4!

How can it be that Daniel is already 4 years old??? How can it be that I dont have any babies any more?

Let's see, what's Daniel like as a 4 year old... Hmmm....

1) He's still completely into trains and Thomas. The desired item this year for his birthday was Thomas Trackmaster
2) He's still our "Old Yeller". His first instinct is to yell his little lungs out.
3) He still has lots of fits, but he's getting better. Most often his toys need to go into a box and get "earned" back again.
4) He's celebrating his birthday this year with a fever, so the planned outing to IHOP has been scratched for today.  Maybe we can go on Friday since tomorrow is halloween. 
5) He's a "train driver" for halloween this year. He briefly wanted to be a ghost, then a bat, but we're back to our old favorite, train driver...

 

First day of Kindergarten!

First day roundup:

1) She got a "sharing sticker" from Mrs. Kay for being a good sharer.
2) She tried (and loved) Breakfast Pizza for the first time.
3) She declared my carefully selected snack containers were "just impossible" to open.

All of a sudden she's talking like a teenager. I can't imagine what's coming next!

Without ends......

There would be no beginnings.. As I get Sydney ready for her first day of kindergarten, I'm also getting ready for her last day of day care.  I made cupcakes to send with her but it just doesn't seem like enough.   We've been so lucky to have care for her that really HAS been a 2nd home.

I'll always remember the day we met Suzanne. She opened her door and squealed with delight and asked, "Can I hold her?"  and just like that I knew this was someone who'd absolutely love my pumpkin just as she loved her own children. Suzanne is different than most daycare providers. While yes, she got into it in order to stay home with her own children, her own kids are long in school themselves, and she really does continue to do it because she loves the kids.

As Sydney is leaving, a new baby is starting. Baby Michael. As I talked to Baby Michael's mom this afternoon, she teared up and said, "How am I supposed to do this every day? How am I supposed to pack him up and leave him?"  I remember that feeling.. I remember it so well.. And yet somehow here we are - starting school.. It's been forever, but it's also been a blink of an eye. 

I'm lucky in that Daniel will stay with Suzanne for another 2 years. So we dont have to leave her altogether yet. I guess I just need to put out there in the universe how lucky I feel to have found her - that she's been the extension of our family for these past 4 years. I simply can't thank her enough..

Funny Daniel Story

We were riding down the highway and Celine Dion's version of God Bless America came on my ipod, and somehow both kids seemed to already know the words. I knew Sydney might have heard it at preschool, but had no idea Daniel had ever heard it before. So they were singing at the top of their lungs, and I was getting teary over it and all of a sudden, right at the end of a line, Daniel chimes in "And break it down"..

I about laughed until I cried. I've got patriotic DJ Lance in my back seat all of a sudden..

I love Daniel's newfound enthusiasm for singing. Maybe one day we'll see him on a stage. He's definitely got the projection gene :)

The tooth fairy comes tonight.....

So today we have a huge milestone - Sydney's first lost tooth! We've got the tooth in a special bag all ready for the tooth fairy :)

busy week

So it's been a busy few weeks with us. Our PC died and we had to get a new one plus we got new phones, then I spent the last week on a fun trip to Asheville, NC for work..   I've been playing with my new iphone quite a bit and got some great shots in the gardens of the Biltmore.  So here they are..I'm thinking I may choose one or two and frame them for my office :)

Last day of preschool

This is late, but last week was the last day of preschool at the Mulford school. They had a moon bounce, a candy hunt and pony rides... Sydney was beside herself with anticipation, and mom was a tad jealous cause dad went to help out...

Next stop, kindergarten!!

Happy Fathers Day!

One more time...

The last day of the marathon 5th birthday celebration....

Five-a-palooza

Well, the 5th birthday celebration spanned a good couple days, and we still have the Jones May birthday party next weekend..

We started with getting her new bike last Sunday.
Then, on her actual birthday on Thursday, she had pretzel rods at pre-school, and got special birthday cookies and a balloon from Ms. Suzanne.  Then it was birthday dinner at Red Robin - with birthday sundae for dessert..

Then, on Saturday we had a full day.. Granny took Sydney to American Girl - Sydney chose Kit and Toasty the dog

Then the Westchester Plonas came for lunch and cake so that we could celebrate with Rosie, who is the best sport ever about sharing her birthday! Then they hit the road so that Rosie could get back for her first softball game under the lights.

Then, the Moonises came to have dinner and ice cream cake with us.. They are always fun to hang with, and Daniel cried when it was time for them to go..

And on Sunday, we rested!

Daniel's first date...

With his Grandma Sue :)

They went to the Prince William County Model Railroad Club open house down in Quantico. Apparently it's not just a model railroad depot but an active train station too. So the Amtrak AND several freight trains rolled through. Apparently Daniel kept telling his grandma, "Just 5 more minutes...."

Florida - 2012!

We had a terrific time in Florida this year - going to the beach and swimming in the pool with granny and poppy, and adventuring off to Disney world! The kids were champs on 2 very long days, but I can honestly say a great time was had by all.

Sydney met her favorite princess, Belle....

As we were waiting for out turn to meet each princess, Daniel said he didn't want to talk to any of them. I didn't push it and just focused on taking pictures of Sydney as she met each one. Well we finished with Cinderella and moved on to Belle and all of a sudden I looked back and there was Daniel chatting up Cinderella all by himself. He said, "when I'm 1000, I'm going to be a......... giant".. He was a big hit with everyone else in line and got a big laugh! Then he announced loudly that he was done..So apparently Cinderella is his favorite :)

We had breakfast the next morning at Chef Mickeys and saw all the "key" characters - Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto.. The kids had a great time :)

And, no trip to St Augustine is complete without a trip to Marineland to see the dolphins... We got a special tour to see their new baby dolphin!

Special thanks to Granny and Poppy for hosting us. Getting to go to such a special place on vacation is really a treat!

We love to party!

Our grandma sue turned 70 this past week so we herded all the grandkids and grandmom to the local picture people.. The pictures turned out really cute and I was proud to be part of such a nice family.. Then it was on to Great American Buffet - where they are happy to accept a group of 25 that includes 10 kids - yowsa :)

Crazy cousins!

Boys VS Girls

So since our trip to the movies a few weeks ago, Beauty And The Beast is pretty big in our house right now. We've been watching the movie and listening to the music in the car non stop. I love how both kids really enjoy the music and are working hard at learning all the words to all the songs, and they are always asking when the current song appears in the movie.

The funny part is how different they are. Sydney's favorite song is "Beauty and the Beast/Tale as old as Time"... Very girly...

Daniel's favorite song is "Kill the Beast" (otherwise known as the mob song). Very boyish...

But they both thoroughly enjoy saying "Peabo" over and over when we listen to the duet with Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson :)

My funny valentines 2012 edition....

I always take valentines pics of the kids... Here's this years edition...

Here's a flashback to 2009.. My how things have changed..

http://mjoneses.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-valentines-day.html

Snow, 2012...

It wasn't much as snowstorms go.. About an inch of very icy snow. No chance for a snowman, and snow angels were a no-go too.. But, take really icy snow and a tiny hill in the back yard and you get sledding :)

The kids did great - and once I showed them how to get on the saucers and push off, they were pretty much able to do it themselves. They had a good time!

How I know Daniel is sick

Because he just never does this: