A Thousand Words Thursday

Love...pure and simple...

A Pat on the Back...

Sydney got off the bus yesterday with a sticker on her shirt. I asked her what it was and she yelled "I GOT A PAT AWARD MOMMY!!!" She was SO excited!!

I knew what it was because Mason has received a few himself. I don't know what P.A.T. stands for but I do know it means the child has received a "Pat on the Back" for doing something good. In this case, Syd's PAT says:

"Sydney Moore deserves a PAT on the back for being kind

and helpful to her teacher and to her new school friends!

Thank you! Mrs. Landes"

The cool thing about this is they bring the whole school into the auditorium and they select 10 PAT winners each semester. They announce the child's name, read their award and the child goes up on stage and shakes the principal's hand (which she thought was VERY cool)!!!! I was SO excited for her - she was beside herself. I asked her what she thought when they called her name. She said "I was so suprised and excited. And then I thought 'My mommy is going to be SO proud of me!!!' " (I get a lump in my throat just typing that! I was so touched by that!!) :) She was very giddy!!! She received her paper, a cut out hand for her PAT on the back, a new pencil and a small pad of paper (which is you know Syd - that's like giving her a piece of gold!)

Here's her "loot" (she wanted to put her own hand in the picture too...heehee):

(She definitely inherited her daddy's "one lazy eye" picture habit!! LOL!)

The neat thing is it doesn't surprise me! One, because that's Sydney - she has the biggest heart! And two, because I talked to her teacher at the Open House and she said that Sydney is her "special helper". Apparently if a child is stuck on something or needs help with something, all Mrs. Landes has to do is ask Syd if she would mind helping them and she said she goes over and helps them with whatever they need. She said Syd is so gentle and kind with the child and she's been a big help to her!!! I could have popped out of my skin with pride! :)

We were so proud of her!! We got pizza to celebrate the special day!!! :) Way to go Bean!!!!! :)

A Thousand Words Thursday...

SUCH concentration!!! I love this picture!!! :)

(Click on the picture to open it bigger and look at her little face!)

Wanna see pictures of my niece???

Ok, so I'm jumping the gun a Weee little bit, but I couldn't resist!!! Modern technology is amazing!! I can't believe what they can show you these days!!!

Bradee (yep that's confirmed), is due to be here in about 7 weeks. Everyone is very excited and I can't wait to travel to Florida to meet her. The doctor said she weighs about 4 lbs 11oz right now and that apparently is an average size. She could gain as much as a 1/2 pound a week until birth - which would put her right about 8+ lbs.

Mommy and Daddy said she was moving all around, yawning and pushing back against the u/s wand. Oh boy, she's fiesty already!! :)

I think she looks just beautiful. She favors my brother very much and actually has many features that both he and I had as babies and both of my kids had. So there's no denying she's a Boyd (my maiden name)!!! :) (But don't worry Shan, I promise you're not just an incubator!!! lol)

Please continue to pray for her and her mom - that they both stay healthy for the last stretch and that Shannon has a quick and easy delivery!! And that Bradee Lynn Boyd enters the world perfectly healthy, kicking and screaming!!!! :)

A Thousand Words Thursday...

Still the same smiley girl - 4 years later!!!! :)

First Day of School

So I'm a little behind, but I thought I'd go back and update on our First Day of School!

It was obviously a big deal for us since it was also Syd's First day of KINDERGARTEN!!! Wow - I couldn't believe it!! She was SUPER excited!!! She was SO ready!!

So Mason was up first - his bus left at 8:30am. Syd is in afternoon K, so she wasn't dressed and ready to go yet - but I had to take our traditional first day picture together!! :)




And my traditional school "prop"!!! :) I had nothing to do with the finger pointing - that was an ad lib!! LOL!

So then it was finally my big girl's turn!! She looked SO STINKIN' adorable - I could have eaten her up!! She couldn't stop smiling, she was so excited!!! :) She looked like such a big girl (but still like my baby in my eyes)!! My stomach was a WRECK all morning just waiting to take her. She had told me the night before she was nervous so I think I was a little worried. But the morning came and her nerves seemed to be gone. She couldn't wait to go!

Of course we had to get a picture by our "prop"!! :) LOVE this picture!! (Notice the matching pink toes - she thought was VERY big stuff!!!) :)

We went to her daycare where she will normally go in the morning. I wanted her to be able to walk to the bus with her class so she would be used to it. She was very excited!

So everything went great - she got right up on the bus without a second thought. And ya know what - I didn't even cry!! WOW!!! :) I knew how ready she was. So I went home and tried to occupy my thoughts and not count down the minutes till they got home!! LOL! Well I was just about to head out to my mom's house (where the kids get off the bus) when my phone rang (thank you God for keeping home for a few extra minutes). When I looked at the caller ID, I noticed it was from her school! PANIC!! She was fine, but it turns out her teacher accidentally put her in the wrong bus line. She takes one bus in the morning and a different one in the afternoon. The teacher put her in the line for her morning bus. When she got up to the bus, they said "you are on a different bus and that bus has left already!" GAK!!! I was SO upset! I said, I'll be right there!! I don't remember driving that fast before!!! ;) I thought for sure she'd be sitting there crying thinking she did something wrong or worse, be scared!! I RAN in the school and here she comes strolling down the hall holding the principal's hand and SMILING!!! Geesh kid - thanks for the heart attack!!! ;) Anyway, needless to say, she was fine! So then she and I jumped in the van (after I smothered her with a million hugs and kisses) and FLEW over to my mom's to be able to see Mason get off the bus (we made it)!! So despite the small blip (to which her teacher called our house twice that night to apologize!! Poor thing!), the day went great and they both were happy!! :)

So Mason and I always had a tradition of baking cookies after he got home and talking about his day!! Well, he had football practice about an hour after we got home - so we did a quick slice and bake (lovely I know - but they loved them!!!) :)

So basically we all survived (especially Mom!!) :) As I was attaching pictures, I saw this one from last year... (at least she looked presentable that year....lol)...

And then just for a laugh, I found the picture from 2006! It's SO funny!!! Syd really wanted to be in the picture, but had just gotten up!!! LOL!! Gotta love the umbrella and the bed head!!! :)

What's funny to me is how much Mason has changed in 2 years. He wouldn't be caught DEAD in a pair of shorts that went above his knees now and he would NEVER let me cut his hair that short!! Wow - where has the time gone??

My babies are growing up!!!

A Thousand Words Thursday

Think she was excited?? :)

A new start...

...after a very long absence. Time just seems to get away from me and it's sometimes hard to pick up where you left off. I am WAY behind and could post so many things from the last 2 months, but I'll probably just touch on the highlights and go forward.

So I'm going to try to pick it up and run from here. If you haven't given up on me and are reading this...thanks!! :)

I also changed the template. I'm not crazy about it - but then I'm not crazy about any of the Blogger templates. Maybe if I can keep up with the blog itself, I'll go out on a limb and try one from the Web!! :)

Stay tuned...