Syd is 10!!

 Syd recently had a birthday. She is 10! Can you believe it? Here are some higlights fromher birthday:

We had a small family party.

 Syd and I went into town earlier in the day and got her ears pierced. She was so brave! Not one tear was shed. Then she picked out some earrings and I wrapped them up and she did a great job of acting surprised when she opened them that evening.

 She got some super cool sunglasses from Grandpa Dave and Grandma Leslie. She looks totally chill, huh?

 She also got a very cool kite from Grandpa and Grandma. As a side story: Her birthday was on a Wednesday. On Sunday she took the kite outside to try to get it to fly while Shawn and I were taking a Sunday nap. She came in after just a few minutes soaking wet. She had been paying so much attention to the kite that she backed up and fell into the pool in the backyard. Hee, hee. We are excited to try out the kite at Grandpa's house where there is a little more room and no pools.

 Syd has been playing softball on a ponytail league this summer and loving it. Grandpa and Grandma got her a softball.

 I got her some curclers for her hair. Everyone had to try them out. Very pretty.

 We also got her a new bike. She was not expecting this at all and we surprised the crap out of her which was lots of fun. It is her first geared bike. She seems to really like it. Another story: She and Brynn went for a ride the next day. They had been gone for about 10 minutes when Brynn came screeching into the house yelling that Syd had crashed on her new bike and it was broken and she was bleeding. So I went out to find Sydney walking her bike home and crying. She was banged up pretty good, but she was more worried that she had broken her bike for good. I put the chain back on and it was as good as new. She now has some awesome bruises and scraps to show off, and the bike was not hurt.

 I had to try the curlers too. I felt like a witch. Cackle, cackle.

 Syd requested a Kit-Kat cake. Kit-Kats are her favorite candy bar so this cake was perfect for her.

Blowing out the candles.

We had a great birthday with Syd. I can't believe how grown-up and big my baby is getting. She is such a good girl and we are so proud of her. Hope you had a great day, Syd!

Mindy in the spotlight

The gym we go to did a profile on Mindy this week. She rocks so you should check it out!

Mindy's Athlete Profile

We will have to do a whole post about the mud run, but here are some more pics to wet your appetite.

Brynn's Dance Recital

Brynn's dance recital was just over a week ago.
She did fantastic!

Brynn has done ballet and jazz this year. Her ballet dance was from Swan Lake. It was absolutely charming. She did fantastic and I loved her cute black tutu.

Her jazz dance was Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti And Spearhead. It was lots of fun and Brynn's even got a special part in it. Here are lots of pictures of her in her costumes:

We love you Brynn! You are a great little ballerina!

Night-time Antics

So apparently things are happening at my house while I sleep. This morning Claire was asleep on the couch downstairs. Like REALLY asleep. I chatted with Brynn (her roomate) and from what I can piece together this is what happened last night:
Claire got up at 10:30 to take herself potty. We were super-proud. She got up again at 12:30 to go potty again. Proud again, but a little suspisious at this point. She never needs to go more than once at night. Shawn went to bed shortly after this and apprently this is when the party really got underway. Claire got up and sat in the rocking chair in her bedroom and read stories. After a while she started reading out loud to Brynn. This was somwhere around 4:30 AM. Brynn told her to stop and go back to bed. Claire came upstairs and told Shawn and I that there was water in Sydney's window well. This caused immediate action because this really has happened before. Shawn assesed that there was no water anywhere and put Claire back to bed. At some point after this she got up again and found a pen in the family room. She proceeded to color all over her arms and legs and tummy, and she even gave herself a moustache. I think she fell asleep on the couch after this. I am not sure, but that is where Sydney found her this morning at 7:00 when she got up. I woke Claire up at 8:45. It took some good effort on my part and she was not happy to have to get up.
So I guess the conclusion is that if you want to party, wait until the parents go to bed to get things really rolling. I am a little scared that she knows that this early. But don't you like her mustache?

What We Did Last Weekend

 I ran in the Health Days 5K race. I did okay. 32 minutes. My bro-in-law, Jon, also ran and kicked my trash. That was fun for him. His time was 28 minutes. Seriously Jon, you did fantastic.

We watched Brynn in the Health Days Parade. She rode on a float with her dance group. Hi Brynn! We also got lots of taffy.

We painted the hen house. Doesn't it look great! We got the paint for free at the paint recycling shed at the landfill. How cool that they had barn red?

I love the nesting box and little door in the coop.

We moved the chickens into their new home. I think they like it.

 The ladies are growing super fast!

I hope you all had a good weekend too!

Up next: Brynn's dance recital. Stay tuned.

Mother's Day

I would like to introduce you to my Mother's Day presents:

 This is Cee Cee. She is a Barred Rock hen and will be black and white striped when she grows up.

 This is Peck. She is a Australorp and will be black. She will probably lay brown eggs.

 This is Stretch. She is a Rhode Island Red. Guess what color she will be? Syd has nicknamed her Mrs. Attitude and I would not be surprised if she ends up being the ring-leader of the bunch.

 This is Delilah. She is the sweetest little thing. She is an Easter Egger and will lay blue or green eggs. She will sit on my hand and hang out. Very cute and sweet.

Shawn and I have been toying with the idea of getting chickens for quite a while now. I kind of backed off the idea because we will be remodeling a big portion of our kitchen/living room this summer and I felt bad making extra work for him. But he told me last week that he wanted to get me chickens and build me a coop for Mother's Day. How fantastic is he? So we went down to IFA and picked out some little sweeties. I can't say there was any method to choosing them other than I wanted them to be pretty when the got big, nice to my girls (non-agressive), and I loved the idea of lots of different colored eggs.

In the few days we have had them we have all fallen in love with them. We have spent lots of time holding them, checking on them, and just watching them roam around their little box. Bobbi (our cat) is bewildered by them. She doesn't know whether to ignore them or eat them. After the first day the girls said to me "Mom, thank you so much for getting us chickens for Mother's Day"

Ha, ha, I'm sure they will be thinking that when I make them clean up chicken poop this summer.

 Shawn is building me an awesome hen house for my little ladies. It is going to be fantastic! But I have a dilemma: What color should I paint it? Barn-yard red with white trim or make it match the shed it is right next to: tan with brown trim. What to do. My dad suggested I just paint a big Chick-Fil-A logo on it.

This will be the nesting box. Chickens like to go into a little space away from the hustle of the coop. They will actually cackle for each other when they lay eggs. My girls will not start laying eggs for 4-6 months, but we are looking forward to watching them grow and develop into full grown chickens.

We will keep you all posted as to the going-ons in the hen house. For right now they seem to like to eat and sleep and poop. Kind of like all babies. Thank you Shawn for a awesome Mother's Day gift!

Oh and just in case you think I forgot here are some pictures of my other babies who I love more than life:

 

Claire Bear is 3!!

Claire had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. We had a fun little party for her. She got a new paint book and paints. 

She has been super into mermaids lately. She has a little book with a little girl in it dresses as a mermaid. Whenever we read the book Claire says" Mom, that is me! Where is my tail? I lost my tail." So I decided to maker her her own mermaid tail. It is very sparkly and shiny. And kind of big. We will probably be able to use it for a Halloween costume. Way to kill two birds with one stone.

She got a card from Bart and Katie. After she opened it she read it to me "Dear Claire, happy birthday. I love Bart and Katie. Open lots of presents. From Bart and Katie." Yep, that is exactly what it said.

When I asked Claire what she wanted for her birthday she told me she wanted a candy cake. Got to give a girl what she wants, right? Thanks for the wonderful idea, Becca. The cake was a huge success.

 Singing happy birthday. Claire has carried the candles around in a little bag for a solid week now. She is a little obsessed with birthdays. I guess she wants to be prepared in case her birthday decides to roll around again.

Blowing out the candles.

 Eating candy. No cake for Claire, the candy was good enough.

 

I made Claire a fairy house. Yes, there are lots of pics of it, but I am really quite proud of myself. 

There are three little fairies. One red-head, one blond and one brunette.

Fairies 2 and 3 think that fairy 1 might need a haircut. She can't really see under all that hair.

 

The fairy sisters live in a toadstool house together and they never, ever fight.

They like to sit around their table and eat mushrooms. (The table is not done yet. It will someday look like a mushroom if I get around to painting it. For now it looks like a soccer ball).

The fairies are very tidy. They store their mushrooms and dishes in a little bag.

 We had a fun day with Claire.  I can't believe how fast this little one is growing up! Happy birthday my little girl. We love you so much!