The Thompson Family

Natalie's Performance

2009-07-29T16:07:00.004-05:00

Natalie did a summer musical camp. Each day for 2 weeks the "campers" worked on songs and skits for a performance the last day of camp. This year the perfomance was BeBop with Aesop. She had a great time and the performance was wonderful!

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The "H" thing in the yard...

2009-07-14T22:19:00.002-05:00

Nat and Natalie were outside in the front yard putting plants in the front planter, when Natalie came inside to tell me ... "Mommy, Daddy said I needed to come inside because there's something outside. Something with an "H," some sort of "hore" or something." My quick mind knew what she was talking about b/c those "hores" got after me the other day and I replied "Do you mean a hornet?" She snaps her fingers and says "Yeah, that's it." Then I tell her to be careful not to say the other word (you know, the "hore" word only with a "w" in it), that it's not very nice. She then asks what does it mean. I tell her "When you turn 16, that's when I'll tell you what it means." Apparently, my talk with her didn't get through to her all that well. The next morning they headed out to finish the planting and Natalie says to Nat "We can't go out there, what if those horeing things are still out there?" Kids!

Our trip to Ohio...

2009-07-14T22:07:00.003-05:00

We took a trip up to Ohio to visit Nat's grandparents and cousins. We stopped on the way and stayed in a hotel after we got too tired after driving 12 hours. The way home we made it back in one day (it took 15 hours)! The girls were wonderful and traveled so well. Bless the creators of portable DVD players, Nintendo DS, teethers, and those little crinkly toys that hang down from car seat handles!! We enjoyed our time with family (in glorious 80 degree weather). Nat's cousin Logan and her husband Derek have 2 cuties that Natalie and Hope had a great time playing with. We just sat back and watched the kids play, the cows moo, and made lots of smores!

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A new list maker in the house....

2009-06-29T12:40:00.002-05:00

Natalie has decided she needs to go ahead and pack for a trip we are taking. I explain to her that we have several days to pack and she has plenty of time. Then she tries to debate me on how many days we have until we leave - do you count today or the day of travel. We finally agreed to just leave it at we have a few days to get ready and she should make a list of things she wants to take with her. BIG, HUGE mistake on my part and I don't know how to backpeddle my way out of it. I had to confiscate her list so far that included 16 stuffed animals and a jacket incase she gets cold while she's inside. Don't ask me why, it's just something she would put on a list. We agreed she didn't need her jacket and I said that it was too many animals, that I would agree that she could take 5 small ones. She came back with she would take her 4 foot long polar bear off the list "if that would make you feel better mommy." I told her I'd ponder her list and we'd talk about it later. I have a feeling the list might meet a mysterious fate of some sort. All pencils and paper might have to go missing as well.

Summer Enrichment Workshop

2009-06-26T17:20:00.004-05:00

Natalie's 3 week adventure with SEW has come to an end. They had the parent presentations today. She had a really great time and took a courses called Mother Earth, Father Sky (about Native American) and Mummies in Pyramids (about Egyptology). She is now a walking encylopedia on both subjects. Highlights were making mummies with oranges and potatoes (we won't be keeping it very long, uck), making scarabs, making pottery and a visit from a Native American who wowed the kids with food. Natalie has two new names she says she wants us to call her from time to time: Flying Horse (she named herself and was inspired by pegasus) and Bastet (a cat goddess - b/c she wants a cat and I'm allergic so she gets her cat and I don't have an asthma attack - all that according to her). Well, I have two weeks to possibly sleep in any before music camp starts. Ahh.

Birthday Trip..

2009-06-26T17:10:00.003-05:00

Well, Hope's birthday was May 31st and Natalie's was June 14th, so to celebrate we took the weekend in between and took a quick trip over to Atlanta and took in a few sights. We went to the Fernbank Natural History Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. The afternoon we arrived we went to the Museum and it probably should have waited until they were a little older. They only really enjoyed the area where they could be hands-on with science exhibits and of course the gift shop. We stayed downtown at the Marriot and it was very nice. We took a little stroll and ate at Ted's Montana Grill. It was fabulous! The next morning we were the first in the Aquarium and a wonderful time was had by all. Even Taylor enjoyed watching the fish swim by. Unfortunately the penguins were off display and they are adding on a dolphin exhibit that will open in late 2010, so we're planning on going back then.

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Hope's 4th Birthday

2009-06-02T10:16:00.001-05:00

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Hot Air Balloon Race...

2009-06-02T09:36:00.003-05:00

We took the girls out the the Tuscaloosa Airport for the Sunrise Charity race. It was everyone's first time to see a hot air balloon. We were all excited! The kids loved it and each one of them were so enthralled with everything, and I must admit Nat and I did our fair share of kid like gawking too. Enjoy the pictures below. It was so amazing.

2009-06-02T09:34:00.002-05:00

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It's been an eventful month....

2009-05-18T12:43:00.004-05:00

Big things for Natalie this month. School is ending and we will miss Mrs. Bentley so much! This month has been Spring Fling and Field Day. Natalie's Spanish class ended for the year last week. She had a great time with Ms. Barb. Brownies has ended for the year. We had the end of the year get together with a field trip to Shark Tooth Creek. It was very interesting and we had so much fun. Natalie passed her final rank test of the school year in karate. She is now a yellow belt!! She even broke a board into 3 pieces. Her Sensei said he had never seen a board brake into 3 pieces!! She also passed her audition for the Alabama Choir School. So I'm going to an information meeting this week to see if it's something we're interested in pursuing next year. Kindermusik for all the girls ends tomorrow and it will be Natalie's last Kindermusik class ever. Tears will be shed. She's been in classes since she was 4 months old! But Hope and Taylor will still be in classes and Natalie can do some summer activities and music lessons with Community Music School. This summer Natalie will be in another musical theatre production camp, this one is called BeBop with Aesop. She's looking forward to that, a few of her friends will do it too. This summer she's also doing Summer Enrichment Workshop run by the University of Alabama. She did it last year and had a great time. Natalie will be turning 7 on June 14th. Sniff! Sniff! She's trying to decide what kind of party she wants and I'm trying to stop saying "No, not that, think of something else." :-)

Hope is turning 4 on May 31st!! More Sniff! Sniff! Time goes by too fast. She is doing great and is quite the little comedian in the family. We are trying to decide how to celebrate. We're thinking we want to have a little family weekend getaway somewhere. I have some searching I have to do for it.

Taylor is 5 months old! She moved out of her bassinet about a month ago. Even more Sniff! Sniff! She's the best little baby!!!! She turned over a few weeks ago and is trying to decide which she likes more - her pacifier or her thumb. Decisions. Decisions.

2009-05-18T12:31:00.002-05:00

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Hurray for Nat!!

2009-05-06T10:53:00.003-05:00

Nat is going back to school! He got the official word this morning that he has been accepted into the Executive MBA program at the University of Alabama!! Yeah!!!

Oh the Guilt!

2009-04-30T08:37:00.004-05:00

Natalie has perfected the art of a guilt trip. Today her entire school is going to the University to see School House Rocks. She's going to have such a good time, but I can't make the field trip. And so the guilt began to get piled on. There were lots of "I'm so disappointed," more "It just makes me sad," and even more "I just want to stay home with you." When those didn't work she let loose with the big ones. "What if I get lost? I need an adult with me. This will be the 3rd field trip you've missed!" But here's the thing... the building they are going to is where she has her music class and has been going there since she was 4 months old. She knows the building and knows some faculty and staff there too. And I do believe her teacher will be there who is, guess what... an adult! But as far as missing 3 trips... She's apparently been keeping track since Kindergarten! 2 of those trips were to Bama Fanfare and parents weren't allowed to go b/c of lack of seating at the theater. So those shouldn't count right? While I love going on class trips and doing school activities with her, I can honestly say that I am quite happy to have to miss a trip with over 400 students crammed onto buses and the chaos and noise that entails.

Run For Your Life!!!

2009-04-30T08:30:00.003-05:00

Well, we have a new favorite movie in the house. Bolt. It's pretty cute and Nat and I enjoyed it too. But Hope absolutely adores it. But yesterday we had dropped Natalie off at school and the girls and I were having a quiet drive back home when all of a sudden... Hope spotted the enemy sitting in someone's front yard. She let out a yell of fear and screamed "Mommy! Drive faster! Run for your lives! It's Calico!!!" What she saw was a pretty little white cat. If you haven't seen Bolt, Calico is Penny (Bolt's owner) and Bolt's nemisis. He also has an evil sidekick that is a cat. So beware, the cute adorable cat next door could be hiding a secret life. Cue diabolical laughter.

Natalie's class field trip

2009-04-27T10:11:00.000-05:00

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2009-04-27T09:46:00.000-05:00

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It's been a while...

2009-04-27T08:47:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. We've been busy as always, never a dull moment around here. Natalie is enjoying the spring time and is eager for her and Nat to plant a garden and flowers around the yard. She hit a growth spurt and now the size of clothes she's been in is too small and the next size up is too big! How can that be? As Hope would say "It's a mystery!" Her school is having Spring Fling this Friday, so I'll be very busy with getting ready for that. I'll be decorating the lobby, helping wherever, and organizing the classroom activity. We are doing bowling this year! Hope had her first haircut this month!! She did so great, we were very proud of her! I have cut her bangs, but she'd never gone to the salon and had any of the length cut off. It was down to her waist! She looks so cute! Taylor is doing great, she's 4 months old now. She's such a happy baby and is full of smiles and giggles. She has spent the last two nights in her big crib, because she has outgrown her bassinet. Can you hear the sniffles? :-( Time goes by too fast.

Why Oh Why????

2009-03-25T08:46:00.006-05:00

Why is it that the morning you've woken up late and are running behind is the morning that your 1st grader decides to drive you INSANE!! First she took forever to pick out her breakfast, then she took her sweet time eating, then she wanted to change her clothes for school a couple of times, then she decided she had to brush her teeth like the dentist said - very thouroughly and for a minute on the top and a minute on the bottom (o.k. so this is a good thing, but it had to be this morning to start good practices!!) So now we're really behind and I realize lunch and snack hasn't been made. Of course she's not of the mind to buy her lunch to save me time, and of course she wants an orange with her lunch which requires peeling and cutting (I told her no.) Her next choice was grapes, which had to be pulled off the stem (and you can't leave parts of the stem in, heaven forbid the world comes to and end!) and they had to be washed. Again I told her no. So she got a box of raisins instead. I hope that makes her day. :-) Then she didn't like how tight her socks were, the second pair of socks had a metallic string in them for a decoration and it itched, with the third pair the seam bothered her toes. I fixed the seam and informed her she would wear that pair and like it!! Shoes go on and she complains that the loops of her laces were too big, so she decides she must twist them into some sort of elaborate knot in the middle of the dining room floor, she can't wait to do it in the car while we on the way to school. And of course in the middle of all this I had to get ready and get Hope and Taylor ready too. We finally get in the car and Taylor spits up everywhere, and I can't blame her, I would have too. I must agree with her opinion of the mornings events- she's such a smart baby. I hope you had a better morning. I need a moment, maybe all day to recover.

Kite Day!!

2009-03-19T12:50:00.002-05:00

Natalie and I had a great morning at school. It was Kite Day!! Kids brought kites, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and yo-yo's to play with during P.E. Everyone had such a blast. Several parents came to help out and we spent the whole time fixing kites, getting kites out of trees and holding up kites for kids to run off with b/c of course there was absolutely no wind!

No fun for us...

2009-03-17T16:23:00.002-05:00

I'm so glad everyone is having a wonderful and fun spring break. We however, aren't. The City Schools decided to mess too much with the calendar for this year and our spring break isn't until the week after Easter. (can you hear the weeping?) But Natalie has is out Friday for a weather day, so we get a 3 day weekend. Yeah! I think I might can make it till April!!

2009-03-10T13:05:00.001-05:00

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Natalie's Big Night

2009-03-04T09:02:00.003-06:00

Natalie was a busy girl performing last night at PTA. We had the book character parade where students dressed up as a character from a book and spoke about their character onstage. There were so many great costumes. Natalie dressed up as Mama JuneBug Jones from the book series Skippy John Jones. They are very funny books that we all love to read at bedtime. If you've never read one, try one. It's about the adventures of a Siamese cat who thinks he's a Chihuahua. After the parade ended the 1st and 5th grades did a musical selection with the music teacher. The first grade sang and acted out a song and then played the xylophone while singing another song. Everyone did a great job and Natalie had a good time.

Taylor Grace Thompson

2009-03-02T13:32:00.001-06:00

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Thompson Snowy Fun

2009-03-02T13:03:00.001-06:00

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The big girls had such a good time in the snow. They made snow angels and had snow ball fights. Much fun was had by all except Taylor. We bundled her up and took her out to look at her first snow. She quickly expressed her opinion of the cold and decided to come back inside for a nap.

Sibling Rivalry?...

2009-01-29T09:33:00.006-06:00

Well, I guess Taylor couldn't sit back be outdone by her sisters in the Thompson Family Competion called "Ways to Scare the Mommy- Medical Event." (I hate to tell the girls, but the record holder for that position will probably always be Hope. Main points recieved for her heart defect, kidney defect and just this past fall: stomach being pumped, popcorn kernel up the nose and swallowing a metal bead). But I digress... I suppose being early and simply having a bad case of jaundice wasn't enough to satify Taylor, so she had to pull a fast one on us. It all started with a cold Natalie got at school and we tried hard not to share germs until Hope accidentally drank from the wrong cup at breakfast one morning and then Hope got the cold which led to me and then Taylor. It really has been a nasty one. Anyway, Taylor's quickly turned into a scary sounding nose and chest deal, so we went to see Dr. C. Taylor has bronchilitis. Very bad thing! We were afraid we would spend some time in the hospital, but good girl she is has decided to work with the treatment at home and is improving!!! (But it's still scary sounding b/c it's breaking up in her chest.) However, we have to torment the poor baby by suctioning her nose and doing a saline nose spray at every diaper change and then every 4 hours she has to have a breathing treatment with a nebulizer. Needless to say, the minute she gets on the diaper table she starts getting mad, I would too!

2009-01-13T16:27:00.003-06:00

Pat it Daddy... You know when you've let them watch too much t.v. and you've seen too many kiddie shows when they start saying lines from their favorite show and you know what they are talking about. This morning a loving Hope was getting a cuddle from her daddy when she woke up and stretched out and started crying out "a cramp, a cramp, pat it daddy!" If you've watched too much SpongeBob SquarePants you would know this is from the episode where SpongeBob was a lifeguard and Patrick got butt cramps while he was swimming. She's so funny!

2009-01-13T13:08:00.004-06:00

Natalie has been enjoying being in the first grade and loves her teacher. She had a nice holiday break and has liked getting back to school and seeing her friends. Today was Awards Day for the 2nd grading period. For both grading periods so far she has gotten the Principal's Award for making all A's and getting Good Citizenship. We are so proud of her!

2009-01-13T12:50:00.003-06:00

We have been busy and sleep deprived since bringing Taylor home from the hospital. Taylor has been a wonderful little baby and Natalie and Hope have turned into quite the little mothers with her. Taylor will be 1 month old on Sunday and it has gone by so fast.

2009-01-13T12:48:00.001-06:00

Hi all. We have finally joined the blogging world and have set up a family blog. Please check in to see what we are up to!