day went so well and I hope that she continues to love school and that Jr. High is all she hoped it would be.

Visit with Grandma

We were so excited to have CJ's mom come to visit with us. She is usually able to visit once a year and we look forward to those visits with great anticipation.

What a lively group.

For some unexplainable reason CJ's eyes are always closed when his picture is taken. I have looked and his eyes are open when I take the picture but they are never open in the pictures. He even tried to hold his eyes open for the camera and only one of his eyes stayed open. I think he is allergic to having his picture taken.

For the last day with their grandma the girls wanted to have a tea party so we made treats and had "tea" (sure tasted a lot like water to me though.) It was so much fun and the best part was even their dad joined in the tea party this time. Everyone had so much fun. We all can't wait to do it again.

Temple trip

The girls have been looking forward to joining the Young Women ever since they were little. One of the things that they looked forward to the most was finally being old enough to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. This is something that they have felt so strongly about and looked forward to their first trip with excitement. Last night was the night they have waited for for so long. It was both Lizzie and Rebecca's first time to go on this temple excursion with the youth in our ward. You would have thought it was Disney Land the way they talked about it.

There was a mix up or something and they were only able to do a few names but their youth group plans to do many trips so their will be plenty more opportunity for them to go back and do many names. Their goal is to do our family history and have their own names to be baptised for.

Lots of Alexander Pics

Here are some fun pictures of Alexander that I just love. If you think this is a lot you should see the number that I didn't post. I just can't help sharing the sweet little man that we have.

Our grass is green and soft and so inviting...so why does he hate it so much. Okay, he doesn't hate the grass but he doesn't like it either. He will tolerate it but only on his hands and toes. He looks like a little monkey walking around trying not to let the grass touch his belly or his knees.

He has recently taken to learning how to drink from a cup. This is his first attempt at the cup and just like eating he did so good. He would have done better if it was formula or juice and not just plain old water.
He looks so tiny in his big crib. He likes playing in it just as much as sleeping in it...most of the time.
Harry Potter is known as "the boy who lived". Our little Alexander is known as "the boy who smiles...a lot".

I think he has gotten in to the cat food one too many times. He is starting to act more like the cats everyday. He crawls in and out of the cat house all the time now and I think I even heard a little "meow" yesterday.


What kind of mother would I be if I didn't put one of those cute but potentially embarrassing bath pictures in.

The girls tend to sneak the camera and take pictures and videos and then put the camera back so that I don't know what they were up to. The only flaw in their plan is that they leave the evidence on the camera. I couldn't stop laughing when this little gem popped up on the camera screen.

He's so busy now with all of his crawling, exploring, eating, playing, pooping, and sleeping that he keeps a schedule on the fridge so that he doesn't miss anything.

It's hard work being a 7 month old. Sometimes exhaustion just sneaks up on you when you least expect it.

11pm at our house

Tonight is one of those late summer nights where we just hang out and enjoy each other's company for as long as we can. It's after 11pm and here is what is going on:

Alexander is busy exploring the house with lightning speed picking up every little thing he can get his hands on to put in his mouth. He is strong too and he will fight hard to keep his mini meals.

Megan is doing her best copy cat routine by picking someone and doing exactly what they are doing right down to the same facial expressions. It would be annoying if it wasn't so darn cute and fun to watch.

Dakota is on the Wii fit playing a game that she is so good at none of us even has a chance at beating her score. She makes it look so easy. I'm pretty good at that game and I don't even come close to her score.

Rebecca is busy making her really good and healthy peanut butter oatmeal cookies. They are so soft and yummy. We can't wait until they come out of the oven and we get to finally eat these yummy cookies that we have been smelling.

Lizzie is busy hanging out and making me laugh. She is chasing Alexander around and making sure he doesn't get a hold of something that he shouldn't be eating (like the cat food he can't leave alone.)

CJ is in his usual state of mind after the clock hits 9pm. I have to say though he lasted pretty long tonight. He made it all the way to 10:15 this time before his eyelids just wouldn't stay open any longer.

So there you have it. A late night in the Thompson household. Next time you should come and join us. You would love Rebecca's cookies.

Back to school

It's that time of year again. Parents are busy getting the kids ready for the first day of school and the kids are hoping each remaining day of summer can last a little longer than it is supposed to. That is what we are doing too except two of the kids can't wait for school to start and one is hoping that by some miracle it won't have to start at all...ever again. There is another however that is preparing to go back to school as well. Me. I have started the registration process with Utah Valley University. I will be starting classes in the spring and I am very excited. The thing that makes me the most excited is that I have finally decided what I want to be when I grow up. I have wanted to be so many things that I know I would enjoy I just couldn't pick one to focus on. I have gone to school before with just a general major because I kept changing my mind about my real major every semester. I wanted to be a Teacher, a Nurse, a Secretary, a Photoshop Technician, a Police Officer, and a Psychologist. I also enjoyed biology and genetics and thought that would make an interesting career path. I didn't want to pick just one, I wanted to do them all...somehow. Well with much thought on the matter and after many prayers I have actually picked just one area I will study and graduate from. Yea me! My major will be in Administration Information Management. I picked the Secretary. Not just a Secretary though, eventually I want to become an Executive Secretary or an Office Manager. I hope to start out working for the school district either in the elementary school that will be built right next door in the near future, or in another school in the district, or in the district offices themselves, while I still have children in school. That way my schedule will match theirs until they have all moved on and started working on their own career paths.

I went to a scholarship class tonight that my church offers for anyone interested in going to school without debt and it was amazing. I can't tell you how much better I feel about going back to school at this time. The hardest part about applying for scholarships is that they all require an essay. I love school and don't have any problems with any class EXCEPT English class. I can't write essays. I have attempted English 101 two times and failed both times. Something about that class terrifies me and I just can't do it. Now not only do I have to get past English 101 essay writing but if I want to apply for any scholarships I have to write essays about myself too. I am so grateful that the office who gave the scholarship class has offered to help me write my essays too. Now I just have to find the time to write, write, write. Wish me luck.

Megan measures up

Today was Megan's 3 year check up with the doctor. Everything is going well just like I know it is. I am so grateful for such great medical care that is available to us. Even though I know she is doing well physically it is so reassuring to hear it from her doctor. Mother's intuition tells me when there is something wrong and I need to take my children in for medical care and my intuition was telling me that Megan was just where she should be health wise but I still love being able to take her to the doctor and have him concur with me. It doesn't hurt that they have the best Pediatrician ever either. I am so glad that I found him. I have been through many Peds doctors over the years...some I liked and some I didn't. This doctor however is fantastic! He was so good with Megan even though she is SUPER shy and didn't want to open up.

I was hoping that she would not have to have any shots this time but unfortunately she did. She was so brave. She tried so hard not to cry but it hurt really bad so she couldn't keep it in any longer. She didn't cry very long though. She did however baby the leg that got the shot. She pulled her shorts up so they didn't touch the shot site and slowly limped out of the office. She looked soooo pathetic. The whole office staff had to see her because it was so funny. She limped around babying her leg for two days. I felt so bad. I know that the shots hit her hard because when she had her six month shots she wasn't able to use her legs for three days. I started to worry but then she slowly began to use them again. She is a tough girl and a super sweet one too. I love my sweet Megan and am so grateful for her good health.

Happy Birthday, Birthday, Birthday, Birthday

I am going to take a break from blogging for a little while but before I do I wanted to post about four of our summer birthdays.

We start with CJ's birthday in June. The girls baked his cake for him. They have been watching Cake Boss lately so this was their attempt at the fancy cakes they see made and I have to say it was really good. They know that he loves chocolate covered strawberries so they made him a double layer strawberry cake with chocolate and strawberries in the middle and on the top. The strawberry sauce in the middle made the cake so moist and yummy. Their dad really loved the cake too and that is what they wanted. I'd make some joke about how old he is getting but since I am older than he is I am just going to point out how young he still looks.

Next was Rebecca's 12th birthday. Our tradition is for the girls to make and decorate their own cake. This is something they look forward to every year. Since Rebecca has assisted in so many cake bakings I decided it was time to let her fly solo on this one. I wasn't even in the kitchen so that I wouldn't be tempted to help. She did really well. She made a two layer cake and the layers looked and smelled really good when they came out of the oven. When she was ready to put them together she was having trouble getting the cakes out of the pans so I stepped in to assist. I had trouble too and asked if she had greased the pans. "Oops", she said. I did manage to get the cake out of the pans still looking somewhat like a cake and encouraged her to still decorate it. Cake is cake, it tastes the same no matter what it looks like. She did the best she could with the icing and even put Sour Patch candy on as well. I thought she did a great job on her first cake and I love that she didn't give up even though she wanted to. She is growing into such a beautiful young woman. She is so compassionate and helpful in all that she does. I still have a hard time calling her my 12 year old. She is in Young Women's now and is LOVING it. She will be starting Jr. High this year and I am nervous about sending my sweet child into the lion's den. She is excited about school so I am happy for her and can't wait to see her blossom even more.

When the girl's hit certain ages we let them have a party with all their friends. This was one of those ages for Rebecca so she actually got to have two birthdays this year, one with us, and one with her friends. She had soooooo much fun with her friends.

The day after Rebecca's birthday is Elizabeth's birthday. Since we had just had cake she decided to bake a birthday brownie instead. Okay by me since brownies are one of my absolute favorites. We are now officially parents of a teenager. Lizzie is 13...emphasis on the teen. It is great that she is growing and becoming more like the adult she will be one day but I am already missing my little girl. She is almost the same height as me and looks so grown up so sometimes it is hard to believe that she is only 13...sigh. She loves to fix hair and nails and is loving her iPod. She takes Megan and many of the neighborhood kids (Megan's age) to the park often. It is such a nice break for me and the other moms. She is so good with kids. I know she will be a wonderful mother.

With all the talk of birthdays Megan was so excited to hear that it was her turn for a birthday. She asked me if she was going to get to blow out the candles like everyone else. She got a birthday card from my parents that talks and she loves it. She takes it with her everywhere she goes and calls it her "birthday cake". We took her to Toys R Us on her birthday so that she could get the balloon and crown and she had so much fun.

Since there had been so much cake already this month we got her a little cake just big enough for everyone to have one piece. She didn't care as long as she got to put on the candles and blow them out. Our little sweetie is 3. She is so funny. She is still trying to get the hang of this talking thing (there are so many words to remember) and can sometimes say the funniest things. I think it is interesting to watch her little face when she doesn't quite know what word she is trying to say and she searches all the words in her vocabulary for the one she needs. She loves to play outside but not as much as going to her friend's house. Right now she is missing Grandma and Grandpa and keeps asking when she gets to go to their house. Since they live in Arizona it might be a while before she gets to go. She had a fun birthday and I had fun seeing the excitement of a birthday through a child's eyes.