She was a "bell ringer" but of course when it was time to come front and center and do her ringing another little girl stood RIGHT in front of her so no picture of her doing that (seems to be our luck - last year it was the kid with HUGE antlers that blocked our view of Sydney all night!) we just laughed.  casey loved hearing Sydney sing and danced through the whole program.

O' Christmas Tree...

 Afterward we let her pick the place we had dinner because we were so proud of her.  

Of course we ended up at Chuy's and had a GREAT dinner.

Sorry there aren't more pictures but most turned out blurry because there wasn't a minute where these kids weren't moving.  I also tried uploading some of the video I took but that wouldn't work either - Not my day huh?

Summer's over and it was a busy one around here!  Needless to say it really feels like Sydney JUST graduated from Kindergarten yesterday but it is in fact time for her to start a new journey in 1st grade.

We met her teacher last Thursday night.  Her name is Mrs. Michael's and seems to be so very nice (not to mention the talk about her from other parents is stellar).  

Sydney was so ready to start school this year (must get this from her daddy because school was NEVER exciting to me).

She had her outfit picked out, lunch ready and backpack packed.  

All she needed was a yummy breakfast - check!

Here's to another great year Sydney!!  We love you and are so proud!

Today my first born turns 6!  WOW!

I don't really remember life before Sydney and to be honest don't feel like my life truly started until she entered my life. 

Sydney you make my heart smile and constantly amaze me with your beauty and intelligence.  

What the future holds is yet to be revealed but I know that you will succeed in whatever it is!!  

With all our love to you on your birthday sweetheart!

Unbelievably the day has come where my first born has successfully and with tons of knowledge and pride graduates Kindergarten.  It feels like she just started kinder yesterday and already she is done and moving onto the FIRST GRADE.

Sydney amazes me with what she accomplished this year and I know that her excitement for learning was sparked this year and will continue for the rest of her academic career.  She received awards for academic achievement in reading (takes after me here) and math (definitely takes after her daddy here!!).  

We are so very proud of Sydney today (and everyday) and look forward to many more years of success from our wonderful little girl!!

Sydney "walking the stage" to receive her certificate!

Right when school started last August Sydney lost her bottom two teeth but nothing else... Until this week!!

She lost her top two teeth and another bottom tooth.  Good thing the top ones fell out because her adult teeth are ALREADY showing!!  The tooth fairy is broke!!

I can't believe in the last year how she has turned from a baby (in my opinion) to loosing teeth, reading, writing amazingly well and asking about bra's and boyfriends - UUGGGHHH!!!

No training wheels...

Sydney hasn't always been the biggest fan of her bike.  As a matter of fact she received it for her third bday and didn't even touch it until she was 4 - just didn't appeal to her.

I really assumed that eventually she'd either get into it or not - Didn't matter to me one way or the other.  But when we were looking at bikes for Casey's birthday Sydney started questioning when she would learn to ride without training wheels and we seized the opportunity!

Although her bike is REALLY small for her we took off the training wheels and turned her loose.  Seriously within 15 minutes she had it figured out pretty good and I was so proud of her.

Tonight Sydney had a little performance at school and luckily we were all home and able to attend. We got MUCH better seats than the Christmas program so we got to see everything. We loved watching her and look forward to many more years of her AND Casey doing it.

Casey was extremely happy about waiting for Sydney and the amazing possibility that she would not be the center of attention for a few minutes...

She is very focused here - this is the best picture I got the rest were a blurry mess.

But I did get a short video of Sydney singing her heart out!  It's definitely not Stephen Speilberg caliber but you get the idea...

In school Sydney's class is discussing Spring and all the wonderful things that come with it to include FLOWERS!!!  So of course there was a project associated and it was to create a flower to be hung in the hallway for everyone to see using a dessert paper plate as the center.

Sydney and I thought about it and this is what we came up with...

Sydney is studying "Texas" in school and had to do an art project about why our family likes Texas...

This time I made her do the majority of the work and I think it turned out GREAT!

Sorry the pictures kind of stink but you get the idea!

Daniel wanted to do something special with Sydney last weekend but not another movie so they headed out to the skating rink.  I had never thought about taking her but it is something we will be doing often because SHE loved it!

The funniest part is that Daniel said it is EXACTLY like when we used to go 17 years ago - right down to the weird old guy in cutoff jean shorts weaving in and out of the kids at warp speed.

Daniel took these pics with his phone but you get the idea...

Sydney (and Casey) doing well in school is extremely important to us.  So when she received her report card today we thought it only appropriate to celebrate her outstanding "grades" and conduct with an ice cream cake.

Grandma is here so she grabbed a little cake at Baskin Robins and we surprised Sydney.

She was so excited and has committed to keep getting good report cards if it means she can have an ice cream cake every time (I'm sure it's only a matter of time until the request shifts to cash!)

Casey was taking a nap and you could see the boredom plastered on Sydney's face.  I wasn't feeling too hot and Daniel was taking his finals so I broke out the Gingerbread house and let Sydney go to town!

She LOVES being creative and what better to create with than sugar laden icing and candy!

Sydney had her Christmas party at school today and apparently it "was the BEST party ever!"

They had junk food galore and made some really cute crafts that she is VERY proud of.

It was all a surprise to us so when she came home I was just as excited as her to go through her bag and check it all out!

Sydney and her class with the Man in Red...

A Handprint Santa ornament that Sydney made for her Pink tree!

I LOVE this ornament.

It is her handprint and each fingerprint is decorated as a snowman.

It is things like this I will look back on every year when we put up the tree and smile!

Click below to see the message Santa sent to Sydney.  She was amazed with it and decided he MUST be real (older kids at school are being horrible and trying to expose Santa - I wish there was a way to scare them without spending time in jail!!!)

Sydney's Santa Message
(Click on this line above even though it doesn't look like a link - it is - I promise)

Oh and on a much sweeter note...
Tonight as I put Casey to bed she reached up and put her little hands on
either side of my face and said
"Mommy you my BEST FRIEND and I weally love you"
It is moments like that that make me feel like I am doing something right with my girls.
And then Sydney bust trough the door and told me the dog "tooted" and it seemed to ruin the little bubble I was in - crazy how that works!

Nothing better than a candy cane, a tinsel pom-pom, brown pipe cleaner, some googly eyes and the burns on mommies fingers from the hot glue gun to make a cute little treat for all the kids in Sydney's class.

 

I remember making these in Girls Scouts with my mom.  I loved stuff like this and apparently so does Sydney!