A Visitor!

It's already been a month since Aunt Cassie left. And Bug still asks almost everyday, "Where'd Cassie go?" I'd say that my sister left a good impression. And I'm sad that we don't live closer. My girls (and me too) would love to have more family involved in their lives, and on a regular basis. But for now, we must make do with the visits that we are lucky enough to have.

I was thinking about it and realized that Aunt Cassie is the first person in our family to visit us, at our home, in almost two years. (This includes all of our family, no matter where they live. My mom and younger sister were the last to visit, back when Bug was born.) So you see, we don't get company very often, and when we do we are so happy!*

Aunt Cassie is in sales. She represents many different hair care companies and sells their products to salons. One of the companies that she represents is called Scruples. (Their White Tea Shampoo and Conditioner are excellent, by the way. Thanks Aunt Cassie for the full sized samples!) Their headquarters are located in Lakeville, MN. They were doing some training, so Aunt Cass had to come up to Minnesota in the middle of January. Fortunately, she was able to get some time off of work and extend the trip for a few more days, at no cost to her. Which was awesome for us!

Most of the time that she was here was spent lounging around. I had a full list of ideas, if she wanted to get out of the house, but she was pretty exhausted from the first half of the week. So laying around and cuddling with my girls was her idea of a grand ole time.

We did get to go swimming with her at the indoor pool near our house. And we also got to see my Aunt and Uncle who live in Blaine. As well as my cousin. And her daughter, who happens to be only two days younger than Bug. This was my first time meeting her daughter and she is super cute! I was so glad I got to see all of them and wish I could see them more often. The girls all played so well together.


It was hard to get a good shot cause they were always on the go!

We also made it to the Mall of America for a short while before Aunt Cassie had to catch her flight. Our visit was a good one, but of course it went way too fast. (As the rest of my life also does, I can't believe it's already been a month since she left.)

Aunt Cassie we miss you! Thanks for coming to visit!

*Well maybe not the Regime...perhaps he is the reason we don't get visits more often. At least it's easier for me to think it's him and not me. And we have seen our family more recently than two years. I made the trek to the East Coast twice last year. And we see my in-laws quite often, but we always have to go to their place.

Cabin Fever Leads to Shenanigans

Also known as, cool tricks, if you are 5, or almost 2 years old.

Nothing in our house is safe. We childproofed. But we aren't Bug proof. She has managed to force her way into many of the supposed-to-be locked cupboards and drawers.

She also discovered the push a chair up to the counters and climb up trick. I had to find a new hiding spot for the candy. Because Bug has a serious sweet tooth, and she kept trying to get into that cupboard.



Here she is with two(!) stolen lollipops. Can you guess which Beatles song this makes me think of? (Hint: goo goo g'joob)





Um. That thing she is standing on is supposed to be an ab exerciser. To be honest, it gets more use as a toy.



And someone needs to get this girl into gymnastics already.





I swear I really can't turn my back. (Like I'm doing right now in order to write this post.)

She managed to use up all this lotion. On her face, in her hair, etc. And as you can see she found the markers shortly beforehand.





Controlled mess.





I thought she was too little for video games. Bug doesn't agree. She swipes big sister Doodle's DS*every chance she gets.





As you can tell, regular toys get old. Gotta come up with new and creative ways to make a mess have fun when you are stuck in the house for months on end. Spring, where are you? I gotta get these monsters outside!


*Which is actually mine, or was purchased for me, but they play with it more than I do.

Peekamoo!

Who's hiding behind that curtain?


None other than my favorite little...


...Bug Cow! She really loves this costume. She'd wear it everyday if I let her. (And I do, as long as we are at home.)




Just don't take too many pictures or you might get this look.

What's Been Goin' On? - Part 2

December was, as it is for most people, very busy. But we also had loads of fun!

When I (finally) got the box of decorations out, Bug decided that the stockings should be used as hats instead.


The Regime had two weeks off from work at the end of December. So we enjoyed hanging out at home and the three of them (The Regime, Miss Doodle and Bug) built with Legos as much as they could.

I did manage to drag Mr. Homebody the Regime out of the house on a few occasions. For instance, our trip to see the Macy's 8th floor Elf display. We rode the Hiawatha line into downtown Minneapolis. Taking the light rail is great because it is fun for the kids, and you don't have to worry about paying for parking.

By the time we got all the way there it was already time for lunch, and the line to see the display was very long. So we decided to get lunch first.

This picture was taken right after we ate. I love how it turned out,* except for the lunch all over Bug's shirt.


Here they are next to the display. I couldn't get Bug to smile at the camera this time, because there was just too much to look at.


Including this pig, which she could barely take her eyes off of.


After the display, Miss Doodle got a cupcake with green icing. We saved it until we got home. And I'm really glad we did. Look at that mess!




On one of our many days spent at home we also decorated cookies. That was fun and delicious! Gotta love almond flavored frosting!






Finally the day to open the presents arrived! We all received oodles and oodles of good stuff. We had a blast opening all of the gifts. And lucky me, I got to have extra fun cleaning everything up afterward.**










*Yes, even that extra cheesy "Say cheese!" smile that Bug has started puttin' on for the camera lately.
**The Holidays are definitely for the kids! It's mostly just work to me due to the fact that I was raised without it. But I see how much the kids love it and it makes it all worth it.

What's Been Goin' On? - Part 1

Where have we been? What have we been up to? Why haven't I updated sooner?

We've been all over. We've been up to all kinds of mischief. And I have no good reason for the lack of updates. I've just lacked the motivation, energy, and time. But I promise I'm gonna work on that. So lets play catch up and then I'll do my best to stay caught up for the rest of the year.

I was planning to start potty training Bug once she turned two. As usual, she had her own plan. In October, she initiated the process herself. She started asking to sit on the potty. So now she is in the thick of learning all about using the toilet.

Sometimes she tells me before she's gone. Other times she tells me shortly after she's gone. Here are some pics of her walking like a Sumo wrestler because her pants are already wet. Then making it to the potty to try again. (Have I mentioned she's in the, "I do it myself!" phase?)







At the end of October we made a neat discovery. Lilydale Regional Park in St. Paul is awesome! We went there to look for fossils. We didn't find many of them. But we did find a waterfall and a beautiful view of St. Paul.

In my opinion, Miss Doodle was a picture perfect fossil hunter. We can't wait for the next fossil hunting season to begin so we can go searching once again.



Bug was obsessed with cows and saying, "moo!" at the end of October. So that's what she was for our trick or treating adventures. And now that she has begun the 'dressing up and changing outfits 500 times a day phase,' I can assure you this outfit is still getting plenty of use. She's even used them as pajamas. I think that she's the cutest cow ever!



Miss Doodle found a beautiful masquerade ball costume. When she wore it everyone kept mistaking her for a princess. Which she couldn't understand. She kept asking me, "Why are they calling me a princess when I am not? I am a masquerade ball dancer!" (Talk about attention to detail.)



On November 8th, Miss Doodle turned five (!) years old. She had a fun party with her friends. I made her a strawberry cake with pink frosting and blue hearts, just as she requested. She also enjoyed making her very own little cake with the Easy Bake Oven that Auntie Cass sent her.







November was a surprisingly decent month. The weather was sunny and much better than it was in October. So we enjoyed some more family outings. Including another lovely trip to Fort Snelling's Pike Island at dusk. We especially loved running into a couple of deer. (Bug has been obsessed with deer ever since.)