A Day of Racing

Ryan was able to go to the Portland International Raceway and race cars around the track with his Dad yesterday. He had a great time! The kids and I went out in the afternoon to watch them in the cars. The kids loved watching all the fast cars zoom past and picking out which one Daddy and Papa were in. I am glad that Ryan had a good time and even more glad that he came home safe.

Happy Birthday Sydney!!

Sydney had her 5th birthday on May 6th. Where has the time gone! She had a great day. It started with school and passing out treats to her classmates. They sang Happy Birthday and she was able to share some baby pictures. Sydney picked out her favorite book before school and I read it to her class. Tyler was excited because he ate lunch at school with Sydney.
After school, Sydney had her first ballet recital. She loves ballet. Her teacher told them they could wear make-up and this absolutely made Sydney's birthday. I pulled her hair back in a bun with a big bow and I think she looked adorable. Tyler was a very good boy at the recital. He liked watching the dancing and taking pictures.
After the recital we went back to the house to open presents. This is always fun for a 5 year old! Then we went to dinner to Red Robin. The workers came over and sang happy birthday and give the kids balloons. It was a fantastic day!! Thanks to all the family and friends for the gifts and cards sent and to Grammy and Papa for coming up to spend the day with our family. We are so blessed to have so many loved ones care about Sydney.


After all the birthday celebration - we weren't over yet. This year for a party Sydney requested a "princess party." She had 10 friends over to play princess games and have cake and ice cream. It was a success! The kids dressed up as princesses and we had one knight. It was fun to put together. Happy Birthday Sydney! We love you!!!

The Tulip Festival

In April we went to the Tulip Festival and saw all the pretty flowers with Aunt Katie and Grammy. The kids were not totally cooperative for pictures. It was still fun to go and see how pretty nature can be. Here are the pictures.

Happy Easter

I do realize it is a month past Easter. But as life goes, I'm a little slow getting pictures up. I figure better late then never!
Due to certain circumstances, I quarantined my family Easter weekend. Easter this year fell on the same weekend as conference and it was a wonderful weekend to stay home! We had our own family Easter Egg hunt. Ryan started the hunt and the kids looked for the eggs and then the kids swapped. Tyler was hilarious at the hiding. He would put them in plain sight with 5 -10 eggs in a row. It was great! Sydney was a little better at the hiding and loved being in charge of where they were to be put.

The Easter Bunny came and visited (which really concerned Tyler on how a bunny could enter our house at night.) It was a very relaxing weekend that was exactly what our family needed. We even spent the whole day in our jammies!! The kids LOVED not getting dressed. It was a great Easter.

Big Boy Bed

In preparation for the new baby, Tyler got a new "big boy bed" this weekend. He LOVES being a big boy. We picked out some Buzz and Woody bedding. He was right there "helping" Daddy set up his new bed. He looks so little on it. He hasn't figured out the pillow thing yet, and prefers sleeping next to them and not on them. And he needs a little stool to help him get up on the bed. But he has had so much fun with his new bed, he sometimes forgets to go to sleep. He keeps asking for Sydney to sleep with him so they can play on his new bed. They even had their first pillow fight with the new pillows.

Feeding the Ducks

Last week it we had beautiful weather in Portland. On Friday Grammy came up and we decided to have a picnic lunch and go feed the ducks. It was fun to be able to walk in the sunshine and enjoy some much needed Vitamin D. Plus the kids got their energy out. The ducks were not too interested in our food, but we still had a good time. Sydney and Tyler really enjoy being together and I love that they are so close. After the park, we went and got some ice cream cones from Sonic and then did some shopping. Tyler was pretty tired from the park, so we didn't spend too much time at stores. It was a fun day in the sun!

Happy St. Patricks Day

This past month our kids got really interested in leprechauns. They LOVE leprechauns. The leprechaun that visited us this year was Lucky. Although we didn't catch Lucky, he left us with some Lucky Charms, cookies, and green milk. He also got into some mischief while he was here and left a little bit of a mess in the playroom and in Sydney's room. Sydney said that next year she is putting a note on her door that says, "The girl that lives here does not like her room a mess!" I thought this was funny considering her barbies that are constantly on the floor. Tyler liked to call the Lucky naughty. "Naughty Leprechaun," was used all day. To celebrate St. Patricks day, we made green cupcakes and a marshmallow dessert. The kids really enjoyed the treats.