Spring Breaking

First let me begin with acknowledge that I'm aware that pictures from Bridget's birthday have not been posted. I will in the next post. Promise.

We are on Spring Break this week. The weather has not been great. Cloudy, dreary, and damp. I'd rather be in England if this is the weather I have to live with. We are trying to make the most of the time off though. Schaun took off a few days early in the week to join in the fun, but he went back today, with some story about things falling apart without him there, blah, blah, blah.

Monday we took the girls to Bump City. It was VERY crowded. Bridget seemed to enjoy this a lot more than Becca. I think crowds bother Becca more than Bridget. We left, went home for a bit, then went to enjoy some Applebee's (Monday kids eat for .99).

Tuesday was not a lot of fun. We tried to go roller skating, but it was so crowded we couldn't even get in the door. Plan B was bowling. We walked out without playing when they told us that it would be $55 to play two games! Since when did bowling start to cost that much. On to Plan C...that was going to Target and buying the girls each an item. I figure, if we are going to spend money on entertainment, might as well be something that they keep rather that pricey bowling.

Later that evening we went to eat dinner at Cinzetti's (kids eat free on Monday and Tuesdays)

My plan is to not cook and feed the kids almost for nothing.

Wed started with everybody sleeping in late and not being motivated to do anything really. I told the girls we could go swimming. I got the hours mixed up and they only got to be in the pool for about 45 mins when they closed. Luckily, they opened again in the evening, so we went back later and swam for another 2 hours. After swimming, we dropped by to see Papa and Gramma, where Papa fed the girls dinner. Thanks for that meal!

Today is actually beautiful out! Almost 60 and sunny! Wendy gave us some discount ticket passes to see Disney on Ice, but the tickets must be purchased direct from the Sprint Center box office. So that is where we traveled to this morning. Got our our wonderfully priced tickets and then headed to the Plaza for a little walking and some picture taking. The girls were super cooperative (a little ice cream bribe goes a long way) and I got a some good shots.

After the Plaza, my neighbor Lynne was having a tea party. We headed to her house for some tasty treats. Thanks Lynne!

I am looking forward to summer soooo much! I am enjoying this time off.

I'm still around

Dang! It's been a loooooooong time since I updated here. Let me review what's happened. We celebrated Valentine's Day (over and over and over). First we had the annual Date with Dad at the Montessori school. These events were more fun as a parent than they are now as an employee. Becca enjoyed it a lot and she got to wear her fancy dress. Bridget had to come along as a worker. She was the limbo stick manager for the evening. There was another celebration at Bridget's school. (Valentine's Day is exhausting for me!) It was a good school party. Bridget was super sweet to Becca in her room by sharing her chair and table space and was just an awesome big sister. At home, we surprised the girls by setting up a chocolate fountain with lots of goodies to drizzle chocolate on. They might not look super happy in this picture, but believe me, they really were! By the time they finished with it, it looked like a chocolate massacre on the table. It was fairly messy, but totally worth it.

Party Clothes

I got the girls these clothes the other day and they were excited to wear them to Sawyer's birthday party today. Both the girls have these pink sequined hats, but it looked super cute with Bridget's dress today. Still working with the lighting situation and my backdrop. Just snapped these quick before we left today.

Chico the cockatoo

Over Christmas break we bird sat a cockatoo for a lady my mom works with. Those who know me well, know my fascination with birds. A cockatoo was not on my short list of birds to own and now a cockatoo will never be on the list at all. While it is fun to play with and look at, this bird is so loud. How loud can one bird be you might wonder. Well, while my house was totally closed up (recall the blizzard we are living in) neighbors both behind and in front of my house could hear the bird when they were outside their homes. LOUD! She was pretty though. Here are a few pics of her.

My attempt at photos for the holidays

Well, I have way too much flash. Lesson learned. I have not figured out my new editing program to fix it the way I want. They are better than they were and the girls are still pretty in their dresses!

Magic wands

The girls have been playing for hours and hours. All of a sudden there was hysterics. Becca's favorite (that hour anyway) wand broke. She was spinning and the top flew off and they cannot find it. I am called to find it because "I am a good finder". I cannot find it anywhere. I said that if I could just use my magic wand powers to find it, that would be easier.

Bridget says " Will you give me your powers one day?"
I say "Only if you earn it after the competition"
Dead serious, she says " Okay. I better study more"

I wonder if she knows Wizards of Waverly Place is fiction?

Nutcracker Tea Party & Santa

Last weekend I took the girls to the Nutcracker Tea Party. This is an event from the JoCo Park and Rec at the Ritz Charles. They serve some kid friendly finger foods and drinks and the Legacy School of Arts does and hour long performance of the Nutcracker ballet. It was very pretty inside and all the little girls were dressed all fancy. Any time my girls can go all fancy, they are thrilled. There were a lot of Bridget's friends from school there too. It was a good time.

Today we went to see Santa. The Bass Pro Shop has a really nice Santa setup and a non-cheesy looking Santa. They also take and give a free 4x6 photo to you. Bass Pro is a little dark inside, but has some very nice photo opts. The girls got to tell Santa what they really want more than anything (and thankfully, those things are already taken care of by a very efficient elf) and I got cute photos. That makes for a successful outing!

Car talk

When we drive to dance each week the girls either have very funny comments and conversations or they fight the whole way. Tonight, Bridget shared some of her philosophy.

I was in traffic, in the wrong lane, a nice person let me over and I gave the polite wave. Becca asked who I was waving at. I explained the wave and she asked if it was a kid. Bridget informed her that it was not a kid, because you have to be 16 to drive and 19 to have a car. (Good to know she won't need a car in high school. )

Then she went on to say that even a 19 year old is not an adult. They are still TEENS. She asked if that was right. I said that legally you are an adult at 18 years. She said she was not going to be an adult until she was 20 because in your teens you don't know enough. ( I am going to have her sign that statement for future use).

Then Bridget asked if everybody has to get married. I said no way. It is a choice. She replied that she was not going to marry anybody unless it was the perfect man. (She should start looking now)

Bridget has to keep taking these timed math tests at school. We were talking about math facts and how we need to keep practicing even when school is out because I thought she forgot a lot over the summer when we didn't practice. She said she agreed because when she was at swimming lessons last summer, she got some water in her ear, and she shook everything out of her head trying to get that water out.

Lots of random

It is early Sunday morning and I am up for no good reason. I have some random thoughts running around.

Thanksgiving is this week. I love this holiday. It is one of my most favorite meals of the year. There is no pressure of gift giving and money stresses. Love it.

Christmas music is playing on the radio and we just started to enjoy that. Maybe I will be inspired to get those decorations out soon.

I only have to work 2 days next week, so I will have some time. Time is precious these days.

If anybody has a pile of money that they don't know what to do with, I can have some ideas. I would like a Mac laptop, a Kindle, and to see Wicked again.

Christmas is stressing me out. Buying gifts for everybody I would like to is not going to happen. As much as I want to enjoy it, I really am finding it hard so far. I know I will in the end though.

I have some beautiful dresses for the girls to wear over the holidays. I cannot wait to get some photos taken!

I am so relieved to have heat blowing in my van. If you recall, the AC didn't work in the summer. Now the heat was not working. (OH, add functioning vehicle to my wish list above). Let me just share that in this area, it is uncomfortable to not have cool air blowing on you in the heat. It is different not to have heat blowing in the cold. Sure I can bundle us up and drive, but the windows don't cooperate so nicely. Defrosted windows are sort of a necessity my friends.

We are 1/3 of the way through the school year. Becca loves and is thriving in her Kindergarten class. Bridget is content and surviving in her second grade class.

I am thankful for my job, but I still have not resolved my guilt. The guilt of missing things and just not being the mom I had in my mind. I do enjoy working with Mrs. Trask. We have plenty of laughs and get along well.

Schaun is happy and succeeding at his new job. I am glad that the stress on him (and his car) of driving all over creation is gone. Some change is good.

My washing machine that was dying has been replaced with a bigger, better functioning version. A HUGE thank you to Dan and Cody for that! I know you worked really hard to get that here and I very much appreciate that.

A Dunkin Donuts has opened very close to our home. We have watched and anticipated their opening since the coming soon sign went up. The craziness that has occurred around this building has been very entertaining. People standing in long, long lines. People standing in the parking lot......in pouring rain. The cars wrapped around the building and down into the side street has all just been funny to me and the girls. We have had the chance to eat a few and they were yummy!

I think I have cleared out most of the randomness now. I hope the next post is pretty girls in pretty dresses pictures.

It's been a year

Dear Gramma,
I miss you everyday. I wish I could call you and ask how to do the things I didn't learn from you in time. I talk to my girls about you so they won't forget you as they grow up.

And even though I don't think "you" are where you wanted to be, I hope you are resting in peace.

Love and miss you,
Kerry

Black Cat Bridget Halloween 2009

Golden Princess Becca Halloween 2009

Fun Fall Fotos of Becca