Magical Memories

We were able to visit the Magic Kingdom again recently. The four of us met up with our friends, Monique, Kenny and their son Kristian. It was a perfect visit. The park was open until 11pm so we decided to get there at 3:30pm. We were able to do so many things with very little wait. We made it through the whole day with one 2 1/2 year old and two 3 year olds and there were NO MELTDOWNS. We even made it to the 10pm fireworks and 11pm SpectroMagic parade!!!
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Parker asked, "Do we get to meet the real Mickey today, Mommy?" I said of course. As soon as we walked in the room, Parker says, "Mickey is supposed to be wearing yellow shoes not black shoes." I told him that Mickey dressed up to meet him today. I told them that just like they have different clothes and shoes, so do Mickey and Minnie. Not sure if he believes me or not but he sure was happy to meet the both of them. Sydney didn't pay any mind to Parker's cynicism, she was so excited to meet the both of them.



Waiting for the parade with Daddy.

3 YEAR OLDS ARE SO FUNNY!!!!

You should see my purse these days. Floating around it are sticky notes with to do lists. Along with to do lists you would find stickys with little notes jotted on them with some funny things that the kids have said. Of course I can't jot down every funny thing but I try when I remember.
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Here are some funny things Parker has said lately...


We were on our way to the beach and were driving past the Port at Cape Canveral and the Carnival Dream was in port. Parker looked over and asked if that was a boat. I told him that it was a really big boat, called a cruise ship. He proceeded to tell me that it is the most "enormousest" ship ever.
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My Dad and Barbara are selling their other cabin(sniff, sniff)and are buying a little bit bigger one right down the road from the one they have. Anyway, when I told the kids that Papa and MeeMaw bought a new cabin. Parker 's first concern was, "Will there be candy in the new cabin?" MeeMaw keeps a mason jar full of candy on the table and he was worried they might leave it behind.
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Parker was coughing the other day and he told Nana that he was sneezing. She proceeded yo tell him that he was not sneezing, he was coughing. He proceeded to tell her, "Sassys allergic to me that's why I am sneezing."
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Here are some funny things, Sydney has said lately.

"Mommy, one day I will be a good Mommy just like you."
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"Mommy I want to be a strong mommy just like you."
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While I was painting her fingers and toenails a few weeks ago, she looked at me and said, "One day when I am bigger, I am going to paint your fingers and toes, Mommy."
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Sydney told me the other day that she is going to have 3 kids-one boy and two girls. She will named the boy Patrick. She made up a silly name for her girls...not really sure what she said. I think its so sweet that she wants to name her boy after her Daddy.

Trip to NC to see GG and Aunt Jan

It has taken awhile to get around to posting this time. It has been a very busy month. About a month ago, my mom, the kids and I flew up to North Carolina to spend some QT with my Grandma(aka GG), Aunt Jan, cousin Erika and her husband Brian. It was really cool to see a part of NC that I had never seen before and although it wasn't the mountains, it sure was beautiful and it was great time spent with family.

Here is a pic of Nana and Syd at the Orlando/Sanford airport waiting for our flight to NC.
It was such a great experience dealing with the smaller airport. It was very smooth getting through sercurity and to the gate. The staff is more personable too.

Syd was so excited to pull her own suitcase along. She never tired of it.


Sydney told me she was a little nervous about flying. Yes she used the word nervous. She did great though. Once we were in the air, she told me she wasn't nervous anymore. Parker did great too. He wasn't nervous one bit. He was just so excited. He would not stop chatting the entire flight. Couldnt get him to take a good picture.
Parker did not believe we were in NC when we got there. It took a few days to convince him. I think the reason he didnt believe we were in NC was because everytime he has gone to NC it has been by car and it is a long overnight trip. The other thing he relates to NC is the cabin and the mountains.
The kids loved Aunt Jan and GG's place. They really loved the stairs.
They would stand on the bottom stair and pretend it was their stage. They put on show after show. Each show started with one or both of them saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls."

Every day we took a trip to the park. The first couple days we visited this park called the Lazy Daze Park. Two days we went to the library for storytime.

Brian was nice enough to take some fun pics of the kids and GG. As always trying to get Parker to stay still and pose for a picture is an impossible feat. Nonetheless, the pictures turned out cute.

Thanks, Bri!

We were so sad to leave. It really flew by. We are hoping to get a visit from GG soon.

What they're doing....

My mom takes them to the library on Tuesdays for storytime. They love it! They sit and listen so good. She has also taken them to Chick-fil-a a few times for lunch and some playtime at their playplace.

Next week they will have completed the whole alphabet. Although they have know them all for awhile now they work on a letter a week. I help pick out and put together crafts and activities for my mom to do with them. After they are done with that.
Parker knows all his opposites and can identify some lower case letters. Both can identify all #s to 0-10. Sydney can identify many#s over 10 and most lower case letters. They can spell Nana, Dad, and Mom.

Their imaginiations are in full swing. They love to tell you 'stories'..no not lies..actual stories. They love pretend play and beg for you to get involved. They have started playing board games and are already focused on winning. Uh-oh!

Easter 2010

Every year we attend the Easter Eggstarvaganza hosted by Dave and Val who were neighbors of my dad while I was growing up. We have always stayed in touch with them. This year they had unlimited pony rides. Sydney LOVED it!Our little Easter bunnies....

Easter morning...finding their Easter baskets.

After church and before Easter dinner, we ran out to the beach for a little bit. Only stayed about 1/2 hour but the kids had so much fun!

Camping

We went camping at Blue Springs with our friends, Monique, Kenny and their son Kristian. Good times. The kids really enjoy it now.



The kids got airbed/sleeping bags for their birthdays. They love them! First time camping without pack and plays. YEA!

Swimming in the brrrrrrrrr cold water....72 degrees.

TAKE TWO-Mommy's Photo Shoot

Parker and Sydney are "3"

The kids birthday party was a great success.

Here are some pics of their birthday cookie cakes. They were a bigger hit then any regular birthday cake. The cakes were not the hard part. It was those crazy marshmallow fondant monkeys that I made. It took forever to dye that stuff red and black.

The cakes were supposed to both be just blue and yellow but I ran out of blue frosting 1/2 hour before the party and ran to to two stores only to find green frosting..so this is what we ended up with.Brother and Sister Love
The four of us....wish Parker was looking.

"Happy Birthday to Parker and Sydney"

Check out the slideshow to the right.....

Visit with Grandma Truty-Feb 2010

These pics and videos are a little late. They were in the camera that Patrick likes to carry with him for work. The kids and Grandma really enjoyed spending their special day together. Being silly with Grandma.

Grandma reading a bedtime story.

FIVE-TY SIX.....just read it

Last week, Parker and I sat down to read a book. It was a Nascar race car book. The first page had a car with the number 83 on it and Parker pointed out that it was 8...3. I said yes, that is eighty-three. He repeated eighty-three. The next page had a car with 84 and he said 8....4. I said yes, that is eighty-four. He turned the page and there were four cars. On his own he started pointing at them and sayin their numbers, eighty-three....eighty-four...sixty-four....AND five-ty six. Yes FIVE-TY SIX instead of fifty six!! It was so cute and so amazing that he made the connection.

Bikes Don't Jog

Patrick has been out of town a lot the last couple weeks with training all over the state.
My mom and I have started taking the kids every day after work for a bike ride through the neighborhood where we can get a little exercise too.

The other day, my mom was walking along side Parker on his bike and said, "Let's jog." Parker replied, "Bikes don't jog, Nana!"

Too funny!

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.

So the kids are so excited about their birthday. They have been asking if they can have their own birthday cake. We figured they have to share EVERYTHING else so maybe we could accommodate with the cake.

So came the idea of the Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.

It was something I looked forward to every birthday. My Grandpa would make me a Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.

My Grandma could not find the recipe for the cake so I found one on the internet that looked good.

I decided since baking is not my strong suit, it would be best to do a trial run and see if it was any good. So yesterday, while Parker was napping, Sydney and I made the cake. It turned out GREAT!

As we were eating the cake for dessert last night, I was high-fiving Syd and telling her what a great job we did. She said, "Mommy, let me pat you on the back."

SOOO CUTE!!

So it happened...

So it happened.....yesterday I came home and Sydney was calling her brother Par---ker. Yes that is his name(with a slight pause in between). But she used to call him, "Barper". She knew how to say it the right way but that was her little name for him. Now it's gone. :(

"Almost" 3 Year Olds

The most amazing gifts God ever gave us. Double Blessings!!!

Disney Vacation

Well Grandama Truty(Patrick's mom)came for a visit on February 3.

Patrick and I took the following week off and we decided to take a mini-vaca. So we(Nana, Grandma, me, Patrick, and the kids)packed up and headed out to Disney World. We rented a cabin at the Fort Wilderness campground for three nights. We met cousin Kelly the Fort Wilderness Campground on Monday morning and pre-checked in and then hopped on bus to the marina where we took a short boat ride over to the Magic Kingdom.

Thought going on a Monday was a great idea...you know, no crowds. Well, we didn't even think about the fact that it was the day after Super Bowl. Drew Brees the New Orleans quaterback was there so it was packed!

We started our day at Dumbo and worked our way to It's a Small World. After riding It's a Small World, we soon realized that somewhere between the two rides Sydney lost her cow. You may say, what cow?? Well only her most prized possession. It's like her "blankie". It was given to here when she was 6 months old and very sick. She was admitted to the hospital for a 105 fever. We spent almost a full week there. Anyway, Great Grandma Jensen(aka GG) and Aunt Jan sent it to her. The attachment to it grew over time and now it is something she takes EVERYWHERE.

So the crying began and continued at different times throughout the day. We retraced our steps over and over and over again. We asked all around and checked all the lost and founds. NO LUCK! We were able to distract a bit throughout the day. Sydney met three princesses. She LOVED it!! So after we left the park that day, cousin Kelly went to the lost and foudn yet again and still nothing. We realized we would never see 'cow' again. Sydney had not and would not forget about it. So the vacation went on. Day two was rainy off and on. We rented a golf cart and explored the campground. We spent some time at the pool and spa and then took a boat ride to the Wilderness Lodge for lunch. YUMMY!!! That night Syd was up all night with a fever. She was miserable. In the morning, she seemed to be doing better so we met up with cousin Kelly again at Animal Kingdom. The kids met Mickey for the first time and Syd got to meet Daisy Duck. After that we went to the lion King show. Starting then Syd feel asleep, and she pretty much slept through the first half of the day. Parker had a blast!! Later in the day after her very long nap, Syd enjoyed the park too. That night she was up all night again so we decided to cut our trip a little short and did not head to another park on Thursday as initially planned. Grandma Truty, Patrick and Syd were all not feeling good by then. When we got home on Thursday. I decided to google for Disney World lost and found. I found a number and called them knowing there was no way they would have 'cow'. They asked for the date, location it was lost, and decsription. The lady put me on hold and no lie one minute later she came on the line and said they had it. She stuck it in the mail right then and there!! Cow arrived a few days later in the mail and I think it was as emotional for me as it was for her. YEA!!!

Here is Syd with Belle.

Here they are after the fireworks the first night at the Magic Kingdom. They literally fell asleep minutes after they were over as we were fighting to get out of the park.

This was Parkers very favorite part of our mini-vaca!! BUNKBEDS!!!

Rainy day spent at the Wilderness Lodge.

Don't tell Syd but while she was sleeping Parker got to meet Rafiki and a couple other characters.