Look!

Look guys I have new blogs I have started (because I have way too much time on my hands). I have a recipe blog with easy, fast, tasty recipes here and I also have a new blog with ideas for keeping your kiddos busy, specifically ages 1-5, with many people posting their brilliant ideas! Let me know if you'd like to post something on that one. Go check it out! Click here or go over here --> (scroll down past the pics of my cute kiddos to sites we love!)

Happy Amniversary

8 big years today. Love you babe!

Such Craziness

Here are some additional pics for the fam and all you baby lovers out there. Seriously, sweetest baby ever. And you can't even see her chub-chub thighs. Also, I have recently decided that Heaven (at least where I live) will smell like Baby Magic Yellow Shampoo and the Purple Johnsons Baby Lotion. I seriously sit and smell this kid's head all day. Don't believe me? Watch Sydney, she now does it too. Ahhh. Heaven.

Sydney has recently discovered in. She's been climbing in cupboards and boxes and all sorts of small enclosed spaces.
And the garbage can. Rock on. A new member of the bucket brigade. Do you love the 4000 toys scattered around? I know I do. It makes the house look lived in.

As I have previously posted, Sydney loves animals. ALL animals. We have a baby robin that frequently visits our backyard whom Sydney named "Budget." On Friday she decided it was time to have a pet of her own, so she got one - a dragon named "All Done." For those of you who haven't seen a real dragon before, here he is:

And you all thought I was so mean for not letting her get a pet. We were just waiting for a really cool pet! All Done is remarkably well behaved and we usually only hear about him at breakfast when Sydney shares her milk with him. My kind of pet! Also, I just had to throw this last pic in of my snuggle bug and I!

Sydney recently discovered that when you fall on pillows from a not so great height, it doesn't hurt. She did this forever. It was really funny!

How Did That Happen?

So Saturday morning we threw the kiddos in the car and headed out to go garage sale-ing. About 4 hours later we came home with this. Hello, 50" plasma.

Let me explain. While out we also planned to stop and look at a tree we're growing attached to and considering purchasing. On a whim as we passed Best Buy (en route to see the tree), Aaron asked if I wanted to stop and look at laptops (we've talked about buying one of those too - and no, we're not made of money,we just have things wearing out at the same time). I agreed, and as we pulled into the parking lot, I saw a clearance sign at another store. Best Buy became Home Goods, Target, then Best Buy, since they were all neatly lined up for us.

At Home Goods we struck out. Target provided a few unimportant things that we were planning to purchase, but then Aaron entered the electronics section. I was in the baby aisle (go figure, right?) and came to find him deep in conversation with a very nice late teen-ish Target employee. I did my best to keep Sydney occupied in the worst section of the store with the most possible breakable items while Aaron learned all he never needed to know about plasmas and lcds and all sorts of other things.

To make a long story slightly shorter, it was a screaming deal. I mean really. We got a clearanced tv, floor model (which gives you 30% off apparently), plus another 10% for opening a Target credit card. We tried to get Best Buy to match it and they couldn't even come close. Of course, since this was our previous setup:

We then had to find a new tv stand. Sydney was uber helpful through the whole process and stayed really close by.
After we got everything put together and all the tools and small parts removed, both girls decided to sit on the couch, out of the way.
This is my only picture of it in it's completed positiong all put together.

I'm still not completely sure how this happened, but we're glad to have it!

Restaurant Cheapies

Visit www.restaurant.com to find cheap gift certificates to restaurants in your area. They are usually $10 for a $25 gift certificate. Buy before the end of the month and get them 80% off when you enter the coupon code NAPKIN - that's just $2 per certificate! Make sure you read the rules since some of them are only valid on purchases of a certain dollar amount!

Pirates, Pools, and Parks! Hooray!

We've been enjoying the pool recently and Sydney may have finally gotten over her fear of the pool. It took like 2 weeks. Except she's still scared of the kiddie pool, just not the big one. Awesome.

We've been doing lots of walks to the park lately too. Sydney finds some friends on the way. Can't beat rocks - they don't talk back.
First time Mady's in a swing!

She liked it! Yes, I take her out in her pjs sometimes. I'm awesome like that.

Sydney playing with her buddy Eli. I LOVE that they are learning to play together, not just beside each other now. It's so darn cute.

To go along with her new obsessission, we dressed her up like a pirate last night! The chubby little legs sticking out are my favorite part!

Picture This...

Picture this if you will. It's 10:30 pm tonight. Sydney and Mady are sleeping peacefully in their beds. Aaron is sleeping peacefully on the couch. I am checking email and blog hopping while watching Twilight and contemplating how perfect the girl who played Jessica was. Seriously. All of a sudden I hear sirens. At first I think it's a police car ('cause I'm smart like that), but after a few seconds I realize it's not getting louder or quieter (as the car would get closer or further away) and it's staying on for too long. I wake Aaron up to confirm my theory that it's tornado sirens I'm hearing. I quickly check our favorite weather website and confirm that we have a tornado warning. We both go upstairs to get the girls and drag them down to the basement. While I'm shushing Mady back to sleep and Aaron is on his way down the hall with a very sleepy Sydney on his shoulder, the sirens stop. Thank heavens the girls went back to bed without any problems. Seriously, thank you. Now it's pouring like we're back in Minnesota again. Good thing I watered my garden today.
Also, I'm pretty much the most amazing party planner person ever. We had a poop party at my house today. I didn't even send out invitations and we still had 7 attendees. Amazing.

Good Clean Fun?

I decided to get brave today and let Sydney finger paint for the first time. I didn't have real ones, so I pulled out my acrylic toll paints (which haven't been used for a little while...). They are water based, so they come off of hard surfaces (like floors) really easily. Clothes, not so much, so we took some precautions.

Sydney was absolutely delighted to discover that she didn't get in trouble for getting completely messy.

She kept wanting more colors and they sort of ended up all mixing together to form this lovely grayish color.

After it started to dry she decided it was uncomfortable on her bare skin and tried to wipe it off.

A close up of the war paint

NOW we are finally clean! We had to scrub her all down and clean under every finger nail and in her belly button, but we finally got it all (although in this pic her tummy was still stained blue - it wore off soon). Then she got to use Mommy's special bubble bath. She was thrilled.
She also watched Sesame Street for the first time that day (loved it) and we went to the park after naps. The park was awesome and Sydney loved the slide. To get there we walked up a large hill behind our house to get a little exercise. You know how when you climb (especially at high altitudes) and you are out of shape your inner thighs start to burn a bit? Add that I was pushing a 30+ lb kid in a stroller and wearing a 20+ lb kid in an infant carrier and they started burning long before they should have. Add that Mady kicked my inner thighs every step of the way and lets just say I was really really glad when we reached the top of that hill.
"Whee!" She would lay down and her hair got all static-y! It was hilarious. She can climb up the stairs and go down the big and little slides all by herself. When did she get so big?
Such a sweetheart

Not remotely related, but darling. I had a request for more videos from the family members that don't see our kiddos as often as they would like (who wouldn't want to see them, right?) so here you go Adi. Mady rolling today in all her happy glory. Enjoy.

Big Kids & a Bit of Silliness

I can hardly believe it. The day finally came when Sydney had enough hair to need a hair cut. Not because it was too long, just scraggly looking. Here is an adorable photo of her waiting for me to trim it. We don't have an after photo per say, but it's really the same, just thicker looking (no wispy ends) and a bit shorter. We trimmed it in hopes that it would make it grow faster. We'll see how it goes!

We went to the pool with our friends Casey and Kenzie a few weeks ago. I loved this photo of Kenzie leading Sydney to the kiddie pool. They're going to be best buds. Too bad there was lightning and we didn't actually get to swim. Shucks.
My little Mady is such a bundle of joy. She's my snuggle buddy and holding her is the best. She smells like heaven. Even Sydney smells her noggin and says Mmmm! She learned to roll from her back to belly last Monday (Jul 6) and on Sunday (Jul 12) learned to roll from her belly to her back. And how to roll continuously around the room until she hits a wall or the couch and she cries for us to help her. Goodbye immobility. It was nice while it lasted. sigh

This is her new favorite toy. A golf club. Tigress Woods here.

Sydney thinks it is fun to get in Mady's crib once Mady wakes up and give her kisses and call her sister. Too too cute.
Sydney is learning how to actually play with all of her toys now and is getting good at it. She'a also speaking alot more - hallelujah!

In non-Sydney news, Mady tried rice cereal and was less than pleased. We'll try again later.

I'm convinced this one is part goat. This is what I found when I walked in the room a few weeks ago.

Sydney learned about princesses a week ago and she loves them now. This is her dancing to the music video on Enchanted. Every time the characters in the movie kiss, she comes up to us to get a kiss. She's also obsessed with the dragon at the end of the movie and will babble about her. Also she loved pirates. Good interests for my almost 2 year old right?

She's obsessed with jewelry lately too. She's sharing bracelets with her animals.

Just a bit of silliness really. For our fans that haven't seem any of her lately, here you go. We can always use some Sydney sillies in our day.

Dancing. Notice Mady the whole time with her golf club.

We've been stocking up on diapers and toilet paper lately and Sydney has a new favorite pastime. She's such a helper.

Also if you want to see something completely crazy, click here: http://news.aol.com/article/ladybugs-cover-mountain/567124

it was in-sane. Sydney would be in heaven. She loves bugs and loves to let them crawl on her ( a product of the butterfly encounter) Have a great week all!

Diapers on Sale!

I wanted to let everyone know about the diaper sale at Rite Aid before it ends. Through Saturday July 11, Pampers Jumbo Packs (why the smallest pack is called Jumbo I'll never know) are on sale for $8.99. Just an ok deal, but then there is a $2 rebate check, making them $6.99 per package, not including any coupons you have (there was one in the paper this last Sunday - P&G insert). However, it appears that there is a limit of only 1 rebate per person, so I took my ad to Walmart tonight and had them price match the diapers for $6.99. Happy Shopping!

Happy Birthday to Me

That's right, I'm older now. Happy Birthday to me and thanks to everyone for the emails, texts, calls, etc. They made my day. I've found that when you're "grown up" and have responsibilities (whether they be work related or kid/family related), birthdays become less of a big deal. I still had a great day though. I showered, took a nap (I only got 5.5 hours of sleep the night before), did a lot of house cleaning, and took care of my kiddos. We went to Olive Garden tonight, so my life is complete because I got lots of yummy salad, breadsticks, and Chicken Garlic con Broccoli - it's the only thing I ever get. Y-U-M.

For Independence Day, we had an absolutely fantastic day. We started off with a breakfast with our church group. It's tradition and we love it. There's just something nostalgic about pancakes and scrambled eggs cooked on those large camping stoves. It reminds me of girls camp or something. I don't think Sydney ate a single bite. She was on the swings or the slide or petting a dog the whole time. Which means she was in heaven.

It was an exhausting day for the smallest of the small ones.
After breakfast we headed over to our community clubhouse. Every Independence Day they have a petting zoo and pony rides for the kids. Here are Sydney and Daddy with a tortoise. There was a noisy goat there who almost ruined the whole experience for Sydney. He wouldn't stop "baa-ing" and scaring her, but she eventually got over it.

She was all over the ponies. She kept yelling "whee!" It was like the carousel all over again.

After some naps and lunch, we headed to the pool. Aaron had - sadly enough - never been with the girls. Sydney didn't so much like falling in face first. Apparently 1 ft deep water is scary when you're only 3 ft tall. It took her awhile to warm up to it again.

With both girls. Mady's first time in.
Love Sydney's face. I asked her to smile.
After some more naps, we headed over to a good friend's house for a BBQ. This is all Sydney ate. She loved it (obviously).
After dinner we topped the day off with was a very nice fireworks show with a whole bunch of great friends. Sydney was scared at first, but after a bit of comfort food (cherries), she was good to go! Mady watched silently for a little while, then rolled over and went to sleep.
It was a decent show and, most important of all, from the time it finished to when we were home was only 30 minutes (and this place we went is 15-20 min away anyway!). All in all we had a perfect Fourth of July!

So Much Summer Fun

We finally made it to the pool. Huzzah! Somehow with the tornados and rain and hail we've been inside a lot. Weird. Wednesday (June 24) was our first pool day of the season. Sydney had a fantastic time. Mady had no idea what was going on.

With her good buddy Eli whom she affectionately calls "Lie" or "Die." Both are said with love.
Just chillin'. I've found I'm much different with Mady than I was with Sydney. I wanted Sydney to do everything, even if she was too young for it, and I think it was for me as a mom. With Mady, I'm content to let her just sit and enjoy the warmth (she stayed in the shade). I didn't even put her swim suit on. She just dipped her toes in. This is big for me. Really.

Can't you see these two in about 15 years? Sharing makeup, jewelry, clothes, etc. Ok, at the rate Mady's growing they'll be sharing clothes in about 6 months.

It looks like she stopped for a snack here on her way to her toes. They look tasty in those shiny shoes.

Sydney's first dress up shoes. Proudly purchased by Nana at a garage sale we found. One pair of purple, one pair of pink. We figured Mady would need some in not too long as well. sigh Those shoes make me happy. And check out this outfit. She was going for the Bohemian look. It's one of my new faves.

While Aaron and my dad were white water rafting a few weeks ago (they came back happy, tired, and wanting more!) my mom and I noticed a beautiful Swallowtail butterly crawling on our grass, so we went to check it out. Both wings had clean, identical tears down the middle (not like they had been ripped, almost like it had been formed that way) so it was unable to fly. This gave Sydney a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with a "flies." She was thrilled. We were very gentle with it (Sydney didn't understand that grabbing it would hurt it, but we managed to keep her from maiming the poor thing any further). It climbed on our hands and Sydney's arms and legs. This made her giggle hysterically and wiggle until it fell on the grass again. Good thing it was only a few inches!

She tried her best to apply chapstick to the poor flutterby's head (who doesn't need chapstick?) until we rescued it and hauled it over to our neighbor's flowers. It went crazy and ate for a little while, then decided to crawl across the rocks between our yards for some crazy reason. Sadly enough, this was where I found it an hour later, minus 1 wing. Sydney is now OB-sessed with butterflies. Also butterfly kisses now make sense to her.

We are really enjoying the great weather and time outside. Despite the length of time between posts, we are also almost caught up with all of our pictures! huzzah! Ooh, go check out the new book I read over here -->. It was so good!