Uncle Josh Comes to Town

It's not very often that Uncle Josh comes to visit, so when he does, Sydney gets pretty darn excited.  Lizzy is still a little unsure about Uncle Josh...she liked his presence, but didn't necessarily like for him to hold her or touch her.  He came for two weeks before his year long trip (or until he runs out of money) to Africa.  I don't know too many people who are willing to travel to Africa for a year all alone, but Josh seems to think it's a great idea.  We couldn't be more opposite!  It's hard for me to even step foot on to an airplane...I'm perfectly happy at home and he is ready to go or do anything no matter what time of day it is.

Speaking of time of day, Josh seems to have his days and nights a little mixed up, which completely baffled Sydney.  She thought he was always sleeping.  Josh would run on the treadmill at 3 in the morning before going to bed.  One day, I was getting the kids ready to go to daycare and Josh walks in the door from wherever he was, ate breakfast, and went to sleep just when we were getting our day started.  One of the days, I heard the garage door open at 4am, and I got up and asked him where in the world he could have possibly gone.  He said he was bored, so he went to Meijer to buy a couple of books...I guess that's a reasonable answer, just an odd time of day, but I would imagine the lines are pretty short at that time, so he had that going for him!  So, it was very apparent that Josh was in our house due to his conflicting schedule, you could hear strange things in the middle of the night, but it was just Josh being Josh.

One thing that Sydney always thinks of when it comes to Josh is Chuckie Cheese.  She made sure that he took her.  She wouldn't stop talking about it until he did.  It's her favorite thing to do with him.  Of course, on the day that they went, she had to wait until 3:30pm for Josh to wake up for the day, but hey...they went and had a great time.

Unfortunately we didn't catch too many pictures with Josh (duh, he was always sleeping), but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun.  He was here for Hanukkah, which was fun, because now Sydney is at the age when she really gets it.  Although Josh wasn't here for the entire duration of Hanukkah, we had a great family party and he got to be here to see the girls rip into their presents.  Unfortunately, Sydney is just like me when I was little.  She would open a present, get all excited, and then throw it aside and say, "can I have another one?"  I know it's hard to open just one a night, but the kids survived.  Even Lizzy understood that when we light the candles, it usually means that a present would follow.  As soon as the candles were lit, Lizzy would dash into the family room and grab a present and start ripping.  She even knew which wrapping paper belonged to her.  It was a lot of fun!

The last thing that Josh did, was bring our video games back to life.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.  I will say that we had a ton of fun playing Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Wii Bowling, but when it comes to war games, I'd rather not get Jason started on them...but oh well!  As long as he helps out and does his chores, he can play his games all night long (when I'm not watching)!

So, all in all, we had a great time with Josh.  Sydney calls the spare room Uncle Josh's room.  Lizzy still looks for him.  The other morning, she opened the spare room door and yelled "hiiiiiii", but didn't get a response, so she went closer to the bed and started hitting it and saying hi, but no one answered.  The kids grew accustomed to him being in the bed during their waking hours, so Lizzy would at least hear a voice come from the bed when she would say hi.  But he is gone and Sydney keeps asking when he's coming home.  She doesn't understand how far away Africa really is and has no concept of time, so telling her he is gone for a year means absolutely nothing!

Eventually Josh will be back though, and he'll have to come back here to get his car.  So, I'm sure we will relive all of these events again and then hopefully the kids will seem him on a more regular basis.  He tends to travel a lot lately and leaves for a year at a time, but he has to settle down eventually, right? Well, at least we'd like to think so!

By the way, I'm not sure what's up with his long hair, but again, it's just Josh being Josh!

School Visit

I've been a little behind on this whole blogging bit, Josh was in town which turned the house upside down (not in a bad way), but more on him later.  Anyway, last Thursday, the parents were invited to Sydney's school for a gingerbread party.  Of course, I will jump at any opportunity to visit the school, I just love the little kids.  We had a ton of fun!

First we got to decorate cookies, one girl and one boy...Sydney gave me the boy to decorate, I wasn't surprised at all.  Another thing which didn't surprise me in the least bit was how quickly Sydney grabbed for the pink sprinkles.  She didn't care about the fact that there were M&M;s, Fruit Loops, raisins, licorice,etc., she only wanted a pink gingerbread.  I explained to her that the white frosting was kind of like the glue to help the sprinkles stick.  She reluctantly picked up a glob of frosting and stuck it in one spot, dumped some pink sprinkles on it and said, "DONE"!  Of course she was the first one done because everyone else was making cute faces and outfits, I tried to get her to do that too, but the teacher said there was no wrong way to do this, so I gave in and decorated my boy while Sydney ate her girl...she just couldn't wait!

When we went back to the classroom, the kids had practiced three songs to sing to us...it was the cutest thing ever.  Sydney sang along to the Zoophonics song, but for the other two songs, she just stood there staring at me.  She ended up just standing with Mrs. Teeples (the assistant teacher) who was trying to get her to participate.  On the way home, I asked Sydney why she wouldn't sing and she told me that she didn't want me to hear her...I guess kids will be kids...but it certainly was cute.

Finally, they gave us some awesome snacks (as if the cookies weren't enough) and took our pictures in a snowman board.  Sydney thought it was pretty darn neat...I was impressed too since Mrs. Teeple's husband painted it...I can't even draw a stick figure, so I'm easily impressed, but it really was cool. 

I'm glad I was able to spend the morning with Sydney, and the holiday gift that the kids made were absolutely amazing.  They made calendars with really cool artwork for each month.  I'm exctied because I needed a calendar, but I'm even more excited that Sydney made it. I'm very fortunate that my job allows me to leave and participate in these activities!  It means a lot to me to spend these moments with my kids, since I know they will grow up so fast.

Fearless

This past weekend we went to a birthday party for someone at Sydney's daycare (while Uncle Josh slept the day away) which was at the Livonia Rec Center.  That place is just amazing, it's like a one stop shop for everything you could possibly need.  A workout facility, gymnastics, swimming, dance, floor hockey, adult lounge, game room, rock climbing wall, kids tree fort...I mean the list is endless.  We need one of these in Farmington Hills...there probably is one, but I don't know about it and it can't possibly be as amazing as this place.

Anyway, the best part was the swimming area...it was like The Great Wolf Lodge.  And of course as it turns out, my fearless little Lizzy was scared out of her mind.  She spent the entire time with her head between my legs and hung on for dear life.  I thought she would love it since she enjoys splashing in the bathtub so much.  Poor little girl ran to the exit door as fast as she could and was banging on the door hysterically for someone to let her into the locker room.  Although she was crying, I thought it was pretty funny...you have to laugh at your kids sometimes!  Towards the end, she stood next to me and played with the little water fountain, but the second anyone came near her, she was back between my legs. 

Sydney, on the the hand, who is usually very scared of everything, had the time of her life.  It was hard to get her to go home...she loved every minute of it.  She was singing and dancing in the water and playing with her buddies...it was so cute.  She definitely shed a few tears when it was time to go.

I'm thinking that it's time to sign my kids up for swimming lessons soon.  I don't want Lizzy to be this scared of the water and Sydney needs to venture out into water that goes past her ankles (and by the way, she still insisted on wearing the swimsuit with floaties).  The problem is finding the time to actually take them.  It's hard during the work week, and I don't want to be tied down on the weekends, so we'll see.  Swimming in December just doesn't sound appealing to me right now.  Maybe dance lessons first...that's what Sydney really wants.  I guess we have some decisions to make!

"Love My Mommy"

Sydney sang the sweetest song to me today when I picked her up from school and was driving her to daycare. Lately, Sydney likes to sing her conversations.  She picks a tune and then tries to make the words that she wants to say fit into the tune of the song.  It was to the tune of  "Found a Peanut".  She sang, "I love my mommy, love my mommy, love my mommy, she's the best, mommy in the wooo oooo ooooo ooooold oh ye eh ehs she is."  How sweet is that?  It certainly made my day!  I think Sydney is just in an extra good mood because her favorite Uncle Josh is in town and will be staying for a couple weeks before he leaves for Africa.

I'm pretty sure there will be lots of Uncle Josh stories to come.  Josh arrived yesterday from Florida and I'm not quite sure that he realizes he's in Michigan.  Usually in December in Michigan, we don't wear shorts and flip flops...but Josh does.  We all went to Red Coat Tavern for dinner all bundled up for winter and he was still dressed for Florida.  He better go shopping and buy a pair of pants to survive his visit.  I suggested that he might want to get a haircut as well since I've never seen his hair so long, but he didn't like the suggestion!

But anyway, Sydney doesn't care how Uncle Josh dresses, she just loves playing with him every second!  On tap for tomorrow...Chuckie Cheese!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we headed to Midland to spend the holiday with Jason's family.  We figured it made sense since we'll be going to Disney World over Christmas break with my family.  Unfortunately for Grandma Sharon (my mom), she's getting the shaft...just kidding!  It's hard to make everyone happy, I guess we'll have to make it up somehow.  We always joke that since she's from Canada, Thanksgiving really isn't her holiday, but anyway...

Sydney always enjoys going to Midland to see Grandma Polly and  Grandpa Joe.  She was especially excited because cousin Tyler was going to be in town and she just loves him.  She follows him around like a little puppy dog everywhere he goes.  Fortunately Tyler has a great personality and puts up with all of her requests and makes her laugh uncontrollably...it's so cute.

We ended up having a nice dinner with lots of realtives, which I always enjoy...the more the merrier!  The only tough part for me was sleepig.  I always have a hard time sleeping when I'm not in my own bed.  Jason ended up sleeping in a room with Lizzy (she had an awful cold and was caughing and sniffling) since he can sleep through anything.  It seems like guys have this ability to not hear the kids when they wake up!  I guess this time it was a good thing because he was able to sleep.  I slept with Sydney, which wasn't too bad.  She kept waking up in the middle of the night to ask me strange questions.  "Mommy...does Grandma Polly have monkey magnets"  "Yes, Sydney, go back to sleep."  "Okay, good night Mommy."  She must have had a lot of dreams, but for the most part she slept okay.

As for poor Grandma Polly, she wasn't feeling well and wasn't her usual self.  She is the type of person who likes to cook and play and do things for others and that just wasn't the case this weekend.  I know it was hard for her to sit on the sidelines.  She hasn't been diagnosed, but her joints have been aching for a few months now and she is just all achey througout her whole body.  She takes medication, but it doesn't seem to help much.  By the afternoon, the pain eases a little, but she just doesn't feel herself and hasn't gotten out much lately.  It's sad, because she dreads waking up in the morning because she knows that she'll be in pain.  Too bad the doctors can't figure out the problem.  It must be hard to always feel pain.  Sydney and Tyler drew her a picture to help her feel better.  It might have helped a little...but only for a minute or two.

We were supposed to leave on Sunday, but we left Saturday right after lunch.  I felt like we were kind of in the way.  Grandpa Joe has to help with everything that Polly can't do and I think everyone was stressed, and it didn't help for us to have Savannah with us barking up a storm and driving everyone crazy!  Besides, I hate coming home on Sunday's and having to catch up with laundry and everything right before going to work. I like a day to get back into the swing of things. Sydney and Lizzy were so excited to come back and play with all of their toys.  I think they were getting bored.  I think we're going to have to pack a lot of toys for Disney World so I don't go crazy!  So, I'm thankful that Jason let us come home early.

But, I'm thankful for so much more!  I'm thankful to have a wonderful healthy family and two of the cutest kids who always make me laugh and put a smile on my face.  We will hope that Grandma Polly feels better really soon and she can get back to her normal activities.

Oh What a Feelin', When I'm Dancin' on the ...Fireplace

I'm not knockin' Jason on this post, I just think it will be fun for Lizzy to read one day! 

So, today Jason had to stay home in the morning to wait for a package to be delivered from work.  Sydney was at school, so he only had Lizzy to contend with...yes, contend.  I spoke to Jason around 10:30 a.m. and he said, "I don't know how Helene takes care of this kid every single day, she is a terror."  He said that she has been jumping on the couch, running around like crazy, taking every toy out, and eating everything in sight (we still haven't put locks on the cupboard).  When he went to answer his phone, she ran up the stairs, closed the gate, and started running.  Basically, she has to be watched at all times, as do all kids her age.  I'm guessing Lizzy is pretty normal, Sydney was just really calm and that is what Jason is accustomed to. 

Although Lizzy has the tendency to wear a person out, it's actually quite enjoyable to see what she is going to do next...you never really know.  The other day we were sitting on the couch watching t.v. and Lizzy decided she would climb up on the fireplace and just start dancing...it was quite random.  Then, she get's down (because we made her) and starting jumping up and down on her pink chair (which she fell off of).  It's like she's a ping-pong ball...non-stop back and forth!  Once on the floor she looked as if she was going to attempt a somersault; she thought it was funny to look at me upside down through her legs.  Not that I want her playing on the fireplace, but it's all so cute and just makes me laugh.

We gave her an apple so she would sit still for a little while!

Tonight we gave her a little ice cream for dessert, I mean hardly any, because she had already consumed enough food for the day.  She was going to get every lick possible out of that bowl.  I really wish I caught a picture because she figured out that if she put the bowl in her mouth, she could drink the melted ice cream.    It was so cute, she had her whole face in that bowl and was just one big ice cream disaster to clean up...but that's what bath time is for...and at the end of the day, she had fun and these are the simple memories I will always treasure.

Halloween

Halloween always seems to create a lot of hype and anticipation.  Lizzy, of course, had no idea what was going on, but Sydney talked about trick-or-treating for days.  But when it came down to it all, it was a bit overwhelming.  Sydney spent the entire day asking me when we were going trick-or-treating.  In fact, it was the first thing she asked when she woke up in the morning, and then asked every hour after that. She was just so excited!

Since day light savings time happens after Halloween these days, it was still light at 6 pm, which is later than I thought trick-or-treating should begin.  We had to get going a little after 6 though, because both kids were getting tired before we even began.  After all of the excitement, once we got their costumes on, they both kind of stood there with a blank stare, totally tired.  Sydney still wanted to go, she would never pass up candy, but was definitely tired.  They were cute though!!

Sydney had fun going to each house and Lizzy was loving the fact that people were dropping candy into her pumpkin.  Lizzy refused to be carried though, and I'm not quite sure what we were thinking not bringing a stroller, so we moved pretty slowly.  Occassionally I would scoop Lizzy up and run to the next house, but if I got ahead of Sydney she would cry because she wasn't in front...I'm telling you, this trick-or-treating stuff is not an easy task.  I can't wait until they are old enough where I can wait in the street as the kids go run from house to house and I don't acutally have to go to the door and ring the bell.

About half way through, Lizzy totally ran out of gas.  She was crying hysterically and I ended up carrying her home...oy!  Jason continued on with Sydney, but not for very long.  They came home pretty quickly after.  Sydney was tired too and she just didn't enjoy it without Lizzy.  They definitely got enough candy between the two of them though.  We are set for quite a while!  I'm pretty sure Sydney enjoyed passing out the candy to the kids afterwards more than trick-or-treating. She stood by the door with Grandma Sharon to watch for more kids coming, and Lizzy enjoyed being surrounded by candy!

While we were out, Grandpa and Grammie went out to get us all dinner...it was a family affair!  Besides, we had to celebrate Jason's birthday!  The kids seemed to get a second wind and we had a little cake and ice cream (as if candy wasn't enough), and then they crashed and went to sleep.  It was definitely a long day for all of us.

The next morning we took Jason out for breakfast for his real birthday!  I love going out for breakfast!!  We had a great weekend.  I also loved gaining an hour!

Halloween Festivities

Today I had the pleasure of visiting Sydney's pre-school class.  They were having their Halloween party and since parents were invited, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see Sydney interact with her cute little buddies.  We went trick or treating throuthout the school, did some halloween projects, played outside, and decorated a Halloween snack.  The kids definitely had fun, but things have changed since the days I was in school (that makes me sound old!).  When I was in school it was all about the candy and huge parties with lots of junk...but that wasn't my experience today...which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

The school is trying to keep the kids healthy which didn't seem to compromise their fun.  Instead of candy, they received a flashlight, play-doh, erasers, pencils, stamps, etc.  For their treat, they used food coloring to make cream cheese orange and they spread it onto bagels.  They also had raisins to create a face on their bagels.  Of course, Sydney didn't eat hers, but she had fun licking the cream cheese.

They made a the cutest little Halloween picture frames for their project which is now hanging on our fridge.  I was in charge of that center and the kids came and went as they maneuvered their way to the different centers.  Everything seemed to go smoothly.  Sydney is always telling me about the other kids so it was nice to put faces to all of their names.

I did notice one thing today that is pretty consistent with things at home; Sydney always has to be in front.  As they walked through the schools, she was constantly reminded not to walk in front of the teacher.  When they were walking back from recess, another little girl was holding the teacher's hand and Sydney did not like walking behind them so she grabbed the little girl's hand so that she could be in the front too!  At home, if Lizzy and Sydney are dancing, Sydney always stands right in front of Lizzy so she can be the star.  In the bath, Sydney HAS to sit in the front and they both actually fight for that spot...Sydney always wins.

Anyway, it was an awesome day.  I had a great time and miss the good old days of teaching pre-school (where the kids totally love you and haven't developed an attitude quite yet).  When we got home, Sydney and Lizzy received Halloween cards and a little money from Grandma Polly and Grandpa Joe and then carved pumpkins with Daddy.  It was a Halloween filled day.

The cutest thing...as I was putting Sydney to bed...she said, "thank you for coming to my school, and thank you for helping my friend Shelby hold up her dress so she didn't trip."

My little "Bun-Bun"

The Day Off

Last Monday daycare was closed so Helene could go on vacation, and I had the oppotunity to stay home with the kids.  I had to use a vacation day, but let me tell you, it was well worth it!  Since I usually clean and catch up with everything over the weekend, all of the chores were done.  I'm a pretty happy camper when everything is clean and finished, it's the best feeling.  Needless to say, the only thing that had to be done on Monday was to play and spend time with my kids...that's it! It doesn't happen very often.

Sydney was so excited that she was able to stay home with me.  She was in the best mood and listened to everything I said.  No matter what I said, she said "okay mommy".  She helped with Lizzy, she picked up her toys when she was done, she ate her entire lunch, she could really do no wrong.  She was just so appreciative to be home with me on a Monday.

We made and decorated Halloween cookies together while Lizzy was napping.  She had a ton of fun, she loves to bake with me!

(she decorated her face too!)

After nap time Sydney and Lizzy danced to the Backgardigans for a while and then played ball together.  I love that they are starting to actually play together more and more!  Then we went into the playroom, but left the tv on in the family room and I disovered that Lizzy knows the Sponge Bob Squarepants song (oy vey!).. she went running into the other room when it came on.  Sydney is corrupting her and she shouldn't even be watching that show...but oh well!

(Lizzy has a good arm!!)

                                   

The cutest part of the day was when Sydney walked up to me dressed in a tutu, high heels, purse in her hand, as well as a baseball, bat and glove, and said, "Mommy do you want to play baseball?"  I had to explain that we usually don't play baseball in high heels.  But it definitely was cute...my little girly girl!!

It was definitely a fun day.  I might have to use a vacation day in the near future to stay home and play again!  It was so nice to move at our own pace and to not HAVE to go anywhere!  I'm pretty sure we all enjoyed our day.  I've said this before, but as Grandma Polly always says, "A vacation with kids, is to stay home!"  I couldn't agree more!

Zoo Boo

I've heard a lot of great things about Zoo Boo, so this year we decided to take the kids.  I wish I could say that I was impressed, but I wasn't!  It was so chaotic, poor planning on the zoo's part if you ask me!  They have little check points where you stop to get candy.  So, the kids got a bag of skittles when we first got there.  Then there was a show, which also didn't impress me, but Sydney seemed to enjoy it, so fine.  But after the show,(like 35 minutes later, and still only a little bag of skittles) every single person there followed the trail to get to each checkpoint. We moved like an inch per second. We waited and waited and waited and finally got up to the people giving out the candy, and what did they give out, you ask?  A dum dum!  A measly little sucker...whoooppeee!  After that, we decided to go under a rope to skip the next check point to get away from the pack!  It wasn't until the end, that we finally got chocolate...geesh, that's all I like!

The kids did have fun, so it wasn't all for nothing, and Sydney always enjoys her time with Lily and Jake, but Lizzy was cold and tired.  As long as we kept food in her hands though, she was happy, of course!  They sure were cute!!

Sydney and Lily

Lizzy, Jake, and Sydney

I'm not sure if we will go back next year or not.  I heard that last year the show was at the end, which seems like a much better plan, that way everyone isn't getting to each checkpoint at the exact same time.  But in any event, we got candy, and that's the best part!!  I look forward to Halloween to get the really good stuff!

Sydney was so tired, but she sure loves her M&M's!