Strides and a Festival

I completed a three mile walk today for the American Cancer Society Breast Cancer walk. Every year, I support any cause associated with raising money for breast cancer research. Today, I walked in memory of my cousin, Cari Spitz Ashford.

Kendra Thomas, owner of Hair Under Construction, served as team captain. There were 8 of us in the party plus three children. It was beautiful day for walking.

Tonight after church, we attended Harvest Fesitval at church. The kids have been wearing their costumes around the house for the past week.

It has been a long day. I had work to complete and school work. The school work will have to wait until tomorrow. I am exhausted.

And the Gifts Keep Coming...

After almost 30 years of research, Dr. Gary Chapman concluded people communicate love five primary ways. The title of the book, The Five Love Languages explains the ways people receive and show love.

My primary language is gift-giving. The secondary is quality time.

This week, I recent learned that two different gentlemen have been attracted to me for a couple of years. The first one lives here and attends my church. He called me a few days ago and during our chat, he dropped this information. Also during that chat, I told him my favorite snack is a box of Nilla Wafers. I also mentioned losing the piece to my phone so I am unable to charge it unless it is plugged into the computer. Gift giving is not the size of the gift but the thought associated with the process of the gift.

When I saw him on Tuesday afternoon, he gave me this gift:


It is a box of Nilla Wafers and a charger for my phone. That really meant a lot to me because 1) he actually paid attention to what I was saying, 2) he went out of his way to put it in a bag and make it girly.

Later that day, my child came home from school and saw the gift bag and tissue paper. She took it to her room and decided to wrap herself in the paper before shower time. (I have no idea why. She's 5. It's what she does.)

This morning, he came over to the house for breakfast. When I opened the door, he handed me this gift:

It is a Calla Lilly plant which is my favorite flower. Such attention to detail. After breakfast, he just sat and talked to me. He sat on the floor, working while I worked. We talked a little on an off. Then he had to leave for work. My love tank is full for a week.

I encourage you to learn your spouses love language and choose to communicate to that individual in his/her language. It has a positive affect on relationships.

Stellar Students

I experienced my first parent-teacher conferences. NyCee received all 4s on her progress report. (She is not yet receiving letter grades.) Her teacher stated she is darn near perfect. She is well-behaved, concentrates on her work, and is self-directed to complete her work. The teacher stated NyCee does not rush through her work to get it completed. She takes her times and forms letters correctly or matches the pictures with the words. She is progressing very well in kindergarten.


Tyler's behavior has improved tremendously over the past few months. He is maturing and growing so fast. His conversation is clear and he is curious about spelling words and learning his letters.

His teacher stated he can count to five by himself, spell his name, and recognize shapes (save oval and rectangle). He spells his name, T-Y-L-E-R, and then says, "Bubba. Mommy calls me Bubba."
Now, we are working on pencil control to help him begin writing.

1+1+1

1 class
+
1 comprehensive exam
+
1 dissertation
_____________
= Dr. Dayna Carlisle Thompson

Jesus give me the strength to keep going.

Day at the Farm

The kids and I, along with a couple of their friends and moms, spent the morning at a place called Verticco's Farm.

We started by walking through a corn maze attempting to find the markers with the hidden animals. Each child took a turn as "line leader." After several times of walking in circles, Izze led us to marker number 2. That was the only marker we found.

After the corn maze, we ventured to some sort of inflated bounce thingy-ma-boober. I have no idea what it is exactly but the kids loved it. They played on that thing for about 20 minutes. We, the moms, finally had to tell them to move on to something else.

After that, the kids rode the "train." I was apprehensive to let Tyler ride alone. However, Ms. Vicki (Izze's mom) explained that he had to hold on tight to the steering wheel. He held on the entire time.


NyCee enjoyed running around and playing with her friends. Both Megan and Izze are older than NyCee but they still have fun together.

When we arrived home, the kids took showers and changed clothes. Tyler was fast asleep in less than 30 minutes. NyCee, on the other hand, did not want to take a nap so she had rest time instead.

I am exhausted.

Kid Day

The kids and I plus Izze spent the day together. We started with a train ride at the park.


It was a beautiful day. The temps went back up to the 100s. It had cooled down to low 70s last week. I was able to turn off the air conditioning four days. (That is wonderful living in AZ. We get excited to turn off the a/c.)
The kids rode the little rides at the park. This was the first time NyCee and Tyler had been on a ferris wheel. They really loved it.

After the park, we went to another park where the kids want to play. Then, we went to IHOP for lunch. After IHOP, we went to a movie. Following the movie, we ended our day with Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

When we arrived home, NyCee and I watched "Chopped" on Food Network. Tyler watched "Cars" in the play room. The highlight of a the evening came several hours later. I called Tyler into the shower and noticed he was chewing. When I asked what was he chewing? He calmly replied, "Broccoli." OMG! The boy held one piece of broccoli in his mouth for 3 hours.

WOW. I guess he really does not like broccoli.

Bowling Day

The kids are on Fall Break this week. (Seems as if they just went to school - jeez. where does the time go?)

We picked up my friend's daughter - Izze and hung out today. We ended our afternoon excursion at the park.

We started the day out at the bowling alley. That was pretty fun.

NyCee was very strategic as she attempted to line up the device directly in front of the middle pin.

Little Fred just rolled it where ever!

And Izze had a couple of ugly splits along the way.

Each of them had a couple of times where they picked up the split. It was fun to watch them.

After three games, Little Fred emerged as the winner. He actually won all three games.

I have to prepare for these breaks. This is the first year I am dealing with this issue. In the past, the kids were in daycare. I definitely have to figure out activities for the Christmas break. That is almost 3 weeks long.

Chilly Day

It was a little chilly today. The temps dropped from 100 degress on Sunday to 75 today. Now, those up north are probably wondering why my daughter is wearing tights in 70 degree weather. It was cold. There were kids at school with hats and mittens. Hey, we do not get to wear winter gear that often so we get excited when the temps are cool.

Of course, it will be 90 degrees next week but hey, she looked cute today.