Happy #3 Sidney!

This has certainly been a birthday "month" for Sidney, but here we are at last.  The big day has arrived.  Today my baby turns three.  Crazy how fast the time has gone by.  When the girls were visiting Grandma Karen and Papa Mark, they threw her a big birthday bash complete with pinata and party favors.  The girls had both received new nightgowns with princess wands.  They insisted that they wear them to the party.  Sidney started the party off with a little bit of break dancing.  Where she has learned this I will never understand.  Is it possible that she could have learned it from Wilson at our annual work Christmas party? 

The prize gift came from Aunt Stephie.  It was a doctors kit.  As soon as she opened it, she was not interested in anything else.  She had played with one of these at Audrey's house last year during the Superbowl party and loved it.  Her and Kendall immediately gave her new dolly an exam. 

Dylan did an awesome job of making the pinata a challenge for everyone.  Sid again did her tough talk and claimed for weeks before the party that she was going to "break that pinata wide open".  She was going to "hit it really hard".  As it turned out, she took one swing and was done.

Hallie did the honors of giving the pinata the final smash.  Of course, gram made certain that there was plenty of chocolate to go around!

Great Grandma Juanita made it to the party.  She bought Sidney an ice cream cake to celebrate the occasion.  Sid relished every moment!

Today we had a nice quiet birthday with the family.  It started out by Sidney picking each meal for her special day.  Breakfast was purple pop-tarts.  Unfortunately Sid had a bout with the flu yesterday, so she ate about 4 bites of her beloved pop tart before calling it good.  She opened her gifts this morning.  Her prize gift at this party was a wooden fruit set that velcros together, with a wooden knife to cut it.  Momma does know best (and momma is SO humble)!

By dinner time, her stomach was feeling much better (in her own words).  She started the day off by saying that she wanted her birthday dinner, panda food, tomorrow night instead.  Panda food is what the girls call the orange chicken from Panda Express.  By 4pm, she was feeling terrific and was ready for her panda food.

She truly enjoyed being in the spotlight.  She glowed from ear to ear and several times throughout the day asked us to sing happy birthday to her.  Tonight she had chocolate turtle cake.  Tomorrow she will have one last day of celebration by taking cupcakes into school to share with her friends. 

 Happy Birthday Sidney Nicole!

Kendall (4-1/2 years) & Sid (3 years)

The girls each had a picture day this last month.  When Kendall was born my sister had suggested taking pictures every 6 months while they are young.  I am very happy that I have followed that advice.  Looking back at their pictures over the las few years, it is wild to see how much and how fast they have changed. 

Kendall (4-1/2 years):

Sidney (3 years):

Beware of the Tire Swing

I thought about titling this post "Where have they heard that before?" as you will see later.  Last night Kevin and I took the girls to the park.  The girls wanted me to push them on the tire swing.  I was pushing them in a circle very peacefully until Kevin suggested that I spin them at the same time.  Yes, I will blame this on Kevin - why not?  As I tried to spin the swing, I lost my footing and started to stumble.  At the same moment, the tire swing started to make its way directly toward me.  My options were limited.  Since I was halfway to the ground anyways, I just dove to the ground to avoid being hit by the swing.  The girls were immediately concerned.  Sidney proceeded to lecture me, "Mom, that is why we be careful."  Kendall states, "Mom, did you get an owie?  You almost cracked your coconut."  Kevin in all his infinite wisdom just sat and laughed.  It was pretty comical.  When I finally shook the rubber chips off of myself, I stood up and started to spin the tire swing.  Bad idea!  The girls went from having a great time to screaming in terror.  They both started shouting "We are getting Bizzy".  That is not a typo.  They think the word "Dizzy" is actually "Bizzy".  Despite our many corrections, they continue to always get "Bizzy".  Needless to say, it was a moment to remember.  The biggest laugh for me was hearing them give me sympathy with the exact same words we use for them.  Uh Oh...we have now entered the parrot phrase.  Time to start watching what I say!  In reality, I think it might be too late...

What are we thinking?

That is the question that Kevin and I have been asking ourselvelves every day for the past 8 days.  Eight days you ask?  That is the amount of time that our beautiful, lovely home has been on the market.  Yes, the first home we bought.  The home that both of our girls came home from the hospital to.  We like consistency.  We like certainty.  So what were we thinking?  We take one day at a time right now.  Obviously something kept compelling us enough to continue moving forward with this idea, but it is very scary.  The one good thing is that we have come this far, we are giving it a shot, but if it turns out that we end up staying in this house we would be happy with that as well.

This brings me to my next funny tale.  It happened just last night.  Anyone who has ever sold a home knows that it is a bit of work to keep the place clean and tidy while still maintaining some sembleance of life.  Need I remind anyone that we have two small children and two large dogs.  So last night I thought I would make cookies with the girls.  As the girls get older, I try to give them more responsibility.  Last night Kendall graduated from "ingredient dumper" to "mixer girl".  She was responsible for cranking the bowl up in the Kitchen Aide and starting the mixer (on low of course).  Sidney graduated from "ingredient fetcher" to "ingredient dumper".  All was well and I had the situation under control.  We were making cookies in a neat orderly fashion.  After the sugars and butter had been creamed and the eggs and vanilla had been mixed in, I poured in the flour.  As I turned to put the flour away, Kendall cranked up the bowl and Sidney got a little overzealous and jumped in to turn the mixer on.  Rememeber...this is not her job.  She has not learned the art of turning on a mixer SLOWLY!  Flour went EVERYWHERE.  Two and a half cups of flour can go a long ways.  The girls were covered head to toe and so was half the kitchen.  As I turned around to assess the situation, I knew it would be either yell or laugh.  Thankfully, my laugh button kicked in.  We managed to get the mess cleaned up and Sidney had a post flour lesson in turning on the mixer.  The poor girl was afraid to even touch the mixer after that escapade. 

Thank goodness we cleaned up our mess because we had a showing today in which the people are coming back for a second look tomorrow.  Wish us luck in this roller coaster of a ride.

Sid Stories

A little bit sassy, a lot of bit sweet.  She is definitely hitting the terrible two's (though almost three).  Sidney's personality has really been emerging and she is seriously funny.  I have been keeping a log of humorous stories in my head that I have intended to document.  By the time I have gotten around to it half of them are forgotten, but here are a few.

A couple of months ago the little stinker in Sidney had emerged.  The first glimpse of it was one evening when I got home from work.  Kevin was not home yet and I had asked Sidney to do something.  She said "huh?"  I was preoccupied myself and repeated my request without looking up.  Again I hear "huh?".  Once again I repeated my request (yes, bad parenting).  For the third time, she replied "huh?".  This time I looked up to see her grinning ear to ear sitting still as could be.  That little turkey had heard me the first time and was just working it.  The really funny part was when Kevin got home that night.  I sat back and watched in amusement as she did the exact same thing to him.  He, like me, was also preoccupied and did not bother to notice.  He just kept repeating himself.

All talk, no walk.  That is our little Sid.  It is funny because Kevin and I are pretty adventurous people.  Not Sid!  No way.  She is the most cautious child ever.  For every ounce of caution, she has a big story to tell.  The other day she was bragging about how she loves Santa.  Finally I interjected and said, "Come on Sid, you would not even look the man in the eye and you certainly would not sit on his lap".  I asked, "So you like him now and look forward to sitting on his lap this year."  Her reply was a very firm "NO." 

Then there were the cows.  A couple of weeks ago when we were driving the girls to meet my parents, we kept seeing a bunch of cows on the side of the rode.  Out of nowhere Sid tells us she wants to ride a cow.  After repeatedly ignoring her, she started to throw a fit insisting that we pull over so she could ride a cow.  Kevin started to stop the car and he said, "Okay Sid.  We will stop the car and you can ride a cow."  Suddenly we heard her say a very firm "NO" once again.

Freedom from Mom and Dad

The girls and Kevin were home for 5 days, then it was off for another journey.  Kevin went to Washington DC for play (I mean work).  He tried to convince me it was not a vacation, but really???  He got a behind the scenes tour of the Capital (courtesy of AshLee).  They all rented bikes one day.  He said they were only intending to go for a small bike ride and ended up riding bikes across the Woodrow Wilson bridge all the way into Virginia.  Needless to say, the next day was an ibuprofen day.

The girls had their summer week with Grandma and Papa sans parents.  I think they love it more and more each year.  This year they were already planning their next trip the day we picked them up.  They were spoiled rotten and loved every minute of it.  Sidney found the dress-up box right away and got her groove on.  Mom said that she would spin around so much that she could not even stand up.

Grandma took all of the kids to Rathdrum City Park one day.  I find this particularly hilarious because that is exactly how Kendall refers to it..."Rathdrum City Park". 

 Kendall snuggled up to Beau and apparently Sidney spent much of her time out front playing with Rylee.  Mom said that she drew a line at the end of the driveway in sidewalk chalk and told Sidney that she could not go past it.  Sidney did a great job following that direction.

Dylan put the tent up for all of the kids to sleep in.  They started out great, but by morning all of the girls were in bed with Grandma and Papa was sleeping in the tent with Dylan.  

Grandma and Papa got a new pool this summer and the girls enjoyed it very much.  Kevin and I were freaking out about the idea of the pool.  I think we instilled the fear of life in them, because they would not go near the pool without gram or pops.  A little fear is not such a bad thing!

One of my favorite pictures is the one of all the girls with Aunt Nena.  My Aunt Nena is an incredibly beautiful and giving person.  She has been through so much in life and has really managed to come out shining!  The girls came home with brand new purses that Aunt Nena had crocheted for them. 

They had such a great time.  Each time I would call they would politely say hello, then ask "Can I go now mommy?"  Though I missed them very much, I am so happy that they had such a great time.  They are so loved!  Dylan and Hallie take such great care of them.  It is awesome to see them making such great memories. 

Holland Lake - 2011

I have so much catching up to do.  It has been a whirlwind month.  We will go back three weeks.  Kevin took the girls camping at Holland Lake.  Usually we all go and take the trailer up, but this year has been a bit crazy.  so Kevin took a shortened trip with the girls.  I am not sure if you can actually call it roughing it...as the girls spent their nights in a cozy cabin with Aunt Lisa.  Kevin slept at the lake in a tent.  He was definitely happy to have his bed back when he got home. 

The girls had a great time with only a few minor meltdowns.  It was a whirlwind of swimming, playing, watching movies in the cabin and eating yummy pancakes.  Sid did plenty of snuggling with Grandma Terrell.

Kaden found a fabulous ring in the lake and fished it out for Kendall.  At one point the ring came apart and she gathered up all of the pieces to bring them home for me to fix.  They came home tired and happy.

 

I love summers in that Kevin is home with the girls.  I am not sure that one can really call it home as he takes them everywhere.  This summer they had lunches in the park, went on camping trips and went to the movies almost weekly.  He is such an awesome Dad.  During the school year, we do not get to see too much of him so it is really great that the girls get this special time in the summers.