The things kids say!

This morning started out as any morning does. I got up at 4:30 am and proceeded to get dressed to exercise. I haven't done this for very long. A couple weeks at the most. When three different people on the same day ask me if I'm pregnant, I know it's time to do something. Sure, it stung a little. After over five years of trying with no success, it's gonna hurt a little. If I could only tell those people thank you. It's their comments that get me out of bed and going at that absurd time in the morning, on summer vacation no less.
Anyways, back to my story. So I get up, get ready and when I come in the living room both girls are on the couch watching t.v., there's not a whole lot on at that hour. Disney had something on so that's what they watched. So......Sydney looks at me and says Mom, (shaking her had a little) is that what you're wearing? I said uh, yes. She says You look ploreable. Ha ha. I look what!!! I said, do you mean horrible? She says, YES!. I said, well Sydney, you look tired maybe you should go to bed. I laughed every time I thought about that comment. Of course, I see why she said it. I don't exercise with makeup, don't curl my hair, don't smell pretty. Horrible is right but in the end it will be worth it. Playing on the floor and not getting winded, not walking like I'm 50 when I'm 30, or being able to always keep up with them is my main goal. I know someday their gonna say, MOM you look great. Until that day comes, and probably even after it comes, I'm gonna try my best to work my buns off!!

Summer Fun

Summer has offically arrived at the Dozier house. The pool is up, sunblock is on, and the phone goes unanswered. We may not have the greatest pool, but it sure feels good on a hot day like today. We're all a little pink today but hopefully in a few days it will turn into a tan. I'm so excited to have the kids home all day, to have nothing to do but hang out together and enjoy the sunshine!

Summer vacation is always to short for me. Our first day of school is August 6th. I'm never ready for summer to be over. School always takes the kids away to early. Good thing they have to go to school or we might never get out of the pool!

Sydney's last Day of First Grade!

This is Sydney's teacher Mrs. Pizano. What a special and talented teacher she is. I wish we had more teachers like her. When Sydney went to First Grade she was way below grade level in everything. She knew her Alphabet and how to right most letters. She knew how to write her name but that was about it. Sydney was still in speech and I worried she would be left behind. Mrs. Pizano worked very hard on getting Sydney to read. She sent special work home for Sydney to do and she always took the time to give me tips on how I could help Sydney at home. Sydney loved going to school, and I think it had a lot to do with her teacher. Sydney is now officially going to Second Grade!

Out of all the pictures of the last day of school, this one sticks out the most. I was looking back at other years and the girls are always in skirts or shorts, have a little tan starting, and the sun is shining. Not this year. This year we had a thunder storm the night before, terrible winds (up to 60 mph), and it was cold. The winter clothes had already been packed away in the attic, the heater had been unhooked and we were planning on putting up the pool soon. Luckily Tammy had just given us some hand me downs. I dug into the bag and yippee we had pants and long sleeved shirts just Sydney's size. Good thing I hadn't gotten around to putting the coats away yet. We didn't get many pictures of Sydney with her friends outside but it still turned out to be a pretty fun last day of school.
Sydney went to preschool with this boy. His name is Ayom and he lives in a huge house right up the street from the school. She was also in speech with him. When she was in preschool, she was terrified of him. He was so dark, and his eyes were so white, and he was so tall. She would just start crying when he was dropped off. We went to his birthday party and he gave her a special gift for being the only girl there. Since that day they have been great friends.Sydney often stands up for Ayom. He is still very tall, still in speech, and is made fun of a lot. What a great example children can be to the world on how we should treat others. Sydney is very quiet and very timid, but make fun of someone or treat them badly......watch out!
Sydney received a Certificate of Improvement from her teacher and the Principal. Sydney no longer needs speech. She can read at or above grade level. She can count as high as you want her to. She is well on her way to being a great student. We worked tirelessly on reading and writing this year. She was always a real trooper with her homework and is becoming more and more like her perfectionist father every day. She loves math, I catch her in the bathroom with her dry erase board doing math when shes on the pot. Like I said, she's like her dad! :) I remember the day her reading clicked. We were on our way to school ( I took the kids early every day so they could play on the playground a little longer and get all their wiggles out), and Sydney yelled Mom Stop. I'm trying to figure out what's going on. She keeps saying go back, go back. I pull over, ready to scold her for yelling in the car. Mom please go back she says. I have no idea what is going on. I turn the truck around. We start heading back home, I have no idea how far back we need to go. After a minute or so she says stop and go back. I turn the truck around and pull over. I'm totally lost as to what her little brain is thinking. Then she says, Hello, I can help you. I'm just looking at her like what is going on. She says it again. Hello, I can help you. She smiles. I look at her. Then she says Mom I did it. OK by now I'm really confused thinking my child is crazy or something. The she points and says Hello, I can help you. She pointing to a cable one billboard and she has just read the words on it. I look at the billboard, I look at her. She's just smiling. So proud of herself. Well, the floodgates open, I'm bawling. Sydney is laughing, I'm crying and Alex doesn't know wether to laugh or cry. That is the day Sydney discovered she could read. We did have a little lesson on yelling in the car, but there was no scolding!!

Littlest Pet Shop

If you know anything about Sydney and Alexandra, you should know that they LOVE littlest pet shop. In fact many of you can't help but wander into the toy section of the store from time to time, and call if you see anything new. My little brother while in New Mexico at the training center for Border Patrol, had to go to Walmart over there and pick up Littlest Pet Shop backpacks for school. My mom is always picking up some, most we have but hey, duplicates are OK too. My Aunt Bev in Phoenix picked up sleeping bags, and Amy has picked up tons of seasonal things that are littlest pet shop that we can't find down here. Aunt Chalice will call sometimes and say OK I'm standing in front of the littlest pet shop section, what don't you have?We pretty much got her hooked too!My girls have tons of these things. That's about all they have. They use to have a playroom full of various toys but we have since gotten rid of everything but littlest pet shop. They had some friends from down the street come over and play today. Melanie and Tiffany are sisters and they live a few streets down. Can you guess what they get to play with when they come over?? Yep, Littlest pet shop. If you have a little girl and haven't heard of these things, you have to run to the store right now! I love to play with them. They're so cute and come with cool stuff. They even have an online world. It's good, clean, and educational fun! I think they have such a big collection because their Mommy likes to play with them too! If you ever need any pet shop advice, you know who to call! :)

Many people, when the see the playroom, and all the Littlest Pet Shop toys, tend to think...Spoiled kids. The only reason they have a collection as big is they do is, they actually take care of them. There are no heads pulled off, or little brushes chewed up. They play so nice with them. I remember the first time Sydney accidentally pulled a head off one of the little poodles. You would have thought the world was coming to an end, she cried forever. After a few years of collecting and being played with, I can only remember two pets being broken. I was responsible for one of those! My kids may be spoiled, but then so is their mom!

Sportsmanship and kickball

We had planned to leave town on Friday to go spend time with James and Tammy before they left for Montana. They were still busy packing and it had been a long week for us, at the last minute we decided to stay home and leave on Saturday. Then I remembered that there was a Primary activity that morning. I asked the girls if they would like to go and excitedly they said "yes please, mom". How can you say No to that! we went and the activity was kick ball. My kids had never played and I hadn't played in years. We listened as the rules were explained, and we had a brief lesson in sportsmanship. The kids were divided and teams were made and we were off. It was the Hotdogs (mine and Alex's team) against the Pizza (Sydney's team). We had a Great time. I got Sydney out twice! My kids were real troopers. Alex forgot to run to first a few times, Sydney's team was outfield and the ball went to her a few times and she kicked it rather than caught it. It was so funny. You can tell by my kids sports skills I was meant to have girls. They know how to paint their nails, and do laundry and dishes, but to play baseball or play with trucks........forget it! After the Hotdogs won we had sandwiches and juice outside. Sydney said the juice tasted like medicine and Alex loved the sandwiches. On the way home we had a little lesson on how to keep tastes of things we don't like to ourselves. I didn't really enjoy the juice either. Once we got home the girls were telling Clay all about the game and sportsmanship. Sydney said " Mom got me twice and I didn't even cry". Alex was very excited our team had won and was telling Clay about it, she finished and turned to Sydney and said "Sorry my team won you". Talk about a great lesson to teach a child. I'm so glad we went. The morning had been so hectic and if the girls had said they didn't want to go I would have gladly stayed home. I'm so thankful they wanted to go. They still talk about the game and ask me all the time what the new word they learned about was again (sportsmanship). The girls were on separate teams but still had so much fun. They now play kickball with their littlest pet shop characters. Even in the pretend games there is no fighting or crying. Thanks to that little church activity and the sportsmanship of everyone that went, my kids have learned a valuable and unforgettable lesson. Thanks Sister Mauzy!!

Last Day of PreSchool!!

The last day of preschool for Alex and her friends was so fun!

Alex liked going to PreSchool but was very upset on days when she wouldn't get any homework. The PreSchool in Bisbee is a special needs Preschool, so not the type that would send homework. I usually copied Sydney's homework and they would do their "homework" together. Mr. Sullivan (Alex's Teacher) got a little tired of her asking every day if there was homework. By the end of the year he was sending her home with homework.

Sydney spent two years in the preschool for her speech. She has come such a long way. She speaks mostly in complete sentences now and is at grade level in reading. It was almost an over night change with her, one day it just clicked and she's never looked back.

Alex also spent two years in the preschool. She attended because of her lazy eye. Not really a handicap but hey she needed the socialization she got in preschool. They did work on her cutting skills and her hand eye cordination. She had eye surgery a bit ago and her eye seems to be doing much better. It is still not completely straight but much less noticeable. She was such a trooper going into the operating room. Alex still has to wear a patch every day and her glasses but hopefully it won't be for the rest of her life. She is so ready for Kindergarten she can't stand. She was very bored in PreSchool alot of the time. If I hadn't have had a job working in her classroom she probably would have stayed home this year. Her poor Kindergarten teacher, they're going to have one smart cookie on their hands!

This is Christopher. He's the little Autistic boy in Alex's class that I worked with. What a special little spirit. It was always trial and error on what to do with him. You never knew what he would like or what would really upset him and start a crying spell. When he first came to the preschool he walked on all fours, cried alt, didn't say any words, a didn't want to be held. Not to toot my own horn but he has grown SOOOOO much in the little bit of time I have known him. He now says Mama, Dada, up and more. It is so rewarding to see him looking around for me and when hes sees me, to see his face light up! Wow what a feeling. Next year we will have Christopher and his little brother Brendon, who also is Autistic but not to the extent of Christopher. I absolutely love my job and the time I get to spend with some of god's most choice spirits. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

New to the whole Blog thing.

Hey Everyone! Yep, it's me. I have been biten by the blog bug (thanks to Amie and Linda's cutest blogs ever) I'm sure mine will be nothin compared to theirs but what the heck. Maybe now more of you will get to see the Dozier family on a regular basis! I'm going to keep this one short because I honestly have no idea what I am doing. Let's see how it goes.

Happy Mothers Day! We spent the day at my moms. Church was great and the food afterwards was awesome. Thanks Mom, I love you!
The Kids love to go to Nanas house. They love to wear dresses so Sundays are pretty easy on me. I entered a mommy daughter look a like contest. It was fun. Alex and I are alot alike, not just in looks either. I had one very upset little girl the day I went to my natural color of hair. She loves it NOW but then.......wowie was she not happy cause we didn't look alike anymore.
Grandma Wing gets the best gifts. This is one of the few Christmas presents my kids got and months later still love!
Sydney was so excited for the puppies to come. She stayed up with me and helped out. She was a great nurse to Abby and her 12 puppies!