5 more minutes, Mom

Cassidy has decided to start staying up late. The last 3 nights hse has moved her bed time back to 9 pm. UGH! I think it's a pain mostly because she IS tired, and so we deal with fussy 3 year old for an hour before she finally falls asleep. This weekend it wasn't so bad, as she slept in a bit, which allowed Jeremy and I to sleep in. Well, I decided to wake her up early today to try and reset her clock. I opened the blinds, rubbed her back and said, "Time to wake up". Cassidy mumbled a bit, rolled over and said, "No wake up. I wanna sleep in like Daddy." I had to laugh.

Spontaneous Applause

I am NOT a business woman. I have no desire to sell anything. I don't like to be sold to, so I can't stand trying to push something on someone else. Hence, why it is difficult for me to talk about BabySock. I love it, and think everyone will like it, but I would just buy or give one to everyone I know instead of sell it. Not good business sense, I know. Last night I headed off to my Mothers & More meeting. The topic was a take on Oprah's "useful" things. But it was like the white elephant game and had a $5 limit. So I packed up a BabySock (order yours now for $29.99 at BabySock.com, use link to right and enter coupon code 'ecard' to save $5) and headed to the meeting. I was sooo nervous. I was going to have to explain what it is and hope that whoever picked it didn't have 9 year olds or something. I had one of the biggest packages and as Magic Erasers and stain stick were getting passed around, it sat. Oh, I started to get even more nervous. The woman next to me (whom I took a meal to when her daughter was born last December) said she was going to take it. Phew! Only one more person before her, and someone else picked it up. She seemed to be pleased just by the look of the fleece and then I had to go into the story of blankets getting kicked off, no one else had a product that would work, 2nd baby, used my hand stitched one again, decided we needed to make them and sell them and we launch on Sept. 1. I finished and amazingly, they applauded!! I mean, applause. Spontaneous Applause. I couldn't believe it. And as with white elephant gifts, you are supposed to steal, and it got stolen by the woman next to me, and then it was stolen from her. Other people want it too! Last night was good for my business soul. Made me feel more confident about success. In the parking lot after the meeting I spotted the woman who had the BabySock swiped from her, checked my trunk and had a pink one. Gave it to her, and she gave me a hug and told me she would tell everyone about it. Maybe I'm not so bad as a business woman.

Pot-Smoking-Hippie-Moms

I had 2 totally different days yesterday, so I decided to give each part their own time. I met up with my friend Shawna and her 3 boys (ages 4, 2 and 5 months) at a local park. Cassidy was pretty beat but she had dance class in an hour, so I wanted to keep her awake and exhaust her so she would go to bed early. Shawna's boys are, well, boys, but they are well behaved. They listen to their Mom and only seem to push each other. Some other ladies had gathered in the park too, a group of hippie looking women were having lunch. (This isn't a deregotary term, just a description of clothes and hair.) One of the "hippie-mamas" took her toddler boy off into the bushes to pee. Which, I have seen at other parks without restrooms, but I am pretty sure this one did have them, but I let it go assuming they might be locked. But about 5 minutes later when the same boy is in the play area picking up and throwing the bark, and no one is doing anything, I start to grumble. Especially as he approaches Cassidy and throws it right in her face. I storm over, and the boy sees the look on my face, and started to bee-line it to "hippie-mamas". I used a stern voice, and even while he ran told him that it was not okay to throw at people. The Mama was nowhere to be found and so she failed to parent in that situation. (Yes, she's on trial here folks. Keep reading.) Not another 5 minutes had passed and he is back with a stick. Not so much a 'stick' as a BRANCH off a tree that some other boys had been destroying. He brings it into play area and starts waving it around, and sure enough heads toward Cassidy again. This time I was on my way before he hit her, and arrived shortly after. The "hippie-mama" finally witnessed the event as it was not 5 feet from her luncheon. "Hippie-mama" apologized for her son, and told him in a sweet voice, "See, you made the girl cry. It's not okay to hit with a stick." I asked how old he was, 2. Then she was off again. I was a little surprised as she didn't try to make her son apologize. It was then I started to refer to the group as "Pot-smoking-hippie-moms" since I figured they all must be high or smoked it durning pregnancy to let their kids abuse others with little concern. Then it happened, the final straw. Shwana's 2 year old didn't want to share and was shoving with his brother. She pulled them apart and told the 2 year old he had to wait (difficult for any 2 yo). When he started crying she told him he would have to "go sit down" if he didn't stop. Well, she had to pick him up and put him on a bench. Of course, he tried to get up and she put him back, told him no, and crying continued. It was about this time, I notice 'hippie-mama" looking on and shaking her head at the scene. As if a toddler crying from punishment was worse than George W. getting elected again. I try to be open minded when it comes to other parents style of raising their kids, but I just had it with this lady yesterday as her son repeatedly terrorized my daugter and she stood back and did nothing and then 'judged' someone who I think is doing a good job raising her boys (who have yet to hit, throw or in any way assault my princesses!)

Theme Song

This weekend we went to one of my favorite places in the world, Stupid Prices (which is an outlet for Costco Home). It and Ikea are at the top of my list right now. Point being, that we found a great dining room set, which is good news for all those coming to my place for Thanksgiving this year. I thought it was going to be served on our dining room floor, but we know have table and chairs. Phew. While there, we browsed the TVs and other electronics and found a great Yamaha keyboard that has about a million things that I will never know how to use. But for the price and with my 10% off coupon it was quite the bargain and seemed perfect for Cassidy our budding musician. Well, she loves it, as does Keira. They quickly learned that it will play songs that are already recorded. And their favorite is the Theme to Star Wars. Cassidy asked what the song was about, and we told her outer space, so now when she plays it she will spin and shout, "I'm a planet!" Every time I walk into the playroom the Theme Song seems to start up. I now expect it to start when I walk into the grocery store.

Time for sleep

We had our friends Robyn and Jen out for a visit this week. It has been a crazy week! We found out that the BabySocks would be ready on Friday, Jeremy flew to San Jose for 1 day, and Keira was up the entire night before he left crying. Needless to say, we were exhausted for most of the trip. So Friday we picked up the BabySocks! Woohoo! And Saturday it was time to take Robyn and Jen to the airport. I took Cassidy hoping that she would fall asleep on the way as she had been moody and acting fussy. At one point she asked me if she could play with Play-doh when we got home. "No," I said, "becasue after we drop Robyn and Jen off at the airport, you should fall asleep on the ride back." "I will NOT fall asleep!" "We'll see about that." And I hit play on the Dido CD. Not even 5 minutes later she was out.

Sing us a song...

She's the piano girl! Cassidy started taking some piano lessons a few weeks ago. The first week, she practiced every day and the tune had some words, and she was great. The next week, she practiced 2 times, the song had no words, she had no interest. This week, the words are back, and she has been practicing no problem. This morning she actually sang the song while she played it. I knew she was a musical genius!!

Drunken Baby

Last night we decided to grill, and having had a rough day with the girls, I looked into the fridge to see what could ease my mood. I found a nice cold Mike's Hard Lemonade, and headed outside. As always, the girls wanted to share my drink. Keira was the only one, as Cassidy was too busy playing in the sand. Well, I thought she would have a sip, taste the alcohol and be done. Too bad you can't taste the alcohol in those things. Keira kept screaming for more sips. I let her have another, but as I was talking to Jeremy working the grill, when I looked back it was to her tilting the bottle back all the way. Oh my! I'm not sure how much she gulped down, but she wasn't interested in eating (so not Keira) and just laughed all through dinner. At least she's not a mean drunk!

Gone Fishin'

Today my Mother's group met up at a trout farm to go fishing. I had to wake Keira up early from her nap (which is no easy feat, and not one worth doing I dare say) so we could make it in time. I had to endure traffic and fussing from the back seat until we arrived. Then it was all the girls could do to contain themselves. Cassidy had no problem understanding holding the rod, and Keira had no problem wanting to help out. She would grab the rod any chance she could and dip it in the water. I think she was more interested in 'spearing' the fish. We felt a few tugs as bait was nipped away, and then, we hooked one. I asked Cassidy if she felt the tug, and she nodded yes. We pulled out a good sized (okay, it was about 7 inches) rainbow trout. I wish I could go back in time and have her pose with the fish, but at that point I was looking for the employee to come and remove the fish. I think Cassidy and Keira will be good fisher women, but I never did develop the stomach for it.

Language Lessons

Welcome to Cassidy-101. Cassidy has always had a knack for making up songs, friends (Wendy, her best friend based loosely off of Peter Pan) and even names for pretend (she still says to call her Marshmallow on occasion), but today she went to new heights. Yesterday we had a conversation about Spanish, since the Spanish word of the day was Hola, which means Hello. We talked about what other Spanish words she knows. Rojo means Red. Azul means Blue. Numbers 1-10. Adios means Good-bye. I was so proud of her interest in learning another language. After Cassidy's dance class we have made a tradition of eating at a local diner, which has a train going around the top, a bike mounted in the middle and other kitschy stuff. During the middle of dinner, she shouts, "That boy just said the bike was 'duntz'!" "I'm sorry, sweetie, I didn't understand you. Did you say 'duntz'?" "Yeah." "What does 'duntz' mean?" "Mommy, 'duntz' means bike. ... in Spanish."

Sick-Wife Days

Last night as we were putting the girls down, it hit me. My head started to swirl and I was just exhausted. I fell asleep at 8:30. I'm not sure, but I think I fell asleep before Keira. Overnight, my condition did not improve. This morning when Keira woke up, before the legal limit, I told Jeremy I still wasn't feeling well. He answered the call, and let me sleep in, taking care of the girls. When I finally made it downstairs (after 12 hours of sleep, woohoo) he was starting a load of laundry and told me that he had called in "Sick-wife" today.

Banana Ice-Cream!!

Recently Cassidy had a little 'set-back' in the toilet training arena. Perhaps it was b/c of the move, or it could be she just deicded to get lazy. She only seemed to have an 'accident' if she was too busy playing outside. So we put off trying for no diaper at night for awhile. I had mentioned a few times to Cassidy that if she made it through the night that she would get a special treat. She promptly grinned and said, "Ice-cream?! Banana Ice-cream!" The first night, no luck, the next night, no luck. Then she came in the next day, and ta-da! But we didn't have time to make it to ice-cream store. Yet, she did it again the next night, still no time to get to store. Last night we had the baby sitter, and Cassidy decided to forgo the diaper, and she did it yet again!! Banana Ice-Cream for everyone!!

Keeping up

Keira is trying to be a 3 year old. When Cassidy was this age, she was happy with who she was. Loving life as a toddler with no siblings. Keira on the other hand, watches what her sister does, and thinks, "Why not me?" She climbs into the kitchen tables and wants to eat there (even at restaurants, she threw a nice fit last night). She climbs into Cassidy's bed and will lay down if she wants some quiet time. And today, I found her climbing on some brick decorative pieces we have out front. Cassidy was climbing them yesterday and again today, so Keira just did it. I didn't know she could climb them, as I'm sure she had quite a reach to get to them, but she did it. And boy did she look proud! I should have snapped a picture, but that would have involved getting the camera, and I wasn't going to leave her up there!!

mmm...Awmmy

I'll be honest. I have not been keeping track of when Keira was saying her first words, or even what that word might be. We are always doing stuff and she makes lots of 'noises'. I kept saying, when she decides to talk it will be in full sentences. Well, it turns out she has been talking, we just haven't been listening (sorry Keira). So we are heading out this week, and I crate Buddy, Keira is to my unlearned ear mumbling, "Doh. Doh. Uddy." Me, "Uh-huh". Keira comes up to me in family room while I'm petting Mischief, "At. Itty" I point to Jeremy, "Who is that?" "ddd..Addy" Now I must point out that her ddd is very soft, almost under the breath, so it sounds more like a mumbled something. "Who am I?" "mmm...Awmmy" Again with the under the breath thing. Point being, we suddenly stopped this week, and listened to her. Turns out she has been talking. I wonder what else she's saying. "Eee eee..quals mmmm see squ...aired"

Busy Days

Phew! Cassidy just had a very busy day, which means Keira and I have been very busy too. We started out slow enough, Cassidy playing, Keira napping, me doing laundry, and then we got the call to go over to CJ's house for a pool party (kiddie pool). So we played there and had some fun, then it was a quick run home for snacks before we headed off to Cassidy's 1st Dance Play class. Keira and I got to leave her in there (otherwise Keira would have joined the class or screamed through it) and we did some walking around outside. Then we met Jeremy for dinner and then it was off to Cassidy's tennis class. She loves it, but 45 min is a bit long for her to focus on the court. I am beat, Keira's been asleep for almost an hour, and thankfully Jeremy is putting Cassidy down now. How she is still awake, I have no clue. The rest of the summer should be more low key. We just had an overlap of classes today and the start of a heat wave. I know, 80's doesn't seem like a heat wave, but for us it is!

Table Dancers and Beauty Queens

So Keira has hit 18 months. My life keeps going faster and faster. Every day I race and run until the girls go down. Keira has learned to climb and her favorite thing to do right now is climb the kitchen chair to then climb on to the table. She usually stands once she's up there, which takes less time then you might think. I was a little worried about her future when I caught her dancing up there, but I think it was coincidence. As if that wasn't bad enough, Cassidy pulled a new one on me. I had been wearing her plastic princess earrings in the morning (don't ask) and Cassidy put them on later. Then she comes and finds me to tell me, "I think they are prettier on me, Mommy." My ego is crushed.

Being a singer

So Cassidy asked me yesterday if the woman on the CD was a "singer". I said, "Yes, just like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz" (the Muppet version in case you are wondering). Cassidy then quoted part of the moral of the movie, which is that you are whatever you want to be. So to encourage my daughter I said, "You can be a singer too, you just have to sing." Well, that's all that she needed. She burst into song. A mix of 3 songs that we had just heard. It went something like this, "Oh pretzels, and you turn into horses, and you have a lot of fun. Everyday, everyday, everyday. And cookies." I pray she doesn't try out for American Idol!

The Adventures of Pineapple

Yesterday morning Cassidy asked if I would like a story about dinosaurs or pineapple. She had already taken one of her books and read a dinosaur story (meaning, she made one up). I chose pineapple to mix it up a bit. She then told me the story of "Pineapple". Here it is as best as I can remember. One day "Pineapple" was walking on some ducks. It hurt the ducks when "Pineapple" walked on them and so they decided to eat "Pineapple" all up. That made "Pineapple" sad and he cried. (Flip a page.) "Pinapple" was walking on some chickens, and it hurt the chickens, so they ate "Pineapple" all up.
Moral of the story, don't walk on anything that can eat you!

Back On-line, Again

After Verizon closed our service call ticket to have someone come out and check the line to our house after doing a 'remote' test, they actually sent someone out this morning. So I am On-line again. Phew! The move went well, and the house is great. The girls are adjusting, as are we. Mom and Dad came for a quick visit to move boxes and help us get ready for the 4th of July. We had our old neighbors and some other friends over for some food and fun. It turned out great and all the little kids ran around and had fun. The best was all the 'guys' set up under the deck by the baby swings and 4 men sat around pushing one baby. It was perfect weather and showed off the view, so it was great. I have lots of stories that I need to blog, so after I sort threw all my emails I will get to posting.

Umm...our new house ROCKS!

I don't usually like to go on about material possesions, but I really have to talk about our new house. Today we headed off to Toys R Us to get some extra sand and picked up a play table for train sets and such too. We got to the new house and the sun was out (which is amazing as we have had very wet cold weather this week). Jeremy dumped the new sand in the box under th play yard and then he and I ate sandwiches while the girls played and played. I unloaded a few of the kitchen boxes that we had already brought over while the girls played upstairs. Later (after naps) we went back and put together the train table, which came with a little train set and tracks. The girls never stop moving while we are there and so far they haven't even cared that there's no TV. Hmmm.. I might be on to something. The bonus room will be without TV for awhile at least. Jeremy and I keep giggling because we can't believe we are going to live there. It was such a beautiful day and we just sat admiring the view. I am really looking forward to getting settled in, and changing the paint in the dining room!

Love songs to a 3 yo

Have you ever tried to explain a love song to a 3 yo? It is not so easy. Seeing as how most music is about love, either just falling, breaking it off, or the nasty kind it is hard to avoid. So while drving home from preschool today there was a song about "I would rip open my heart, so I could feel again". So she asked me what the song was about. I told her it was about a man who missed his wife. Sure, it sounds good, right? So Cassidy suggested, "Maybe he misses her because she went to the grocery store." Now if only my hubbie missed me that much when I went to the grocery store!