Camp Jason

Camp Jason has come and gone!  You've never heard of Camp Jason?  That's unforunate...but you will never get to experience the awesomeness like my kids just did.  It was a fantastic Summer.  Here is how it all played out...

Jason is a pharmaceutical rep, and unfortunately in June, the product he was a rep for got bought out which ended his contract with that company.  Yes, it sucks to lose your job, BUT, they offered him 3 months severance.  So, he was able to stay home with the kids all Summer long and get paid...it was quite honestly the best of both worlds.  Summertime is the time where I usually pay the most money in daycare since I have to send Sydney too.  It would have been awful if it happened in the winter...how boring, but with a million summer activities, it was fantastic.

We happened to join The Sports Club this Summer, so they spent the majority of the time there.  Sydney and Lizzy just love to swim.  And this place was so perfect, because they have an activity pool and a kids pool where the the kids can stand, and with lifeguards on duty, we never had to really worry.  Of course we keep an eye on our kids, but to have that extra set is always a plus.  They also went to the movies a few times, the splash park, Detroit Kid City, the park....the list is endless.  I doubt the kids realize how lucky they were, I hope that they do, because this will never happen again.  Well, never say never, but you never wish to lose your job.  This was probably a once in a liftime thing...unless I win the lottery and can stay home with them...that's always a possibility...I'll keep dreaming!

And now for the best part!  Jason had several job offers and had a job lined up weeks before he started yesterday, so he was able to enjoy his time with the kids.  Yes, of course the kids bicker a lot and I'm sure Jason had his moments of craziness, but all in all, I think it was a great experience for all involved...even me who got to get up and go straight to work without ever taking the kids anywhere!  Sydney and Lizzy both admitted that they liked when I wasn't there because they got to eat a lot of "junk".  I came home for lunch during the day one day and Lizzy says, "can you go back to work now so Daddy can give us junk?"

Here's to hoping Jason's new job is successful!  The kids are off to Midland for the week with Joe and Polly, where once again, they are thrilled to be surrounded by junk...I guess I'm just a meanie!

Camp Jason is officially closed for business.

Too Nice Not to Mention!

I will probably have to backtrack after this post, since I'm probably missing some very important events, but this past weekend was so awesome, I can't not document it.  By awesome...I mean the weather.  Everyone who knows me well, knows that I despise winter.  I just hate to be cold (or too hot..but I'll just save my complaining for Summer)!  So, I had no complaints whatsoever that it barely snowed this winter.  I think Jason shoveled like once the entire winter...how cool!  Needless to say, I survived the winter, but never would have expected these amazing record temperatures in March...we're talking upper 70's and even into the 80's.

It was the perfect weekend to take Sydney shopping for a new wardrobe since she keeps growing way too quickly...my babies aren't babies anymore!  Lizzy went to see Disney on Ice with my mom (which she LOVED) so it was nice to spend the day with JUST Sydney.  That doesn't happen very often.  Usually it's Sydney who is off somewhere and Lizzy is left at home, so this was very special for both kids.  We took Sydney to downtown Northville and it was gorgeous.  I kept saying over and over that I felt like we were on vacation.  People were just leisurely strolling up and down the streets enjoying the weather, playing in the park, eating outside and drinking smoothies.  We went to a store called Baby Baby which actually goes all the way up to teens (they should change the name), but it's this amazing consignment shop that only sells high end clothing and doesn't except anything with stains or any issues.  We bought Sydney SO much stuff all from her favorite stores...we even found her pink baseball cleats for t-ball!  She's a pretty lucky girl...when you combine all of the stuff my mom bought with her at Justice the day before...she literally has a brand new wardrobe. After shopping, we sat outside and had a nice lunch...I could have sat there for hours...but back to reality...that was the end of my two hour vacation.  On the way home, we gave into Sydney who was begging us to stop at Justice on the way home (even though she went there the day before) because she HAD to buy a sleeping mask (which I'm sure she will  never wear).  But, it was her day and we bought it for her because...I guess we rock!  Lizzy was a little bit jealous of Sydney's new shoes and they caused quite a few arguements since Lizzy refused to take them off the entire weekend even though they were a little big!  My next mission is to find Lizzy some sparkly sandals...it's all she talks about! (She also wants a sparkly dog...a real one...the kid is crazy).

The rest of the weekend was spent at the park (oh, and dinner with Grammie and Grandpa).  It was too nice to sit inside!

Straight Lined Princesses

Although Sydney doesn't dislike Princesses, she went through a phase where she LOVED them, but is over the obsessive phase.  Lizzy, on the other hand, is in that obsessive stage, but she has taken the obsession to a whole new level...kind of like a compulsive level.

Not only do we have little princesses coming out of every crevice of our house, but they all have to be standing the right way.  If they aren't, Lizzy will have a fit!  She is very orderly and organized with these princesses, and she can literally play with them for hours.  First all of the princesses face left....ALL of them.  Then, they all face right, and then forward, and then they all lay down.  And then they "fly" (according to Lizzy) into another room and seem to all land facing the exact same way...imagine that!

I'm sure it's all just a phase, but it's just so funny how particular she is about them.  Oh, and no one can play with her...this is a solo operation!!

When Daddy's Away...(we spend lots of money)

Every year, Jason goes on a road trip with friends to attend an MSU basketball game.  This year they went to a losing game against Northwestern...sucks to be them....us girls had fun!

On Saturday morning, I took the girls to gymnastics and then out for lunch with my mom and Gerry.  But the whole time, Sydney only had one thing on her mind...Justice.  The day before, a catalog for Justice game in the mail advertising a major sale.  Sydney had been begging me to take her there.  On Friday, I kept saying "maybe", which as she knows, usually turns into "yes".  So, after lunch, we went to Justice and put a little dent in my wallet.  Oh, backtracking really quick...that morning before gymnastics, Sydney came downstairs with her purse telling me she had money to buy some things at Justice.  She actually has quite a bit of money in her bank in her room, but she came down with six one dollar bills.  I told her that she really couldn't buy very much with that.  She said, "that's alright, I want to save my big bills, so I'll just give you these ones.  I wasn't planning on buying very much, but everything was just so darn cute on her, that I caved.  I usually buy their clothes at mom-to-mom sales, so I figured that I owed it to her to pick out a few things that she liked.  And of course I couldn't leave Lizzy out who was running around the store like a crazy person.  The clothes are too big for her there so she got a package of Squinkies...she loves those silly little toys!!  The rest of the day, the kids had fun playing with each other, and Sydney tried on a lot of her new clothes and put on a fashion show...we had fun just hanging out.

On Sunday, I was planning on just relaxing and going nowhere.  But when all the kids wanted to do was play in the snow, I had to come up with something because this girl just does NOT like winter!  I'll save the cold winter outdoor activities for Jason!!  So we met my mom and Gerry at Siegel's Deli where I had my favorite meal...bagels and lox!  Then we went to Target and came home with lots of things we didn't need.  The girls each got to pick out something from the dollar spot...can anyone ever get out of that store without making a stop at the dollar spot?  I know I can't!  Then, the girls talked me into buying them some new heart bowls for their cereal.  By that time, I couldn't even remember why I went into the store in the first place (which was to look for a Kindle Fire case for me...which they didn't have), so we bought things to make cupcakes and went home and started baking.  The kids had a lot of fun, and now we have enough cupcakes to feed an army, and I have a feeling I'm going to be the only member of the army and gain quite a few pounds.  The rest of the day we just played and did a few puzzles, and then I shipped Sydney off to Gerry's house (of course my mom was there too) to spend the night since she had no school on Monday for Martin Luther King day!  Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow, but I had a fun weekend with my girls, but it seemed like a whirlwind, and I could definitely use a rest!!

Hannah's Birthday Party

I just realized why I've gotten so many blogs in lately.  It's all because of iCloud!  I love that the pictures that I take on my phone are already loaded onto my computer when I get home.  Most of the time, I'm too lazy to upload pictures and that just sets everything back!  I'm on a roll!

Anyway...last weekend we went to Hannah's first birthday!  It was a big ol' candy fest! There was every kind of candy imaginable, including an ice cream cart.  The kids definitely made sure to load up on the candy and take a bunch of it home too!  The kids had fun running around on their sugar high and playing together.  As usual, Sydney tried to take care of all of the little kids, but fun was had by all!

Gymnastics

Well, dance is over and god forbid we only do swimming...but the kids have been begging me to do gymnastics, and so I signed them up, since they are apparently in charge!  The Sports Club had a class for 3 and 5 year olds, so they could both be in the same class, so it really couldn't be easier.  The only problem is that we joined mid-session so there were only four classes left.  But they prorated the class so it was really cheap and a good opportunity to even see if they liked it without fully committing.  The good news is that they both LOVE it and talk about it constantly...and now instead of Sydney kicking everywhere, now she does cartwheels everywhere!  The bad news is, there are only three classes left which means they will only get to go a total of 4 times.  So...what on earth are we going to do?  One thing I'm pretty confident of...these kids will keep me busy!!

The Park in January?

That's right!  This is my kind of winter!  As a girl who hates the snow and everything that comes with it, including but not limited to, bundling up, keeping track of hats and gloves, shoveling, driving, scraping the car, and just being cold...I'm loving this no snow thing!!  Over the weekend (and we're talking mid January), it was in the upper 50's, basically 60!  So, I HAD to take the kids to the park.

It's like an every day occurrence in the summer time, but it has been a long time since we've been to the park and they were thrilled and told me I was the best mom ever...glad they're easily pleased!

Oh, and before the park, I took them to the bulk food store and let them buy candy...so maybe I really am the best mom (for the day)!

Dance Recital

This year Sydney took pom pom since she wants to be a cheerleader and Lizzy took ballet, well because that's what I signed her up for!  They enjoyed going to class each week and Lizzy especially enjoyed getting in to mischief with her friend Cara, but they both had a blast!

Sydney LOVED pom pom, until she got the costume and realized it was just a tank top that you wear with black pants.  She was devastated!  But, they did put on a cute show to the song "Big Night" and she did an amazing job.  Her favorite part was kicking her leg in the air, which she does like 50 times a day.  She doesn't even realize she's doing it...she even does it in stores...she just kicks everywhere!

Lizzy danced to Rubber Ducky.  It was sooooo cute!  I thought for sure she would freak out when she got on stage and saw all the people, but she definitely proved me wrong! I was the one who freaked out when I realized I had to stay there the ENTIRE day...first for Sydney's dress rehearsal, then Lizzy's practice, and then the real show!  At least I had Jill there (Cara and Michela's mom) to gossip with!

I was so proud of both of them.  They did an awesome job!  And the first thing Sydney did when she walked in the door was...she put on Lizzy's recital costume...she just couldn't wait to be all fancy!