Playing  at the children's museum
Taylor pretending to be a koala
Cassidy in a tree at Golden Gate Park
All 4 kids at the zoo
Cousin love!
I suck for not updating this in over a month!  Sorry.  I know you're all hainging on by a thread, biting your nails in anticipation of my next witty report.  Guess I've been a little busy!  Excuse me!

So in early December, we flew out to San Francisco for 5 days.  My brother flew in from Tokyo with his family, and we all stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The house was indeed full, but thankfully there was still a little room to run around.  My brother has two kids, both boys, ages 5 and 2.5, and great playmates for Cassidy and Taylor.  Great fun was had by the kids, playing trains, going to the park and trying to induce a heart attack in poor Rosie the dog.  We got to go to the zoo and the new California Academy of Sciences, which included an aquarium, a natural history section and a rainforest biodome.  We also got to see a 3-D movie about bugs there.  Kio, the 5 year-old, introduced the girls to the great show "Bob the Builder," which they have not seen since returning home, but which was a great distractor when the adults needed a break.  Taylor and Cassidy introduced them to Scooby Doo, which was also a great hit.

We got a nasty little flu bug this month too, which traveled to each of us, and spaced itself out so that it lasted pretty much over a month.  I think the girls are a little traumatized still, and sometimes ask if a particular food will hurt their tummies.  It's kind of sad.  Needless to say, I need to rent a carpet cleaner very soon to get the smells out!  Gross, sorry.

Our Christmas tree was purchased on December 16th.  It's holding up pretty well.  Dave was out of town when we got it, and I thought it quite comical that I had to untie it from the roof of my car by myself in the SNOW and get it inside.  Surprisingly it was only about 3 inches too tall, so I hacked that off with a bread knife.  The girls were sooo excited for it that they immediately wanted to decorate with all the princess ornaments we've been collecting.  Mind you, the tree was FROZEN SOLID from being outside.  It took several hours for all the branches to come down.  That did not stop them however, from decorating the bottom third of the tree.  I put up the lights, starting at the top, but ran out about 2/3 of the way down, so it was a really goofy looking thing at bed time that evening.  The bottom had a gazillion little princesses and animals on it, and the top had pretty lights.  There was no intermingling of the two designs.  The girls were so proud and happy with their work too!  Thankfully, part of the joy of having  a Christmas tree is that you can redecorate it over and over; the ornaments and lights have since been more evenly dispersed.

Both girls are missing their grandparents quite a bit.  They talk about them non-stop, and still scream hello to any passing airplane, assuming that Grandma and Grandpa are on that plane, and soon will arrive on our doorstep.  It does make it special to see them, but it would be nice if they visited a little more often!

Sledding has been lots of fun this year.  Cassidy loves to go out and sled on her stomach like a little penguin on an ice floe.  Taylor enjoys crawling up the hill and then falling over.  I finally smartened up and brought a chair to the top of the hill so I can sit and watch them rather than lean against a snow-covered rock.  Maybe this year we'll get over to the Big Hill in Naperville that's about 5 times as long as our back yard one.  I am sure they'll do fine on the ride, but I dread having to drag them back up the hill.  

The weather sucks.  It's been snowing for 2 days now, and prior to that, it was insanely cold.  And by cold I mean negative.  Negative zero.  Before wind chill.  The wind chill had it below -35 for 3 straight days.  That's not nice at all.  It was really really cold.  It does make me appreciate a 22 degree day though, I'll grant that!  We also had a nasty ice storm about a week ago, maybe two weeks now, and I tried to shovel the driveway (while sick) and totally failed.  It was like lifting icebergs off the pavement.  So now there's ice on my sidewalk and front walk that will not be gone until the weather warms......in May.  Sorry, I'll shovel the snow on top of the ice, but that's the best I can do.

Taylor has taken to twirling her hair when she's tired.  It's very cute, but produces some crazy knots.  She has had the brunt of the illnesses, including an ear infection, but she's still a trooper.  She keeps asking me when we can go outside to look for bugs.  She recently found a pile of ladybugs that she ensnared and let die, and now she plays with them.  Odd, huh?  She's still a sensitive little monkey who doesn't always seem to want to fit in.

Cassidy wants to be the big girl all the time.  She tells Taylor that she is the bigger one (they're still the same size), and Taylor just cries and cries.  Cassidy is a total princess, though, and wears crowns and jewels whenever possible.  She recently learned the term "fall in love" and she tells me what she's fallen in love with at any given moment.  She loves to talk about who she's going to marry - still me most of the time, but sometimes Prince Eric- and she always makes her Barbies dance together and go to balls.  It's very entertaining.

Well, I suppose I should get back to my supervisory duties.  They recently learned how to climb up onto the counters by themselves.  When emptying the glasses cupboard, I feel I should be there to intercept anything breakable!

Happy holidays everyone!  Hope you have a great season, and please send warmth!

Ode to King

Dave has a sick sense of humor sometimes.  

He recently thought it would be great to teach the girls about Steven King's The Shining.  I remember when I was pregnant that he was terribly excited to dress them up as the twin girls that Danny sees in the hallway.  He also expressed tremendous delight at the prospect of freaking them out  when their teeth fell out by putting dried pieces of corn on their pillows and screaming that they'd lost all their teeth.  He thought that would be funny.  Strange, huh?

Okay, so back to The Shining.  They now can curl their index fingers and growl "Red Rum, Red Rum!"  Dave is delighted.  I think it's beyond bizarre.  So this weekend during lunch, Taylor had just tried to scare  me and then began to sing, SING "Red Rum, Red Rum, Red Rum," for about 5 minutes!  Grrrrreat.

Thanks to Dave for helping the girls develop their weird side.  I kind of thought it would be me, but Dave has me beat for a long time with this one.  

Devistation

Dear Sesame Street,

You have crushed my 3 year-old daughter.  She has recently discovered your show, but can no longer watch it.  We were having so much fun learning with your lovely characters, especially Ernie and Bert.  Until yesterday.

I was in the kitchen cleaning up the girls' breakfast dishes.  Suddenly, Cassidy yelled at me, "Mommy!" and then started crying.  Rushing in to the playroom, I hugged her and asked what had happened.  She pointed to the television and uttered incoherently.  Clearly, something quite terrible had happened.

After she had calmed down enough to tell me what was going on, she said, "Mommy, 'C' is for 'cookie,'" in a voice filled with devastation.  Not understanding where she was going with this, I agreed with her, somewhat pridefully, I must admit.  She looked at me with tears in her eyes.  Then she said, "'C' is for cookie!  Not CASSIDY."  

Yep, we've lost our love for Sesame Street.  Mean old Cookie Monster has crushed her intellectual world.  Damn his love of all things cookie.  

We'll miss you, Ernie and Bert!

Spooky Around Here

Cassidy Trick-or-Treat!
Taylor with a genuine smile
Taylor at the arboretum

When Dave and I came out here in 2006 to look for a place to live, we came near the end of October.  Our realtor must have thought we were wacky because we took more delight in the Halloween decorations than we did in some of the houses we saw.  Neither of us remembers California as being over the top when it came to Halloween, which is exactly what happens here.  Seriously, it rivals Christmas in the audacity of the decorations.  So we've decided to jump on this bandwagon.  It helps that Taylor and Cassidy think Halloween is almost as cool as Disneyland.

So Cassidy and Taylor have gone round and round regarding what costumes they would be for Halloween this year.  We had choices of blue butterflies, Buzz Lightyear, a monkey, a dog, a mermaid and more.  They've matched the previous 3 years (7 months: Jack-o-Lanterns, 19 months: flowers, 32 months: chicks).  There was no way this was happening this year.  So while we thought about costumes, I also decided to re-create a cardboard box decoration for our front yard similar to the one I did for their birthday last March.  Crazy times, I tell ya!  Oh and we have about 10 pumpkins from our garden decorating our front landscaping.  It's actually kind of pretty.  Back to the costumes, though....  

We decided to go to the Disney Store and see their costumes last week.  In my good fortune, I waited until costumes went on sale!  Cassidy had kind of determined that she wanted to be Peter Pan, so I knew I could go there for that costume.  Taylor was still undecided, but was kind of thinking Wendy or still a blue butterfly.  Cassidy's costume is  very cute, but unfortunately they didn't have the matching hat and sword, so I'm still working on that.  We convinced Taylor to be Tinkerbell, and she thinks its fabulous.  Her wings even light up!  Oh, and again, just so we're proud of my shopping: 40% off!

So THIS weekend the Halloween madness has begun in earnest.  Lots of people have had their decorations up for about 2 weeks already, but the parties have all waited until this weekend and this upcoming week.  We had 3 events planned for this weekend, and we have -phew- just completed two.  

Yesterday we went to the Arboretum for the "Trick or Trees" party.  We actually ran into a couple of people that we know, which was kind of fun.  There were story tellers, games, food, and, of course, candy at this little event.  The girls really enjoyed making crafts.  Cassidy made a little bat and Taylor made a Tootsie-pop ghost and a googlie-eyed leaf creature.  They also got to take home a pumpkin each.  The weather was somewhat chilly, and we did have to wind up putting on their jackets, but the costumes were still cute, and really, nobody cared anyway.  The girls did love seeing all the other kids and some adults in costume too.  They kept trying to follow and touch this adult that was dressed as a giant turtle.  They thought he was a dinosaur.  All told, it was a lot of fun.  The weather, unfortunately, prevented me from taking a ton of pictures.

So today we had three events to choose from.  Because it was Sunday (holy day and all), nothing started before noon (ug), and we chose the one that started promptly at noon.  The girls got to go to downtown Naperville and go store to store for trick or treating.  It was a balloon effect.....  We turned the corner and there were a few other kids in costume, then we came out of a store and there were a few more, then a dozen more, then a football team's worth of kids, and on and on until there were more kids than cars driving around.  It was nuts!  The girls couldn't believe that their bags seemed to be bottomless pits in terms of how much they could hold!  It was funny at the end to see them trying to lug these trick or treat bags along with them because they were simply stuffed with goodies.  Taylor was so happy she forgot how to talk and would only squeak and point.  Cassidy, queen of the 'pick-me-ups,' was able to walk the entire time.  Almost every single store was open for the event and to lure people into the shops.  I can only think of the few parades we've been to in the area that brought more people out.  Amazingly, the girls held back from eating the candy.  They asked a few times, but they actually listened to us when we said they'd be better off waiting.  I am sure it was difficult for them because the other kids all seemed to have red, oozy candy drool falling from their chins.

Halloween is still 6 days away.  We have a party on Wednesday and then the actual "holiday" ahead of us.  I swear I should call the dentist now for next week.  It's gonna be gross!

(Oh and then we got home, they munched on tons of candy, and then it started hailing.  I forsee lots of moaning about the weather again soon.  Be warned.)

Grandma and Grandpa Hill Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Hill arrived yesterday evening.  The poor girls were so anxious all day!  And they were actually kind of mad that G&G weren't waiting for them when they were done with school.  Let me tell you that it was a long 3 and a half hours between getting home and having them finally arrive!

There was lots of screaming and jumping around when their little car pulled up, and they were just so happy to see them.  I guess they're finally at an age where they recognize their grandparents because they allowed themselves to be picked up and hugged repeatedly.

Cassidy and Taylor also refused to let ME read them bedtime stories, and insisted that Grandpa do it instead.  I mischievously picked out a tongue twisting book, Fox In Sox, for him to read, which is an impossible little tale.  I think he was more perturbed by the Strawberry Shortcake book that Cassidy picked for him though.  It's Berry dorky.  

Today's adventure is taking both grandparents to the girls' school.  They're going to be the helpers!  Should be very exciting, and I know at least the older part of my family will have a nap this afternoon!

I'll edit this post later with more updates about how it went and continues to go.

Auto Shop

Okay, I know that I said I would write about the girls adventures and journeys, but I need a place to gloat for my accomplishments today.  And Cassidy and Taylor helped me a little.  Well, they played in Dave's car and didn't spill their water bottles while I worked.  That's good, right?

So my car has been making weird sounds.  It kind of creaks now, like a little old lady.  But it's only 6 years old, and with just over 50,000 miles.  No reason for such sounds in my opinion.  Then the auto doors stopped working, and that just kind of sucked.  Dave began browsing used minivans for me.

On Thursday, we actually made it into the car ahead of schedule for school, which, frankly, NEVER happens; we're usually hauling ass to get to school.  So we're all strapped in, snacks at the ready, and the car won't start.  It made a horrible clicking sound but just wouldn't or couldn't get itself going.  

So I panicked about getting the girls to school.  Like they were going to miss a great lecture or something.  Duh.  But my tremendously generous neighbor let me use her van and off we went, and were not even that late!  I got my little errands done, all the while thinking about what mechanic would be able to come and rescue my car.  

On Thursday afternoon, I asked a different neighbor (Ron, who happens to be married to Nancy) if he would come and give me his diagnosis.  He has about 5 cars and 3 fancy motorcycles at his house, and apparently some other "projects" at other locations, so I knew I'd asked for a good opinion.  He asked me to start the car while he looked under the hood.  Click-click-click-click.  Then he asked me to honk the horn.  That's when the car demons came out.  My windshield wipers and blinkers started going!  Yikes.  I almost jumped out of the car.  Ron said that it was definitely the battery, an easy fix.  He even recommended where I should go to get a new one.

Ron clearly didn't know that I missed Auto Shop in school.  He didn't know that I NEVER saw my parents work on cars.  Shoot, I only learned to put oil in a car AFTER I broke a car for not putting oil into it.  Ron generously offered to do it for me, but he had very limited time, and I couldn't get the battery until later that night.

I was brave even without his help, and thought I'd give it a try on Friday morning.  Dave had left me his car, and I figured I could work on it while the girls were at school.  I brought up the entire toolbox (contents: lots of picture hooks, some leftover ikea screws, a hammer and a few screwdrivers) and opened the hood.  The girls were stoked that they got to come out and play in the garage.  I also brought the phone and put it within arms reach, thinking that after I got electrocuted I might need to call 911.  

I was filthy within seconds of putting the wrench on the bolt.  How does such a thing happen?  I was like Becky the Mechanic, probably had smudge across my forehead.  I got the positive side off first (woo hoo).  I was in a quandary as to what to do with the little hook-up thing that I had taken off because I was pretty sure that if it touched the battery while I was touching it, I would die instantly.  I sort of tucked it away and got it stuck enough that it didn't shoot back into place.  The negative side unfortunately gave me trouble.  Apparently it was a little corroded.  I gave up on that and started working on the third, and last bolt holding the battery in place.   It was in a difficult spot and a wrench would have been worthless to me, but luckily, I, Becky the Mechanic, thought to use my handy dandy socket wrench.  I even figured out how to make it do reverse clicking so it would loosen rather than tighten the bolt!  Well, as a result, it took mere seconds to get that one off (and I didn't lose it either).  But back to the negative connector thingy.  I had to -eek- chip and pry at it with a screwdriver.  More images of death.  Especially since the battery cover said that when fiddling with batteries to always wear protective glasses to avoid chemical smattering that could leave one sightless.  But I prevailed and managed to get it off!  

Car batteries are surprisingly heavy.  And disgustingly dirty.

So the girls and I loaded into the Saab and headed to Blain's Farm and Fleet before school on Friday afternoon.  I had researched Sears, Pep Boys, Costco and Blain's, and found that they had the cheapest batteries.  I brought the old, yucky one with me so that I wouldn't get death threats from my garbage man.  The automotive department was easy enough to find, just pass all the tractors and tools, and there it was!  A nice young lady brought me out a fresh battery and took the grungy one.  She wrote me up a sales slip and directed me back to the check-out area to pay.  Yay, that part was soo easy!

I was stressed about how much it would cost to recycle a battery and buy a new one.  We're trying to keep to a very tight budget these days, and an 80 dollar battery was not accounted for.  Well, the young man took my sales slip and rung me up.  He even asked his neighbor-checker if he had the right code.  Then he told me my total.  $7.51.  How the hell did that happen?  I looked at him for about 5 seconds and then hit enter on my little ATM thing and sprinted out as fast as I could go with two kids and a heavy, but clean battery.  I know, I know, I should have corrected him, and maybe someday I'll go back, but I was in a hurry (school) and I was kicking butt on the whole Becky the Mechanic persona, so I didn't feel bad, I felt justified....

So here's where it gets kind of sad.  Well, shortly.

I got the girls to school and wound up back at home.  I actually motivated myself enough to REINSTALL the battery.  And I didn't die!  I tightened those bolts like there was no tomorrow too.  Believe me, it's gonna be hard in five years to get that thing out.  I got in the driver's seat and turned on the ignition switch.  Can you believe it actually started?  And sounded normal?  And there were no freaky smells coming out of the vents?  Becky the Mechanic rules the Chrysler world!

I figured I could switch the car seats back to the van to go pick up the girls from school, but first I had to shut the hood of the car.  Ummm, it wouldn't shut.  I swear I looked for leftover tools all over that dirty little engine.  There were none to be found!  I basically jumped on my hood, and it still wouldn't shut.  Well ain't that a kick in the mechanic's pants.  I couldn't drive my fixed car because I was too dumb to get the damn hood closed.  Maybe I was not meant to be a mechanic....

Dave tried.  He couldn't do it.  We drove around town all weekend in the Saab.  On Monday I took it to my local oil change place.  They got it shut.  

Believe me, though, I told them that I had changed the battery myself.

Dental visit

Apparently I have been doing a good job in the oral hygiene department.  I wouldn't have thought so as I seem to SUCK at getting tartar off of their teeth.  I do try to get a good brushing in once a day, and they like to brush in the morning before we go out, but I didn't see sparkling, pearly whites.

The girls had a dentist appointment today with a new dentist (their last appointment was at about 20 months, so I was behind!).  It was a pediatric dentist that actually sees patients up to age 18 I think.  The funky thing around here is that ALL of the dentists want to see the kids by themselves - no Mom in the room during the cleaning and exam.  I thought that was very strange, but whatever.... all the moms I talked to seemed to think that this was an okay concept, so I tried to not freak out about it.  I figured they'd call me when one of the girls bit the hygienist.

I think it helped that they went in together, but I really have no idea what happened afterward.  I had told them that since they were big girls now, mommies weren't allowed to come with them.  So off they skipped with the hygienist who threw over her shoulder to me as she walked away, "Oh, they'll be done in about 40 minutes."  Good god, they're only 3.  How can a dentist appointment for 40 teeth take that long?  And I couldn't see them, and I had never been there before.  I mean, who did I just send my kids off with???  Hmmm, I was suspicious and nervous, so I texted Dave at work and annoyed him in order to distract myself.  

So about 45 minutes later, they called me back to meet the dentist and hear a report.  Yay!  I was so pleased to hear that the teeth looked good and that we were doing a great job!  He even said that they spit well so there should be no problem with using fluoride toothpaste (oops, been doing that for a long time now!).   He did say that the gap would probably correct itself when they get their permanent teeth.  He's optimistic!  Taylor apparently has a cross bite that isn't too bad and will probably correct itself too.  Especially if she stops chewing on her pacifiers (used only to get to sleep). 

We get to start flossing now.  That should be really fun.  Oh well, they see me do it every day, so maybe it won't be too freaky.  

When we got home I made sure to load them up with rainbow pancakes for lunch.  Yummy!  (Pancakes with m&m's in them)

Sorry no pictures.  I wasn't allowed back there!

Funny or sad

Yesterday morning, Cassidy and Taylor both said to me that I should go to work and Daddy should stay home with them.  Nice, huh?

When I asked them if they would be sad without me, Cassidy said not for a long time, and then reiterated that I should leave and Daddy should come home.  

So later, I took them swimming.  'Cause I'm a nice mom.

"First" School Day

In the kitchen area
Taylor painting
Cassidy at the carpentry area
Taylor working at the chalkboard
Stomping their feet to a song
Playing at the rice table

Okay, first an explanation of the title.....

Today was the first day of school, but it was kind of like orientation day.  I went with the girls, who were joined by about half of their class (of 14 total).  So it technically was the first day, but next week will be the real test....

So it is truly a free-for-all in there!  The kids were basically welcomed and then invited to find their name tags and hang up their coats (it was raining cats and dogs).  The kids were then encouraged to "go and play" where ever they wanted.  Their choices were beyond numerous.  They had a water table with boats, a rice table with digging toys, a painting station, a dress-up area, a kitchen play area, a coloring and cutting station, a story time area, blocks and animals, puzzles, play dough and more!  The girls chose first to play in the rice, which I found funny because, of course, that's an activity that we do frequently at home.  I urged them to try something new, and they went to the kitchen, also an activity that we play a lot at home!  No big deal, there was new stuff in both areas, so it was fun.  

There are two new kids in their class, one of whom was there with them today.  His name was John, and he enjoyed playing with them at the kitchen area.  His language did not seem as fluid as the girls, but who am I to compare!  They enjoyed playing together and didn't hit or bite each other!  The other kids spent a lot of time at the rice table and then most of the boys found the blocks and played cars and blocks for the first hour.  It was funny how there were initially no girls over in that part of the classroom.  The nature/nurture thing is pretty apparent!

After a while, the girls discovered the painting area.  Taylor was IN HEAVEN.  Cassidy was happy too, but Taylor just loves to paint, and I haven't broken out the easel almost all summer. I was very proud of her when she yelled across the room to me that she made orange using yellow and red!  Between the two of them, they came home with about 15 paintings....

About an hour into class, the teachers split the class up and some kids were "invited" to go downstairs to play.  They were given tickets to go, and had to carry the tickets with them downstairs (and then back upstairs when we returned).  Cassidy and Taylor were invited to go, and off we went.  The other half of the class switched later, though the teachers told us that if a child does not want to go, they're not forced.  

So downstairs is more of a gross motor room.  They have a little climbing gym area along with some big toys to play with .  There is also a little carpentry area, more blocks and some music toys (so it's the gross motor and loud, bang-y department).  The theme downstairs was summertime, and they had beach towels out, a boat to sit in, and cute music to listen to in the background.  

The girls both wanted to take their shoes off, which is kind of a natural habit for them at this point.  We never wear shoes in the house, and all their little gym classes have had them take the shoes off.  Well, not at school!  That's going to be a hard habit to break, I think.  

The highlight of downstairs was fishing.  The girls had fishing poles and a plethora of fish to try to get.  The poles had  a magnet on the end, and they could "catch" the fish that way.  They just thought it was a blast to sit in the boat and fish.  We do a similar activity at home, but they don't have a boat.  Instead, they pull up their little chairs to the step separating the kitchen from the family room, and pretend to fish that way.  Anyway, lots of pics of the fishing activity.  At one point, their little classmate, Devin, joined them, and they shared the boat with him.  Such good sharers!!!

Cassidy enjoyed working with real tools in the carpentry area.  She got to use a real hammer and nails and even a vice!  Earlier in the day, they had helped me put together an IKEA piece of furniture by hammering some dowels into pre-drilled holes, so getting to do it at school was like icing on the carpentry cup cake.

Both girls enjoyed climbing on the little play structure and zipping down the slide as well.  

We went back upstairs after about half an hour and found the play dough area.  The girls were very happy making shapes with cookie cutters for what seemed like a really long time (I was tired by this point!).  The dough was fresh and new, and very soft, so it was fun to play with.  Apparently they have a great recipe, and I can't wait to get it and start making it at home.  The other kids rejoined the group upstairs and it was almost time for snack.  Due to the rain, there would be no playing outside today.

Snack was a great milestone for the girls.  It was a modest serving of string cheese and orange juice or water.  Preschool is big on kids helping themselves as much as possible, so they got to pour their own juice or water.  Neither girl has EVER liked orange juice, and I tell you, they must have each had at least 3 cups of it!  So it was either the pouring or the witnessing of others enjoying it that got them to drink it.  Regardless I am happy because it's an option besides apple juice!

When the kids were done snacking, they were asked to gather at the carpet area for book-reading and singing.  By this time, all of the parents in the room were very tired, and we all just watched from the back of the room rather than joined our kids at the carpet!  The teachers led them in several songs, all of which incorporated movements.  All of the kids had a great time in this activity, and were giggling and laughing happily.  

That was pretty much the entire two and a half hours.  The girls instantly fell asleep on the drive home, but woke up when we got home so that they could play even more.  They were asleep by 8 this night (insert smiley mom and dad here).  I think they're going to love it, and they've seen that it's not scary in any way.  Hopefully they won't have too many issues!  I can't wait to find a gym and get some serious working out done... or at least go shopping on my own!  Yay, school!

 

Catching up

You'd think I would have a lot to say, given that I haven't been updating this blog very much this summer.  I guess it's been kind of a whilrwind of mini-adventures ever since we got back from vacation.  Nothing very outstanding, but still some notable moments anyway.  So here goes:

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I were outside in the front yard talking to a neighbor who has a son who is about 2 and a half.  I offered him a fire truck that the girls no longer need or play with.  Well, you can imagine how well kids react to seeing their toys going away.  Not immediately, but shortly into our hang out time on the driveway, Cassidy snatched up the truck and barreled inside.  Then she proceeded to shut the door.  The poor little boy (who doesn't talk much) was looking from his mom to the door and pointing in a very desperate manner.  I looked around to see where she was and what she was doing and saw her peeking through the front door window, watching to see if the boy would come after her, or if she had safely rescued the truck.  Her look was perfect, very stealthy and suspicious.  Needless to say, the truck eventually got back to the little boy and all was well in the world.

Last week we went to the zoo (gotta get my zoo trips in before the weather turns!).  Within the zoo, they have a little play area with lots of hands on activities such as a pretend vet's clinic and many areas where kids can pretend to do grown up zoo things (like sweep...  huh?).  They also have a face painting area using oil pastels.  Essentially it's a free for all, and the big kids and kids with moms who care always come out looking really cute.  They're supposed to transform themselves into animals that they've seen at the zoo that day.  Cassidy asked me to make her a tiger (so I cared a little), and she just thought she was the best little tiger around.  Taylor, on the other hand, wanted to be a big girl and do it herself.  So she found a lovely sky blue color and went to work.  Her whole face became blue.  I mean she must have been there for at least 20 minutes, getting every contour of her face.  It was really funny.  She decided, after she was done, that she was a fish.  Sadly, she didn't do the fish lips thing, but I do have a pretty picture!

Week of injuries around here this week.  I finished up the girls bath recently and put them in long pant pajamas (cause that evil weather has already started to get chilly).  Dave was on the stairs coming up when Taylor decided to slide down the stairs on her bottom.   They both love to do this when they have long pants on, pajamas or otherwise.  So they made a game of it, and Cassidy soon joined them.  Yay, woo hoo!  Well, eventually I got ready to read them some stories and Taylor was complaining that her stomach was hurting.  I figured she probably had a stitch in her side from all the up and down on the stairs.  So I am reading the story ("Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs") and Taylor is actually whimpering.  Yep, my first reaction was annoyance!  Then when she kept doing it, I thought she might actually be hurt.  So I look at her tummy, and she has a GIANT rug burn all around her belly button!  Oh gosh.  It looked awful.  We did some minor first aid and covered her with Care Bears band aids and a dose of Tylenol and she made it through the night.  It still looks terrible!  Cassidy's injury happened just yesterday.  Suffice it to say that she is NOT allergic to bees.  But why do they always have to sting the armpit?  She was throwing sand at the bee, so she got what she deserved.  Hope the bee didn't die.

School starts next week.  I'll try to update you on that a little later.  I hope it's a successful first day!

We're still waiting for Samson to die so that we can get a dog.  I do love that cat, but jeez, it's been 17 years already!  If we don't get a dog, maybe I'll just get a fish.  They don't live too long do they?

Well, we're off swimming this morning and then a visit to Chicago to get Dave and go to the Aquarium to say goodbye to the dolphins and whales before they begin renovations.  See, little adventures.....

July.....Part 1

What a month July was!  It really came and went, and as you can see, I didn't write one thing until now!  Vacation will do that to you!

We had a great fourth of July right here in Aurora.  We started the day with a parade, which the girls loved (mostly because about every other entry threw out lollipops) because there were tons of flags and even some horses.  Our friends from down the street went with us as well, so lots of playing and hanging out with buddies for both kids and adults.  Later in the day we went to a fair across town, totally unrelated to the parade.  The girls tried some rides, but mostly watched as the "big kids" screamed with either joy or terror.  They had a hot air balloon show, which was fantastic.  Both girls really liked the purple balloon and were sad when it sailed out of sight.  We tried to stay for the fireworks show at the fair, but it was simply too hot.  So we finally came home and had a great display from our back yard.  Apparently fireworks are some sort of legal here in Illinois (not sure about the rules), and it seems like almost every native tries to blow up the world during the week before and the week after the fourth.  Loved the show though, and we heard and saw them several days later too.  

A bonus to living in the midwest is that we have a gazillion fireflies.  Taylor is now dubbed the Firefly Whisperer because she can just snatch one out of the air with absolutely no effort involved.  Cassidy, Dave and I have to run around like fools trying to see and catch them with nets, and even then we rarely succeed!  We gave them little firefly jars, and they've been taking about three little firefly bugs upstairs to sleep with them every few nights.  The poor flies eventually get released by either Dave or myself, but they always seem unable to shake their time in captivity (wandering around aimlessly on the ground, flying in slow spirals.... you know).  Eh, the girls love them.

It's been a nice summer so far.  The mosquitoes haven't been too bad, it hasn't been unbearably humid or hot, and it hasn't rained a ton either.  The garden is beautiful, filled with all sorts of goodies, and the pumpkin and watermelon patch is gigantic.  We're having a ton of fun in other words!  

More about July.....Part 2 later!  I promise!

Monumental Moment

Mark this one on your calendars, folks.  Somehow today, Taylor achieved the impossible.  And Cassidy was almost as close.  

While helping the girls pick out their clothes in their bedroom this morning, Taylor said she'd be right back and scampered into our bedroom.  I thought nothing of it, as she likes to check herself out in the big mirror or go jump on the bed.  So I was UTTERLY surprised when she meandered back in to her bedroom carrying a stunned but subdued SAMSON in her arms!  She said something akin to, "Here he is, let's pet Samson!"  Holy Mackerel, people, this cat will not stay in the same room as Cassidy and Taylor, let alone allow them to pick him up!  Cassidy and I were flabbergasted.

He stayed for all of about 2 seconds once she put him down, and then blasted down the stairs in order to prove his true colors (scaredy cat).  As we came down later, he gave us the evil eye from under a dining room chair.  And then Cassidy wandered over and sat down with him and petted him for a few minutes!  

WHERE IS MY CAT?  WHO IS THIS FRIENDLY BLACK FUR BALL IMPERSONATING MY PISSY, GRUMPY SAMSON????

Well, that's it for now.  Have a good day!

Kiddie Land

So we went off to Kiddie Land today.  It's a kids amusement park outside of Chicago.  All of the rides are for little munchkins, and include a roller coaster, ferris wheel, log ride and other carnival-type attractions.  At least 70% of the rides are designated as "children only," so poor mom or dad has to wait on the outside of the ride.  It's a super cool park, but kind of small in overall acerage, which is good if you have little kids who can't handle it too long, but bad if you have overly energetic, goof balls....

Absolutely every ride was a blast, and they gave me giant hugs after each ride was done.  They loved the Dumbo ride (really just elephants), the rockets, the cars and the carousel.  There was one ride where they sat in cars that were attached to a center ring at the front.  As the ring spun, the cars would "torque" out with their back wheels, sending the girls on a little g-force pull.  Man, if you had seen Taylor's face, you'd have died!  She just LOVED it.  She held her neck kind of rigid and leaned back to get the full effect.  It was hysterical.  It took Cassidy a few spins to realize that she wasn't about to fly off the ride.  Her favorite was probably the big-style Ferris Wheel, which I rode with them.  Have you ever heard Taylor and Cassidy scream?  EVERY time we got to the top, they both screamed at the top of their lungs.  And that scream lasted until we got to the bottom, and then a new one basically started up again as soon as we began to climb.  Another hysterical moment for me.  I was in tears I was laughing so much.  We did stop at the top a couple of times and they pointed out "Daddy's office" (a tall building a few miles away) and airplanes that all contained Grandma and Grandpa.  

A slight downer was the log ride, which I accompanied them on as well.  We sat in the back section of the log, and as it took off I realized that they couldn't see in front of them or out of the sides of the log.  So that was kind of scary because they couldn't anticipate the bumps and turns.  Yeah, the top was frightening.  They were not pleased.  Taylor cried at the bottom, mostly because she got wet.  Cassidy had a death grip on me at first and then started laughing.  We watched it for a while when we got off.  I don't think that ride will be in our near future again.

Can't wait to go again with Dave!

Father's Day Weekend

Can we get any busier?  The weekend was filled with adventures, some big, some little, but all told, it seems like we didn't stop moving at all!  

Friday, we went for a twilight walk, which was really fun.  We often don't get out at night because of the crushing time schedule (dinner, bath, stories, bed), but we made an exception and skipped the baths, even though they had painted earlier in the day and were slightly rainbow-colored.  We smelled flowers, made footprints from puddles, and generally caroused, annoying/entertaining many neighbors as we passed by.

Saturday, we hit the public swimming area, as it was predicted to be a scorcher in the mid eighties.  We didn't account for the wind and LACK of humidity, though, and it was surprisingly chilly.  Regardless, we were there for about 3 hours, and had a darn good time.  There was a "river" to float on with inner tubes, and the girls (and Dave) enjoyed that a lot.  

After swimming, we hit the movie theater for Kung Fo Panda.  Taylor got a little bored, but Cassidy loved it.  They both said numerous times that fighting was not nice during the show, so I know they're going to be nice girls, and that we have trained them well.  But Cassidy is still trying to do the finger-pinch move that eventually took down the bad villain in the movie.....  After the movie, we finally headed home, and had an evening of relaxation out on the deck with thee bugs.  Good times!

Father's Day Sunday, we gave Dave his presents early.  Cassidy made him a brown and pink princess and Taylor gave him a green and orange mermaid.  They had painted them at the ceramic store the week before.  He was so pleased with their creations!  He got a new painted plate from me that said "World's Best Dad" and had their names on it too.  I thought it was cute, and he's used it several times already.  

We went to Naperville to some festival that touted a Petting Zoo for our morning activity.  As it is here in the midwest, though, nothing was really going on when we got there, because everyone was still churching it up.  So we wandered away from the festival and ended up at the paddle boat rides again.  Dave had a great time paddling the 4 of us around for a while in the quarry.  Then we had a great walk along the river, followed by a wonderful lunch on a restaurant patio.  Back to the festival, which was mediocre, and finally home again.  I got a couple of pictures of Dave and the girls, which were kind of good.

In the late afternoon, we tried to get to Costco for some supplies, but found that again, due to godly obligations we presume, it was already closed!  So we made due with Target instead.  I know, I'm a sinner for blaming everything on the midwesty church crowd, but jeesh, it's really annoying some times!  So we had a late dinner and lots of playing time when we got home, and the girls didn't get to bed before 10!  It was a really fun and very busy day.

Wow, that's a lot of description for 2 days.  Sorry it wasn't funnier.  Today we're off to a park that has free kiddie rides.  Should be fun.  I hope they're up for it after their late night.

Have a good week!

Summer woes

No, it's not the heat that has suddenly started steam-cooking us....not yet anyway.  The summer woe for today was that Taylor got a giant splinter in her foot and didn't tell me until about 10 hours later.  

Now I knew that it was going to be a bear to get out (right on the ball of her right foot), but thought I could dig at it a little.  Yeah, kids don't like that.

First I tried tweezers.  That sucked.  She turned into the kid from the Exorcist and started screaming and making her head twist around.  It was frightening.

Then I tried a needle to dig it up.  You can imagine how that went.  I even iced it first!  Then I let her ice it.  More Exorcist scenes were created.  Cassidy offered her poor, crying sister her own pacifier because she was crying so much.  Then Cassidy covered her ears to block out the torture sounds.  Yep, my hands were shaking a bit by this point.

So I went to the ever handy internet and read about how to "get out a splinter."  They, the internet gods, suggested using nail clippers to dig up the skin if you couldn't get a hold on the splinter itself. 

Just picture me holding Taylor down with her leg firmly under my left arm, digging at the BALL of her foot with nail clippers (I did sanitize them).  It was one of the meanest things I have ever personally done to my kids.

They both got a lollipop afterward.

This weekend we're buying some sort of outdoor carpet for the deck.

Growing Up

Yesterday we were driving home from some outing and the girls decided to talk about who they were going to marry.

Taylor: I'm going to marry Peter Pan

Cassidy: I'm going to marry Peter Pan

Taylor: I'm going to marry Prince Charming

Cassidy: I'm going to marry Peter Pan

(Repeat for about 5 minutes)

Taylor: I'm going to marry DADDY!

Cassidy: I'm going to marry MOMMY!

I don't know if they know what it means, but I was surprised to learn that they wanted to marry ANYBODY.  And Cassidy rocks of course!

Dance Recital

Wednesday the girls had a dance recital at the Little Gym.  They've been taking the class for a couple of months, and sometimes they liked it, and sometimes they didn't.  I don't know why.  Anyway, they do about 20 minutes each of tap, ballet and tumbling for the class, and the grand finale was that parents were invited in to watch.  (This is their first "class" without me there -yay!)

Taylor agreed to do it after flat out refusing the week prior.  They looked so cute dancing to "Lollipop, Lollipop" and then some more classical-styling for the ballet portion.  Taylor did really well because she could see the teacher clearly.  Cassidy, who was a little off to the side, didn't do as well, but was still incredibly cute.  

In the tumbling part, they each did forward and backward somersaults, some leaps, work on the uneven bars, and some tricks on the balance beam.  While not the most agile, they did really well in my opinion.  

At the end they each got a medal, which they proudly wore the rest of the day.  It was a very rewarding and milestone-making moment in their lives, and I was really surprised that they did so well.

I got some movies, but I can't upload them from the camera for some reason.  Here are some pictures though.

All Aboard

Yesterday, we went to lunch with 4 other little friends in order to celebrate our neighbor, Austin's, birthday.  One of the moms recommended this place called All Aboard, and claimed that it was a train themed restaurant.  I figured it would be something fun and different for the girls, and we wanted to be there for Austin anyway.

Well, this was over the top!  You walked in to a giant model train set up with all sorts of extras, like fire trucks, carousel, school house and much more.  The kids can push little buttons on the side of the model to make things go, whistle and turn.  Each and every kid could have happily stayed there for at least 30 minutes.  

Inside, there was an elevated track that ran around the entire restaurant, with a train making continuous loops.  Lots of arcade games geared for the under 5 crowd, and the art was all train related.  Even the bathroom was painted with train stuff, and had a train step stool for the kids to reach the sink.

We sat at the counter on little stools.  The counter was a long, narrow circle, and of course there was another train on that.  That train had 8 cars attached to it, with little diner baskets glued on to them.  It turns out that when your order is ready, they put the food (in baskets) on the train and it brings the food out to your spot.  It was hilarious!  Cassidy kept looking down the track to see where her food was, or at least when it was coming.  The food wasn't wonderful, but because they were having so much fun with all the stimulation, the girls ate well and didn't seem bothered.  We got dessert for the birthday, and it too came out on the train, to a cooky "Happy Birthday" song.  Austin's cupcake was lit with a candle as the train made it's way.  Seriously, could a little boy get any happier?  Taylor enjoyed the frosting on her cupcake and forgot to eat the cake, and Cassidy only ate a few bites of her chocolate ice cream (yay, less mess to wipe up off of her).  

I thought this was a great place and I can't wait to take Dave there.  He'll probably really like it since he's a boy!

While we were inside, it rained about 2 inches (literally) outside, and it was ridiculous driving home.  I really don't get the weather here.  Or why people live in such a place, but that's another story.

Letters

Oddly, yesterday, the girls decided that it was time that they learn how to write letters.  They do not have letter recognition yet (but they're close I think), so it was kind of funny that they wanted to learn how to write them.  

We practiced letter T, letter O, and letter M first (for Uncle Tom, of course), and then we had to try letter C for Cassidy.  They also made letters I and H.  I'll take some pictures of them today and post them (cause that's totally worth looking at right?).  

You might wonder why I didn't just give them A, B, C.  I read somewhere that kids learn the basic, easy to print and recognize letters first, such as T and H.  It makes sense as I can't see them mastering letter S or G any time soon.  

They were so happy to work on it.  They have little notebooks that they love to fill with scribbles  (Dave says they're writing tickets) and pictures.  I am a very proud mom, even though I know that every kid does it at some point.  Still it makes me feel good!

Another Fun Weekend

You know, I feel like I keep doing really inventive stuff during the week with the girls, but we somehow manage to always find something new and different on the weekends too.  Thankfully the weather has finally left the cruel, cold winds of winter behind, and it's starting to get hot.  That helps with the activities around here.

So on Saturday, we had a fun time playing in the yard in the morning, weeding, mowing and trimming.  Amazingly, by 11:00, we were done with that task, so we had the rest of the day to play as soon as the girls finished their nap.  They've been wanting to go on a boat ride almost every weekend since we took them with us to do the Chicago boat cruise in April, and Dave has been wanting to do it too.  Rather than drive to Chicago, or to the pond where we rented row boats last year, we wound up in downtown Naperville where they have an old quarry filled up with mysteriously deep, dark water that you can rent paddle boats.  The girls had on red life jackets and looked adorable.  Brought the camera, but one of the batteries leaked, so no pictures.  Dave had to do all the paddling because I got stuck in the back with no pedals (sob).  The girls had a wonderful time looking for crocodiles, chasing poor ducks and geese, and we even rescued some trash that was floating on the water and threw it away when we were done.

Sunday we tried to go to the Chicago zoo for a change of scenery, but we got off to a late start and decided to go to the regular zoo instead.  The LOVE the zoo!  We saw monkeys, elephants, giraffes, one wild dog, zebras, buffalo and some lots of African water bucks and bush bucks.  The highlight, though, was the wolves.  We've been going to this zoo for over a year, and have never seen them.  But today, they were just right next to the fence, playing in the water and playing together.  It was great.  

In the afternoon, we went to a friend's house to have a little Sunday hang out time/barbecue/play time.  Their friends, Deigo and Brooke are 4 and 1 1/2 years old, and they all get along really well.  It was kind of a scorcher by that time though, and we had to bring out the sprinkler.  That was great for a while, and then the slip and slide came out.  Oh my gosh, the kids could have spent the night on that thing!  They didn't really get the concept of running and doing a belly flop (who can blame them), but they did like to run and leap into the giant puddle-pool that was at the end.  They also found great joy in jumping on top of each other.  It was hilarious.

So Sunday was a blast, and we had a great end to a very nice weekend.  Hard to complain about anything after two such fun days.

I hope your weekend was good, and I'd love to hear about it!

We've had a pretty relaxed week around here.  Terrible weather as usual, has kept us from enjoying a variety of outdoor activities, but we're still moving nonetheless.  Tuesday, we had a great morning of swimming and playing at an indoor play structure.  They could spend hours at this activity.  The pool area has one of those play structures that shoots water everywhere, and the three of us went to that side of the pool area for the first time.  They had a blast!  There was a really fast slide that bounced them out on their bottoms and they just thought it was the funniest thing.  Sadly, the morning open hours are done now that it's supposed to be summer around here, and we'll have to wait until October to go back in the mornings.  (I did sign us up for two public outdoor pools that open in June, so we won't be totally without.)

Wednesday was dance class day, and Dave stayed home due to a pretty bad cold.  He got to accompany us to the dance class, which he's never seen.  Sadly, Taylor just flat out refused to go in to either the tap or the ballet part of the class, so she didn't get to show off for him.  Cassidy, on the other hand, did a fantastic job with her tapping, wiggling and twirling.  She's really getting in to it.  Next week there is a recital.....  I hope I can borrow someone's video recorder because it's going to be hilarious.  We got ice cream after dance (rainbow sherbet for Cassidy and vanilla for Taylor), and then went to the pet store to play with the caged animals.  Always a fun way to pass the time.  They love the mice there, and say that they tickle them (gotta love that huh, Bobbe?)  It's all a routine, and we pretty much follow that every Wednesday at this point.

Thursday we went to a new park that had an actual zip line for the kids.  It was great, and almost high enough for me to enjoy a go.  Yes, I held on to the girls so they wouldn't fall off.  But it was about 50 feet in length, and they thought it was very fun.  Met a bunch of new ladies there (in an attempt to widen my circle of friends), who all seemed nice.  We'll definitely go back to the park, and maybe we've made some new friends too....

Well, that's it for now, like I said, a pretty mellow week so far.  We might go swimming tomorrow at a different pool, but I'm not sure at this point.  We'll see what I can conjure up.

Take it easy, hope it's warm where you are.  Send it my way, please.

Memorial Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend, and hope yours was good as well.  Lots of park activities since the weather has finally started to warm up.  The girls are also tremendously content to just wander the backyard and neighborhood, picking up bugs and flowers, and trying to climb trees.  They're really social, and they always want to play with "my friends" (other kids), even if they don't know them.  At the park, Cassidy has become a master at swinging on the big swings.  Thankfully she holds on well, because of course she wants to go higher, higher!  Taylor spends more time climbing on things and running; the swings are not her favorite.

We had a great barbecue at our neighbor's house on Sunday.  There were at least 10 other kids there, and the girls were in heaven.  They played hide and seek in the house and outside, tag, and did gymnastics with the older girls.  They tried to catch a baseball, but it was being hit by a 1o year-old boy who was erratic to say the least!  Anyway, we didn't leave until about 8:30, and the girls were filthy and exhausted.  It was a blast.

On Monday, we went to a parade with about half the population of Illinois.  Apparently, besides enrolling in soccer, the other mandatory requirement for children in this area is that they join the marching band.  These school bands were HUGE.  It wasn't that way in Humboldt at all.  I remember that we needed to kind of poll all the schools and even the colleges to have enough participants to create a marching band!  Well, we saw our junior high school babysitter march by, which was a highlight, and of course we loved the cheerleaders (yep, another childhood requirement, I fear).  At one point some Elks type men marched by and one of the girls called out, "Hey, it's Captain Hook," because they all had really elaborate plumes coming out of their hats.  Good association, huh?

We played in the garden, and discussed weeds versus plants a lot.  This year we're growing beans, cucumbers, zucchini, peas, lettuce and beets.  We just put in a few rows of watermelon and pumpkins as well.  Still have to get in some corn, but that ground is a pain and I now dream of at least renting a roto-tiller.  Anyway, they're excited for that, and love to eat the veggies right off the plant.

Interview with Taylor

Okay, so the last few days (or weeks; it's kind of blurry), Taylor has been getting up around 7 or so, sometimes earlier sometimes a little later.  Cassidy, on the other hand, likes to sleep in if at all possible.  This is due to the fact that Cassidy likes to roll around in bed for at least an hour before falling to sleep.  This makes her actual "sleep" time around 10 or 10:30, depending on the night and such.  Taylor usually goes to bed at 9 or 9:30.  Anyway.....

This morning I was sitting on the couch with Taylor watching some cartoon.  I asked her some questions and thought it was a pretty good response for a 3 year-old.

Me: What's your favorite thing in the whole, wide world?

Taylor:  A real pink puppy. 

Me: What's your favorite food?

Taylor: Pop Tarts or hot dogs or noodles

Me:  What's your favorite thing to do?

Taylor:  Playdough

Me:  Who is your best friend?

Taylor:  'Abby (Gabby, a girl in her dance class who NEVER talks to her)

Me:  Who is your favorite person?

Taylor: Daddy

She's pretty cute, even though she didn't say "Mommy."  Dave is pretty awesome.

So they asked to jump on the pull out couch in the basement.  They took about 20 kitchen towels and put them under the bed part.  They made nests for birdies.  I haven't dared to look to see what the "birdies" are.  They're now feeding them berries, which are actually crayons.  There are a zillion crayons under the sofa bed, I imagine.

See!  They're so entertaining in such a weird way!  That's why I had to share.

Nothing to Report Really

Today was supposed to be dance class morning, but the girls didn't want to go.  They had been playing outside earlier, and when we got in and were about to get the leotards on, they begged to not go.  Normally I don't care too much because we can always do make ups later in the week.  Unfortunately, the Friday class was cancelled and we're about to have a recital and all the dance classes are doing something different....  So we missed our class and will go later to a gym class as a make up session.  Bummer, but they didn't seem too heartbroken about it.  

We went to Target for a few groceries instead.  Who'da thunk that Target would be a kids' destination of choice?  They really like it, and I guess it's because there's a bakery where they can get a cookie "sample."  Eh, it makes my life a little easier.

Tomorrow I think we're headed to a local zoo, Cosley Zoo in Wheaton.  It has a lot of farm animals and is free.  We haven't been there before, so who knows how it will be.

I am trying to figure out how to add pictures and such.  Patience, please!

We've made it to Wednesday

Well, this hasn't been the most exiting week in their lives so far, so I will start with Sunday.  We went to the zoo on a chilly day, always a fun activity here.  The girls wore two jackets (I had an extra in the car for each of them) and no socks (because it's supposed to be Spring, damnit).  They got to pet sting rays, which was a highlight, and nobody fell in to the pool.  The usual animals were visited, and we went into this area called "The Fragile Desert," which should be called "the place that smells like pee" instead.  It was pretty gross, and we zipped out of there as fast as we could.  

Later on, we went across the street to the neighbor's house for a little BBQ.  Again, too darn cold, but the kids had fun.  Erica (the mom) has a son, Austin, who turns 3 in June, so it's fitting that they play together so well.  

Monday we went to Lowes and Costco, how's that for fun?  We looked for strawberries to plant, but apparently I can only plant those from seedlings, and they were 6 bucks a seedling at Lowes.  At Costco, the girls got really goofy in the cart and started mauling each other and trying to lay big, juicy kisses on the other one, all while squealing in that crazy high pitch that they do.  It was both scary and entertaining.  Needless to say, I ran out of Costco!

Tuesday we had a really boring adventure too, but they enjoyed it.  (It occurs to me now that perhaps I shouldn't label everything as 'boring' so that when and if they read this, they won't accuse me of being blase....)  Off to the local mall for a day of indoor fun as the weather is still not cooperating.  We had to stop at Libby Lu and get fairy dust in their hair.  They're so cute when they do it.  The lady asks them to close their eyes and make a wish, and they just stand there so excited with their eyes so tight.  It's like they're ready to burst with the excitement of the possibility of the wish coming true.  By the way, they pretty much always wish for the same thing:  Taylor, a dog, and Cassidy, either a dog or cat.  

Gotta run, they're calling already!

Hello all!  I wanted to put a place up where Dave and I could talk about the girls, since that's all we pretty much do these days.  So basically, the following will be a place where we record, with words and pictures, all the wonderful things we do from day to day.  Hope it keeps you interested and envious of being 3 and having absolutely nothing to do all day but play. 

Love ya,

Becca and Dave