Wizard of Oz

Mimi and I had a girls night last Friday with Sydney, Natalie, and Libby. We started out at the girls' favorite spot, Chick-fil-a, before we headed down to the children's theatre to see The Wizard of Oz. It was such a fun show and we topped the night off with an ice cream stop! :)

Murder Mystery Night

A big THANK YOU to Namaw for watching the kids so that Andy and I could enjoy a very late night out with friends!  We dressed in our finest resort wear and headed to a friend's home to help solve the mystery of murder in margaritaland. We were each given roles in the mystery ahead of time. Everyone took their roles very seriously and had the best time! Andy was elderly millionaire, Thurston Howard III, while I was his gold-diggin' fiance, Candy Cotton. It was an evening of murder, mystery, and many margaritas!! ;)

Coney Island

Glamour Girl

Bringing in the trash cans has never looked so glam!

Down on the Farm

We celebrated Sydney and Reid's birthdays down on the farm.

Our family and friends joined us for pony rides and a party at Parky's Barn!

Click on the picture to see a larger version of the collage!

Birthday Traditions

Sydney helped to make and decorate Reid's birthday cake this year. She also picked out her own present to give him (a book about safari animals). She was a great birthday helper!

 Here she is enjoying the fruits of her labor!

FOUR

Sydney turned FOUR today! She is the most beautiful girl, inside and out, that we know. Her sassiness has become pure sweetness. We celebrated her special day with lunch out and a 3D movie!

Four words to describe Sydney:
loving, imaginative, bright, strong-willed :)

Four things that she loves do:
play with baby dolls, dress up, dance, and play outside

Four favorite foods:
strawberries, mac 'n cheese, pineapple, and oranges

Four things we are especially proud of:
her kind heart, patience with her brother, polite manners, independence

Happy Birthday, boo-boo!! We love you so soooo much! :)

Bassmaster

Daddy recently brought home the "largest bass" title from a recent fishing tournament. We were so proud of him!

TWO

Two years ago today, our precious Reid was born. We are so blessed to have this sweet little cuddler in our family. He makes us smile and laugh every day. He is a content, clever, fun-loving little guy that has an infectious giggle and absolutely adores his big sister. He loves his snugglies, tooties (cookies), books, choo-choos, pudding and any/every kind of sports ball. We are so lucky to be your mommy and daddy, Reid, and we love you very much.

Chillin' and a Grillin'

Grandma, Aunt Anna, Uncle Bunny, and Evelyn came over for a cookout a few weekends ago. The weather was perfect, the kids had a ball, and it was fun to enjoy a relaxing Sunday evening together.

Back to School

Sydney had her first week of preschool last week!

 This fun, sassy girl lights up our world. :)

Way, Waaaay Past Due

Just in time to wish a very special someone (Brooke) a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I realized that I didn't post pictures from our spring trip to Gatlinburg with Brabe (Brooke + Abe). We had an awesome time and filled a lot of fun in over a three-day weekend! A few reasons why we love hanging out with them...

1. They love outdoor adventures, including not-so-leisurely hikes in the Smoky Mountains. Fortunately, we all made it up to a peak and a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, my crocs did not make it. 

 #2: They play hide and seek with us in hotel rooms. That is Brooke inside that cabinet!

#3: They spoil us with fudge, Chupa Chups suckers and hotel room discounts.

 #4: They love games as much we do!

 #5: They have amazing kids who are SO SWEET and GOOD to our kids!

We love you Brabe!

Special Friends

We headed north from the lake on Saturday to visit my BGSU roomie and longtime friend, Mary, and her family. It's always so special to have those friends that you don't see or talk to every day/month, but when you do it feels like no time has passed at all. I left with a full, happy heart and the kids left exhausted from playing with every toy in the house. Thanks for a great visit Rood family... hopefully it won't be so long until we see you again!

Could these twins, Molly and Addy, be any cuter?! Big brother Connor was adorable too. :)

The Lake

Our Labor Day weekend was spent relaxing at the lake. There is never a shortage of laughs when the family gets together. From the discussions of recurring dreams, to the late night game of Balderdash and the two-dollar flea market challenge, it's always a great time being together. It is nearly impossible to get a good picture of all seven cousins! Most of the pictures end up looking like this...

Ballerina

Sydney is taking ballet this year with her good friend, Elle. She had her first class on Thursday and loved every minute of it. She came leaping out the room with big, proud smiles!

Go Reds!

 Daddy's love of baseball is quickly wearing off on us...

 

Thoughts of a Three Year Old

I want to put Sydney's little voice in a bottle and keep it forever, so that I never forget the way she puts things into words. Most of the time, it's her sweet observations about the world around her that is music to my ears... but tonight was a little different. She was having trouble and couldn't get a show to work on the dvd player, so she loudly exclaimed "DANIT!" (pronounced dan-it). Andy and I looked at each other wondering if we heard her correctly just as she repeated it over again. A lesson on using, "oh golly or gosh" instead quickly ensued. :)

Stricker's is Super Fun!

Our Sunday drive this past weekend took us to the most adorable, charming amusement park called Stricker's Grove. It is a private amusement park that is family owned and operated. It is only open to the public four weekends a year (lucky for us, last weekend was one of the them!). The weather was perfect, the rides were just the right size, and the sweet corn was mmm, mmm, good.