Christmas 2010

Here is our latest attempt at a family picture....and we leave the auto focus off. Man are we good or what?? Merry and blurry Christmas from the Thomas family. We had a great holiday - surrounded by family, good food and lots of laughs. Dad was on call for his practice this year, but was able to be around for all the key times. No emergencies - yay!!!

So, like many families, I grew up with a Christmas tradition of new PJs every year. They did not always match, but Nana got the kiddos these cute matching pajamas. The other tradition was my Dad making us wait at the top of the stairs briefly before going down to see what Santa left us. I have decided to torture my kids with this as well. Here you see the tolerant before, and happy after!

Letters From Santa

The mailman brought a couple of very special letters from the North Pole today. Santa took time out of his busy schedule to write to Ian and Natalie. He wanted to let them both know they were on the good list and that the elves were working hard on a fun Christmas. (ha ha) Both of the kids were very excited to read every detail in the letter! Thanks to Aunt Caba for 'arranging' the letters :o)

First Snow

We got our first snow in Louisville. It was a couple of inches or so...just enough to bundle up for. Ian was out in it a bit longer playing with the guys on the street. Natalie, well, it took longer to get her dressed than the time she actually stayed out in it. Somehow, Mom didn't mind the short play time outdoors. It was cold. Hot chocolate all around!!

Thanksgiving Rounds

We made the rounds this Thanksgiving. That meant we started out with a couple fun filled days in Nashville where the kids were in cousin heaven. Nana, Papa, and Uncle Joe met up with us and Aunt Beth's house. Eat, eat, eat - Play, play play - Laugh, laugh, laugh. Then, part two of our holiday fun......

We load up and head down the interstate a little bit towards Birmingham to visit with Nonnie and Poppy. It was a great weekend full of painting crafts, adventure hikes, and Star Wars pancakes. What more can the Thomas family ask for??? Not a thing!

Our Little Indian

There was a Thanksgiving program at Ian's school this morning. All of the kindergarden kids had their choice to dress up as either an indian or a pilgrim. It was a precious event with lots of fun songs about the holiday and being thankful. We were so proud of Ian and all the other kids! Below, Ian is pictured with some of his buddies from his class - Rafe, McKade and Gunnar.

Natalie was so glad to get to go to Ian's school and watch the program. She would count to 3 and say 'GO' in between songs...another little director on my hands! There was a short reception in Ian's classroom after the program....Natalie got caught red handed. She was acting so casual with her hand on her hip as she was going for her second cookie! Busted!

So Big

Our little girl got her first haircut tonight. She was excited about it. Mom had a surprisingly hard time watching the baby curls fall away. We came home after, got bubbly clean and in PJs for the night. Here are some shots of the kids playing and Natalie posing with her new look!

Halloween - Part II

Here are some photos of the crew on the actual day of Halloween. Ian added some flying poses to his collection of moves and Natalie loved being the cupcake all over again! Until next year....

Boo At The Zoo

We went to the Louisville zoo's annual Halloween festivities "Boo At The Zoo". Its always fun to get more than one wear out of those costumes and practice our 'trick or treats' and 'thank yous'. They had a path around the zoo with themed stops along the way. It was a fun night and the kids had so much fun. Natalie was mesmerized by the princesses and Superman (random). Look closely at Ian's funny face when standing next to Davy Jones. Stay tuned for more Captain America and the Cupcake....coming soon.

Expressions

So anybody who has spent anytime with Natalie knows that her bottom lip is a key part of how she communicates. This photo shows the lip in fine form as she shoots me a look. She is a full fledged two year old these days, which often makes no sense and involves a lot of pouting.

Just had to throw in a picture of Ian too. He is our young man, so original and so handsome.

Kindergarten Goes To The Farm

All the kindergarteners at Ian's school went on a field trip to a local farm. Activities included a corn maze, hay ride and picking out the perfect pumpkin. He was very excited about the outing. Here is a picture of Ian's class and teacher, Mrs Parrish.

Not to be left out of the fall themed blog posting....Natalie sported a little Halloween gear to go to her school on Tuesday. It was a very spin-worthy skirt!

Mexico...We Love It!

OK.....we are having a fantastic time in Mexico. I am sorry this blog posting is not about our kids this time....but they are having a heck of a time with their wonderful Aunts while Brad and I wonder around south of the border. We'll check back in soon with cute kid updates.

Team Extreme

Ian had his first soccer game this morning. He is a proud member of Team Extreme. Fun Morning for everybody!


Aunt Caba and Natalie were Ian's cheerleaders :o)

Little Bit of Everything

I went a little collage crazy here but there were a couple good groups of photos. I bought and ridulously large container of animal cookies at Sam's the other day. Of course everyone had to try them out when we got home. Here are the snackers in action with cheesey smiles, toothless smiles and a whole lot of sibling love.

Natalie is a poser....here is the proof. The gritty teeth pose below is her best attempt to flex her muscles. You should have heard the growl that went with it. Priceless!

Go Vols

We spent Labor Day weekend this year in Nashville with some family...or as my kids like to say with 'The Cousins'. We speak of my sisters' kids as some sort of famous rock band. My kids get giddy with excitement over seeing them and hang on their every word. It was a fun restful weekend which also happened to be the season opener for Tennessee football! We did not make it to Neyland Stadium but we were in the great state wearing our orange!! (Cousins Rachel and Cohen pictured here)

Fun At Sunset

We got the kiddos dressed up and took them to the some open fields in our neighborhood for a little photo shoot (Thanks Chiara and your new cool camera!). We have been really bad about getting professional photos made and this is our attempt to catch up. Watch out family....you are gonna get some copies of these pictures soon!

Kindergarten Begins

We took Ian to his first day of Kindergarten this morning. Dad took part of the morning off and we walked our big guy into his class. In true Ian fashion he walked in confident and ready to go. There were no tears, although I (Mom) had a weepy period when walking out of school. It was a happy cry because our boy is right where he is supposed to be and we are thankful!

Natalie probably would have stayed at school too, if we'd made arrangements. She really misses Ian when he is not around. They have their moments of tormenting and fighting but big brother being gone all day will be a big adjustment for her too. The first three days of school are only half days. We picked Ian up after lunch and below you'll see a picture of them snuggling for a cartoon.