B-Day Girl

Today is Sydney's 4th birthday. Can you believe it's been 4 years since she was born? Simply amazing. Time seems to go by so fast.
She has had a wonderful weekend. Friday we loaded up in the car and I took her to the American Girl store. She got to look at every single doll in the store and all the clothes and then pick out what she wanted. She got Julie the 1974 doll. She hasn't let go of the doll when we're in the house. I took her to lunch after we got the doll - just the two of us. We went to Chilies and she felt so grown up and was having a blast. We also stopped and looked at some shoes before heading home. Last night we had her "family" party and she got to eat cupcakes and open gifts from mom/dad and Shelby. She got two webkins from her sister (loves them) and some dress up clothes from us. I'll post the photos later, but it was perfect. She loves to dress up while she's playing and lately she will wear her costume out when we run errands. That's just Syd.
Today was her b-day party with friends and she had a blast! She got to go swimming and see her friends. Nothing better than that. I didn't get it on film - but she did a back flip in the water and circled around and came back up. It was super cool to see her do it. Sean has seen her do it before, but most of the time I've got sebastian in the pool and don't get to see how advanced she's gotten in the water.
She was very tired tonight and I hope all of the kids will sleep later in the morning. It was a great day for her and I hope a wonderful start to a wonderful year.

Carrots

Sebastian started solid food a few weeks ago. Rice cereal isn't his favorite, but he did finally figure out how to eat it. As with the girls, he was very messy the first couple of tries. Since he drools alot, that's a big factor too. Last week he started carrots. The first of real flavors. With the girls, I didn't have a camera ready for the first taste, but I was ready with this kid. Here's the photo -

I think the expression says it all. Of course a week later, he really prefers carrots to rice cereal. Yesterday he did sweet potatoes, and seemed to enjoy them. For some reason I bought those instead of squash, which was 2nd on the food list. Oh well, he'll get there eventually.

Celebration photos

We had a great time on the Fourth. Besides visiting with family - the girls loved the fireworks. We let them do sparklers and Sean set off some ground fireworks for them to watch. The neighbors were shooting off Roman Candles and other Aerial fireworks and the kids loved that. Here are some shots of the girls:

The "fireworks" option on my camera is really cool - but uses a lot of battery power. My freshly charged batteries were gone by the end of the night.

Here is my favorite shot of the evening.

Shots of Summer

It's hot here. Really hot. We're talking already triple digit heat for over a week and it's only the 4th of July. The average doesn't have us in triple digits for at least another 10 days. Guess that's why it's an average. :)
Since it's so hot, we took everyone to get a snow cone last night. There is a Bahama Bucks near the house and everyone LOVES the snow cones from there. The girls always get a Gilligan's Grape, although it turns their lips and tongue blue. I tried out the Banana Colada and really liked it.

Doesn't it just make you want to go get one. :) here are some more of the girls.

Later today we're off to my mom's house to celebrate the 4th. I'm hope to tryout my "fireworks" setting on my camera. I only get to play with it once a year so I'm not sure how it will turn out.

Time Flies While We're Having Fun!

I can hardly believe that it's July! What happened to June? Where did it go? Our daily routine keeps things moving I guess. I try to keep things to a particular day, so the girls have an idea of what we're doing. Monday is Zoo Day. Tuesday is craft day. Wednesday is Library day. Thursday is dance day. Friday is Yoga / Swimming day. Now don't get me wrong - we do more than that, but it's the "big event" for the day. We usually go swimming at the end of the day on Monday and Tuesday when Sean gets home and several days include doing some school work to keep up those skills.
I started a 4 week scrapbook class on the 25th and it has kept me busy. It's got lots of thought provoking questions and a page to do every day. I'm behind right now, but hope to get caught up soon. Sometimes it's hard to find my "groove" before someone interrupts me.
I've also been doing a mommy and me yoga class on friday with Sebastian. It was only for 4 weeks, but I've really enjoyed it and think I will sign up for the next 4 weeks as well. I've been doing some easy yoga at home too. I just try to do it when i won't have an audience. :)
I need to start weight watchers again - now that I'm not nursing, but I think I"ll start that next week - after the 4th celebration.

Summer Time

School's out and no one is happier than me. It just wasn't a good teaching year for me. Don't get me wrong - my students learned a lot, enjoyed my class and were great kids, but my heart wasn't in it. I was given the opportunity to interview in another district on June 1st, but it was the first round. I was told that over 100 people applied for the position, so I didn't really think i would get it. Would have been nice, but that's ok. I'll be working with someone new next year and that should change things up some.

So - summer vacation is upon us and we've got plenty of things to do. This week I took the kids to the zoo on Monday and then later that evening we went to the pool. I had CPR class on Tuesday, but Wednesday we played at home. The girls made a necklace for their craft and worked on some "worksheets". Shelby did some writing, math and money counting, while Sydney started on her alphabet book. We work on recognizeing the letters and sounds that they make and color activity pages to go with them. Shelby knew all of her letters and sounds when she entered kindergarten and I hope Sydney will too. We've got two summers to get them all down.

Thursday was the first summer dance class for both girls. It rained most of the morning, so we played at home until time for that. Sebastian took a 3 hour nap on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday I went to a post-natal yoga class that's a baby and me class and really enjoyed that. It's only a 4 week class and then I think i might join the yoga class at the activity center for July.

Friday was our 10 year anniversary and we went out to dinner and a movie without the kids.

Now it's Saturday and I've got some cleaning to do before I can play again, but it's nice to be able to do it at my own pace. :)

Here's a latest picture of Sebastian. He's such a happy guy!

Lucky 13

So only because we have 13 days of school left. I'm ready to be off for several days in a row and not think about what is going on in my classroom. Sad thing is that we only have 13 days of school and I'm still looking for an elementary position. There aren't many in the area, so I'll probably be back at middle school next year. Don't get me wrong - I love teaching middle school - I just would like to stop teaching that extra hour or two every single day afterschool and doing activities on the weekends. I'd like to spend the weekends with my own three kids and their activities. OK - no more complaints. I've only been praying for the right job at the right time and I'm sure everything else will take care of its self.

Shelby had her birthday party this weekend (only 9 days after her b-day) and it was a hit. We did a pj party at a local bounce house place. Lots of fun and the kids were already in their pjs when we got home, so it was right to bed. :) Sebastian was a hit with all of the moms - most of them are done haveing kids and they don't have any babies in the family, so he was passed around the entire party. I'll post some photos of him in the next couple of days.

Things around here are going well. Mom is staying busy with activities and seems to be doing well. I check in with her every couple of days and know that Dan is checking in too. She'll be up to help us next weekend. Sean and I are going to work in the yard and she's going to babysit. She's also bring the truck so we can get dirt and grass for the yard. I know it's hard - I still have moments that make me cry, but she's doing well. We're lucky to have faith and knowledge that there is a better place when we leave this world.