Sea World!!

After a season of Six Flags passes, we hadn't been to see Shamu in a LONG time. A and D had SOOOO much fun. I was surprised by how much they really wanted to see our big black and white friend. After last year, when Allie freaked out about the "balloon in Sahmu's house." (The ball that Shamu jumps up and touches at the end of the show.) She was so certain the "balloon was going to pop loud in her ears!!!" that Jamie had to take her out before, but not this time. She just laughed and oohed and aahed the whole time!!! She was in heaven! The absolute highlight of her day was riding the rides with her friends and just out and out playing!!! Things have been a little chaotic at school lately (possibly the understatement of the year) that having a total FUN DAY, was just what the Caswell kids needed, not to mention the Caswell Mom!!!!

Well, after spending a day with Tenacious D and hearing about the sword that he saw at the start of the day and talking non-stop about that and the Spiderman face painting ALL DAY, my dear friend JB decided I needed to take a tally of the number of times he says "why?" in the course of a day. I'm not kidding, it's a CONSTANT thing over here! After she mentioned that she started her own mental note and came up with SIX in the course of an HOUR! As we were in the restroom getting ready to leave the park, my little buddy boy asked that very question 5 times...

D: "Why were the skeletons asleep and snoring?" (Howl or Scream was being set up and there were all sorts of Halloween decorations out and about. When we got to the park there were 2 skeletons flanking the gate entrance that were talking back and forth. A fact he noticed IMMEDIATELY.)
Me: "The skeletons are tired after a long day of talking."
D: "Why were they talking all day?"
Me: "So that everyone could hear them like you did this morning."
D: "Why does everyone need to hear them?"
Me: "Sea World is supposed to be fun for everyone."
D: "Then why aren't they still talking?"
Me: "Because it's the end of the day. Everyone is leaving. The sun is setting."
D: "Why is the sun setting."

You get the idea. This is my life in a nutshell. :) I'll definitely start the "WHY?" experiment sometime this week and post back later on the final ruling.

Total opposites!

Mr. D now has a new name...he will henceforth be known as Tenacious D!!!!! The tenacity of this little boy is unreal. He is absolutely relentless when it comes to "things"! A while back it was the light sabers. Many of you heard the countless stories, so I won't rehash. I will say however the next big thing is swords. How many swords can one little boy possibly need? And where exactly does that need come from? Not sure how he is so incredibly difference latter Little Miss A. Is it just an inherent boy/girl difference? Who knows! From all of this, I decided he needed to start a birthday and Christmas wish list. Let's just say that his list is already QUITE extensive. In fact, I just had to add three things he saw yesterday and just HAS to have.

Little Miss A, on the other hand has a select few items on her "wish list". She is always just so happy with whatever she's got. Content as can be to sing songs all day, making up words to whatever she happens to be doing at that particular moment. Playing with inanimate objects as though they are priceless treasures. She is currently playing with a pencil that is "making the world a happy, shiny place!"

Still Undecided...

Well after two SERIOUS months of costume investigations through catalogs, we went to our local Halloween superstore to "narrow" it down. Yeah, right. In the course of our 45 minute visit Mr. D went from wanting to be Spiderman (again) to Captain Jack Sparrow to Batman to Harry Potter to Superman. Upon leaving the store WITHOUT a costume...

D says: "Mommy I am seriously frustrated. I'm about ready to cry. I just want my costume!"
Me: "Well, buddy, we can't buy one until you REALLY know which one you want. You can't change your mind once we buy the costume because they won't take it back."
D: "Why?" (Yes, that is still his favorite word the English language has to offer!)

You can probably imagine the conversation circle that ensued the following HOUR! He's not happy.

Miss A similarly was just as undecided. First it was a "beautiful bride", then it was a princess (she switched from Ariel to Snow White to Sleeping Beauty), then Dorothy (she LOVED and "had to have" the sparkly shoes...that's my girl!), and finally Hannah Montana. (HM is a VERY new development at the Caswell house!) Unlike D, Miss A was totally cool when she found out we had to leave and come back later to buy our costumes. No explanations necessary, just put her "treasures" away and walked to the entrance ready to go. Sweet girl!

More fun?? No way!!!

We met our dearest friends at Gatti Land last night for a fun filled Friday evening. Boy, we need to do that more often! A and D had so much fun! A night of good food, great friends and fun games, how can you lose?

Miss A LOVED playing on the "riding" games with Mommy, while Mr. D dragged Daddy around to every Star Wars game the place had to offer.

A playdate AND school? Could it be true?

Bless their hearts, A and D's lives lately have been all about school. (Sadly, there honestly hasn't been a whole lot of time for anything else.) We were actually able to rejoin our playgroup for an afternoon event the other day.

Thanks to Miss D, we learned all about the parts of a tree and had a leaf scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. It was very obvious that Miss A and Mr. D REALLY missed their playgroup friends!

Where did that come from?

Mr. Trouble was very voiced in all the ways you could injure a computer today during class. They were discussing computer rules and D shared every "what not to do" rule imaginable...
"No hitting the computer."
"No banging the computer."
"Don't throw it on the ground."
"Don't get frustrated."
"Don't pour water on it."

I swear he hasn't seen or heard me discuss any of these computer trouble shooting ideas at home. :)

Miss A was showing me her Nature Walk treasures from school today and informed me that...
"Squirrels only eat the inside (of the acorn). If they eat the outside, they'll choke. We wouldn't want the squirrels to choke Mom. They're too cute!"

Fiesta Texas

With Six Flags season passes, we've had a blast playing on the weekends. Miss A graduated to the 42" rides, while bless his heart, Mr. D is still at 36". We went to the park with some friends and Allie was able to ride with her BF all by herself. (So grown up!) D wanted so badly to ride with his friend, but was stuck with Mommy. That didn't go over well. Gosh, how do you explain to a high strung little boy that his twin sister can do something that he can't?

Silly Sayings in School

A and D are loving school!!! They're making friends and having lots of fun. Being able to "check in" every so often is making this transition back to work so much easier. Although, almost everytime I pop in, Miss A asks "aren't you supposed to be in a meeting?" She's trying to get rid of me already. I didn't think that would happen for a few years.

The kids went to the library yesterday and both managed to check books out about rain. Ironic with the early closing of school due to Hurricane Ike. During the library lesson, the librarian had read a story and asked the students how they thought the snail would feel. Mr. D piped up with "he would definitely be very frustrated." You think he's heard that before? :)

FINALLY!!!

After much contemplation, we FINALLY have a blog. I have gotten so bad about sending emails lately and my dearest friend convinced me that this whole blog thing is SO easy that we're finally conforming to the new norm. :)