Childrens Museum

While in Utah we had the chance to go to the Children's Museum with Tony's mom Deb. The kids loved it and had a BLAST! We will definitely hit it again when we make our next journey to Utah (when that will be we have no clue ... we are thinking it'll probably be an every other year type thing)

 Blakers had fun driving around Grandma Debbie. He loved this cuz he could fill up the jeep with gas. 

 I was surprised how much fun Tae had here as well. I figured being a big 8 year old she might think she was too cool but she had just as much fun as the others!

 I don't think there was one station that Aliya didn't run to with a big cheeser on her face ... she really does get pleasure out of simple things!

 Poor horse! With all the horseback riding they'd been doing this UT trip you'd think they'd be bored but not these cowpokes! This is the kind of horse I would agree to getting ... I don't have to feed it, pet it, clean up after it. Plus my allergies did great!

 Blakers loved the water table. He is constantly playing in the sinks at home but here it was okay for him to do it!

 The girls got to be anchorwomen. They loved seeing themselves on TV!

Old Kai Kai even got to get down and play. Notice the nice bruise on his forehead? He got that just before we went to UT. I cant remember who he was playing with but he ended up face planting it into the wrought iron spindles on our staircase. Poor kid! Thanks Gma for sharing a fun day with us!

Thompson Crew

Wow, thats a lot of Grandkids! My parents now have 20 grandkids. Needless to say its a whole lot of chaos when we get together. Unfortunately its not that often so its do-able!

 Here are all the kiddos:
Back row: Landon (13) holding Jaden (3), Jessie (17) holding Kai (1), Colton, Tanner, Matthew, Parker and Keon
Front row: Cheltzie (14), Hannah (9), Brittlyn (10) holding McKelle (2 mos), Taeya (8), Tanaeya (6), Aliya (5), Evan (6), Abby (3), Mason (3) and Blake (almost 3)

 Gma and Gpa with their entire brood.

I am tempted to make a comment about not a single one of my kids taking a cute picture here but that wouldn't be nice and my mom always taught me if I cant say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. But it is pretty funny! Go ahead, make your own snarky comment!

 These 4 were all born in the same year. Jaden, Mason, Blake and Abby. Jaden is the oldest with Blakers being the youngest. They are going to cause major problems when they get older! I guess this is why you rarely see cute pictures of a group of 3 year olds ... it just doesn't happen!

 Gma and her girls

Gpa and his guys ... again with the Dickamore kids causing problems. Mercy, you'd think they'd be used to their mom taking their picture. Ah well! We sure do miss our cousins and wish we were closer!

Sad day!

Blake was sick one day when we were in Utah during the summer. He had woken up during the night with a fever. I didn't take his temp but knew he had a fever so gave him some meds and he went back to sleep. He woke up the next morning hot so I re medicated him. Later that morning he took a little nap then woke up again hot. He refused to take medicine so as I was over at the sink trying to figure out a way to bribe him into taking the Motrin I hear my mom calmly say "Tami, he's seizing". WHAT? I go hauling over to where he was in their rocking chair to see what I could do. My mom rocks. She was trying to keep him protected and walk me through what was happening (she was a nurse). All the while the girls are nearby watching TV and they had no clue what was happening!

There is no better place I could have been for him to have seized. I've never had a kid who has seizured before. Once it was done we took his temp them worked at getting it to drop. When his temp finally dropped he did great. Poor kid was pretty sleepy and lethargic for a while but luckily it never happened again. I am a lot more worried when he gets a fever now (he's now 30% more likely to have another seizure if he spikes a fever). Sad day but I am just thankful I had parents there to keep me calm and more importantly keep Blakers safe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Baby Blues!

Nope, no baby depression here. Just gorgeous blue eyes coming to us from Kai! When Blake was about the age I blogged about a picture with my 3 kiddos and talked about their gorgeous eyes. Each of my kids, with the exception of Aliya, have gorgeous blue eyes. Aliya has stunning hazel/green eyes. We're not quite sure how she got those eyes since 2 blue eyed parents are not genetically supposed to be able to make a brown/hazel eyed kid but some how we did (I promise, she's ours)!

Kai was playing around with Blakes hat one day and he was too cute to pass up!

Love you little drool monkey. Your eyes have saved you from getting into trouble a couple times already ... the girls are going to love you!

Stabbed!

 Betcha thougth this post was going to somehow be related to Blake and his mischeviousness but nope, just Taeya. All summer long she'd been harrassing us by asking when she could get her ears pierced. Finally the end of August Tony gave in and said "lets do it". Tae was so excited!

I think the waiting part in the store was the hardest thing for Tae (I've never seen her cuddle w/ her sister like this before or since)!

 The holes are drawn, still time to back out now!  Poor girl had to listen to narrative by her Dad throughout the whole procedure. Luckily she knew what she wanted and stuck with it!

Gun ready ... GULP!

Being the slacker Mom I am, I didnt get an after shot. Ah well, you'll be able to see them in some future posts. These are the cutest pics anyways!

Crazy rain!

 I love the rainstorms we get here in the summer! They are fast and boy do they ever dump the water! Tony is a good Daddy that lets them go play in it ... I on the other hand just think about all the wet clothes I'll have to wash in addition to the wet bodies I will have to bathe afterwards. Thank Heavens for Dads or else my kids would just be watching from inside!

 This is Kai's first rain experience. I am usually mean and keep him with me. Tony thought he'd have fun and he was right! He loved it!

Buds

 I love seeing this. Anything that my boys do together, without fighting, makes me happy! Although Blakers can totally walk up the stairs, he thinks its hilarious to crawl up the stairs with Kai.

 Blake stops for a short laugh break ...

 Then they are off again! I love their little bums, I love that they wear the same size, I love that I am too lazy in the morning to stick back on their bottom jammies, I love that they love each other and have fun together! Oh, and I LOVE that Kai still has his fat, squishy thighs ... I may just love those the most!

Tae's Baptism

I cant believe this day has already come and gone! It seems like just a few years ago I brought home my first little girl ... now she's 8 and baptized. Tae was so excited to FINALLY get baptized. She really wanted all her extended family to be a part of her big day so we decided to make the trek to Utah. It was a gorgeous day and one that we will never forget. Taeya knew how much she was loved by all the family that came to celebrate her big day with her!

Before she got baptized we took a couple pictures outside. The day couldn't have been more perfect! What a gorgeous kiddo!

I love this little girl. She's got so much spunk and personality. She is a very easy going child who loves to please people and loves to have fun. She's the first person to help out and is more than willing to help others.

Taeya picked her Daddy to baptize her. She is definitely a Daddy's girl ... she's always had him wrapped around her finger since birth!

Afterwards we had a little party at Papa Bruce's clubhouse. Unfortunately I did a horrible job at getting pictures. I did however snap this cute picture of Kai and Great Grandma Close. She loves all her Grandchildren and is so good to support us in our various endeavours.

Becky, my sister, made the long drive from St. Louis to Utah with 4 kids in tow to support Taeya. After her baptism they had to hop in the car for their 24hour straight drive back home. I love this picture ... we are all coordinated (unintentionally). 

Many, many thanks to all our loved ones who made this such a special day for Tae. It was terrific and one we will never forget! Next baptism, I will take many more pictures, I promise!

Halloween 2010

This may just be my year of excuses. I had every good intention of taking tons of cute pics of my kids in their Halloween gear but it just didn't happen! On Thursday we had a Trunk or Treat at church and I was hauling the kids there alone, and we were late, so no pics. Then on Halloween we had a ton of people come over to go trick or treating with us and I felt bad making everyone wait! We were joined by the Jadlots (Lily's family), Natalie and Paulina Braden (Tae's best friend) and Genevieve (friend from down the street). We were quite the crew!

 Kai was a Harley baby. He had a cute Harley shirt with temporary tattoo's all up and down his arms. I had intended to cover more of his arms and some of his head/neck but we ran out of  time.

 I love this pic of Kai in his car seat. Rarely is he quiet and content in his car seat. He hates it! Usually he's screaming at me to let me know how bugged he is that he's strapped down yet again!

 Tae is the only one who even got some pics. She decided the night before our Trunk or Treat that she wanted to be a Mummy. I asked her what that entailed and she said she wanted me to wrap toilet  paper around her. Dumb me told her that wouldn't work and that I'd make something else for her. In the future I am just going to use their idea!

 There were still a lot more strips that needed to be stitched on but after 4 hours I refused to sew anymore! Too many curse words were uttered in the making of this thing!

 Aliya had the easiest costume of all: a cheerleader. She knew what she was going to be since July. This is her best friend Lily. These two are so stinkin cute together!

Poor Blakers, I didn't even get a pic of him dressed up. For Halloween he was a builder. He had his yellow construction hat and a tool belt on. At the Trunk or Treat he had a blast hammering on the table and chairs (much to the demise of everyone else). He loved his 'costume'. Unfortunately we couldn't find it on Halloween so the poor kid was just a mohawked little boy! People loved it though!

 And this is what its all about!

First day of school!

Yep, I'm behind ... so sue me! At least I am FINALLY getting them up. Tony is out of town a ridiculous amount of time this week so I hopefully will get a bunch posted! I figure rather than going back in order I'll just hit some of the key stuff for now!

 Tae started 3rd Grade this year. I cant believe she is so old. She absolutely loves her teachers. In our school district they have 'switch' classes. They spend the first half of the day with one teacher then switch classrooms for the 2nd half. It is nice because the kids get the experience of having different teachers (and I think the teachers like getting rid of some kids 1/2 way through the day).

 For Tae's first quarter of school she got all A's and one B+. Its crazy because the B+ is in her easiest subject: reading. She is a super fast reader (at the first of the year when they tested the kids they wanted them to read at about 100 wpm. She was reading at over 160 wpm). I think she is like me where she reads so fast she doesn't comprehend all that she needs to. We are so proud of how well she is doing!

Here is my big Kindergartner. It seemed like this day would never come for Aliya. She's been so ready for school to start. She LOVES it! She's got a terrific teacher that she loves (and luckily the teacher loves Aliya). Her favorite things so far is riding the bus and eating lunch! Shocker!

Its been fun to hear Aliya talk about all the friends she is making. She made an immediate best friend the first day and they've been inseparable since! She had a terrific first semester as well. She got all E's. I'm blown away by how well she reads. I really wish I could say I have played a part in how well she's doing but it is 100% her. Unfortunately I haven't been much of a 'teacher' lately with my kids. Right now we are just trying to survive day-to-day living!

It was pouring rain when the bus dropped them off. I love seeing Tae take Aliya's hand and keep her safe. What awesome girls they are.