Lexi's recent obsession

As many of us know, 2 year olds will find something they like and then everything has to do with said thing. And if it doesn't, they will make it. Among Lexi's particular interests for the moment are: Princesses (mainly Cinderella), Ice Age 3, Toy Story (or Woody and Buzz), etc. But my favorite, which is kinda cute, is Temples. Every time she sees a castle, it's a temple. And we watch many Disney movies, so this...

is a temple.

Lexi found the old juicer on the counter the other day, and carried it around with her all morning. She explained to me that this was a boat with the temple on it. Later, I tried to put it away, and she grabbed it back, scolding me with "No Mom, (pointing at the peaks) This is where Jesus lives!"

and then the next day, she grabbed her blocks and called out "Mom, look! I built a temple!" 

And so she did!

It's amazing the imaginations of little ones. She surprises me each and every day!

Trip to Connecticut

I went to visit my brother and his family in Connecticut with my mom and the girls earlier this month. We had a lot of  fun catching up and seeing the city (New York), as well as getting to see where Tom works. Lexi loved all the time she got to spend with her cousin, Lucy.

Statue of Liberty

Tom and Carissa

This is the church from National Treasure where the treasure is buried!

New York Skyline at Sunset from atop the Rockefeller Building

Lucy and Lexi at the Natural History Museum

Storytime!

Bad Mom Moment: Carissa wet through her diaper and I didn't have anything to change her into, so she ended up wearing her jacket as a shirt and her winter coat as pants...yup, that's a coat!

Lucy and Lexi hanging out

Mama and Carissa

It was fun to get out and visit family. The girls did great, even better than I thought on the plane. Thank you Tom and Amanda for having us!

Hair

Here's just a few fun hairdos I've done lately.

We were starting a new early church schedule, so we tested out the sponge rollers.

Before:

After:

And this is from last Sunday:

and Carissa's 1st pigtails:

"5 Senses"

My friend, Angela, added a post to her blog recently, asking us mothers to share "5 Senses" we use in our daily lives to help in the area of being homemakers...basically, how we keep it together without going bananas.

This post couldn't have come at a better time, since that same day, I had,

in fact,

lost it AND gone bananas.

(I reeeeaaaallly hate government paperwork that is as clear as mud)

Sooooo.... having slept off the anger and frustration, which I unfortunately may have passed on to my girls yesterday too, I'm going to give 5 things that help me be a better mother/homemaker/sane person :-)

1. Baking: I LOVE to bake. It helps me release stress and have something turn out wonderful. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to make something that is delicious, and have my husband compliment me and brag about my cooking to others. I keep my clothes fitting by sending most of my goodies to work with my husband, giving them to friends, or freezing them to eat now and then.

2. Getting down on the ground and playing with the girls: Sometimes, I can leave Lexi and Carissa playing with toys and get small tasks done, which is great. Other times, I just have to stop anything I was doing and get down and enjoy the time with the girls. I need to do this more. They are so much fun to play with and they love the undivided attention, making them happier and more helpful in return. :-)

3. Baths and Singing at bedtime: Sometimes we can have some crazy, hectic days. And trying to wind down afterwards is really hard, especially on little ones. I try to let my girls take baths as much as possible at night because it helps wind them down. I didn't post "Keep a routine" because not every day is the same...but sometimes, not keeping a routine keeps my girls more entertained. But I do like to calm things down, snuggle up with one or both girls, read some books, say prayers and sing as they drift off to sleep. (I have recently even skipped some shows I would watch close to bedtime, and it makes a BIG difference. That's why we have the internet. *grin*)

4. Budget my free time: Sometimes, I can tell myself "I'm just going to check my email and then I'll start the laundry..." and then an hour later, I'm still at the computer, watching YouTube videos or something. I started setting my timer and telling myself, "You have 30 minutes...how will you use it? Once that timer goes off, you have to do something else." And it works, usually. Then if I get the chores done and I have time, then I can go back to wasting my time ;-)

5. Take time to relax: This includes: watching a movie by myself or with the girls, updating my blog or other internet activities, taking a nap, reading a book/magazine, or taking a bath. Afterwards, it makes the chores not so stressful because I have had some "me" time.

These are a few things that help me to keep my sanity, and they help a lot when I've got a household to maintain. I'm not currently running the house by myself as I still have 2 more months of staying at my parents', but these worked before and I will be doing them again after I get back into my own home again.

What ways do you keep it together?

Isn't modern technology great?

I just got a new Wii fit Plus for my mom and I to work out in this frigid place we live in. It's been fun so far, and now I just have to make the time each day to do it (which will probably be nap time considering the behavior of the toddler today).

There's also a setting for kids under 3 called "Baby Stats" to chart growth progress until they are old enough to start a program. After weighing Carissa, a box popped up that asked,

"Do you still cry at night, Rissa?" then this...

Gotta love it!

Where are we going?

That's right! For those who know their history, or have at least seen the movie Pearl Harbor, you can see we will be spending the next 2-4 years in Hawaii!

We don't have a specific date as of yet (it all depends on when Ed finishes Tech School), but it'll be Mid-April/May.

Now I got some organizing to do...

A New Year, Another Adventure!

Well, sheesh, where did 2009 go?

We want to wish everyone out there in Blog-land a Happy and Healthy New Year!

(did you get sick more than usual last year? We most certainly did...bleh!)

This year should be exciting. We will be moving in the late spring to, who knows where. It'll be nice to see my husband back in our own place, wherever and whatever that is. I can't wait to decorate what will hopefully be a bigger place than we've lived in previously, which frankly isn't asking too much. We've gone from a studio, to a one bedroom, to a two bedroom...so it leaves a lot of room for growth. It'll be nice having Eddie actually like his job vs. dealing with people who shouldn't even be allowed to look at a cell phone, much less attempt to use one. It's crummy that I'm gonna have to make new friends to socialize outside of the computer with, since more likely than not, I won't be near any of my current friends. (What did people do before the internet when they had to leave all their friends behind?? I'm spoiled.)

Good luck to all of you in your future endeavors. Hello 2010!

Love, The Thompson Family

Christmas with Daddy!

Christmas time was filled with fun this year.

It started with an attempt to watch the Festival of Lights parade the first weekend in December, but I forgot we live in Colorado, not Phoenix, thus making it below freezing before we even got there. So we ended up leaving early since everyone was too cold to even see the parade under our layers.

and not surprisingly, it started snowing that night and kept snowing for several days...

so I let Lexi go out eventually to get the wiggles out while Grandpa did some work in the backyard.

Here's my girls with Santa at the ward Christmas party... no stranger anxiety for my girls!

When Daddy finally came home, Lexi was attached to him like glue. They did some good catching up. They made their own stuffed dinosaurs (courtesy of Hobby Lobby),

and decorated a gingerbread house,

(see the family resemblance)

Christmas was simple and quiet, with the girls getting more than everyone else combined (which is just fine).

Carissa with her "stash", which big sister dominates most of the time.

Sadly, Daddy had to leave on Friday to go back to Mississippi, but we will see him soon. Only a few more months!