What time is it? Summertime!!

(So that is the opening song from HSM2 ... for those of you who do not know)

Anyway, can I just say that I cannot remember being this excited about summer since I was like 10. As Riley would say "I am so exciting!" I think a big part of it is that Riley will be home ... YAY! I miss that Little Man during the day and cannot wait to have him back all to myself. He is our constant source of entertainment. Just so full of joy and nonsense. We love love having him around.

What else about summertime do we love? The absence of dragging two babies out of bed every morning, getting them dressed while half asleep, stuffing breakfast down one of their throats and then rushing off to school. I guess that is the one drawback of having children that love to sleep in as much as their mommy and daddy do ... the mornings can be a bit difficult in the get up and go department.

But, that is what is so great about summer ... not alot of get up and go. The Texan Thompsons have been known to sleep in as late as 9AM on summer days. I do believe that I am getting back some of missed sleeping hours from 2003. Not a good year for Kim as far as sleep goes. Averaged about 4-5 hours a night, courtesy of Mr. Riley. No lie. Ask Carey. He was there too. He was asleep, but he was there. Heard all about it the next day. I will give him credit. It was his master touch that got Riley to FINALLY sleep through the night at 12 months of age. Thank you hon ... I am forever grateful.

Anyway, what else? Swimming with our new cousins at Pops and Gigis, tank tops and flip flops (or flop flops as Victoria calls them), VBS, ice cream truck, playdates with our buds, staying up late, cookouts, a trip to Six Flags (oh boy), going to the movies, our two week vaca to Colorado and Michigan, zoo days, and maybe hit a couple of water parks (again, oh boy).

And then there are the days of just lounging around the house. Those are the days I look forward to. Carey went out and bought one of those inflatable $20 pools from Walmart last weekend. Well, you would have thought we put down $40,000 for a brand-new pool. The kids love that thing!! This past week, they spent a total of about 12 hours in it. I kid you not ... the first words out of Victoria's mouth every morning last week "simsue, golls?" Translation "swimsuit and goggles?" Mommy likes it too. I can sit on our covered back deck and just watch the kids fight ... I mean play in the pool, while I sip on my Diet DP and enjoy doing ... nothing. Quite nice. So I am sure most of our days will be spent in the backyard a'swimmin in the Thompson Pond.


I am also going to try my best to work with Riley on his reading this summer. He is doing so very well and I would like to keep up the momentum. So, the plan is to read with him during the first 30-45 minutes of Victoria's nap everyday. I am really going to stick to my guns on this one. We are making a chart to hang on the wall with rewards for reading a certain number of books. Riley wants Carey and me to participate too. Not a bad idea. As Riley would say "I just have so many good ideas in this brain."

I also want him to work on his handwriting and spelling. He will be writing letters to family and friends. So don't be surprised if you get a letter from Riley in which all the words are spelled phonetically and there is a drawing of a guy with some sort of weapon with a rainbow over his head (those a his favorite things to draw right now).

As far as Victoria, well ... we will just be working on getting through the day without a spanking or a time-out. Those only seem to occur in the presence of Riley. So, I am preparing myself now for the "Mooooommmmeeeee, Victoria just __________ (fill in the blank with any number of catastrophes that could possibly happen to the older mild manner sweet hearted complacent brother of a strong-willed in your face outright defiant little sister). Poor guy just doesn't stand a chance.

There's the plan. Only 4 more days. Super fun. Summertime.

Memorial Day Weekend

Wow ... what a weekend. Our little family had a super great time together. Got a glimpse of summer. Did some shopping, fishing, roof-building, gardening, landscaping, swinging, swimming, movie watching, coloring, grilling, and organizing (the mound of Legos on Riley's bedroom floor is no more, YAY!).

It was a full weekend and I am dog tired. We all are. We are going to have to take things a bit slower this summer or none of us will survive.

Season Finales

Some were good.

Some were very awesome.

Some were lame.

Some were very confusing ... the ones with the time travel ... that gets me every time.

Lost - That would pretty much explain it for me. Totally and completely lost. I have no idea what is going on. So, John Locke is still dead? And Jacob is a real person, not the Doc's dead dad come back to life on the island? And why didn't Sun go back in time with her buds? And I totally agree with the guy who hears dead people talk ... how do we know that the nuke explosion didn't cause the radiation leak that led to the button not getting pushed which led to the crash of the airplane way back in episode one?? So so so many questions and we have to wait until 2010 for the premiere. And let me just say, if you have no earthly idea what I am talking about, get it on netflicks or blockbuster or downloads or whatever and watch it this summer. Believe me, it is some real good TV watchin' time. That is how we got hooked last Fall. We watched like 4 seasons in two weeks. Good stuff.

Chuck - "I know kung fu." So completely and totally awesome was that! Lovin' that show. And I am a huge, huge fan of Scott Bakula. Love that Quantum Leap. Could watch those reruns all day!

The Unit - I say good riddins Molly Blaine. I am usually for marriages staying together, but I'm sorry lady, your character is so utterly annoying. And the whole thing with the new guy going rogue on purpose. Wow, so did not see that coming. Still, I will never trust him again.

NCIS - So Ziva has been kidnapped by some terrorists in Egypt. Fine by me. Never trusted her. Let's get some new blood. But seriously CBS, don't ever take Gibbs or Denozoe off the show. I will be forced to cut you off just like I did to NBC when they took Carter off of ER. I am not joking.

Sarah Connor Chronicles - Ok, I was really upset when you killed off Brian Austin Green. It was so random and unexpected. I mean, there he was one moment ya know, doing his thing and then all of a sudden, he had a bullet in his head. What?! BUT, now he is alive in the future where John Connor is, but John Connor doesn't exists? And judgment day happened anyway? What? And will Riley be there? What about Cameron? And will she be a machine or a real live person? Another show that I am utterly ... lost.

Smallville - (No laughing. I know we are not the target audience, but we are vested at this point and have to watch it to the end) Well, you finally gained some momentum there at the end, but seriously, did you have to kill Jimmy? And what is it with EVERYONE knowing Clark's secret? Not much of a secret now is it. And Lois is in the future? And Clark, where is he going? You didn't make that clear. And has Davis come back to life as ZOD? Again, another show that I am ... lost.

House - It was all just a hallucination brought on by his medication? So cool! I mean, that totally caught me off guard. Just like killing off Kutner ... and that other girl. Which, for the record, I really liked them. If we must toast people (that is what we call it at the Thompson house), let's get rid of the old characters that have no depth. I mean they are barely on the show anyway. Or that chick that is dying of some sort of disease. I am not that attached to her either.

Castle - What about her mom's death? What is it? C'mon. Does every single show have to end with a cliffhanger? We like the show. That is why we watch it. Cliffhangers are not needed to keep us watching. We will stay loyal.

Battlestar Gallactica - Series Finale = LAME. Totally and completely lame. Did we have to wrap it all up and put a pretty bow on top? I didn't expect such cheesiness out of a cutting edge show like this one. Lame and cheesy - it is something that, well, I would have written. That's me, lame and cheesy. That is not BSG. I will overlook it. I mean the series was total awesomeness up to that point.

Phew ... I know that sounds like a lot of TV watchin' for the Texan Thompsons, but with the DVR and all, it goes by lickity-split. I mean, we are only talking like 6 hours a week. Is that bad? There is only so much Dora and Diego and Sesame Street a person can handle. We do require some entertainment that goes a little deeper than colors, shapes and our next rescue mission.

So, this summer there are just a few that the Texan Thompsons will be awatchin': Eureka, Burn Notice, The Next Food Network Star, Leverage, Psych, Monk and more of Law and Order: Criminal Intent (so lovin' that Jeff Goldblum - he is just so weird).

And of course Star Wars: The Clone Wars on cartoon network. Well, only two of us will be watching that. And I am not one of them.

We Love Brown Paper Packages

So, the reason we are the "Texan Thompsons" is because the rest of Carey's family lives in Michigan. And when I say the rest, I mean the whole gaggle of them live there. We lived there too right after we got married for almost 4 years. I really did enjoy it. The summers were beautiful. I don't believe it got in the 90s at all for the four years we were up there. The winters were a bit dark and gloomy at times, but I worked in public accounting, so I was business with tax season and all and didn't much come out of the office anyway. Carey went to Michigan State, so it was so much fun to see that little East Lansing town come alive on game days. Those Big Ten games were just so much fun. But I so desparately missed being in Texas and we moved back as soon as he graduated from college.

We try our best to visit there twice a year, but that doesn't always happen. The kids so enjoy themselves when we are there. Grandma and Grandpa (Carey's Dad and Step-Mom) are the best! We just have a blast with them and his little bro and step-sisters and his uncles and aunts and cousins and anyone else who happens to be there. The weather is just so great, that people hang out outside all summer long. On their porches and stuff. Can you imagine? It is so nice. And they are the super best family too. They are the kind of family that you would want to be your friends. Each of them would literally give you the shirt off their back. Seriously, I think that Carey's Uncle George actually did that one time. They just love being around each other and we just love being around them. It makes me so very sad that we, especially Carey, don't get to see them very often. BUT, we now have the webcam so that we can see them when we talk anytime we want to. The kids love it! Its great for Victoria. That way she will remember who they are between visits and not be so shy when we see them. It takes her a while to warm up to people.

So, the like ONLY perk of being this far away from Carey's family are the brown paper packages that show up on our doorstep every once in awhile. SO EXCITING!! Here is what we got in the most recent package that was sent ...


Too cute! We popped some popcorn and put in our Sonic slushies for our afternoon snack that day. What a treat!!

So ... thank you Grandma and Grandpa! Riley and Victoria just love these little snack trays!! See you in August. Can't Wait!!

So Brave

It has been loose now for about 3 months. It has been driving him crazy. About 6 weeks ago, he was attempting to separate two Legos and when he couldn't do it with his fingers, he enlisted his front teeth. Not sure where he learned this from [guilt proceeds to show all over my face]. Anyway, the conversation went something like this ...

"Mommy, something good and bad happened at the same time when I was trying to pull apart two of my Legos."

This is when he showed me the fruits of his labor. Now a very loose tooth.

So, he has been tolerating it loose since then. It has been difficult for him to eat and he would wince every time I would brush his teeth or even mention the thought of trying to pull it. Since Gigi has retired from the teeth-pulling trade, Carey and I knew that it was all on us. But Riley still wasn't interested.

Then, last night he said that he wanted it out. So, I got the cold wet washcloth and started to go in, when Carey arrived and said that he would do it (YAY ... my knight in shining ... t-shirt and gym shorts). Two attempts later, "pop" it was out. I am not sure if Riley even flinched. He was so brave. I was overcome with pride.

I was also, and still am, somewhat sad. Again, another milestone that reminds me that he is growing up and will one day be a man. Sigh. I know that this is the goal, but I will continue to hold on tight to each childhood moment that I can.

Now swoops in the magic that is I fell asleep with it under my pillow and when I woke up it was gone and money is in its place. Some might refer to this process as the doings of the tooth fairy. We however have decided that we will only lie to our children about the big jolly philanthropic man that makes his appearance once a year very stealthily down the chimney. So there is no Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy here. I know ... every party has a pooper. However, there does exist baskets filled to the brim on Easter morning and the money for teeth in the Texan Thompson's home. We just take and accept credit where it is due.

I only had a $20 and Carey was broke. This $20 represents my allowance for the week. Once it runs out, there is no more ... well unless there is some sort of an emergency and I need a Diet Dr Pepper and mozzarella sticks from Sonic REAL bad. Anyway, the $20 made its way under his pillow sometime in the middle of the night. I couldn't wait to see his face this morning when he found $20 under his pillow. I mean, that is alot of money for a little guy ... that is alot of money for me too. Did I mention that is my allowance for the week? So, once he got dressed I reminded him that there might be something under his pillow. He then lifted it up and grabbed the money and said with disappointment in his voice ...

"Only one."

Only one! Only one! That there is twenty bucks little man!! My allowance!! When I was your age, I was lucky to get a quarter. And I liked it!! Only one .. give me a break. [all this said in my head of course]

I suppose he is still under the impression that the more bills or coins, the more money it is. I could have put 20 pennies under his pillow and he would have been more excited than receiving the $20 bill ... ya know, my allowance.

So, I proceed to explain to him exactly how much $20 is and that he has a total of $37 now in his wallet to spend as he chooses. He came unglued at that point. Very excited. I am sure Daddy will be taking him to Walmart this afternoon. He wouldn't want to go with me. I would try to talk him into buying some clothes or books with that kinda cash. I know ... ever party has a pooper.

Party pooper.