Grandparents' Day

Shortly after we came home from the Gorge, and the same day we had another Dave Matthews Band concert, we celebrated the greatest Nana and Poppy our girls could have with a lovely brunch at Cracker Barrel!  

These girls really are the luckiest!  As are David and I -- they are such a huge help to us almost on a daily basis watching, shuttling, or just loving on our girls!  Thanks so much for all you do!  We love you!

Also - Sydney had a little Grandparents' Day celebration at her preschool.  She sang her little heart out and was so excited to have her Nana and Poppy there!

Gorgeous For the Gorge in 2015

Apparently I have a hard time saying no to Brad.  {I clearly have a hard time blogging too.}  After two wonderful Labor Day weekends at the Gorge seeing Dave Matthews and his Band, David and I decided that this year we would take a Gorge break.  But, poor, poor Brad's mom, her name is Arlene too, did you know that?  I feel so bad for her, really I do.  Because she was clearly never able to tell Brad NO without him throwing a fit.  Because that's exactly what he did when we told him no.  No Gorge this year.  He bugged, he pestered, he downright HARASSED, and then he did exactly what David would want him to do.  He put together a business proposal.  And, it worked.  He pretty much made it impossible to say no to him.  It was almost like we couldn't afford not to go.  So, we did.  And, it was gorgeous as always.

We found out that Michael and his girlfriend were going to be there on Sunday, so we were able to meet up with them for a little bit before the show.  Still so strange seeing this boy so grown up!

I said over and over that we aren't going next year, but somehow the guys were researching RVs to rent for next year.  My poor parents.... I think one Arlene needs to have a convo with the other Arlene! ;)

Interview With a Preschooler {And a School Picture too}

When Olivia turned four, I started doing yearly "interviews" with her asking her all about her favorite things.  Well, my precious baby girl, Sydney, has just turned FOUR and so it's time to start this tradition with her.   Is she not the cutest stinkin' thing?!

Favorite color: purple

Favorite toy:  Ryder and figurines from Paw Patrol

Favorite stuffed animal: Ryder from Paw Patrol

Favorite thing to sleep with: Mommy {no joke}

Favorite fruit: cantaloupe and watermelon

Favorite cereal: Kix and Strawberry Yogurt O's

Favorite things to eat for breakfast: Kix, scrambled eggs, and donuts

Favorite thing to eat for lunch: chicky nuggets and fries

Favorite dessert: ice cream

Favorite drink: apple juice

Favorite animal: giraffe

Favorite song: Let It Go {Frozen}

Favorite book: Paw Patrol: Pup, Pup, and Away

Favorite game: Hungry Hungry Hippo

Favorite tv show: Paw Patrol 

Favorite movie:  Frozen

Favorite thing to do outside: swim

Best friends: Hailey, Jade, Sage, Brooke, Olivia

What she wants to be when she grows up:  a doctor

Interview With a First Grader {And a School Picture}

I think I slacked a little bit on Olivia's yearly interviews, since I just did them almost 5 months after she turned 6.  {But, seriously, WHATTT?  Didn't we just have her party?}  Her answers have not changed all that much from the last 2 years - see year 4 here and year 5 here - mainly because she is still a picky eater.  :) Oh man, can you even handle the cuteness of that smile in her 1st grade picture?!  {But, seriously, WHATTT?  Didn't we just bring her home from the hospital?}

Favorite color: rainbow

Favorite toy:  Claire {her doll}

Favorite stuffed animal: Ellie the Elephant

Favorite thing to sleep with: Liberty of London pillow and the owl pillow

Favorite fruit: strawberries and blueberries

Favorite cereal: Trader Joe's Strawberry Yogurt O's

Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: donuts, cinnamon rolls, pancakes

Favorite thing to eat for lunch: noodles with parmesan

Favorite dessert: Dairy Queen ice cream

Favorite drink: pink lemonade and gatorade

Favorite animal: elephants and pandas

Favorite song: Takes Heart To Be a Hero {school song}, Uptown Funk, Ghostbusters

Favorite book: Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly

Favorite game: Princess Yahtzee and Guess Who

Favorite tv show: Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig

Favorite movie:  Inside Out

Favorite thing to do outside: swing and swim

Best friends: Ava, Riley, Kendall, Brooke, Sage, Jade & Sydney

What she wants to be when she grows up:  a teacher and a dance teacher

That's a Wrap on August

Only two more months of intense heat in Arizona!! Whooohooooo!!  My dad will disagree, but I know that it was the beginning of November last year when we could be outside all day and not break out into a sweat.  Thank goodness for our pool and air conditioning!

Here's a few other things we've been up to this past month:

➸➸  These girls have no idea how good they've got it.  I pick them up from school, right outside their room, and then pedal them home while they sit back and eat a popsicle or frozen yogurt tube!  I'm dripping in sweat by the time I get home, and Liv had the nerve to tell me she was too hot to open the garage door for me the other day!  Ha!  (It may be short, but it is definitely a workout pulling 75+ pounds in 100+ degrees!)

➸➸  Liv is turning in to quite the fashion model these days!  Not really, but I did have a couple little poses from her to post here.  :)  She's a pretty lucky girl to have friends whose mamas sell adorable kids clothes!

➸➸  Sydney celebrated her birthday at school with sprinkled donuts for her class!  The kiddos were SO EXCITED to eat their donuts!  I loved seeing her showered with love and attention at school!

➸➸  The night before her birthday, Sydney and Olivia got matching pajamas and slippers for themselves AND their dolls.  Oh to be a little girl in our house!  They all looked so cute in their outfits.

➸➸  On Sydney's birthday, she chose to go have lunch with her sister at school!  What a sweet girl who just adores her big sister and her big sister's friends!

➸➸  Olivia had two early release days for Parent/Teacher conferences -- holy wow is she knocking first grade OUT OF THE BALLPARK!  Love my little learner so much.  She was so excited to be able to pick up her sister from school and visit her old preschool.  She got to go in to her old Pre-K room and give her teacher a big hug.  I couldn't resist posing my girls together in front of the stone column that has been the back drop to SO MANY of their preschool pictures.  

➸➸  Olivia was chosen as the Hull Hero (Student of the Week) this past week.  We spent last weekend working on coloring her poster.  She did such a great job making it super colorful!  She took in her Ellie the Elephant and her favorite book (of the moment) which is Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly.  It was a book she had checked out from the library when she was 2 and memorized the big words like metamorphosis and migration.  She wore red, white, and blue (school colors) all week and on Friday she took in sugar cookies with red, white, and blue sprinkles on the icing!  In case you didn't know -- Mama Loves a Theme!

➹ Her three cool facts were that she is good at legos, she can do a helicopter, a b-kick, and a cartwheel, and that she has been to Disneyland 8 times!  ➹

➹ After school on Monday, we took her to Bahama Bucks and gave her a small lego kit. She's living the dream! ;)  ➹

Sydney Turns Four!!!

For Sydney's fourth birthday, we wanted to do something simple and fun.  And, with the temperature still in the triple digits, there's not many choices besides swimming.  Good thing that sweet girl is a fish in the water and loves to swim!

We decided on a little hawaiian luau theme, with fun decorations and then Chick-Fil-A for dinner.  We planned a nice afternoon of swimming, food, treats and a piñata, but sadly a thunderstorm came in right as we were getting out of the pool and we had to postpone our piñata for another afternoon.

We watched her birthday video (which I still need to upload) and had cake before giving the girls their little party favor bags.  I thought they were cute...little Hawaiian bags that could be used whenever they come over to our house (because they are always forgetting/leaving things) filled with cute beach things like flip flops and candy. 

Sheri and Riley got her this giant Ariel balloon and made her this gorgeous Ariel dress.  She loves them both!

Sydney had a blast celebrating her big day with her friends, and I just can't believe that our baby is FOUR years old!  We love her so much.  She makes us laugh every single day!  What a gift she is to us!