Sydney's 9th Birthday

Monday we celebrated Syd's 9th Birthday!

It is hard to believe she is already nine years old. Lucky for her the school district also celebrated her birthday with our first snow day of the year. She was very excited about having off for her big day. This friday we will have her official party. So she choose to have brownies since she was having cake on friday. Any other normal person just would of had cake twice but since she is not a cake girl brownies it was. Friday we will be having a sleepover party. Yes, I said sleepover moment of insanity on my part. Just kidding I am sure it will be fine. All the snow just needs to quit so Mom is able to come down & help me out. I am sure I will have some interesting pictures to share with everyone.

Anderson helping her with her gifts.

He Needs A Hug

I am not sure exactly what was going on here. But I could hear Sydney from the kitchen saying "Oh he needs a hug! Oh He needs a hug!"

Its not like he was screaming mad he was just a little fussy. She like a little mother hen. He seemed to enjoy being hugged by his big sister wonder how long that will last! I am just very thankful she has taken to him the way she has. Your the best big sister Syd!

First Day of School

Off And Running

Sydney is off to her first day of third grade. Can you believe third grade holy cow! She was really excited. She has been ready to go back to school since July. Last night she had her teeth brushed ten minutes before bedtime. Anyone who knows my daughter knows she would rather stay up and normally drags out her bedtime routine. Good luck to her teacher Mrs. Shaw.

Syd playing with Anderson before going to school. She told him that she would be gone for awhile.

Anderson covering himself up on the way to the car. It was quite chilly this morning. By the time we got to the car his head was all covered up. Sydney told him "Just wait til winter buddy!"

Good Luck Sydney!!!!

Buy & Clip

Have you ever seen this on any products you buy?

If so make sure you cut & save them. Box Tops For Education is a great an very easy way for schools to raise money. All you have to do is cut out the Box Top off of products you already buy. There are hundreds of products to clip from. With school starting back they may even have double or triple box tops. They are worth 10 cents each. I know you are probably thinking that is not alot but it does add up very quickly. Our school raised $2800.00 last year. Now that is alot of Box tops.

I know some of you do not have kids. If that is the case you should check with your nieces or nephews to see if their school participates. I am sure they would appreciate you clipping for them. If they are not participants our school Shannock Valley Elementary would be more than happy to have your help. Aunt Jackie & Uncle Aaron have been sending there's from all over the country to help out Syd's school. Sydney loves to get them in the mail. She always checks when we go to visit her grandparents also.

It is an easy way to help make a difference in a child's school! Our school has contests all year long as an incentive. So get out your scissors & start clipping!!! And if you need our address it is PO Box 171 Rural Valley, PA 16249.

If you are a coupon clipper like me check out the website they have a link for coupons on lots of General Mills cereals, yogurt, Pillsbury biscuits & Nature Valley to name a few. And of course they all have Box Tops.

Here is the website www.boxtops4education.com

Thanks for clipping!

Where do they learn these things?

We went to the Dayton fair on Saturday. Luckily, the chance of thunderstorms never happened. We got their early which was great because there was no lines for anything. First we tackled the animal barns to see the sheep, goats, pigs, cows & horses. Then off to the rides. Sydney talked Steve into riding the Spinning Dragons a mistake he would not make again. Of course we had some fair food. Good time was had by everyone even Anderson who managed to sleep through most of his first fair experience.

Later that evening when I was making sure Sydney had gotten all the shampoo out of her hair I asked her if she had scrubbed the "S" off her hand (we were stamped upon entering the fair). She turned her body & looked at her bum. When I realized what was going I gave her a look as if to say "Oh no you didn't!" I said to her again did you wash off your "S" stamp she replied "Oh I thought you said did I wash my ass" I tried not to laugh, but assured her I would never ask her that or use that word.

Where did she learn that? I know not from her father or I.

Shhhhhhh...were hunting squirrels!

Last Thursday about mid morning, I decided to leave on our weekend trip a day early. Anderson had napped so well in the A.M. I got everything packed and decided to leave after his lunch and head north. Our trip up was really great! I will not even complain about the rain. I was just grateful both kids were good. Anderson slept the whole way and Syd watched out the window. She has decided that she likes sitting in the middle seat next to her brother because she gets to have the air directly hit her. Other than the occasional are we almost there she was good too.

Once at Grandpa's we visited, ate some dinner, then headed to Olean for our squirrel hunt.

Twice during the day Syd asked if we were going to the town with all the squirrels. I will blame this on my Dad because he has drove her around Olean to look at the different squirrels. I know some of you are thinking why are there squirrel statues around Olean. I wonder the same thing too. So here is what I have found it is called Woodland In The City. They are a non-profit organization that showcases local artists. The money raised is to fund a museum for children. They have 26 squirrel statues around Olean. We saw between 10-15 and took pics with 5. I told my Dad it was his job to get the other photos with the squirrels.
"Cutter"
Syd's fav "Ronald McSquirrel"


I do not remember the names of the last two. It was just too much squirrel knowledge for me. Syd is going to Grandpa's for VBS later in the summer will see if she somes home with anymore photos.

Sydney's New Hairdo

Well we finally done it. We tried something different then her bob hairdo. Normally this time of year we just go really short. As she takes after Steve and gets really warm. In the summer becomes miserable and not fun to be around especially at bedtime. I had been noticing when we dried her hair the hair underneath was curly. So we decided to cut it into long layers and thin it out. Now when she wakes up she has Farrah Fawcett curls in her Angel days.

So we will see. So far she likes it. Who knows when it gets really hot.

Let It Snow Let It Snow

Any of you who know me really well realize this is not something I would say. It is more for my child than anything. I am all for snow when I don't have to go anywhere.

We had a forecast Friday to Saturday of anywhere from 6-10 inches. We got a good bit of snow although I am not sure how much exactly. Steve had to shovel 3 times. Great for me because I had nowhere to go. Not so great for Steve because he works at night. He really doesn't care I am the one who sits and worries about him!

( The Standoff)

Sydney had the perfect opportunity to get out and play in the snow. First, she helped her dad shovel. I use the term "help" very loosely. She just wanted to jump in the pile he was making. She wanted to make a snowman but it wasn't great packing snow. So she decided to play in the yard with Gravy. She stayed out for a long time until the dog was got the best of her. For some reason Gravy was obsessed with her hat & gloves. Maybe she was cold!

Gravy loves running in the snow especially if you are throwing it at her. Even though she is so low to the ground she would stay out forever. She kept running right up to Steve to be hit with a snowball. (By the way Angus was under house arrest because he had little boy surgery)

Syd had enough!

Christmas Tradition

A little while ago my sister blogged about our family Christmas traditions. Though I do remember those fondly. I have my own copy of Chipmunk Christmas that I requested from my mom several years ago. The other we still use with Sydney which I cannot comment on because she reads very well and that would ruin Christmas for her. (You can't wait for them to read but then you can't hide things either anyway...) I did remember another one. This was more of a tradition with our Nana & Grandpa. It started every year at Thanksgiving. At the end of the meal we would get our advent calenders. They would make one for each grandchild which ended up being 12. Yikes. From what I can remember they were different every year. We would get pennies through the week, nickels for Sat., dimes for Sun. and quarters for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. I do remember some days were alot harder to get off than others as you can see if the pictures. It would continue til we graduated from high school. It was something we all looked forward too.

Now that Sydney has gotten old enough her Grandma makes one for her also. Sydney actually asked a couple of days before we left for Mom's for Thanksgiving if Grandma was going to make her one. So she would know how long til Christmas. My reply was your going to have to ask Grandma as I had no idea if mom had planned on it or not. Thank goodness she had. I know Aunt Sally has also continuesthis tradition with her grandkids.

Close up of calendar

Syd's 2007 Advent Calendar

Creating Her Own Snow Day

When Sydney came downstairs from changing into pajamas I thought she had accidentally put her shirt on wrong. As this does happen from time to time when she is rushing. When I brought this to her attention she said "Mrs. Hill told us to so we could have a snow day!" What? Then I realized her pj bottoms were inside out also. She was really into it. She told Steve & I she wanted a snow day so she could study more. YEAH RIGHT! She wanted to stay home watch cartoons & play video games.

Heaven help us if all seventeen kids in her class did this. I guess I should be glad she was paying attention.

By the way it is snowing pretty good outside!

(I am not sure wht she is saluting except she would not stand still & I kept telling her too. So I got a yes sir. Note the tag at the front of her shirt.)