The Queen and Her Servant

Sydney & Ethan spend quite a bit of time playing outside, and it is always so much fun to see the fun things they come up with to do. Like most all kids their ages, they have vivid imaginations, and they rarely just play on the swing set; they will turn even that into some kind of journey they are taking. They are always making up games or scenarios.

One thing they did last week is pictured below. Sydney was the queen on her throne (a stack of plastic outdoors chairs), and her footstool was a wooden crate that we will use to collect our veggies from the garden. Ethan was the servant who had to keep her cool by using a piece of bamboo to turn the fan. In the third picture you can see a plant stand, and he had all kinds of string tied on it. This was the cookstove where he prepared her meals.



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Reid's Frist Birthday!

Reid turned one on March 13! The first two pictures are from his actual birthday, and the last three are from his party. He had a great day seeing his family, eating carrot cake, and playing with wrapping paper!
He weighs 22 lbs, and is in the 50th percentile for his length. He says "ball", and playing ball is his favorite thing to do. In fact, the other day he and I were rolling the tennis ball back and forth to each other when he figured out how to bounce it so it would land in my lap every time. I think we may have a future ball player! :-)

What Jeff Does for Fun

I took this video of Jeff in Nov 2008. This is how country boys have fun. All the neighborhood kids came running into our backyard after this!

Valentine's and Birthdays

This is how Reid falls asleep- fingers in the mouth, arm over the eyes.

Sydney in art class at Classical School

North Davidson High School Wrestling onesie from Jason, Elizabeth & Riley

Baking Jeff a carrot cake for his birthday...Sydney wanted her hair to look like an alien that day!
Licking the beaters!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Ethan had a look of guilt on his face the next day. I then discovered he had sneaked into the carrot cake when I was upstairs with Reid!

Riley & Sydney at dinner to celebrate Mom & Dad C's and Jeff's birthdays in Greensboro

Ethan models all of Papa's Old Dude gear. Dad C turned 60!

Nadine holding Reid (can you see him saying, "Ooooo"?) and E-ma Dorner holding Nate (Daniel & Nadine's new baby).

I wanted to post some recent pictures and give some updates on the kids since it's been a little too long! I can't believe Reid is getting ready to turn 1! He has 3.5 teeth (2 on bottom and 1.5 on top) which is really cute, and 2 more on the way. Last Saturday he stood up for the first time. He loves to say "uh-oh" before he drops an object. He's so nice to give us fair warning! :-) I still think he is just the sweetest baby, always happy to go with the flow...something I envy about 3rd born kids!

Ethan and Sydney just continue to make us laugh with the funny things they do and say. They are the best of friends. I used to be so much better about writing down their funnies, but I haven't been so good about it for the past 11.5 months. I will get better about this so I can post, but here's something funny Sydney said yesterday as she was contrasting city people and country people. "In the city, men wear black top hats and women wear fancy dresses to weddings." She then noticed a hole in her sock and asked me to patch it. When I told her that I don't patch socks, she said, "Country people don't waste their money on buying socks. They patch and sew them. When all the thread is gone and the socks are old and dirty, then they get new ones."

Jeff recently asked Ethan what he wanted to be when he grows up. Ethan said, "A fireman, a policeman, and a dugger." Jeff asked, "What's a dugger?" Ethan replied, "Someone who dug something."

Ethan and Sydney are really into Man Vs. Wild on Discovery Channel. We are planning a MVW party for Ethan's 4th birthday. Jeff worked on setting up a ropes course this weekend. Also, he and Ethan went to the NC Wrestling Tournament this weekend, which they both loved. Sydney, Reid, & I got to go to the mall to go clothes shopping. Fun!

Joyful Reunion

This is so sweet!

The BIG Snow!

We've been busy since we started back to school, MOPS, and dance lessons. Here are a few recent pictures from home.

The big snow! Wow! Look at all that! It's no wonder the whole Piedmont Triad Area had to close down.

Ethan & Sydney were totally excited about the snow. They were out playing in at at 7am. I found them putting wood in the fireplace. This is really funny because it's a gas fireplace that we've never used.

Baby Davy Crockett

Sydney & Ethan thought it would be fun to join Reid in his playpen. He surely enjoyed the company!

Reid is now 10 months old (Jan 13). He's pulling up on his knees, has 2 teeth, loves to play with his big brother & sister, and always smiles for the camera!

Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, our dear friends and family! Below are some pictures from our Christmas. It has been a while since I've posted, so here are some quick updates.
Reid is crawling, cutting his first tooth, and using his pincer grasp to pick up and eat everything small! We have all hardwood floors on our main level, so the front of his clothes looks like I've been dry mopping with them most of the time! :-)
Ethan is having a blast with his remote control cars, his new Civil War Musket, train table, and electric ride-on motorcycle (from Grandpa Z of course!)
Sydney is into her Littlest Pet Shop bobbleheads and her new PBK doll named Anna (see below). She is doing a fantastic job with her reading and looking forward to starting dance class in January.
Jeff had a wonderful week off from work, and we were all sad to say goodbye to him this morning. He is enjoying his new MP3 player (as am I!) as we have joined the rest of the world in giving up our "cd mix tapes" (to quote Michael from The Office.)
Melanie now enjoys cleaning house and running since getting my MP3 player since that's my time to listen to my tunes! There is nothing more boring than running on the treadmill while staring at our school room. I have enjoyed vacation from school with the kids and visiting with our friends and family.
Enjoy the pictures!

Sydney with best girlfriends Alexa & Emmaline at Christmas Eve Service.

Ethan dressed in his "Armor of God"

Ethan and his Civil War Musket from Old Salem, NC.

The always happy Baby Reid!

J&E in their "Big Guy" and "Little Guy" hats

Sydney was sooo excited to get Anna from Grammy & Papa!

Our Christmas Babies