Sisters

With Riley at school, these two little girls get to spend alot of time together.

Victoria is Four

I love four. I just loved it when Riley was four. So many wonderful memories. Maybe it was because I was no longer working and was finally able to be a stay-at-home mom and just enjoy my time with him. I don't know. But I love four.

Victoria is four and I love it as well. She is full of questions, believes that she can do anything, and goes and goes until she crashes.

Victoria likes: Being in charge, wearing her hair all natural with no bows or clips or rubber bands, shoes, taking baths, being outside, waffles, cheese, going anywhere (not a home body at all), trains, music, dancing, blue coconut slush with a real cherry from Sonic, anything that comes on PBS for kids, playing on my iphone, church, pre-school, having Pops and Gigi over, going to Pops and Gigis' house, talking, peanut butter (found an open jar in her room recently), soccer, ice cream, running, riding bikes with Daddy, playing with Juliet and Riley, helping Mommy, playing with friends, carrots, bananas, and races.

Victoria dislikes: Getting her hair brushed, going to bed, pasta, naps, leaving a friends house, Walmart, casseroles (doesn't like her food all mixed up), not getting to do what Riley does, trying new foods, not knowing what we are doing for the day (a bit of a planner ... wonder where she gets that from), wearing socks, and syrup on pancakes (but ok on waffles?).

When she does something wrong, she always says "That's ok Mommy." She is constantly sneaking food. She thinks she is starving. Loves to listen to music at night when she is in bed. Always wants to have people come over to our house. Very much the hostess. Would ride her bike everyday. She is totally into anything that Riley is ... star wars, cheetahs, reading ... she wants to be like her big brother so bad. She is very inquisitive about God and where he is and what he is doing. She is like her big brother in that she doesn't share much about her day. So when she does tell me something that happened to her when she was away, I hang on her every word. She loves to hide when Daddy comes home or when Pops and Gigi come by. She is really into surprising people. She thinks it is hilarious! She is SO ticklish. She is great at being a big sister. Plays with Juliet all the time. Is so proud of her when she does something for the first time. Gives her tons of attention and love. Always kisses and hugs every chance she gets. She likes to pick out what Juliet is going to wear. Very much a little mommy. She is not nearly as easy to discipline as Riley was at this age. We are having to be a bit more creative with her. She is definitely more defiant and needs to be told and retold and reminded alot. But so much like Riley in that she finds such joy in the everyday. I love that we have joyful kids. It is contagious. Lots of smiles and fun at the Thompson house.

Birthday breakfast of none other than DONUTS!

Ready for school. I love what she is wearing. It just screams her little personality.

Birthday cupcakes at school.

Came home to a table full of presents.

She likes the idea of cake, but not the taste. So this year, we got her an ice cream cake. Perfect.

Got the dress-up dress from Tangled. Very exciting.

Don't you just love the cards that play music? She does too.

Faces of Juliet

HAPPY

BEING SILLY

LAUGHING

WATCHING TV

Great Wolf Lodge

For Riley's eighth birthday and Victoria's fourth birthday, we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. We do this in lieu of having a "kid" party. I don't do those. I do alot of things as a mom, except those. Just not interested in the hassle and expense. The kids don't seem to mind. But that is probably because we do things like the Great Wolf Lodge instead!

We had planned on going with another family, but their little one got the flu (major bummer). But we still had a blast! Carey and I decided that having the other family there was more for our benefit than the kids. We pretty much didn't see Riley most of the time. He was tall enough and brave enough to ride everything, so that is what he did for like 8 hours. Victoria liked just playing in the water or being in the lazy river. And Juliet spent most of the time rolling around on a towel on the ground or chllin' in the stroller. I did play with her in the water for a bit. She just splashed around and watched everyone else play.

We went in mid-February and it was freezing outside. Literally. We had a very cold winter. So this was a nice getaway. Always a blast at the Great Wolf. Pretty sure this will be an annual thing for us. Be super fun for Juliet next year!

In our hotel room. It was like a bear cave with bunk beds and a TV. Very cool.

Swimming with Daddy.

Ready for bed after swimming the first night.

Ready for more swimming fun!

This is where she spent most of the day.

At age eight Riley is ...

Our first born is eight. Wow. Eight. That is like halfway to 16. Wow. I love it though. I don't wish him younger. I love watching him grow into a young man but be so silly like the little boy he still is.

At age eight Riley is like me (his mom) in that he is very coordinated, tends to get somewhat distracted with other things, is a people-pleaser, a good student, loves to talk, has freckles, and is a performer.

At age eight Riley is like his dad in that he is absent-minded (has lost THREE hoodies at school this year), tender-hearted, seeks fairness, very smart (a little too smart in that he knows how many problems he can miss on his homework and still get a B), tall, a friend to many, and loves to make people laugh.

At age eight Riley plays basketball. This is his first time to play any organized sport and he loves it. He has such a good time with the boys. He is learning to be more aggressive and has learned quite a bit about the game. One of the other parents nicknamed him "Happy Feet." He is always moving those feet ... trying his best to hustle. We were so excited during that 6th game when he FINALLY made a basket. Carey and I just about came bolted out of our seats with excitement. I will never forget that. It was kinda funny towards the end of the season. When the other team would get the ball, Riley would run down court and just plant himself under the basket. Forget about guarding his man, he was ready for that rebound. Love it!

At age eight Riley is in scouts. He loves scouts. This is something that he and Carey can do together. He enjoys Thursday nights with his scout buddies. They are a great group of boys.

At age eight Riley is in AWANA at church. He doesn't love AWANA, but we are starting to see the fruit of this program. AWANA focuses on memorizing Bible scripture. He has memorized probably a hundred verses since he started at age 3 and the books of the Old Testament, but retaining is another thing. So we have started asking the kids to share a verse of scripture each evening before we eat dinner. Whoever says the blessing must also say a verse of scripture. Kinda cool.

At age eight Riley is in Children's Choir at church. Again, he doesn't just love choir, but he gets to see his friends and sing. He loves to sing, even though he probably wouldn't admit that. He does love to stay after choir and play in the game room up at church while Carey and I go to worship choir. I guess the game room is the bees knees.

At age eight Riley gets in trouble at school for talking out of turn, playing when he isn't supposed too, singing in class, making little noises, shouting out the answers and so forth. He knows that this is not acceptable behavior, but we tend to not get all bent out of shape about it too much. He is eight. He is a boy. He loves to make people laugh. He has a good time no matter what he is doing. And sometimes there are consequences for that. But sometimes, it might be worth it to him. I love that.

Case and point: This year he had his head on his desk (obviously bored) and once the teacher was finished giving her instruction for what the kids were supposed to do, he replied "blah, blah, blah." I was so very angry when he told me this. To be disrespectful like that to his teacher. Then I just cracked up when I shared it with Carey, and my parents and anyone else. We all think it. We all want to say it. And he did. Yes, there were consequences for that (I think I had him write a letter of apology to his teacher and some other things).

At age eight Riley is growing in his relationship with God. When he prays, he asks God to help him have better days at school. I love that he already recognizes that he needs God's help with those things he has a hard time with.

At age eight Riley is a GREAT big brother. He loves his sisters, even though Victoria tends to get on his nerves. He is so good with Juliet. She just recently started belly laughing and it is always at Riley. It is just the cutest thing. It is such a compliment to Riley when people laugh at him when he is trying to be funny. He just glows in delight.

At age eight Riley loves Legos, video games, riding his bike, going out to eat, spending time with Pops and Gigi, a Dr Pepper with cherry and vanilla, waffles, staying up late to read, watching movies, camping, steak, wrestling with his Dad (and it is Dad now, not Daddy), telling stories, being silly, chocolate ice cream, pizza (but not the crust), and any clothing that has anything to do with video games or star wars. He also loves his family, his church, his school (even though it is boring) and just about anything he does. I love that.

Birthday breakfast of donuts.

Came home from school to presents. Very excited.

Mmmmm ... chocolate cake. He couldn't decide on the icing, so we did both.

Carey lighting the candles with his new blow torch.

Christmas with Three ...

... is so much fun!! We had a blast this Christmas, Juliet's first Christmas and our first Christmas with our completed family ... the five of us! So great! I do believe that Carey and I were more excited about Christmas this year than the kids ... it is just so much fun being a parent at Christmastime!

Making cookies at Pops and Gigis ... always a good time at their house!

Tuba Christmas at the Water Gardens in Fort Worth. It was cold.

Making ginger-bread houses (which is alot harder than it looks).

Christmas Eve - Riley reading the Christmas Story (for the first time).

The girls listening to Riley read and eating Chinese Food ... yummm!

Ready to open the first gift on Christmas Eve - new PJs!

In our new PJs and ready to open one more present on Christmas Eve.

I love this picture!

Then it was off to bed and time to work. Carey and I spent the next 4 hours assembling, setting up, and trying out. We had to make sure that the Rock Band worked on Wii. Not sure we had to play that many songs, but it was just so much fun!!

Christmas morning.

Riley opening his Nintendo DS. Very excited!

Victoria opening her Buzz Lightyear. Very excited!

So we find ourselves getting smarter over the years ... what you buy for one, you buy for the other!

And then we finally let the kids have a turn at Rock Band.

And it was such a special treat this year to have the computer setup so that Grandma and Grandpa could watch it all on Christmas morning. It was a blast!

We had such a great time the week after Christmas spending time with family, old friends and new friends. And then there was the sleeping in till 9:00 or 10:00, playing rock band for hours on end, putting together the many Lego sets, and eating and eating and eating ....

Halloween 2010

Riley was Captain Rex, Clone Trooper. Victoria was Buzz Lightyear. We tried to talk her into being something "girly," but she insisted on being Buzz. When we suggested a princess or Jessie from Toy Story or Minnie Mouse, she replied "I know what I want to be! A hot dog!" So we settled for Buzz Lightyear. She was pretty cute! And Juliet was ... a baby in a onesie that read "My First Halloween" (thank you Grandma!!). Mommy didn't want to buy her a Halloween costume. And fortunately, Juliet was totally ok with that. :)

Ready to go to the Fall Festival at church!

The Haul! It was absolutely ridiculous how much candy the kids got! Carey sorted it last night and now we (me and Carey) have our own stash with all the chocolate. They will never miss it!