French Family

Sydney Meets Avery

2012-02-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

Brian brought Sydney to the hospital Monday afternoon to meet her little sister Avery. What a proud Big Sister she is! She did fabulous meeting her. She got to hold her, read her new Big Sister book (Thank you Bell family!) and gave her the sweetest & softest kiss on her head right before she left.

Avery Nell French

2012-02-07T16:36:00.010-07:00

Avery was due 2/28, supposed to be induced 2/7 and arrived 2/5. Our second Super Bowl baby! And the same teams playing - NY Giants & NE Patriots. I tested positive on the GBS test. I was supposed to get 2 rounds of antibiotics before I delivered however I only received one since the delivery was so fast (5.5 hrs). Avery came out with an infection ( high red & white blood counts) and will be in the hospital for 7 days to receive antibiotics. She is doing really well and expect a full recovery.

Daddy and Avery

NICU suite. The mini NICU is part of my room so we can stay together.

Daddy & Avery

Sydney's 4th Birthday Party

2012-02-07T13:43:00.001-07:00

The proud parents of the newly 4 year old.

Snow White helping me with the flowers.

The decorations

The birthday girls goofing around before the party.

The girls waiting for their stamp from Sleeping Beauty

Playing a game to win a prize (which each girl "won")

Story time

Dancing time

Ring Around the Rosie time

How cute!

Cake time (just blowing out the candles - lunch first, then cake)

Sydney opened her presents at home.

Sydney Turns 4

2012-02-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Sydney turned 4 on Feb 3rd. She was so excited all day that it was her birthday.

Beauty and the Beast

2012-01-25T18:49:00.002-07:00

I took Sydney to her first movie - Beauty and the Beast in 3D. Most Disney movies are fun with a few scary parts however his one is more scary parts than fun ones. She liked most of it but we didn't make it through he whole movie.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Baby Luncheon

2012-01-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

My friends Lauren and Tracie gave me a baby luncheon today. I have such good friends to do that for me! And more good friends to attend! The setting was beautiful with the theme of Sugar and Spice.

The gang: Tracie, Brooke, Nicole, Me, Melissa, Lauren, Julie, Sarah and Sage

Wow! What great gifts!

Finished Basement

2012-01-13T11:17:00.002-07:00

The basement is now done! Sydney has had fun running around in all the empty space. I hope she likes it just as much with stuff in it :-). Although she keeps asking when she can put some of her toys down there. Looks like this weekend we can start putting shelves up in the unfinished part to put stuff in "storage".

Gillian's Birthday Party

2012-01-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Sydney was invited to Gillian's birthday party at a gymnastics place. All the kids had fun!

Trying to take a group picture

Fun Times

2012-01-02T20:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Sydney found a Tinkerbell puzzle I had put away since there were so many pieces (~100 pcs). Her and Brian put it together and she actually did really good at putting a lot of it together all by herself. Sydney and I did the puzzle again this morning and then decided to go buy another big puzzle. She picked a Fancy Nancy one. I did the border to get her started and then she did ALL of Fancy Nancy, Frenchie (the dog), the 3 butterfly pictures and the baby sister in the blanket by herself!!!

Later on, Sydney wanted to do the Tinkerbell one again.

Brian and Sydney put together the train tracks.

We have had many fun family days and will be back to reality tomorrow :-(.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

We spent New Year's Eve with our friends - Lauren, Phil, Sophia and Madelyn. We ate dinner at PF Changes and then off to bowl. Who knew it would take 2 hours to bowl one game??? But it was FUN! The girls had a lot of fun. It took Sydney a few turns to want to go up and do it herself and then she did great! She even beat me (Katie) :-).

Doing the strike dance - for Brian

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T12:48:00.001-07:00

Looks like Santa enjoyed his milk and cookies.

Sydney's presents from Santa. Sydney asked for red shoes (without scuffs) and books. So Santa brought her red shoes and 2 books - The Gingerbread Baby's Friends and a Curious George Compilation of 8 books.

Sydney came into our room at 6:40 and snuggled until about 7. She mentioned going downstairs and then said we couldn't go down until we brushed our teeth and hair. I am sure that won't be said next year!

Here Sydney is ready to go downstairs to see what Santa brought her.

Video: http://youtu.be/ZkP-ADFo8E0

Our tree and some of the presents.

Getting all our stocking ready to look into.

Love her expression!

Our family

We skyped with my family (Gran, Pops, Betsy, Sara and Memaw) and then Grammy & Grandpa Dave to open presents from the family.

Our lunch - only forgot one thing - the broccoli :-)

Brian was talking to Bob and Kathy. Sydney had to get on his shoulders and bounce.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T11:18:00.002-07:00

We had Christmas Eve dinner at our friends Gabe & Julie's house this year.

Christmas Eve jammies from Gran and Pops.

http://youtu.be/oNVpqTx8Skg

Baking cookies for Santa.

Sydney & Lily

2011-12-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Sydney's friend Lily came over for a play date tonight. We stopped to look at some Christmas blowup decorations on the way home.

After dinner and playing for a bit, the girls worked on a Christmas craft. They had so much fun together!

Sydney's New Bed

2011-12-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Sydney got a new bed (dresser and trundle on it's way) and couldn't wait to sleep in it. She also decided to move into what was the guest room which we thought would be the baby's room. Here she is helping her daddy get the old bed out to get the new one in.

Yipeeee - she was so excited to help her daddy again

I took her to get sheets and she picked from a few choices. The ones she got were because "they match the baby's." Isn't that the cutest!!!! (The baby's room will have birds, owl and tree theme.)

Gingerbread House #2

2011-12-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

Sydney had 3 of her friends come over to make gingerbread houses last Sunday morning. Lauren and I went ahead and put the houses together so they could concentrate on putting the candy on them. They had so much fun and were very creative.

Sydney, Sophia and Lily decorated a sugar cookie first. LOTS of sprinkles were used!

The before...

The girls hard at work

Sydney

Emerson

Lily and her sister Maxine

Sophia (and her sister Madeline was there)

Sydney's masterpiece. She was so precise on putting all the candy on the roof :-)

John & Darcey's Wedding

2011-12-20T09:06:00.002-07:00

Brian's old roommate got married last weekend. It was held at the Boulderaldo Hotel in Boulder. What a beautiful venue (all decorated for Christmas), beautiful ceremony and beautiful bride! They are now "hitched."

The old roomies.

Afternoon Fun

2011-12-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

Playing dress up - which she rarely does.

Painting our masks from Aunt Betsy. She got them this summer - we are a bit behind.

Lights at the Butterfly Pavilion

2011-12-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

We tagged along with Melissa and Lillia to the Butterfly Pavilion last week.

Ok picture Sydney did not want to get her picture taken :-)

Nowwww, she wants her picture taken.

Gingerbread House #1

2011-12-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

We went over to Brian's coworker's house for the kid's to make gingerbread houses. They made them out of graham crackers and a whole bunch of different candy.

And here is the finished house...

December fun

2011-12-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

It is only the beginning of December and we have been quite busy with birthday parties, Christmas holiday events, tree trimming and such. As much as I am a picture taker, I did not capture everything! I guess I was just having too much fun to stop and snap away.

Grammy gave Sydney a Playmobile Advent calendar. This was the first day she got to open it for a surprise.

She got letters to go into the mailbox.

We went to the Case's house for a pre Louisville Parade of Lights party and then walked down to the parade. It was quite cold (low 20's) but Sydney did great and had a great time.

As we were getting ready to trim the tree (ornaments all on the couch), Sydney decided to read to Baby.

Gran and Pops sent Sydney a goody box with a plate & cup for cookies for Santa along with reindeer food. She hasn't grasped the concept of Santa yet but is excited to make (and eat) the cookies we will be making for him :-).

Sydney's Photo Shoot

2011-12-12T15:28:00.001-07:00

Sydney wanted to take pictures of me and Brian - she even told us where to sit!

Ok, move over to the railing...

Move up to the rocking chairs...

Even got one with Sara

Then we let Sara have a turn to take all of us.

Fun Times While In Alabama

2011-12-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

We stopped by to see Memaw and Aunt D, but Memaw was taking a nap. Here are the girls asking Aunt D to get the pig (which is a reflection).

Having fun at the Bass Pro Shop

Sydney and Aunt Ro Ro (and Baby)

Bubble Wrap = cheap entertainment

Roasted marshmallow time!

Thanksgiving Day. It was a "small" crowd this year of 65. It was great to see everyone!!!

Cousin Fun

Time for the Alabama / Auburn game. Sydney stayed with Betsy, Rhoda and Sara while Brian and I went to the game with Mom & Dad.

Finally - a family picture!

The rain jacket may a tad big.

Tree trimming time. This was Sara's tree.

And now Gran & Pop's tree.

Huntsville

2011-12-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

Sydney and I drove up to Huntsville to catch up with some friends. We started of with seeing an old college friend - Alison - and her daughter. I had such a good time catching up with her since it has been many years since we last saw each other.

Then it was off to see Whitney and Corbin. That night us four girls went to see Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens. Sydney just loves Corbin!

The next morning Sydney wanted to me to take their picture.

Then it was off to their Children's Museum. Sydney had a blast since it was all new and exciting.

I included this picture because right when I saw it, I thought Sydney looked so BIG! It seems like yesterday that she was Corbin's size.

Trip to Alabama

2011-12-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Sydney and I flew to Alabama the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Losts to do and many people to see on our trip. Brian flew down and joined us Wednesday and we left the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Sydney had her fairies to help keep her entertained on the plane.

Sydney playing with Pops.

We bought Sydney and her doll (Baby) matching jammas before the trip. She was so excited to wear them when we got to Alabama.

She loves to read!

CU vs Arizona Game

2011-11-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

What a WINDY day for tailgating! Sydney didn't want to get out of the Jeep at first.

We went to a couple of different spots before finding a spot where a building was blocking most of the wind. Then Sydney and Jenson got out and played (run mostly).

And more running before we walked over to the stadium.

Go Ralphie!

Sydney passed out for about 30 minutes in the first quarter. Then she was wired the rest of the game.

Fun pictures with Ralphie.

Grammy's Trip

2011-11-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Grammy came to visit for a long weekend. Sydney had a blast with her and did lots of fun things. Not as many pictures this time around - guess they were just having too much fun!

Monkey'ing around at Monkey Bizness

Ready for the game.

Sydney let Grammy fix her up in her new outfit.

She doesn't quite fit in her dirty clothes bin

Sydney wanted to do a "photo shoot" - too cute!

Grammy & Sydney

Their 2 hour long library trip. They came back with 12 books! I usually come back with 3, so we have lots to choose from right now. Can you believe how big she is sitting at the computer?!?!

Time to read some of those library books

The Sweetest moment!

Sydney finally passed out after waking up at 5:30 am due to the time change and no nap. Still hasn't worked to get her back on schedule. We are now on day f4 of 5:30 am. Ughh!

Pumpkin Carving & Trick-or-Treating

2011-11-02T20:19:00.004-06:00

It turned out to be a nice afternoon on Sunday, so we decided to carve/paint our pumpkins outside. I was even able to carve one this year. It was simple, but fun to join in the fun!

Sydney was very proud of her pumkin and actually asked to take a picture with her pumpkin.

"Trink-or-Treat!" Sydney got to walk around with her friends: Emerson, Clayton, Grace, Violet and Henry.

Sydney actually counted her candy when we got back. 30 pieces - alot for a 3 year old. Then she helped pass out some candy to kids that came to the house. She had fun doing both.

Bell's Annual Halloween Party

2011-11-01T13:45:00.000-06:00

Decorating squashes for the annual squash race.

This year was so much fun watching the kids race their squashes. They really got into it and kept racing them down the driveway. Sydney was the last one out there.

Boo at the Zoo After Dark

2011-11-01T13:37:00.001-06:00

Sydney loves looking at the snakes. Chilly night, but not too cold. Great evening to be at the zoo. Heard it was super crazy over the weekend during the day.

Cute little hedgehog!

Sydney totally understood what the Trick or Treat stations were this year - CANDY!

Mr. Hippo

Still all smiles

Pooped little girls! This was on our way to the car to leave. What troopers they were.

Sydney & Sophia at the YMCA Fall Festival

2011-11-01T13:28:00.001-06:00

Baby French

2011-10-27T15:03:00.002-06:00

More Snow!

2011-10-26T20:32:00.000-06:00

Sydney and I went out to play in the snow when we got home today. We threw snowballs at each other. So fun!

Then she decided to eat the snow in an odd way :-)

Playing with our neighbor Keegan

Then I taught her to do snow angels. We both did them and had a blast!

Snow!

2011-10-26T11:59:00.003-06:00

These were taken at 7 this morning. Lots of snow and it is still snowing now at noon!

YMCA Halloween Carnival

2011-10-26T11:55:00.003-06:00

More facepainting

Sophia's sister Madelyn (Sophia was a mermaid and Maddie was the octopus)

And more jumpy castles

Cottonwood Pumkin Patch

2011-10-26T11:52:00.004-06:00

Lilly's Birthday Party at Rock Creek Farm

2011-10-17T09:56:00.005-06:00

Sydney's friend from school had her 4th birthday party at Rock Creek Farm. It was requested to bring a picture, drawing, flowers etc instead of gifts. What a cute idea! Also, they could were costumes since it was around the Halloween time. Here is Sydney dressed up ready to go with the drawing she made her and a picture of her and Lilly.

I took Lillia with us to the party and here the girls are in their princess costumes. Lillia: Snow White and Sydney: Super Why Princess (or as Sydney says, Super Reader Princess)

Here Lilly is getting Sydney's gift.

Sydney, Lillia & Lilly

So much to do! Here they are looking at the animals.

Then off to the jumpy castle.

And enters Calvin.

They all got stickers.

And there was even a hay maze which was short enough for them to walk on. Yes, the girls changed - much easier to do all the fun stuff not in their princess outfits :-).

Pizza Night

2011-10-17T09:54:00.001-06:00

Sydney and Sophia got to make their own pizza the other night. They had so much fun and it was very yummy!

Silly Girls

2011-10-12T17:37:00.002-06:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Silly Night

2011-10-10T21:04:00.001-06:00

Sydney got a Halloween goody bag from Brian's friend. We had a lot of fun with the silly glasses tonight. (Sydney did an awesome job taking our picture!)

Denver Zoo

2011-10-10T20:56:00.002-06:00

School (Daycare) was closed today so Sydney and I went to the zoo with our friends Melissa and Lillia. The girls had so much fun together.

Sunflower Farm

2011-10-09T21:36:00.003-06:00

We went to Sunflower Farm last weekend. It is a working farm where the kids can feed goats, ride ponies, and so much more.

Sydney and Cydney

Sydney rode a pony! Twice!

The gang that went. Great fun with great friends!

Feeding the goats

Then Brian, Sydney and I drove to see some Fall color.

More pictures can be seen on Shutterfly:
http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=680c4cf0a5e445643315f89dbf2f35f7#1318218407234

September Odds-N-Ends

2011-10-09T21:29:00.003-06:00

Sydney wanted to play basketball one morning so we made it happen at the Y.

We got Sydney some little Legos like she plays with at school. Moving on from the big Legos :-)

Fun at Waneka Park

2011-10-09T21:22:00.000-06:00

Brian, Sydney and I went to Waneka Park for a fun afternoon of a picnic, paddle boats and "fishing."

"Look at my muscles!"

Sydney caught on to fishing right away and loved it.

Even fished off the paddle boat!

More pictures can be found on Shutterfly:

http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=680c4cf0a5e445643315f89dbf2f35f7#1318216364609

Elitches

2011-10-09T20:30:00.005-06:00

My company rents out Elitches every other year for the employees to go at a great discount. We took Sydney this year. She rode a few kiddy rides and loved the ferris wheel.

More pictures can be see on Shutterfly:
http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=7d5d3de41b24792f9a16dcf07a6807f9#1318215849828

Shutterfly

2011-09-11T11:27:00.001-06:00

I have had trouble posting so many pictures to the blog again. I am trying out Shutterfly again.

Please use this link:
http://frenchcolorado.shutterfly.com/pictures

Cuteness

2011-07-13T21:17:00.001-06:00

Best Buddies

2011-07-13T21:08:00.004-06:00

Sydney has two buddies.

Sydney & Sophia. LOVE this picture of these two. This was at Sophia's house playing on the playset.

Sydney & Sophia. We went to dinner tonight at Chick-fil-A to let the girls play in the play area. I drove the Jeep there so Sydney's fashion if for the ride home.

Sydney & Lillia. LOVE this picture! We were heading to the Boulder Resevoir but it was closed due to a triathlon. So off to the pool instead.

Fourth of July

2011-07-13T21:05:00.001-06:00

What a fun filled day for the Fourth of July...
Let's start with Sydney just being her cute self!

Then Sydney and I were off to Monkey Bizness.

Then the 2 of us were off to the pool for about an hour. When we got there the big pool was closed to due to a kid being sick in the pool. Well that pool opened and then mine got sick in the baby pool and closed it down! Nothing bad, but swallowed too much chlorine water. Off we were to the showers and home to get ready for the BBQ at our house.

The girls had a good time playing together.

The couples. What great neighbors and friends we have!
Me and Brian (Sydney). Brook and Thain (Emerson & Clayton).

Gabe and Julie (Charlie). Ben and Sara (Grace, Violet & Henry).

More playtime.

It was also Emerson's birthday. They brought a pinata for the kids.

When the hook broke and wouldn't go on the pole, time to just whack it on the ground!

Since the fireworks started after 9 and Sydney was asleep by 8:30, we were unable to walk down to Waneka lake for the firework show. Luckily we had a good view on our deck! Brian was on the hammock and we got a great view. Unfortunately those darn Cottonwood trees blocked some of it - those trees need to go on so many levels :-).

Fun in June

2011-07-06T14:37:00.000-06:00

Sydney was so proud of her Lego tower!

Another fun day with the water table.

Sydney and Sophia were enamored with the little green worm at the park.

View from our deck one morning!

My friend Melissa went on vacation and we got to keep Lillia a couple of nights. Here are the girls playing the High Five/Cut the Pickle game with Brian. After this, they take off running and chasing each other. Adorable!

The 3 Musketeers. I thought I would have a nice calm night and let the girls watch a movie. I put in Cars and it lasted about 5 minutes (long enough to eat their popcorn) before they wanted to play with Madeline. I really am blessed right now that Sydney doesn't watch movies.

Father's Day

2011-07-06T11:24:00.000-06:00

For Father's Day we got the jeep out, hiked at Chautauqua and then had brunch at the Chautauqua Dining Hall. Gabe, Julie & Charlie joined us for the brunch.

Before the hike.

And off we go! We made it an adventure to find all the different color flowers. Then about 5 minutes into the hike, Sydney slipped and scuffed up both her knees. That turned into a hike for me and Brian with Sydney on his shoulders the rest of the way.

The best picture of the day - Sydney and Brian on Father's Day!

Meade's Visit to Colorado

2011-07-06T11:13:00.000-06:00

My girlfriend Whitney and her daughter flew out on a Tuesday and her husband Ben flew out on Thursday for a visit. Unfortunately I got hit with an extremely bad case of allergies. We were able to have some fun, but I was not able to do as much as I wanted to :-(.

First stop... The Zoo
Here I am actually "petting" the snake.

Sydney was excited to see the polar bear which was really moving around that day.

We all had fun on the carousel!

As many times that I have been to the zoo, I have not seen the elephant show. One elephant was enjoying the pool while the other enjoyed getting some water sprayed into her mouth. I don't think I have ever seen their mouths either. What a fun thing to watch. Oh, and the girls enjoyed it also :-)

Watching the elephants.

So much fun that Sydney sacked out before we got to the car.

Sydney "driving" baby and Daddy to school. This was sooooo cute!

Off to dinner on Pearl Streeet.

It was so good to see my friend Whitney and spend time with Corbin and Ben. We miss you guys!

Cousin Beth & Jacob's Trip to Colorado

2011-07-06T10:37:00.000-06:00

My mom decided to get a new Murano and guess who the lucky winner of the old one is? Me! I was going to fly down to get it and drive it back to Colorado when my cousin Beth decided it would be a fun road trip for her and her son Jacob. Lucky me! I got a new vehicle and a visit from some family.

They arrived on Thursday and on Friday Beth, Jabob & I drove to Denver to see the Denver Mint. The website says that it is "recommended" to book ahead, but not that you "have" to. Well, from our experience you HAVE to book ahead since they didn't have an opening until August/September and here it was June! Oh well, we walked around downtown instead.

That night we had to show them Pearl Street.

Jacob requested to see the Air Force Academy. We all piled in and headed to The Springs to see that and Garden of the Gods.

Psycho baby!

Sydney loves to do the pressed pennies at places. I am fine with that...51 cents vs who knows what for a souvenir :-)

We got to enjoy watching some climbers at the Garden of the Gods.

My little poser

Traditional shots at Balancing Rock

My little climber

Isn't that the cutest picture? Sydney adores Jacob!

This was taken before we got yelled at for taking pictures. Mean store owner. Too bad, I think he lost some business from Beth.

I am not sure if that bike is big enough for Jacob.

Of course we had to go to the park. Sydney was all about Jacob helping her and playing with her.

And then on our walk home, a surprised scream from Beth. A snake was curled up by the path. After she recovered, she egged Jacob to pick it up. I have to admit, that was pretty cool!

I sure do miss my cousin Jacob and Beth! I had such a good time with them and got to know them even more from this trip. Love you guys!

Denver Aquarium

2011-07-01T14:26:00.003-06:00

Lauren and I took the girls to the Denver Aquarium. The pictures aren't very clear since I forgot the camera and only had my iPhone.

The Aquarium started doing a Mermaid Show. The girls LOVED it!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-07-01T14:03:00.003-06:00

To keep up the tradition, we went to Chautauqua Park for a hike and a picnic for Mother's Day.

Sydney's First Bike Ride

2011-07-01T13:38:00.004-06:00

We were given a bike for Sydney and she was so excited to be able to ride it. First, though, we had to get a new tire tube. She "helped" her Daddy put it in and get the bike all ready.

Sydney did really good on her bike. She is still adjusting to having breaks when she pedals backwards (her tricycle just spins both ways).

April Pics

2011-06-23T14:01:00.001-06:00

Easter 2011

Can you believe we let our child out looking like this???

Trip to Alabama - Part II

2011-06-23T06:30:00.005-06:00

Cousins

Mom, Dad & I put together a Hawian themed party for Betsy's 4-0.

How many people does it take to put 40 candles on a cake?

Sydney had to push Baby in the swing :-)

Vogue-ing

Me and Cousin Jacob

Time to feed the squirrels and chipmunks

Alabama Trip - Part I

2011-06-23T06:00:00.006-06:00

Sydney and I flew down to Alabama in April. Who knew that we would fly in between 2 bad storms. The second one prompted us to take shelter in the basement. Luckily the tornado did not hit my family's houses, but there was a lot of devistation not far from them. Betsy and Memaw lost power and stayed at Mom & Dad's house for a couple of nights. We had everyone under one roof!

Hugs with Memaw

I love Sydney's laugh!

"Hello?"

Sara wrote "MOM" on Betsy's birthday card. We all went to the Irondale Cafe for her Birthday dinner.

Sisters

Sydney was so cute 'helping' Memaw up the ramp.

Here comes the train.....

What consentration

Me and my girls

Dad was being silly with Sydney

Sydney and her funny poses

Playing in the sprinklers

The Amelia Island ladies and us kids catching up.

French Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-23T20:20:00.011-06:00

Since I love Easter, we decided to have an Easter Egg Hunt at the house this year. We have had a long dry spell until last week when the rain came in. I kept doing the un-rain dance all week but forgot to do the un-snow dance. Yep, we had snow fall, but nothing too serious and did not stick. It was cool for most of the party but warmed up for the very last bit. As usual, I love to document everything with pictures, but the photographer (me) never seems to be in any pictures.

The Easter Bunny stopped by the house while Sydney was at soccer.

The kids started off doing some crafts - some decorated a bag to collect their eggs in.

Verbatim..."Sara, do you want some cake? Well you have to eat your lunch first." I nearly fell over from laughing so hard. At least Sydney has learned to eat her "good" food before her treats.

Who knew the neighborhood shark was attending!

8 of the 10 egg hunters.

And they are off...

Emerson and Calvin checking out their loot.

April odds-and-ends

2011-04-23T19:24:00.004-06:00

Sydney drew several "H" and then connected them and said "They are holding hands."

Grammy sent a duck sponge filled with soap. The sponge instructions said it was good for 10 uses. Well, Sydney used it all up in 1 use. A lot of soap in the tub!

Her new dress.

Good day for a kite

2011-04-23T15:32:00.007-06:00

It has been a very breezy month of April. Last weekend we took our kite to the green space in our neighborhood. Sydney wantd to watch from sitting at the bench for awhile, and then we went down to join Daddy and fly the kite. I took a turn and so did Sydney. She loved it.

Grammy's trip

2011-04-19T10:24:00.017-06:00

Grammy came up from Texas to stay with us for a week. Grammy & Sydney had a blast.

Grammy came with homemade gifts:
A take-a-long chalk thingy for Sydney

And beautiful Easter eggs for me.

She loves to wear Grammy's jewelry.

Grammy bought a small bouncy house over the Christmas holiday for Sydney and Adeline to play in while they were there. We lucked up with her giving it to us for Sydney to play in! Here she is being a "teacher" to her animals. So cute!

And of course they had to go to Monkey Bizness.

Sydney and her baby - this one can take baths with her. And boy was that baby clean that week!

Grammy was able to see Sydney at her gymnastics class. We only have a couple of more classes before we take her out to do other things for the summer. Here she is 'chatting it up' with Lillia.

Video at gymnastics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw5VIiOEA24

Aren't we in 2011, not the 80's??? (side pony and bright "jewelry")

I decided to have an Easter egg hunt for some kids in the neighborhood. This is one of the invitation that we delivered.

Had to stop and pick up some treasures (aka rocks) :-)

Sydney is also trying out a soccer class that Grammy got to see. They call this soccer, but it is really a bunch of kids running around and kicking a ball. More entertainment and exercise for Sydney.

Video at soccer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JD_ySOUsfY

Time to go to the "zoo". Here are my two kangaroos.

Sydney loves her Dora letter tracing and find the letters book.

Gabe and baby Charlie.

Squeaky clean

"Malmade" aka Almond

Grammy has Sydney's ears. This is so funny since Sydney always is getting our ears. Not sure what the fascination is, but that is Sydney's thing.

Videos:

Bowling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scy-CesBPBY

"I got my eye on you!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vA97JUiQtA

"I got my eys on you!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_BAFhNj5to

So much fun with Grammy!

Sydney's Spring School Pictures

2011-03-31T09:27:00.000-06:00

Bowling

2011-03-31T09:20:00.002-06:00

We wanted to do something different last Sunday with Sydney. We ended up going bowling! She had a good time even with a meltdown or two. We are definitely going to go back and bowl again!

Dizzie Izzie

2011-03-22T20:14:00.010-06:00

Sydney got to join 14 other girls to model Dizzie Izzie clothes for the company's photo shoot. http://www.dizzieizzie.com/

Sydney even got to have her hair done. The photographer's assistant said the photographer wanted Sydney's hair to be 'crazy hair' and I was a bit worried. But it turned out so cute!

Before (what a long pony tail!)

During

Ta Da!

One of my favorite pictures...

Two of the big girls were getting their picture done at this table with Izzie drinks. Afterwards Sydney asked me to take her picture at the same table with her water. Adorable!

Playing with the jump rope in between pictures.

So I let her run around without shoes on and...

inevitably fell down and got a boo boo :-(

Let's put your hands in the air...

I'm supposed to do WHAT?

Another favorite

The photographer posted this picture on Facebook. I can't wait to see the rest! (Sydney is on here twice).

Sydney didn't want to take her tights off, so we had a cute outfit. We got home and played with a bunch of puzzles.

Seriously Mom, stop taking pictures!

Zoo Day

2011-03-22T20:09:00.003-06:00

We had a fabulously warm day at the zoo this past weekend. We met up with Sophia (& Lauren & Phil) and Lillia (& Melissa).

Sydney doing her usual ear rubbing :-)

Cuteness!

I tried to get to their level - ha!

Sydney was feeling polar bear fur.

Triple Cuteness!!!

I'm this big!

Denver Aquarium

2011-03-22T20:01:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we went to the Denver Aquarium for some family fun.

Here little fishie!

Fun in February

2011-03-20T19:42:00.001-06:00

Sydney is learning to write her name in school. Here is an "S" she wrote for us one night. I say that is a fabulous "S"!!!! However, we haven't seen another one ;-)

Cuteness

2011-02-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

2011-02-28T19:56:00.003-07:00

Last weekend we decided to take Sydney to the museum. We all had a great time.

We stayed here at the deer for awhile. She got to push a button to hear what they sound like.

What a big walrus!

I don't know... I think Brian may be taller than the bear.

The girls

There is a health section that is really cool. This one is where you can walk (Brian), run (Sydney) or skip (Katie) across a screen and then it shows your stride on another screen.

Educate Ball for Uganda

2011-02-13T16:22:00.007-07:00

While Brian and Gabe were at the CU basketball game & having guy time, Sydney & I went out for some girl time. We got invited to the fundraiser for Uganda. We had a blast!

The girls went running to the festivities (I know the picture is blurry)

THE GIRLS (and no, we didn't pre color coordinate)

The girls danced the WHOLE time!

Waiting on the band...

And the band started, and the dancing continued. [Luckily I was the one with the camera and didn't get photographed dancing :-)]

I have no idea where she got her dance moves!

Lillia was quite proud of this move...

Videos: The girls dancing (Again, I did not prompt Sydney on her dance moves....)

1-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md1Vr47UxFw

2-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KnprogcXQw

3-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iStyS23zAzc

Sledding

2011-02-13T15:45:00.012-07:00

Melissa and Lillia showed us a new place in Boulder to sled last Friday.

Melissa and Lillia

Me and Sydney

We liked it so much we went back Saturday morning with Daddy.

Actually, it was a great group of friends: us, Lauren & Sophia (and Madeline) and Melissa & Lillia

Video: Katie & Sydney sledding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WTJNRopGsw

We let all 3 girls ride together on the next to the last ride. As seen in the video, Brian went behind them for guidance :-)

Video: The girls sledding together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBEO4tyZUj4

And for the last run, it was Mommy & Daughter!

Sydney's 3rd Birthday

2011-02-13T15:27:00.004-07:00

Sydney and her friends had cupcakes at school on her birthday. Sydney moves up to 3's class on Monday and these are some of her friends/schoolmates peeping over the door and helping to sing "Happy Birthday"

Where else would we have the birthday party ---- Little Monkey Bizness

Goodbye GPa

2011-02-01T11:21:00.003-07:00

We will all miss you GPa!

William Leland "Chip" French
December 12, 1948 - January 23, 2011

Gingerbread House

2011-01-10T09:45:00.001-07:00

We are definitely not good at this! Better luck next year.

New Playhouse

2010-12-29T17:24:00.001-07:00

Sydney is having so much fun with her new house!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Charlie Brown at ICE

2010-12-16T14:09:00.001-07:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Odds N Ends

2010-12-05T21:44:00.004-07:00

My book clubbers donated some items to help some soldiers out. Everyday gear was stolen on its way the base oversees. Ball Aerospace was taking up donations and sending stuff over the guys/gals that lost their stuff. We collected 5 sets of sheets, 17 shirts, 3 packs of socks, 18 chapsticks, 3 sunscreens, 2 moleskins and sent 6 signed cards. Thanks to my book club! As I was getting it all together, Sydney played with the chapsticks - put them in a nice circle (with Mommy's help).

Jiggles....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn7LCkTjXzo

Parade of Lights - Old Town Louisville

2010-12-05T21:30:00.005-07:00

Sydney's schoolmate's parents had a party on Friday night before the Parade of Lights. We got to see some of Sydney's schoolmate's parents again and got to meet some new ones. The girls got to eat pizza before walking down to the parade (the live a few blocks from Main St).

What a cool tree!

The kids on their way. I love Lilly's shades ;-)

Lillia and her mom Melissa or Preston or Scarlet......

Lillia, Calvin, Tyson, Sydney

Not sure who they are, must have jumped in front of the camera

Notice Sydney got 2 pieces of candy that was thrown from the parade. She was still carrying them around today (Sunday). Nope, didn't eat them. The large tootsie roll is now in a baggy since it broke in half. Again, still not eaten. Yipeeee!

Heeeeeeere's Santa!

It was really fun to go to the parade and seeing people we knew. Not only did we watch the parade with the people from the party, but joined up with Thain with Emerson & Clayton and Ben with Grace & Violet.

Little Gym

2010-12-05T21:25:00.004-07:00

We tried another gym out for Sydney on Friday. I LOVED IT! You can check out how much fun she had by looking at the videos below. (Just ignore us talking in the background).

Here they are running the loop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0jPZEFXyX0

Here they are doing the "snake"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ62O8lQ62A

"Cheese"

2010-12-05T21:15:00.003-07:00

These glasses are the coolest thing - when you look at the lights on the tree, you see either Santa, snowmen or snowflakes.

Advent Calendar

2010-12-01T14:17:00.002-07:00

Another morning, another day to open something for the wilderness. Today it was a baby raccoon and some raccoon food. (Not great pics due to taking them on the iphone).

Gymnastics Class

2010-12-01T14:05:00.003-07:00

Sydney & Lillia tried out a gymnastics class on Monday night. There was a mix up - Lillia's mom was told that they were trying to start a class that night for 2.5-3.5 yr olds, but didn't convey that to the employees. Oops! So, the girls (along with Livey) went to the "older" class. The teacher was great with them. But, not signing up there! Hopefully the class at the Little Gym on Friday works.

Video: Sydney jumping down the long trampoline - supposed to do a somersault at the end
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPusikM1OvM

Video: Jumping on the big trampoline - supposed to land on their bum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREDYkOibn8

You Lookin' At Me?

2010-12-01T13:27:00.002-07:00

As you can see, Sydney did not want her picture taken. I just thought she looked so "old" that morning and wanted to share :-)

Decorating for Christmas

2010-11-29T19:29:00.003-07:00

We got the tree up and Sydney helped put on the ornaments

Here is the "new" tree. As many of you know, I love to put up my "fancy" tree of white and silver ornaments. Brian talked me into trading for a decorated tree that Sydney could help decorate and one that we can hang her homemade ornaments. I do believe it turned out nice!

Time to turn on the outside lights.

One of my favorite pictures of the weekend.

Advent Calendar

2010-11-29T19:19:00.002-07:00

I thought I would try an Advent Calendar with Sydney this year. I didn't want one with chocolate since she knows what that is and would want to eat every piece. I got her a Playmobil one to go with the stuff she already has, and will be getting for Christmas. As you can see it is a wilderness scene. Typically something would be opened starting on Dec 1st, however we started early due to traveling. The first morning she got the baby deer, the next day the Daddy deer, then the Mommy deer and today she got some vegetables to feed them. She loves it!

Notice that she got all her zoo animals out to join in the fun.

Football Day

2010-11-29T19:10:00.003-07:00

Even though Bama and CU lost, we had a good football game day. I got out all of Sydney's playhouse stuff so I could watch the game in the den :-)

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T11:16:00.003-07:00

We stayed in town this year and had lunch at our friends Melissa & Lillia's house.

CU vs Kansas State Football Game

2010-11-21T20:22:00.004-07:00

Sydney actually gave Chip the Mascot a high five!

Video: Ralphie running on the field

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzCJ2Dk-lCA

Video: Sydney & Jenson playing tag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1EQuHwZFrU

WOW Museum

2010-11-21T20:11:00.004-07:00

Another Mommy-Sydney day, another day at the WOW museum.

A house that Sydney and I built

Sydney loved the funny mirrors!

Music time!

All Aboard! Sydney is writing me a ticket to get on the train :-)

She reminds me a lot of myself right here.... Head right to the paper - wonder if she is sticking out her tongue ?!?!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

2010-11-11T21:16:00.008-07:00

I picked Sydney and Lillia up at school today for a play date and then Lillia's mom came over and we all had dinner (chili & cornbread - YUM). They did so many cute things! I got a few pictures and one great video, but just had too much fun with them to get more.

Sydney had to help Lillia take off her shoes. Like Lillia couldn't do it herself :-)

Checking out animal flashcards

"Shhhhhh - Baby is sleeping."

All Aboard!

We all had dinner, the girls played some more, and then it was getting to be "getting ready for bed" time. Well, Melissa (Lillia's mom) and I decided to throw the girls in the tub together. OMGoodness! Adorable! They had so much fun.

Sydney and I read some books (one the pocket bird book - I should know Colorado birds by now), sang our Sunshine song and then it was lights out. She then sang for the next 20-25 minutes to herself in bed before she fell asleep.

This is what mommyhood is all about. Seeing your daughter having so much fun with her friend, getting to know her friend's mommy and listening to a sweet voice singing.

BTW - Brian was at a Nuggets game while us girls were having so much fun.

A MUST SEE VIDEO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beZBy6soxe8

Hike

2010-11-11T21:06:00.002-07:00

Lillia and her mom asked us to join them for a hike last Saturday. We all went to Chautauqua for a hike and picnic. The girls get along so well (don't get me wrong, they are still toddlers with their moments).

It became very windy at the end of the hike, so we nixed the picnic. Sydney still wanted to go to the playground so we made it on the swings for a few minutes and up this climber before she decided it was just too windy.

Fun Around the House

2010-11-11T09:49:00.004-07:00

Here are a few fun shots of Sydney playing at the house.

Yo, I am Princess Sydney

Now, it is Princess Daddy

Video: Sydney "juggling"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCYuZ09J8hk

I cut out a tree for Sydney do cut out some "leaves" to put on. She had so much fun and it occupied her while we could get some stuff done around the house.

Starting early. It was all cute until she had one in her hand and tried to lift it above her head. She almost fell backwards onto the fireplace until Super Mommy caught her.

Halloween

2010-11-01T09:57:00.003-06:00

Wear #7: Halloween Night

Finally, Halloween night. Since I took Sydney to Boo at the Zoo and Pearl Street, Brian took Sydney trick or treating. I am definitely Halloweened out!!!

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Ypaprjo6o

Pearl Street

2010-11-01T09:32:00.008-06:00

Wear #6: Halloween afternoon on Pearl Street

Sydney and I joined Lillia and her mom Melissa for some Halloween fun on Pearl Street. We all rode in her Jeep Wrangler which was a first for Sydney. She and Lillia had so much fun on the way there and on Pearl Street.

Sydney even played her favorite game of hide and seek :-)

"Let's go!"

There were a few people there

Forget the candy stations. All we needed was a balloon man. The girls were so excited for their flower and hat.

Boo at the Zoo

2010-10-31T11:58:00.005-06:00

Wear #5: Boo at the Zoo

Yep - time to wear the Halloween costume again! Sydney & I went with Sophia and her family to Boo at the Zoo. Can you say madhouse! We even had to park down the street at the museum since there were so many people. They had trick or treat stations all around the zoo. I am glad to say that we did not stop at one of them - yipee!

At first Sydney didn't want to get out of her stroller.

While the Bices, Sydney & I were picnicking, Sydney's friend Lillia walked by. Her group stopped to join us. The girls had fun playing hide-and-seek (can you find Sydney in the first picture?) and just running around.

Checking out some animals on the way to the carousel.

Sydney LOVES the carousel.

All pooped out!

Mommy - Sydney Day

2010-10-31T11:51:00.002-06:00

As usual, Friday was our Mommy/Sydney day. We went to Monkey Business with Sophia and then just us two went to ride the train around the Orchard Mall. Sydney played on the "orchard" while waiting our turn for the train.

Acting like a monkey

I'll let you figure out what she is doing here :-)

Sydney had to ride on red on - which was the caboose.

Dance Class

2010-10-31T11:45:00.001-06:00

Sydney's classmate/friend Lillia takes dance classed every Wednesday and invited Sydney to try it out one week. It is 30 min ballet, 30 mint tap & 30 min crafts - or about that :-). The class is actually for 3-5 year olds, however Sydney "danced" right along with them. So cute!

Drawing

2010-10-31T11:41:00.002-06:00

I picked Sydney up from school one day as they just finished some art. Sydney said she drew some spiders........

They actually look like spiders. Pretty good for a 2 1/2 year old!

Butterfly Pavilion

2010-10-27T20:53:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday we went to the Butterfly Pavilion - could have been Wear #5! I didn't realize that all the kids wore their costumes to the BP Bug A Boo. Sydney had lots of fun seeing all the spiders and butterflies. She saw a cockroach race & even petted one. Yuck! And did some arts & crafts.