FOUR!

My sweet Parker turned FOUR this week!  Four??!  It really is true... the days are long, but the years are short.

When in doubt, pull that thumb down!

We had a little family celebration the night before his birthday, where he got to open our presents to him.  Oh boy, was he excited!

Tow truck!

Lots o' legos.

What he wanted most!

The girls decorated his room and the downstairs the night before (including a little obstacle course made of crepe paper), so when he woke up on his birthday, he was surprised.

I took Parker to school in the morning, and then Stephen and I went back at his lunch time to bring his requested treat... pink frosted doughnuts with sprinkles.  The kids enjoyed them!  It was fun being with his class for a little while.  3-4 year olds are hoots.

When his sisters and Izzy and Meredith got home that day, we sang to him and everyone had a doughnut.

A card Taylor and her friends made Parker at school!

Parker got some cards in the mail, presents from his grandparents, and a future extended-family birthday party will occur in the near future!  What a fun time birthdays are.

A singing card!  (He slept with it for a few nights)

Happy birthday to my sweet Parker!!

EIGHT!

My Sydney turned 8 on Friday!  It's really hard to believe.  Eight just seems so... not little girlish.

My sister texted me this... sniff sniff.

Eight!

She woke up to a decorated room and a decorated kitchen, a little tradition we've done for a few years.

The gifts started rolling in via the mail and in person last week.  Lucky girl!

We got matching birthday bracelets from Aunt Kendall!

I got a couple dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts (her request) and took them to her class in the morning for their snack time.  Sydney and her friend, Jordan, got to pass the doughnuts out.  They even got to hand-deliver doughnuts to former teachers and friends in other classes!  (That would be a nice surprise to get in the middle of math, eh?)

Passing out the doughnuts.

Later that evening, we went and picked up three of her friends- Izzy, Mariella, and Jordan- and we took them to a local pizza place for dinner, and then to get froyo for dessert.  The girls had so much fun together.  They were singing, yelling out the windows, dancing, laughing.  Sydney opened her presents at the yogurt place, and the girls got their little goody bags.  We took them all home, except for Izzy, who spent the night.  It was a great, pretty stress-free birthday party!  Score!

Surprise flowers from her daddy!

This year's theme... legos!

Parker was there, too!

Happy birthday to my sweet Sydney!!!

Sydney's First 5K Race

Sydney and I ran together in my favorite race of the year- the Fuzz Run!  It was last Saturday morning, and the weather was just about perfect- maybe a tad warm towards the end.  Stephen, Taylor, and Parker came along to cheer us on.  We got there at a good time, being able to stretch, watch the pre-race festivities, and get in the middle of the crowd.  It's a decent-sized race, with maybe 3000 runners total.

Anyways, Sydney did great!  We hadn't trained as much as we would have liked, but she ran the first 1.5 miles before she stopped to walk!  We ended up walking maybe 7 minutes of the whole race, stopping and going.  I let Sydney tell me how she felt and would follow her lead.  We saw Stephen and the kiddos at about mile 2 and then again at the finish line!  Sydney really enjoyed it.  There's just something about a race atmosphere!

Though her favorite part was probably all the free drinks, apples, and popsicles at the end... ;)

Pre-race.

Getting ready to run.

We're off!

~ mile 2.

Running to the finish line!

Adventures with Moosey

Do you recall when Sydney got to take home a stuffed animal for the weekend in her K-5 class?  Well, this past weekend, Taylor was picked to take her class "pet", Moosey, home with her!  She was SO excited!!

Here's a look at Moosey's adventures with us:

An evening walk.

Playing throw and catch with Moosey.  Can you spot him?

She caught him!  Whew.

Sleepover!

Cheering us on at the race Saturday morning!

Moosey went to Atlanta to see the Jackets play!

Church!

Uncle Parker took him for a ride.

Taylor's homework, to write about Moosey's trip.

Delivering Moosey back to his home Monday morning!