Lots of Celebrations!!

Sydney turns 7 years old

Sydney thinks she just needs to keep getting older. Can't believe she's already 7 years old. We had a fun birthday with her. She decided she wanted to go to dinner and a movie for her birthday. Sydney is such an easy child and extremely giving. She always has a hard time telling us what she wants. She feels bad asking for things. Well, we really surprised her. Sydney is an animal lover by nature. She's been wishing for a dog for a few years now. We got her a puppy and she was so surprised and excited. She loves her new puppy and is so good with him. After a stressful process, she named him Buddy . We told her she was picking out his name all by herself. What an ordeal! She had the hardest time deciding on just the right name and finally she decided on Buddy. He is such a cute puppy and has been great so far. The kids love him and carry him everywhere. He definitely gets lots of love. He is a puppy, though, so I feel like I've inherited a toddler - potty training, keeping things off the floor that we don't want chewed, etc. It's been a fun addition to the family.

Jake turns the big 4

Jake has been waiting for months to finally turn 4 years old. He knows he gets to start Pre-K when he turns 4, so of course he thought it was time to start right on his birthday. I had to explain to him that it does not start until after summer is over. Jake is our little sports nut and asked us for a "sporty" birthday. Initially we were going to take him to an Orlando Magic basketball game, but went to get tickets too late. They were sold out, so we opted for bowling instead. It was lots of fun. Jake and Sydney both had a great time. All Jake asked for was a wooden bat. Don't ask me why - I guess because that is what he sees the big boys play baseball with on TV. He was so excited to get one along with a golf club. It's not hard to pick out gifts for Jake - as long as it has something to do with some kind of ball he gets extremely excited. Can't believe he is already 4. He sure is a fun little man full of lots of personality!!
(All the pictures from Jake's birthday have a blurry spot right in the middle. Our lens needed to be cleaned and didn't know until after the fact. Sorry about the blur.)

Mike & Kendra Celebrate 10 Years
Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Can't believe it has been 10 years. It has been a fun 10 years full of lots of adventure - thanks to the fact that the first 9 years were as college students, which made for lots of great experiences. Hope the next 10 years is as fun as the first 10. I was going to post a picture here of the two of us, but I couldn't find one taken recently. I guess that is what happens after 10 years. Either he or I is always holding the camera to get the kids. So... I'd better have Sydney snap a shot of us soon.

Sydney and Odyssey of the Mind
Sydney participated in a program through school called Odyssey of the Mind. She had a good time. Her little group has been working all year on a little production about a candy factory. They did everything on their own - wrote it, made costumes, made the scenery, etc. All the kids from the schools in the school district met at the community college on Valentine's Day and performed them. They did a great job and Sydney had a lot of fun.