Big First Grader!

Kendall started first grade this year.  Papa Mark picked out this dress for her.  She was very excited to wear it.  She had some very cute blue sandals (with heels) to wear with the dress, but at the very last minute she thought her spinner shoes were the best choice.  Who am I to argue?   

 

She loved her first day of school.  It is amazing how tired she has been after a full day of school.  Her good friend, Katenee, is in her class this year.  The two girls hit it off last year in kindergarten, but during the second week Katenee was moved into a new class that opened up.  They remained friends and have been squealing (literally) with  delight that they get to spend all day together this year. 

 

We took her to get pictures this week.  I cannot believe how grown up she is.  These are the cute blue sandals she was going to wear the first day. 

 

 

 

Five Years Old!

Sidney hammed it up for the camera during her five year old picture shoot.

 

The girls took just a couple of pictures together.  I think Kendall was just a bit too cool for this.

 

I love this picture.  The photographer was disappointed that Sidney's foot was up.  Personally, I thought it was great! 

Sid's Birthday Celebration and the Dreaded Shots.

Sidney had her fifth birthday this week.  Grandma Terrell made her a birthday cake to celebrate the occasion.  To be fair to Grandma Karen, she also made a last minute game change for Grandma Terrell.  What had started as a request for a Doc McStuffins cake turned into a request for a Sofia the First cake at the eleventh hour.  Grandma rose to the challenge and produced an amazing cake.

 

Sidney spent an hour decorating for her party.  We all had to have name tags, very specific balloons, cups, plates, etc.  Kevin was the recipient of the "pink" horn.  He blew it with gusto.

Sidney was ecstatic to open her gifts.  She loved every one of them.

Kendall wrote her a very special card.  "Dear Sidney:  You have always been a very special little girl, but you are a big girl now."  Simple.  Sweet. 

Sidney relished every moment as Kendall read her the card.  I know that I have said it before, but one thing that I admire about the girls is that they both enjoy the moment.  When it is their special day, they savor and soak up every bit of it.

 

She huffed and she puffed and she blew all of her candles out.

Sidney insisted that we play pin the tail on the donkey.  She even got Grandma to join in the fun.  Both the girls got an absolute kick out of spinning us until we were super dizzy and laughed hysterically when we bumped into the walls on the way to the donkey's butt.

She is definitely five and "large and in charge".  Here she is telling everyone what they are supposed to do during the traditional birthday balloon volleyball match.

Giggling hard while Kendall reaches for the balloon.

And then the shots.  Oh my!  Most parents tell stories about how brave their children are and how there are no tears.  Not my Sidney.  No sir!  The doctor mentioned shots and she wailed.  Rather - screamed at the top of her lungs for over ten minutes.  I am quite sure that she scared every little child in the joint.  Then the poor nurse came in.  She was awesome, but I believe she certainly earned more than her pay that day.  I held Sidney in a human straight jacket while she writhed in agony and continued to release bloodcurdling screams.  I was sweating profusely and the nurse was trying to get Sidney's arm in a steady state.  I am sure it was quite the sight. 

When the nurse stuck the needle in, all crying and screaming ceased.  Sidney looked down at the needle, then over to the band aid the nurse had in her hand.  In her calmest voice she said, "But I wanted a sparkly band aid."  Seriously?  Was she brave?  Not so much.  Was she a big turkey?  Absolutely!

The Birds, The Bees and The Snakes.

Kevin hung his hummingbird feeder up and has been out there watching them almost daily.  We have three or four of them that frequently visit.

 

The other night, Sidney came up with the idea that she wanted to make a bumblebee outfit.  It was turning out so good that Kendall decided to jump into the act.  here they are with their completed paper costumes 'stinging' Kevin.

The back view.  Notice Kendall's antennas.  She glued pipe cleaner to her headband then glued buttons onto the end of the pipe cleaner. 

Up close and personal.

We took the girls to the river to swim last week.  They had their first snake encounter.  I thought certainly they would run away screaming.  Instead, they crept up very slowly to take a peak.  CRAZY!

Saturday 'Strong' Style.

We woke up Saturday with no definitive plans.  First stop - Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate.  Next, we stopped by Terrell's house to look for a missing cow.  No cow, but we did get in a nice visit.  The neighborhood was having a community celebration, so we stopped in to check it out.  The girls had their faces painted.  

Correct that:  the "girl" had her face painted.  Kendall decided her arm was the best place for her bumblebee.

They bounced in the jump house and ran through the obstacle course (several times).  The last time through the obstacle course, the girls decided on a genuine race.  Sidney kicked some booty.  Kendall is very competitive by nature and was not too happy with that outcome.  We had hot dogs and ice cold waters.  It was a pretty good event.

While we were out and about, we stopped by a few yard sales.  Kevin scored both of these dressers.  They were pretty beat up, but the lady said that if we would give them some TLC we could have both of them for $5 (the set).  SOLD!  The whole family got to work on them.  Kevin sanded all of the parts and pieces down while the girls and I painted them. 

 

The girls got to choose their own paint schemes.  Kendall's dresser is on the left and Sidney's dresser is on the right.  They turned out pretty fantastic!  It is hard to believe that we have gone this long without dressers.  Much better!

We have been enjoying our garden bounty.  I was beginning to have my doubts a few weeks back.  It seemed like everyone I talked to was starting to pull stuff out of their garden, but not us.  Then almost overnight, we had vegetables everywhere.  Last night we cooked up a spaghetti squash with olive oil, fresh garlic, salt and pepper.  Super good!  Not bad for a bunch of beginners.

By the way, if you happen to see a yellow cow with blue and pink spots - Kendall is looking for him.  Perhaps he ran off to Gerber Park to join Giraffe.  We are so creative with our stuffed animal names.

Hurry Up...Or Should We?

It is ironic how things work out sometimes.  Kevin and I lead very busy lives as many parents of young children do.  We both work outside of the home full time.  I travel.  Kevin works long hours as an athletic director.  We keep our girls involved in random activities.  We are often on the go.  Unfortunately, it has led to some very bad habits.

One of these habits is to always rush our kids.  I am very guilty of this, but I was really noticing it with Kevin this past month.  He does it even less than I do, but it finally hit me.  Even when we had 30 minutes before we had to leave, we were already shouting "Hurry Up.  Let's go."  This went on every few minutes and to what avail?

Kevin stumbled across an article earlier this week that he shared with me:
The Day I Stopped Saying, 'Hurry Up'

Since reading the article, we have both made an effort to not rush our girls.  It has brought a lot of peace in the house.  Interestingly enough, they actually seem to get done quicker when we are not constantly badgering them.  It has taken some effort to break the bad habit, but we are trying to gently remind each other. 

Just two nights ago, Sidney received a new dress from Grandma and Papa.  We went bowling right after dinner and she had not tried the dress on.  As we were driving home from bowling, it was pretty close to bed time and she declared that she wanted to try the dress on as soon as she got home.  What was the first thing out of one of our mouths, "Okay, but do it quickly!".  We caught ourselves and rephrased it, "That would be great.  Please show us the pretty dress on you."  Why did it have to be quickly?

Project Runway meets That 70's Show.

This is the picture I received while traveling this week.