Christmas Slide Show

Merry Christmas!

Yes, I realize it's the 27th and it's a bit late to be wishing a Merry Christmas, but I was not able to get this post in any sooner. Though it's late, I mean it all the same! I hope anyone reading this had a peaceful, relaxing Christmas filled with the spirit of Christ. (For the record, I have no idea what is going on in this picture!)

Santa came to our house and brought just what the kids wanted. I will make a slide show later; I need to clean the house at some point today. I am typing this amid empty boxes and cardboard, and those annoying metal twist ties they now put on all the toys.

I had Isaiah to the doctor today for his ear checkup. He still has some "residual" fluid in his right ear, but the Doctor thinks it will clear up on it's own. Josiah is still on his 10 day dose of antibiotics, but he is feeling much better and his eyes look clear again. He was kind enough to pass pink eye on to Adam who then returned the favor to me. Sunday I decided to try and take care of it on my own with some over the counter drops. Bad idea.



After my husband finished taking these pictures I drove to the hospital to get some antibiotic drops. I am very pleased to report that my eye is now normal size again and all the goop is nearly gone. There was no damper on Christmas, but no one really wanted to get too close to me either!!


I also wanted to add that I LOVE all the photo cards I got this year, your children and families and dogs all looked great in the pictures! I have them hanging in my kitchen and get to see them every day!

Happy Birthday JoJo!

Well, yesterday my little JoJo turned 2 and instead of running around hyped up on sugar all day he took cat naps and walked around whining. Why? Because, he is very sick. Josiah has the same thing Isaiah had a couple weeks ago. 2 ear infections, 2 eye infections and a sinus infection. He is on antibiotics, but I can't give him yogurt because he is lactose intolerant and that would only make his tummy worse. He is a trooper and hung in long enough to open his presents!

It is actually almost fitting that he be sick on his birthday. Josiah had such a rocky start to this world, literately. For those of you who don't know, he got stuck under my pelvic bone during delivery. I'm not talking 'oh, gosh he is a little stuck and you need to give one really big push' stuck. I mean he was not budging and time was running down too quickly. I was giving it all I had and it wasn't enough to move him in any direction. When you see a look of fear on your Doctor's face during the birth of your third child, you know it is something not ordinary. She had to bring in 4 extra nurses to physically push Josiah out of me. It was a brutal way to come into the world no doubt, his collar bone was broken in the process, but it sure beats any alternative. I will gladly take a few colds here and there and on his birthday over the thought of something else. So, Happy Birthday to my little prince! I can't imagine the past two years without him!


6 days old


1 year


2 years

Wordless Wednesday

Common Cold?

Has this ever happened to you? It happens in my house every time a cold bug goes around. I wonder just how common it is.

Christmas Tradition

The air is colder, snow has fallen, today we had lots of ice, the decorations are all up, I am 99% done with my Christmas shopping and now it's time to start making hot chocolate and popcorn and planting my family in front of the T.V. every Friday night for our favorite Christmas movies. Last weekend we watched A Christmas Carol and the boys actually followed along and really enjoyed it. This weekend we will be watching Home Alone 1 and 2 and we will also be getting Unaccompanied Minors which none of us have seen yet. This has become a Christmas season tradition at Camp Thompson and I thought I would share with you our top 10 favorite Christmas movies.

10. Christmas With the Kranks - This one is for Adam and me.

9. It's a Wonderful Life - I'm from Indiana, Pa what can I say!

8. Rudolph - It's just a classic and the kids all love it.

7. Prancer - This is such an endearing story and a really cute movie.

6. A Christmas Story - Who doesn't love this movie?

5. Home Alone - Another of the all time greats!

4. A Charlie Brown Christmas - It tells the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

3. The Santa Clause - All 3! Very creative, very fun!

2. The Polar Express - The ultimate hot chocolate movie!

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - The original, thank you very much.

So, how about you? Which Christmas movies top your list or, do you have any recommendations for us this year?

Just JoJo

I have come to realize that I have not written much about Josiah lately. I think I have been overwhelmed by the busyness of 1st grade with Elijah and all the doctor appointments with Isaiah. So, I have decided to compile a list of all the new things JoJo has learned in the past month.

He has really started talking. Not just one or two words, but now he puts together short sentences and can actually answer you when you ask a question.

He has learned to completely undress himself. Down to his birthday suit. He tries to put the clothes back on, but usually ends up with his shirt on his legs.

He can now open doors.

He can climb out of his crib - I have been wondering about this one because he loves being in his crib and doesn't mind it at all.

He likes to color with crayons now - usually on the walls, couch, counter top, and floor. Thank goodness for washables!



He learned awhile ago how to unplug the Nintendo controllers, but now he has learned that when he does it over and over again it gets Elijah upset.

The same can be applied to the T.V. off button with Isaiah. I have to admit, it's fun to watch him sneak over to the T.V. hit the button and run around the corner to hide.

Finally, he has mastered the art of the fake cry. Whether it's in the bathtub and he doesn't want his hair rinsed, or he doesn't want to go down for a nap, or when he is playing with the other boys and wants what they have. Or, when he just isn't getting the attention he thinks he needs at any particular moment. He has become very dramatic and even falls to the ground and rolls from side to side; all the while covering his eyes with his tiny hands. It's all very impressive and many times, out in public, people seem to think we are mistreating him. He is a good little actor and very often can get what he wants from others.



With his 2nd birthday only 9 days away I will have more to post on Josiah!

Humble Pie

This is not a picture of me, or my car it just fits very well with my story.

Have you ever had one of those...days...weeks...months...where you just feel like you really aren't all that great at... well... life? That is how I have been feeling lately, though I'm trying not to let it get the best of me. This morning however, the water works came in the from of my tears. Elijah woke up at 7:00 this morning with a sore throat and asked if he could stay home from school. Since Adam and I didn't even get to bed until 4:00 am (web site stuff) we didn't have to think too hard on that question. When we heard Lij out of his bed and playing 2 hours later, we decided he was feeling well enough to go to school. Adam especially wanted him to go - I was unsure because of the roads.

The ride to school was not much fun due to the condition of the roads, horribly snow covered, and the fact that I was in Adam's car and not used to driving it. I pulled into the school parking lot and slipped twice before I parked the car. I got Elijah into the school and as I was signing him in, 2 of his classmates came down to the nurses office because they had thrown up in class. Great I thought, now he is really going to get sick. I went out to my car and tried to start it, but the engine wouldn't even turn over. Now my day was officially in the 'one of those days' category and I was too tired to want to deal with it. I was also sure that this was all somehow Adam's fault for pressing the issue that we drive Elijah to school today.

I went back into the school office to call Adam and while I was on the phone Elijah's principal came out and asked what happened. He quickly got a crew of guys gathered to help with the car. Adam thought it might just be a corroded battery so that was first on the list, but the car still would not start. One of the teachers ran to get his truck to jump the battery next, but still the engine would not start. I seemed to have juice, but nothing else was happening. It looked like we were going to have to push the car out of the way (as I was parked in front of the door and not in an actual parking spot). So, I decided to go back into the school and update the ladies on my circumstance and let them know my husband was gonna get it. I came back out just in time to see the Principal start the car. Wow, I thought I just got so extremely blessed!

When I asked how they got it started the principal replied, "Well, Bre...it was in drive and it's kinda hard to start a car that's not in park." I was utterly embarrassed! I just wanted to sink into the ground with all the falling snow, but instead I mustered up an "Oh my gosh...I am so sorry...I had no idea it was in drive." I had three guys out there trying to get my car started and not one of them had on a coat - let alone work clothes. All because my car was in DRIVE. That kind of pie never tastes good. Needless to say I cried the whole way home; partially from embarrassment but mostly because I was just so incredibly tired.

At least I got my battery cleaned...

Sister Susan Sitt'n on a Thistle...

Elijah finally lost his second front tooth! After months and months of wiggling it, the tooth let loose and now Lij has a big hole he is very proud of. Phonics is a bit of a challenge, but I think he is dang cute and when he goes to see Santa he can ask for his two front teeth!

Elves and a Scrooge

The Thompson family has been "elfed". Only Josiah was spared because he is the bah-humbug of the family lately. You can click here to view what happened. Josiah did get "scrooged" though and you can click here to see that.

Don't worry if it takes a little while to load. Hope you enjoy and thanks to Lisa!

The Effects of Snow

For all of you non-Northerners, we got our first snow of the year here in PA. We woke up to a covering at our house this morning and all 5 of us were ready to jump back under the covers. Very tempting, but Elijah had school, Adam work and I have a house to get decorated and children to tend to! It was just one of those mornings you wake up and think 'ugh, I just want to stay in this bed, under these covers all day'. It has been snowing on and off all morning and it makes it very hard to get motivated. I seem to be moving just as slow as the snow is falling - which every once in a while is a good thing. Josiah went down for a nap at 9:30 and is still snoozing. Isaiah is content to just sit and look out the window. Not much else can stop a 4 year old dead in their tracks from wonderment. He seems to think that now it has snowed, Santa will be here much sooner. Ahhh...but only 20 more days. :)


Speaking of my little Peanut, I had to take him home early from church on Sunday. He said his head hurt so bad he couldn't even hold it up. Dramatic? Maybe, but it bothered me non-the-less. Something I have not blogged about was Isaiah's health during the months of August through October. I guess it was all a bit much for me to take in at the time and I was also dealing with everything that happened with Elijah. To make a long story short, Isaiah was having pretty bad night sweats. We would very often need to change all of his clothes in the middle of the night and sometimes his sheets would be so wet he would have to finish out the night in our bed. On top of that he started complaining of headaches every day - sometimes all day long. He was getting every cold that went around and seemed unable to shake it as quickly as everyone else. They tested him for everything from TB to Leukemia and all that is in between.

I was so scared, but all the tests were coming back negative. Then out of the blue his headaches started tapering off until he wasn't getting them anymore. He only has night sweats about 3 times a week now and they do not drench his whole bed. Praise God, but it remains a mystery. Our Doctor would like him to have a sleep study, but I'm not ready to put him through more testing just yet.

So, when he came to me Sunday with a headache my first thought was 'oh no here we go again'. It turns out, though, that he had a very good reason for feeling like he couldn't 'even hold up his head'. He has a double ear infection, eye infections in both eyes and a sinus infection. He was one sick little pup on Sunday and I had no clue. (His eyes didn't get goopy until the early morning hours on Monday) He had an ear infection 2 weeks ago, but it didn't seem to go away and instead festered until it made him very sick. He has only had three doses of antibiotic and is already back to running around like a wild man....in between staring out the window at the snow flurries, that is!