Membership has it's privileges

For Christmas we asked for a membership to the Aquarium. For months I've been asking Cassidy if she wants to go and she has been saying no. *grumble* All that changed a few weeks ago when we found a video of an octopus attacking a shark at OUR aquarium. The girls fell in love with it. Every night before bed they want to watch it. Keira calls it "shark" when she wants to watch, but then when she sees the octopus, she says, "Modster....Rah!" Which translates to "Monster, roar". So we FINALLY made it to the aquarium this weekend. We made it right at opening, and everyone was sort of milling around waiting for the ticket booths to open. Then I saw it, the membership stand, with a teen already manning the post. I pulled out my card, and the next thing I hear is, "Let me just unlock the door for you." We had the whole place to ourselves. Okay it was only for 5 minutes, but it was great. Yes, membership has it's privileges!

Date Day

Jeremy and I used to have a weekly date night. Now it's more like a monthly date night , but we still make it out for some time without the kids. Cassidy has been acting a bit, hmmm...the word I want isn't really invented yet so I'll skip it, lately. We had a pony pals class scheduled this weekend, and I thought maybe Cassidy could use some time without Jeremy and little sis. I told her we were going to have a date, and we headed off to lunch together. After lunch, we headed off to class, and I dutifully walked by her and the pony in the POURING rain. After class we headed off to look at some other animals. To finish off our date day we headed to Starbucks to warm up with some hot chocolate and a Grande nonfat latte. (Yes I've graduated from a tall.) It was a fun time even though the weather was sort of cold and bleak. I think I have found a new date partner.

Tulip Festival

 
Oma was out last week to watch the girls while school was out. We headed to the Tulip Festival for some R&R. The girls had a blast. Even though Cassidy calls Tulip Town "Ice Cream Town" now. 

I love you a lot

Tonight after baths, Cassidy was jumping on our bed and being a little wild. She kicked me, and I asked her to apologize for hurting me. She did and then gave me a big hug. Then as she continued to jump, she told me, "Mom, I love you a lot." "I love you too." "I love you more than you me." "Oh, really. You love me more than I love you?" "Yeah. A million million more. I love you as big as Triceratops Poop, which is as big as the bath tub!" I feel so loved.

Twins

The girls made it to school today, and Jeremy and I made it back to work, for most of the day at least. The sitter called in sick, no surprise as she has what we have. Oops! So we picked up the girls and headed to the grocery store to pick up some dinner. The girls love the big grocery carts that are a truck or a race car, and they clammored in. We passed a woman, who said under her breath, "Must be twins." Then 10 feet past her, a woman asks Jeremy, "Are they twins?" Keira must be catching up quick. I would have never thought them twins as they look so different, but then again, they didn't say, "Identical Twins". It is obvious they are sisters though.

Recovering...at least the kids are

It has been a rough week for all of us. Keira had the worst of it with all the coughing and nose wiping. Cassidy had a hard time as she was feeling ill, but had to deal with Mom and Dad being occupied with Keira. Then there was Mom and Dad. Juggling work schedules, telecommutting and never letting Keira's feet hit the ground have been the norm. Now that the weekend is upon us, and the weather is great, Mom and Dad have sore throats and want to sleep all day. Keira, can you get Mommy some juice??

Croup, anyone?

This weekend I kept thinking I needed to blog. The girls were doing all sorts of stuff, that I have already forgotten. Darn! I feel like Dory from Finding Nemo, short-term memory loss. What was that? Oh yeah, Keira was up most of the night coughing. I suspected the *croup*, so I set Jeremy up by the cracked window for her to settle down. We took her in to the pediatrician and yup, it's the *croup*. So now Jeremy and I have to juggle schedules to accomodate the girls staying home for the rest of the week as they are "highly contagious". It won't matter soon, as the doctor asked which one of us had had laryngitis. Neither. "Well, when you do get it, now you'll know who to blame." Neh-ber!!

NEVER!

Cassidy has been playing Dr. Jeckyll and Ms. Hyde lately. One minute she's being a little angel, and even asks, "Mommy, am I being nice?" The next minute, she's fussy, bossy and mean at the same time. I'm not sure where she picked it up, but when she's a real funk and you ask her to do something she yells, "NEVER!" at the top of her lungs. Which is quite funny, in 20 years... We told her that Keira would copy her if she kept doing it, so we started giving her punishments for yelling this. It stopped, for a few weeks. It surfaced again this weekend. *sigh* Jeremy just picked up Keira to take her to bed, and she started fussing. Jeremy said to her, "It's time for bed." and Keira yelled out, "NAHBER!" Why did we have to be right?

Who's prettier?

 
I just found this picture on my camera. Seems Dad took it the other morning when Cassidy was helping Mischief get glamoured up for the day. Cassidy had asked me to put braids in her hair, and I swear she just looks angelic when she has them in. Which only lasts about 5 minutes since her curls just want to jump out. 

Birthday Circle

Montessori does a nice thing for birthdays called Birthday Circle. The have a mat with the solar system on it, and light a candle for the sun. Then the child holds a globe of the Earth and walks around the sun for each year. Very cute. They also ask you to write down memories so the teacher can share them with the class. For when she was born the teacher read off that "Oma" was waiting at home. The teacher asked who Oma was. "Oma is my grandma and so is Oma Grandpa. And I have another grandma too. Nana and Nana Grandpa. Oma is my Mom's Mommy and Nana is Daddy's Mommy. But they are my grandmas. Oma and Nana." Jeremy and I had a hard time not laughing out loud. I fully expected a report on what kind of hair they each had and what type of glasses to come out of her mouth next.

Breakfast and Lower Case Teacup

This morning, I woke up to the sounds of Keira fussing...from downstairs. She woke up early and headed downstairs to see what was going on. When no one was there and it was dark, she got a little worried. I actually found her trying to open the door to the garage. Poor thing thought maybe we had left her. Well, once I called to her, she was quite happy to tell me it was time to eat. So into the pantry we went, but I had to leave to let the dog out. When I came back, Keira had decided on her breakfast, oatmeal, and pulled out all the ingredients. Oatmeal, raisins, and brown sugar.

Jeremy took Cassidy to the doctor for her checkup. They did an eye test. Before doing the test, the nurse showed Cassidy the different symbols. Star, teacup, circle. Cassidy read the first line no problem. Then when she started on the next smaller line Cassidy read off, "Lowercase O, lowercase star, lowercase teacup." The nurse said, "I bet she knows her alphabet too". Jeremy was beaming.

Sledding Photo

 
We went sledding last weekend and the girls LOVE the snow. Here's a great shot before we went down the hill of flying death. 

The Hunt for a Family Car

Despite Jeremy's Mini being able to hold 2 car seats, it doesn't deliver 2 kids every day so well. So we have started the discussion about what we should do. Mini van? Hybrid SUV? Wagon? Well, Jeremy decided to ask the girls what they thought we should get. Cassidy was quick to answer, "a truck". Seems logical. "With mail in it. So we could be the mail man, and deliver all the mail with all the other mailmen." Hmm...sliding doors are standard.

Sledding

Something unusual has been occuring in Seattle lately. It's been SUNNY! So we decided to try and enjoy it this weekend. We headed up to the Cascades and went sledding. The girls were really excited. We climbed to the top of the hill, jumped on the sleds and pushed off. Well, we must have purchased the Olympic sleds, becuase we FLEW down the hill. Lots of fun as you're going down, but then you get towards the bottom and you aren't slowing down. There's orange fencing set up, before the 5 ft snow bank overlooking a road. *gulp* I had Cassidy with me, and I had no idea how to stop. We cracked into the netting, broke a pole, but thankfully didn't go farther. I thought, "Well, that's the end of sledding for the day". I asked Cassidy if she was all right. "Yeah. That was scary." Just as I figured. "Let's do it again!" SWEET. Amazingly though, the girls weren't into it as much as Jeremy and I. Keira managed 2 runs, and Cassidy 4. Still it was a great time heading up to play in the snow.

Less blogging

I'm sure that many of you have discovered that the biggest problem with me going back to work is the decrease in the amount of blogging going on. I think of things at work, but don't want to blog them at work. I just don't want to say something, like work was yucky one day, and come in the next day to find I'm no longer needed. ;) So here are some quick catch-up's on the girls. Cassidy came home last week and told us she was learning about "Alien-fabians", which turned out to be amphibians. Keira LOVES to sing along and dance. She also starts singing "Twinkle twinkle little star" when she sees a picture of a star. Awww.... Cassidy informed me yesterday that there is something that is always behind you, beside you and in front of you. Do you know what it is? Well, I'll give you a hint, it was a sunny day and we were outside. Your shadow! She then decided to try and get her shadow and chased it on to the garage where she finally 'caught' it. Keira is starting to get the idea of playing games as a group. Yesterday, she participated in Red Light, Green Light. It was hard to make out which color she was saying, but she loved it when we got to her. She also, mostly, followed the rules when someone else was the stop light.

An Official Seattlite

I never thought this day would come. I mean, who NEEDS a coffee every day. And when I say coffee, I mean Seattle's version of coffee, which is a latte. My new job has turned me into a Starbucks junkie. Seems all I can think about is when I'll get my "tall, non-fat, half de-caf, sugar free vanilla latte". Yes, I have an order. Even more amazing, the worker at Starbucks recognized me on Friday. My job is located a nice little walk away from a Starbucks, which is why I thought I was taking a break in the afternoons. Take a walk, and might as well get something while I'm out. Haha! I'm so hooked now, this weekend I actually went to one of the coffee huts while we stopped at a gas station. Even crazier, I can tell you that those huts are better than the big chains. Cheaper and tastier. And what ever it is they put in the lattes up here, it's got me hooked.

Birthday Party Planning

The girls have been VERY cute this week. I just haven't had a lot of time to blog it all. It all started a few nights ago, when Jeremy set them up watching one of their DVD's on his computer. Seems that Keira decided to lay on Cassidy's leg while they watched. Cassidy thought it was the best thing ever and keeps asking to watch movies on the computer so Keira will lay on her leg. *ahh* I have been busy trying to plan Cassidy's 4th birthday part. "It's over a month away" you say. Shows what you know. The whole week of her birthday is booked at Pump It Up (the inflatable party place) that is the ONLY place Cassidy wants to go. I told Cassidy that we wouldn't go to Pump It Up on her birthday (as it's during the schools mid-winter break and I didn't think a lot of her friends could make it then), but that we would have cake and presents on her birthday though. She said this, and I'm not joking or stretching the truth, "I don't care about the cake and presents. I only want to go to Pump It Up" I got the Monday after her birthday booked, phew!

The Usual

Well, at least we are trying to figure out what the "usual" is. The girls are doing great with the transition of me going back to work. Jeremy and I are trying to figure out the balance of house chores and it's been tough as he has the girls for the morning and has to get them dressed, fed and to school. My tolerance for the girls when they act up is higher. It could not have gotten much lower before. LOL So I think it was the right decision for me to go back to work.

No more babies in this house!

Otherwise known as, Keira is 2 years old!! She's been acting 2 for the last few weeks. Very stubborn and fusses when she doesn't get what she wants. She is a red head too. Whoo! Where did she get that temper?? Honestly, I was an angel. (If I'm struck by lightning tonight at least you know why, lol) Jeremy stayed at home with the birthday girl, as she was still coughing and snotty today. But after I got home from work and Jeremy got back from his doctor appointment, we celebrated. Nana and Grampa called and sang to start things off. Then the rest of Team Noonan sang, and Keira opened her presents. She really had fun opening, and was really happy when there was a toy inside. She got a Cinderella Barbie, which stopped the show for a bit. Then she got a transportation puzzle that makes the sound of the car, boat, plane, etc when you put it together from Oma. Cassidy liked that one a lot too. She also got some DVD's of her favorite shows. Then we had some cake, and it was off to bath time. She still needed to take her antibiotic though, and she hates it. So she screamed and we had to force her to drink it. Which is not easy. Then she started coughing. Real hard. And threw up the antiobiotic with just a bit of her confetti cake on our bedroom carpet. Like I said, she's acting 2, and you can't make her do anything anymore.

Happy New Year!

We survived the slightly over a week visit to Nana and Grampa. We had a good time too. Even though we brought illness with us, and had one trip to a pediatrician, and a raging fever for our trip home. Cassidy had a fever on Christmas night, not too bad, but she was warm. She also had a cough that was hanging around since before our trip, so we finally took her in, and she got some anti-biotic for a little ear infection and that was that. Seems all is going well, until Keira starts coughing on New Year's Eve day. Then her fever starts. Of course is menacing and requires lots of Tylenol, plus she coughs and says, "Owiee". We hoped she would sleep it off, but turns out she wasn't going to sleep much that night. New Year's Day and we pack up and manage to get Keira down for an early nap. Then I pass out for a little nap, which means Jeremy woke me up with about 30 minutes to go to the airport. All was well until we landed. Thankfully I gave Keira Tylenol when we landed, so while waiting for bags I was hopeful that the little furnace I was holding would shut down. By the time we loaded up the car, her fever was less, and she was singing in the car. She started a fever again in the middle of the night, and is now feeling cool, and sleeping blissfully. Fingers crossed.