Victoria Rings Silent Night

Victoria's music class performed again this year at the Saginaw Rec Center in their Christmas program. She did SOOO much better this year. Last year I ended up ringing the bell not long after the song started. I told her when her color was on the card and she did the rest.

And here is Riley giving Victoria her flower after her performance.

Our Happy Thanksgiving (for the most part)

Not sure if we have started a family tradition or not. Last year we went camping on Thanksgiving. This year we went camping on Thanksgiving.

This time we went to Tyler State Park in Tyler, Texas. So pretty. The trees were massive and the colors were amazing. There was a little lake (or a big pond) in the middle of the park, which we could see out the front of our tent. It was a bit cold, but not nearly as bad as last year. The trip had its ups and downs as with any camping trip for the Thompsons. We spent the first morning in Tyler at Walgreens getting medicine for my queezy stomach and at Academy getting new camping chairs. Poor Carey broke both chairs the night before ... oops.

Once it warmed up on Wednesday, we ventured into the woods to do some geocaching. Very cool. Carey had three that he had printed directions and clues for before we left. The kids were a bit whiny, but that is typical. They were worried about the dog of all things. She kept running ahead of us. They were afraid she would run off and not come back. We informed them that she might be a dog, but she isn't that stupid.



The rest of the trip was uneventful. Carey took the kids to the park and took Riley fishing. By the time you prepare a meal, eat a meal and cleanup after a meal ... well the time tends to get away from you. And the fact that the sun went down around 5:45. But, the kids were ready for bed around 7:00 both nights. That is definitely not typical.

We ate great as always. Carey does so well in the outdoor kitchen. He even did dishes after every meal while I just sat by the campfire. :)

We did collect some pine cones to bring home and decorate as Christmas Tree decorations. Not a very good idea. Victoria and I seemed to have a runny nose most of the camping trip. Then for about two days after, she would get all stuffed up and watery eyed every time we were in the car. Well, that is where the pine cones were ... still in the glove box. Oops. So, needless to say, the Thompson girls will not be camping in the piney woods without the assistance of allergy medication in the future.


But it was nice to be away just the four of us ... and the dog.

Our Happy Halloween

The kids proudly displaying their potato-head pumpkins.

She wore this like a hundred times this past month. A little Halloween outfit complete with a light up shirt, pumpkin socks and orange and black polka-dot bow. Can I just so it is SOOO much fun having a little girl!!

Of course Halloween would not be complete without a package arriving in the mail all the way from Michigan. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Ready for an evening at the Fun Fest at church followed by trick or treating in the neighborhood.

Our most recent family portrait. From left to right - Fairy Princess, Princess Leia, Anakin Skywalker and The Masked Retriever.

The Masked Retriever is Riley's made-up guy. He was told that he could be anything he wanted to be for Halloween as long as he used items that we already had and/or I would make him something from material we already had. In other words, we were not going to buy him a costume. So, he requested a mask and did the rest of his costume himself. I love it! There wasn't much to his costume, but I loved that he "designed" it himself. He was so very proud of it.

Just some pics

I Wanna Go!!

Those were my exact words when Carey told me that the scouts would be taking a tour of the NBC5 news studio. This is the news channel that I grew up watching ... Harold Taft showing us the weather and Santa coming into Fort Worth on the radar on Christmas Eve. There was also the Children's Hour on Sunday morning with the guy who would read the comics from the Star Telegram. Who could forget the advertising campaign in the early 90's of "Let's JAM" with Jane and Mike on the evening news. I am such a huge fan! I just had to go! So, it was a family outing for us.

The scouts doing their salute. Little Miss right there behind Riley doing her salute.

Riley and his buddy, Joseph, in the news room. I would like to say that they were listening intently to our tour guide, but there were about 20 TVs in this room, so I do believe that they were just watching TV.

In the studio behind the news anchor desk. The scouts were instructed not to touch the desk, because little fingerprints show up in HD. I am sure the temptation was just overwhelming. I was a bit busy at this point trying to keep Victoria from climbing and crawling all over the studio set.

I do believe this was the best part by far ... in front of the green screen with the 5-day forecast and being able to see themselves on TV. Very cool. They couldn't contain themselves.

Riley had a good time, but Carey and I by far had the best time. It was really kinda neat to see how they do everything. All the cameras are controlled by computers, so there aren't cameramen anymore. The studio just has the anchors and one other person to give them there prompts. Most of the work is done in a room with many monitors and computers and chairs and wires and switches and glass walls. We were there around 7PM and the place was just about empty. That surprised me. I thought they would all be running about getting news stories and preparing for the 10PM news. Nope. Almost all of them went home except for about 5 people in the news room that were leisurely working, eating dinner, talking on the phones. Alot more laid back than I pictured.

Riley's most favorite part was the goody bag he got when the tour was over. There was a plastic slinky in it with NBC5 printed on it. He was in heaven. He said it is his most favorite toy ever and that was the best night ever.

The slinky has since disappeared and been long forgotten.

Pictures pictures pictures!!!

We got these done at the Target Portrait Studio in Hulen. This is our 3rd time to go there and I am always so pleased with the pictures. Plus, with the coupon, it is only $4 a sheet. Such a deal! The photographer did such a good job just capturing them being themselves.

Here they are - Riley age 6 and Victoria age 2:

Ballerina and Swine Flu

Wow ... what a week we had last week. By the time we got to the end of it I was spent. Carey was out of town in Wyoming (so jealous) for a couple of days and then spent almost every other waking moment working on the deck (the project that just keeps going and going and going and never seems to end) and helping me get the house ready for my Pampered Chef party on Thursday night.

Amidst all this work that Carey and I tackled this past week, we definitely had one high point and one low point of the week:

Ballerina

This was no doubt the high point of the week. Victoria was invited by one of her little friends to Bring a Friend Week at a dance studio here in Saginaw. So, we of course got all the necessities to attend the class ... pink leotard, pink tights and pink ballet shoes. He he he. This just makes me so giddy. I mentioned in my last post that Carey has been looking forward to Scouts for Riley since birth. Well, I distinctly remember getting all excited about dance class for Victoria once all the medication wore off after her birth.


And can I tell you it was the most precious thing ever!! I was prepared for the worst ... ya know, tears, screaming, begging, pleading ... for both her and I, but she did fantastic! Her little friend grabbed her hand and they walked together down the hall into the studio. She did most of the moves and participated as well as you could expect a 2 year old with a short attention span to participate. The cutest was when they were doing Chasse' across the floor. Victoria was last in line and by the time it was her turn, she was so excited to go to the other side of the room, that she just ran! It was hilarious!! Seeing her in her little pinkness, chubby toddler body running so excitedly across the floor ... I loved it! As the lesson went on, she was getting a little restless and I saw her running around the teacher a couple of times, but all in all she did so well. The jury is still out on whether we will put her in lessons this Spring or wait until next fall. We'll see. My vote is now, but the checkbook doesn't agree as of yet.

Swine Flu

And this was no doubt the low point of the week. Riley's school called Thursday afternoon saying that he had a fever of 101. So, I went to get him, gave him some advil and he rested for about ... an hour. Then he was bored and wanted to play. He had been having a cough on and off all week, so I was thinking that he probably had a sinus infection. The plan was to see how he did that night and take him to the doc in the morning. Well, somewhere around 8PM, he came downstairs during the Pampered Chef party, and seriously people, he looked terrible. His eyes looked awful. That night he ran a temp of about 103 - 104. He was sooooo sick.

That next morning we went to the doctor and as soon as he walked in the room and looked at Riley, he told me it was the flu ... the swine flu. Well, I just about fainted. Pretty sure you could have knocked me over with a feather. He did the test and sure enough he was right. He spent about 10 minutes with me explaining that it wasn't gonna be as bad as I thought it was. He even said that the seasonal flu is much worse. He hadn't had any of his patients hospitalized and most were fine to go back to school in 4 -5 days. By the time we left, I felt a little better. I really trust my doctor. He was my pediatrician growing up. He is smart and a good man.

So, we got the tamiflu prescription filled (which is not covered by insurance, urgh) and within about 12 hours of his first dose, his fever was down and within 24 hours he was fever free. Yay!! We are on day 4 and he is fine. He still has a cough, but no fever for 48 hours now. Phew! So glad it wasn't as bad as they were thinking it would be. The incubation period is 1-4 days and so far only Victoria has had any symptoms. Hers are very mild (cold and fever of 100) and we have a script for tamiflu at CVS that we are gonna start her on today.

Another side effect of the swine flu is that it is driving us stir crazy. The kids have not been out of this house for 3 days now. I ventured out yesterday for about an hour to run a few errands. That wasn't enough. Needless to say, I am looking forward to going to the cleaners, blockbuster and CVS today. I got all dressed up for it and everything.