Shout Out to the Thompson's

We are so lucky to have the greatest friends ever. This past weekend they drove all night from Arkansas to come see us here in North Carolina. What troopers they are. We had the best time. And can't wait to get together again with them.

As you can see it was a big girl party. And that's what they did - PARTIED!

Reading stories and cleaning the bathroom. These friends are definite keepers.

They don't get any cuter than this.

We can't document this event without mentioning Maddie. McKenna became her biggest fan. After they left I think McKenna missed Maddie the most. (I just wish I would have gotten a picture of them together, but when your having so much fun the camera gets forgotten.)

It was sad to see the weekend go by so fast but we will just make sure to do this again.

First Snow in North Carolina

Last week we had our first snow in North Carolina. It stormed in the night so we woke up to this beautiful sight. I enjoy looking at it much more than playing in it. . .

but my kids love playing in it much more than looking at it. Not to mention they got to miss school.

Here they are with their snowman they made. I came out long enough to take the picture. McKenna and I stayed inside the house and watched.

Why do we love our house so?

With the hussle and bussle of our lives I sometimes forget to stop and notice the pleasant and quiet times I should enjoy. Especially after living in our apartments for 5 months I didn't have those moments. A while back I did stop to notice. I thought I would video this experience. (Again I have to apologize that I forget that I can't hold the camera sideways while videotaping.) The important part of this clip is the sound. Don't worry about turning up your sound. The point of this video is the fact that the only sound you hear is the dryer. McKenna was asleep, Alexa was upstairs doing homework, these two little ladies were having a great time playing outside and I was in the kitchen enjoying all of it the most. This went on for a good 20 minutes. I almost didn't know what to do with myself when I realized I was all alone in the silence.

Kaitlin's Surprise Party

You are probably wondering who Kaitlin is. No, she is not one of my girls, no she is not one of our cousins, no, she is not a friend. She is Maya's CPK (Cabbage Patch Kid) she got for Christmas. Since CPK dolls come with birth certificates, they have a birthdate. Leave it to my girls not to forget that Kaitlin's birthday was today. They actually have been talking about it since Christmas morning. Not only was it a birthday party but it was a SURPRISE party. We had to turn out the lights and hide so we could yell surprise. Tim was the photographer and I took care of the lights.

Here's Alexa ordering everyone to hide.

McKenna is looking really excited. Notice Livie under the table.
Here is Maya and Kaitlin arriving at the party. Boy, was she surprised.
Here they girls are after Kaitlin opened her present. A new stroller. (Actually the one that Maya has been pushing her around in for the past few weeks. Do they look excited to have a party, or what. After that, Daddy made them all Root Beer Floats for dessert. I drew the line at making a cake. Happy Birthday, Kaitlin.

Catch Up!

Ok! So we are getting settled in (if you can call only having 100 boxes left instead of 500, settled.) I have finally gotten the pictures of my camera and so now I am catching up on a few things. Here are a few pictures of Christmas.

Here is our little Christmas tree in our apartment. it is sad when the kids are taller than the tree but it worked for our limited space. I wasn't even going to get one but the kids really seemed disappointed when I mentioned it. So, our home felt a little festive.

Here are their stockings. Yes, they are hanging from boxes. And no they are not our normal stockings. Since everything was in storage and I didn't want to buy any I got some fabric from my sister that she had. Luckily she had some Christmas fabric. Thanks again, Maren.

Here are some pictures from Christmas at the Bosley's in Garner, NC. Tim is showing off his new golf glove that the girls bought him with their own money. He is also sporting his beautiful ribbon that he traditionally puts on every Christmas morning. And I might say that Maya is looking pretty cute in that picture too.

Opening presents!

I wish I looked this good at 7am.

Since Maren is so good at making sure she posts some discriminating pictures we thought we would do the same. Here she is just waking up from her Christmas nap. We just wish it was more discriminating, maybe next time. We love you, Maren.

The girls at Old Salem. We aren't sure what kind of animal that is but it's some sort of hen or turkey or pigeon, I'm not sure. Any ideas?

BEWARE!

This face may look sweet and innocent to you but to those of us who have lived with this face, we know what she is capable of. On a very cold winter day this week Maya and Alexa were playing on the computer as I was unpacking. I have been trying to monitor their TV and computer consumption since it would be so easy just to let them enjoy it all day long while I am working around the house. The job of a mother never stops, not even for boxes. They were banned from it for the rest of the day because of their inabillity to listen and get their jobs done BEFORE playing. Later I found them on it again so the punishment was increased to no computer for the rest of the week (which is much more of a punishment for me.) It wasn't much of a problem for Alexa since she was going back to school the next day. For Maya and me it would be torture since she would be home alone while the girls were at school. The next morning I was in the office and she came in to talk to me. She said, "Mommy, if you let me play on the computer, I'll give you these." She held up 3 of her coins. I don't know where she got that idea but I quickly explained that I can't be bought and she shouldn't bribe people to get her way. I don't know where she comes up with this stuff but I'm impressed with her ability to think for herself and problem solve. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

hAPPY nEW yEAR

So, no pictures today. I just wanted to send a little update since I am taking a quick break from unpacking and Tim came home to make dinner. We had a great Christmas at Maren & Andrew's. If you would like to see pics and find out what we did, link to the East Coast Bosley's blog to the right of the screen. Christmas Eve was so fun filled with food, music, and entertainment. Christmas day was full of opening presents, more food, and just all around family time - just the way it should be. My parents came back on Christmas day with us for the rest of their vacation. Not much of a vacation for them. We went to Old Salem to show them around and try to do something fun to keep me from going crazy with all the moving stress. Then on the 27th some great men from our ward came over to load our truck with all of our goods from our apartment. We went over to the house to do our final walk through, went to the bank to get a nice big check to give away, went to our closing, came home, got the kids and grandma and grandpa, got dinner, and came to the house where more great men from the ward came to help unload that night. Went to bed and never slept better. The next morning Tim left with another set of great men from the ward to get everything from the mini-storage. I got up and got the kids ready to take my parents to the airport. Came back in time to take the truck back to U-haul and on the way it started raining and didn't stop until the next morning. We are counting our blessings that the weather was so cooperative for us. It has been a mad rush ever since to unpack and find everything. Our New Year's Eve party consisted of my running to Target and Walmart to get a few things for the house and some party food for dinner. (FYI, there isn't much on the shelves at 7pm on New Year's Eve.) I got back at about 8pm just in time to see the cable guy leave and threw our sad party food in the oven. Alexa was the only one that lasted until midnight with us. We played a game and watched "New Year's Rockin' Eve". Then at midnight we ran outside after realizing that we are the only ones that really live on our street right now. Tim still yelled and carried on just to embarrass Alexa (which worked well.) New Year's Day was more of the same - UNPACKING. It seems like we will never be done. But everyday does show a little more progress. As soon as we can we'll post some pictures. I know how boring it can be just to see a dumb old post and no pictures.