First Day of School 2009!

Cassidy and her friend Madeline in the sandbox

Cassidy working hard to clean up

Taylor painting a still life of flowers

Checking out the water color project

Sensory table with rice

Check out Cassidy's fresh outfit...and her baby.

Story time

Cassidy painting a school bus I think

Taylor painting herself on a rainy day

Cassidy playing with playdough while in costume

Taylor working a difficult puzzle

Cassidy playing teacher

Waiting for school to start

Waving goodbye on the way to school

Making funny faces before leaving for school

Taylor being a cutie

July and August 2009

Time keeps flying by! Hope this blog entry finds everyone well and happy. We've had a busy summer, but for all that business, I forget all my stellar moments. Maybe I should update more frequently?

At the end of July, we had our lovely trip West to Hawaii and California. Amazingly, it was more humid in Hawaii than in Illinois, but not by much! The girls had a fantastic time swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool, and discovered on the last day there how awesome playing at the beach can be. They dug castles, roads and wrote their names with coral bits. We throughly enjoyed hunting geckos but were very wary of eels and turtles in the ocean. I am happy to report that snorkeling was something of a success in that both girls were able to put their faces in the water and admire all the rainbow fish out there....while floating on a boogie board. Swimming skills improved immensely over the whole vacation, and they just love it. We saw a beautiful luau and drank "lava flow" drinks, mmmmm. We also drove into Kona and took a submarine ride, which was pretty darn cool. We saw two shipwrecks along with lots of fish and starfish. Someday Dave and I will be able to lounge in a chair and simply soak up the rays, but at this point in our lives, we had a lot of little kid adventures around our home base. Always fun, but not very refreshing. Thank goodness for naps, huh?

Sacramento was great. It was such a pleasant surprise to smell the air and see the foothills (which would be considered great mountains in Illinois). I don't know what it is about that smell or those sights, but both of us felt a very strong urge to come "home" someday. We really enjoyed splashing in the pool and discovering a new spray park. The girls got to rock out to two different evening bands at two different spots, and they just loved dancing to the music. My favorite moment was when we drove up to Placerville and had a fantastic horseback riding lesson. The girls had to go into the corral and "rope" their miniature horses, and then dress them, down to picking their hooves. After all that, actually riding the horses was kind of anti-climactic. They, of course, couldn't disagree with me more. Otherwise, we tortured Grandma and Grandpa's cats no end, and definitely decided that the "white" cat does not like children. Poor girls- that cat likes nobody. (Side note, she died recently, so I promise to have only good memories of her from now on.)

We had an adventurous trip home, and I am proud to say that neither Cassidy nor Taylor cried one bit through it all. We were delayed out of Sacramento and had a transfer in Denver that we were afraid we would miss. Well, of course that end was delayed too, so we did just fine with the transfer. The fun part of getting home was that we didn't leave Sacramento until about 6 PM. With the delay in Denver, we got home around 3 AM, I kid you not! Taylor managed to sleep in the car on the way from the airport, but Cassidy actually had to play a bit first. Yikes. I think I might have cried at that point. Oh, and that day was August 4, our anniversary. We went out a few days later. I bought a cheap card at the airport and had it propped up for Dave in the "morning" after we had slept for a bit.

I am sure lots more has happened to Cassidy and Taylor, but I'll post this now so that I can move on. I really do want to add more posts more frequently. Somehow time gets away from me. Sorry!

Weird

Okay, you know it's summer in the midwest when.....

In July one day can be 98 with 95% humidity and the next day it's barely 70 and overcast

Your vegetable garden grows by inches in a day

It rains over 7 inches in two weeks

Bugs emerge from EVERYWHERE, seriously, EVERYWHERE!!!

Everyone's hair becomes frizzy

People randomly offer strangers "pop"

Okay, well, what really happened today is as follows: We went to Naperville, the neighboring town, to stroll along their parklike river/downtown area. It was nice and warm, and I thought there was a lunch hour concert happening. We couldn't find the concert (missed it by about a mile), but did enjoy walking along the river path and dipping our feet into the fountains. Well, as the girls were enjoying one such splash, I was avoiding bugs. It's not even cicada season but the bugs just are everywhere. One landed on my head, kid you not! So I'm doing the little squeamish dance while the girls are walking around the edge of this circular fountain. Do you think you know where this is going? Yep, I was not the most attentive parent as I avoided the bugs, but NOPE, nobody fell in.....

Well, nobody but the DAMN beetle that managed to DROP INTO MY BRA. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. I thought I had a twisted wire or some thing stuck down there. Fiddle, fiddle, rearrange, fiddle, watch the girls splash total strangers, fiddle. Still ten minutes later, it was bugging me - no pun intended. I reached in and JESUS THERE WAS A BEETLE IN MY BRA! EEEEEWWWW! I missed it, but just felt it on the first attempt, but you bet your you-know-what that I got it the second time. I was sooooo relieved that it didn't take a chunk of my flesh with it when it dropped to the ground. Are you as disgusted as I was?

Given my past experiences with bugs crawling on me and doing such harm as invading my intestines or giving me tick fever, I really have a thing against bugs crawling on me. Funny, as I type this, there's a spider crawling up the wall.

Where can I live that has no bugs? Does such a place exist? Can I still have a garden? Maybe I should invest in some bee keeper clothes.

Well, the kids are fine, thanks for wondering. I thought that this episode in MY life merited some attention. NO, there are no pictures attached of the evil beetle. Sorry. I hope he got stepped on.

Been a little Busy!

Wow, I haven't posted since the girls' birthday; I am becoming such a slacker. For what it's worth, it is a lot easier to use Facebook, and I do put up new stuff there from time to time. I'll try to be more diligent here.

So a summary of the last few months is needed. The girls finished their preschool in late May. I think it was a great year for them. Each made a lot of friends, separately and together. Swimming lessons have been going great, and our dance recital is this weekend. They agreed recently to give up one baby thing, and chose to stop using sippy cups entirely. Yes, as a result, I have had to clean the carpet a bit more frequently, but they've moved on fine. They are becoming more "mature" in their pretend games, and definitely have favorites, such as playing pirate or monster. Monster, a game involving making weird sounds and chasing people, sometimes scares them, though, so we don't play that one as often!

Some funny moments recently: The girls moved their car seats to the third row in the van. The bonus is that now they can't kick the front seats, which is really, really nice. The drawback is that I can't hand them stuff or help them when they need it without pulling over. They seem to think it's really cool to be all the way back there. I miss my munchkins! The other day, Cassidy whispered a secret to Taylor while in the car and neither of them would share it with me. I felt sooo excluded! Eh, it's happened kind of frequently recently, and I guess I am over not being part of their gang. Or at least trying to be over it. Yesterday, while looking at her favorite bug book, Taylor screamed at me that her tongue was like a chameleon because it changes colors when she eats candy. I thought that was pretty impressive. Cassidy's favorite book is Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" these days. She loves all the poems and could read it daily if I let her. Similarly, we found a "Where the Wild Things Are" book on CD, and both girls just LOVE listening to it in the car. This was our second book on CD, the first being a recent purchase of "Peter and the Wolf," which is an absolute hit. They love being able to pick out the instruments and telling us what they sound like for all classical music now. Taylor's favorite is an oboe and I think Cassidy loves the "strings."

Cassidy has decided that she wants to be a "beautiful lady singer" when she grows up. She has 3 toy microphones. She also wants to be a cheerleader, but doesn't really understand that she can be both, so she chooses the former, as it will make her more famous. She constantly asks to play with her make-up, and can put on quite a pink clown face all by herself. She loves looking gorgeous, and will go through several ensemble changes in a day if I let her. She has also entered a phase (let's hope) of quitting when she doesn't get her way. Yes, it's just lovely. She pouts and cries and will even stomp her feet. She's loud enough that other kids tend to give things up to her, which drives me nuts! Oh well, again, hopefully it's just a phase. Last thing about Cassidy - she just loves her dad right now. It's tremendously sweet. Generally he is the first thing she asks about when she wakes up. She wants to be with him constantly, and is pretty sad - momentarily - when she can't. Daddy's girl for sure.

Taylor has chosen to become an animal doctor when she grows up. She is eagerly awaiting firefly season so she can trap them and keep them until they die. She loves playing with her zillion stuffed animals; generally she has me tie a slip knot around their necks and she takes them on "walks" through the house. She does have a calm about her though, that is very compelling. She will sit and watch a bug endlessly - until she traps it and keeps it prisioner for life. She's into music and the books on CD, and has become a pretty good dancer. I am still amazed that she is able to pick up and keep a beat to music. Her art is also coming along. She likes to paint beach scenes, which are comprised of sandy brown beaches, water, a palm tree and some birds flying in the sky. She still loves to paint rainbows too. Over and over and over! Thankfully, Taylor is not going through the pouting-if-she-doesn't-get-her-way phase, and she's pretty cooperative overall. She can be grumpy, but generally she'll just opt to sit down by herself and pick at her blankey. She likes to pick the fuzz out of her blanket and make little fuzz balls. She has a collection in a box of all the fuzzies she's made. I don't think she'll ever fill it up, and if she ever does, I wonder what will come next....

All in all, we've had a great spring. It would be nice to have some consistently warm weather and a little less rain, but hey, at least it's not snowing right now. Sorry that this post is all over the place. It's hard to summarize almost 3 months of activity while Taylor is singing 2 feet away from me and Cassidy is calling me to come sit and watch Tom and Jerry with her!

Wish us luck for our recital tomorrow! I will definitely post pictures from that!

For the girls' 4th birthday party, we decided to do a Scooby Doo Mystery party. The girls each invited 5 friends, and it worked out perfectly with 5 from the neighborhood and 5 from school. We got a Scooby pinata, and a ton of goofy decorations from the Party Store, some Scooby Doo themed and some all flower power themed. Of course the girls changed their minds several times after we had begun to plan this party, and wanted, instead, a Horton theme or a princess one, but I rejected those ideas for them.

For the life of me, I couldn't find any Scooby posters for purchase. It turns out that it's a licensed product, so it can only be sold by stores that pay for the licensing (like the party store). I went to Kinkos and asked if they would make color copies of a book for me, and they couldn't do it for fear of being sued. I went to a comic book store, but they didn't have any posters. Finally, I went to Staples, made some transparent copies myself and then used a AA flashlight and blew them up and drew the characters myself. They turned out pretty good too! What a challenge though! And it was pretty funny to see me sitting in the dark with this teeny tiny flashlight trying to draw on butcher paper. I think I thoroughly annoyed Dave during March Madness with that!

So the day of the party, the girls got to dress up in their special new dresses. They were so sweet. They HAD to have the purses that matched, and of course the accompanying headbands. They were really excited and could hardly contain themselves until 11 AM. They got to help do finishing decorations, and wove streamers in the bannisters, which actually looked quite cute. Dave and I were frantically doing last-minute details, like making sherbet punch (gross but good), getting ice for the beverages, vaccuuming and other stupid stuff. By the time the party was officially going, I was happy because I got to finally relax!

Once all the guests were present, we began the party with lunch - Scooby's favorite- pizza! While the kids were finishing up, I asked them where the presents were, and showed them a "letter" written by a villian, saying that the toys had been stolen and that if they wanted them back, they had to play games to earn clues. The kids were totally hooked! Game 1 was Pin the Pizza on Scooby. They loved it, and mostly did great. The first clue was, "The presents might be up, they might be down, but don't worry, they're not out of town." Game 2 was Wrap the Mummy. Dave and my dad sat on little chairs while the kids wrapped them in toilet paper. The paper kept breaking and it was much harder than we thought it would be. But, of course, the mummies got wrapped enough and then they chased, and scared a few, kids through the house. Clue 2 was something like, "Spiders live there, but turn on the light and you won't care." Game 3 was Shaggy, Shaggy, Scooby, ala Duck, Duck, Goose. Even for this game, the kids were very into it. It's hysterical to watch little kids play this, because they forget to sit down in their spots, and just go round and round and round! Clue 3 was something about going down the stairs, which all the kids figured out immediately; the presents were in the basement. So we all trooped downstairs and had opening presents time. The girls got a lot of outdoor toys for spring, some princess stuff and some art goodies. Every present has already been played with, even the ones meant for outside. My parents got them bikes, and they're already very good on them, so much so that I might need a bike just to keep up with them!

Cake came afterward, and was actually very yummy. It was Scooby themed as well, and had a scene of Shaggy and Scooby frightened, as usual, and a Mystery Machine driving away. This was followed by the nutty pinata, which we got to do outside, because the weather was cooperating. Each kid got 3 wacks with a bat, and then we switched to the pull string part of it, and it opened immediately. The mad dash for candy was civilized, at least. Each kid brought me their bag filled with candy and toys, and I put that bag into their goody box. And that, folks, wrapped up the party, or it wrapped up another mystery, as the "gang" would say.

It was exhausting, but totally worth it. The only crying was when the mummies chased and scared a couple of kids. Of course, that was two days ago, and each day since, both girls have asked me if they could have another party "today." Ha! Not quite.

Oh, and I drew out a picture of the mystery machine, taped it onto cardboard and let the kids pose as if they were in the machine. Amazingly, they all really liked this too. Weird, but cute!

Off to NY this weekend for a tourist trip with the girls. I can't wait!

I didn't hate it, Mom!

Here are some updated pictures. Cassidy is fascinated with Jesse from Toy Story right now, so she's been prancing around in boots with a braid in her hair lately. Taylor loves her red lady bug shirt that says "Don't Bug Me" on it, which you can't see in the picture. They're pretty much still always naked at home; the second they walk in the door usually. It is what it is! Good blackmail pictures in the future?


We've had another busy day here, and we're all quite tired. It's a perfect opportunity for me to update you on our goings on!

Today is ballet day, and the girls did a great job as usual. I have to admit that they seem to be some of the best dancers in their group. While they're not on the beat exactly, at least they know the moves to their dance, unlike a lot of the other girls. They have a recital coming up in June, which they've been working toward since September. They have two numbers in the show, one tap and the other ballet. The tap portion is to the "Candy Man" by Sammy Davis Jr. and the ballet is to "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. Thankfully, we have until June, because it's would be one crazy performance if it were now!

After ballet, we went to the gym, amid protests from both girls. Apparently, they got some message from somebody that they couldn't go there any more, and they complained as we drove in the car. Ha! I stuck to my guns and told them to buck up essentially, and they seemed okay when we got there. As we were leaving, walking to the car, Taylor, who had been really sad upon arrival, proclaimed (in a loud voice), "I didn't hate it, Mom!" She was so happy at that point. It cracked me up. I wonder where she figured out that sentence. Maybe she realized that I always tell them that they'll "love" something, and she knows her opposites better than I thought she did. It was great.

We haven't been to lunch in ages, so we headed out to this funky Mexican place nearby. The first thing they ordered was sour cream for their chips. They ate gobs of it. I was a little repulsed. But they did eat their quesadillas, and even their rice and beans. Cassidy tried to compliment the waitress on her flashy ear rings, but the lady didn't hear her and just walked away. Poor Cass was sad about that, but she needs to learn to speak up! It's hard for little kids, I know!

Our day wasn't done yet! We headed over to the jumpy place, airtastic.com, and had a bouncy time! Oftentimes when we go there in the later part of the afternoon, we're almost the only ones there. Today it was a little busier than that, and some of the kids were really little, so we had to watch out for them (so as not to jump on the poor guys!). We ran into a group of unsupervised 3 to 6 year olds, and that was sadly devastating. Their moms were gathered around a table at the front, having a pow wow, totally ignoring this group. And of course, they were being really rowdy and rude - one little you-know-what stuck his tongue out at me! At one point, Cassidy and Taylor were frozen to my legs when one of the older boys was blocking another little boy from going where he wanted to, and so of course, he was screaming. Uggg and grrr, it makes me really angry at the parents for not watching their kids better! Regardless, we moved on, and had a wonderful time. So much so that they were exhausted by the end of our hour and sadly requested to go home and rest.

They're watching School House Rock right now and drinking milk. They're snuggled up on the couch, trying to keep warm because it's only about 29 degrees today, and a little cold in the house. Hopefully we can still get out to Costco this afternoon, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Can you think of a better day? Well, up the temperature about 40 degrees first. Seriously, though, what can beat it?

We have been a very busy group of gals today, and I thought you would like to know all the crazy things we have been up to. Spring is trying to appear, here in the frozen arctic midwest, and we're taking advantage of each and every day that is above 25 degrees outside.
Tuesdays is swimming lessons day with Mrs. Carol. The girls are doing really well in the pool, though certainly are not swimmers at this point. Today the big highlights were going under the water and blowing bubbles from their noses and learning how to dive. "Dive" is what it was called, but it sure looked a lot more like jumping in to me. Today was the first day for that technique, and it was very splashy. I must admit that I am so happy to pay money for the girls to splash somebody else in the pursuit of learning how to swim!
After swimming, we got home and went for a bike ride with our hats, mittens and parkas on. We had to ride in the street because there is still too much snow on the sidewalks (I admit to being one of those damn people that didn't shovel the sidewalk the last time it snowed). The girls learned about the "right" side of the street, as I had to keep getting them over to the side so the cars could go by. It wasn't too scary, and we proved to be a moving speed bump for all the speeders in the neighborhood! I am such a community helper!
After a quick pb&j lunch (Taylor had fruit, cheese and crackers - she doesn't like pb&j), we went to the local stable with some friends to feed the horses carrots and apples. Those horses were so excited to see us, and when they realized that we had treats for them, the foot stamping and whinnying party began! The girls love the stable and are getting very comfortable around horses. I know I should beware of getting them to be too fond of them, because lessons are so expensive, but it's just so cute to see them hug and scratch those giants! My buddy who brought her kids with us was more diligent about breaking out the camera, so if she sends me some pictures, I'll add them here. Frankly, if I have to wear gloves, the camera really gets pushed back to the back burner. I don't like being cold (duh) so I am much less likely to snap pics in this weather. Sorry!
Soooo, after that little excursion, we continued on for a quick hike at a park. Yes, it was muddy and wet and pretty cold (wind chill around 30 today....which means it was technically really warm here for this time of year), but the kids had a blast. We got to cross a giant bridge over a non-frozen river and look for animals and their tracks in the snow. We also left a Chex-Mix trail in case we got lost, which was pretty funny. Half the Chex-Mix was on the ground, and the other half got eaten. We investigated a fallen tree that was hollowed out and pondered what could live inside of it (bats, wolverines-my choice- snakes and bears were mentioned), climbed or attempted to climb some trees, and splashed in a zillion really muddy and somewhat icy puddles. As an added bonus to this activity, I stripped them to just their shirts and undies and let them go home in the car that way! Sadly, the back of my car is a gross, wet mess right now. It'll dry...
I figured they'd be tired after such a busy day, but when we got home, they played ??? flying super hero off the stairs (my uncle Steven apparently jumped from the top landing doing the same game and broke his leg. Luckily the girls just go from the 4th or 5th step. So far...) for about 45 minutes while I cleaned up Polly Pocket paraphernalia with the vaccuum cleaner. That always makes me happy.
And that was our day. Tomorrow we have errands to run and dance class to attend. Not nearly as fun, that's for sure. We're beginning to organize for the big birthday party in the end of March. The theme is Scooby Doo, though they keep asking for a Horton Hears a Who party. They have it in their minds that every birthday party is a dress-up party, and Cassidy wants to go as the Mayor from Horton. I can only imagine what Taylor wants to be! Probably a speck.
Thanks for reading! As always, I will try to be more diligent about the udpates. Feel free to comment, you sleuths who find me through random searches! I'd love to hear from you!