Christmastime is here and gone.... again

Again! Time has gone and it seems that my best attempts to post more often has not been a reality. Perhaps, I'll try to make that a New Year's resolution... I have never been a resolution kind of girl because, for the most part, they are always forgotten or let go after a week or two. The idea of exercising more (especially living in ND or NY) just doesn't seem to be a practical reality... for those that run outside in winter months, I am amazed! Eating healthier is a year-round goal, but one that gets attention on and off.





Abi is in full swing with Kindergarten and doing GREAT! Greg and I attended a parent-teacher conference in early November with Mrs. Primarolo. We 'officially' were informed that Abi can read and write all of her letters, uppercase and lowercase, she can count, sort, etc. She does well (I say she is infatuated with) AB patterns. The best news was when Mrs. Primarolo said that Abi is a 'great role model'. She follows the rules and knows where she needs to be and helps other kids. While we know that Abi is generally a 'good kid' (with a few bumps in behavior here and there), it is refreshing to hear these things from an outside source. Currently, Abi in on winter break. She is enjoying a more flexible schedule, but I think that when next Monday comes around, she'll be more than excited to get on that bus again.



Mikayla is also in a preschool program. She goes one day a week for a couple of hours. She really enjoys her 'school'. If you ask her, she's pretty quick to inform you that she goes to school and Abi goes to Kindergarten. Mikayla's class in an optional parent and me kind of class, but she has never needed Greg to stay (I am at work). It is the same school that Abi went to so Mikayla is more than comfortable with the surroundings. I am sure she'll try to be running the place in the next two years. :)



Both girls are still enjoying gymnastics. Abi will not be competing for Gold one day, but she enjoys the activity and that is why we do it. :) Mikayla loves her gymnastics class which is a parent and me type class. It is fun for me as well. I get to see her coordination develop and it gives us something special to do. Far too soon, she'll move up to the next level and will not need me to be on the floor with her.



At the beginning of October, I made a professional change of sorts. I left CVS in Clinton to work at CVS in Little Falls. It was an extremely difficult decision to leave Clinton, as I had been there for nearly 7 1/2 years. The relationships that were developed between patients and myself are a huge part of what I love about my job... and to leave those, it was tough! While the drive to Little Falls is a bit farther (35 minutes versus 10 minutes), the Rx volume in LF is much lighter which leads to more time for me to enjoy the time with the patients, eat lunch AND dinner in a normal fashion, and even relax a little during the day. But truly the main catalyst in the transfer was to reduce my stress and improve the time off quality. Stress reduction was important because we are currently 30 weeks pregnant. :)! I know most of my 'readers' know this, but for those that don't... here you go. ;)



We do not know if the baby is a boy or a girl and do not intend to find out until delivery. We kept the surprise for both girls and it was a pleasant one. There are several opinions, like always, to what we are having...

Christmas at our house was exciting this year. Both girls were excited by the present unwrapping, but Mikayla quickly tired of the task. She was content to cuddle as she unwrapped or to stop and examine her latest gift. Mikayla's recent love of Dora and Diego was well fed... several books, coloring books, Dora dolls, and even Dora hair accessories. Abi received lots of art supplies to add to her collection... Now to get space to allow for her added collection. ;)

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year's!

Summer...

I cannot believe summer is over! I know some would argue that summer has been over for over a month and others would say that it's still summer... I have to admit I think it is over. The leaves have started to change colors, some have fallen off of trees, and the temperature has taken a nose dive. The desire to stay in the cozy, warm bed instead of venturing out into the cold, dark room in the mornings has settled in. I am suddenly finding the desire and need to cook or bake. If anyone has a great recipe they'd like to share, please do! I am forever searching for that new 'must make' recipe. :-)

But in talking about summer being over, I must talk about what a great summer we had! The highlights of our summer including two vacations. The girls and I were able to make a trip to North Dakota in June. It was a great time visiting with friends and family! Vacations to ND are never relaxing as we are always on the go, but they are always fun! It is hard to believe that my nephew Ryne is now 14 and my niece Kailen is now 10!! They have grown up so much and are turning into great young adults. I am SO proud of them both. I can only hope the girls turn out as well... :)

The four of us also traveled to Michigan in August to meet up with John, Annette, Ryne, and Kailen. Annette found this Great cabin resort (Balsams Resort, St. Ignace, MI) that provided a cozy, home-like place to be when we weren't doing the tourist thing! St. Ignace is located on the southern end of the Upper Peninsula with ferry access to Mackinaw Island. We had such a nice time there that we are talking about trying to make it a semi-regular trip. Although Ryne didn't love the drive to get there... WAY too many trees he said... The drive from NY thru Canada to MI wasn't bad. It went fairly quick and the girls were awesome travelers. We were busy for the days that we were there checking out some of the tourist traps and enjoying the beautiful scenery, but most of all exploring this new place with family! One of the best parts of the trip, in my opinion, was the incredible private beach access the resort had. It was small, but private. We usually only shared the beach with another family for a short time... and the rest of the time, it was as if we owned it! Lake Michigan, near the beach, was very shallow for over a mile from shore which was incredible for the kids as we were able to enjoy the water and the sand. The resort provides a kayak and floats along with with a sand volleyball court, free firewood for beachside fires or cabinside fires. We really couldn't have had a better experience there!

Ryne enjoying some kayaking in beautiful Lake Michigan at sunset

The "Mighty Mac" bridge... really an impressive engineering marvel!


John playing in the sand... This is one of my favorite pics from the the trip



Abi and Kailen 'standing' at the Mystery Spot


Greg enjoying some kayaking time

Mikayla just being cute!

Beautiful sunset...

More Lake pictures from MN in June

"Main Streets and Other Things to See on the way to Wishek, ND and back to Thompson, ND"

This post is entirely credited to my sister-in-law Annette. Recently the four of them embarked on a weekend adventure to the ND State Babe Ruth tournament in Wishek, ND. For those readers who may not have any idea where Wishek, ND is... it is located very near to the South Dakota border in central North Dakota. It is the epitome of small, town ND life. The people of the town made an incredible impression and it was a good experience despite the way the games turned out for the Thompson boys.

So, without further ado:

Hatton

Finley

Oriska

2 pheasants

Edgeley the "Gateways to Wind Energy"

300 Wind Turbines

15 hawks sitting on hay bales

Kulm

4 smelly road kill skunks (none caused by us)

Flood Lake

5 "Watch for Water on Road" signs

1 "Stop- Take turns" on a washed out road sign

Lehr "The smallest town in ND in two counties"

Wishek "The Sauerkraut Capitol"

Our Team Host for the games: George, the "Sausage King" http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/articles/newspapers/news/justsausage.html

Ryne's host family that was "AWESOME" and whose son just emailed Ryne so he can get the boys basketball schedule so he can watch while at NDSU this Fall

Stan's Super Value "Home of the Wishek's World Famous Sausage" (Mmmmm good supper tonight)

The All-in-One Wishek Inn/Gas Station/Convenience store

Kailen's favorite pool that has inspired her plan to live in Wishek some day so she can swim everyday

Two very hot, very difficult baseball games to watch

The McTwist Drive-In that makes really thick malts

Many, many very kind and welcoming Wishek-ites who put on a great tournament

And a long trip home...


Thanks Annette!

Family

The girls and I were able to spend some time in North Dakota/Minnesota. We had a great visit and were able to see family and friends. Like always, I wasn't able to get everything in that we wanted to... It just seems our days are so filled that before we know it, we are packing up and heading back.

Here are some pictures from that time at home.

Mikayla and Kailen

Ryne and Mikayla

Kailen and Abi working on their pinwheels at Family Fun Night



So tired...

Not a great picture of Abi, but a great one of Kailen. :)

Cute Moments

There are some random pictures that I am going to post here... Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. :)

Just a little bit of mud...
SO much fun!


Enjoying some popcorn

Here she comes!

Such a sweet face.

Graduation...

Abi with Mrs. Zalewski (her 4 year old teacher)

June really was a busy month... Along with time with friends, Abi celebrated her preschool graduation with more friends. It is hard to believe that my baby is going to Kindergarten in a couple of months. She has had her screening and passed all of the categories with flying colors. She is really excited about going to school and meeting new friends. I don't think she has quite realized that she won't see all of her 'old' friends at her 'new' school especially Jillian. She is also excited to take the bus to her school. I fully expect to have a melting down Mikayla on the first day of school.... well, we'll both be crying, but for different reasons. :)

Part of Abi's preschool graduation was for Mrs. Zalewski to announce what each student was going to be when they grew up... the reponses varied from police officer to teacher to nurse to rock star to an artist (Abi's choice). I wonder of those predictions, how many, if any, will be true? I guess I'll to wait awhile to find out.

Abi at the start of the ceremony








Abi 'moving up'..
Abi with Mrs. Sosnowski (her 3 year old teacher)

Abi with Mrs. Krupski (her science enrichment teacher)

Deleted Posts

Somebody must be deleting my posts... Okay, that's not true. But somehow it has been 6 weeks since I posted last. To my blogging friends that post regularly, I'm impressed! I wish I was better at it...

This is one of the many pictures taken for our second trip to the Strong Museum of Play (http://www.museumofplay.org/). It is a really, really cool place. This time the girls brought along their friends Brianna (and her mom Crystal). We drove up and back in one day so it was a long one, but the girls had a great time and we look forward to going back. If anyone has a chance to go, I'd strongly recommend it. It surpasses any other children's museum I've been too easily. Currently they have a puzzle exhibit that I can't wait to go back and check out again. Somebody want to come with so they can watch my girls? :) The puzzles are a little advanced for them...

Here is a picture of one of the hundreds of butterflies available for viewing at the Discovery Garden within the Museum of Play. The Garden is pretty neat, but doesn't quite compare to the one at the Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago.

A picture of Abi and Brianna before doing the KAC Kid's Fun Run. This is more of a trot than a run, but it's a free race for the kids to enter. They get a free t-shirt out of the deal... and time with friends. :)

Well, that's going to be all for this post... I am struggling with the formatting on this site. Does anybody else have issues when adding pictures and text? How do you get it to work so nicely?

Mikayla's Stats

Mikayla had her 2 year appointment this week... yes, she has been 2 for a month. :)

She weighs in at 26.6 pounds (45%).

She is 34 inches tall (45%).

Her head circumference is 50.5 (>97%).

I do need to compare these numbers to Abi because I do not feel that Mikayla is THAT much smaller than Abi was at this point in her life. My memory tells me that Abi was always off the charts for height and weight... so I find it interesting. :) Also, I do not think Mikayla's head is disproportional to the rest of her body. :-)

Busy Weekend

This weekend was packed with sun and fun!

Our weekend started with the Art Auction for Abi's preschool... New Hartford Presbyterian Nursery School. It is the biggest fundraiser for the school and a portion of the proceeds go to a local charity. This year the school's charity is the New Hartford Library which is why the 'theme' of the Auction this year was "Children's Literature".

The Art that is sold at the auction is created by the kids that go to the preschool which includes the 2, 3, 4 year-old class as well as science enrichment classes. Each of the children create an individual, small canvas that is based on a favorite book. The classes also work cooperatively to create medium and large canvases based on different books that they choose.

Here are a few of the parents that help with the auction... Sherri Roser and Lisa Emery are the chairs of the event.


Here is Abi posing with her canvas based on "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?" As you can tell, there was SO much going on at the auction, it was hard to look at me long enough to take a picture. :)

These canvases are examples of the larger, collaborative canvases the children create together.




Mikayla showing off her climbing skills... I'm convinced she was a monkey in her previous life. :)

After leaving the auction, the girls and I headed up to their friend Brianna's 5th birthday party. They had a great time playing with Bri, even if they missed most of the festivities. On the way home from the party, Abi thought it would be 'cool' to start a "5 year old and one 2 year old club". I'm not sure all of that would entail, but I'm guessing the club idea comes from me reading The Babysitter's Club books to her. We have read 3 of them so far and she really enjoys them. Her attention to the details of the book is amazing to me. I think she pays better attention than I do! :-) I also think it is cute that Abi wants to include Mikayla in the club. I wonder how long that will last? :)

After the party, it was time to head to Grandma and Grandpa Jaros' house for a picnic. Stacy and Jimmy were in town so we were able to spend some time with them. It is always nice to spend time with them... especially since part of that time was watching a Mets over Yankees win! :-) To quote, Abi and Mikayla "Go Mets! Go Mets!" although Mikayla does prefer to say "Go Davy! Go Davy!" (For my Mets naive readers out there, that would be David Wright, the 3rd baseman for the Mets.)

Today was a little less hectic in that we started the day off with Abi going to Sunday school for the last time this year. Today was Children's Service Day in which the kids are involved with delivering the message. The church Youth Group led the message, provided the choir, and a skit today. Abi and her friend Kylie, along with a couple of older kids, helped with receiving the offering. It was entertaining to watch two 5 year olds attempt to systematically receive the offering... didn't really work out so systematically, but it was cute. :)

After grocery shopping, a soccer game, and supper, we have settled in for the night and enjoying the beautiful peaceful night outside and a Mets lead (over the Yankees)... Let's hope it lasts!

I'm going to end this post with one more picture... just a random one from a couple of weeks ago, but it makes me smile.

Mikayla trying out Abi's bike... Can you tell she liked it? :)

Curious George

Last night we went to the Theater! :) All four of us went to see Curious George Live!

One of the many pictures I took... So George is a -bit- bigger than on the cartoon, but what can you expect? :)




This was right after we sat down... Think she was excited? :)

We really did have a nice time at the Stanley. The Stanley Theater has recently undergone a major remodel/upgrade and truly is a gem in our area. I was concerned about taking the girls to a show that started at 7pm being as their bedtime is about 7:30, but Mikayla had a late nap (due to other reasons) and Abi was very excited about seeing the show.... so why not? Also, I was nervous that Mikayla would be freaked out by George (large, costumed creature). I purposely chose seats that were in the Loge area of the theater so taht we were up a level and a ways back from the stage. The seats were great and it worked out well since there were plenty of empty seats in our vicinity allowing Mikayla to move about when she was antsy.

It was a nice night out...

More pictures and posts to follow in the days ahead. :)

Life

Ever stop to wonder how some moments seem to last forever, but all of a sudden a month, a season, or a year has gone by? It amazes me how time flies. I blinked and my 'baby' is getting ready for Kindergarten screening... I blinked and my youngest is speaking in sentences, figuring things out more and more... I think I should stop blinking! Well, I guess that really isn't a feasible option at all. So onto Plan B... I have really taken an effort as of late to try and focus on the good moments throughout my day(s) and to enjoy them.

I sometimes think we are all rushing to get somewhere, but cannot ever get there. Why do we do that? I'll admit that I feel more 'rushed' on the days I'm at CVS... perhaps that is because I have people staring at me while I check a prescription on the chance it might be theirs! or the 300+ Rx's that somehow pass thru my hands in any given day, or just the need I feel to not let others have to wait.... Whatever the reason, my efforts to relax and enjoy the moments is much more difficult at work than at home, but I am trying. :-)

It makes sense that it is easier at home... At home, I have two beautiful, healthy, loving girls to ground me... to keep me focused on what matters in life. At times the dust bunnies, the clutter, and other 'housekeeping' tasks frustrate me or I feel like I am not doing 'it' all, but then I see Mikayla standing there with her Little People Farm Book and saying "Mommy. Read. Book. Please. (Super cute smile!)" and how can I say "No."? Or Abi asks to work on a project with her. The moments I get to spend sitting around the kitchen table creating is wonderful... whether it be creating with Play-Doh or scissors, paper, glue, and markers.

Hope that everyone is enjoying the moments... before a lifetime has passed.

Soccer Time

Hi all,
Here are a couple of pictures from this morning... Abi received her soccer uniform yesterday and is VERY excited for soccer to start this weekend. And, of course, Mikayla had to copy her big sister... :)

Enjoy!

Strong National Museum of Play

A couple of weeks ago, the four of us ventured to Rochester to check out what proved to be a SUPER cool museum... an entire museum dedicated to Play. It is truly an awesome museum that encourages kids to play, explore, interact, and learn. I cannot put into words how much fun the girls had... whether it was playing in Bear Country (Berenstain Bears), walking along Sesame Street, or shopping at the kids market (sponsored by Wegman's).... or any of the other gazillion exhibits. We spent nearly 12 hours between 2 days there and I am convinced we have yet to see all of it. We are looking forward to another trip... perhaps late spring or early summer, we will try for another.

Abi turns 5!

Oh my how time has flown by, still... It is beyond my belief that my 'baby' has turned 5. She has completely embraced being 5 saying things like...

"Mommy, remember back when I was 4 and..."

"Now that I am 5..."

She really has become such a mature young lady in the past couple of months... at times. :-) Sometimes she does things that reminds me that she is still a little girl.

She had her 5 year appointment last week and remains in the 75% for height and weight. Her height being 44 inches and weight being 42.7 pounds. She was fine during the appointment... showing off her knowledge... ABC's, counting to 100 (thankfully she didn't actually do that, just agreed she could), stating the street and town she lives on/in, her phone number... but when it came to the vaccinations. WOW! She became a hysterical, out of control, screaming 5 year old. Never in her previous vaccinations has she ever done that. It was Awful! :( Of course, Mikayla was in the room at the time and being as I was holding Abi down while the 2 nurses did their thing... all I could do was speak (loudly so that Mikayla could hear me) to Mikayla and tell her that Abi was okay. It was harder to see the large tears forming in Mikayla's eyes in concern for Abi than it was to hold Abi down. Of course, 10 seconds after it was done, life went on... no worries, no pain, like it never happened! I came home to tell Greg he gets the next one. He just agreed and knew better than to question me. :)

Abi turning 5 had another milestone as well... She finally had her first friend birthday party. I have managed to avoid it up to this point... and while that may sound bad, I just don't think she needed to have a party up until now.... not because she didn't deserve it, but she didn't miss them. :)

She invited 4 friends (one from Sunday school, one from pre-school, and one she knows from each of our jobs). We decided on a cooking themed party. The girls each made a fruit kabob, their own pizza, and decorated their own cupcakes. It was SO cute to watch the kids interact. It was really interesting being as none of the kids knew each other before the party, but I think all had a nice time. I know Abi did. :)

We also celebrated that night with Grandma and Papa Jaros as well as Aunt Stacy and Uncle Jimmy. Abi had fun showing off her fancy new clothes, dress up clothes, and was really anxious to cook with her new Easy Bake oven.



Mikayla keeps changing everyday and has developed some new talents of her own... she is becoming a much better hider in Hide-n-Seek. She occasionally will run and hide when it's time for a diaper change or nap. Speaking of diapers, we brought up the potty seat about a month ago and Mikayla has tried it out a couple of times. Although she seems to prefer the regular toilet... which is fine for me as I don't have to deal with the potty seat contents. :) She has gone a couple of times like a big girl, but we are still a long ways from fully trained. I suspect when the weather gets nicer, we will try a little harder... she isn't even 2 yet, so no need to rush her. :)

Mikayla's vocabulary has expanded more too... and her favorite thing to do is READ. She got a couple of books from my brother and family the last time we were home "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boynton and "Polar Bear, Polar Bear" by Eric Carle... She can read those books over and over and over and over... The words are so repetitive too that Abi has been able to 'read' them to her. It is SO special to see them interact and bond. I hope that love and admiration remains for a lifetime.