Long time no blog.

All's quiet on the ranch. Nothing major going on so not much to blog about. Just everyday stuff. Morgan is swiched to whole milk (no more formula - yeah!). He's eating pretty much all people food these days though the menu is limited. We're working on that. He's still not even trying to walk. I hate to be impatient but it really would make my life easier if he would walk. Yes, I remember that first he will try to run away from me instead of walking with me when we are out, but still.
Tanner is winding down his last few months of Kindergarten. Can you believe it? We got a letter sent home about the kindergarten program coming up on March 11th. It's a jungle theme and Tanner wants to be an elephant. An elephant? Really. Why not a lion or a monkey? I can find those kind of costumes all over the place! Now how do I make an elephant costume? I don't own a sewing machine. I went to all the Halloween costume places I could find on the internet and the only costumes I could come up with were Dumbo costumes and they were all infant/toddler sizes. I picked my friend Shaunery's brain yesterday because she's the costume makin' queen and she had some ideas. I'm sure this is going to be a grand adventure for me - wish me luck.
Grace, well, she's just Grace. Sweet girl. I took her with me to the beauty salon last week and got her a real haircut. Since she's been born she's just been at the mercy of me and a pair of scissors. Poor thing. Just got a cute little bob. She's adorable.
We're all missing CJ terribly. These last 12 months have been taxing to say the least. At least we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. They should have Brian and Beth's house done in about 5-6 weeks. YEAH! Then he gets to finish the stuff that's not done around here, but at least he'll be home. We miss him and he misses us (and the lake- haha!!).
Gotta go for now. Have a GREAT weekend!

What a GREAT day!

I ran into Fort Worth yesterday morning to drop off our tax stuff at the accountant's office and Angel calls. Come to find out I'm only like 10 minutes from her house and she's HOME today. Didn't take too long to agree that I should drop by. We had a GREAT time. Makes me realize exactly how much I miss her!! (not that I had any doubts) We visited, watched Grace show off, laughed as Morgan and the cat ran circles around each other, and took some pics (check Angel's blog to see them - she hasn't sent them to me yet - hehe).

AND....Brian, Beth and Lily came down and we celebrated Morgan's First Birthday!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN!!

Creation

On the first day, God created the dog and said: 'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.' The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?' So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: 'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.' The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?' And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said: 'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family For this, I will give you a life span of sixty Years.' The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?' And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said: 'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years.' But man said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?' 'Okay,' said God, 'You asked for it.'

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone. Life has now been explained to you...

Let this be a sign.

WOW! Now that was FUN!

OMG! No kidding - that was a truly good time! Last night the other Thompson's, The Kennemur's, The Blann's, The Seilhant's, and The Lobsinger's joined us to celebrate Tanner's birthday. All in all, 11 adults and 12 kids - hehe! Man, did we have fun! First things first - here's the cake:

We actually had a small disaster. The truck came crashing down. I didn't actually see it happen, but Lily and Grace were chasing each other around in the vacinity of the table, and just seconds before I noticed the cake I saw Grace use the table for redirection (much like a racecar uses the wall). We reassembled and this picture was taken after reassembly. The cake board holding the body of the truck up is supposed to be completely hidden but I just couldn't make that happen. Still think it turned out pretty good.
Presents! Little monster trucks, Medium monster trucks, GIANT monster trucks, monster trucks that light up and make noise, a monster truck hauler, and a monster truck ramp thingy that spins around and makes noise. Tanner is in HEAVEN. And, let us not forget the GINORMOUS Tonka crane truck (which we discovered Tanner did already have, but no matter!). He's had both the cranes out in the sand pile this morning building all kinds of stuff!!
The Pinata!
The loot for every child. Which, much to my chagrin, instead of going for volume Tanner decides to try and pick through it and choose only the stuff he likes while everyone else is grabbing everything they can get their hands on. Only Tanner.
Morgan - hangin' with the big kids!
CJ - enjoying some much needed family time.

The kids had a great time. Thanks to my friend Jeanne for taking charge of the camera or I would have no pictures of the event. You're the best! There were no fights, no one got hurt (at least not very bad-hehe), fun was had by all. After everyone left CJ said, "now those are the kind of friends we need." To which I replied, "I KNOW. Too bad we just moved an hour away from them." He sighed in acknowledgment. We're commited to Granbury for 2 years. Hopefully the friendships will prevail through the strain, and we'll be close again one day. WE LOVE YOU GUYS! Thanks for coming down and making Tanner's birthday very special!

Tell me he didn't lose weight.

I swore Morgan was a shell of a baby after the sickness and looking at these pictures I just proved it to myself. According to the Doc's scales it was a pound or less that he lost, but just look at his skinny little face now...
Morgan before the sickness

Morgan after the sickness

The good news is we're all happy and healthy right now and I have my beautiful smiling boy back. On to bigger news....

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY TANNER!!

That beautiful hat is his "birthday crown" that his teacher gave him. I took cupcakes in for his class, they sang happy birthday to him and he even wore his crown into the store after school.
The new birthday bike from Mommy and Daddy.
The new 18-wheeler - Papa Dave made it and Grammy Jan made it shiny. THANKS!! And thank you to everyone who called and sang to him, sent cards, and dollars (as Tanner calls it). Everything really made for a special day for him. We're having a few friends over tomorrow night for cake (which by the way ROCKS - I can't wait to post pics of it), and I promised him I would take him to the store this weekend so he could spend his dollars - he's stoked!

Beating my head against the wall.

We are still sick. Well, Morgan is still sick. I think Tanner and I have dodged the bullet, and Grace and CJ are definately better. Morgan was sick again last night. This is 8 days now. I swear he's half the baby he used to be. His face is so skinny. I've got another call in to the Dr office this morning. We'll see what they want me to do. This is completely ridiculous.

But I MUST blog about something other than the sickness for fear of losing my mind!

On a happy note:
WAY TO GO ELI! I have never been a Giants fan, and I still am not, but I'm glad for Eli. No matter what he says there has to be pressure being his father's son, and the younger brother of Peyton. Now, maybe that will lift and he can just be Eli.
I know Eli got the MVP, but did you see that Giants Defense??? Give 'em a little love now!! Share that trophy with the defensive front 7 because they rocked Tom's world last night!

And, did I mention that I'm going Fantasy Racing this year??? I'm so stoked! My friend Jennifer started a group and asked me to join and I'm SO excited. This NASCAR season is going to be so FUN! This coming saturday night is the Bud Shootout...
LET'S GO RACING!!

Waiting on the ball to drop.

That nasty stomach virus has moved to poor little Grace. I felt awful last night and I think it's because I was worrying myself sick thinking I'm next. CJ slept out in the living room with Grace. He's resting now and not going to work today. I'm keeping Tanner home from school. He's not sick - yet, but I'd hate for him to contaminate the rest of his class if that's possible. This is awful!!