#picadayfriday

Time for a little lunch time bloggin' fun! #Picadayfriday is in full force!

 

Saturday: This sweet girl might not be feeling too hot. :/ I turned around from putting up all the food I got out to make her lunch to find her holding her head up with her hand and just looking plain pitiful.

Sunday: Sunday was a day of deep sleep. No doubt because she wasn't feeling up to par. This kid rarely NEVER just lays down on the couch and passes out.

Monday: Chloe had to spend the day with me at work. Poor girl...She was at work with me until 6:45! All things considered, she did fabulous, helped me destroy my room, and cleaned her boots up just like her daddy does. Oh, and found the pink pom poms for BCA month.

 

Tuesday: The first day of school!!! She still wasn't feeling herself. I couldn't get her to take her paci out for the picture or even lift her head up. :(

Wednesday: Mommy reinstalled "Elmo Calls" onto my phone. Some crazy 1 year old deleted it a few months back. You would have thought it was Christmas in the Thompson house. While I rocked her nite nite, Chloe and Elmo facetimed.

 

Thursday: I mustache you a question! Thanks to Mandi for letting me borrow these FABULOUS ice breakers to use with my homeroom babies! Each mustache had a random question on them. The kids were paired together, had to find out the other student's name and ask them the question. Then, they introduced each other to the class and told the answer to their question.

 

 

Friday: Today! Chloe told me this morning that she wanted to wear daddy's hat to Jakki's house. I don't know about you, but I think she looks way better in it than daddy does. ;)

 

 

Have a good great FABULOUS three day weekend, friends! We will be hitting up the lake and working on a nice, end of season tan.

 

Till next time,

 

Lori

An Unexpected Visitor

What a great day! Really, what a great week. Today was special though. This morning I woke up especially tired and was truly dragging. As I was preparing my class for the kids, someone walked in. When I turned around, it was one of my sweet boys that I taught 7 YEARS AGO! I seriously haven't seen him in years. He was probably a freshman or sophomore in high school the last time I ran into him. Caleb was a special kid. If I was to have a favorite, which of course a teacher NEVER would, Caleb would have topped my list that year. ;) 

This kid had personality for miles. He kept me on my toes but had me laughing the whole way. Needless to say I was surprised and SO thrilled to see him. He didn't think I would recognize him. Caleb was a little guy when I taught him. Not anymore. He's pushing 6'3ish. I recognized him instantly though. We talked for quite a while. Classroom preparations could wait. He said he was dropping his little brother off at school because he missed the bus and decided to come in and see me. 

My heart was officially full. This is why I do what I do. For a student, especially a boy, who I haven't had in my classroom for 7 years, to take the time out of his day to come say hi to me just because...it made my day. 

To all my teacher friends, don't think you're not making life long connections! We matter more than we know to these kids. Caleb and I sat there and talked as if only a few days had passed since he was one of my sweet babies. It was only after he left that I said, "DANGIT! I should have gotten a picture with him! This would be a great blog post!" Ho hum. :/ He promised to come by again when he's playing chauffeur for his brother. I'll be sure to get a picture then.

Tomorrow is #picadayfriday!  

Till then,

Lori

The First Day Of School

The eyes should say it all. It. Was. A. Long. Day. A good day, but a LONG one too. I'm beyond exhausted. The good news: for the first time in 3 years, I didn't have a single crying child! Usually I scare at least one. :/ The bad news: Today was easy. Tomorrow we start learning! That is why even though the hubs passed out at seven and my sweet, cranky, emotional Chloe took some Benadryl for her allergies and was out by 8, I am still up, still in my work clothes, planning away for tomorrow's lesson in a kitchen that smells like soured bulldog fart. Thank you, Spanky. My evening would not have been complete without your presence.

Oh, and, I didn't blog yesterday about my ESL test because I was frustrated with it. I guess I'm a high maintenance test taker, but I wasn't too thrilled with the testing environment I took my test in yesterday and was afraid I may not pass because I couldn't focus. I got my results today at lunch though and I PASSED! Praise you sweet baby Jesus! I really didn't want to have to take it again. Yay for small miracles! 

After work today I was greeted by the sweetest baby girl who wanted to be held. It was exactly what I needed after a long day. I missed her something fierce today! When we got home, she practiced the art of "selfies." I leave you tonight with the most beautiful, almost doll like selfie ever. Look at those eyes and that porcelain skin!

Nighty night, y'all!

Lori

#picadayfriday

#picadayfriday on Saturday. That should be your first clue to the kind of week I had.

Friday: Chloe was tuckered out after going to the rodeo. She loves any excise to wear her spurs!

Saturday: See a trend? You might have had a busy day if you can fall asleep at the CIRCUS! P.S. I LOVE that paci hanging out!

Sunday: Motorcycle fun!

Monday: The last day of swim lessons. Notice something missing? That's right, she went in with NO PACI and no tears!!!

Tuesday: The first official day back at Jakki's house for the new school year.

Flashback 2011/2012/2013 . (Tear!!)

Wednesday: "Mommy, I wan dive to da part." How can you deny that!?!

Thursday: Chloe has been sporting our "Commit To Graduate"bracelets. You got to start reinforcing the importance of education early, folks!

Friday: We've been at school most nights this week. This is officially her desk to watch "Mitee Mouse on the TD" at work while I create bulletin board after bulletin board.

Peace out,

Lori 

Confessions of a Frugal Mama

On Sunday, I had to make another batch of laundry detergent if I wanted to have clean clothes to wear. As I was creating my little concoction, I thought to myself how much I appreciated Laura Welty for sharing with me the recipe.  You see, I have a confession. I...am frugal. Not in all aspects. I'm not one of those crazy people that won't spend money on anything. I just don't like wasting my money on items that aren't going to be around for a significant amount of time. Hence, the laundry detergent debacle. Let's face it, detergent is expensive! To get a brand that smells good, you pay a hefty price. If you wash as many loads as I do, buying detergent can easily increase your grocery bill by $20-30 or more a month! Crazy, right?!?

So, when my friend, Laura, first told me that she made a batch of homemade laundry detergent to try, I was intrigued. She told me she used the Duggar family recipe that is available on their website.  Needless to say, the next weekend, I looked up the recipe and added the 3 ingredients (Fels Naptha Bar, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, and Borax) to my shopping list. All together, this cost me less than $10.

That was a year and a half ago. My life is forever changed! The recipe is easy:

1 Fels Naptha Bar (shredded)

4 cups of hot tap water
1 cup of Super Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

First, you add the water and shredded Fels Naptha bar to a sauce pan. It should look something like this:

Bring the mixture to a medium heat. Stir frequently until the soap is melted.

Next, fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add the melted soap, washing soda, and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Once dissolved, fill the bucket up the rest of the way with hot tap water. Cover the bucket and let sit overnight to thicken. 

You now have 5 GALLONS OF LAUNDRY DETERGENT! Here's mine all beautiful and ready to use.

But, wait! It gets better! This mixture is a concentrate. Therefore, you won't need hardly any at all. The Duggars suggest using some kind of jug, filling it half way with the detergent, and filling it the rest of the way with water to dilute. I skip that step and just use half the suggested amount. Seems easier to me to do it that way. The suggested amount to use per load is 5/8 cup per load in a top load machine and 1/4 of a cup per load in a front load machine.  If you use the suggested amounts, the 5 gallons of detergent will yield 180 loads of laundry in a top load machine and 640 LOADS in a front load machine!!!! Is that not amazing!?!?

Still not convinced? Let's do the math. Guess how much this 5 gallons of laundry detergent just cost you...$1.99! That's 39 cents a gallon!!!! Beat that, Tide!  How does that calculate out per load??

Top load: 1.1 cent per load of laundry
Front load: .003 cents per load of laundry!! 

Like I said, my life was forever changed when I found this recipe. Thank you Laura Howe Welty!

Now, get off the computer, grab your grocery list, add these ingredients, and make a plan to leave those expensive, store bought detergents for some other person!

Frugally,

Lori

Chloe Goes To The Circus!

Well folks, it's 10:32pm on the last night of summer break. I should be fast asleep since I have to be up bright and early for our first day of professional development tomorrow. Instead, I haven't even set my alarm clock, don't have my lunch packed, my house is a wreck, I still have laundry to do that didn't get finished over the weekend, and I haven't blogged about the GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!!!

Alas, rest can wait. I know if I put off blogging about our outing to the circus one more day, it will never happen. School, work, and all things life related will consume me. 

I must say, I truly don't remember The Greatest Show On Earth being as GREAT as it was! Did the circus have a live band when we were little?!? Oh yes, I said LIVE BAND! For a second I thought I was at a taping of Dancing With The Stars. ;) It was pretty cool to watch the conductor. He was watching the show and would signal when each. and. every. sound. needed to be played. Talk about exhausting! I bet that man sleeps good at night.

First off, I have to mention that we took Chloe's Mimi, her great Mamaw, and her great grandma Sue. 4 generations! It was great! When we arrived, the doors weren't open yet, so we had to sit around sweating our butts off. :/ Once inside, they had a preshow down on the floor that you could go see. Chloe quickly made her way to the ring that had a woman, her two goats, and a pony putting on a cute little show. We all know how Chloe loves her animals!  Since we were one of the first in the door, my munchkin was front row for all the action in the pre show.  Chloe didn't really care too much about the clown show that followed, but after the clowns left, a dog show came out. Signal the security! This girl and dogs go together like peanut butter and jelly. Her eyes were glued. She was mesmerized. Wait, we have dogs. I didn't pay all this money to entertain my kid with dogs!

Seriously though, they were super cute dogs. There were two of them, both standard sized Poodles.  After the dogs performed a few tricks the trainer called Chloe up to be an "assistant." Ever the shy one, mommy had to tag along with her. We held a big metal ring for the dogs to jump through. It was pretty cute. :) 

I must say though, none of the preshow action compared to how the preshow ended. Talk about making a two year old's jaw drop. The curtain opened and standing before her was Kelly Ann, one of the Barnum elephants. Chloe was shocked amazed star struck! Her jaw dropped, her eyes got as big as saucers, and I'm fairly sure all breathing stopped. Here's a picture of miss Kelly Ann. Did I mention she was C.L.O.S.E.????

 

Anyone who knows me knows I love elepants. They're so regal, so majestic, so wise. All too intentionally, I have pushed this love onto Chloe. She sleeps with her "Ele" every night. She got a new "ele" at the circus that we named "Peanut." So, like I was saying, we are elephant people.  Chloe getting the opportunity to be this up close and personal to one made MY day, and I know she was pretty excited herself.  Kelly Ann hung around a while. She shot some hoops, painted a few pictures, but all good things must come to an end. Once she left, it was time to find our seats, on the SECOND ROW, and let the show begin.

 

 

Although I would have to say that being that close to an elephant was the highlight of my evening, the show definitely did not disappoint. The theme this year is "Dragons." I'll admit, not my thing. Honestly, I could really care less about dragons and all the Asian masters of mind and strength crap stuff that they did.  But, I did love all the other aspects of the show. The lions and tigers were cool although one had some major PMS. That guy in the cage with them is CRAZY. Certifiably...

 

Sadly, it was a long day for us Thompsons, as we had a baby shower during the afternoon.  Chloe didn't get her afternoon nap, and she fell asleep in the middle of the second half. I tried so hard to wake her up, but she was out cold. I know she had a blast though.

 

I'm really hoping my mom got a good picture of Chloe and I at the circus because I got none. :/  If so, I 'll post it in Friday's #picadayfriday. 

 

Till tomorrow...

 

Lori



#picadayfriday

It's FRIDAY! You know what that means. Time for a little #picadayfriday action! Since I missed out last week, this week's will be a combination of the last two weeks.

On Saturday, we attempted to take Chloe to see her first movie, Smurfs 2. It's wasn't completely successful but also wasn't a total bust. She lasted 45 minutes before we had to leave.

Last Sunday, Chloe got to take some of her duplicate toys she got at her birthday party back to Target. I know, I'm a bit behind. :/ Here she is on the way home, reading one of the books she picked out. My hopes are that Elmo proves influential!!!

Monday, after swim lessons, we stopped in at Chick Fil A. Chloe is finally beginning to try climbing in the play areas. She was pretty proud of herself here. It only took 15 minutes to talk her into climbing up to the second level. ;)

Tuesday, we had a long, hard practice. We took this picture on a water break.

Chloe always goes to practice with me, and the girls are SO SO good with her!

 

Wednesday, I caught this photo op of a moment while driving. Mmmm, toenails!

Last Thursday, we went swimming at the Tipton's. Here's Chloe driving their go cart around with Lindsey and Tina. 

Friday, today!!! Today, my girls totally rocked the competition and were on their A game! Here's a pic of them wearing their beautiful new uniform this morning with their TROPHY for their performance cheer!

 

 

Till next time!

 

Lori

Living Vicariously, I Guess...

 

It's been a while since I last posted. I took last week off from pretty much everything I normally do.  It was a lazy, spend time with your baby girl, ignore the laundry piling up kind of week.  That was all done in preparation for this week which has been a bit CRAY CRAY!

Tomorrow wraps up 4 days of intense cheer training.  We had a pretty challenging practice on Tuesday to prepare us for camp Wednesday-Friday.  I have this thing with being the best. I can't help it. No one wants to come in second. No one wants to suck. So, we extended our Tuesday practice to be twice as long and worked our tail ends off. I must say, it paid off! My beautiful and talented girls are smoking the competition! Of course, they're smoking the competition with grace, humbleness, and with a very positive and encouraging attitude. ;) 

This morning, we competed in a jump off against Medlin.  I was so very proud of all my girls. If only I had the abilities they have. My sweet Lauren won the jump off with her  quadruple toe touch, round off, back handspring, back tuck!  Seriously...the competition was intense. At the end of the day today, we had evaluations. We had to perform a cheer and our new routine.  Our girls rocked the house, stole the show, made jaws drop, and won the Award of Excellence on both performances!  :)   CLICK HERE to see a video of them practicing their cheer routine for the evaluation.
Friday is our last day at camp. It's a short day and the parents get to come see what the girls have learned. Oh, and no big deal, but...we are competing against all the teams in the district for that beautiful FIRST PLACE trophy! CTMS cheer will be representin' bulldog style tomorrow! I have been so very, very proud of my girls the past few days. Cheer camp always gives me the fever and makes me all giddy and anxious for our season to get into full swing!  I seriously can't wait!

Tomorrow, we get back to our #picadayfriday, but you can bet your hiney I'll be catching you up on just exactly how amazing my girls do at our competition!!!!

Cheers! *\O/*

Lori

Pic A Day Friday Week 2!

It's Pic A Day Friday!!! Happy last day till the weekend peeps! #picadayfriday

Saturday: Chloe and daddy pose for a pic after dinner at Chilis.

Sunday: Sunday started off with lil miss trying on every piece of dress up apparel she owns. Here she is channeling her inner Minnie Mouse. Rusty said he doesn't like this picture because it makes her look way older than 2. Lol!

Monday: Chloe discovers the obnoxiously large Rangers hat. Poor Spanky suffers through her thinking he must wear the hat.

Tuesday: Someone found a baby bottle I had put in her toy box to use on her baby dolls. A certain daddy is a sucker and shared his Gatorade with her. #musthidebottle

Wednesday: Daddy's new boots are quite the hit.

Thursday: While eating pizza for dinner, she wanted to take a "pipure" with mommy.

Friday: There's a baby girl in there somewhere. How does she sleep with her head covered up!?!

An Ode To Nap Time Part 2

This time last week I posted an Ode To Nap Time. Everyone who knows us, knows Chloe has definitely gone through her highs and lows when it comes to sleep in general. Did I mention I slept on the floor in her room more nights than not last week? And, again last night. It kinda stunk. All this is why this summer, I've been really determined to conquer this nap time beast.

Say hello to last Friday. I decided to try to start slowly backing her Disney couch back into her room from its destination in the hallway that it sits everyday at nap time. I placed it just inside her door on Friday. There was whining, crying, and all around unhappiness. I didn't let up though. We even made an agreement. If she agreed to stay in her room, I wouldn't put up the gate in the hallway. Ironically, she agreed and didn't leave her room!!! She definitely expressed her disgust with the situation, but she stayed put. I was SO SUPER DUPER PROUD of my baby girl! 

On the weekends it's a rare occasion to be home at nap time, so let's fast forward to Monday. Monday was GREAT!! I backed her couch up just about a foot further into her room. As nap time approached, I gave her some gentle reminders that nap time was coming, she would be sleeping in her room, I wouldn't put the gate up if she stayed...blah blah blah. When it was time, I took her to her room, tucked her in, and she said, "Div me hug mama. I div you a tiss! I wuv you!" And that was that! I walked out, no baby gate, no crying, nothing! Here's the proof!

I sent that message to my friends who know just how much of a pain nap time can be around our house. 

Here's Tuesday: Different day, same story!

Wednesday was no different, and today was even better. Today, she went into her room and LAID DOWN before I even told her it was nap time! Even better, I was able to scoot her couch back even further...probably another 2-2.5 feet!  Eventually we will make it to that bed of hers. :) 

Here's a pic of today's nap. In the picture on the left, I am standing where she used to nap in the hall. Look how far away she is!! The picture on the right is taken in her doorway where we first began this process of scooting back. I am one happy mama!

Celebrating!

Lori

 

P.S. Don't forget to check out tomorrow's 2nd edition of Pic A Day Friday!