Naptime for my kids

Hello again. Tonight I am going to talk about a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Naps. I wish I was going to talk about naps for myself, but alas, I am talking to about my kids and their naps.
Night Terrors
This evening we faced a somewhat regular occurrence in our house. Sydney woke up with what we have learned is night terrors. She starts with a little whimper and it escalates into full out talking. She seems awake, but is obviously not. I go up to her room, and she is scared and talking about something that I can't understand. I try to get her let me carry her downstairs, but everything I have read on the subject tells me to touch her as little as possible. Tonight my wife went and got her to come downstairs, and Denny was awake as well. Sydney wanted me to pick her up, and I tried talking to her. She was babbling on about something incomprehensible, so I just sat down and tried to reassure her. After about a minute she let a huge yawn, which is our clue that she is really awake and everything is okay. Sometimes these terrors last for up to five minutes and she is walking around shaking and not wanting to be touched. There is one common denominator to every time she has these terrors. She has refused to take a nap that day.
No naps at school
Sydney has been in her afternoon pre-school program for a week now, starting at 12:20pm every week day. Well, that is right smack dab in the middle of her usual nap time. So, she didn't get a nap all of last week, yet we had no occurrences of night terrors. During the summer I would usually fix lunch for the kids sometime between 12 and 1, and they would go to bed right after. They would play for a little bit before falling asleep for usually an hour and a half to two hours. Well, now I take her to school after an early lunch then come home and put Denny down for a nap. Sydney obviously doesn't take a nap anymore, and like I said we didn't have any terrors. Today however, they were upstairs for their nap for about two hours without ever sleeping. They played and roughhoused the whole time. I went up their a couple of times to try and get them to sleep, but it was a lost cause. Then like I said we had an instance tonight with a night terror. I am just really curious about why whenever she doesn't take a nap when she is at home all day she has a terror, but not when she has school.  I did some research online about naps for toddlers today while they weren't taking a nap, and I found quite a bit of good information. What I was looking for at the time was how to help the kids take naps, but now I am trying to find out more about night terrors. I did find this article on Parents.com http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/sleep/naps/how-to-help-your-toddler-nap/.  I thought it was really informative and helpful. I also found a lot of info about when kids were at the age that naps were not needed. Some people have said that four year olds don't need naps that much, but some said they still do. I personally believe my daughter still needs a nap whenever she can get one. I think it goes back to my core belief that every child is different and needs to be treated as such.
I am no expert
I do not have a college degree and I only recently started the whole SAHD thing. I have been a parent for only a little under five years now, so it's not like I have a crap load of experience raising kids. However, I know my kids and I think I know what they need.  That being said, I would really like some help with the whole night terror thing. If anyone has any ideas, please HELP! I feel so helpless when she has them. I can't do anything to make it stop. I feel like it's my job to protect her and keep her safe. I don't feel like I'm doing that job when she is freaking out with a terror. So again, please help.
New subject
So, now a subject that is also close to my heart: The Detroit Lions. Holy crap, they are 0-3 again. It seems like they can't get a break. I feel like I am in a horrible relationship with the Lions. I know they are going to hurt me, yet I keep going back. I know they are going to give me hope then let me down. It happens all of the time, but I just can't stop getting excited that this is the year. I still believe that one day it's going to be Super Bowl Sunday and I'm going to be getting ready to watch the game I've waited my entire life to watch. The Lions in the Super Bowl. I guess I'm stupid that way. Please be gentle with your comments as I am very sensitive about my relationship with the Lions. I love them and I know someday they will make me happy!
I hope you enjoyed your weekend and always remember that every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.