A Day at Greenbluff...

A day at Greenbluff is always a treat.  We usually are able to squeeze in Red Robin for an early dinner/late lunch and Target.   (one of my favorite places)  Anyway, it's so much fun to go up to this place.  The kids enjoy it, we gather our pumpkins for the year and picked fresh apples from the trees.  Always a hit!  Unfortunately, it's probably H's last ride on the ponies.... 70 lb weight  limit!  It's hard growing up! 

Silverwood trip with Gram and Grandpa Gary

Summer whisked away too quickly and before you knew it, the time was almost up to use H's free ticket he earned to Silverwood.  He earned it because of the amount of hours he read, I would have felt like I earned the "bad mommy award" if we didn't use it.  SO, up we went on Labor Day weekend.  Luckily, my mom and Bry's dad were able to go so I could get some help riding the rides as my stomach doesn't do well on those things!  Bry was hunting, it was opening weekend... so we trekked up and had a fantastic day!

Fall 2010

 H and K outside their school on the first day!

 We are all ready for our first day!

K and her teacher at the open house!  We love Mrs. B!

As much as I love to be on the computer, I find that I have a hard time keeping up my blog.  Things have gotten off to a wonderful start.  H and K both love school.  They are really enjoying being back and seeing their friends.  K is having a hard time adjusting to being away from some of her buddies from preschool.  Aaah, growing pains.  We try to see those friends as much as we can.  They are both in soccer and really liking it!  K waited til game 6 to ask when the season was over, compared to game 3 last year.  :-)  H really gets after it and even "headed" the ball last game.  It's been a wonderful start to fall, but busy.  Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

More pics of Little Tikes

Gold Treasure Cheetahs

Well, it's another season cashed for the year with Little Tikes TBall. Kennedy wanted me to coach her team again, and with her begging skills, I couldn't resist. So, Coach Amber and I teamed up yet again for another fine season of some serious baseball skills. :-) (I coaxed her to do it again this year with a night of margaritas...she's easily persuaded!) :-) Needless to say, we had a great bunch of little ones.... only a few melt downs (thankfully the parents handled those) and the kids had a fantastic time! Next year, I'll leave it to the Parks and Recreation coaches to coach... I can just help where needed. :-)

Summer....

It's going by way too quickly. As much as I have enjoyed being a baseball parent, it's unfortunately coming to a close this weekend. I will post pics when we return. It's going to be in the temps from 99-101 each day. Sigh. Seriously, I am throwing on a sundress and struttin' it in Orofino. I want to be as cool as possible this weekend with the hot weather - and NO, I'm not complaining!

Hayden has really had fun during his first year of Cal Ripken. Kennedy has been a trooper of a sister going to every one of his games. We don't stop being busy as we start up with swim lessons on Monday! I heart summer!

Seattle a hit!

What a wonderful mini family vacation! We went to Seattle for about 4 nights and it was just the right length of time. We were able to go to two Seattle Mariner's games and we all just have THE BEST time there. The first game we went to was a double bobblehead night with Ichiro and Griffey Jr. Needless to say, it was super busy that evening. But we got the VIP treatment. One of my best friend's cousin works for the M's and gave us the grand tour. We got to go down to the field while the M's were doing batting practice. (SO FUN!) Chone Figgins (the 2nd baseman) noticed H and K and rolled them each a ball. (Mommy was super excited!) We also were given 2 M's beach towels, 4 of those bobbleheads they were giving away that night, 2 Felix Hernandez bobbleheads, 2 Hernandez jerseys, 2 M's baseball hats and a few baseballs that were used in games! WOW!. To top it all off, we hit Trader Joes on the way home and Gap outlet. :-)I could do it all over again. If you ever need a place to stay while seeing the M's....Seattle's Silver Cloud Stadium is the way to go. SO NICE!

Aaaaah, Summer!

Summer is here and we've started it off nicely. Unfortunately, the rain still keeps coming around. I swear we should have summer vacation during July, August and September! :-) The end of the school year is always bittersweet for me. I truly enjoyed teaching my class this year. They were so fun, sweet and really put the TEAM into Team Thompson. They were a great bunch. If I could have looped to 4th grade this year, I would have just to teach these guys again. (Not sure how the parents would feel about that, but I would have done it!) I held back my tears as I said my goodbyes to them. And now I'm realizing that I'll have a third grader. Where has the time gone? Then little Miss K starts Kindergarten. What?!?! That will be a tearful first day of school!

But, we need to enjoy the NOW and that is what we have been doing. H is playing on the Moscow Mavericks this summer, which is a tournament team. Bryan is coaching and it's a great group of boys! Both Thompson boys are excited to do this. K and I are being the supportive mom/wife/sister/daughter during all of this. K keeps asking me when she gets to play her Little Tikes T-Ball and I keep telling her she gets to in a couple of months (which I will coach again!)

We've hit the first night of the library series at East City Park. The Performing Pigs. Yes, I said pigs. They were cute and handled the audience well. Too bad the black clouds made for a downpour at the end of the show. It was a fun time and the kids enjoyed it. I'm hoping when we get back from Seattle the rain will be gone and we can go to the POOL! Here's to a wonderful weekend in the Pacific Northwest. We'll be going to TWO Mariner's games....I'll post pics when we return! Cheers!

Miss K turns 5!

Kennedy wanted a princess party and it was a huge hit! We had her friend party at the local gymanstics place. Good times! It's so great to go there and have the staff totally take care of the party, minus the presents and cake and ice cream! She wanted it to be a princess theme this year, and I have to admit, I went all out. Everyone had a fantastic time and then the following weekend, we had her family birthday party, which continued on with the princess theme. She loved every minute of it! Happy 5th Birthday, Miss K! I love you!

Cal Ripken Baseball - Go Red Sox!

Ready at first base....
First at bat.
Yes, he's posing.
Opening ceremonies.....

Opening day for Cal Ripken was cold and wonderful. We had our chairs, brought Gatorade for the team and had a bag full of coloring books for Kennedy to be entertained for 2 hours. Hayden did a great job playing his first real baseball game. He was walked and he struck out once... but at least he struck out swinging. They ended up winning, 17-0! Woo hoo! Go Sox! Hayden's loving it, as is Bryan! It was his (and still is) his favorite sport! I think our little guy is following in daddy's footsteps.

Easter Weekend

The University of Idaho always puts on a good Easter Egg hunt. I love it! First of all, it's heading up to my alma mater and let the kids run around on the Administration lawn. Bry pairs up with Hayden and I go with Miss Kennedy. This year both kids moved up in their age brackets... more competition! LOL! I told Kennedy we'll run out to where the eggs are and pick up as much as she can! Lo and behold, Kennedy got the golden egg!!!!! WOO HOO!!!! She turned it in and got to pick two gifts of whatever she wanted. She scored two Webkinz - one for her and one for Hayden. It was perfect. We then celebrated Easter dinner at home after we went to church....it was a nice relaxing weekend had by all.

Hayden's 8.

Hayden's 8th birthday was a true hit. We had his friend party on a Friday night and his family party the following Sunday. It was perfect. He was all smiles and as you can see, he chose to do Star Wars Legos as his theme. That's a tough one to come by when finding party favors, so we made our own and they were FANTASTIC if I do say so myself. I can't believe my little boy is 8. His favorites include: Wii, baseball, Star Wars Legos, Mariners, UI Vandals, Green Bay Packers, Popcorn and thankfully he still loves cuddling up with me in the morning or whenever I ask him to. I love him and so thankful he's mine. Happy Birthday, Buddy.

Laser Penguins

Pass me the ball, I'm open!
More ball handling skills than his mama!

Laser Penguins!

Going in for the lay in.....

H played basketball again this year. It was so fun to see his improvement from last year! He was the team's "defensive specialist" as their coach would call him and was often placed to guard the tough kids from the opposite team. The coaches for this year were phenomenal. We really enjoyed having them coach H. H liked them too! Here are a few pics from the season. Go Laser Penguins! They finished 6-4. Not bad for not winning one game last year! :-)

First try at ice skating....

All Smiles!


Go Miss K!!!!!

Watch out! I can't stop!!!!!

K was invited to a classmates' birthday party this last weekend. It was held at the local ice skating rink. I've realized that we've started into the realm of getting invited to birthday parties to children I don't even know. For instance, I told the wrong girl Happy Birthday at this party... I had no idea who the kid was! Ooops. So much for me trying to be on top of it. The mom of the little girl was kind enough to invite H as well.... it didn't cost a thing to her as she rented the whole facility for the party.

H and K did a fantastic job for their first time on skates! I was really proud of them! They kept getting up when they would fall and ask for more! I love it!

Happy Hearts Day

The kiddos and I on Hearts Day!

H and K with their gifts from mommy and daddy!

Gram brought over some goodies!

H's Valentine's Day bag from school.....

K's box from school....

Gary (my Father in Law) sent K and I flowers... he's done that every year for the last few years! So sweet!!!

Valentine's Day is always one of those holidays that are fun to celebrate, but I truly feel like it's Valentine's Day every day with my family. All of those hugs, kisses and "I love yous" through out the year makes this holiday just seem like another day. True, it is fun making the kids' valentines cards with them. They are so giddy getting them, especially Kennedy this year. They must not have opened them at school. We opened them at home and after each one, "(Gasp - big sigh) I always wanted one of these!" It was the cutest thing. Here are some pics of our Valentine's Day. It ended with a nice family dinner (Bry's side) to celebrate our neice's 10th birthday at Gambinos!

Catching up....