Sydney playing Jingle Bells

Sydney's Creative Writing

First Day of School

Here are pictures from our first official day of 1st grade! We actually started "reviewing" the end of last year's material last week on 8/17, but started new material this week. Sydney is adjusting very well (better than last year) to our schedule again after having most of the summer off. I had planned to continue through the summer, but with everything that was going on - my miscarriage, Pamela's wedding, our little summer trips here and there, well, before I knew it, summer was over and we did not do "year-round" school like I had intended. But we have officially started up again and we are both happy to have our "routine" back. We have even made it to morning Mass a few mornings!

First grader

First grader

The Principal

The Teacher

Pre pre-schooler

Lesson 1: Spell your name

Sydney's 6 year portraits

This pink costume was from her lyrical dance...

The blue costume is from her "hip-hop" dance...

The brown dress is well, just something she has...

Click here to view the entire session.

Happy Birthday Sydney!

This is what keeps us going!

This past weekend...

...was absolutely crazy! Sydney's spring dance show was on Saturday. Dress rehearsal was Saturday morning at 10:30 AM and the actual show was at 7:00 PM. This meant I had to get her dressed, fix her hair and put makeup on her twice in one day. (I hate putting makeup on my 5-year-old! She has such beautiful, flawless skin and IMO, is so pretty. I just don't want her to grow up with a low self-esteem like I did and eventually get to the point that she can't leave the house without makeup on, like me. And I also want her to wear a lot less of it when that time does come. But, with her pale skin, she really did need some for the stage; otherwise, she would look very washed out.) Anyway, after the rehearsal, we came home, ate lunch, and then I helped her wash her face and hair and we put her down for a nap. Now that she is almost 6, she doesn't typically take naps. She hasn't been a regular napper for probably nearly 2 years. But, when she is exhausted, she will sleep during the day. For a VERY long time. Then she has trouble going to sleep at night. When she was younger, she always slept better at night after having had a good nap during the day. On Saturday, she was definately exhausted, so she slept for over 3 hours!!! I ended up having to wake her up so she could start getting ready all over again. This day wouldn't have been half as hard, if it weren't for the fact that we had an early birthday party planned for her. Since everyone was going to be in town for other events this weekend, we decided to go ahead and invite everyone over to our house for homemade chicken salad sandwiches, cake and ice cream. It wasn't that many people, but it was still work. And it made for a very late night! But Sydney was so excited and had so much fun! It was all worth it... Besides, she did have a nap! =)

I do have to say that Sydney is extremely grateful for what she has and for what people give her. I could not have asked for a better reaction from her upon opening each gift. For example, when her Mimi & Popo gave her a gift bag with Shampoo & Detangler in it, she screamed, "Yeah! Shampoo and Detangler! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Then, when she found two clips in the bottom of the bag, she reached in and pulled them out to show everyone and screamed "Thank you, Mimi & Popo!" I just have to add that Mimi was just returning them to her as she had left them at her house the last time she was there. So, they weren't actually a gift; they were hers to begin with. The whole room filled with laughter!

The weekend was only half over at this point. The following morning, we went to Mass in Ganado for Mark's parents' 40th Anniversary. Then we went to their house for lunch. Following that, we hosted a bridal shower for my sister, who is getting married in July. Mark stayed at his parents' house and took the girls swimming for the first time this year while I was at the shower. Last weekend, they were both still getting over ear infections, so we opted out of getting them in the pool. Yes, it was a busy weekend, but it's over. And I wasn't ever too busy to remember what is going on with me...it's kind of hard to forget.

Sydney read her first chapter book!

Last week, Sydney finished reading The Boxcar Children book #1. She has since finished several other chapter books now that she has it down, but this was officially her first, so, you know me, I had to take a picture! I have to add that she is only 5 and just finished her Kindergarten year, first-grade level. We are so proud of her...

Sydney's New "Do"

Well, it's official. We now have a BIG girl in the house. She is 1 month away from turning 6 and in the past 5 days she has lost a tooth and 10 inches of hair! She has been growing her hair out for nearly a year for Locks of Love and with summer just around the corner, she just couldn't wait any longer. As you can see from the pictures, her smile just got bigger and bigger as the haircut progressed.

Gianna's 5 month portraits

Gianna's 5 month proofs

Well, we are back to the 8th of the month. At least for December anyway! Included in these pictures are some of both Sydney and Gianna wearing their Christmas dresses made by their Mimi.

Click here to see all of them!

Sydney's drawing of Isaac

Sydney drew this picture of her brother, Isaac, this morning after having an "Isaac moment." This is how we refer to the times when we talk about him and sometimes cry together. Keep in mind that these are only the times that we actually share our thoughts...not a day goes by that we don't think of him. Anyway, she told me he got a tooth today (notice the "dot" in his mouth) and if you notice the stars and cloud, well, according to her, that depicts "Heaven." Also, for those of you who held Isaac, came to the funeral, watched the DVD I made and/or have seen photos of him, you would know that his eyes were closed, of course, but also that his mouth was open. Children are so intuitive in their artwork...

Fallen tree limb...

This tree limb fell this morning (11/11/08), just as Mark was walking out the back door. We were all in the car waiting on him. The ironic thing was that I was the last one out the door, we had already backed half-way down the driveway, when Mark realized he had forgotten his wedding ring and Aggie ring. So, he pulled back up and went inside. (This forgetting something and going back inside is always me, NOT him!) It was at the exact moment when he was walking out the door that it fell right before his eyes.

This is so scary, because this is exactly where Sydney likes to play when she is outside. You can see her swingset nearby... I took a picture of her standing next to the limb (below) so you could see just how enormous this thing is. And what's so strange is that it is not a dead branch (well, I guess it is now!), so, it is very solid and heavy. As I'm sure you know, this could have killed her, or at the very least, injured her badly, had it fallen on top of her. Thankfully, it did not. But it leaves us to wonder, what was God trying to tell us? We aren't sure, but we offered up prayers of thanksgiving that it did not fall while she was out there playing. And we are still thanking Him...

Sydney lost her first tooth!

Sydney just turned 5 on June 8th, so this is a little early to already be losing her baby teeth, and a little bittersweet too, I might add. This picture was taken the day AFTER I pulled one of her two loose bottom teeth...on August 27th. I forgot to take a picture of her holding the tooth BEFORE the tooth fairy came, so it was a little late for that...