FINALLY 4

Sydney has been wishing to be 4 since the day after she turned 3, her friends are mostly older than her and although she acts fairly older the number really counts for her. This year she couldn't decide on a party theme so I asked her what colors she wanted.. She said, red, green, blue, yellow, pink and purple. So we went with a rainbow party and used all her favorite colors. He meal of choice was cold hot dogs (uckk) so she ate a cold hot dog and everyone else had BBQ hot dogs.

Sydney is our sassy, independent and sweet little girl. She is not afraid to tell you what she wants and will go after it. From the moment her feet hit the ground in the morning she is non stop moving. She LOVES dance, gymnastics, riding her bike, driving her jeep (sheep as she calls it) playing outside, playing barbies (darbies) and going to school. She is incredibly smart and quick witted. She is funny and can make us laugh and she can melt your heart when she turns on her sweetness. She can go from smiling and laughing to crying in .2 seconds, she gets really whiny and emotional when she is tired. She can go hours and hours without eating anything and drinks almost a gallon of milk every 2-3 days. She is exactly what we needed to top off our family. We are so lucky to have her.

 My MIL wanted to get Syd some new cowgirl boots. She sent me a few pictures of some really cute boots and I picked out a pair that I thought were so stinking cute that Syd would LOVE them. Well Syd opened that box and she saw "the ugliest boots she's ever saw" (Her words.. not mine) She wouldn't even take them out of the box or try them on because they were so ugly. There are so many times that my mom has to remind me that..

She might be strong willed and sassy now

 But she'll grow into an Independent woman who won't take crap from anyone.

 She also got some presents that she really loved. Grandma and Grandpa Hatch got her a BARBIE JEEP, we got her some Barbies and princess dresses. And right after she blew out the candles Jaxsen sliced his hand open with a pocket knife and Dave had to take him to the ER in Jackson to get it stitched up. There's just never a dull moment around our house.

Easter 2016

Easter Eggs.. Well they definitely aren't my favorite tradition but it is my kids' favorite. Thankfully my wonderful MIL has reminded me that messes can be cleaned and clothes can be washed but memories will last forever. She started the egg coloring tradition when Jaxsen was just little  because she's seen all her other grandkids have such fun memories. So every year we go to Grandma's house and make a BIG mess and get SUPER dirty have a GREAT time!! Sydney loves to just use her hands and get "colored fingers" and one year she even drank some.. but Carol assured me she would be ok. Haha. I love to see the kids faces when they pull out the egg that they've colored or been soaking and see what it looks like.. Sydney can have hours of fun with just 1 or 2 eggs, she likes to make her own colors! Jaxsen is more meticulous and thinks about what he wants to do, but in turn he likes to do it for a little bit then looses interest and is done. Sydney would do it all day long if we let her. They start talking about coloring eggs in January.

 Jaxsen is HOCKEY obsessed right now, so following his hockey birthday party he colored eggs like his favorite hockey team.

 The Easter Bunny did not disappoint this year. Sydney got Funshine CareBear and a Barbie fishing pole, which sadly was broke just a few days later.

 Jaxsen got a goalie stick and a hockey goal so he can practice his goalie skills during the summer so he's ready when hockey season comes back around.

8 is GREAT

Well Jax thinks 8 is Great. Me on the other hand.. 8 seems like such a big number, I mean how did my little boy get to be 8? I love everything about Jaxsen. He has such a kind, companionate heart and has more insight and  empathy than most adults. He is so passionate about the things he loves and the  people he loves. Him and Sydney fight like cats and dogs but the second he thinks someone is being mean to her he turns into her knight in shining armor. He loves building Legos and gets obsessive if one piece is not in the right spot or a lever has been moved. He takes extremely good care of his stuff and can tell you who and where he got all of his toys, books or hats. He eats more vegetables than I did when I was 8 and he will try ANYTHING offered to him. He is not afraid to apologize when he's done something wrong (which is hard for most people)

 He also got to become a scout this year and he absolutely LOVES it! He takes his service very seriously. We are so blessed to have this boy in our family. He makes everyday better with his smile. Happy  Birthday Jaxsen Max.  

 This picture says 1,000 words. I love the bond Dave has with the kids. He is such and amazing dad and our kids are so lucky to have him.