Projects

The projects started with some pillows for friends. Misha and I both felt crafty and gave homemade gifts for Christmas. Aubrey and I got ADORABLE matching aprons :)
Then we needed some organization and storage. Justin installed some shelves above the standard shelves in our master closet. WOW, what a difference. Check out all this storage.

Finally, I've had this fabric FOREVER. I really needed a table runner so I sewed one up. I really like the way it turned out.
Other than that, we've been catching up on Lost Season 3 so we'll be ready for season 4.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Uncle Jacob

For those of you who don't already know about this, Justin's brother Jacob is on the adventure of a lifetime bicycling the Great Divide. They started in July 2006 up in Alaska and are currently in Guatemala, near the border of Hondoras. That's right folks, they have been BICYLCING FOR OVER A YEAR!

Lisa recently wrote an article about their journey. Check it out in the Northwest Voice.

Also, check out their website at www.ridingthespine.com

Late Christmas Tunes :)

Justin's talented cousin Andy and his wife Lyndsey, gather their friends and make a Christmas album every year. From what I heard about it from Andy's parents, they just get together and have a good time. Here are two of their songs from this year (if I can get it to work right). I like how Lyndsey and her girlfriends put meaningful words into such a familiar, fun song Ice, Ice Baby....and, well, make sure you listen to the WHOLE song on Looks Like It's Christmas Time Again Andy has a VERY talented back up singer and a priceless memory for his sweet little family :)

Apparently you have to click on the link below to hear the music (I really don't like html and all the other computer stuff) CHECK IT OUT :)


I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Christmas 2007

What a special Christmas it was!

Aubrey made it so special and fun. Afterall, Christmas is about a child...not just any child, THE child, our Savior. And having a baby only makes the sacrafice more real, more sacraficial, more humbling. What an incredible gift we've been given! The gift of forgiveness.

...and, of course, the gift of Aubrey.


Hope your Christmas was MERRY and BRIGHT! ...ours sure was.

All the excitement started with Grandma Nancy making a surprise visit from Florida.

Aubrey was ready for the excitement!

Chrsitmas Eve was at our house this year.

Can you believe all that mess is from presents for 2 kids?

All cleaned up and ready for Chrismas morning.

Daddy painted Aubrey's Christmas table. Complete with a magnetic chalkboard top. :) We are Santa's elves...
I like what Grandma Kim wrote about this one...

Christmas eyes and cookie face :) ...and the gifts continue...CLOTHES AND SHOES!
Relaxing on a (new) wagon ride after all the excitement.

Thompson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

A typical Bakersfield "White" Christmas-frost and fog

Presents under the tree and Christmas jammies

What a difference a year makes

Last year

(I think he's a cuter Santa)

This year
Same expression, much bigger baby :)
At least she wasn't screaming!

"Look Auntie, I found something."

The presents under our tree are just too much for Brogan. He's at that age where the anticipation of Christmas consumes him. He sings Christmas carols, talks about Rudolph and Santa and, of course, REALLY wants to open presents. He came in to our house excited that Santa had already arrived. I told him that he would have to wait until Christmas. Ummm...Yeah...or until I left the room for 1 minute to switch the laundry. He walks up to me excited, "Look Auntie, I found something." He runs me into the living room where I find this.

Poor little guys knew he was in trouble when he opened it and it wasn't a toy or candy. He looked at me with puppy dog eyes as I told him he would be getting a time out. "Yes, Auntie."

Thanks for the early gift Justin. I love it :)

Early Christmas

My dad is headed up to Washington to spend the holidays with my Grandpa so he's not as lonely. Since they're leaving as soon as school gets out, we had our Christmas today.

My dad and stepmom screened in their porch over the summer and laid wood floors, so they set up the Christmas shop out there. The cranked on 3 portable heaters and we had a blast! My dad is notorious for the toys he gets us each year (he bought us a motorcycle and BB gun when we were 7), and this year was no exception. Aubrey got her first pedal car go cart and the rest of the family got paint ball guns.





My stepbrother set up a pretty cool course and my prego sister watched the kids while we went to play. My adventures were short lived. It's just not the same when there are no referees to help escort you off the course. The young kids just haven't mastered self-control. Round One: I was the last one standing on my team, but got pelted in the back after being cornered by two opponents. Round Two: I was the first one out because I got hit in the mask. Round Three: I got hit in the mask early on. I raised my gun and shouted "I'm out", but apparently the other team thought that meant shoot more. I proceeded to get hammered by 5 more shots. 4 to the arms and the worst one, right under the mask to the chin! OUCH! At this point, I proceeded to get REALLY UPSET and scream while fleeing the field (praying the shooting would stop). I went inside, and that was the end of my paintball.

UPDATE: One day later and the bruises keep spreading.

I'll spare you the updated pictures of my chin. Those pores are even grossing me out and they're my own :)




I'll go again, but only at an organized course.

Celebrate Good Times...

Come on, it's a celebration!

Yay! Christian is 1 and we got to celebrate with him!

He is such a cutie!

While we were down south for his party, we made a quick IKEA run and Aubrey had fun in the teddy bears. (It's like Where's Waldo) :)

CALM lights!

We celebrated Grandpa Brad's birthday last night. We went to Jake's TexMex (for some food and YUMMY birthday cake) and then Grandpa and Grandma took the whole family (with the exception of uncle Jacob...who is currently riding in Guatemala....check out his website if you haven't before) to CALM lights. What fun! Such a great new family tradition!

Here's the story in pictures! (click to enlarge)

We started off at the carousel. It seemed like such a fun, baby friendly ride.


...But then it turned into the carousel from Something Wicked This Way Comes

Uncle Kurt, Auntie Alisha and Grandpa Brad thought it was fun...
...Aubrey was a little frightened at the fast speeds.
We enjoyed hot cocoa, a train ride and Aubrey found a new favorite food....Kettle Corn. (Don't worry we bit off the choaking hazards).

Grandma and Grandpa posed for a cute picture.

...And Aubrey experienced her first snow (fake of course)

At the end of the night we had to get one more picture...
Aubrey bonked her eye on the bench right before we sat down to take it.

And we ended the night with a BANG....literally.


It was still a blast and such a fun family memory!

And the winner is....

Thanks for playing! Meg, I'll bring your gift card on Saturday.

OTHER HAPPENINGS:

We FINALLY decorated our tree. We've had it for a week and a half, but with all the sickness and business with Justin's classes coming to an end, we just didn't find time to decorate it. Aubrey really enjoyed helping. Her favorite parts were climbing the ladder, playing with the bead garland and of course all the "balls" that we put on the tree.

It really isn't this short and fat, just a funny angle I guess :)

Also, after reading about all the amazing creations Lisa has been cooking up, I was inspired to try something new. My creations aren't quite as gourmet because I have to consider what a one year old will eat. I've made this before, but forgot about it. I wanted to make a complete meal for Aubrey for lunch yesterday, but didn't want too big of a mess. I had left over rice, so I decided to make fried rice. Veggies, protien and carbs all in one dish that we both enjoyed. I added extra steamed carrots and peas and some extra egg. I know, it's a far fetch from Rachel Ray, but just thought I'd throw a kid friendly idea out there to all you moms.

100th Post Contest!!

As a person who loves competeing, I had to do something fun to celebrate my addiction to blogging. :) That's right folks, I've posted 100 blogs and what better way to celebrate than to reward the folks who read my blabber. It's not a big reward but you can win a $5 gift card to Starbucks. Even if you're a lurker, now is your chance to let me know you're there and maybe win a free coffee.
So on to the contest....

Post a comment with what you would want if you got to choose the gifts for the 12 days of Christmas. I'll put all the names in a hat and draw one. I'll mail you your gift card. You need to post by next Monday, December 10th. Here is my version of the 12 days of Christmas.

12 shades of shadow (eye shadow that is)
11 pounds of weight loss
10 PAINTED TOES
9 more miles per gallon
8 hours of sleep at night
7 passenger mini-van
6 months- no re-runs
5 NIGHTS OF TAKE OUT
4 brand new outfits
3 healthy Thompsons
2 cute new shoes
AND A LONG, FREE VACAAATION

HAVE FUN!

Chuga-Chuga CHOO CHOO!

We're still chugging along....slowly, but still chugging.



Aubrey got her first stomach flu on Friday night. NO FUN! It's the most awful feeling watching your baby throw up and not being able to do anything about it. She had her last episode Saturday morning and we started the long process of washing every pair of jammies she owns along with sheets, blankets and plenty of towels.



I was throwing Christy her baby shower on Sunday afternoon, so I had some last minute errands and lots of baking to get done (well, Justin had lots of baking to get done-- he enjoys it, I don't :) ). I bought the wrong can of pumpkin mix for the pumpkin roll, so after 2 failed attempts we realized my mistake and had to make a last minute run to the store. Late Saturday night, everything was finally done.



Sunday we had a beautiful shower for Christy. She got plenty of pink for little Reagan. It almost made me want to find out what I'm having next time I get pregnant. It's quite the change for Christy because she's so used to boy stuff with Brogan. I think it's all starting to feel real for her though and we can't wait to meet baby Reagan :)



Tonight, I'm feeling sick. I think Aubrey's stomach flu has caught up with me. YUCK! But I had to blog to share this cute video of my tomboy. What can I say? She spends a lot of time with her cousin Brogan.



"CHOO-CHOO"

one, two, THREE!

Sometimes when we're driving home from the park, I count with Brogan so that he'll stay awake till we get home and eat lunch. Yesterday, as we were counting, Brogan said, "one, two..." and then all of a sudden a very loud "TREE" came from the other car seat. What a surprise! We count to three for a lot of things like rinsing Aubrey's hair, swinging her, etc and apparently she caught on. Just this last week, Aubrey has gotten SEVERAL new words and she's all about showing them off. What a difference a week makes at this age :)

What we've been up to...

Mainly this. Aubrey and I have both been under the weather since Thanksgiving. Daddy actually took her to the doctor's office on Black Friday while mommy was shopping. They gave her an antibiotic and she's doing much better. It seems like the better she feels, the worse I feel. Oh well.

With her spare energy, Aubrey has been all about playing with Poppy outside. Today she mastered the doggy door, which should be an interesting challenge for mommy and daddy.