Pets

Anyone who knows me very well knows that I'm not much of a pet person. Unfortunately, we have a pet. Anyway, Luke got his dad's love for animals, not mine lack thereof. So I wasn't surprised when I noticed him standing at the windowsill one day quietly talking to a ladybug he'd found. He told me its name was Ladybug the Tramp. Later, when he came out of his bedroom and closed the door, I asked what he was doing. He said, "Shhh, Ladybug the Tramp is sleeping." He'd tucked it into his bed. He went in to check on it later and told me with a chuckle, "He pooped on my bed!"

This kid cracks me up. On another pet-related note, my friend Bridget gave him one of those little creatures that you put in water and it expands. It was a turtle and Luke liked watching it grow. When we took him out of the water, Luke said something about his turtle named Soggy. What an appropriate name:)

Sibling Moments

Yes they are in a box, but aren't they cute?!

We moved Norah into a big girl bed in early November. She was very excited about it. Luke wanted to read a story to her.

Imagination at Work

When we were visiting my parents, I found the kids in this corner of the bedroom they sleep in. They had gathered a bunch of pillows on the floor and put the air mattress on top to make a "car." They were driving it and told me they'd get me a cherry Coke:)

I love Luke's imagination.

All Wrapped Up

This is how gift wrapping went when I was trying to get just a couple things wrapped...

Thanksmas

A few years ago, the Tompkins side of the family decided that during our once-a-year Thanksgiving celebration, we would add some Christmas in too, hence the name Thanksmas. We've changed it up a little each year.

This year we had dinner out at the Casino Aztar, which is great because I didn't have to do any cooking or cleaning:) Then we went back to Grandma Tompkins' retirement home and had a Christmas celebration and played games.

Bryan's dad Geoff made it to the festivities but Stacy wasn't feeling well. The kids had so much fun hanging out with their grandpa. It didn't take them long to warm up at all. It was great to see the whole family.

My Own Little Linus

Luke was in his first Christmas program this weekend. It was the Christmas story, complete with Joseph, Mary, shepherds, angels and wise men. At practice yesterday, Luke fussed and threw a fit because he didn't like his burlap costume. I finally ended up getting him to cooperate somewhat by bribing him with a Hot Wheels when we went to the store later. I wasn't sure how the actual performance was going to go.

Luckily, Luke's friend Logan wanted to come see the program, so Luke was really excited about that. And we told him Logan could come over and play for a while after the program if he cooperated. It totally worked. He wore his costume and carried his bunny and a car for security:) He could've been cast as a statue. He barely moved the entire time. After the performance, people asked me if we had drugged him!

He did a great job. Later when I was cleaning the play room, I overheard Lucy say to Linus on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - "...and what kind of shepherd has a stupid blanket?!" Ours did:)