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!

The Little Stinker!

Lizzy would be known as the little stinker.  As each day goes by, she is blossoming and her personality shines through more and more!  She is quite the character and has a goofy personality and is really fun to be around, but as each day goes by, I'm realizing that she's going to be quite the handful!

Lately, she has been so stubborn.  She has to have her way and does not like to hear the word "no".  If you tell her no (which is very often), she throws herself on the floor, falls backwards and lays flat on the floor crying.  This usually occurs when she's going through the cupboards looking for something to eat and we tell her that she's had enough because literally, she could eat all day long.  Wow, does she love to eat!  I'm very close to buying locks for the cabinets, but then I'll feel bad for Sydney because she won't be able to get in to them either.  Sydney can actually be very helpful.  If I tell her to get something for Lizzy, she helps out.  Or if she asks me if she can having something and I tell her that she can, she can be self sufficient so I don't have to get up every time.  So, well see!

Lizzy has also been the sippy cup theif lately.  She does it at home and at daycare.  She doesn't want her own cup...she could care less.  She wants what everyone else has, even if her cup has the same thing inside.  She knows excatly what she's doing too, and clearly has a plan.  When she takes Sydney's cup, she looks very carefully to see if Sydney is paying attention and then goes up to her to show her that she actually stole her cup.  When Sydney notices, Lizzy starts to run like a mad woman into the other room and when Sydney catches up, Lizzy smashes the cup to the floor.  This is a constant event in our house. It kind of makes me laugh. We try to keep things out of her reach, but Lizzy has a way of somehow getting everything.  I'll give her one thing...she's persistent and never gives up.