Florida in October

We made a quick, long weekend trip to see Ian's parents outside the Orlando area near Mt. Dora. It was super nice to spend some time with them - especially "Mama", Ian's grandma who is 100+ years old (though you'd never guess it from the photos below.

The Thompson estate...



Nia with her Daddy and Grand-Daddy aka "Pak"


Ian's Grandma :)


Auntie Kay helping Nia perfect her swimming skills...



Ian's grandma. :)

Happy Halloween (posting in December!?!)

Yes.... I'm finally getting around to post again. I've been seriously slacking on the blog - I'm just uninspired in my busy-ness lately, and never feel like getting on the computer outside of work. But since I'm on vacation I'm making an effort to get caught up!







She loved her ladybug costume, and so did I! I didn't think she could be any cuter than in her kitty costume last year, but this was pretty cute, dontcha think? :)

Nia's first pumpkin carving experience

My gosh- she's SUCH a girly girl. She was very hesitant to dig into the pumpkin to clean it out. In the beginning, she'd only use a spoon. But finally, after watching me for a while she got in there! She talked and talked about the experience and it being her first time (she was so excited). And we think our jack-o-lantern turned out great!

Roller Skating is a Blast!

We took Nia roller skating for the first time Saturday. We had so much fun! It's been a long time since I'd skated, but luckily the skill came back to me as well as A LOT of great memories from childhood skate times. I wondered if Nia would get tired of not skating well and of the falls getting to her. But she did great - she didn't want to stop and actually seemed to do pretty well.

Festival Fun

After their performances (see next post), the girls took in the festival fun. That's Maya and Bella behind Nia - more info about their wonderful family in the next post. You can tell they all had a blast. I've never heard so much laughing from these girls!

Olympic Training

Nia had her first gymnastic exhibitions this weekend at one of our suburb's annual festival. She was a little shy the first day during the first few minutes and it was touch and go whether she'd participate, or sit and cry. Fortunately she did buck up and had a great time. We're really proud of her and she's proud of herself too which is a great thing. The smiley girl next to Nia is Bella - her parents, Joe & Yvonne, are among our best friends here. They too went to the Air Force Academy and Yvonne studied engineering just like Ian did. She's out of the AF now and stays busy with her 3 gorgeous girls while Joe flies for Fed Ex with Ian.

Haircut!?!?

Nia and her best friend had a play date yesterday. I should have known better than to trust them when they got quiet alone in Nia's room. At one point their hairdressing play turned in to real hairdressing (!) - note Nia's newly shortened hair in one spot.... They both got in trouble, but I'm trying to remember that this is a rite of passage. On the upside they didn't do what I did with my best friend when I was little - I cut my friend's ponytail off, and she cut one of my braids off! So at least I don't have to cut all of Nia's hair trying to make it look ok like my mom had to do for me.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great weekend in Atlanta. I really do miss living in that city; however, the longer I'm away the more I think I don't want to live in such a big place. Uncle Che and Auntie Vicki spoiled Nia as per usual, and we had a great day trip to the Atlanta Children's Museum. Auntie Vickie - thank you for the "Rock Royalty" t'shirt Nia's wearing! We love you guys!

Soccer

I'm really glad my girly girl wanted to play soccer! Her favorite is still gymnastics, but she is so excited to be learning soccer (and of course she loves her black and pink cleats and shin guards!). God bless the coaches - these little guys are a bit clueless and have a little bit of a hard time focusing! One little girl was running across the field when she saw a bug she wanted to look at...so she came to a screeching halt and bent down looking at the ground - seems this is common at this age! But Nia is doing really well with paying attention. :) Our first game is this Thursday - should be interesting!

This Quality Stinks

The quality of the photos on our blog has drastically diminished. I don't know if blogspot changed that, or if I have a setting off. I'll have to ask my friend who also has a fab blog for her children (Melissa??)... and I'll try to improve them......

"I Want to Ride My Bicycle, I Want to Ride my Bike!" (Queen)

We got Nia a new bike yesterday and can't believe she's moved on to 16" one! I can't believe how big she looks riding that thing. She's also reading more and more - drastically more in the past week or two. It's all kind of freaking me out! Interesting the two different perspectives in parents - Ian's not freaked out at all - he's very proud, but I can admit it's a weird mommy thing that I'm a little overwhelmed by how quickly time is passing and not being sure my baby is ready for all this big stuff!

P.S. - Nia's auntie kindly asked if Nia wore a helmut (good eye Auntie Kay) - just so you all know, YES, Nia normally wears a helmut. We didn't happen to have it with us on this one, first-time riding experience on the new bike!

First Day of School

Junior Kindergarten.... Nia's the youngest in her class since most of the kids turn 5 this year. But, she's still not quite the littlest (almost though) and she's so excited since "junior kindergarten" sounds like school for big kids. Which I guess it kind of is - where's my little girl going!?! Peace ya'll (she has about 3 or 4 peace tops and they are all her favorites).

Practice Makes Perfect

I wish you could see the gymnastics gym Nia goes to. It is incredible - to see these little girls doing flips and handsprings. Nia loves it - good thing since she goes twice a week for an hour and a half. She's now on the "Firecracker" semi-competitive team and will be doing some real performances as the 2009-10 year goes on. She loves to practice her "routines" at home, and teach her babies and stuffed animal friends how to do things.

SLOW DOWN

Nia is giddy about growing up. We were at the store recently, so I could pick up some more makeup.... I paused to look at some shoes, and apparently she did too. She BEGGED me to buy her these. Ummmmm, no...... I keep telling her to slow down and be my little girl for a while, and then she laughs and is very proud to tell me that she won't stop growing - not matter what!

Me & My Girl

What a great hang-out friend she is. There sure is a big difference between 3 1/2 yrs old and 4 1/2 years old! Nia is writing, reading some, and busy, busy, busy. It amazes me the things she hears about once and remembers. We pass a cemetary on our way to and from gymnastics. I had to explain to her what it was... and she was very matter-of-fact about it. She asked what the stones were and I replied Headstones. Over a week later when we were driving there again I heard her explaining to her stuffed animal what a cemetary and headstone is. She's experienced the death of our beloved dog and bounced right back and is ready for another pet. I got her a new fish, who she named Mousey yesterday, hoping that would appease her. I'm not ready for another dog.

4th of July!