Imitation

What's that they say? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
Today at nap time Sydney called downstairs to me and told me she was taking care of Jordan. When I got there I found Sydney cuddling her and asking her what her favorite part of the day was. Jordan's reply "cuddling you!". That's usually Sydney's response at the end of the day when I tuck them in at night.

Party time again

The girls have been going to a a drop off art class all summer. I should say that Sydney and Lior have been going, the teacher has been allowing Jordan to stay, even though she is not three- yet. It has made Jordan feel like a million bucks and me a little sad because I miss hanging out with her. Well we celebrated the girls birthday with cupcakes and tuns of junk food. FUN FUN FUN!

Are you all wishing I could take a picture that was not out of focus? I am!

Does it look like Lior is flipping me off here? I thought this would happen when she was fourteen not four!

Party time!

We had the girls fourth birthday party at The Little Gym and they had a blast. It was the best birthday party because I did not have to do a thing but show up with the cake.

They started out on the "Big Red Mat", where Jordan and Akiva joined the festivities.

Sydney walked the beam with ease.


And of course little Miss Jordan did the same.

Lior got a lift from her dad.
The kids had a blast jumping on the air track.


The cousins had fun, sitting around with their friends and cuddling the girls (and Akiva too!)
Look at those two! I remember when they could not hold up their own heads! Now they are almost doing cartwheels and head stands!

One day I would like all of them to look at me, maybe that will be my birthday wish along with a camera that takes a decent picture!
At the end of the party the kids were called up and they were supposed to run up to the cheese mat and slam it really hard with their bodies and land on it. You can see Lior managed to knock it over but did not land on it.


The cake was a huge hit and I had a great time making it and the sugar cookies which I forgot to take a picture of, oh well!

This was the back of the cake. The girls just loved it!

Happy Birthday Sydney and Lior!

A day at the beach

The kids wanted to go to the beach and because we asked them where they wanted to go, we went to the beach and had a great time. It was Akiva's first "real" trip to the beach. He was not sure about the surf at first but it did not take him long to warm up to it.
Playing in the sand was definitely a huge hit. I am not sure who likes it more Matt or the kids.

Akiva really liked playing in the sand. He must have played with that shovel the entire time we were at the beach. He would let it go into the surf, complain when it would get carried away and clap when it came back.

Jordan had fun with the bucket. She really is that cute!


Lior and Jordan had a great time "swimming" in the surf.

Jordan was certainly in her element!

Akiva just loved the whole day.

Sydney thought the water was a little cold at first.
The cold water did not stop her from swimming at least thirty feet into the ocean to her beaming father who promised her an ice cream for doing it!

Under

The camera has been a blast. The kids love it. Actually I don't know who loves it more Matt or the girls. The camera has come in handy because Lior was refusing to go underwater. Once she saw the pictures of Sydney she wanted her turn.
If she only knew how "far under" she was she would flip out.
Look at that face!

Right now Jordan is happy on top of the water. She needs to get comfortable in the water again
Sydney is a fish. She loves swimming under the water!
Look at that face!
That smile is just contagious.

She's a risk taker

Today my baby Sydney was goofing off in Akiva's room and fell. She fell hard, Matt said he just saw her fall backwards off the bed and land flat on her back. I heard the thud, a very loud thud but I did not hear much else, it was eerily quiet upstairs and after the thud I heard, I expected a lot of noise. I heard Matt say "breathe Sydney, breathe!" and I heard nothing from Sydney. By the time I got upstairs Matt was blowing in her face and shaking her and still nothing. She was good and winded. I was about to run next door to get our neighbor when Matt layed her down on the floor and she started passing some air. She never cried, we did.
She ate some breakfast and went and layed in my bed. I just thought she wanted to stay home from school so we made her get dressed and go. We warned her teacher, who must have thought we were being a little over protective, to look for any weird behavior or vomiting. I was working at the school so I was going to check on her every once and awhile so we felt comfortable leaving her. I was just finishing up with my first client when her teacher came in to tell me that Sydney threw-up. I called Matt, who was on his way to work and he turned around and came home. We changed her clothes and Matt threw her into the car; straight to urgent care. I went back to work.
Matt said she was very brave at the doctors office because lets face it who likes to go there? She threw-up a few more times at the office which got them seen right away. They diagnosed her with a mild concussion at that point and sent her to an imaging center for a CAT scan. It was a good thing they sent her with a container to throw up into because she needed it. She threw up again at the imaging center, which once again got them pushed to the head of the line. The CAT scan was clear and by the time the process was over Sydney felt better.
When I got to the imaging center Sydney was excited to tell me all about her trip through the big camera so that the doctor could look at her head. Matt said she was excellent and he was able to stay in the room with her and hold her hand. He even sang her a song (the poor technician!). When I asked her what song he sang, expecting a song she sings all the time she said he sang her "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Isn't that cute?
Needless to say Sydney is fine. She had to remain calm for the rest of the day, which was not easy for me. I had her lay down and let Jordan examine her, which worked for a little bit. Our Sydney is certainly a spit fire. A risk taker. I do not think she will be jumping on Akiva's bed for some time. She told me that she does not want to go for a ride in that camera again.

She did it!

I was going to go to sleep but I just needed to clarify something. Sydney did earn her purse for writing her name. She was just so excited it was hard to take her picture. She loves the purse and the gloves which came with us everywhere we went today. She is so proud!

Show time Sydney

It's been two weeks but I finally got my act together! Sydney and Lior had a show at the Little Gym and they were WONDERFUL!!! Sydney was so proud of herself and we were beaming just as brightly as she was!
Here is her future back handspring.

She was really into following instructions and completing her routine. We saw straddles, pikes and some other skills I can not remember, but they were all amazing!


We even saw a forward roll. Matt's photography skills were a little lacking.

Her amazing beam skills.
A backward roll down the cheese mat.


Followed by a forward roll.
Look at those straight arms and a terrific front support.

Ta da! Look at my gymnast. She was wonderful! What a great show.

What show would be complete without a group photo?

Sydney was wonderful and showed such enthusiasm. She enjoyed every minute and so did we. We could not be prouder of her.

JoJo and Goliath

Today when Sydney came home from school she drew this picture of JoJo the clown (see the big clown nose in the center) and her lion Goliath ( upper left corner, lots of hair ). It is a beautiful picture. I love this picture. I love this picture so much I asked her if she could draw a picture of our family. Do you know what she said?
"I drawed it already"
"Sydney could you draw me another one? please!"
"I already did, I am not gonna do another one... I'm not going to tell you five times already!" She threw her hands up in disgust, turned on her stubborn little heals, and stomped away! The sad part is that I never did get my family portrait!

Monkey's

My cousin Ann suggested that our children were actually monkey's when she saw this picture of Jordan:
I think she might be right although they might be some other hairy creatures as well.
Lior is truly a monkey.
Banana and all!
Sydney is the cutest puppy dog in town.
Jordan is a mouse and not even Minnie this time!
Our mouse is so talented, she can even ride a scooter.


Look at our beautiful menagerie!

You decide, are our kids monkey's?