Grounded

Definition.  Grounded.  1-to be restricted to your home.  2-to not be able to participate in certain acts.

Lauren has been grounded since Sunday.  

This happens when you bite your Mom, say naught words, and decide to conduct a "science project" in your neighbor/best friend's parents Master Bathroom while they are away and a 13 year old is babysitting your sidekick.

If only the science project didn't involve 150 Q-Tips, an entire bag of cotton balls, glitter, toothpaste (to glue the cotton balls to the mirror of course), flowing sinks and 1/3 inch of water on the floor.

Fast forward three long days for her parents confining her indoors and this morning she tells us that she kind of likes being grounded so she can play inside with her parents.  And that "it's a hard choice when you are so popular and people are knocking on the door who want to play with you". 

Clearly our approach is not working.  Next step...manual labor.

Kindergarten Picture 2015

Oh Lauren.  Will you ever know how loved you are?   

How much we love your strong-will, big words, tiny body and your sass?  

You beat to your own drum, are smarter than any child we know, and oh how we love your "fashion" as you tell us every morning when you dress yourself.  

You are fun, hard, soft, and complicated.  

And now you are in Kindergarten making your own rules.

This is sure to be a fabulous, wonderful, complicated and exciting year ahead.  

And none of us would have it any other way.  

Love you. And love that pink bow!

The Pledge

Who needs the Pledge of Allegiance when you have your very own pledge from your Kindergarten teacher to try and be good??  

Note, she left out the "not" in her pledge.  Sneaky little thing!

Slumber Party.........or not

God help us all.  Lauren has found her side-kick.  

We recently had some new neighbors move next door and they just happen to have a five year old daughter. She is tiny, mighty and Lauren's new best friend.   

So why not do a sleep-over to welcome her right? 

Engage hyper-active Mom who wants Payton's first sleep-over to be perfect. 

After all, kids remember this stuff forever right?

Let's invite her over for a full 24 hours.  And have nine meals. And snacks too!

And let's take a bath. Or three.  With face paints. And 30 small toys. And then clean up again.

And better yet.  Let's go to bed at 11:30 p.m. AFTER Mom and Dad have put you into bed three times starting at 8:00.   And don't forget to do gymnastics off of our furniture before you doze off.  

Lastly, let's get up at 6:15 a.m. and request a hot breakfast. In the garage.  On a picnic blanket!

Note to self: Being the "fun Mom" doesn't pay!

The Thomas Family Crest

The Thomas Family Crest by Lauren Thomas

A "T" for Thomas

Proper representation of our family (I think Bryon is the pink one)

A pumpkin?

Something that resembles a Lego with eyes, and a red crown.

Perfect!

Welcome to school

Need I say more?  Let the cross-infestation of small school children (and bugs) begin.

In the clear.  For now...

Shopping 101

Aunt Coni and Uncle John came into town for the Labor Day weekend.  What do you do when everything is closed but the mall???   SHOP!

So we took Lauren to the stores to get her some new underwear (to avoid the ongoing complaints of "wedgies" in her Size 4 panties).  Also, we needed some new shoes so her toe nails are no longer breaking off due to her shoes being too small.  Mother of the year yet again!

5 pairs of boyfriend-style underwear, 4 pairs of shoes, 3 dresses, and 1 massive pink head-band later, Aunt Coni and Mom are broke but Lauren finally took an interest in retail therapy (although you can't tell from the picture below).

5 going on 15 I swear!

Frozen on Ice

Saturday, the Thomas family headed downtown to see all of our Disney friends at "Frozen on Ice".  You have never seen so many excited little girls all adorned in their princess attire.  We tried to wear our official Frozen dress (thank you Grandma Kathy) but it was too itchy, so we moved on to another princess dress.  Even Bryon was excited (as you can see here). It was a great show, too expensive and something I'm quite sure we will have to do again next year.  

First Day of Kindergarten

It came!  It went!  That scary day that we've all been anticipating.  The one that was hidden so nicely behind June and July on our family calendar.  A huge milestone in every kid's life.  The first day of Kindergarten.  

The backpack got packed, the new supplies purchased, and the perfect dress for our first day was all ready to go.  Everything was ready but Mom and Dad's hearts wondering how this day came so fast when time seems to move so slow?

A good breakfast, a hug from Daddy and off to Brookridge Day School we went.  

The parking lot was like a carnival of people taking pictures of their child's first day.  Lauren was less than thrilled, but I think this picture perfectly captures how every child must have been feeling.  

Love her!

Her room is adorable and so comforting.  14 tiny wooden desks perfectly assembled with an array of school supplies all labeled with her name on it.  Lauren thought it was very cool that she can finally have her own pair of scissors without me telling her "don't cut your hair!"

We hung up her backpack and gave her lots of hugs.  But then it was time to peel her off our legs and hand her over to Mrs. Moore.  The woman who is now charged with teaching Lauren all about reading, writing, spelling, and math. It appears as though Lauren is 3 and her name is Laetho.  

God bless this teacher! 

In the afternoon I went to pick her up as soon as school ended to celebrate her first day with ice cream. Not only did she have a wonderful day, but wanted to stay and have the afternoon snack with her new friends before leaving.  She told us all about her day including how the class took a scavenger hunt around the school to learn where everything was.  First to the nurses office for a band-aid, then to the principal's office for a sticker. To the bathroom for a Kleenex and to the art room for a pencil.  Brilliant!

Then we came home with our first official homework assignment (Mom panicked a bit)!  The assignment was to place four things in a paper bag that let's the teacher and class know what you like most.  Lauren packed up a tiny American Girl doll, a barbie, some goggles for swimming and a Minion???

We love you Lauren.  Here's to a wonderful year ahead!

Summer Family Vacation - Boston

Two beach trips in Cape Cod, one winery tour, one day in Hyannis, multiple seafood meals, and a lot of R&R later, we headed into Boston to finish out the remainder of our vacation.

I have some fond memories of being there when I was Lauren's age, but found the city is a bit harder to navigate with a small child.  They don't like brewery tours, double-decker bus tours, history, boats, the smell of the ocean, Red Sox games, fine dining, or in Lauren's case...walking.  How did my parents do it?

Boston Tea Party Museum.  

Of course we couldn't go in because Lauren thought the greeter dressed up as Paul Revere was a pirate, but you get the idea.

So we made a deal with Lauren that if we went to the Boston Aquarium and the Children's Museum that she MUST behave at any/all restaurants we took her too.  

You get your fish.

We get ours.

Out final meal in Boston was on the North End of Boston (Little Italy) where we dined on the most wonderful Italian meal I can remember (I'm sure Lauren's butter noodles were great too).  A really fun ending to a really great week.  Until next time...

Summer Family Vacation - Hyannis

The morning after our lobster bake, our fabulous hosts took the remaining lobster "parts" and boiled them for lobster bisque.  Who knew you could eat a meal, take the remaining parts off of everyone's plate, and make it into yet another meal.  I love they way they recycle!  Lauren however did not.  

She repeatedly complained about the horrible smell of the simmering bisque. "It smells disgusting" she would say.  Lucky for her, Mom found her nose plugs from swimming in the suit case so she could sport them all morning long.  What better way to offend your hosts right?

Next it was off to Hyannis.  I had to Google to see if Hyannis and Hyannis Port were the same place as I was very interested in finding the Kennedy Compound. Not only am I still unsure if they are the same place, but Bryon refused to attempt a drive-by so we opted for carnival fun instead.

Summer Family Vacation - Cape Cod

The Thomas family just returned home from a perfect family vacation to beautiful Cape Cod.  We have a good friend who runs an Inn in Brewster, Massachusetts so were invited to come and spend several days there for our summer outing.  There are no words to properly describe the beauty of Cape Cod, the charm of the Inn, or the hospitality of our friends and their family.  

The Ruddy Turnstone Inn.  What a quaint place to lay your head every night.

We were able to view this stunning view of the marsh and the ocean each morning and night. 

Bryon said we look like stand-ins for a commercial.

The people we stayed with have a 5 year old daughter so this was the perfect vacation for Lauren.  Here she and Ashlynn are walking down the sea shell-laden path to the beach. 

The walk back wasn't quite as fun.

The beach agreed with us all.

Headed home to an official Clam and Lobster bake.  

Lauren and I decided we prefer the lobsters on our plates versus crawling around the kitchen.

One of these things is not like the other - Round #6

For Lauren's 5th birthday we got to see Uncle Brandon for another side-by-side measurement.  Guess who's growing???

Someone just turned 5! Part 2

We're halfway through our birthday and the fun just keeps on going.  After all isn't sitting outside having lunch with the ladies a right of passage for a new 5 year old?

And so is eating chicken nuggets with chopsticks.

Next we headed home to decorate the house in "Frozen" decor and get ready for the real birthday party (touche). And Lauren had the most MARVELOUS Elsa Barbie cake you have ever seen. 

Another special request from the birthday girl to her Aunt!

After some donuts for breakfast and cake for lunch it was time to go and burn some energy with a candy-filled Frozen-themed pinata.  So fun for everyone.

We ended the day with a wonderful party joined by family and fun.  

The day was perfect (thank you so much Aunt Jerris and family) and one we will never forget.  

It's good to be 5!

Someone just turned 5! Part 1

Happy 5th Birthday to our beautiful Lauren!  

You have grown so much this past year and we enjoy every new day of adventure with you.  

For our next adventure, we hopped on the airplane and headed to Colorado to start the party.  It was the perfect way to celebrate YOU with our family and friends. Let the spoiling begin!

The big BIRTHday!  

Aunt Jerris promised Lauren she could have whatever she wanted to eat, drink or buy on her day.

So at 6:30 a.m. we came back from the bakery with two huge pink sparkled donuts full of sugar and sprinkles.  

Then of course it was time to open our first present.

Time to put on our party clothes because the ladies are GOING SHOPPING.  

With one cute squint of her eyes, Lauren conned Aunt Jerris and Grandma Keren into a shopping spree at the American Girl doll store.  Again, SPOILED.  

Next stop.  

Ladies Luncheon.