Sydni's 6th Birthday Party

Sydni's birthday is May 29th, which usually means is falls either on, or extremely close to Memorial Day weekend. That wasn't a problem when she was a baby, because our family was all that mattered when it came to birthday party attendance. Now that she's in school, having your buddies at the party is a big deal! Donnie and I decided that the weekend before her BD would probably not conflict with family vacations and other Memorial Day weekend plans like her actual birthday. Our hunch was correct, because this year was her biggest party yet! She had so much fun with her cousins and many, many friends that were able to attend! The Splash Zone area was packed and her cake, ice cream and presents was also equally fun, because we were able to have it in the Kids Zone party room. There was TONS of playing going on, in addition to iCarly cake, Blue Bell ice cream cups, and loads of great presents! Sydni and her cousin, Karson

Aunt Hayli and cousin Brenner...he had a ball at the pool!
Our good friend, Belle Bennett.
Sydni, our neighbor/friend, Tia, Sutton and Emily (both classmates).

Makki wouldn't stand up for pictures. This is the best I could get of her!

Belle, going 100 miles an hour!

Hayli got a great workout chasing after Brenner!

Sydni and her classmate, Maddie.

Karson, Syd, Maddie, and another classmate, Max.

Tia and Syd

Tia wanted Mak to stand up and take a pic with her, but no!

Brotherly Love.

Mr. Blue Eyes

Emily and Beau Bennett, enjoy the party from the sidelines! Next year, Beau!!

A little bit of posing...

Now with the crocodile...

Mak enjoying the Kids Zone playcenter area.

Reagan, Addie Rose, and Belle enjoy the Kids Zone ball pit.

Time to sing to Syd-o!

A bunch of cute kiddos!

This many girls in one room makes for a LOUD party!

I still can't believe she's SIX. WOW!

Tons of gifts, and tons of helpers!

I had to come over and push the tide of helping hands back from Sydni's gifts! Ha!

Thanks for her many gifts, friends and family!

Lots of fun craft projects! We have all summer to do them. Yippeee!

Makki even opened a few gifts from Granny Mar and Ashlee. We have to keep our boss man happy, too! Ha!

Happy Birthday to You! Cha-Cha-Cha, Cumbaya, Huuah!

Sydni fits right in with her class full of friends. This song is just a little sampling of why her Kindergarten teacher needs a HUGE pay raise! ;)

Mak and B Splashing at Body Works

Mak and Brenner were splashing away at one another, but I only caught the tail end of the war! They were both making faces that didn't look like they were "play splashing", and the intensity of it is what was funny!

Wrestle Time!

I'm fairly certain that Donnie and should never try for a boy. I say this because of the video I'm sharing with you in this post. We are convinced that our two little "princesses" have leached all of the rough-and-tumble DNA out of our combined gene pool. If we were to have a boy, he might enjoy playing the flute or reading Harry Potter while his older sisters beat the tar out of him. How can our Barbie-toting girls play dress-up and feed their baby dolls one minute, and be wrestling (sans shirts) in the backyard the next? I'm hoping they will tame their inner tomboy by the time they reach junior high. Nobody wants to hang out with a gal who is known to take a leak in the backyard, right? I won't tell you which one was caught doing that last summer...;)

Makki's Fishy Song!

While waiting to see the pediatrician a few weeks ago, Makenzi shared this little ditty with us. Donnie and I love to hear her sing, and I wish I could capture every song she belts out throughout the day! Her wonderful daycare teacher, Miss Janie, taught her this song and we couldn't help but smile when she decided to entertain us in the exam room!

Birthday Celebration With Pop & Granny

Pop & Granny have birthdays in April, and the girls wanted to celebrate in style. Doesn't The Cotton Patch just scream "celebrate in style"? That just goes to show you how great Pop & Granny are, because they let the girls pick the location for their birthday dinner! We had lots of fun visiting and eating with Bob and Deb, and even had a bite of cake that was served by Syd and Mak...with real knives! Yikes! The girls ended up spending the night with their two favorite people, so I think the evening was fun for everyone! Happy Birthday, Granny and Pop! We appreciate all that you do for us and we love you VERY MUCH! ;)

Granny, Makenzi, and Pop
Miss Priss Sydni and Dad

Oh Lordy! Granny let Makki cut the cake!

Syd had to help out, too. This can't be safe. Another example of good parenting in action!

Happy Birthday, Pop & Granny!

Another "Sydni Creation" Outfit

Those of you who have little girls know that the fashions available for this age bracket can be, well, too "big girl" for our little girls! For example, Syd and I were cruising Target trying to find her an ensemble for her Spring pictures. Target has cute stuff, but I know, I should've been aiming for "nicer" fare for picture day, but let me explain. We were in Target because: 1. Mommy hadn't realize that picture day was the next day until 7ish the night before and Target was one of the few places still open that didn't require me to go to the mall. And 2. Sydni beats the crap out of every shirt, skirt, tights, or pair of jeans that she owns so it's pretty stupid for me to spend very much money on her school clothes. Everything she wears to school will come home with a hole in it. Trust me. I think she shuffles around on her knees the entire time she's on the playground, or she's working on her "stop-drop-and roll" technique. Who the heck knows! All I know is that we had to find an outfit, and Target was the place to be! Target usually has cute stuff, but man, I felt like they'd shrunk a lot of their clothes from the Juniors section and put them in the little girls section. I'm no prude, but I don't dig trying to make my FIVE YEAR OLD look like she's a sophomore in college. Not diggin' it, Target!

Everything I would pick out that didn't look like Heidi from The Hills would wear, she would crinkle her nose and say, "Nah....I don't like that." This is new. She usually LOVES everything I pick out for her. So the epic battle between what Mom wants the daughter to wear and what daughter thinks she should wear BEGINS...at freakin' five years old! Did I mention she's FIVE? Didn't I have a good seven or eight years until this power struggle started? I guess not. She picked out the outfit you see below. Yeah, it might look cute, but picture it without the black shrug and leggings, then pair it with a pair of white high heels, then you would have the outfit Sydni thought would be "so cute for pictures". I wondered if she was going out for drinks with her girlfriends after pictures. After MUCH DEBATE and negotiations, she agreed to the flip flops, tights and sweater. Thank the Lord it was cold that morning, or she might have shed the sweater and tights! Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeshhhhh!

The Marriage of "Q" and "U"

Syd's Kindergarten teacher is amazing. We have had so much fun going to all of Mrs. Rich's creative productions this year, and today we witnessed the union of "Q" and "U" in holy matrimony! It was an ADORABLE ceremony in which the letters were joined together for all eternity...but "Q" must keep in mind and understand that "U" will have to help out other letters from time to time. ("U" must be the man in the relationship...HA!) Sydni was the flower girl for the wedding and had to wear "Queenly" attire. The boys in her class had to dress as Quarterbacks for the ceremony, which was beyond precious! They had music, the exchanging of the vows, and a reception that included cake, punch and dancing. The kiddos had so much fun, and I'm sure they will never forget that "Q" will be with "U" for all eternity!

The Spunk of Our Life!

Dressed up for "Farm Day" at school. This is as dressed up as she would get for me. No overalls or straw hat because they would make her "wook silly".
Did you know that farmers wear silver sandles to do all of that hard labor? Sheesh. No boots with this get-up, either!

I'm doing the dishes and look out the kitchen door and see Makenzi attempting to put Syd's sleeping mask on Lady. Our labs let the girls do whatever they want to them!
Mak thought it was soooooo funny that Lady couldn't see where she was going. Poor Lady Bug!

Snotty nose and all - we love "The Doodle"!
She is one silly goose!

Just like her Daddy!

Put up yer dukes, suckah!

Let's Go Fly a Kite, Up Where the Air is Bright...

Donnie is working hard to get both kites in the air without "crossing the streams"(random Ghost Busters reference).
Syd is up and flying, but Makki's kite is making Donnie work for it!

The Disney Princesses and Barbie are flyin' high!

Little Miss Outdoors

The field behind our house is the perfect kite-flying location.

Daddy and Syd, enjoying the warm weather and some kite flying fun!

Keep in mind, I just finished running three miles, so say hello to my huge forhead! Makenzi soon lost interest in her kite after this picture, and went back inside for snacks. She has her Mommy's attention span!

Sydni Explains Her Lost Tooth...

Easter 2010

We decided to "jazz up" our Easter celebration by staying in a hotel Saturday night in Amarillo. We swam, went to Kabuki (a yummy Japanese Steakhouse), and had a fun time on our microscopic vaction. I would say "mini-vacation" but I think two nights away constitutes the usage of that term! Microscopic it might have been, but we did enjoy a night away from Lubbock, and it's common knowledge that the girls LOVE to stay in hotels. Other than my hair turning a delightful shade of Spring green from the pool water, the hotel stay WAS pretty fun! We woke up Sunday morning to a plethora of Easter gifts...the Easter bunny seriously needs to downsize Easter next year....the Easter Bunny should've stuck with the candy and skipped the toy aisle at Walmart...but when it comes to his girls the Easter Bunny apparently has no self-control! We also had a great time attending Easter services at the Baptist Church in WD (I don't have a single picture of the girls in their Easter attire because we were running extremely late. Shocking, I know!) Mom made a delicious Easter lunch of turkey, dressing and all the fixings and then we ran off those calories at the WD park. Flying kites, playing on the equipment, and hunting eggs took up most of our afternoon before we headed back to Lubbock. (See my post about Sydni's lost tooth for other exciting news that happened that day, too!)

Daaaaang, Mr. Easter Bunny!

It's like a mini-version of Christmas or something!
They have been DYING for a real scooter...er, a RAZOR is what they are called, as I was told by Makenzi. Babies ride "scooters" and big kids ride "Razors"!

These RAZORS resulted in a few scraped knees and toes by the end of the day!

My nephew Karson and Makki, hanging out in WD.

Just hanging around....Syd and Alyx

Cute, aren't they?!

The new and improved snaggle tooth Sydni!

What's sad is that the eggs just might be bigger...

The rules of the egg hunt are simple: no tackling! We make hunting eggs a full-contact sport in this family!

Doodle wanted Layci to take a picture of us kissing. She's such a ham!

Mamaw and a few of her grandkids...well, the rest of us are her favorite, but she can't stand ALEE. I guess that's why Alee is so sad. Ha! Just kidding. Alee was one tired chick and wasn't in the mood for taking a STUPID PICTURE! hA!

Goodbye, First Tooth!

Syd's first loose tooth has been grossing me out for weeks, but thankfully her disgustingly loose tooth is now out of her mouth! My Mamaw taught first grade and kindergarten for half a century and learned a thing or two about pulling teeth. I think most citizens in White Deer have had at least one tooth pulled by Mary K. Diggs, so I was so happy that she could carry on the tradition with Sydni! Mamaw snatched the tooth out of her mouth before she even knew what was coming, and thankfully, my sister Layci had her camera to capture the moment.

She's still in shock, but happy the tooth is gone!

Check out Snaggle Tooth!

One lovely tooth to put under her pillow tonight!

Posing with Mamaw and her precious tooth.

Putting her tooth in her "Baby's First Tooth" keepsake box to put under her pillow. This made Mommy extremely sad because I remembered opening those keepsake boxes during Sydni's baby shower. I also remember the sleepless nights that resulted from that little tooth trying to poke through her gums! Syd-o is growing up too fast!