Paaaaaartttttyyyyyy!

Just like last year, we combined the girl's birthday party since Sydney's is in August and Lizzy's is in September!  What this means for us is: one party, one set of goodie bags, one party fee, one food order, and most importantly....ONE set of thank you notes to be written (it's now been a month and I have not written them quite yet...it's not my favorite thing to do, but it needs to be done)!

This year the party was at Farmington Gymnastics.  All of the kids had a blast and I like that the party room is huge and that the gym is spacious; that way the party didn't seem like mass chaos.  There were two coaches and one coach took the younger kids and the other one took the older kids and it actually worked our perfectly!  So, another successful party in the books!  As we did last year, we gave out CD's as part of the party favors.  We have the kids sit down and tell us their favorite songs.  It always seems to be a big hit.  And although I put the kid's names next to the songs that they picked, it was very clear which songs were Sydney's and which one's were Lizzy's.  Sydney's songs were all Glee, Selena Gomez, etc. (all grown up).  I wonder what will end up on next year's list.  Every year, Sydney just seems SO much older, yet she's only in Kindergarten....well, at the time of the party she was not in Kindergarten yet...I'm still trying to catch up on this darn blog.  I knew I created a monster when I started.  But the kids will enjoy reading it when they are
older!





Anyway...great party...and now I have another year to figure out the next party!  Now I can sit back, relax, and be the guest at everyone else's parties (that way THEY have to write the thank you notes).

Sydney's Birthday

This year, Sydney turned the BIG 5!  Since we were  having the "kids" party over Labor Day weekend, we wanted to at least take her out!  We ended up going to Jeepers...because if I have to go to Chuckie Cheese ONE more time...

Anyway, the kids loved Jeepers.  That being said...I'm not so sure that I loved it, but it was a change, so I can't complain.  The part I didn't like was that Lizzy was too small to ride alone so Jason and I had to go with her and they had these crazy spinny, jerky rides that I wasn't a fan of going on over and over again!  The kids had a blast though, so that's all that counts!

Then, we headed over to Rain Forest Cafe for lunch!  Sydney thought it was a pretty cool atmosphere and I actually enjoyed it, but for some reason the whole concept freaked Lizzy out and she just couldn't wait to get out of there!  She had more fun in the little store area in the front of the restaurant playing with the toys and looking at the fish...I'm not surprised.  My Dad and Gail joined us for lunch and the staff at the restaurant came to the table to sing to Sydney....she was totally embarrassed, but that's the point!!



Finally....it was time to ship the kids off for the week!!!  Sydney was tired of going to daycare all Summer long so she asked Grandma Polly and Grandpa Joe if she could stay with them for a week.  And of course Lizzy wanted to go too...I wasn't going to put up a fight...a week off seemed quite nice and nice it was indeed!  Jason and I went to a Tiger's game, we went out for Sushi, and since I'm still a kid at heart, we went and played putt-putt, air hockey, and video games!  Even though we had to work all week, it seemed like a nice break from all of the action!!

July Fun

Oh my gosh, I'm SUCH a slacker!  I have no excuse for not writing more often!  Actually, I kind of do have an excuse, but it's not a good one and I probably shouldn't admit it, but what the heck!  The truth is, I love reality tv, and I've been watching WAY too much of it.  Right now, my current favorite is Big Brother.  Not only is it on 3 times per week, but it's on every single night on Showtime 2 from 12-3am where they show uncensored and live footage.  I don't stay up until 3 am, but I come home and watch it the next day.  That's A LOT of Big Brother...but I love it and I'm obsessed.  Okay, now that I'm done with my confessions...about the kids...

Let's see, at the end of July, we decided to take the kids somewhere for a mini get away.  We took them to Michigan Adventures and Grand Haven.  My favorite part was the water park at Michigan Adventures, probably because it was SO hot that day.  The kids enjoyed all of the rides, but I started to get a little woozy from the heat, so the water felt great and they had tons of wave pools and fun activities for the kids.  I'm a kid at heart, so I loved the water slides and just enjoyed watching the kids have fun!  My least favorite part (only because I looked like a fool), was the paddle boats.  It looked so easy when everyone else was doing it!  I thought once you went in, it would be on a track and you just paddle around the circle....WRONG!  I paddled right into the wall and couldn't figure out how to get it going in the right direction.  It was quite embarrassing with everyone in line just staring!  Somehow we eventually made it, but I will NOT be paddle boating in front of others ever again...at least not when you have to follow a course and can't just paddle aimlessly!
 
The beach at Grand Haven was so amazing!  It was crystal clear with no rocks or seaweed and it didn't even feel like we were in Michigan.  Sydney made a friend with a little girl and played with her the whole time.  Sydney is becoming much more outgoing these days and surprisingly, Lizzy is becoming a little more timid...but not too bad!  She's still a complete goofball and continues to make us laugh!  This is totally unrelated to anything else, but yesterday when I put her in her car seat, she says to me, "easy boy, easy boy".  She didn't want me to hurt her shoulders, it was just funny (it was to me, at least).  Anyway, it was an awesome mini vacation and the kids had a blast!
 
A couple weeks later, I took the kids and went with my dad and Gail to Traverse City for Mia's 5th birthday!  Jason decided to stay home...LOSER!  We ended up having a great time!  There was a street fair the night we got there and all of the cousins had fun running around and got to go on a cool fire truck ride!  The next day my Grandpa came for a visit!  For some reason, Lizzy is absolutely petrified of him and cries every time he looks at her and she refuses to be in the same room with him.  That night when we were eating dinner, everyone was in one room and Lizzy sat out in another room all by herself! Fortunately cousin Baille felt bad for her and went out with her.  It made taking a family photo very difficult, but we had to create this whole elaborate plan where Lizzy didn't know that he was sitting in a chair, and we had to bring Lizzy in at the last second to stand in the back!  It doesn't matter what we do or say, she is SO scared of him.  It's the only time that Lizzy ever just bursts out crying!  But all in all, we had an awesome time.  Every one got along great, and we got to meet Emily's new baby, Noa.  The only bad part of the trip was the drive home!  The kids would not sleep...like at all!  There was also a lot of traffic...not to mention that I went the wrong way (not really the wrong way, I just went a longer way), and the kids were so wrestless and we had to stop a million times for them to go to the bathroom!  But we made it!!

That's it for July...I know I fogot something...like July 4th, but we didn't do anything too exciting this year other let off some of our own fireworks in the front yard.  There were also a ton that we could see from our house, so it was actually quite nice.  But really, that's July in a nutshell.  Oh wait...crap...one more thing....our sixth anniversary was July 9th...we had a night out without the kids and went to the casino and out for dinner...and I should mention that I NEVER win.  I guess I'm not lucky!  Maybe one day I'll make it on to Big Brother and win there....

Lizzy's Big Girl Bed

Oh, the big girl bed...not too excited about it!  A while back we had converted Lizzy's crib to a toddler bed because we figured since we were potty training her, she should be able to get out of bed on her own.  Well, Jason went out of town for a week for work and I put an end to that pretty quickly and she was back in the crib.  The thing is...she was getting out like every minute and it was driving me absolutely insane.

Well now, Jason promised Lizzy that if she pooped on the potty, he would get her a big birl bed...not even a toddler bed.  And wouldn't you know it...she pooped on the potty and just like that, Jason converted her bed to a full size bed.  So now, it's not so easy to just put the crib back up...in fact, it's impossible.  And now, she really is driving me crazy.  She has been going to sleep between 10:30 and 11:00 pm every single night.  She comes out of her room constantly (Sydney never did this).  In fact, I don't think Sydney realized she could even get out of bed.  She would  holler for me every morning to come and get her...it was quite nice!  But Lizzy comes in and we try to be all "Super Nanny" and not talk to her, but she makes it so darn hard.  We try to just pick her up and put her in bed without saying a word until finally she falls asleep.  But, she when she comes in my room, she makes the cutest little faces and says the funniest things, that it's hard for me not to laugh and then she just thinks this whole bed time thing is a joke.  When she comes in my room (or downstairs), she starts singing me songs, like "rock-a-bye mommy" and I can't help but laugh.  Just last night she came out of her room with a suitcase and said she was going to Grandma Sharon's.  Basically, it's a new story every time she comes out of her room.
 
The bottom line is...although she's growing up and the bed is all cute and everything...I hate this no sleeping thing!  It takes away from my "me time" at night!  Oh, and let's not even talk about the morning when she comes out of her room at the crack of dawn.  This phase better end soon!  I'm thinking that room darkening shades might be a possible solution...I'll try anything!

Uncle Josh Comes to Town

Wow, we have been SO busy, but in a good way.  We have been constantly on the move and for the first time, I feel like I can sit down and actually document it.  I'm sure there have been plenty of other opportunities, but reality television gets in the way sometimes and rots some of my brain cells.

Anyway, my kids knew for a long time that Josh was coming mid-June and they couldn't wait.  Sydney asked me like everyday when he was coming until finally the day arrived.  I kept the kids out of daycare and my mom came over every morning for a week while Jason and I worked, so Josh could spend time with the kids.  They LOVED every single minute of it.
 
They went to Chuckie Cheese, the movies to see Mr. Poppers Penguins, Toys R Us, and probably other places that I can't even remember.  All I know is that these kids were spoiled rotten.  Lizzy has been walking around the house like a penguin now, but that's cool!  So, those were the daytime activities, but we can't forget about night! 

One night, Josh had plans to go out with friends and it just so happens that Jason's sister was in town, so we all went to the Tigers game with all of the cousins.  My kids don't exactly love the ballgame (well, Lizzy does) so it was just okay, but nice to see everyone and be all together.  The only thing was that it was hard to talk to everyone in that kind of setting, but fun nonetheless.  They had great fireworks that night, which kind of made up for the loss!
 
Over the weekend, Jason had to go to Midland for a basketball tournament, but we didn't let the fun stop...no way!!  My dad came over and we all took the kids to the Livonia Spree.  I had never been there before, but it was like the best carnival I have ever been to and will for sure be back!  Some guy sold us some vouchers for wrist bands and the kids were absolutely in heaven.  They went from ride to ride to ride without skipping a beat.  There were a ton of kids rides and no lines and they just had the time of their lives.  The smiles were permanantly planted on their faces the whole night.  Josh was pretty much the "yes" man the entire time he was there.  If anyone wanted anything, he was like, "suuuuurrrrrrrrreee, I'll go get it."  So my kids walked away with a couple goodies!  I thoroughly enjoyed watching my kids have fun.  Lizzy screamed "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" all the way through every ride, it was so cute and I'm so glad we went.
 
 
I honestly can't remember every little detail because it really flew by, but it was definitely action packed with a couple bbq's and another trip to Tiger Stadium for another ball game, and ANOTHER loss.  I'm beginning to think that Jason is bad luck, lol...it couldn't be me, right?  It was actually an awful game, so we let the kids ride the carousel and the ferris wheel.  I ended up going on the ferris wheel alone with the kids because we didn't have enough cash on hand for all of us, so Jason waited on the side.  They put us on the ride with this young couple who were about to have a baby and they got a kick out of Sydney and Lizzy.  They asked Lizzy what her name was and she said, "My name is girlfriend" (she still likes me to call her girlfriend buddy, so funny).  Then Lizzy sang them "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".  Everyone's favorite part is when she starts barking like a dog because she things that the songs says, "Roof roof roof for the Tigers".  It was a good time!

And finally, the week came to an end.  The kids were sad to see Josh go.  I mean, who wouldn't want to be spoiled for a week?  I'm sure we will eventually have to plan a trip out to see him.  I mean, Florida isn't exactly a bad place to visit.

Pre-School Graduation

Sydney is officially done with pre-school!  I'm very proud of Sydney and happy that she's moving on, but it's very bittersweet!  I'm so sad that she is leaving Mrs. Bruder, the best teacher ever.  I know it's only pre-school, but I know a good teacher when I see one.  Fortunately for us, we have had her for the past two years.  She was at Eagle where Sydney went when she was 3, but when Eagle closed, we followed her over to Alameda where she happened to be teaching 4 year olds...it worked out perfectly!  We are REALLY hoping Lizzy gets her when she turns 4!

Anyway, the ceremony was very cute.  The kids sang 4 songs in the gym and threw some confetti and then we headed back to the classroom for some cake where Mrs. Bruder gave each student a cd and a porfolio of all of their work, pictures, and projects throughout the year (an amazing gift)!  I now have two years worth of memories displayed nicely in a book...I'm very appreciative!  I don't know if this is normal, but that would be pretty darn cool if all of Sydney's teacher's do this in the future...or maybe I have the bar set very high, I'm not sure!

So...goodbye to pre-school and hello to Kindergarten...it's all happening so fast!

A Slacker's Re-Cap

Okay, once again, it's been like forever and a day since my last post, but that doesn't mean we haven't been doing anything!  Well...actually, in a way, we kind of haven't been doing anything because these darn kids (but I love em') keep getting sick!  I swear, every single time we have plans, one of them is sick!  It seems like ever since Christmas time...every other week it's something new!  I actually took Sydney to Jake's birthday with a fever because we were missing so much!  But anyway, within the last three weeks, Lizzy had diarrhea for 11 days, it was absolutely awful and she was miserable (she even threw up, but we won't talk about that).  Then the next week I get a call to pick up Sydney from day care because she had spots everywhere, so I took her right to the doctor to discover Scarlet Fever...lovely!  You can only guess what happened the next week.  Why yes, Lizzy caught it, but she only had Strep Throat.  I have never seen her more miserable...she cried non-stop becuase her throat hurt! And this week (yesterday), Lizzy woke up with a cough and fever!  Seriously...can we catch a break?  So far it's not looking like it...I'm home today with a low grade fever, but fortunatley it means I can catch up on this blog...here's a brief update on what's been going on in between illnesses...

Sydney's Dance Recital:  Sure, it was cute, but I'm glad it's over!  I always feel like I'm running here and there, so it will be a nice break this Summer.  We'll see if she takes another class...she's not so into ballet and only wants to be a cheerleader, so maybe we'll sign her up for a pom pon class??  She loves swimming, so maybe we'll just stick with that!

Kindergarten Round-Up:  I cannot believe that Sydney is heading off to Kindergarten next year.  She is getting SO old.  She acts way older than four years old...she doesn't even like cartoons anymore and loves watching Glee and listening to grown up music, it's so weird!  Her teachers even tell me she a new peer group...ALL BOYS!  Apparently they play Star Wars and she is Princess Lea (of course)!  Anyway, Sydney loved riding the school but and visiting the different class rooms.  She wasn't shy and jumped right into the activities so she is definitely ready.  When they were introducing the teachers, Sydney said in a really loud voice..."I want THAT one because she is the prettiest."  I was a little embarrassed, but the person next to me said, "I agree with her, she is the prettiest and I pick her for my son, too!"  Sydney has this thing for pretty girls and I always points them out to me and is really into hairstyles and clothes...I'm telling you...she is not a typical 4 1/2 year old....or maybe she is...what do I know?

Samantha's 5th Birthday Party:  Samantha is a girl in Sydney's class that we are totally going to miss.  It's hard when all of the kids break off into their "home" schools.  But Samantha is going to Walled Lake schools so we will have to stay in touch with them.  Her birthday was at Farmington Gymnastics and they were nice enough to let Lizzy come too, which was very fortunate because this was right up her alley.  Lizzy has been asking ever since when she can go to gymnastics (she says "nastics"), so I'm thinking we might sign her up for a quick Summer session becauase she NEVER gets to do anything!  Sydney had fun too, but Lizzy likes to move non-stop and that's exactly what she did!  We might have the girls' party there this year; all of the kids had a ton of fun!

Swimming at Grandpa's:  Although she doesn't take lessons, Lizzy's other love is swimming!  You can bribe her to do anything if you tell her that she'll get to go swimming.  We had a ton of fun, although Sydney forgot her goggles, so she wouldn't show us everything she has learned in her lessons.  But she had fun jumping in and just enjoying the water and nice weather.  Lizzy stayed close to the steps and liked jumping to me...it never got old for her!  We plan on doing a lot of swimming this Summer...well, as much as you can do with two working parents!  But apparently, only in swimming pools...every time we go near or drive past lake water, Lizzy says, "Oh, we don't swim in that yucky water, only in blue pools."

Lily's 4th Birthday: Shauna went all out this year with a cowboy and cowgirl theme and had farm animals and horse rides at the party.  When we got there, I thought my girlie girl Sydney was going to freak out.  She isn't the biggest animal lover and HATES smells.  She refused to ride the horse, but as the party went on, she opened up a little bit and went near the animals and ended up having fun.  Lizzy, on the other hand, LOVED the animals, especially the little bunnies.  She held the bunnies almost the whole party.  She was holding it like a baby and kept rocking it and saying, "oh, she's so cute."  She also walked around telling everyone to "hold it from the butt", which is what they told her before holding it.  We are NOT getting a bunny, but ever since the party, Lizzy wants to go to Lily's house to play with the animals...she doesn't quite get that they are gone now!

Memorial Day: We joined the Becker's at the Schwartz's house for leftovers.  The kids had a blast playing in the water and making mud pies.  Although it was "Africa Hot", as Jason says, everyone had so much fun and the kids got along great!  It was a casual, but perfect day!

Bower's Farm:  Have I mentioned that Sydney hates smells?  This was their last field trip of the year and Sydney did not like it at all.  She basically stood there holding her nose the entire time.  I didn't have high expectations for her, but I took off time from work to go with her (because I HAD to...I'm not really a farm person either), so I wanted to at least enjoy it.  But oh well, we survived!  Mrs. Bruder was even able to convince (or drag) Sydney in to milk the cow and feed the baby goats.  Sydney was proud of herself, but then gave me a look that pretty much said...okay, let's get the hell outta here!  I think we were the first to leave!

So, that's about it!  I'm sure there is way more, but these are the things that come to mind!  Maybe I'll do a little better at keeping this thing up to date...but I won't hold my breath!