Beach, again!

We had so much fun yesterday at the beach we decided to go again today to a different beach. I laid Brig's down for a nap and the boys and I went to Henry's beach. It was B-E-A-utiful! The sun was shining bright, no clouds in the sky. Surfer's out in the water. Birds flying by. We had a blast!

Jackson and Tyler love to put thier chairs in the water and wait for waves to get them! Gavin enjoys playing and building things in the sand.

Here Tyler is trying to surf on a boogy board. He wanted to surf because the water was too cold for him to put his chest on the board. Standing was so much easier! :)

Papa and Will brought their metal detector to see what treasure's they could find. A key and some bottle caps was all!

BEACH!!

We are in Santa Barbara, California for Spring break, and LOVING it! It's so green, lush, and beautiful here. And there are hills and mountains and lots of trees, bushes and flowers. But, most of all there is a beach. Lots of them! And we LOVE the beach!

On Monday we went down town to the harbor and walked on the pier to see a whale that's been hanging out there. It was really cool to see it. It kept blowing out his air hole and kept swimming around so we could see his back and part of his tail. The kids really enjoyed it too.

We decided to take a little boat ride that went right over to the whale and went to the other side where sea lions were playing. It was a pirate boat and the kids loved that too. We sure are spoiled when Nana is around.

Stick Family

Did you see it?

About a week ago, before we told anyone I was expecting, Scott made a new stick family for my blog and placed it at the very bottom. Did any of you scroll all the way down and see it?

Do it now! Funny hun?

Dentist Day!

Every six months like clock work I drag the boys into the doctors office which seems to always take forever. Gavin went last time but sat on Scott's lap the whole time and wasn't very cooperative. This time was a little different! YEAH for me! Gavin sat there and had all his x-rays done without any trouble. The dental hygienist cleaned, and flossed him real well. Again no problems at all. They had cartoons on and gave him a cool pair of sunglasses to wear. When the dentist came in he checked him out and again Gavin was an angel. I know, it doesn't sound like him. He loves to pitch a hit, lower his head, avoid eye contact and suck that darn thumb of his. But, not today! :)

How-To Tell You're Expecting

I try to tell Scott, my boys and mom in a cute way with each pregnancy. Here are some of the tops ways I've shared the great news!


I gave my mom a bunch of frames. One of them said "To be pictured February 2006". (Gavin) It took her a few days to see it and understand what I meant!

I e-mailed my mom a bunch of pictures to look through of the boys. One of the pictures I took was of Gavin wearing a shirt that said, "I'm the big brother". She joked about it when she first saw it, then realized what it meant!

We went to Build-a-Bear and the boys and I picked out a cute little bunny and we added a voice box inside that said, "Congratulations, Nana, on grand baby number six!" We mailed it to her and said it was an early Easter present. She had it a few days until we told her to hug it tight. Then finally she heard the good news!

I took a test to see if I was expecting and there was no double pink line. So, I tossed it in the trash. Later that night Scott asked if I took the test. I told him yes, but it was negative. He thought I was kidding and went through the trash and found it and he says, "Yes you are!" With a big smile. I looked at it again and there WAS 2 pink lines! I just hadn't waited long enough before! So, Scott told me that I was expecting! That was with Gavin.

When I was expecting with Jackson, I put the test in a small box, then I put that into another box a little larger, and another a little larger......He went through like 10 boxes to find the small test and was thrilled.

What are some cute ways YOU'VE done it or heard about??

GREAT NEWS!!

This is so exciting! I am thrilled. Over ecstatic. Yee haw! It's so wonderful. Wa who! I'm bursting out of my skin with joy. Yeppy! So amazing! Awww! It's so exciting. So crazy! This is fantastic! I feel so blessed.

If you can't already tell, I am over the moon with some great, great, great news.

I am expecting!!

Yes, it's true!









I am pregnant with my 6th child! I will find out if it's a BOY or GIRL in May. So, I have a while to go til then.



Isn't it wonderful? Fantastic? Aren't I so dang lucky?



My sweet baby #6 will join our lucky family on September 27th-ish!





Last week I went and had an ultrasound and there is just ONE happy, very active little alien in there! It was amazing to see the little baby moving so much. Squirming, bending, twisting and moving those fin-like arms and legs around. I usually have an ultrasound much earlier than week 11, so I was amazed to watch my baby be so active.

Brighams' Birthday!

Look who just turned one year old!! My sweet baby Brigham. Man, time has gone by quickly. Too quick. I love when my boys are small little babies. It's fun to see them grow up to become little men, but I sure do enjoy the time they're babies.

Brigham's delivery was real hard. Too hard for the 5th pregnancy. The last few weeks of my pregnancy was rough too. I went into the hospital on Sunday night around 8pm and he wasn't born until the next day, early afternoon. Come to find out he was face up. I don't wish that on anyone! What a difference a slight roted body makes. PAINFUL! And I had a ton of people in the delivery room with me. That sucked too. Usually I don't mind. Gavin was almost 1 push and he literally flew out. The Doctor wasn't there, just a nurse!

Regardless of the pain, it sure was wonderful to finally meet him and see his adorable chubby little face! He has been a wonderful baby! He sure has a unique look to him. Always has. A round face with an adorable little butt chin. And chubby. So many cute little rolls all over his cute little body. Right now he has 3 teeth. I see a couple more almost in. The other 4 boys had at least 8 teeth by now. His first word was "Mama". He has been the only boy that has said mama first! He also says "dada", and "nana". I am a little surprised he can't say "banana" yet. He's just a little different, and I love it!

All the brothers have really enjoyed having him as a member of our family. What a wonderful member to our family he has been. I am still getting to know him and his personality. It will be fun to see what his interests will be soon.

He loves his passy. He loves bananas. He loves his mommy. He loves to see dad after a long day away from him. He loves his car that he can climb in and out of and honks the horn. He loves talking on the phone to his Nana. he loves holding his passy while drinking his bottle. He loves going through moms purse and pulling out all the credit cards.

When Brigham was 5 months old he started scooting around. by 6 months he was crawling all over the place. He crawled funky too. His right leg was tucked behind him. I called it a lazy leg. It was so cute. He took his first steps at 9 months and was walking by 10.

He has blond hair that is slightly curly at the ends. The top of his head has really long hair. We say he has a comb over like his Papa. :)

I guess I could go on and on. So, I will stop here. I just want all of you to know that I am truly in love with my sweet baby Brig's. He is so wonderful. I hope he has a very happy birthday!

I LOVE YOU BRIGHAM NIELSEN THOMPSON!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Nap Time!

Gavin is 3 years old and is hardly taking naps anymore. :( But there are a few days here and there when he does take a nap. There are days he NEEDS to take a nap. There are days I wish he'd take a nap, like the other day. I could tell he was so tired. I told him to just lay down for a little rest, not a nap, just a rest. A few minutes later I went into his room to check on him and this is how I found him.
All curled up on the chair in front on the TV watching cartoons.

Multi-Cultural Event

On Friday at the boys school they had a Multi-Cultural event. Each class has been planning this for over 2 months. There was a lot of time, efforts and energy put into this activity. Each class choose a country around the world. There was Greece, Mexico, Egypt, Scotland, India, China, Canada, France and others chosen. Each class had to set a display table of projects that each child worked on. They also had to do a skit, sing a song or dance from their country.

Tyler's class was Mexico. They sang a song and did a little dance. It was really cute.

Jackson's class choose Greece. Jackson did a report on Greek Art. The class recited the Greek alphabet and sang a Greek song. It too was really cute.


Will's class choose Egypt. Will did a little report on the pyramids, and the class sang a song. It was "King Tut" by the comedian Steve Martin. It was really funny.

Don't say that word!

Sweet little Gavin tests me everyday. Several times a day. As often as he can. As often as he likes! His two new words he's been saying are "shut up" and "hate". Every time he says one of those I kindly remind him that we don't say those words....Blah, Blah, Blah. I feel like a record player teaching my children what to say, what to so do and what NOT to say, what NOT to do.

Anyways, the other morning Gavin is saying "hate" a few times and I keep telling him that is not a nice word, he needs to make better choices. Exactly after my little schpeel he says, "I hate...." "Gavin!" I saw in shock that he didn't even hesitated to push my buttons. He continues in tune to the newly popular song, "this part right here!" (A newer song from the Pussycat Dolls). He knows he can say that word if he starts singing it!

I couldn't help but laugh! He laughed too. Sang it a couple more times and I haven't heard it since. What a little smartalick!

Food Storage

I had a great conversation yesterday with one of my LDS friends at the boys school. I have no idea how we started talking about it, but we did and it was a real eye opener for me.
Let's just say I'm not doing a great job at food storage. (To say the least!) There are a few reasons why I'm not good at it. I have never been to the cannery or have purchased actual food storage food. I always buy extra of everything like cereal, crackers, canned goods, water...and also soap, toothpaste, shampoo....But I have no where near a 3 month supply like the church has asked of us.

Why? Why do I not make this a priority?

Talking with Diane she helped me realize a few very important and easy things to do to start and maintain food storage. One thing that really hit me was that she said when she was newly married, like 30 years ago, she never would allow her children to go hungry. I would never allow my children to go hungry either, but I have not planned accordingly to prevent this from happening. Of course they are my responsibility. Why would I not put food storage higher on my list of things to do.

She offered some great websites and advice. I have heard great stories of families that the husband lost his job and the family lived off of food storage. So I commit to you today that I will be better at collecting my food storage. If you have any good advice for me, let me know!

Aww, Sunday's.

What happened to relaxing Sunday's? Those wonderful Sunday's where after you come home from church you take a nice long nap?
Sunday's are usually quit hectic. Scott leaves about 530-6am each Sunday morning, so it's just the boys and I for the majority of the day. Will watches Jack, Ty and Gavin for me so I can sleep in until 830 or so! THANKS sweet boy! When I get up I usually make a big breakfast for us all. The boys play the Wii or other games. I looked through my 3 papers. (For lots of coupons!) I try to shower and dress first so it's easier to help the other boys do it later. Someone always forgets a belt, a shoe, a tie or to brush their teeth. I am always reminding the boys to look, dress and act like missionaries at all times. Thank goodness our ward meets at noon, until September then it will start at 8am! I have a bag full of stuff for my calling I need to pack and take. I am the primary chorister. We also have a "church bag" that is full of reading books, puzzles, paper and crayons. I also add in a water bottle and snacks each Sunday. Scott has a row saved for us already and in we all climb in. I know it's important for all of us to attend Sacrament, but every Sunday I question myself why I am there. I don't listen to any speaker or testimony given. I can't listen. There is way too much going on in my row. I'm too busy shushing one of the boys, reminding one to sit back to back, fold their arms....I am also trying to keep Gavin quiet and busy as well as Brig's. It's a mini workout sitting there for an hour and half. The boys are pretty good, but it's still a chore to say the least. Brigham is so cute when he sees Scott sitting up on the stand. He starts yelling "Da, da!!" and flapping is arm up and down. Every once in a while Brig's will escape and start running down the isle to get his daddy. It's cute to see how much brig's adores him. Sometimes I sit there and wish I was sitting on the stand and Scott had to deal with the boys. That would be very entertaining to watch! We do have a rule that the boys can't get out any books or toys or snacks until after the sacrament has been passed.
After Sacrament I'm off to the Primary room where Brigham wonders around and gets into everything. Sometimes Scott can take him for me. I really enjoy teaching singing time to the children. It's a lot of fun. We have a HUGE primary. The kids are really good and seem to enjoy singing time that I have planned.
After church we all hustle in to the car and head on home where we change our clothes, eat some food and play. Scott makes it home after 5pm or so. Last night he walked in the door to his office, grabbed some keys and walked right back out. He sure is a busy bee. There was a housing activity that he was in charge of. The boys and I walked over around 6ish to eat at the BBQ and then headed home to start our nightly routine. Scott had another meeting at 7 pm and came home a little after 830pm.
Just think, we get to do it all again in 6 days! :)

Balls?

Sweet Gavin is almost completely done with this whole potty training business. HALLELUJAH!!! Anyways he woke up this morning with a dry pull up and takes it off so he can wear his "big boy" underwear today. He grabs a cute pair and starts twirling them around on his finger, smiling the whole time. One of his little basketballs catches his eye and he puts the basketball in his underwear and shows me. "Silly Gavin balls don't go in there!" I say to him. "Yeah they do mom, my balls do!" He says. My THREE year old. He knows he has "balls?" Oh man! The big brothers are in so much trouble when they come home! :)

COOPER!!!

Our newest addition is officially going to be called Cooper!

Cooper T-Bone Winston the III.

A little background to his name first. We have this cute little bird who comes and visits our house for the past 2 years now. He comes only at night and will perch on one of the nails under our patio. The boys always enjoy seeing him, and he is quit a cute little thing. So, when we got a new puppy Cooper was one of the first names the boys and Scott and I liked. We have a few other's on the table, but we all ended up just calling him Coop, or Cooper.

He has been such a great little pup so far! And easy! We all just love him. Cooper has not nipped, or barked at all. He goes potty outside regularly and is so sweet with the boys.

**An extra special THANK YOU goes out to Paul and Laura who had no hesitation in letting us use the same name as their sweet little boy. We wanted to double check and make sure they were okay with it and they laughed at the thought that it might have been offensive to use the name. Thank you SO MUCH for your understanding. We LOVE you guys!

Puppy Lovin'

We have been looking and wanting a dog for a long time now. Eventually we want like 5 dogs. All random breeds. We heart dogs! Scott's favorite is the Siberian Husky. The boys love a Beagle and a Golden Retriever, and my favorite is any small white fluffy puppy. Like a Cock-a-poo, Maltese, Bichon Frise, Havenese.....I kinda wanted to start with a tiny one because of the place we live. We can't have too large of a dog here but more importantly there is really no room for a bigger dog to run and play. Scott wanted to get me one for my B-day, but just couldn't find the right one. Then last night we met him. The cutest little Maltese pup, ever. Looks just like my sweet Taffy girl. I always wanted a female puppy. Can you just imagine that cute little puppy with a pink rhinestone collar, a pink bow in her hair, a cute pink pillow to sleep on.....Man I need to have a daughter! :)

We are considering the following names, so tell us which one you like best or if you have another suggestion. Thanks!

• COOPER


• DEXTER


• OLIVER


• ROCCO

There are actually lots of cute doggy names I like, but when I look in his eyes many of those just don't fit! What do you think?