March 13, 2008

Happy Easter...A little early. Today was Sydnie's Easter party and egg hunt at school. She was certainly very excited about it! She collected eggs, eggs, and more eggs. In the end, she had her dozen.

After the egg hunt they colored pencil decorations and egg holders and decorated cookies.

Of course, when we got home she was anxious to see what was in her eggs, not to mention taste everything...no, I didn't let her taste everything. She was not too happy about that part, but I guess that is life. Anyway, I was able to redirect her with a huge bag of clothes a friend, a very generous friend loaned to us. "Oh, my goodness!" or "WOW" was a comment with almost every shirt, shorts, dress or yes, even the socks that came out of the bag. Who says Christmas only comes once a year??

March 7, 2008

Last night, unbeknownst to me or Tim, Sydnie had quite an adventure. When all the world was sleeping, ok, so when all of our household was supposed to be sleeping, a little girl stirred.

I knew she was having some extra play time before falling asleep. She cat napped for about 30-40 minutes late in the afternoon, just long enough to be out of sorts at bedtime. I heard her singing, playing and throwing the animals off the side of her bed, getting out of bed to get something. So I was not surprised when I went into her room to wake her this morning, and all of her animals were in a pile off the side of her bed. I was a little surprised at the darkness. Yet, there were other surprises coming. Not only had she turned off her lantern that usually stays on to get rid of the scarry monsters and turned on the little reading light at her bed, she had taken off her clothes. She said she was hot. Oh, I forgot to mention she wasnted to sleep in her sleeping bag in bed, so she was probably quite warm. The sleeping bag was in the floor also. Her clothes, I had to look for but I found them at the other end of the bed. Thinking she had wet the bed, I began gathering what I thought would be wet blankets. No, she was dry, at least the bed was. That is when she informed me she was hot last night and took off her pants.

So, that would be a busy evening for any 3-year-old, however, she didn't stop there. As she began filling in the details of the night, she actually didn't sleep in her bed at all (I was hot remember, Mom?) at least, not until she wet the couch. It was then that she grabbed her blanket and went to sleep in bed. And at some point, she colored her fingernails with a crayon! I am sure there are probably things she did she doesn't even remember. She was very quiet once she stopped singing, so I couldn't even guess what else she did.

Right now, I think she is napping. After last night, she was a very tired little girl; however, as I am reminded daily, one is never quite sure what she is up to; there always seems to a plan unfolding.

February 24, 2008

Sydnie has been complaining of a stomach ache off and on the last week. Usually after breakfast her tummy is better, but she is such the drama queen that all plans must stop immediately. Sometimes we can minimize the drama by going through the plan of the day and making a big deal of something she really wants to do. This morning was one of those mornings: she complained of a stomach ache and said she wanted to stay home with Daddy, so we talked about the showers today and going to church and what she would miss. When we mentioned the shower for Miss. Tamra she said, "That's ok if I don't go. I'll send her a box of tomatoes and sausage." Now where did that come from you ask? I don't have any idea. She picked out a cookbook and spring oreo cookies for her shower gift, but with this little one, we never know what she might say, so we expect anything!

February 16, 2008

This morning we were anticipating a visit from Aunt 'Nette. Sydnie wants to have a tea party with her so we got it out and made sure it was ready. The tea set is a mini size and Aunt 'Nette gave it to Syd. After we tried it out, with a very concerned voice looking over her set, Syd asked "Where is Minnie (Mouse)?" It took me a couple of seconds to figure out what she was talking about. We had a "mini" lesson to explain the difference, but I have to admit that Syd still looked a little disappointed that Minnie wasn't joining us...but who can blame her...who wouldn't want a famous mouse to join your tea party.

Have a great day! I hope you enjoyed our mini story :)

February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day!! Today Sydnie had a Valentine Party at her preschool. (I'm sorry I don't have pictures-I was helping make the cookies and didn't have an opportunity to take pictures.) They made Love Bug cookies by decorating a sugar cookie and adding chocolate heart for the head and M&M's for the spots, listened to a Valentine story and the craft was making pictures out of hearts. While she loved participating in all the activities, she was soooo excited about receiving valentines from her friends. Friends are becoming more and more important to Sydnie and she definitely has her "best friends", even though they may change on any given day.

At home, our celebration was much quieter. We exchanged valentines after dinner so everyone could be at home. She was very proud of her valentine heart for Daddy...M&M's, of course! She was also quite surprised and happy when she realized we would be giving her a valentine gift: sequined sandals, notebooks and a fancy pen. She put her shoes on right away and began writing out more valentines for Mommy and Daddy. She delivered mail to us for quite some time.

She is now in bed. When I left her she was looking at her sandals sparkle in the light of her lantern. What a way to fall asleep....by the glitter of sequins. Before she went to bed she told Tim, "You're the best Daddy I ever had! I love you". Now that is the way to fall asleep...hearing loving words from your 3-year-old daughter.

Sydnie is becoming more of a "Daddy's girl" all the time. I have to admit, I love seeing it. There is nothing sweeter than Daddy and daughter together. Yesterday she was complaining of an earache and cried for Daddy off and on all afternoon. When he got home from work, they crawled on the couch and read books for the longest time...memories in the making. I know everyday is a memory maker, but there are those days or events that stand out. For those, I am most thankful; they tend to help re-focus perspectives and re-align priorities. May I wish you all a year of loving relationships, a perspective to see the joy in the little things, and a truly God-centered priority list. It will make the next 10 months the best 10 months of the year.

January 15, 2008

Today is a nice quiet day at home. It's rainy and cool so we are taking advantage of the opportunity to be home, since it only happens occasionally. We will be going to the Little Aussie Bakery later to pick up some bread, pretzels and flour that are dairy/wheat/soy free for Sydnie. Yes, we have added soy. We found out last week that she is allergic to soy, so the list of 'can't eat' is getting longer :( She is not so excited about that, but she is a trooper and as long as she gets something tasty to eat, she is coping just fine. She won't starve...haha. We'll build up her immunity and cut out all allergans that we can for the next 30 days, and possibly re-test to see if anything has changed. She is probably more adverse to the immunity building: the aloe and elderberry and echinacea. She's not so crazy about those things, but what she doesn't need to know what is in her juice and water anyway....there are always ways...

January 9, 2008

God gives us some very special times on earth to share and build relationships with others. I am very grateful, yet, I am also ashamed I don't make opportunities enough to strenghten those relationships in the 'busy'ness
of the day. I can only hope my friends and family know they are special by the way I treat the opportunies
we are blessed to have...like today. What a day!! Today I had the privilege of going with a friend, Kayren, for her sonogram for her 4th child. What a blessing and a miracle to see that tiny baby growing and developing. God is amazing! It was a special event for multiple reasons: I was able to share this with a special friend, who shared the the birth of Syd with us; I was able to see the little girl, yes this time it's a girl, to laugh and cry with a friend; I had a chance to reflect on the experience when we found out that Sydnie was a girl.


It's hard to believe she is 3 years-old now. She is growing and developing so quickly I hope we can keep up :) Her opinions are definitely being voiced, not always in the most gracious manner; she has definite styles of clothing she prefers (watch-out for the teenage years!); she is asking some difficult questions, keeping us on our toes; she has a sweet nature (when she allows it to come through) and her preschool teachers say she is very encouraging to her friends at school. We have been blessed and must not forget to thank the Lord often for His many blessings!!

Sorry about the crazy pictures. I haven't figured out editing the pics yet :(