The life of Sydnie and Chloe

Yes these two are still making us laugh! They have been the best of friends all of their life. There isnt anything that these two wouldnt do for each other. They always worry about the other when they are sick. They always look out for the other. Sometimes Sydnies on her own agenda but you can be sure that Chloe might just remind her what she should be doing.

This year they are in the same class. Can you believe that? Fourth grade and never been in class together! Now let me remind you we never knew how this would go but we have had honestly no problems at all. (that is withSydnie either loving her too much or pestering her lol) All the kids desks sit in 3-4's well here ya go....through out the year they are moved from place to place so they can get to know each other. They didnt start out at the same place but oh my they are in the same group! yikes! Guess what? No problems. Sydnie is growing up on me. Now let me just tell you how much she loves her best friend but thank goodness she knows just how much to love her at the appropriate times. lol As you can tell this blog is just to get back in the swing of things.....so its really not about anything in particular....but could be used as a reminder that our kids dont have to be set a part, excluded or anything of the sort. Sydnie is in regular 4th grade with the same spelling words as her class just a few less....math that fits her...and reading like everyone else (whats appropriate for them. But dang it that girl can do some reading!). I have never regretted my decision to keep her fully included (yes with a little resource time but how many more are in and out of class for various things? Plenty.) We are blessed!!!

Cute story one of Sydnies other besties (also at the table of 4 lol) was watching the Jamie Foxx special the other night and learned that his sister had Ds and that she lived with him. Emma asked her mom why. Her mom Sarah explained that sometimes people with Ds live with their parents or other family members and she said well Sydnie can live with me....I'm going to be a vet and will make plenty of money for both of us.  Aww how precious is that?  You know what....it doesnt matter to me what living arrangements Sydnie makes when she's older as long as she is happy.....whether its with me, a friend, alone or with her husband.  No I dont limit her to anything.....the sky is the limit with my girl!

"I wish I had Ds...."

Yesterday we were getting in the car after school and Saylor asked for a second time why she didnt get a new shirt like Syds.....(my bff saw a Dream Big shirt at Walmart nonetheless and picked it up for Sydnie cause thats the logo we came up with several years ago for Sydnie's Soldiers)....I explained to Saylor that was Sydnie's little logo and sort of tried to make it no big deal.  She gave a harrummphhh and said "I WISH I HAD DS...ITS THE BEST!" .....why yes ...yes it is!
I just giggled to myself....isnt it amazing how we dont see Ds as something wrong....just another part of our lives.....our normal lives.....Thank you God for my blessings!

Sydnie, Sam and Saylor

Buddy Walk!!!

I forgot I didnt tell you about our Buddy Walk Saturday!  Now thats some news!  The Buddy Walk was awesome!  116 teams and over $125,000 was raised!  We had a great time!  The kids ran and played in the bouncy houses etc...made crafts....danced and sang and lets not forget the walk around the pond!  It was a beautiful (hot) day!  We had lots of friends and family come out and join us....smaller group than we usually have due to ballgames and stuff going on on Saturdays...they are just at that age.  We had a great time in spite of missing them being there!  I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out and supporting Sydnie's Soldiers!

It was a Tuesday...

Nothing exciting today except a little bit of laundry...ok a lot and just ran out of detergent...that makes for a bad day with that mess in there!  So here I sit eating a biscuit with Apple Butter and drinking a Mtn Dew.  Something seriously wrong with this picture.  So much to do and well Im sitting here....blogging, or trying to :)
Yesterday was cheerleading for both girls.  No stunts for Saylor so there were no tears and for Sydnie...well she is such a Diva.  She does her thing with as much ooomph as she can put in to it!  She is a riot on stage!  Both of the girls are gearing up for their competition season....so hopefully I can keep you up to date on all that.

Today a Black Hawk Helicopter landed at school...made me think back to Sydnie's flag being flown in an Apache over in Iraq that was amazing!  I will have to see if I can get the video on here that I made of all that.  Stay tuned and maybe I can share some of the crazy antics from around here.

Wow I cant believe its been so long since Ive blogged. I think about it often but realize Im not very good at it. All the gadgets and widgets...how is all of that done? lol

To update you a little...boy are the girls really growing up. Sydnie is in 4th grade! Can you believe it? She is having an amazing year! They tell me all the time how well she is doing! Thats my girl!!! Saylor is in 1st...whew doesnt seem real. So proud of her! They both love school, their teachers and their friends! We all work diligently on homework in the evenings and manage to get their cheerleading in which seems to consume our world....most of the time. They are very busy girls and live life to the fullest! Isnt that what its all about?

Hopefully I can check in and learn all the ins and outs of all the 'purty stuff' on here. I really have great intentions to let you know whats going on....Facebook just doesnt have the room of all I want to say sometimes. lol

Any blog tutors out there? Im up for it!

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

We just participated in our first Special Olympics.....we had always gone for a few hours walking around etc....but this year she was old enough to be an athlete! Sydnie participated in the 50m dash where she took the BRONZE! She also participated in the tennis ball throw and earned a SILVER! yay!!!!

Thank you everyone that came out to support an athlete~ Sydnie I am so proud of you! You Rock!

Ive ran this through my head several times over the last few days and finally getting to sit down to type it....

It seems like only yesterday the dr told me to reach down to 'get her' ...as I reached down to get this new little girl I had waited on for so long...I could not believe she was finally here. We tried so hard for another child and this was finally it for our family and Sydnie was so very excited to have a baby sister. I knew we had it all.....Two little girls to keep us so incredibly busy. That was 5 years ago. As the day approached I could not believe you were turning 5. FIVE! Everything changes when you turn 5 you know.....:) It suddenly became the magic number to wipe 'your own poop' like she just told me 5 seconds ago.... "I wiped my own poop mom...cause Im a big girl!" Priceless!
Ok she just stopped by to tell me she did everything! As she counted the things on her fingers...I had to smile at myself...
"I wiped my own poop. I flushed. Washed my hands with soap....wiped (dried Im assuming) and cut the light off....cause thats what big girls do." (Truly this is a big deal....all the lights get left on in this house..I constantly have to turn them off)
Ok back to my story.......there have been so many things she has said or done that makes me laugh....so many words she uses that makes me wonder where she comes up with this stuff.....She is so very smart....so very funny....so so very strong willed! I dont know who she gets that all from but they should be beat down LOL You look at her and you see me ....its almost scary at what I will endure in the near future. However I must say she is getting so much better with her 'manners' and she reminds me its good manners....so she's learning haha.....
I know that next year will be hard on ol' mom ...even though she is in all day PreK....something about Kindergarten just throws you off.... FIVE! I just cant believe it...my baby girl turned 5!

Saylor I just want you to know how proud I am of you. How happy it makes me to see you smile when you're with your friends ...running and playing at school....how you have found your own way and are truly your own little person! I would never want you to lose your determination (maybe just redirect it at times) because thats what will take you FAR. I love you til the end of the earth....Happy Birthday Tink!