Church Directory Photo Shoot

100th Post...You're Invited!

Wow! I ws thinking I wouldn't be able to come up with anything for my 100th post, but as a matter of fact it happens to fall on a great occassion!

I started blogging last year when I first began to research online resources for homeschooling. My first blog was on homeschoolblogger.com and it was posted on July 18th, 2007. Almost exactly a year ago! Too bad I didn't look that up sooner and time it to be the same day!

So, it is fitting that a year after my first blog, I am posting my 100th message to say:

You Are Invited to Attend:

PEACE Academy, Open House 2008 (click here for explanation of name)

When: Monday, August 4th, 2008, 4pm-6pm

Where: Our Classroom! (yeah, not posting our address :)

I know some people have expressed interest in seeing our classroom, and since we officially start school on Tuesday, it will definitely be ready to show off by Monday night! :)

The real reason we are hosting an "open house" is to invite our friends over...the ones who will be entrusting 4 year old pre-k for their daughter to the PEACE Academy instructor!
We want to show their little girl where her classroom will be and just to have the chance as well to invite any friends or family who are curious about our home school.

So, if you aren't busy next Monday night, feel free to stop by! And, if you haven't, feel free to visit our school wish list, its the 5th thing down on the right column. (Corey will not like that I said that, but, hey, every little bit helps!)

It really seems like I have posted more than 100 times actually. Click here to see where my blogspot blog began! What a year!

Wondering.....

What is the strangest thing YOU have had to put back in its place while cleaning the house? Just to clarify: This is too heavy for the kids to move and I don't play guitar.

Bizzarro Day at the Thompson House....

Yesterday, one crazy thing happened at my parent's house:

They finally got their house up for sale!!!! It has been years in the making, but it is finally up and online and ready to show! If you know anyone who is looking to get away from it all then send them this link. The house is huge and sitting on lots of land with a pond. Check it out here.

Yesterday two crazy things happened at our house.

#1: I signed up to coach Noah's U6 soccer team!

#2: Corey and I decided to sign up to run a 5K!

WHAT?!

Yes, you are still reading my blog. You haven't ventured accidentally into another universe. Though I cannot confirm that this is not a totally bizarre and alternate version of the universe.

So....why?

Well....we have been talking to Noah and trying to decide what kind of extracurricular activity he wants to do this fall. We tried a karate class and we were pretty sure that was going to be the way we would go, but then we remembered soccer. He just turned four so he can now start doing some beginner sports....

So...I looked into the local church who sponsers an Upward Soccer league and saw that sign-ups are....NOW! Actually the deadline is this week. I called the person at the church to inquire more about the practices, games, etc. and she said "And, we still need coaches, so if you are interested in doing that it would be great because you also get a discount on your registration if you volunteer to coach."

HA HA HA HAHA! Was my immediate reaction. I don't know anything about soccer!!!!!

My next call was to a friend who used to attend the sponsorsing church and who was also involved in their Upward sports leagues. I asked, "Hey why don't Corey and Mike coach a team together?" (Corey and her hubby are pretty good friends.)
But, we quickly realized that wouldn't work bc of their work schedules. She said, "we could do it."
I said, "Ummm, I know nothing about soccer!"
She said, "you don't have to, they are just little, they basically just learn to kick the ball and stuff."
So, I said, "Well, why don't you and Mike do it then?" And she said she would talk to him about it and let me know.
Well...in the meantime I decided to Google "how to coach U6 soccer team" and WOW what a wealth of information is available! By the time I finished looking over two or three websites I was convinced that this was something I could definitely do and it was starting to sound like fun...something new and different!
So, I call her back and said, "hey, let's do it!"
By the end of the night I was signed up and I....Carrie Thompson, am now a soccer coach.
Pretty hilarious huh?
So, if that doesn't just convince you that I am losing my mind, then the rest of the day will just completely seal the deal.
Corey says he wants to start running and he found a good training program.
He said the first step is to sign up for a running event to give yourself a goal.
He ordered running shoes yesterday and I am going shopping for some today.
Are we crazy?!
Probably.
But, we have known we need to get in better shape...and be more active. And, it will be something new that we can do all together. Plus, I get to buy some new shoes!
AND...I don't know if you know this, but, did you know Disney sponsors several running events every year? And you get discount resort stays and tickets?! One day....they actually have a Disney Princess event next March. It is for girls obviously....teams of friends, sisters, mothers, etc. Any takers? We can start training for it now ladies!!!!!
We are planning on doing the Macon Labor Day Road Race, pending confirmation from my brother that the course isn't all uphill! ha ha!
We tried to find a one mile thing to do for our first one, but they are all just for kids! So, the training begins ASAP...we don't have lots of time to waste. I better get myself shoe shopping!!!!

Christmas in July and Back to School!

Here is a status report:


First day of school August 5th, 2008: 17 days!

Katie's 6th birthday October 28th, 2008: 101 days!

Christmas!: 159 days!

Disney Vacation January 30th, 2009: 195 days!

Wow!

We have been online searching for the "thing they want" for Christmas, and we have compiled a pretty good Amazon list...for those who are interested.

I think it will be a fun year for them for Christmas! Noah has picked a Knight's theme collectible playset, and Katie is going with the doll house and Only Hearts club dolls and books. It will be so fun to see them start getting these toys that can grow and they can collect things to go along with them for years to come. They had so much fun looking at all the stuff online and adding things to their lists....I think they may think it is all coming now (ha!).

We actually just cleaned out rooms to pick out some toys to retire to the consignment sale coming up. It wasn't quite as "extensive" as I had hoped, but maybe some more little things can hop in the pile before then *wink wink*

I put a link on the top right of the new Christmas wish list. With Katie's birthday coming up, there are some extra things on the list too. Just a "so you know" kind of thing. Actually, all of those toys can pretty much be gotten at Target too....sometime Amazon doesn't always have the best price, but it's a good way to compile a list!

We are trying to go ahead and plan for these things now so it doesn't all of a sudden turn up to be November and we haven't gotten anything done! By that time we will be paying the rest on our trip and buying tickets, so we have to plan ahead or else everyone will just be getting a card in the mail! ha ha!

School starting is the very next milestone we encounter. We are almost ready. The classroom is coming along being set up for this year with our new student coming....and I am SO excited! I LOVE to buy school supplies and there have been some awesome deals goin on at Wal-Mart and some of the office stores.

For anyone who might wonder...we are using the following curriculum:

Sonlight: for literature, history, science, Bible, Reading, Language Arts, Art (we are going CORE Pre-k 4/5 with reading K and 2 added.

Abeka: some readers to supplement the reading and language arts

Right Start: Math

Handwriting Without Tears: obvious

Art: this book for some projects

Steps of Faith: Katie's dance/physical ed

Karate: Noah's physical ed (undecided on location as of yet)

So, we start on Tuesday, August 5th, 8:30am. We better start getting up before 9, huh?

Success!

Well.....Noah ate it.

Not on Monday......

He ate it at about 4:00pm yesterday after sitting at the kitchen table for....eh...3 1/2 hours!

You may think this very cruel.

BUT....in the end....he ate it!

I was completely apalled that after two days with NO toys, he would not eat it Monday evening. He said he didn't care if he didn't play with his toys. *agh!*

So....yesterday it was ALL over. When we got home from a friend's house at around 12:30, he sat down at the table, I put the plate in front of him....and he sat there.

He was not allowed to have anything else to eat except crackers and a piece of turkey, and drink water. (NOT his favorite things)
I am really not a mean person. But, there was no way he was going to win this battle. We choose our battles very carefully, and this is one I had chosen to fight to the bitter end! lol.

At about 3:00 or so he said he was ready for the casserole. (after he had eaten a plate of crackers) After pushing it around, dropping it on the floor (where is was promptly replaced by a new bite) he finally just ate it.

This is after he missed his deadline for eating it so he could go out with Daddy and Katie to a new play place in Cartersville. (Chuck E Cheese-esque) Corey had given him one more chance to be able to get it over with so he could go with them, but he missed that chance. They were going out while I hosted book club at our house, so believe me I really wanted him to be able to go...but...oh well.

And he talked about it the rest of the day. "Aw man, I really wish I could go to Frank n Steak with Daddy!" I guess he was waiting to see if we would cave. We didn't.

So, when Corey got home from work, they three of them ran up to Cracker Barrel to eat which kept him out while book club got started and all, but he got dropped off after that while Katie and Corey went on to the game place. He was a PERFECT ANGEL during the rest of the time book club was going on. He played quietly in his room and only came out a couple of times to get a drink or snack. He was SO regretful that he didn't just eat the food earlier so he could have gone with them.

And when they got home, Katie had used some of her prize tickets to get a little foam football for Noah! He was so thrilled! And, he is already asking when we can all go back since he is going to eat his food now!

*WHEW* I am SO glad that is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer rambling....

Man, it is HOT! But, where are all the people to point out that it has been a VERY wet summer this year? No panic about the drought, watering bans, etc. We were in a hurry to fill up our pool to beat the watering ban on it bc we waited too long last summer and missed our chance. Now, we haven't got to use it much because it has RAINED so often and it stays yucky!

Other news....

Noah has eaten vegetables! Pretty much every single meal since his four year check up has included something new. He ate green peas (hidden in a mound of mashed potatoes), he tried strawberries, he tried kiwi (which he liked..they taste a little like grapes have you noticed?), he ate meatloaf and declared it his favorite (ha!), he ate ham without protest, he ate one bite of crab soup, and then we come to this past Saturday.....

Broccolli casserole and black eyed peas on the menu.

And it was the end.

Almost for everyone! Now, he has eaten all the above things, but more often than not a round of time out and counting and taking away his DS game the next day have been involved as well.

This time we crossed the line into a new realm of behavior. It was NOT fun!
He crossed the line into previously un-tried behavior.
He lied: deliberately and deceptively.
I had cleared his plate except for the one black eyed pea and the teeny bite of casserole. It was getting late and I HAD to get started on baths, so I went to get Katie started and told him that he had to eat what was on his plate and come show me. I told him to come show me when he ate it or it wouldn't count.
About 4 seconds after I sat down beside the bathtub he came running into the bathroom: "Mommy, Mommy! I ate it! I ate it so fast nothing got on my teeth! see?!"
He showed me his perfectly clean mouth.
hmmmmmm.....
Upon going back into the kitchen, there sitting on top of a milk jug in the trash (I know! I know!!!!!! sorry bethany! our containers are full!), is ONE black eyed pea, and a very small perfectly formed bite of casserole.
He saw me looking at it.
He said, "That's from where you cleaned my plate off in the trash."
Well.....it is 99.9% likely that those items on top of the milk jug were from his plate, BUT on the .1% chance that he was telling the truth I decided to let it go for the time being.
I said, "Well, you didn't come show me so it doesn't count." and I re-supplied the bites.
He was distraught.
I reasoned that if he ate the other bite so fast, then he wouldn't have any trouble doing it again, but to come show me.
Well....after much much debate, trouble, etc, (making a very frustrating and long story short) the bite was never eaten "again."
Noah has lost the priveledge of playing with ANY toy in the house for two entire days and I think he has learned his lesson.
I should really be thankful that really, this is the first time we have had to pull out any sort of punishment besides just a time out. We have awesome kids! They will behave, obey, stop their behavior, etc all for the reason of "children obey your parents," but this eating thing with Noah is his breaking point. Since we haven't ever really had to break out the "big" punishment before, he really just didn't understand what it would mean to not be able to touch any toy in the house for two entire days. AND, believe me, it was a gradually work up....it started with 1 toy from his room ! *agh* I know you wish you could have been there, right?!
So....when Corey got home from practice and our angel Noah is STILL sitting at the dinner table with a timer set that will seal his punishment and I say, "You are going to have to do his bath, I just can't do it right now".....it was a sad evening indeed.

Well...to wrap up the lie situation:
We were already in a conflict about his eating the vegetables. I thought I was pretty sure he had lied about putting the food in the trash...BUT
I just didn't want to punish him for lying since there was that chance it was the truth. I did not look at the trash before I left the room. If I HAD punished him for lying and he hadn't lied, I truly believe it would have been a more grave mistake than just letting it go since I didn't have proof. I never want to punish him for something he didn't do....what rebellion could that bring on?
So...I decided to just talk to him about it.
We did devotional time individually that night and the title for that day was: "Being Like Jesus."
Talk about perfect timing!!!!!
The question for the night was "What can you do to do the right thing and be like Jesus?"
So...I talked to him.
I told him that Mommy and Daddy love him so much! That we love him when he is sweet and nice and when he obeys. And, that we also love him when he is getting in trouble or being mean. That we love him when he tells us good things, and we love him when he tells us bad things. That we always love him and that he can always tell us anything in the world he wants to tell us. BUT, that we have a job to make sure he grows up to be a big strong boy like Jesus.
So..."Is there anything you want to tell mommy about?"
"Yes, he replied."
*breakthrough wow so soon* I thought.
What is it? I asked.
"Mommy.....(he got really close to me, we were on his bed)..."Your eyes look very real."

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?

"Okay......well...is there anything else you want to tell me about, tell mommy the truth about?"

He buried his face in his pillow......."I told a lie okay!?" he said.

Just to be sure, I said, "What?"

He sat up and said, "I told a lie,"

"About what?" I asked.

"I told a lie about putting my food in the garbage, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!"
There were no tears...but....he did confess.
He said he felt better. He told Jesus he was sorry in his prayers.

Now, we will see how things go tonight at dinner. After a time of confession and two days without his toys.
On the menu?
Um....mini corn dogs (noah's request for the week) and, oh, we have some leftover broccolli casserole and black eyed peas!!!!
I wonder where he gets that stubborn streak?!

Better than average....

I haven't checked the recent facts, but we heard at one point that the average marriage in the US lasts 7 years. Well....starting tomorrow we are better than average!



Today marked 7 years of wedded bliss for Corey and me!

We got back tonight from a little surprise overnighter I had planned for us! I got Corey's mom to watch the children and Corey's boss (dad) approved for him to have the day off.

So yesterday after church I had created a very corny but cute scavenger hunt and the kids helped him follow the clues to find a gift certificate for Regal Cinemas, a "coupon" I made for dinner at P.F. Chang's and finally, a suitcase packed and ready to go!

Where did we go?
Beautiful Suwanee, GA! Ha ha!

Actually, I didn't want to go far since we only had one night, plus Suwanee is centrally located to the Mall of Georgia and Discover Mills, and great food. And, they both had great movie theaters! ALSO...if you go to a town that isn't really "anywhere" you can get great deals on hotel rooms with a jacuzzi! So....we really enjoyed the impromptu little trip and didn't have to face a long drive home.



Last night we had dinner at P.F Chang's. I had never eaten there, but it was SO good. I especially love that this is a Chinese restaurant that finally has it together with dessert! It is usually a compromise to get Chinese out because you know they won't have any good dessert, but they had these little "mini" desserts that were only $2 each and it was just enough to satisfy a sweet tooth. I chose carrot cake and Corey had S'mores. Corey had to run our leftovers back to the hotel room bc it was so good we just couldn't waste it just because we were out of town!



Then we walked around and did a little shopping!



Some of you probably don't know, but I have recently lost 30 pounds! YAY! So..I was in need of some jeans...badly! I was able to get SIZE 10! WOO HOO! I haven't seen size 10 in years! I was so HAPPY!



After we shopped a little we went to see Get Smart. HILARIOUS and way better than expected. Steve Carell is perfect as Maxwell Smart (they do some of the old lines from teh tv show but he doesn't try to impersonate Don Adams) and Anne Hathaway makes a great 99. It really was funny and anyone who was a fan of the old tv show will be impressed with what a great job they do of referencing the old without overdoing it. Anyone who hasn't seen the old show would like it too I think.



Well....I got a big surprise today!



We made our way over to Discover Mills to check out what they had going on (lots of summer clearance going on right now ESP at the Disney store...tees were $2.99!).



We are walking around and Corey VOLUNTARILY walks into the Zales outlet! Guess what we walked out with?!

Apparenly my husband of 7 years had been doing some online shopping and window shopping the past few months and finally decided to just let me pick it out myself!
My original ring had lost a baguette several months ago but the cost to replace it just wasn't practical when we thought we would just get an updated set in the next couple of years anyway. Also, my original engagement ring is platinum which does NOT age gracefully! White gold is so much shinier and from seeing other sets I know it won't look dull and dirty in just a few years. I had a sapphire and diamond band as my original wedding band, so now it goes back to my right hand where it was before we decided to use it for our wedding. I am too tired tonight, but sometime I will have to blog about our wedding and posts pictures, but I am too tired tonight.

I just LOVE the new set, especially now that my shock has passed!
This is a ring with an enhancer. The "engagement" ring part is the middle solid band with the princess cut diamond and round cut diamonds around it making the big square center. The enhancer includes the two bands that come out from the sides of the top and bottom. It was really difficult to get a good picture, but the setting is beautiful from the side with some tiny "peek-a-boo" stones and vintage looking scroll work. It is the exact kind of set I wanted...HUGE thanks to my husband...thank you so much Corey for the beautiful new gift! And, we didn't have to break the bank to do it either thanks to jewelry outlets!
Corey also picked out a new band. He had wanted a Titanium band when we got married but it was more expensive then or something I can't exactly remember why he didn't get it or what, but he got that today for our 7 year celebration. Apparently Titanium bands are indestructable. I think that makes him feel sort of like a super-hero or something...lol. It is a very nice band I think it suits him better than his old one did. It was pretty perfect because they had the one he wanted in his size and apparently since Titanium is so hard to work with because of its durability you have to custom order them. It is a dark gray color. He took a picture of his but you can't really tell anything about his from the picture. Overall, a very nice, manly aka: not fancy, band.

I told him we should have found a chapel or something and renewed our vows to present our new rings, but oh well.
On the way home today we stopped in Kennesaw and tried a place I have wanted to try for years but just never have: Bahama Breeze. It was DELICIOUS!
I am VERY tired right now...we had tired and spoiled children to get to bed tonight (ha ha jk Nanna) and now I have spent too long sitting here and I am about to fall asleep!
Seven years down....forever to go! Can't wait!

Ha Ha!

I am scanning a bunch of old pictures that I got from my grandparents so I can create a book for them. So, all the pictures are mixed up, but I ran across this one of me and Corey! According to the back of the picture it was taken 4-15-01...less than 3 months before we got married. Hilarious! I think I must have caused Corey to age!