It's Great To Be 8!

A Bayley party would not be complete without a pinata

I can't believe my oldest turned 8 last week. Things have been a bit crazy around here as of late, however, we did have a great time celebrating her special day. She has been looking forward to turning 8 for a couple of years now. Not only did she get to choose to get baptized and confirmed a member of our church, but she also got to choose to have her ears pierced. In OUR family, the rule has been that our girls can choose to get their ears pierced when they reach the age of accountability, which for us is 8. Bayley and Kendal both have questioned us numerous times about why we have this rule and how unfair it is that they have had to wait. Despite their pleading and attempts at getting us to give in, we have held firm to the "wait til your 8 rule" and have now survived one daughter having her ears pierced.

The finished product

Bayley began her birthday with, what has come to be a tradition in our house, Lamar's donuts. Grandma Nancy surprised her by driving down from Indiana to be here for Bayley's birthday and baptism. So at Bayley's request, Grandma Nancy, Trey and I took one of Bayley's favorite treats, pumpkin chocolate cookies to share with her class. The cookies were a hit and after the snack we checked the girls out and headed to get Bayley's ears pierced. Bayley was worried about the pain that she might feel getting her ears pierced, but was willing to make that sacrifice.

Bracing for the worst

Fortunately for all of us, she barely felt it and didn't shed even one tear. That evening Bayley had a small birthday party, which was just fine with her mom, but a bit longer in length of time. She invited 3 girls from school and they had a great time, decorating cupcakes, swimming, opening presents, playing games, and eating. I think she had a great time.

The day after her birthday, Saturday August 22nd, was the day of her baptism. Grandma and Grandpa "G" joined us and we spent most of the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the pool. That evening was the actual baptism and afterwards we went to our favorite family restaurant, Chick-fil-A for dinner. It was a great day.

Proud Dad and Bayley

Sunday Bayley was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was able to have Grandma Nancy, Grandma G and Grandpa G there to support her. Bayley is such a special girl who more than most 8 year olds, truly appreciates the fact that she is now a confirmed member of the church.

I am so proud of my beautiful 8 year old and the decisions that she is making at this time in her life. Any one who knows Bayley knows just how sweet, smart and mature she is. She makes a great big sister, not only by what a great example she is, but also by how she is most of the time very willing to include her younger brother and sister in what she is doing. She loves school, riding her bike, dancing, swimming, reading, anything crafty, and cooking. Once again, I can't believe how quickly 8 years has passed and I can only imagine how another 8 will fly by....

Trey Turns Three!

2 years old

August 10th is Trey's birthday. This year he also shared his birthday with the first day of school, so it was a BIG day for the entire Thornton family. Going into the day Trey and I had a definite plan of what he wanted to do for his birthday. He made it very clear that he wanted donuts from Lamar's (a local donut shop) for his birthday breakfast. So after making sure the girls were settled in school, we headed to Lamar's for donuts. He picked out his donut and then proceeded to pick out one for his sisters and his daddy, which was very thoughtful of him. After a few quick errands we headed back to the house for swimming with Erin (who is actually better friends with Kendal, but was kind enough to join Trey on his special day). Trey's friend Eden also joined us for lunch and play, which made our day much more exciting and fun. After the girls returned home from school, the kids went out to the pool for more swimming so that Trey could show off his new toy for the pool....a little mini-slide. For dinner, Trey requested pizza...I love easy picks! After pizza, presents and cake it was time to call it a day! Fortunatley for me, Trey got some great presents for his birthday that have kept him very well occupied this week. In fact, I was worried that he would want to watch TV all day now that he was without playmates at home, however I don't think we have turned on cartoons once the entire week because he has been so busy with all of his new toys and activities.

Now, some of the stuff Trey is up to at 3 years old:

• Trey has turned into a chatter box. A year ago we were worried that he might never speak, however our concerns are GONE. He does a good job keeping up with his sisters when it comes to conversing, which as most of you know can be pretty tough to do.


• Trey hates having his hair cut, but likes having his hair "just right". I think I have finally figured out how to make it through a haircut without him screaming...I just threaten to buzz it all off. He is too particular about his hair to have it all gone.


• Trey loves to be a jokester! He loves to make his sisters and parents laugh.


• Trey is a great bike rider. I have a feeling that before the passing of another year he will be without training wheels. He loves to ride his bike and does a decent job of keeping up with his sisters.
• Trey loves to swim and is getting better at it every day. I have to force him to wear any type of flotation device, but most of the time I let him swim without anything on and just keep a very close eye on him!
• Trey loves bubbles, bouncy balls, and games. His latest obsession has been games of any type. We play a modified version of Old Maid with him and he will play and play and play some more. In fact last week alone I bet he played the game at least 100 times with anyone who would play with him. He is learning to be a better loser...saying "sometime you win, sometimes I win" to make himself feel better when he loses. The first couple of times he lost we had complete meltdowns, so he is doing much better!


• Trey is a VERY LOVED little boy!

First Day of School 2009

Monday the girls started back to school. Both were VERY excited. Kendal especially was READY to see what school was all about. Both wanted to ride the school bus on the first day of school, so I put them on the bus and then I met them there so I could take a picture of them in their classrooms. Kendal took one good picture and then she was ready for Trey and I to leave. So far she is doing well. The only issue seems to be her need to TALK a lot. The first two days her teacher noted her excessive talking during class. I guess it is a pretty common theme amoung the kindergarteners because after talking to her teacher she wasn't very concerned, she just didn't want it to get out of control. I didn't get a picture of Bayley in her classroom because by the time I made it up to the 3rd grade classroom all of the kids were already seated and working on their first assignment. Over half way through the first week and both girls still seem excited about school...we can only hope that that excitement last 176 more days!

Summer's End and Tomorrow's Fun

Hard to believe that it's over. 10 weeks of summer have flown by. We did a lot, but not as much as we wanted to...isn't that the way it always is? For now though the girls are SO excited about starting a new school year. Last Thursday they had their orientation night where they got to meet their teachers and see who will be in their classes this year. Both girls seem to have gotten great teachers. Bayley will have Mrs. Brown, a young third-year teacher who seems to be just what Bayley ordered. She placed a heavy emphasis on science and math at the orientation, which two of Bayley's favorite subjects. Kendal too has a younger teacher, Mrs. Troup, who will be teaching kindergarten for the first time this year. Kendal has been in countdown to school start mode for at least the last 1/2 of the year. She is ready and VERY excited to be growing up! That will leave Trey and I home alone for the next 7 weeks until the baby comes. He is such a fun kid and hopefully he will adjust well to being the lone ranger in the house during the day. Tomorrow not only marks the beginning of a new school year, but is also Trey's THIRD birthday. He is so excited! Later this week I will try to hit the highlights of tomorrow and tell you more about our BIG Boy.

As for the last couple of weeks we have really tried to enjoy the last of those lazy summer days. Most mornings we tried to get our errands and other must do items out of the way so that we could enjoy our afternoons. After naps, we spent most afternoons in the pool or riding bikes...both activities very much enjoyed by all of the kids.

Two weeks ago the girls and I headed to Tennessee to attend Leigh's baby shower. The girls love a party and even put up with the 3+ hour drive without complaining. We had a great time and can't wait to meet another Griffeth Girl here in the next couple of weeks.

This last weekend we spent some time at the lake. The kids swam, jet-skied and enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa "G". Because Grandma and Grandpa "G" have to work tomorrow and won't make it back to Alabama for Trey's birthday, we did a little pre-birthday celebration on Saturday at the lake. Trey definitely is getting old enough to understand what a great thing a birthday can be...he loved his presents and the cake!

Tomorrow really should be a fun day...I can't wait to hear all about the girl's first day of school as well as spend some QT with Trey on his 3rd Birthday. My babies are growing UP!!!

Headed to the Hoosier State

Despite the rain, thanks to a big garage, the kids still rode bikes and scooters!

All summer we have been wanting to head to Indiana to see Jeff's family. The kids love their grandparents, cousins, and grandparent's dogs. A couple of times we have scheduled a time to go only to have our plans fall through. So last weekend after a looking at our calender I realized that if we didn't go last week we weren't going to make it up there until the Holidays. Unfortunately last week Jeff had some stuff going on at work that didn't allow him to take off, so I headed north with the kids. Fortunately we have very accomodating family that will allow us to drop in at the last minute. The kids had a great time and survived the 8 hour drive very well. Grandma Sara and Great-GrandkidsGrandma Nancy with her sunglass-wearing grandkidsCelebrating Jordan's 6th Birthday!Kendal holding Jeff's cousin Natalie

The kids with Grandpa Thornton

Great Grandma and Grandpa Thornton and the kiddos!

Pinky Style

I have been meaning to write a quick entry about some of the Thornton kid's latest accomplishments. Each of them have worked hard this summer to improve upon at least one skill.
Bayley has managed to continue to improve her reading skills....I can't keep books in the house. Some days she will read 2-3 Goosebumps (her favorite series at this point) books, which makes our weekly trip to the library a MUST.
Kendal has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. At the beginning of the summer she said that this was something she wanted to learn to do, however as a parent I wasn't quite sure how quick she would get it because of how cautious she is on a bike. It took her about a week and she had it. She LOVES her bike now and is increasingly getting more and more adventurous. The first week that she learned to ride her bike without training wheels we had Grandma G over at our house and she was so excited to show off. After a couple of laps back and forth to the culd-de-sac she decided to get BRAVE. She yelled up to me and my Mom, "Look I'm riding without pinkies!" as proud as can be with both pinkies in the air. It was so cute and so sincere...she now has graduated to riding one handed at moments!
Trey has also accomplished a goal we had set for him at the beginning of the summer...that is to learn to swim without floaties. I don't nor do I want him to swim without floaties very often, but I do like the assurance of knowing that he can swim to the side if he were to fall in without a float on or if he forgot his floaties and jumped in. He not only can swim to the side, but has become quite the little fish. I let him occasionally swim without his float when there is an adult in the pool and he does a pretty good job, however I continue to caution him that he needs his float because he does get tired easily.

I am glad that we did set some goals at the beginning of this summer and it has been fun to watch my kids work on their individual goals and accomplish them. Less than one month until school starts and we still have other stuff we plan to accomplish...we better get after it!

Celebrating the 4th of July 2009

Rarely a week goes by that my kids have not gotten to do something extraordinarily fun or exciting. They really do have it good...if I do say so myself. One of the main reasons for me having the blog is to document our lives so that they will remember all of the fun and exciting things they have been able to do. This last weekend was no exception. We headed to the Lake to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa "G".

Friday we arrived and settled in and then Jeff and I took the opportunity to sneak away and go to the temple in Birmingham while we had "free" sitters. My good parents were kind enough to entertain the kids for the evening and as usual my kids had a great time. They were able to test out the new jet skis (blow up ride ons for the kids) and take a late night swim. Jeff and I enjoyed a nice night serving in the temple and then grabbing a bite to eat alone!

Saturday we decided to get moving pretty early in hopes of beating the crowds that the 4th of July was sure to bring. While Grandma and Grandpa took out the big jet skis for a smooth ride over the early morning water, the kids showed off on their new toys. They LOVE them! What kid wouldn't??? They propel themselves and they squirt water. Grandpa and Grandma peeling out on the jet skis!Kendal...ready to fire!After a while we decided to head over to the marina where they were doing a boat parade. Their were a lot of boats and people on the lake making the water very bumpy and exciting if you are into that, however even our daredevil Bayley had had enough after just a short time. So after the parade we packed up the jet skis and headed back to the house for lunch. After lunch we napped then it was time for cupcakes and homemade ice cream....definitely one of the highlights for my kiddos. Before we left the kids also got to enjoy the pool one more time and then we headed home to unpack, shower, and get ready for fireworks. Because we had had a full day of activities, we decided to stay home this year and put on our own little firework show....sparklers and a few other little fireworks. A great ending to a great day!

We continue to enjoy our summer and the time we have had to spend together as a family. It is hard to believe that school starts in about one month...

Crazy Hair Trey...what happens when you let your big sisters armed with gel touch your hair
Trey prefers neat hair as opposed to crazy hair