We're ALL Briarwood Bears!

I now know that we have hit a milestone in our lives. All of our children are now attending school...all day!! It is a sad thing but it is also exciting to see where God will take us next.
Last Thursday, Aug 14th, we took all of our kids to their first day of school. Parker is in the 5th grade, Easton is in 1st, and Olivia is in Kindergarten. It is our tradition to take the kids to breakfast every year on the first day of school. The past several years we've gone to I-HOP! Phil and I enjoy it just as much as the kids.
We are very thankful for the teachers the kids got this year. My philosophy on teachers is not to request a specific teacher but to pray that God puts them with the teacher they need and He hasn't let us down yet!! Olivia got the same teacher Easton had last year, who I just found out attends the CoC. When I dropped Olivia off she asked me if I could stay with her for awhile. I think that is so sweet because I know the time is coming when she will want me to leave as quick as possible...much like Parker did this year! Easton got a teacher that is just back this year from maternity leave and she seems very pleasant. Parker got the teacher he wanted but unfortunately none of his close buddies are in his class. So far things are going well...no calls from the principal. We are fortunate in that there is a teacher at their school that we go to church with. She has taken the kids under her wing...that's very comforting. The kids really like her and I think feel special that they get her attention.

In some other family news...I have been added as a permanent employee with the company I work for, Shipley Associates. I was given the opportunity to set my own schedule working 32 hours a week and still be considered a full time/salaried employee. I work 9am-3pm every day. This is wonderful as it allows me to be home with the kids before and after school. It also takes the finacial burden of daycare away. Things are going well!!

Gimme' a Break!

The only one of our kids that hasn't broken a bone was Easton, which I always thought was ironic, until now. The funny, or not-so-funny, thing about my kids is there is always a crazy story that goes along with their breaks. Easton's isn't quite as dramatic as the other two...well here's the story.
The kids had a carnival at the Y a week before school started. Easton was jumping in a moon bounce and fell on his arm. He was really crying from it so the Y counselor called me around 3pm. It's sometimes hard to tell if your kids are being dramatic or if it's legit. I got off work at 3:30 and picked them up. By this time he had stopped crying so we decided to wait it out a bit to see how he did. Oh yeah, this was the same day as the kids slumber party. We figured if anything this would let us know if he was seriously injured. He ended up babying his arm all night and complaing some about it. He also woke in the middle of the night crying that his arm was hurt. Phil and I decided to take him to the Bone & Joint Hospital Friday morning. After all the crazy stuff that's happened in the past we were hoping this would be a one stop trip. Ha!! That's funny!! They x-rayed his arm and yep it was broke. A doctor was not there, only the PA, so all we got was a sling, a CD with his x-ray, and a business card of a doctor we could go see. Easton was not very happy about having to wear the sling (you'll have to ask Phil for details). He threw the biggest fit because the sling made him look "dumb". I guess Parker felt sorry for him because he ironed Easton's name onto it and Easton was fine with it after that. We weren't able to see another doctor until the following Tuesday. He gave us a wrap and said the break was too high up his arm to cast; the only thing we could do was keep it wrapped(that's the craziness of E's break). Does he have any children, better yet a 6 yr old BOY?!?! Needless to say I was a little nervous about that.
Well, we go back to the doctor tomorrow...hopefully Easton hasn't done anymore damage to it. Say a prayer!! If there is anything more to tell after tomorrow I'll try to get on and let you know!!
BTW, this was not the break I wanted!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Summer Slumber

I decided to let the kids have what we called a Summer Slumber the week before school started. Phil and I let each one chose 1-2 friends to stay the night...yes, we had about 8 kids sleeping at our house. I know a lot of people thought we were out of our mind by the questions we repeatedly got but honestly it went really well. I've always said that if the kids have a friend over to entertain them it generally occupies their time and things tend to run smoothly, in other words they aren't under my feet begging (usually)! Ha! We all had a good time. I preapared all the toppings for the kids to make their own individual pizzas. I think thay all enjoyed that and I thought it was fun to see how everyone made theirs. Then they played outside for awhile. Later they all decorated a t-shirt. I tried real hard not to "tell" them what to put on them. That's something I struggle with but I'm working on it! Enjoy the pics...and yes, this is something I would do again.






I love these pics of Liv and Aub. They are so silly. They were so good and had a GREAT time together!!

I'm starting to experiment more with Photoshop. I still haven't taken that online class yet but it's on the 'To Do' list.

Summer Vacation

The kids and I went with Nancy to visit Brad, Catherine and Amelia in Frisco last weekend. We got there Saturday at 3:30pm and left Sunday about 5pm; that was our summer vacation. It's kind of like driving through a small town; you better take a picture otherwise you might miss it. Good thing I got a few! We had a good time spending Saturday in the pool. Brad grilled out hamburgers and we just relaxed all evening. Sunday we went to church. Nancy had made Amelia and Olivia matching dresses; they looked like sisters. Afterwards Catherine, Parker and me went shopping. I was able to get some school clothes for the kids. We looked for shoes for Parker but the older he gets the more expensive his taste gets. Sheesh! And I still have two more after him. The highlight for the kids is always getting to take a bath in their big whirlpool bath...who cares about the brand new pool?!?! Nothing too crazy happened...I know that's hard to believe. Enjoy the pics and I'll be back soon!

I forgot to mention, the kids had their first taste of homemade Zucchini Bread that Catherine made...it was delicious!! YUMMY!!!!! Here are pics of their first taste...how do you think they liked it?

Okay, I can't talk about the weekend unless I show you the sweetest pic!! My little Easton can be the sweetest thing ever. He's my little lover...and apparently Amelias too!! I guess I'll share with her.

"IT'S BROKEN!!!!"

Ok, I was reprimanded by the blog expert...hehe...that I didn't blog enough!! Which I guess she's right! By the way, this "expert" doesn't even have her own blog but she can tell you A LOT about other people's! Ha!! What's that called again? A blog stalker? Hmmm! It's all in love!!

So here I go...

Olivia is going to kill me but I think it is so funny...and typical drama-girl behavior. This is a typical morning at the Thompson home; Phil gets the kids up and makes them breakfast and packs their lunches every day. On this day Liv wanted a pop tart (Exhibit A).



Does anything look wrong with this to you? Looks pretty yummy to me! Well, if you look really closely you might notice a couple of cracks down the middle (you probably need the magnifying glass). Needless to say, Olivia noticed it. "IT'S BROKEN!!" ,was her hysterical response. I snapped a few pics of her reaction, she didn't like that too well!! Hehe!!--future blackmail!!

More 4th Pics!!

It was late when I posted the last time. I wasn't able to post all the pictures I wanted to. I hope you enjoy these.

Olivia

Parker


Easton

Easton, Parker, Sawyer & Olivia

We LOVE the 4th of July!!!

I think our family has decided that the 4th of July is our favorite holiday! We went to Danny & Cindy Minor's home in Newcastle on the 3rd for food, friend, and fireworks. We had a great time. The kids swam. Which reminds me...Olivia swam without her life jacket. Woohoo!!! Way to go Liv!! She jumped in, went under and swam all around. As soon as the fireworks came out the boys were right in the middle of them. Olivia actually joined in on the firework-fun. My kids amaze me sometimes!!

On Friday, we went to my parents house for more food, fun and fireworks. Erin & Joe always load up on the fireworks and Papa Gary and Phil snuck off to buy some more. The funniest part of this 4th is that we never got to watch a fireworks show...hmmmm!! I guess we just had too much fun letting them off ourselves. I'm already ready for next year's 4th.

We hope you all enjoyed your 4th as much as we did!! More pics to come!!

Summer Happenings

Easton had his end-of-the-year Cubs baseball party on Monday. This is the 3rd year we've done this and we have fun every year. These are pics of Easton with his teammates.

Olivia also started dance this year. The first 3 weeks were rough. She cried everytime I left her...Sheesh!! Tuesday night was watch night where we would get to watch them the last 15 minutes of class. We really tried to talk it up and make it a big deal because normally parents aren't allowed to go back and watch the classes. She went into class fine...no crying. Phil's parents and my parents came to watch her along with Parker and Easton. She picked at her finger nails almost the entire time. It took all I had not call her out. She finally decided to participate a little more but we definitely need to work on our right and left. As frustrated as I was she was still pretty cute! She's not afraid to do her own thing!! I'll keep you updated on the progress of her dancing!

We Miss You!!!

Here are more pics of Phil in Honduras. Yesterday he worked on computers...he was definitely in his element. We are so ready for Phil to come home; the yard needs mowing, the garage door needs fixing...Ha!! Just kidding!! We really are missing him. Olivia asks everyday what day it is so she can figure out when her daddy will be home. They'll be back in OKC tomorrow evening! Woohoo!! I'm also including a pic of Phil with Kelly Kindrick. Enjoy!!!

Happy Father's Day

This is probably the strangest Father's Day we've ever had!! Phil is in Honduras and my dad and Gary are on their way to New Jersey. Well, we still want to wish them all a SUPER-DUPER Father's Day and we miss you all!!

Everyone needs to check out www.oakcrestyouth.com . The kids are pumped that they were mentioned on the youth group's web site. Thanks Marshall...you've just made 3 friends for life!! They think they're famous!! Ha!!! The kids made a special "long distance" Father's Day card for Phil. Make sure you click on the video link.

I'm adding a few pictures. One is of Easton hitting at one of his baseball games. He looks like a pro. I'm also including a pic of Phil in Hondo...he looks like he's working hard. Hehe!! I'm looking for a good pic of Parker playing soccer. The pic of Livie is at her 5th birthday party. She turned 5 on April 23 and had her party at Snip-its, which is a children's salon. It is right up her alley. They get to dress up, put on make-up, have they're hair fixed in an updo, and then walk down the red carpet through the middle of the salon. It was so cute to see all the little girls...they were giddy!!!

Tata for now!!! More to come soon!!

I did it!!!

Well, I finally got our family Blog designed and running. I will say that Phil was not even in the country and I still got it working!! I know, I'm a little surprised myself! Hopefully I'll be good about keeping it updated. Maybe I can even talk Phil or the kids into posting on it...we'll see! I just want to say thanks to my friends who helped and inspired me. Thanks ladies!!

Phil left yesterday, June 11, for Honduras. He's on a mission trip with our church. He really enjoys going on these trips. I am very proud of him. He is setting a HUGE example to our children and I'm excited for when they'll be old enough to join him. I think Phil is looking forward to that as well! If Phil sends me any pics from Hondo I'll try to get them posted.

The kids are all going to the YMCA this summer. I guess they like it ok. I know I like it...by the time I pick them up they are exhausted! Hehe!! Parker is also going to several soccer camps. He still enjoys soccer and is improving every day. I love watching him play. Easton just finished up an AWESOME season of machine pitch baseball. I am blown away at the progress that he and his teammates have made in just the past few months. His team, the Cubs, finished 1st in their league and 2nd in the end of the year tournament. There are a lot of boys from our church on his team; I like that and hope he continues on with them. You never know about him. Then we have Olivia...I don't think I could ever say enough about her. She started dance this month. She's only been twice but I wasn't sure she was going to make it this week. She was upset but once I pushed her in I think she did very well.

As for me, I'm currently working for LSI, Logistic Specialities Inc., they're a consulting company that helps businesses bid on government contracts. Most of my spare time is spent wrangling the kids but when I'm able to get away from them I enjoy stamping and scrapbooking...some other things I'll try to post.

I hope all are doing well. Check back often for updates.