Sisters

I just can't get enough of Sydney and Lizzy playing so cute together!  They totally love eachother.  Of course, they get their fair share of fights in, but when it comes down to it, they really enjoy being together.  Lately, Sydney has been spending time at one of my parent's houses, because they both have pools, and school is out, so why not?  Might as well go swimming!  But Lizzy gets so upset when Sydney isn't there.  She mopes around the house asking "where Sydney? where Sydney?" and brings me my phone to call her.  Bedtime without her is hard as well because Lizzy likes a "kiss kiss" from her.  Sydney loves sleeping at her grandparent's house, but both times she went away, she asked to come home a day early, and she told me it was because she missed her sister...that makes me so happy to hear that...I can only hope their relationship continues.

The other day we went to Jason's friend's house on the lake for a little bbq and the girls were hysterically laughing with eachother and just running back and forth enjoying the great weather.  Their laughs were contagious! 

Sydney especially had fun because Jason's buddy Kevin was there, and for some reason, she has really taken a liking to him.  She has only met him a couple of times, but always talks about him.  So, she enjoyed kayaking and swimming with him in the lake.  Speaking of the lake, I thought there was no way Sydney would step foot in the lake with the rocks and sand, etc. at the bottom.  She was a little apprehensive at first, but LOVED it.  Lizzy was scared, but fortunately there was a lot of food, so natually she ate the entire time...not kidding!

I might be a little biased...but I've got two cute kids who are growing up so fast!!!

Father's Day Weekend

Our weekend started out at the old ball game on Friday night!  Jason and I had a great night with friends while the kids stayed home with Grandma Sharon!  I always like going out on Friday nights because for some reason it just makes the weekend seem a little longer!  Fortunately, the Tiger's won the game, and finished the game just in time before a huge storm rolled in!

We celebrated Father's day with Jason's parents on Saturday.  Joe and Polly don't have any deli's in Midland, so they always make a trip to the deli for corned beef when they are here...and we gladly helped them eat it up!  Lizzy was so cute, she kept saying, "hi, Joe" (instead of Grandpa).  Sydney hadn't seen Grandma Polly in a while and she had really been missing her, so she was happy to spend time with her!  We spent the day outside enjoying the awesome weather while the kids showed off the new swingset and played in the kiddie pool.  Lizzy had been begging to put on her "waters" (bathing suit).  She gets extremely jealous when Sydney goes to swim class and just sulks around with her bathing suit (on her head), so she finally got the opportunity to put hers on for once!  It was a great family day!

On Father's Day, the kids and I made breakfast in bed for Jason.  We made French toast, eggs, and fruit.  I had already given him his gift the other day (a barbeque), and I wanted the kids to be able to give him a little something, so we bought him a new casual shirt.  After he ate, we let him sleep in until 11, but after that, the kids couldn't take it anymore.  All they wanted to do was go swimming at Grandpa's!  And oh my goodness, they had such a blast!  I was so proud of Sydney.  I think the swim lessons are paying off.  She has come a long way since December in Disney World where she wouldn't let go of me for fear of her life and would only go in the baby pool.  She was jumping and going under the water and "kicking and scooping", as she says.  After two hours, I was getting cold and was ready to get out, but not Sydney!  Jason took Lizzy back to Grammie and Grandpa's for a litle nap and Sydney continued to swim.  I think this was the first time since Sydney was born, that I was able to relax by the pool and watch her swim.  Usually I have a kid clinging on to me the whole time.  So, it felt extremely good to just relax for a while!  That night we all went out for dinner at Modern, my new favorite restaurant ( I know, every restaurant is my favorite). But it was really good.  The chef came out to take our order.  They didn't have a kid's menu, they just ask the kids what they want, and try their best to accomodate and boy did they do a great job...it was amazing...we will be going back for sure!  I had stopped at the bakery earlier, so we went back to their house for dessert!  It was an awesome day!  Sydney slept over at their house, which was nice for me because Jason has to be away for work until Wednesday!  So, it's just me and cute little Lizzy until Sydney decides to come home.  I have a feeling that she won't want to leave the swimming pool life!

Sydney's Last Day of School

Today ended Sydney's very first year of preschool!  The kids put on a little good-bye presentation for the parents.  They wore these cute little outfits and sang three songs.  It would have been even cuter though, if Sydney actually sang the songs!  All of the kids were belting out these songs and doing all of these hand motions, and then there was my kid, just standing there!  Come to find out, she told me that she didn't sing because she was worried that I was going to take her picture!

After that, the teacher presented all of the parents with these books that the kids made, along with a CD of all of the songs that the kids enjoyed throughout the year.  The book was AMAZING!  The teacher basically documented the entire school year for me!  There were pictures that the teacher developed, along with projects, and a monthly documentation of Sydney's progression showing how she colored in September compared to now in June.  I was very impressed and I'm so lucky that she had such a fabulous teacher.  I did a lot of research looking for the right school for Sydney and as soon as I met this teacher, I knew she was right for Sydney. 

Sydney was pretty happy the whole time we were there.  Then, she gave her teachers the gifts we bought for them, and then it was time to.  And then her mood changed drastically.  It was time to say goodbye, and it finally clicked that today really was the last day.  Sydney didn't want to hug anyone goodbye and she got really moody and wanted me to carry her out to the car.  I refused to carry her, and kept telling her that she was a big girl and she could walk.  But she was not having that!  I said goodbye and basically dragged Sydney outside, and finally she broke down crying!  I was like, "what is up with you?"  She said, "I'm just going to miss my teachers and my friends and I love you, so please carry me right now!"  I caved and picked her up, she was just so upset!  When we finally made it to the car, I popped in the CD that her teacher made for her and instant smiles!!  She started singing and jamming (since she knew I wouldn't be taking pictures...stinker)!  I think we've listened to the CD like three times already.

It was a great year! 

Something in Your Car

Sydney has been obsessed with these little sour candy type things lately, but has absolutely no idea what to call them.  Jason always seems to keep some in his car, and Sydney always wants one.  So, it in the beginning, we would get in the car, start driving, and Sydney would randomly say, "can I have one?"  And we had no clue what she was talking about.  We would tell her that she had to tell us what she wants and to use her words and all of that type of stuff.  So, she said, "I want something in your car".  We eventually figured out that she wanted one of those sour candies.  And somehow, a few months later, she still calls them "something in your car".  She'll say, "mommy, can I have something in your car?" (yeah, I have to buy them now too).  I'm currently out of them, so today she says, "mommy, you really need to buy more somethings in your car."  And the funniest part is, that in that last couple of weeks, Lizzy started paying attention to these little candies, and what do you think she calls them?  That's right!  Although, she doesn't say it so perfectly!  She just says, "Mommy, something in car, something in car, something in car"....she doesn't stop until you give her one!

Other cute Lizzy phrases:

• "Bye, see ya!"
• When we tell her that we love her she says, "oh, that's nice".  She usually says, "Sydney, I wuv woo."  And then Syney tells her that she loves her too, and then she says, "oh, that's nice."
• If someone his sitting in a spot that she was previously sitting in, she says, "that's MY sit down."
• If we have company over and another child borrows her highchair, she says, "that's MY eats" (since that's where she eats...she is really quite clever)
• If we get water in her eyes in the bathtub, she always wants a towel to wipe her eyes.  So now, everytime she sees a towel, she says, "that's MY eyes" (since she uses it to wipe her eyes).

I could go on and on...basically she thinks everything is hers.  I made Jason a ham and cheese omelet today for dinner and she was almost crying to the point of tears as I made it..."that's MY ham,", "that's MY cheese"

But her favorite phrase is (and I'm almost positive Jason taught her this): "Mommy, you poopin'?"  Everyday when I drive her to daycare, she just thinks she is so hilarious.  She asks me if "I'm poopin'" in this really funny voice and then cracks up laughing.  And then she lists all of the people she knows and asks if they are pooping too.  This has Jason written all over it!

Another Fun Weekend

Wow...we're on a roll!  Two fun weekends in a row!  I think it has to with the fact that it's Summer time (for all intents and purposes), technically it start in like three weeks.  This nice weather makes me want to go go go!  On Friday night we had to go to Dairy Queen because...well, just because.  I love my ice cream and I think I finally have everyone convinced that it is necessary at least once a week! 

We didn't really go anywhere during the day on Saturday, but it still felt fun!  Jason and Nate finished up the swingset and the kids were just super excited to see it all coming together.  They played outside all day with the nextdoor neighbors while the boys were hard at work ( I just watched...I'm good at that).  They all played amazingly well.  Something about the water table just keeps kids busy forever, not to mention in one spot for a long period of time, which means less chasing for me!  And then finally, the swingset was done, and they were all thrilled to play on it.  Their smiling faces made all of that hard work worth it, (you know, it's hard to watch!).

That night we met the Beckers at the Birmingham Fair.  I was so proud of Sydney, she went on every ride and loved every single one.  I thought she would be a little scared, but she surprised me.  There wasn't anything she wouldn't do.  Even Lizzy had fun on all of the rides!  And the best part was, for some reason, I must have looked like I needed more tickets or something.  On two occassions, people who were leaving the fair, just gave me their tickets (and they weren't cheap!!).  It was so weird...but I was very thankful.  Also, on one of the rides, I found almost an entire sheet of tickets.  I was looking around for someone who might have lost their tickets because I felt bad about taking them.  But I couldn't find the owner, so bonus for us...we made out quite well and had fun doing it!  We decided to go to Max and Ermas for dinner instead of eating crappy carnival food!  We had a ton of fun and literally the very second we got into the car to go home, it started raining.  Is that great timing or what?

Hopefully Sunday has another great day in store for us...but we all know I dread Sunday's.  I definitley don't wake up as happy on a Sunday, but I try to make the most of the day!! 

"Mmmmmmm, Yummy"

Look at that face!!  I know, it's cute, but what a stinker!  Lately, she is just getting into everything (well, mostly candy).  I just don't know how she finds it!  She finds candy that I didn't even know was in my house (but I do now!!).  Apparently we had old goodie bad candy from their last birthday parties in our buffet in the living room, I never really look in there...obviously!

So, the other day, Lizzy came across this candy.  And she is so smart...she didn't bust it out and show it to us, she hid behind a door in the corner of the room, opened it up, and proudly ate it.  And then, once her mouth was full of chocolate, she says, "wook mommy, candy"!

You know the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me"?  Well, you would think after the first time, that I would move the candy.  I didn't!  No excuse, I just didn't!  I never really had to worry with Sydney, she just didn't get into things as much.  So, the next day, Sydney and Lizzy were playing so nice and quiet.  After  a while, I figured it was a litte too quiet for my liking.  So, I went to investigate.  Sydney was playing with her little princess dolls.  But, Lizzy was nowhere in sight!  I found her in a closet, eating candy!  We hadn't really given her peanut butter yet, but she really enjoyed the peanut butter cup.  I wish I caught a picture of her face.  It was just covered!  She knew she shouldn't be doing this, otherwise she wouldn't hide!  She looked at me and said, "mmmmmmmmmm, yummy"!  I wanted to yell at her, but there really isn't a point.  Everytime I speak to her sternly or try to discipline her, she cracks up laughing.  I'll have to work on that one!!  I do give her timeouts, but she doesn't care.  Another discussion for another time.

Anyway, the candy is now moved.