The Blog Returns with the Beginning of Summer !

I've decided not to let this blog die :)  So it's back by popular demand...by the only readers...who happen to be the grandparents of my children.

I was writing about Christmas the last time I wrote.  Fast forward six months...summer vacation has begun!  Pat mentioned a couple weeks ago that he felt like the school year flew by.  I told him it was a little different from my perspective; being the homework supervisor makes for some long weeks.  And I just went through a stack of paperwork 2 feet tall that contained all the hard work of a year of first grade.  I also cleaned out a mailbox of email reminders and notes from Jack's teacher.

After a week's vacation in Ocean City, we are back home to start the summer routine, or the lack of routine.  We have a big list on the refrigerator of all the things we want to do this summer.  We have started the summer point system whereby the kids get points for helping around the house and after so many points they get prizes, the big one being a trip to Chuck E Cheese.  I just need to find that piece of paper I wrote last summer with all the things for which they can get a point.

The kids are on the swim team at our country club and started practice this week.  Their first meet is tonight.  Jack has been at baseball camp in the mornings and then gets a few minutes of swimming in after.  Casey is watching a show while wearing her bathing suit as I write...she's been working very hard in the pool.

But so far, this week at home has been worse than the adjustment to the first couple weeks of school.  These kids are tired!  Casey threw a tantrum last night because I sent her to her room.  I can't remember if she's ever thrown a tantrum like that.  Jack got sent to bed without stories.  They both broke down crying at the pizza place because they didn't have any mini make-your-own pizzas.  (The employees had no pity for my plight.  You make pizzas...can't you make two small crusts and throw it in a box for me?  Seriously?)

And the questions!  I feel like I have two three year olds right now.  I think they must have stored up a school year's worth of random questions to ask me.  Casey asked me this morning, "How many heads would it take to fill up the earth?"  What?  Maybe Pop Pop knows the answer to that because I sure don't.  Are they 8 lb heads?  Adult heads or child heads?

Jack has his own stash of questions but then he likes to argue with you after you give him an answer.  I was telling him that the Arlington Baseball Team (where he is going to baseball camp) won the state championship in 2012.  He, of course, already knew that because he saw the sign at the field and he wanted to know when they would take down the sign.  I told him that they're proud of it and they'll probably leave it up for a while.  Then I told him about the high school near our house in Virginia that won the state football championship in 2011 and I said that their sign is still up.

Jack:  How do you know their sign is up?
Me:  I saw it when we drove by the high school when we were in the area last week.
Jack:  I didn't see it.  Why didn't I see it?
Me:  You weren't looking out that side of the car.
Jack:  Oh it was on Casey's side?  I thought it used to be on my side.
Me:  It's on different sides depending on which way we are going.  It used to be on your side on the way to school and on Casey's side on the way home.
Jack:  I'm pretty sure it was on my side most of the time.
Me:  It was probably about half and half.
Jack:  Well you don't know if that sign is still up.
Me:  I just saw it last week.
Jack:  They might have taken it down.
Me: Okay buddy, you win.

I think we will adjust to this summer business soon.  Next week, we have no camps, just swim team, so I think we can have some fun and get some rest and start crossing some things off our list of things to do!  And I will get to researching the surface area of the earth and figure out how many heads will fit on it.




  

Chopsticks & Invisible Skeletons

A few weeks ago, after I put Casey in bed, she came out and yelled down from her room.  "Mommy!  Do you have any chopsticks?"

Since I was in the kitchen, I wasn't sure I had heard her correctly.  "What do you want?"

She said, "Do you have any chopsticks?"

I was a little puzzled at this point so I decide to ask her why she needs them.  "What do you need them for?"

She replies, "For my lips...my lips hurt."

"Ohhhh...you want chapstick!  I'll bring some right up.  That's chapstick, not chopsticks!"

-------------------------------

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Casey's laundry basket was filled with all of Jack's clothes too, so I asked her why all of his clothes were in her laundry basket.  She simply said, "Because he has an invisible skeleton under his bed."

Yes, right, the invisible skeleton.

It was funny to hear Casey say it in such a matter of fact way, but I wasn't confused when she mentioned the skeleton.  I had heard about this invisible skeleton.  It caused some bedtime stalling one night.

Jack can't tell me how he knows that it's there, but he knows it is.  He would believe nothing I said about this skeleton.  I told him there really wasn't one there.  I told him if it was there it wouldn't bother him.  I told him invisible skeletons are really quiet.  Finally I told him there was an invisible ninja under his bed and it would protect him from the invisible skeleton.  That seemed to do the trick for that night.

Apparently the invisible skeleton has not been dislodged from under Jack's bed.  It no longer causes night time issues.  However, I asked Jack why he was getting dressed in the hallway a few days ago.  He said, "Because there's an invisible skeleton in my room."

Obviously.  Silly question Mommy.

Casey's Eye Drama

A scene from the car -

Casey:  [Screaming and crying] My eye, Mommy!  I just poked myself in the eye!

Me:  Okay, it will feel better in a minute.

Jack:  Maybe she's getting the red eye.  [Also known as pink eye.]

Me:  No, if she just poked herself then she's not getting the red eye.

Casey:  [still crying]

Me:  Is it feeling better Casey?

Casey:  No.  Am I getting sick?

Me:  No.  You just said that you poked yourself.

Casey:  No, I didn't.

Me:  You told me you poked your eye.  If you didn't poke it, what happened to it?

Casey:  I don't know.  I didn't poke it.

Me:  [Silence.]

Casey:  Oh Jack, did you just see that Mighty Machine over there?

Thus concludes the eye poking drama.

Mother's Day Weekend

After the Crayola Factory on Friday, we had more fun events to keep us busy.  We visited Uncle Matt and Aunt Kelly.  The kids played loudly until Brady finally woke up from his nap and could go out to play.  We went to a huge castle playground that we had visited last time we were in the area.  It's about 8 kid-sized stories tall and you could get lost in there.  Last time we were there, Casey did.  She stuck to the smaller areas and played with Brady most of the time.  They had some monkey bars that she could reach all by herself and she swung across them without any help for the first time.  She was very proud of that.  She couldn't wait to get home and try it out on the monkey bars in the backyard.

For dinner we went out to my father in law's country club with Pat's parents and Matt, Kelly and Brady.  We had a great dinner.  The table was beside the door so we could let the kids go out and play on the patio when they got restless.  Which was every 5 minutes or so.  The chocolate milk that we ordered for Jack and Casey came in a huge glass with whipped cream on top and I think that may have fueled their inability to sit still.  Brady is 20 months old and I forgot how fast a 20 month old can be.  My chasing skills were a little out of practice.  One minute he's running toward the street and the next he's running towards a set of stairs.  

Sunday morning we got up very early so we could walk in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Mother's Day Walk in Philadelphia.  We were walking to support Pat's Aunt Kathy and another family friend.  I can't remember the last time I had to wake the kids up before 7...and this was way before 7.  We sweetened the deal with a train ride to the middle of Philly.  Jack claimed it was his very first train ride...very different from when he went on the subway last year.

All of the breast cancer survivors were standing on the top of the steps at the Art Museum and it was very impressive to see them all up there.  They descended the steps and met up with their families and then everyone set out on the walk.

We had a couple of umbrella strollers for the kids.  The one Jack chose to ride in was a good 15 years old and sometimes the wheels didn't always roll the way they should have.  I have to say how impressed I was with my husband who pushed this stroller the whole time, while hunched over, and not once did he curse...or tell Jack to get out and walk.  I didn't tell him but that show of patience felt like a really nice Mother's Day gift for me.

It was amazing to see the huge crowd of people wearing pink to support finding a cure for breast cancer.  It was also a little overwhelming to see how many people were touched by it and it's only one kind of cancer.  I'm very glad we were able to meet up with family and make it to the walk this year.

After the walk we took the train back and packed up our car.  Pat's Aunt Kathy invited everyone back to her house after the walk and we spent a great afternoon in her backyard.  The kids played, we got to visit with everyone we probably won't see for a couple years while we're in Tennessee and there were tables and tables of delicious food.  It was a great get together.

Casey picked up on Pat and Matt calling Pop Pop "Bernie" as in Bernie from Weekend at Bernie's and started telling everyone, "My Pop Pop is Bernie!"  She got a kick out of making everyone laugh.  Maybe you see the resemblance too...

Picture from last Easter.  In full disclosure, those are Jack's sunglasses

After a stop at Ikea for a few pieces of furniture to take to the new house, a stop at the airport to drop Pat off, a drive through Widener University to find gas, 4 stops for the kids to use the bathroom, we finally arrived - exhausted - at our house.  At one point Jack fell asleep using a balloon for a pillow.  And they both fell asleep 10 minutes before we got home.  It was a great weekend and I'm so glad that we made the trip!

   

    

Casey's Ambition & A Sunny Spring Sunday

In the car a few days ago, Casey asked me, "Mommy, how old are you when you're a grownup?"

I said, "18...Well, somewhere between 18 and 25."  Then I asked her if she wanted to be a grownup and she said she did.  

When I asked her why she wanted to be grown up, she said, "I want to be in the Olympics and win a gold medal in figure skating."

We decided we better start with some skating lessons next winter.

------------------------------------------

Today was a beautiful Sunday so I grabbed the big camera tried to capture a little bit of the fun the kids were having outside.  I thought I would get some impromptu shots but everyone wanted to pose today.  The other little boy is our neighbor and he and Casey played together all afternoon.  I think she was excited to be the older child for a few hours...a little change of pace from being Jack's little sister.  And yes, she was wearing two hats in most of these pictures.

Playing with Photo Booth

I just spent way too much time trying to figure out how to upload photos to blogger from iPhoto on my new computer.  Sadly I think it was exactly the same way I used to but I didn't scroll down enough to see the Media button that I needed.  But now I don't have it in me to write the post I was going to so I'll prove that I can upload photos.

There is a fun Photo Booth program (app?) on our computer that lets you take all kinds of fun pictures.  Jack, Casey and I have had a blast in the last couple days taking funny pictures of ourselves.  Finding something that makes all three of us laugh hysterically is pretty great...something I should remember to do on those days that aren't going so well!

 So we have my alien children...

The chipmunk family...

I think we are a frog family here...

This one is called blockhead but I'm going to say it transforms us into Klingons pretty well.  Just need a few more ridges in our foreheads...

This is the mirror function.  Jack worked pretty hard to position himself just right so he has three eyes, two noses and one mouth!

The kids think the mirror is pretty funny but I like this picture because I think it captured how much fun we were having...

 

Today's Funnies

Casey coughs.  She says, "Jack do you want some of my germs?"

Jack says, "No thanks, I'm fine with the ones I have."

"Whose do you have?", Casey asks.

Jack responds, "I got these from Nana."

Just a matter of fact conversation on the way home from school today...like germs are clothes or something.  I don't usually give a lot of thought to germs and they don't come up in normal conversations but when the kids are sick I mention them and tell them they should try not to share them.  Now Jack is very aware of Casey's germs and he tries to stay away from them as much as possible.  She lavishes them on him anyway :)

-------------

Casey got a tiny little porcelain doll from the treasure chest at school today.  (She loves Fridays at school.)  While we were at Subway for lunch she said, "This is a Russian doll."  I asked her what she meant and she just keeps calling it the Russian doll.  Jack claims that an episode of Dora showed the Russian dolls that nest inside each other.  I'm not sure how Casey connected the two or if she even did.  But the Russian doll is hanging out with the princess royalty at the castle now and I think she's enjoying her new home.

 

Casey's Turkey Party

Today was Casey's Thanksgiving party at school today and Jack's was last Friday.  I thought it was nice that they were on different days so I wouldn't have to run back and forth between their parties.  Unfortunately, Jack didn't feel well today so he didn't go to school and I couldn't make it to Casey's party.  I made a turkey though...a fruit turkey.  It looked mostly like this:

Minus the peppers and most of the cheese. It turns out the cheese wants to fall apart when I try to put it on skewers. I also didn't like that you slide the cheese on and then the next set of grapes has to slide through the bits of leftover cheese on the stick. So I made a few with cheese and the rest were just grapes. I should have taken a picture, but you can trust that she was an impressive bird. I scattered the rest of the cheese around the bottom.

When I picked Casey up from school, the cheese was all gone and most of the feathers were still there. I guess it was more of a decorative turkey. Although as I was making it, I questioned whether it was wise to give 3 year olds pointed sticks as part of their snack.  I decided an adult could just de-skewer if necessary.

Also while I was making it, Jack was hanging out in the living room and piped up with, "Casey, would love that Mommy!"  I thought he was impressed with my fruit turkey making skills.  It turns out he was watching a commercial with a 3 story princess dollhouse for the Barbie sized princesses.  It's exactly the castle that Pat thought should would love but I may have called it gaudy.  It was too plastic-y and purple and pink and fake looking for me.  Luckily we've found a compromise castle that maintains the princess part and tones it down a little.

Anyway, back to the party...or the after party...

Casey came home with a couple baggies with the food that I guess she didn't eat, including a turkey sandwich, pumpkin bread and a pumpkin/cream cheese roll. When I asked what she did eat, she said, "A grape. And some jello." A lovely Thanksgiving feast.  I'm sure Squanto wishes he'd had Jello at the first Thanksgiving.

Instead of stories tonight, Casey wanted to draw pictures on her erasable sketch pad. She asked me to draw a cornucopia which was pretty funny coming from a three year old. When I asked her to draw a turkey, she started drawing and chatting to herself - "Here's an eye. Here's another eye. This is a grape. This is a piece of cheese. There...it's a turkey! Oh, wait, it needs a wattle." I think she's got her turkey nomenclature a little confused. But hey, she knows what a wattle and a cornucopia are.

Casey is also very excited about the real turkey tomorrow. I just hope she doesn't think it will have grapes on it.

Early Christmas Wishes

Jack and Casey were just talking about some things they would like for Christmas, inspired by the show Max & Ruby.  Jack would like a remote controlled crane that is blue.  Casey would like a "dancing baby baby doll".

Jack very confidently said, "Santa's going to get that crane for me."  Casey echoed Jack.

I decided it was time to remind them that Santa only brings things for good behavior.  I asked, "What do you have to do to get presents from Santa?"

Jack said, "Be good."

Casey said, "Never mind.  I want to get my baby doll from Auntie."

I'm still laughing!

I ran over to the computer to write that down and Jack came over to say, "If you see a remote controlled crane just get it for me because I want to get it sooner than Christmas.  Do you mind if you order it for me?"  He is getting a little too wise about internet shopping!

Quotables

It seems as though Jack has been talking non stop since we arrived in Maine.  Jabber, jabber, jabber!  I think it's more than normal because it doesn't seem like he chats this much at home.  Maybe it's because he's had more of an audience lately.  I should have more funny quotes from him from this trip but he's talking too much for me to remember it all.

This morning while Casey was sleeping, Jack and I were talking about the new model airplanes that Grampie gave him and Casey.  He said, "I'm going to let Casey play with me with my aircraft carrier when we get home because she has jets now too.  But only if I'm there with her because I don't want her to do anything foolish if I'm not there." 

Casey has been playing shy when she first meets someone but give her a few minutes of your attention and she will start to talk your ear off too.  And then she'll give you a hug.  Then she'll give you a kiss.  Pretty soon you'll find yourself with a Casey-monkey wrapped around you and she'll be the most affectionate person you've met.

When we were on the beach last week climbing on the rocks and walking through some seaweed, Casey said, "This is junky."  I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about but she went on to say, "The seaweed is junky.  It's getting my feet all junky."  Maybe slimy was what she was looking for but it was a lot cuter with junky.

Jedi Mind Tricks

I might have mentioned that we have a lot of Legos in this house.  A lot of Star Wars Legos.  And Luke's helmet went missing!  Or Leia's hair is gone!  I can't even count the number of times that Jack has asked me where a certain Lego is and I have no idea.  Usually I know where things are in this house, but the Legos are getting away from me.

First Luke himself was missing for a week or so.  He was found in a box upstairs with a bunch of other Legos - a logical place to look.  Jack supposedly searched his room intensely.  This week Luke's helmet went missing.  Jack accused me of sucking it up in the vacuum but I knew I hadn't.  This morning he came running into the bathroom while I was in the shower yelling, "I found it!  I found Luke's helmet!"  It was stuck in between a couple other Legos on a spaceship that he has been playing with daily.  

The new storage containers are helping with the Legos and other Star Wars gear, but Casey is not.  Casey has decided to play mind games with Jack.  Last week, Jack couldn't find one of the nerf missiles for his gun.  Casey told him that she knew where it was.  Jack asked her question after question about where it was.  First she told him it was in his bedroom.  Then she said it was in his closet.  He went to look but couldn't find it.  He made her come up and show him where it was.  She went with him and told him it was on the top shelf in his closet.  Jack called downstairs for one of us to help him.  When asked if he could actually see the nerf missile, he said no.  Then Casey told him it was actually in the playroom.  They went to the playroom and he looked around.  Then she said it was downstairs.

I figured out early on that Casey was just messing with him.  He believed every word she said and when they finally came downstairs he said, "I think Casey's using the force and Jedi mind tricks to move it around!"  I just laughed.

At first I felt bad that he was so gullible to her stories, but the next day he was pretending to be a baby and he must have sent Casey upstairs about 5 times to fetch him things that he "needed" because he was a baby.  And she went right along with it.  I think that was his way of getting even a little bit.  

Mother's Day Preview

I got a great preview of Mother's Day today.  Pat has duty on Sunday and therefore will be at work all day so I asked Jack and Casey if they were going to make it special for me on Sunday.

Casey said that she is going to make me a big card.  She is also going to put my hair in ponytails for me and make pancakes.

Jack has quite a list and I think I shall be quite pampered.  He started off by saying that he is going to "do the sink" for me.  Then he's going to do a lot of cleaning.  He's also going to give me the most cards.  He will make dinner - he thought a salad would be nice and he would cut the tomatoes.  Then he is going to tuck me into bed and he's not going to read me stories but he's going to tell me stories.  If I get sick, Jack is going to get out his doctor's kit and take care of me.  He will also give me lots of hugs and kisses all day long.

What more could I ask for?

Jack decided he would get a head start on the cleaning today.  He ran upstairs, I heard some banging around and down he came with the feather duster.  He went all around the downstairs remarking that, "We haven't dusted in a while Mommy!"

He also got to work on his salad tonight.  I told him dinner was going to be whatever healthy snacks he wanted and he decided he would make a salad.  "What is that stuff you usually put in a salad Mommy?"  I told him it was lettuce, but it was up too high for him to reach in the fridge so he decided on a fruit salad instead.  He picked out all the fruit, I chopped it up and he put it in the bowl.  Then he talked for five minutes about how great his recipe was and wasn't I glad that he had come up with it.  I didn't realize how much fruit we had in the house until he started pulling things out of the crisper.  He topped it with some vanilla yogurt and that was dinner.

I'm really looking forward to what he comes up with on Sunday!

And here are some random dress up pictures from a few days ago...

 Butterfly with an eye patch in the middle of her forehead

That pink guitar is a gun in this situation.  I think that's a storm trooper outfit.

Rotten Eggs and Broken Backs

Last February, I wrote (here) that Pat had started yelling "Last one up is a rotten egg!" to try to encourage Jack and Casey to get upstairs for bathtime.  It's been over a year and it never. gets. old.  Especially to Jack. Almost every single time we go up and down the stairs at the same time he has to say it.  Most mornings now he says something like, "Mommy, Mommy, you need to hurry or you'll be the rotten egg."  Or sometimes he whispers to Casey in a conspiratorial voice to try to encourage her to get down the stairs faster than I do.  (Although most of the time I still carry her downstairs in the morning.  I guess it's a ritual because I know she knows how to walk.)  I guess I can't get over the fact that it is still a fun game despite the 3-4 times a day that we play it.

Another game that doesn't get old started with my mother.  She taught Jack and Casey the little saying, "Step on a crack and you'll break your mother's back."  There are a lot of cracks in this world.  Jack and Casey notice every single one of them and inform me that they are either stepping on them or jumping over them.  I'm not sure how they decide whether it's a good day for breaking my back or a generous day of sparing me the pain.  When they step on a crack I pretend to cry out in pain and that's hilarious.  I suppose that only encourages the game, but it's so much fun for them that I have to play along.

No one tells you about these hazards of parenting...smelling like a rotten egg and broken backs.  I'm glad there are no cracks on my steps.

 

Fashion for the 3 Year Old

The third part of Casey's two weeks of growing up is that she can now get herself dressed.  Strangely, she's spent more time undressed than before she was able to dress herself.

In the mornings after breakfast, I usually send Jack to his room to get dressed and then I either get dressed or help Casey get dressed.  One morning while I was brushing my teeth Jack came in and very excitedly told me, "Mommy, Casey can get dressed all by herself!"  Sure enough, Casey was wearing some ensemble that she had picked out and I think it actually matched.

Since then, she mostly gets herself dressed.  The only thing she can't do is take her shirt off (in preparation for putting on a new one).  I try to let her pick out her clothes and she does a decent job.  Sometimes I try to guide her a little better and sometimes I let her wear what she wants and laugh at her smile to myself every time I look at her.

Lately, afternoons have turned into dress up time.  Casey will usually run to her room to change into a princess dress or dancing dress or her special mermaid garb.  Last week, Casey decided that she wanted to be a mermaid and I guess she thinks mermaids don't wear clothes because when Casey is a mermaid she only wears underwear.  I'm pretty sure Ariel is clothed in all the books we have of her, but maybe mermaid fin and bikini top are as good as naked in Casey's world.  Either way, it can be entertaining to see how Casey's outfits evolve through the afternoon.  And there's usually a trail of clothes and shoes throughout the house.  

This is one of my favorite outfits that Casey has personally styled.  Backwards football jersey over a black Halloween shirt, neon orange skirt over purple leggings, princess socks with pink shoes.  Sadly we will never see an exact replica of this outfit again because she got the purple leggings caught in a branch while climbing a tree and they have a big hole in them.

Casey is modeling her new tutu and play ballet shoes in this picture.  She accessorized with a headband and beads.  

I didn't realize the purple leggings were so popular.  This ensemble is for grocery shopping.  It's hard to tell but she has a baby carrier in her right hand and the baby is hanging out of it rather precipitously.  In her left hand she has her reusable grocery bag with some fresh produce.  Princess heels, long white gloves and a pink striped hat are essential for looking good at the grocery store.  Jack also chose his own clothing.  I'm not too keen on that combination of black and blue but if he gets himself dressed, it's a win for me.

This is my little artist.  He put this hat on and told me it was his painting hat.  How did he know that he should wear that hat?  I haven't a clue.

Casey is an artist as well.  She was only wearing underwear before we brought out the easel.  That's her painting shirt.  I guess she needs painting pants as well.

Twas the Weekend Before Christmas

Last week I posted on Facebook that the kids were starting to ask if they could open just one present, "Pleeeease, just one present Mommy!"  I think we were all in luck because we headed to Ocean City to celebrate Christmas with Pat's family and we all got to open some presents.

We had a great weekend in Ocean City with Pat's parents and brothers/sisters-in-law and the quickly expanding brood of grandchildren - 5 kids and Jack is the oldest.  Naptimes and any semblance of a good diet quickly went out the window.

On Friday evening, the oldest kids got to open their presents from Pop Pop.  Jack got the latest and greatest Hess truck and claimed, "It's just what I wanted because it's a truck aircraft carrier!"  It was a Hess tractor trailer truck with a jet that could fly off the back.  He also melted some hearts when he said, "My Pop Pop is the best Pop Pop!"

The kids got to go swimming on Saturday morning and then there were a few impatient moments before it was time to open some presents.  I think all the kids loved their new presents and were happily playing with them most of the afternoon.  We then headed out for a tour of lights at a local park.  We got to ride along in a tram car and see all the lights.  Casey was especially excited when she saw some pink Christmas lights - "It's my favorite color!!!"  She really said it so that it required 3 exclamation points.  She was also excited to see lights in Jack's favorite color.  

We also went to see Santa.  Jack had been talking about going to see Santa and sitting on his lap since Thanksgiving.  This was the year he was going to tell Santa what he wanted and not be afraid to sit on his lap. We were going to get a great picture of all the grandkids on Santa's lap.  Casey looked like she was amazed by him as we moved forward in line.  She just stared at him like she couldn't wait for her turn.

All talk.  No action.  Jack backed out at the last minute and I think that made Casey back out.  So there is a lovely picture of the 3 youngest grandkids, but no Jack and Casey.  In the end, Casey ran up and told him that she wanted a baby dolly but no sitting on the lap and no picture.  It's a good thing Bob the Elf is here to let Santa know what Jack and Casey want for Christmas.  Maybe next year Santa.

On Sunday I hosted brunch and then the guys watched the Eagles game.  Pat's Mom and I loaded the kids into the car and headed up to Philly before game was over but we apparently missed some ridiculously joyous reactions when the Eagles won at the last second.  We were happy because our guys were happy.  And I'd like to leave it like that...a happy ending to a great weekend.  But in the minivan, things were about to get ugly.  Jack got sick - all over himself and his carseat.  And he continued to get sick all the way to Philly.  We had no buckets handy, but Pat's mom was resourceful and we had some blankets.

Jack is a trooper though.  Between "getting the yuckies out" into a blanket, he chatted with us like there was nothing wrong.  He also said, "Casey likes to put her head in this blanket" right after he threw up into her blanket.  We assured him (and her) that the washing machine would work its wonders before anyone else touched that blanket.  He was also very interested in a car fire that held us in traffic for a bit.  After we finally got to Philly, he went straight into the house and sat on the couch.  When we asked what he was doing, he said he was waiting for the news to come on so he could find out what happened to that car.

Jack was fine after that car trip, but then Casey was sick the next day.  She seemed to have recovered and then got sick in her carseat on the way back to Virginia.  The silver lining is that they both have clean carseats now.  And I'm still amazed at how they were both such good kids for being sick the way they were.  A yucky ending to our great weekend, but it doesn't diminish any of the great memories we made at our Ocean City Christmas.    

Casey loved holding the babies!

Jack too!

Adorable babies!

Watching Nana opening a present.

Jack unwrapping his new Hot Wheels track

Casey loves her new baby.

Jack & Daddy at dinner

Bad picture, but we're both smiling

Casey's Play Time

Since Jack has started school, Casey and I have spent a little more time together at home.  It's been interesting to see what she plays with without Jack's influence.  She definitely likes her "babies."  Even when Jack is around, she has been playing with her babies lately.

Half the time, I'm not even sure what she is doing and what she is saying, but she is taking care of baby and is very serious about it.  She has about 5 of them, but usually picks one or two to take care of per day.  She talks to them, pushes them around in strollers, puts blankets on them, gives them baths and feeds them.  I can't even describe the noises she makes when she is talking to them but it so cute.

Today she had a friend over here playing and she pulled out three of her chairs and set them around the coffee table.  She pulled plates out of her kitchen and set them up.  She put baby in one chair and put food on  all the plates.  Then she yelled, "It's dinner time!" to her friend.  She had to tell him a few times that it was time for dinner and convince him to come over and eat, but he eventually did.  They had a lovely meal.  I believe one of them had a carrot and the other had some asparagus.  Very healthy eaters.  Unfortunately it ended in a huge fight about who was doing the dishes.  Well, not really.  I think they moved on to play with a garbage truck.  I sat here watching them "eat" and I should have taken a picture.

I am a little disappointed that she's not more interested in the dress I made for one of her naked dolls.  The dolls came with bath tub accessories, but no clothes.  She loves playing with the bathrobe and slippers, but has yet to be concerned that they have no clothes on when they are done bathing.  Santa was thinking of making some more clothes, but maybe he'll wait until she's more interested!

Round Two of Circle Conversations

It doesn't seem that long ago that Jack was driving me nuts by asking me "Why?" over and over again.  Actually, it wasn't.  And he still asks it a lot, but he's getting old enough to understand my answers better and he stops asking why at an appropriate time.  At one point, he would just say "Why?" as an automatic response to anything that was said to him.

Now, it's Casey turn to join in the fun.  She seems to be talking all day now and asking questions.  And I don't mind the questions.  It's the fact that she repeats them over and over.

Every single day when we drive by our friends' house I hear, "Where's Warner?  Where's Wes?  Where's their Mommy?  Where's their Daddy?"  I answer her and usually she asks the same question again.  Maybe she thinks I'll have a better answer the second time.

Other times she asks about our names.  The list of questions goes something like this:
Are you Tweesa, Mommy?
Is Daddy Tweesa?
Is Daddy Pat?
Is Daddy Pat?
Are you Tweesa?
What's Jack's name?
What's Daddy's name?
Is Daddy Pat?
Are you Tweesa?
Is I Tweesa?

It can be a really long conversation with only a few questions and only a few answers.  She just likes to hear herself talk I think.

And, just as Jack did, she is now asking me questions about cars on the road.  "Where is that car going Mommy?"  And she asks it a couple times.  I try to think of different ways to say the car is going a different way, to a different place, etc.  She still asks again.

By dinner time today, I was really tired of talking.  I'm enjoying the peace and quiet of bedtime and maybe tomorrow I'll have some more satisfying answers!

April Toys of the Month - Casey

Sometimes there are whole cupboards of toys in this house that sit untouched for months, while other toys get used over and over again.  Usually just when I think that Jack and Casey aren't going to play with something and I'm ready to put it in our toy graveyard, it becomes their favorite toy for a while.  It's always interesting to see what they're playing with at any given time.  Since I'm trying to "capture the days" here, I thought I'd try to write once a month about what toys are currently the "in" toys.

For Casey, it's her big bin of dolls and accessories.  She has about 4 or 5 dolls with bathtubs and bath accessories, as well as about 8 pairs of princess heels, some tutus and other girlie stuff in one bin.  It's been sitting in the cupboard since Christmas but apparently April is the month to be playing with it all.  It's so cute watching her play with her dolls and taking care of them.  Sometimes they nap, sometimes they get baths and sometimes they go in the "car cart" to the store.  (She calls her shopping cart and all shopping carts at stores "car carts.")  She has a couple of bags and she fills them them up with all her doll bathtub accessories and carries it around with her.  Sometimes she shoves her "babies" into the bag too.

There is one specific pair of shoes that are Casey's favorites.  She got them for her birthday and they have one of the Disney princesses on them.  She has been wearing them everywhere...she plays in them like they are sneakers while she's out riding her bike, clip clopping down the driveway.

Casey also has a favorite doll and I think her name is Grace or Sarah, but mostly we just call her Baby.  She asked me where Baby was a few days ago and I said I didn't know.  She said, "out there" and pointed outside at the sandbox.  I told her I didn't think baby was in the sandbox.  Sure enough, a couple days later, she said it again - "Baby's in there" and we opened up the sand box to find her, not too worse the wear for a few nights in a sand box.  I think she may also have spent the night out on the lawn and gotten a little shower a few days ago too.

On Monday we went to the "Elmo Store" also known as "Tar-jay" or plain old Target to most people.  Jack and Casey like to walk down the aisles and look at all the toys.  I told them we weren't buying any toys and we did pretty well sticking to that plan.  Then Casey spotted a princess lunch box and I'm pretty sure she wasn't leaving the store without it.  I tried to get her to put it back once, but then I gave in.  I thought it was too cute how much she loved it on first sight despite the fact that she didn't really know what it was for.  She just loved carrying that princess bag around and was so proud of it.  On the way home from the store, she sang, "Bag, bag, bag, bag..." causing Jack to complain that she was too loud and he couldn't hear his movie.  Since then, she's been able to fit Baby, Barbie, a book and her purple ball in her bag and carry them around wherever she goes.  (Barbie is just another baby to her and I think that's pretty funny too.)  The bag is also useful for bopping Jack on the head, another enjoyable pastime for Casey right now.

So Casey's been getting all girly in the month of April and it's fascinating to watch her imagination start to work.  She's also in a bit of a hitting phase...it's so much fun to hit Jack with her hands, feet, lunch box, golf clubs, hockey sticks, or anything else she can get her hands on.  And she's already figured out that the best time to do it is when I am doing something else and not there to stop her.  Hopefully we'll get that out of her system soon and it won't be something I need to write too much about in future months.  

Tuesday's Follies

Today I kind of felt like I was a visitor in my own home, kind of wondering who these kids were and why they were doing anything that they did. It was a pretty humorous but long day. Pat is on a business trip for the week, Casey's had a runny nose that has kept us away from the gym and it was a chilly, windy day so I had no desire to spend any time outside.

The morning started with some discussion of being a good citizen that I was trying to have with Jack. His teacher is talking about it in preschool and he had some homework about being a good citizen. He wasn't interested in talking about or thinking about being a good citizen this morning. I probably should have been talking about it at various points during the weekend but for some reason I tend to procrastinate on preschool homework. We (I) printed out some recycling pictures and we talked about it a little bit but he was more interested in cutting his paper into small pieces. Maybe that was his first step towards recycling that paper into new paper.

When we went upstairs to get dressed, Jack & Casey had no interest in clean clothes for the new day. Instead, they dragged all of their blankets and pillows into my bedroom to make new beds for themselves. Then Casey placed hers in the dog crate and asked me to shut the door for her. She just laid there until I finally had to drag her out so we could get dressed and out the door.

Casey used her shopping cart for shoe shopping today and put all the shoes she could find into it. Then she stopped like she was waiting to cross a street and said, "Turkey's coming!" I told her the turkey was done and she carried on with pushing a cart of shoes around the house. In the meantime, Jack was playing with his pet dog Rory. He told me that Rory was pulling him around the house and yanking him around a little bit. He tied Rory up to the toy kitchen so he wouldn't pull anymore. Sounds a lot like a dog named Tugger.

A lot of times, Casey asks to go take a nap when she is tired. Today, she thought it would be more fun to throw all of her blankets and animals out of her crib and then cry. About an hour later she was crying hysterically and yelling for something. All her blankets were still in the bed...but she was BUCK NAKED and yelling, "I want my monkey shirt!" Monkey shirt, pants and diaper were on the floor. At least she didn't wet the bed during the time her clothes were off. She saved that for later on the carpet.

During Jack's quiet time he asked if he could tell me some stories. He told me about a tiger who lived in Chuckle Hottage. Not to be confused with Chuckle Cottage where Little Miss Giggles lives. He also told me about a baby giraffe who was in the river and went down a waterfall.

After naptime, Jack and Casey raced each other across my bedroom and bathroom over and over. (At least I got some laundry folded.) Casey climbed into my bathtub and took her shirt off again in between races. After several races, Jack asked if we could open the window because he "needed some air." Then they took laundry baskets and filled them with blankets and pillows and themselves...

Jack is in this basket...

Between dinner and bathtime, Casey broke a mirror, but Jack managed to find his purple ball. He drove Pat and I crazy on Sunday asking us where his ball was. We didn't know and we told him repeatedly that we didn't know where it was, but that didn't seem to stop him from asking again. Now he's happy that he found it.

And I'm happy that everyone is in bed and the day is done!

Chatting with Dora

Jack and Casey were watching Dora in the car on the way to they gym on Friday. I love it when Casey talks back to Dora. There is a part in the show where Dora always asks the viewers, "Where are we going?" Then the characters get a map out and figure out what places they have to go through (woods, windy rivers, mountains, etc) to get to their destination. On Friday, when Dora asked "Where are we going?", Casey yelled, "We're going to the gym, Dora!"