Turkey Trot Frisco Style

The Thomas Family has this tradition from their Mesa Days Of Yor - unless you have a good excuse, all Thomas' should be on the starting line at 9am Thanksgiving morning to run the Mesa 10K Turkey Trot! While we won't make it for Thanksgiving Dinner, we will be heading to Mesa for The Thomas Family Reunion this summer.

I did not sleep-in, I did my 8-miler with one of my best running buddies at 6am. We were home by 7:30 and I took Glenn, Ben and Nick to downtown Frisco to join in on Frisco's Inaugural Turkey Trot 5K run. (I know, I know - it's not the traditional 10K like in Mesa, but we did our best.) The times were as follows - Ben with a 22:41 and Nick with a 22:54. (Glenn stuck with Nick.)

If for some reason we are in Frisco again for Thanksgiving 2012 Glenn has hopes to WIN this race! Go Go Glenn!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Emma's Front Tooth

Emma lost her front tooth last week. She will be able to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my little front tooth." She may lose the other one before the 25th... wait and see!

Camping Camping Camping

The month of June 2011 was SCOUT CAMP SCOUT CAMP SCOUT CAMP CUB CAMP CUB CAMP too. With a home full of boys - we definitely got our fill of camp! PLUS we threw in a few extra boys! (Emma and I did survive!)

Logan and Mason (April & Brent's sons) came for a visit. They came during our camp month and Logan was able to participate in the week-long camp with Glenn, Ben and Zach.

They did anything from horseback riding (where we found out Ben is allergic to horses), archery, guns, canoe, 1st aid (came in handy for the horseback riding incident), astronomy, etc etc. They also ate well too.

 Logan is on the left - not sure what's going on?

 Logan during instructional time.

 Zach examining a fish!

Ben, BEFORE, he realized he was allergic to horses!

While the older boys were at camp, the rest of us just hang out at home and went swimming and played video games... I am still looking for these pictures! Hhhmmm...

A week later, Nick went to Webelos Camp.

And a week later, Chris went to Cub Camp.

It was a very very productive month of June in our home. Emma and I just packed and re-packed the campers as they came and went... And actually, the "campers" pretty much did everything on their own! Thanks Guys!

A Wedding This Summer

In July (this past summer), one of Glenn's many cousins was getting married in St. Louis. Stu Thomas was at medical school and met a wonderful gal named Barb (who is from the Midwest). They decided to get married in the St. Louis Missouri temple.

At the time, Clark and Melanie (Glenn's sister and husband) were living near St. Louis, so we thought we'd make the roadtrip. It was about 10-hours and Melanie was right on the way. (Clark had to work so we picked-up Mel and away we went.)

Since we are a family of seven we need to rent two hotel rooms whenever we go out. (We can't sneak any one in anymore; they are getting WAY TO BIG!) So, it was easy to throw Mel in to the mix - she was a GOOD SPORT - hanging out with all of us in a hotel room for three days and two nights. We were grateful that the hotel had a pool and weightroom... and most of the time we were at wedding festivities.

(Cousin Karren and Zach, Nick and Ben)

After the festivities were over we decided to take a quick roadtrip to Nauvoo Illinois. It is only about 3-hours off the path. In Nauvoo Illinois there is much church history. We had an excellent time learning about the pioneers in the 1830s... all the many trials they went through.

Here's a photo of us all walking down the street that led the pioneers to the river, where they crossed and left Nauvoo on their journey West.

(Ben, Aunt Mel, Zach, Chris, Nick, Emma Lee and Cindy)

School Year Is Ending

Well there aren't many more days of school left. (I think maybe 11 or so.) I have been asked numerous times this past school year, "Cindy, what have you been doing with all your extra time now that ALL your children are in school?"

Answer: Well, pretty much the same things that I did before BUT not with any helpers! It was a tough year; I sure miss my Emma Lemma! But, life continues on and things do change for the better.

This afternoon I decided that I better get some shopping done (mainly Costco) so I don't have to make any BIG trips to the store during summer break. None of us like to go shopping. I like to on-line shop and I do like to go to the grocery store and Costco (food issues with me). BUT, none of my kids do.

I went over to Sprouts like I do nearly every Wednesday. On the way out I was listening to some women talk about the "new" Wal-mart that just opened today. It is about 1 mile from Sprouts, on my way home - so I thought... hmm... they may have some good deals. I don't have any children with me... I should stop by. I could at least check-out the parking situation, how to get in and out of the place, etc. And, if there is a place close to the front, I will park.

I drove past the front of the store and right dead-center a car was backing out. I thought, what the hay... I have about a 1/2 hour to kill. It was 1:57 pm when I walked into the store and a tall, well-dressed lady welcomed me and gave me a raffle ticket. She said that they would be calling out numbers at 2pm... "listen for the numbers" she said!

I went over to the lotion counter to get some sunscreen for the kids and over the announcements they started to read numbers. 5 - 1 - 6... I looked at my ticket and sure enough I had 516. I went up to the front of the store. Many people were gathered and I looked everyone over pretty good; I did not know anyone (I don't think). So, I just stood there and they offered me a chance to step inside a cash machine and grab as much cash as I could in 10 seconds.

Why not! So... of course I did it! I picked up $12 and said Thank You and departed the store.

And this folks is what I do "with all my extra time" and "when all my kids are in school!" Anyone want to come join me... I'll be at the next grand opening of some random store!

Oh No!

Before I got this...

I was able to plant these...



I have been running for the past few months with a stress fracture in my left heel. I did not think it was much, for I was able to run comfortably! But each evening I would have the hardest time walking (heel-striking). After about 3 months of increasing pain I decided to go to the doctor. (I know I waited waaaaay to long.) He told me that I could either have a cast or a boot. (It was nice that he gave me a choice.) I chose the boot for it is removable to shower and to sleep! :) Hopefully in 1 month the boot will be history!

Green Thumb?

Green Thumb? I don't know quite yet, but we sure are trying.

We have some green beans with blossoms right now. But the peas are being run-out by the green beans; I think they'll hang-on. They have blossoms too.

We also have quite a few tomato plants with fruit (I am happy to say)! Last year we had plants but no fruit! Boo.

The red potatoes look GREAT on top so I hope that means underground things are cooking. And the lettuce is nice and bright about the size of silver dollars - a few more days on that.

Now the three pepper plants are being attacked by bugs... not sure what to do here. The cucumbers are next to the pepper plants and they are doing just fine. Apparently the bugs enjoy peppers!

I am documenting all this because currently the skies are looking kinda' mean and we are in a thunderstorm watch. That is very common here, so no big WHOOP! It has been in the 90s the past few days with the humidity close to 80+... just kinda' nasty. So, a BIG storm could be coming. And if there's hail (the size of golf balls) at least I'll have nice memories of the Garden Of 2011! :)

End of March in to April

Who's Who?

It's been a crazy few weeks. As I download all the photos on the camera I sure want to make some notes about all the pictures! Time sure is moving quickly!

Regional Meet

Nicholas competed in his final gymnastics meet this year. It was held in Austin Texas earlier this month. Nick placed 12th overall in this year-end Regional Meet. (Our Region consists of Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.)

Below is his pommel horse routine; he tied for 1st. He also tied for 5th on the rings. He placed 3rd on the high bar. It was a TOUGH day; it seemed as if the judges "cut him" by about 1.5 points overall - meaning that he could have placed in the Top 5! (Coach felt as if he had a few unfair ratings, but that's part of life and growing up.)

District Track

Ben ran District Track this year as a 7th grader!!! I guess that's pretty good. He ran against a bunch of 8th graders. Let's just say he didn't come in last, but he was near the end! ;) It was a great experience to run against all these big guys! We (and so is coach - he told me in an e-mail) are excited to see what next year will bring. We all think he has some good running genes and is capable of LOTS! Pressure's on Ben!

Salt Lake City

Each year when there is someone celebrating an 8th birthday in our home we have this WONDERFUL TRADITION! The following April this person goes to General Conference (worldwide church meeting held 2x a year). After Conference they then get to go skiing for two days! It's been fun and we can't believe that ALL the boys got to go this year!

WOW - In 2006 Glenn started this tradition with Ben. Then in 2008 he took Zach and Ben. Nick joined the team in 2010. This year Glenn took Chris, Nick, Zach and Ben! We ALL (girls included) thought about going, but it really has been a special time for Glenn to take each of the boys.

They participated in the Priesthood Session on Saturday night. (They will allow 8-year old boys to enter the Conference Center Saturday night.) Then on Sunday morning they went to sit in the Tabernacle (historical building) to listen to the morning conference and in the afternoon they went back to the Conference Center for the last meeting.

On Monday morning, bright and early, they went up to Alta... all had a Great Time! They did not want to go back to the hotel! But when the slopes closed, they had to! :) Tuesday morning, back at it! We have four skiers who want to move to Utah; we are thinking that Colorado would be more desirable! More on that later...

And the girls... we went to The American Girl Doll Store! Need I Say More! Emma is already planning our next visit... probably during the Father & Sons Campout that is coming up in May!

Chris, Nick, Ben and Zach

Fossil Rim

During the week of Spring Break we took the kids to Glen Rose TX. It's about 2 hours outside Dallas - out in the Boonies! In Glen Rose there is a great area of land called Fossil Rim. Fossil Rim is a forest preserve where you can drive along the 9.5 mile scenic wildlife route.

We were able to feed many animals along the way including ostriches, giraffes and a wide variety of deer.


Half way through the scenic route there was an overlook and Children's Petting Zoo. It had all the fun goats and birds that one can imagine. Christopher and Emma had the most fun brushing the hair on the goats. (Emma now would like us to get a pet goat instead of a dog. I told her she needed to talk with her Aunt Melissa; maybe she could pull some strings!)

The zebras were very friendly and they came over for a bite to eat also.

I was very happy they had the rhinos behind bars. I don't think THEY would have enjoyed being petted! And there's just something about that pointy thing - it would NOT have looked nice SMASHED into the truck! They also had the cheetahs behind bars. Shew!

A good time by all! Uncle Brent (AKA Hunter) would LOVE this place! Hee Hee

Roller Skating

I need to get some pictures of ROLLERSKATING! Zachary is our RK - as in Rollerskating King! Whenever there is a "slow" day (which is rare) he ALWAYS says "Let's Go Rollerskating!" He says it with ENTHUSIASM too.

Within 2 seconds one can here the groans in the background - Do I HAVE to Go! or Why!? or I'll stay home and babysit myself! (Nick, Chris and Emma don't care to skate.)

Ben on the other hand has decided that "Rollerskating is good to know. I can take a date to the rink when I get older and ACTUALLY look like I know what I'm doing." Ben is always thinking in to the future!

But Bottom Line - Zach really likes the music they play at the rink - and it's really loud and all! He is a good skater too.

So... on Friday (the last day of Spring Break) we went skating! And ALL had a great time!

One Shoe On and One Shoe...

Benjamin ran the 2400 (1-1/2 miles) yesterday in blustery Texas winds... they were the 18+mph winds from the NW that kept the day very cool. Good thing the sun was out to balance the temperature a bit.

The gun went off and he pulled to the front quite quickly. He has learned from the past few meets (and cross-country) that there's no messin' around at the start; the elbows were even thrown a bit! (Nice Job Ben!) There were probably about 15 runners (7th and 8th).

He went around once, then twice and as he came by I noticed that he had only one shoe on! Good Grief Ben! He just smiled and kept running. The coaches all looked over at Glenn and I and were smiling too. One coach said, "We're trying to get him to run barefoot Mrs. Thomas!" Yeah, "Ha Ha" I thought. (NOT FUNNY) He still has 4 more laps!

But he kept going and ended up in 3rd (for the 7th graders). His time was about 10 seconds slower than last week but we'll blame that on the wind and the fact that he didn't have on a shoe for most of the race.

He said that it was starting to feel loose and that he knew it was starting to slow him down. There was another boy behind him (on his tail) from Stafford Middle School and he didn't want him to pass. So, he decided to chuck it and the boy from Stafford never did catch him! :) He commented after the race, "Mom, that track isn't as cooshy as you think it is."

Nice Job Ben!

NHS

Benjamin was invited to become a member of the Junior National Honor Society at Griffin Middle School. Here's the conversation this morning:

Zach: Mom, what is the National Honor Society?

Mom: It's quite an honor. It's those students who are doing well in school and also in other aspects of life. For example Ben is in Scouts and also active in church service. He does track and band. He has good grades. Stuff like that. When I was in high school I was in National Honor Society.

Glenn: Yeah, I wasn't GOOD ENOUGH to be in National Honor Society.

Mom: Well Ben, looks like it's you and me at the Induction Meeting next week. Yeah, I don't think they allow for "non" National Honor Society folk to attend. (Glenn's eyes got really big.)

Glenn: Well, alrighty then!... let's just be that way.

Ben: Yeah, I do lots of good stuff Zach (said kind of sarcastically).

Zach: (this was said VERY sarcastically) Do you get a vest or something, if you join? I'd do it if I got a Vest. Vests are so cool! (Now we're mocking!)

I'm not sure where this "vest" thing is coming from... but we sure are happy that Ben is setting a GREAT example for all of us.

Cross Country Begins & Ends

It seemed that as soon as Cross Country started this year - IT ENDED! With two weeks of snow and school cancellations, the five week program came to an end last week. Track has started and Ben is off on another adventure!





In this cross-country race he ran the 2-miler in a 14:27. Not Bad - especially for missing the first week of practice. (He/we forgot to register in time.)

I asked Ben if he enjoys running; he didn't have much of a reply. (I think he'd rather be reading a book.)

The New Stake Center

Last Sunday evening we had the opportunity to gather together with other members of our faith for the dedication of our new Stake Center. The Stake Center is located in Frisco, about 6 miles from our home.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held a year and 5 months ago. It went up very quickly and of course is just BIG and beautiful inside (gotta' be the church in Texas)!

Hand-dipped DELIGHT

If you've never had a Costco Hand-Dipped Ice Cream Bar... than you need to! They are wonderful! Happy Valentine's Day!

A Busy Saturday

Today was a busy day. It started with a long run - we haven't been running with all the snow and ice for the past 2 weeks. It was a nice break (snow & ice) - but it was a rough start this morning to get back in to the swing of things. I have a girlfriend who is thinking about a marathon in April in Houston and I would kinda' like to train with her but don't really have the "ambition" to train for a full marathon at this time. (I feel like the Frankenthon (26.2) was just the other day.) So... wait and see.

We got back in time to get over to Nick's gym meet in Allen. It was the yearly Friendship Invitational. It was very very "friendly" to Nick this year! :) Below is his routine on pommel. He received 1st on pommel (15.2), high bar (15.0), vault (14.7) and rings (14.6). He took the All-Around with an 87.4. Team Eagle (Level 6) took 1st place! Nice Job boys!

He sure was enjoying himself at this meet - you could tell on his face. He ended his high-bar routine with a very enthusiastic double-arm pump, before the customary salute. He was excited!

After we came home from the gym meet we ate a quick dinner and loaded everyone up to head to a Texas Tornados hockey game - EXCITING, FUN, FAST-PACED (oh yeah)! (I am so very glad that none of our boys have asked to play hockey - talk about a rough sport!) Christopher had a b-day party invitation to the hockey game and we all "tagged along" for an enjoyable evening. The game went into overtime with 2 apiece, but the TT ended up losing when Amarillo scored the winning 3rd point. Oh well, still fun! (And no one has asked YET to join any hockey team... shew!)

Day 4

Bart Conner Invitational

Bart Conner (1984 Olympic Champion) is married to Nadia Comaneci (3x Olympic Gold Medal Winner) and they own a gym in Norman Oklahoma... who would have thought!?!?

Nicholas had a gym meet last weekend down in Norman (that's Sooner Country for some of us Cornhusker fans). He and Glenn did the roadtrip on Friday night and I stayed back with the rest of the gang. We did basketball with Zachary and soccer with Christopher. During the off time we watched TV and laid around! YES! As for Nick, he worked hard and played hard too.

He received 3rd in the All-Around. (Harrison Kaster, a fellow team mate, received 2nd in the All-Around. Great Job Harrison!) This is the first meet ever that Nicholas did not receive a 1st place medal; that's not like Nick... but let's just say that this was a very good "learning" meet. Eagle Gymnastics Level 6 Team (comprised of Harrison, Zach and Nick) received 1st place!

Rings was looking AWESOME till he lost his handstand position and fell. Though he was able to get back in to his routine, it lowered his points significantly and he walked away with 4th place (13.8). He received 2nd in the high bar (14.5), vault (14.6) and p-bars (14.4).

Following is his high bar routine:





In the evening, after the invitational, the Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics Team hosted the Minnesota Gymnastics Team. Two of the Oklahoma team members are from Mesa Arizona; they are brothers. Coach Anthony was Nick's coach when we lived in Mesa; it was a fun time for them both!

Emma's 6th B-Day

Emma's birthday was on Thursday, the 13th. After my morning run I stopped over at Dunkin' Donut and got her a NICE SURPRISE! We never get Dunkin' Donut because of all the peanut/tree nut issues with the donuts. But, since Ben and Zach are now older and know all the consequences with the allergy, we don't have many issues any more.

Emma got her wish! (She wanted her hair curly for school too.)






It was also time for a party on Saturday... so on the 15th, six girlfriends came over to party. We played pin the cherry on the cupcake, pass the marshmallow by spoon, musical chairs, pass the present and last but not least - THE PINATA!



We celebrated with cupcakes and icecream... of course they were all pink!

Happy Birthday Emma Lee! (I kinda' wish you were still small.)

Hallee, Emma Lee, Sonora
Payton, Chelsea, Riley, Brinkley

Snow in Dallas

You read the title correct: SNOW IN DALLAS! When we moved here over 3 years ago EVERYONE told us that it very very rarely snows in Dallas. Each year we have been here we have had snowfall and it is so much fun!!!!

We went to church yesterday and were home at 2pm. We played in the snow for the rest of the day till the sun went down. THEN on Monday AM they postponed school for 2 hours so we all got to SLEEP IN! Merry Christmas to me! Merry Christmas to ALL!

All Region Band

While Nick and Glenn were in Austin (see previous post)... the rest of us were getting Ben ready for the All Region Band Competition that was held in Carrollton.



A few months back Ben competed among over 2,000 students (7th and 8th) to enter the first round. He passed the 1st round into the 2nd round. (He was one of only two 7th graders from our Middle School to make it into the 2nd round.) He went back for the 2nd round where he was asked to sight-read various trombone music. And... he Made The All Region Symphonic Band (2nd highest of 3 band levels). He was the only 7th grader to make it this round.

They practiced for the entire morning and afternoon (good thing - this gave Glenn and Nick time to get home). We were ALL (ok-Chris was at a soccer game) able to make it to the performance in the evening to hear the wonderful music. Good Job Ben and my you look SHARP!

We were able to see 1/2 of Christopher's soccer game (which they won 10-1). Chris went home with the neighbors while we went to hear Ben and the Symphonic Band.

And yes, Zach had a basketball game the evening before - but I don't have much to say about THAT game. They led the entire time until the last 4 minutes - 4 minutes - and they lost by 6 points. They held tough until the end... just wait till next weekend! :)

And Emma - she is currently making arrangements for her Birthday Party on Saturday! Planning planning planning to do... she really does enjoy going to watch her brothers - as long as we bring "treats" to snack on and she can bring her baby too.

Life Is Good (but busy)!

Amazing Vault, Star Center, Austin

Glenn and Nick went down to Austin to the Star Center Invitational gymnastics meet this past weekend. Nick placed 1st on the High Bar (14.9) and also 1st on the Vault (15.4). Take a look at this amazing vault! (He placed 4th in the All-Around.) Go Nick!