My Life

My baby is 3!

2011-04-10T18:54:00.001-07:00

Having a 3 year old is so stinkin fun! We had a fun filled weekend celebrating Noah's 3rd birthday. For the past couple months Noah has been talking about having a "chuck e cheese" birthday. So Chuck E Cheese it was! The fesitivites started on Saturday when my parnets came over. My dad was able to go to Priesthood session with Todd and the rest of us got to hang out with my mom. Noah with his gift from grandma, a dodger outfit! He LOVES baseball, basketball, and football. He basically is either dribbling a basketball or playing catch. I'm not even kidding. The boy LOVES sports! After priesthood session was over we met the guys at Romano's pizza where we enjoyed the BEST PIZZA EVER. My mom said she dreamed about it that night :) My parents stayed the night and watched conference with us the following morning. It was so fun having them here! My mom made pancakes for breakfast and tacos for lunch. My Mom also brought with her the card game "old maid" can i just tell you..I have not had that much fun playing a card game in a long time! Playing with Mack was hysterical. Needless to say, we haven't gone a day without playing and he has gotten pretty good at beating me. Mack and Noah are such best buddies! They remind me a lot of Trevor and Ethan at that age. Make a wish! score! look at all those presents! We were lucky enough to get to spend some time with my brother Ryan and his cute family in LA. We got to their house on Sunday night. Taryn made us dinner and spoiled us with her homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins and I really enjoyed hanging out with Ryan and Taryn. They have the CUTEST kids on the planet. Nate and Macy are so fun! Macy and Kate! Nate and Noah We had a picnic at the park. Trevor and Ethan's only suggestion..that the park had a basketball court...wish granted :) On our way home we made a stop at Sprinkles cupcakes on Rodeo drive, dropped the kids off at home with Trevor (gotta love a built in baby-sitter) and Taryn and I went to a really yummy hamburger place. We made it home later that night after a three hour drive gotta love LA traffic... It's hard to believe that my baby is 3. It's definitely bitter sweet. I'm really enjoying the stage of life I'm in right now...I wish it would stay like this forever :)

Last post of 2010!

2010-12-31T15:18:00.001-08:00

OUR CHRISTMAS THROUGH PICTURES. I didn't do a very good job of getting pictures of the kids opening their Christmas presents this year. I feel bad about that! I think it was because I was too busy video recording our morning. Sooooo here's to what I do have!

Ive decided I'm going to do a lot more of this in 2011...play board games! So FUN...and by the way I won that night :) that NEVER happens!

Our annual sisters picture (Melissa and Carolee are missing :(

This time we didn't forget about Ryan!

Can't forget the group family shot..with your classic prom pose

Noah and Nate

Christmas afternoon in Gavlan Hills with the Thompson's

Trevor and I...do I really have a son who is 14?!?

Todd and Tommy

Our kids were very good this year! Drum roll please........................

Look what Santa brought!

Good bye 2010! You were great and you will be missed... HELLO 2011! We are ready for ya!

what have I been up to lately?

2010-11-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

Here it is... the LAST day in November..where has the time gone?! Here is a recap of what we've been up to...

Oct. Halloween! Ethan was an injured football player with a real broken bone, cast and all! Kate wanted to be a girl vampire, Mack was going to be a cowboy, then iron man but ended up pulling a 5 year old monkey costume out from the Halloween box... and of course my handsome cowboy Noah.

I was lucky to get to celebrate TWO Thanksgiving's this year :) We celebrated our first one with the McCooks the first week in November. I can't think of anything better than spending time with my family..we love being together!

Thanksgiving in Gavlan Hills with the Thompson's is never a disappointment either! 5 acres = playing in the dirt and quad riding :)

I love that Ethan made a point to show his cast in this picture!

Okay..if you know Jaime and Summer than you KNOW that they are PROFESSIONAL black Friday shoppers. I decided to give it a try this year. Here we are standing in line at Walmart. We waited in that spot for 3.5 hours...good times :) We got what we wanted and were out in 15 minutes! I headed home and these two stayed up the rest of the night for more shopping.

My sister Carolee has been here visiting from PA. We got together with some of my favorite girls for a fun GNO!!

And finally on Sunday we decorated for Christmas. I love to see how excited the kids get. We are definitely feeling the Christmas spirit at our house and it's extra fun now that Noah is old enough to know whats going on, he gets so excited about the Christmas tree. I especially love that he calls the stockings hanging from the fireplace...socks :)

To be continued....

Kate's special day

2010-10-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Kate was baptized on Oct. 9th. What a special day!

The whole family was there including aunt Carolee, aunt Candice, and aunt Melissa who all came from out of state :)

After the baptism everyone came to our house for dinner. We had at least 60 people over...
more than half were kids!

I'm so grateful for Kate's decision to be baptized. What a good, sweet little girl she is! I know she will remember this day forever...and so will I :)

It's great to be 8!

2010-09-05T10:46:00.001-07:00

Kate turned 8 on September 2nd. Her birthday party was last night. It was a "late over" party! The pictures are out of order but here's a quick recap of how the night went.
All the girls arrived around 5:00 and quickly jumped in the pool.

After swimming and working up an appetite they grubbed on Pizza! Kate's favorite!

After pizza the girls played "hot potato" and "musical chairs" but instead of using chairs we used pillows

after a couple of games we opened presents and had cake and ice cream

Kate always loves to pick out her b-day cake from Costco, something she's always loved to do ever since she was little...like I always say, "gotta love Costco"! ha

After cake and ice cream the girls decided they wanted to have a fashion show. So they raided Kate's closet and dressed up and danced and singed. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. They put on a great show!

After a great fashion show the girls all grabbed their pillows and blankets and watched Annie

Kate is so lucky to have such good friends!

I can't believe my sweet little girl is 8! I remember when she was born. I remember like it was yesterday how happy I was when I found out I was having a little girl. Kate has brought me so much happiness! It's hard to believe that in another short 8 years she will be 16......until then.. it sure is great to be 8!!

First day of school

2010-08-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

What would the first day of school be without homemade cookies waiting for you when you came home? (thanks Christina for that idea) and of course first day of school pictures! You might notice that Trevor's picture is missing...well i kind of forgot to take one of him. He goes to school a couple hours earlier than the rest and i may have still been half asleep..

Miss Kate (3rd grade) almost 8 years old!

Ethan 6th Grade (11 years old)

and Mack 5 years old first day of Kindergarten!

stayed tuned for Trevor's picture :))

First week of our new schedule went well! The kids have all been good at getting their homework done (still working on the whole getting to bed on time) and I have actually made dinner every night! wohoo!!

now if only I could get back on track with going to the gym in the mornings ~sigh~

Family night at the Angel game

2010-08-14T11:07:00.001-07:00

Noah's first baseball game! Actually our very first game all together as a family. We had a great time! Noah LOVED his cotton candy but man that stuff is so sticky! what a mess..but anything to keep him happy right?

and don't forget the soda !!

glad to know Kate got in this shot, forgot to take a picture of her

nose bleed seats ROCK

my youngest and my oldest..love it!

One more week of no school! I'm so sad. I have LOVED having the kids home, we have had such a fun summer vacation... loved staying up late, sleeping in, NO homework, and just playing..sigh.our party ends in a week :(

Mack starts Kindergarten this year. He's so excited. Noah and I will have a great time just the two of us!

Oceanside McCook family reunion

2010-07-22T13:22:00.001-07:00

I can't even tell you how much fun we had in Oceanside! Just believe me when I say, we had a great time :)
As if this view doesn't speak for itself?

I love this picture of Kate and Julia.

some of the cousins hard at work..

yes we all managed to be under ONE umbrella..We take sunburn prevention very seriosuly :)

boogie boarding..such a manly man sport!

On Sunday the family went to San Diego to visit the Mormon Battalion. Everyone loved it!

panning for gold..

I can't wait to go back next year!

Ethan turns 11

2010-07-22T13:09:00.001-07:00

Ethan had a really fun birthday party this year. He invited friends over to our house for pizza and then Todd took all the boys to see Avatar the last Airbender.

Group shot of all the boys...

Adam, Ethan, Shaun, Brayden, Cody, Bryant, and Grant

I can't quite believe my Ethan is 11. Where has the time gone? If I could come up with a perfect kid.. it would be Ethan. To know Ethan is to love him..he is the best :)

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Mack turns 5

2010-07-22T12:53:00.001-07:00

Mack celebrated his 5th birthday at none other than....CHUCK E CHEESE !
He invited his best buddies and everyone had a great time.

make a wish Mack...

...and it came true! He loves his bike

Thank you grandma Jayne for coming!

Cousins Bryce and Drew, and his best friend Dane

Here are some fun facts about Mack

He loves to swim

He is an excellent skateboarder

loves to listen to music on his ipod

he is very independent!!

he only talks when he really feels like it

and he is the sweetest little boy in the whole wide world..we love you Mack!

Newport Beach VACA

2010-07-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

Our family beach trip was awesome! We stayed in a cute little beach house right off of Balboa and 38th street! We enjoyed days at the beach, bike rides on the board walk, playing at the park, family walks to dinner, date nights with Todd, such great memories!

Todd taught the boys to surf...

Mack

Kate

Noah apparently doesn't want anything to do with the water. He enjoys staying right next to me, the whole entire time which makes for lots of sand thrown in my face and all over my body...no complaints here :) I love this little guy!

Joy, Candice and cousins came for a visit..

Kate helped make breakfast in bed for Todd for fathers day :)

and were off!

2010-06-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! Talk about last minute but we found a beach house to rent on craigslist and decided to book it for the week. We leave Saturday! We will be in Newport Beach 34th street so anyone local come see us! The house is not beach front but is a couple blocks away from the sand. It has a nice park near by with a basketball court. I think our family is set :)
I'll be sure to post pictures!
First week of summer has been fun. The kids have enjoyed having friends over and lots of swimming in the pool. Noah has learned to climb out if his crib. Not happy about that! What that means is he now won't take a nap and even gets out 5 or 6 times at night when I put him to bed. My little baby I guess is growing up!

I'm Back!

2010-06-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

well now that you all have your invites I'm hoping I will get motivate to blog :)

going private

2009-10-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

Send me your email...I'm going Private :)

Happy 4th Birthday Mack!

2009-07-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Mack woke up and was so proud that he was finally 4. He has been counting down the days to be 4 just like Bryce and Drew :) He is really into being "big" and stood right in front of the counter and said, "see Mom, I'm bigger today". He is constantly comparing his height to things like swords, counter tops, the sofa anything that is shorter than him...it's so funny! Mack keeps me smiling all day long...

We had a small pool party with a few friends and cousins.

After lunch we had cupcakes and Popsicles..Mack's favorite!

The definition of independent fits Mack to a "T". I often find him pouring himself his own drinks. He taught himself to ride a bike and learned to swim really well this summer! He is such a cutie pie and I love him so much!!

Bring on Summertime!

2009-06-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

Trevor graduated from 6th grade yesterday! With Trevor being the oldest in the family It's so fun experiencing all of the "first" milestones. From starting Kindergarten, to getting baptized, etc. it really is so special. It's so fun to see them grow (and so sad too at the same time). Trevor had a really great 6th grade year. His teachers (he had three of them) were so good and really pushed him. He learned a lot and is ready for Jr. High!

The promotion ceremony was great, short and sweet! It was icing on the cake that the weather was overcast and cool. So much better than sitting outside in the heat. I got my nephew Todd to baby-sit the younger two, which was nice. Todd's Mom and my Mom came to support Trevor. Afterwards we went to lunch at the Olive Garden...Trevor's pick of course.

Later on that day Trevor invited some friends over for a little end of the year party. I thought it was nice that Trevor didn't seem to mind that his younger brothers and sister were a part of it all too. Kate is always surrounded by boys. They had a great time. It was sure fun to see what a group of 12 year old boys come up with for entertainment. Boys are so much fun!!! They had me laughing the whole time.

This is Trevor's home teacher Dr. Dadlez. I loved her! What a great, great teacher!!! She told Trevor after the picture was taken that she couldn't wait to see him on the cover of sports illustrated! Every year his teachers comment to me how they can't believe what a great athlete Trevor is.

Here is Ethan with his 4th grade teacher Mrs. Barcinas. After I thanked her for a wonderful year she couldn't stop talking about Ethan and how much she enjoyed having him in her class. She told me what a good student he was and how he always asked questions and would answer her questions in complete sentences. She said it's very rare for students at that age to do that. She thanked me for having such a sweet good boy. It really made me feel so good. I always appreciate hearing nice things about my children.

Kate and her teacher Mrs. Roth. I'm so grateful for teachers who really and truly love doing what they do. Mrs. Roth taught Kate to read so well this year. She was a wonderful teacher. Kate had a great first grade year. Kate continues to remind me that she is now a second grader!

Here are the teacher gifts I made (with help from Amy and Christina) I would have never thought of this on my own in a million years! But look how cute they turned out. It's hand sanitizer bottles...peeled off the store stickers and added cute stickers and ribbon...simple and oh so cute don't ya think?!?

I took the younger two to Disneyland on Tuesday. Our passes will soon be blocked out for the summer. I have never taken Mack and Noah, take just the older kids. We had such a great time. Noah was super good and thoroughly enjoyed his sucker.

We met up with some friends and the first ride was Haunted Mansion. Noah didn't like it at all...I think I deserve the "Mom of the year award" for taking him on that one. We quickly went to the merry go round after...

Bring on Summertime! I'm ready for it!!!

Memorail Day and other stuff...

2009-05-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

We had such a great family BBQ yesterday at our house! Both of our families came over yesterday for a fun day of swimming. I have to say that Todd made the best hamburgers too!
Can you count how many bodies are in the spa???

Here is proof that I actually put on a swim suit (proof from the neck up :)...it doesn't mean that I went in the pool though:) I think I have been in our pool about 5 times since we have had it, crazy huh?

Nice shot of Kate don't ya think! The kids swam ALL day long and had such a fun time with all their cousins...

Trevor going in for a huge splash!

This is a fun picture...here's all the younger boys playing basketball at one side of the court...

at the same time all the older guys had a game going at the other end of the court...

Noah enjoying some sun!

baseball is finally coming to an end...Mack was thrilled to get his first trophy. He carried it around for a couple days...

Saturday night I went and saw the Broadway show Dirty Dancing with friends. Oh it was so good!

"Nobody puts baby in the corner" hahaha..... the show was awesome, I had such a great time!!

Todd had back surgery a week ago to repair a herniated disc. It's been so great having him home recovering...the surgery went well and he is feeling better everyday. We are hopeful that he continues to heal properly and won't have to suffer with back pain anymore. It's hard for Todd to "take it easy" and I'm sure it will be even harder for him not to play golf for awhile :)

Kate is such a fun big sister and entertains the two younger ones...we often spend a lot of our time out in the backyard while the two older boys are at their games with Todd. (baseball games and a one and three year old don't mix well...lets just say I don't get to watch much of the game...

Noah is 13 months already! He is walking..almost running...everywhere! He is growing up so fast!

Well, thats it for now......stay tuned!

Noah's Birthday & Easter!

2009-04-13T09:34:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Noah's first birthday a couple weeks ago. I've never thrown a big party for any of my kids "first birthday's", so I decided this time it was going to be big :)
Our families came and we had a great time!

Noah absolutely loved his cake, this was the high light of the party seeing him eat his cake for the first time...

I rented a huge bounce house with a slide, the kids had a blast! Best part is that it kept them ALL outside :)

now on to Easter.....

we spent Easter this year with my side of the family. We usually spent it with Todd's family and celebrate Easter a week early with my family. Well this year my sister Carolee was down visiting from Pennsylvania. It was extra special because we were all together, Candice and Melissa even drove down from Arizona so we could all be together.

Taryn, Carolee, Melissa, me, Candice, my Mom, and Joy taking a picture break :)

Noah was down for his nap in this picture but here are the kids with their Easter baskets. I think everyone was happy with what the Easter Bunny brought them...

Noah posing for his first Easter :)

We had our annual egg hunt after a fabulous dinner (thanks Mom). My parents put money in some of the eggs to make it extra fun. This year Trevor was the "big winner" of the $50 dollar egg. He was pretty happy!

what have I been up too?!?!?

2009-03-31T14:45:00.000-07:00

Where do I even start! Here are a few things I have been up too...
First off, chasing after my sweet little Noah! He is the funnest little guy. Such a good, happy baby! Well, not really a baby anymore he turns one tomorrow! Can you believe it?!?
He is all over the place. He crawls really, really fast. He's up and down the stairs, walks around furniture and can stand up but is not interested in walking.
He is such a happy little guy, I am LOVING him!!!!

He loves to get into the pantry and cupboards and lets just say I have to keep the bathroom doors shut! He likes to get into the toilets too...

I was able to go see my good friend Erin who just had a baby. Charles Daniel is so cute!!! Noah thought so too...

I saw the Broadway show Grease with friends. It was so much fun and what a great show! I couldn't stop singing the songs all weekend long.

Trevor and Ethan just finished up basketball season. Here is Trevor at his all star game. He's awesome to watch!

Now on to baseball season! ...Kate and Mack having fun together at the ball park

Here is Ethan practicing his pitching...GO ETHAN!!

Is anyone out there???

2009-03-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I've posted I'm thinking everyone has probably given up on me!
I don't know what happened but I'm guessing facebook had something to do with it ;)

I did loose my camera, I'm very sad about that. As soon as I get Todd to bring me his work camera that he never uses I will be back in business. I just don't like to post without pictures?!?

Hope everyone is doing well...I do secretly check up on all of you. I miss all my blogging friends!

Noah will be one on April 2nd, stay tuned for some fun birthday pictures!
I can't believe my baby is almost one!!! Seriously so weird how much time flies!!

Stay tuned.....

14 years ago today...

2009-01-13T15:13:00.001-08:00

...I became Mrs. Kristen Thompson at the ripe old age of 19!!!!!!! I know what your thinking, wow that's young! But I was really mature for my age :) heehee

We were engaged in this picture. Look how young we look!!

Here is our wedding announcement photo...

My Bridal portrait...

and our wedding photo... (one of these days I will learn how to use my scanner, until then I guess taking a picture of a picture will have to work :) HA!

Who would have ever thought that making such an important decision at the age of 19 would have been the BEST decision I could have ever made in my life!!!

I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Todd is the perfect person for me...

Happy 14th Anniversary to us!!!

I'm so behind!!!

2009-01-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here it is 2009! I'm so behind...but for the purpose of keeping a journal I'm going to post about our Christmas and New Years 2008!
We had a wonderful Christmas! It started out with the kids waking up at 7:30 (not too bad) after all the presents were opened I made a big breakfast. After that we were off to Todd's parents house to be with them.

Here is Trevor with his gifts. Trevor and Ethan's "big" gift from Santa was the x box 360 and Guitar hero. They were SO EXCITED about that!!

Can you tell Kate is the "only" girl? I can't get enough of all the pink, it's so fun! Kate and Mack got bikes from "DAD" this year...they found their bikes in the back of Todd's truck on Christmas Eve...Santa wasn't able to bring bikes this year so dad had to get them instead:)

After spending the afternoon with Todd's parents we headed on over to my parents house for the evening. My Mom made a really nice dinner. It was fun being with them and opening more presents. My Mom never disappoints in that department. We ate and played games and had a really good time.

How could I not get a picture of Noah on his first Christmas?!?

Here are my sisters and I... (we missed MELISSA and CAROLEE this year)!

Now on to New Year's Eve! I was determined to have fun this year! It was sort of a last minute thing but we went to dinner with some friends at the Cheesecake Factory (YUM) and then headed over to our house afterwards for a little Guitar Hero.

Go Erin with the vocals!! Jenny on the guitar and Trevor on drums..

All the kids had a blast too..

and the night ended ringing in the New Year banging pots and pans! My FAVORITE part!!

Now on to News Years Resolutions and our 14th wedding anniversary on the 13th WAHOO!!!

It's Christmas Time!

2008-12-19T14:38:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite time of year. I love all the parties, shopping, and yummy baked treats! Another high light is checking my mail box everyday. I love getting Christmas cards, I thoroughly enjoy it.
Last Sunday was the Thompson family Christmas party. This is a picture of Todd's parents with all their grandchildren posing with Santa. We had such a good time with all of Todd's family.

Yesterday was Mack's preschool Christmas Program. It was so cute! My sister in law Heather is his teacher and she put together the cutest program. The kids sang a bunch of Christmas songs with Feliz Natividad being one of my favorites. Every time Mack hears that song now on the radio he gets the biggest smile on his face and sings along to all the words.

This year has been a "year full of firsts" for Noah. Here he is meeting Santa for the first time, checking him out and pulling on his beard making sure it's real!

Ethan asked Santa for X box 360...

Kate wants a Barbie bike for Christmas!

Isn't he the best Santa you've ever seen?

A few of my favorites..

2008-12-15T17:48:00.001-08:00

We had our family pictures taken a few weeks ago. Here are a few of my favorites.
This is the picture we used for our Christmas card this year.

I guess this is the "casual pose" ;-) love it...

I love this one of all the kids...

Thanks Erin! You are an amazing photographer...

What have we been up to?

2008-11-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

Starting off with Thanksgiving. This year we celebrated with Todd's Family, as usual the food was great! We have really good cooks in the family :) Todd brought up his quad along with my BIL Chad so everyone got to go for a ride. Todd and I even got to go out together.

Grandpa Thompson, Uncle Tommy, Baby Syndey, Trevor, and cousin Brent watching football

Grandma Bettie working in the kitchen with Aunt Kimberly... did I mention how good the food was?!?!

master Turkey carving going on by Todd and Uncle Chad...

Self portrait of Todd and I...

Baby Noah's FIRST Thanksgiving. He hasn't mastered crawling yet but is really close. He also has his first bottom tooth coming in. He's so cute! Look at those big feet.

Melissa and her family came down from AZ so we decided to renew our Disneyland passes and join them. We had a great time. Thursday wasn't crowded at all but when we went back on Friday it was a different story! We had such a good time and really enjoyed all the Christmas decorations. I love Disneyland this time of year.

And finally basketball season is here! Here is Ethan at his first gameI (forgot to take a picture of Trevor playing). I love basketball, the boys are so much fun to watch!