Prayers

Sydney's prayer tonight at dinner was, "Dear God, Thank you for this day, thank you for our house so we don't have to live outside. The end"
Dylan's prayer at bedtime went like this, "Dear God, Thank you for the whole world, thank you for everything....Thank you for my toys...I don't need them. I just need food and a house....so thank you for my toys."
I absolutely love listening to my kids pray.

Dance Recital

Sydney had her first dance recital. She was absolutely beautiful in her black leotard and red tutu. I don't think I've ever seen anything prettier. She is very shy about ballet and often wants me to hold her hand during class or stand with her and do it along with her....so I wasn't sure we'd even get her on stage alone. I was backstage off to the side where she could see me the entire time...we played hide and seek and she had to find me when she came out on stage. She ran to her spot and smiled so big and said, "I see you" My heart melted. She amazed me as she did every movement and did amazing. I was so proud of her, how did my baby get so big? She is such a princess and we love her so much and are so proud of her and all she can do. There's just something about a little girl doing ballet.

A Date with Mommy

What do you do when your little ones are sad that they don't get to go with Daddy and the big kids to Outbreak (the big outreach program at church just for elementary kids and so much fun). You take them on an awesome date to see a movie at the theater that they have been waiting to see for months. That's what I did with Dylan and Sydney on Friday. We went to see the much anticipated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We had popcorn and M&Ms and milk. They loved the movie, sat through the entire thing. Then because Burger King had Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs toys that is where we decided to eat dinner. It was so fun, just taking the 2 of them out. They really enjoyed the special time and having a date with mommy made them forget all about Outbreak.

Our Little Ballerina

Friday mornings, Sydney and I have 2 1/2 hours to ourselves, while Macy and Dylan are at preschool. It has been so fun spending time with her one on one. She loves having special time with her mommy. The other kids are in soccer, gymnastics, boy scouts and girl scouts right now and we wanted Sydney to have something of her very own to do. So we are trying out Ballet.

Sydney had her first ballet class today. She has been so excited about it, and could hardly wait to wear her new ballet slippers and outfit. She looked precious. She warmed right up to the teacher and was following along really well. I teared up several times, watching my baby girl do big girl things. She had the biggest smile on her face the entire time. It was priceless! I am so excited to take her back next week.

Dancing Horses

Today we drove by a Clydesdale farm and we happened upon it just in time to see 2 of the horses harnessed up and pulling a plow behind them. They came our way and were crossing the street. What amazing and beautiful animals! Sydney loves animals of all shapes and sizes and she loves horses. I pointed out the long hair on their legs and she was watching them prance and said, "Look at those horsies dancing!" She wanted a ride on the dancing horsies, of course, and was a little sad when we drove by, but has been talking about the dancing horses all night and doing her little imitation of the dance they do :)
Aren't kids precious!

First day of Preschool

Wow!!! I sent 3 little ones off to preschool today. What a day.

Dylan and Macy begin their 2nd year of preschool and Sydney begins her 1st year. I've been really hesitant to send Sydney, she's so little.... a new 3 year old, but she really wants to go with her best friend, Dylan.

I wasn't sure about Dylan either, but something happened over the summer and he wants to go to school. The past 2 weeks he has run down stairs every morning asking if he is late for school. This is not the child I sent last year. He has grown so much.

For the first time in 6 1/2 years my home will be empty of children for 2 hours 2 days a week. What on earth will I do with myself?

My kids, Right Now

I thought I'd share a little about our kids, and who they are right now. It changes so frequently that I don't want to forget any of the things they're interested. I don't want to forget a moment of this time, because it all goes by so quickly. Too quickly!

GARRETT
Loves to read
He loves math
Has read 130 books so far this summer!!!
Likes to ride his bike, skateboard and rollerblading.
He is a saver, not a spender....unless it is on someone else....he is always buying things for his brother and sister.
He loves to help around the house, loves to do dishes - I know that won't last ;)
He eats nonstop, he is always hungry and tells me it's because he's a growing boy
He collects joke books
He loves to do magic
His favorite animal is a panda bear
He is a sweet, generous, tenderhearted, funny little boy with so much love and joy to share.
He wants to grow up to be a children's minister/builder/chef


DYLAN
Dylan is 4 now, almost 5.
He is a whiz at games, new or old, wii or gameboy
He loves batman, indiana jones, jimmy newtron,
He drinks chocolate milk all the time
He'd eat peanut butter and jelly or pancakes with syrup for every meal if we let him
He's learning to read this summer and already can read words
He loves to run, jump, cannonball off the couch and kick.
He loves to throw balls and do karate spins
He likes to swing on the swings really high
He is a risk taker and a little bit of a daredevil
He is a night owl, he could stay up all night with me
He is not a morning person
He loves to be at home most of all
His favorite animal is an elephant
His favorite type of books are ISPY books
He is a funny, sensitive, sweet, honest and cuddly little guy
He wants to be a daddy when he grows up

SYDNEY
Sydney is 3 right now
She likes to bop her brothers on the head
She loves animals, especially dogs and cats.
If we are out and about and we see a dog, we have to ask to pet it, she can't see a dog and not pet it :)
She likes to play dress up
She loves Dora the Explorer
She loves milk and will rarely drink anything else
Her favorite animal is a giraffe
She is a sweet loving girl, who has a very stubborn streak and can melt your heart with the tiniest little smile and look
She loves to do everything her brothers do, no matter what that might be, if they can do it, she's sure that she can too
She wants to be a puppy when she grows up, and a princess, but mostly a puppy

Why don't I have a tail?

I have mentioned before Sydney's love of animals, especially the four legged furry kind. She likes to pretend that she is a puppy and she crawls around on all fours, tongue out, barking at us and smiling. Today after playing puppy, she asked why she can't have a tail like Bebo, our dog. I tried to explain that little girls and boys don't need tails....well, that was not a satisfying answer for my little animal lover, she cried for quite some time wanting a puppy tail so she could wag it. Silly girl :)

A Treasure Found

One day, not so long ago, we saw Dora's Fairytale Adventure on TV. Well that had sparked in Sydney a love of that very episode and she has been asking for it ever since. We have searched all of the stores locally for it, the rental places, etc.... No luck! My mom had wanted to get it for her for her birthday, No luck! She loves that episode with "Dora and Sleeping Boots".
WELL, Saturday we were going to yard sales with Grandma Theresa and what did we find for just $1.00? That's right, Sydney's FAVORITE movie, Dora's Fairytale Adventure. She was so excited that she squealed and asked if she could watch it. When we bought it and took it home, she just couldn't believe that we were KEEPING it. She kept saying, "This is my faborite movie. It has Dora and sleeping Boots in it. I lub this movie." She was so excited she held it in her carseat the rest of the morning and has already watched it numerous times.

A Little Girl on A Big Bike

Here are some pictures of Sydney on her new Dora bike. She was amazing the first time she hopped on, and the bike looked way to big to me. She started pedaling and away she went. We went around the block and I was RUNNING to keep up with her. I was running to keep up with my little bitty 3 year old on her new big girl bike. Oh my! She's a cutie.

Gramps and Grandma Linda Visit

It's the end of May, which means it's almost Sydney's birthday. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 soon. Gramps and Grandma Linda came from Ohio for a visit to celebrate her birthday with us. It was a great visit and the kids had lots of fun. Garrett and Gramps painted a memo board they had put together at our Christmas visit and Dylan and Grandma took a walk around the block, several times. Dylan saw 7 robins and 1 blackbird and even found treasures on his walk: a puzzle piece, a pen, and a button. Grandma brought quarters for Sami, Garrett and Dylan's coin collector which is always a big hit. Dylan really just wants the quarters, no need to put them in the book, just put them in his bank please ;) . After they left for home, Garrett said, "I am H-A-P-P-Y that they came to visit." Dylan was sad and wants to go to their house TOMORROW. We'll have to get to Ohio soon.

A Veterinarian in the Making?

Sydney is a animal lover - all animals! Big or small it doesn't matter to her. In fact we are often surprised at how comfortable she is around BIG dogs, like the Smith's German Sheperd, Samson, the Palmer's golden retriever Zoey and Aunt Penny's newfinland Emma..... she loves them all. She recently got out her doctor's kit to examine our dog Bebo. Maybe she'll follow in her Aunt Penny's footsteps.

No More Diapers

We are very excited to tell you that our baby girl is a BIG GIRL NOW! (well a little sad, but mostly EXCITED) She has been going on the big potty for a while now and officially is in her big girl "unerwears" having no accidents. So for the first time in 6 years we are diaper free :)

Cute things kids say

Cute things from my kids that make us smile

Garrett wished on his birthday candles that he could hear Jesus talk to him.
Garrett also wished (while breaking a wishbone) that it would snow inside the house so he could build a snowman.

Dylan calls Jack Frost "Jack Frosting"
Dylan asked if he could knock Santa off the roof next year, so he can put on the santa suit and be Santa Claus (after watching "Tim Allen's The Santa Claus")

Sydney calls Pinocchio "Hokey Pokey No"

Macy told us that she doesn't need swim lessons because if she goes underwater she'll turn into a mermaid and swim all around.