Happy 7th Birthday Sydney!

This past Monday, May 4th, my little Sydney turned the B - I - G 7! Yes, trust me I can't believe it myself. It seriously seems like yesterday when she was born and now she is just so big and independent in her own way.

Unlike other mornings were I have a difficult time getting her to wake up, she was awake (on her own) at 5 a.m. Even before we left the house to go to school, I must have already sang "happy birthday" to her at least 15 times. All she would tell me when we finished (because she sang to herself as well), was "again momma!" I would say "again," and there we went.

I was told the next day by one of the TA's that they even mentioned it was her birthday over the intercom at school and that she was so thrilled to hear her name called out.

That afternoon Erica invited us over for dinner and I told her I would go ahead and bring along a cake so the kids (her cousins) could sing happy birthday for her as well. I stopped by the store and got a small cake, a party hat, and of course some candles. I was going to get the regular ones, but I thought to myself, how much more fun would she have blowing out the candles if I got the re-lightable ones instead of the "normal" ones. So, I went ahead and got those.

We arrived at Erica's and I put her hat on and told Sydney she had to keep it on because she was the birthday girl. We had dinner (mole, yummy!) and were sitting there chilling for a little bit.

When it was time to sing for her, I went ahead and put the candles on the cake and gathered the kiddos around her. Of course by now the older ones knew what was up and were ready for the candle blowing.

We sang happy birthday and of course at the end tell Sydney to blow out the candles. She puckered up and blew as hard as she could, trying to cover all 7 candles in one breath. She managed to get around but quickly realized that as she made her way to the end, the first candles were lighting up again.

Her reaction, "OHHHHHHH!" It was hilarious! She must have tried to extinguish at least 5 times, by this time with the help of her cousins and their saliva as well. Finally, after a good while, the candles were out for good!

We had some cake and then headed home.

On the way there, I saw that Frank was still at practice with the soccer team so I decided to stop by. Frank told the team it was Sydney's birthday and they all started singing "happy birthday" to her in unison, well a little off, but you know what I mean.

Oh, Sydney was besides herself with all the attention centered on her. At the end, I asked the girls to gather together for a group picture.

As I said at the beginning, I cannot believe that my little Sydney poo is 7! It's amazing as I look back to see how much she has grown, developed and how far she has come. My prayers are always that God give us the wisdom to guide her in the right path and teach her the right things so that one day I can see her as an independent young vibrant individual - no matter what - I'm proud of her already!



Syndey & her cousins: Tyler, Dathan, CJ, and Jr.



Sydney & proud momma!



With her Aunt Erica.



She had no clue that the candle blowing would take more than just 2 seconds!



The PARTY CROWD!



Enjoying every moment!



Let me look closely...how many candles is that?



Just plain silly!



The Lonestars!

Fishing: Take Two!

So, I didn't get all the fishing I wanted out of my system on Saturday and when the idea came up to head back out on Sunday (after the storm of course), I was like, okay, but then almost didn't go because I wasn't able to get a hold of my sister to see if she'd watch Sydney.

We decided to take her along and see just how she'd do and boy, let me tell you that little chica surprised all of us. We were out there for a total of five (5) hours and she had a total of maybe 20 minutes of "her moment." I was so proud of her.

So the day turned out to be gorgeous - perfect fishing day - not hot at all but cool enough to be comfortable with a light sweater, though at times, I was freezing! It took a while for me to get anything and when I finally thought I had my first fish, I was disappointed for a brief moment thinking my line was caught up with Joel's line, only to find out that the darn fish had got caught on both of our hooks. It was the coolest thing ever.

Overall we had a pretty good day - caught maybe around 30 fish (stiper, hybrid) for a total of possibly 100 lbs.



Sydney with all her fishing gear ready to go!



Sydney Poo & I! We were waiting at the Bass Pro boat ramps!



Sydney in action.



Stupid fish!



Seriously, if you don't believe me, just look closer. That's what he gets for trying to eat 2 fish!



He may be stupid, but I'm still PROUD!



That fish was a tad too close to Sydney!



Sometimes it seems that fishing does come down to luck! Ms. Deanna waited, patiently, and I do mean patiently for this catch!

Fishing: Take One!

So this past Saturday, some friends, Frank & I decided to head out to Lake Ray Hubbard to do some fishing near the power plant.

Now mind you, being that I watch the news and weather 24-7 and I knew there was a real bad storm coming, we decided to still go and stay as long as we could and make a run out of there right before.

We got out to the lake and seriously, it was like the calm before the storm. No wind in sight....everything was quiet, kind of too quiet, but off we went.

I guess we were out there maybe 2 hours when it started sprinkling and thanks to Ms. Deanna having her I-Phone, she was checking the weather forecast quite regularly.

It started getting a little bit more dark than it was and we decided to go out. Well, I say that but Frank stopped the boat for a little more fishing just in sight of the boat ramp and far enough to cast the reels once again.

Of course, leave it up to the boys to make such a decision. Though we weren't in any kind of trouble, we were waiting to put the boat on the trailer when it stared to pour - and take my word on this....it was coming down baby!

We got pretty soaked and I caught ZERO fishies...but nonetheless it was a ton of fun!




"El barco!" I hadn't been out on this baby in over a year!



This is how it looked when we decided to head back out!



This is what we left behind...don't be fooled....about 20 minutes after we got out, the weather peeps said a funnel cloud was spotted near this place and horrible winds and rain were coming down!



Me! I swear if you didn't know me any better, you'd think I was really happy! Well, I'll admit that by this time I was starting to get just a tad worried that I still wasn't on solid ground and instead was in the water where I would die instantly if my toe touched the water...because I CAN'T SWIM!!!!!



Ms. Deanna....looking pretty! Oh and a big plus....she can swim too!



This is why you don't listen to anything boys have to say. They wanted to fish just a little bit more with a bad storm coming and what do you get.....nothing but tangled up line. Yep, both of them were in for a royal mess with their lines in this picture!

Dallas Zoo!

I went along with Sydney's class yesterday to the Dallas Zoo. After a pretty wet week, it seemed that we might be facing postponement of the trip due to some more rain that according to the meteorologist, should have been gone by the time morning rolled around.

Luckily, close to 8 a.m., the sun showed up and "dried up all the rain!" No, of course it didn't but at least it scared away all the rain clouds. We headed to the classroom to wait until around 9 o'clock for the bus to come by and pick us up.

The kids did a little bit of work, though it was really hard to keep their minds focused on anything other than the zoo. While working, they dressed into their "field trip" shirts that a parent from another classroom donated to them. It is a real cute sky blue shirt that has a design of a school bus and says "On a Trip."

We headed out of the parking lot, oh, around 9:15 and on our way we were to the zoo. Arrived to find that other schools, lots others, also had the same idea to come to the zoo on this particular day.

Luckily, when we got in, the crowds didn't seem to be a bother at all. We went around and hit several of the "hot" spots and then rode on the "monorail." This is a little train that takes you for a ride for about 20 minutes around the zoo and of course it comes with your own tour guide and all. It was pretty neat, can't complain for the $3 it cost to ride it.

Around 1 pm, it was time to get back to the school, to make sure and get there with plenty of time before school let out and so that the kids could go to their respective day cares. By this time, almost every kid was worn out, including the adults that went along for the ride.

We were never happier to have air conditioner in the bus, as though, the day was very pleasant and cool, all that walking still made some of us break a sweat.

Here are some pictures from our fun adventure.






Sydney being silly & wearing Mr. James' (a Naaman Forest High School intern) baseball cap.



I love this "little" giraffe at the entrance to the zoo!



The plastic Radio Flyer was brought along for the 2 students with "little feet" according to Ms. Padden, which would be Sydney and her classmate Noah, who ended up not going. Of course, when asked, she was all over riding in that wagon!



Sydney & her classmates: standing from l-r: Krystyn, Brendann, Mohammed, Pamela, Molly, Miles, & Asha.



The flamingos. Okay, here is a little something I learned from one of the students. I was told this is true, too! When flamingos are born, they are born white, and they only turn pink when they eat shrimp. According to Ms. Regalado, one of the TA's, the Weekly Reader (a little magazine the students get each week) also mentioned this......I was stunned!

Sydney walking across the duck pool!



The pretty ducks.



Sydney riding that wood pony! Gidee up horsey!



Doing what she loves best, sliding down the slide!



Sydney & Brendann "hatching" out of the eggs.



Some beautiful scenery at the zoo!



Love the way she is standing here!



Looking at the penguins.



Kissing the penguins.



Another pretty picture...can't even tell it's a fake waterfall!



The Monorail ride along we took around the zoo!



Zebras...with the stripes that don't go all around their body...their belly is actually white and they are white all over with black stripes...interesting, huh?



The ostrich. Another informative lesson: the boys have the dark coat to hide better when they are protecting the nest and the girls have the brown coat!





Check out the size of that!



The Nile Crocodile - no thank you Mr. Crocodile, don't want to be your dinner tonight!



"Hold my hand Mr. James." Sydney was being so spoiled around him, as were all the other girls.



The gorilla. Check out his pose, it's as if he is saying, "oh brother."



The pretty butterfly!



El elefante. Another thing I learned: this is an African elephant - their ears resemble the continent of Africa. The Asian elephant has way smaller ears in the shape of a triangle. Did you know that?



Can't forget the giraffe.



Ay, que bonita!



Sydney claimed her back hurt at the end of our trip...silly girl.