she turned nine~

So despite our warnings, this child turned nine. We threatened and gave her lots of consequences to consider. She had none of it. Sydney turned nine last Sunday and there's not a darn thing any of us can do about it.

Sweet girl. She wanted a new bike like Kennedy's. It's a 24 incher. Is incher even a word? Anyway, the thing is huge. But she had totally outgrown hers and was begging for a new one. I absolutely love that my kids still ride bikes. Obviously Joel does...but Kennedy and Syd both still have a blast on their bikes and so we are happy to get them new ones every few years. This may be the last of the new purchases for the girls though. These are ladies bikes.

Ouch.

That's right. Jase said, these mountain bikes could go to college with them.

That's how stinkin' big they are. But we know kids and well, they may be toast before college days roll around. Which is fine by me. :) The bike arrived via UPS {thank you online ordering giant who begins with A} and that meant Jase had to assemble it. I thought about snapping a few pictures of his date night with the bike...but figured it best to not. He already had an audience of three and my man, while always patient, might not have appreciated my photography at the moment.

He got it together pretty quickly though and she wanted to ride of course.

In her pj's.

In the dark of night.

So...

...we let her. :) But it was way too dark for pictures then.

Syd didn't want a party or any big to do about her birthday. Music to my ears. She only wanted her best friend in the whole wide world, Gwen, to come spend the weekend. Love that. You may remember Gwen, the sweetest child ever who has been. She is Syd's bestie since diapers, who moved away a few years ago. Well, they continue to be the best of friends and so on Friday evening, we met up with Gwen and brought her home with us. Yay!

Syd decided that since she wasn't having a party, she'd like to go somewhere special for a birthday lunch. No probs. She picked Japanese. Holla! Awesome choice. It's not optimal for taking pictures, but I snagged a few anyway. They waited for the fire with great anticipation...and then promptly, covered their faces...twice. :)

This is his scary face. Can you tell?

And this is his, "I turn the yum yum sauce bowl up and drink it" face.

Kennedy was stoked about the leftovers. To be honest, we all were. How can you not love some yummy Japanese in the fridge!?!

They knew it was Sydney's birthday, so they brought her some deep fried cheesecake with a candle, and sang Happy Birthday to her. She ate it up, I think Gwen thought they had lost their minds! lol.

After lunch, the girls {Syd and Gwen} decided that some shopping at Target for birthday presents {she had gotten some money as gifts} would be wise. You know, "to walk off our lunch" Syd reasoned. She bought the bling bling you see around her neck and dangling from her ears in later pictures. Heaven help us.

Then, they decided that rollerskating was in order. So off we went.

For about thirty minutes.

Laugh. Out. Loud.

They fell 4,376 times in thirty minutes. And thus, decided it was time to go. They had a blast and laughed the entire time. But oh, were they ever sore. Again, not the best place for pictures. Especially when you're a forgetful mom and don't have your flash. Live and learn...

After the attempt at skating, the girls needed ice cream. So we grabbed up some hot fudge sundaes to eat in the car on the way home. Ice cream, as you well know, covers a multitude of sins...and makes our knees feel better after 4,376 rollerskating falls.

They watched a movie that night and then off to bed for church the next morning. We had a great service and then came home for lunch. Syd is so funny. I told her that she could have any dessert she wanted for her big day...anything that I knew how to make was officially on the table. Her pick? Apple pie. From Mrs. Smith.

I've never made an apple pie. Why should I? Mrs. Smith rocks at it and she only charges $4.99. AND, she throws in some of that yummy crumb topping that Syd adores. So, that's what we did. With candles stuck in her piping hot pie, we sang happy birthday to the funniest, silliest, greatest nine year old in the world!

We love you Sydney Baby!!!