Decorating for Christmas!!!!

Our Christmas decorating is happening in stages this year. which means every day this past week has been something new. :) It's actually been nice...not so frantic and crazy. :) The kids loved putting the stockings up, figuring out whose was whose and where they should so on the mantle.

It was so fun to see the kids with their ornaments for the tree. Looking at each one saying "Hey, I remember this!" Once the ornament box was opened, it was the frenzy of who could put the most ornaments on the tree the fastest. Not realizing they both have EXACTLY the same number of ornaments, I guess it was more a race to see who would finish first. Not exactly the idea, but a game I'm sure some of my family members would appreciate hearing for sure. ;)

With a variety of kids ornaments hung right within sweet Sophie's reach, we rearranged the ornaments a little to try and take away some of the temptation. (I know she would LOVE to bat some these around the house for a while, but glass ornaments combined with the wood floor are probably not a good idea. Sorry Sophie!!!)

Placing the Christmas tree topper is always a favorite. (We always let both kids do it, so no one feels left out, but apparently Mr. D forgot that from last year.) Since Little Miss A inquired about it first, we let her place it on top first, in doing so poor Mr. D just sulked thinking he wouldn't get to do it as well. Poor guy, I almost started to cry seeing him so sad. When I told him they BOTH get to do it, he almost did a little party dance. :) Note to self...next year tell the kids that they BOTH get to help place the topper before the topper goes up. :)

As if one Christmas tree wasn't enough. I got each of them one for their rooms and let them pick out the ornaments and toppers and we decorated additional trees. :) Once the trees were all finished, I headed outside with one helper and started decorating the front balcony railing with garland and lights. My other little helper, Mr. D, decided that the stairs needed to be decorated as well. He completely dismantled his tree and had the lights strung on the balusters, ornaments hung on the curled sections of the balusters. Sweet boy, just wanted to keep decorating. (His tree is still not back together, he's been decorating EVERYTHING!!! :)

As is holiday tradition, the advent calendar is back up, last month was REALLY boring without it!!! The kids run to it every morning and since we created the routine of odd and even with the Halloween advent calendar, we jumped right back into it. (Since Little Miss A was born at an even time, she opens the even numbers, and Mr. D was born at an odd time, so he opens the odd numbers.) Totally works and they're learning odd and even numbers at the same time...gotta love that!

We are playing Christmas music like crazy and A & D both love to watch holiday cartoon shows before school. We are so ready!!! :)

Wii Competition

Ah, the Wii!!! Uncle Kyle and Kayla brought their Wii remotes with them so we could have a full on competition. Sadly, they ended up helping the kids instead. We had a few rough moments...it's not easy to lose, but he's learning. Little Miss A was all smiles the whole time, such a SWEET girl. Even when she lost, she said "it's okay." Mr. D, on the other hand, needed some convincing to continue to play then some major cheering to maintain his interest. We'll see if we can keep it up.

Thanks, again, Uncle Kyle and Kayla for coming to visit!!! We love and miss you both so much!!!

A Saturday to Remember

A fun new tradition. After picking up some presents for Blue Santa, we went to the Chuy's parade downtown. The parade was awesome!!! What a great way to get in the spirit of the holidays...kids giving to kids! :)

Afterwards, we took Uncle Kyle and Kayla to one of our favorite Austin eateries...Flip Happy Crepes...yummy!!!! As always totally worth the wait.

Then it was off to Zilker Park to go canoeing. We could do this every weekend...in fact I think we might soon. ;) The weather was perfect. At first I think we may have thought we were entered in a bumper boat competition on Town Lake. Kayla and I were both just super happy not to have fallen in the water. :)

We stayed downtown to watch my team lose. Kayla cheers for the wrong team and we were playing each other. Sadly her team is ranked number 1, so I knew it was inevitable. Oh well. It was still fun to watch.

After the game it was "bat time". We walked over to the "bat bridge" to watch the furry friends fly out. :) We stood on he bridge so we could see them below us. The kids LOVED that!! It was one full day of fun, that's for sure...the kids both crashed in the car on the way home. :)

An Afternoon Hike

After a morning run, some of us opted for a donut run, we decided to hit the neighborhood trails for a little hike. We hadn't explored them yet, so we took Uncle Kyle and Kayla with us to do some trailblazing of our own in the greenbelt behind our house. :)

We begin the adventure without even being able to locate the trail head that is supposed to be right around the corner...that should have been a sign. :) Creating our own route we head out in search of the lake. Crossing over a stream, then back over it again the kids were collecting treasures along the way. Mr. D was collecting sticks and bones. Little Miss A was collecting crystals and flowers. (Again with the differences...this was cracking us all up.)

We finally got to a road that we could follow, granted there was a barbed wire fence that we all had to jump over in order to get to the road, but we did it. Hard core, right? ;) We follow this road downhill figuring this is the best way to get to the lake and on the way pass some amazing houses and stables. Uncle Kyle and Kayla got a very up close look at some longhorns and Little Miss A and Mr. D got to feed the donkeys and horses. :)


We found the lake and watched the kids throw in rocks and almost fall in at least a dozen times.

Then it was time to head back, however that was going to be. The kids were exhausted, so wound up in piggy back for some of the trip back.

We followed the road and ultimately found out where we were. (A section of the neighborhood we had never been to before.) What an adventure. Kyle checked the map to see how far we were from the house (we saw it from the road on the trip back so we figured we couldn't have been too far.) As the crow flies, not even a mile from our house...sheesh!!! Oh well, it was still fun! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

With an awesome visit from Uncle Kyle and Kayla (thank you so much for coming...that meant so much to us!!!!) Thanksgiving was bound to be WONDERFUL!!!! We began the day with the famous parade, then headed outside for a fun silly string fight with Uncle Kyle. (I secretly think the Caswell kids won...since they outnumbered their opponent.)

With a veteran turkey fryer in our midst, the boys (Spencer included) headed out to fire up the fryer. After all the you tube videos of turkey frying gone wrong and the panic I was creating in my head, the only fire was apparently Spencer's tail that went up in a puff of white smoke. It was only tiny bit and I guess he had no clue. The kids loved checking the temperature of the turkey with heir binoculars from the back patio. Who knows if they could actually see it, but it definitely made for good entertainment. A nice way to pass the time while they waited. :)

Dinner was great...way to go J & K!!! :) What a great day...amazing memories we'll treasure forever!!! :)

Caswell Cleanup Crew

After an afternoon at the grocery store (that's another post in and of itself) Daddy was home with the kids, so of course I arrived home to a ginormous mess. As I was making dinner, I asked the kids to go start cleaning up and I would be up to help in a minute...thinking they would definitely need reinforcements. To which Little Miss A replies, "I don't need help Mom, I can do it all by myself." What?!?! At that, Mr. D retorts, "Me too!!" Seriously? Alright, so I continue to make dinner and hear the sound of silence upstairs...playing? Nope, they come downstairs after 20 minutes "claiming" to be done. Upon inspection, they did AWESOME!!! Holy crow, I am so impressed!!! The organization systems are finally starting to pay off!!! YEA!!!! :)

A Night of Festive Fun!! :)

Let the traditions begin!!! We met our bff's at the Macy's great tree lighting. What fun! It's always so nice to see them...sadly we never get to see them often enough these days.

Little Miss A and Mr. D both LOVED seeing Ken, Mck, Kam and BC. After a bite of pizza, we hit the street in search of the perfect spot. Daddy and Mr. B went to get warm drinks...it was a nice cool night. :) Meanwhile, the kids PLAYED up a storm...it was difficult to contain them to a space that was growing smaller by the second. We listened to lullaby Christmas music, at one point I thought Little Miss A was going to fall asleep. (Some American Idol singer...Jason somebody with dreads that Miss J warned me was very mellow.) Once the tree was lit, things picked up a bit. Fireworks to Transiberian Orchestra...both the kids LOVED. Glad to see our fear of fireworks, Little Miss A, may be a thing of the past. :)

After the fireworks we walked a bit with our friends just taking in the local festive scene. :)

We ended the evening with a trip to the bookstore. You know you're in trouble when as a book lover, you're kids are more drawn to the stuffed animals and toys in the children's book section than the books themselves. YIKES!!!

What a fun evening!!! We're already looking forward to many more this holiday season...let the planning begin!!! :)

Mr. D...The Human Piggy Bank

So, regardless of how many times we've told our children NOT to put objects in their mouths, we still ended up with a little boy coming to us in tears this morning saying he swallowed a coin. What?!?!? In a panic, we check to make sure he's breathing properly, which he totally is. Okay, no blocked air pipes. Whew!
Me: Trying to ask in a calm manner, "Where is it?"
D: Pointing to his stomach he says that he "Can feel it right here."
Me: "What kind of coin was it?"
D: "A penny."
A: "No, it wasn't, it was a quarter!!!"
Me: "What color was it, silver or copper?"
D: "Silver"
So, I hit my wallet scouting for change. After comparing the two totally different coins, Mr. D confirmed that Little Miss A was right, it was a quarter!! After a frantic phone call to Mom, we hit the Internet questioning this scary phenomenon. (Holy crow, what did people do before the Internet?) Daddy takes Mr. D to the doctor, who of course refer him to the hospital for x-rays. After a single photo of his tummy they find the quarter in his intestines. Little man even got to see it. Who knows if he thought that was cool or not, he was miffed about having pull his pants down a little so his snap wouldn't interfere with the picture. Now it's time to watch the big white porcelain piggy bank for a 25 cent deposit. Let the games begin. Hopefully we find it soon, otherwise it will be back to the doctor for more scouting. YIKES!!! What a way to start a Saturday!!!!

Too Early for Christmas?

Mr. D went home from school yesterday with a fever, so we stayed home today. With a nice rainy/cold day outside we spent part of the day with a movie. :) Is it bad that the ONLY shows the kids wanted to watch were Christmas movies? It's probably even worse that I was super excited to see them too, right? We are so ready over here!!! Let the festivities begin! :)

A Visit From Aunt Nat

What a fun trip from Aunt Nat!!! We picked my sister up at the airport on Tuesday after school and headed to Little Miss A's dance class. I remember watching Nat dance when she was A's age, and even younger. It was fun to see Nat watching my little dancer!!! :)

Wednesday was our Thanksgiving lunch at school, so Aunt Nat came up and joined in the festivities. :) Little Miss A and Mr. D are the only kids in their class that don't have family in town, but were the only ones in class to have more than just parents attend. How cool is that?

The kids and I took Friday off to spend the day with my sister and get some girl time in. :) After some time at the hair salon, we ran some errands and let the kids play on the outdoor play structures. Then grabbed a bite to eat for lunch and let the kids run the play scape there. Afterwards it was off to the mall for a bit of shopping and a stop at the bounce house !!!! The kids bounced for HOURS...had a blast. If only EVERY day off from school could be so much fun!! The kids ended the day with a fun filled evening...personal gourmet pizzas and a movie night. (Thanks Nat for sending J and I out for the evening...that was SOOOO nice!)

Saturday it was off to Six Flags!!!

Super psyched about the super heroes!! :)

Ready for fun!!!

The kids had so much fun. It really is amazing just how many rides they can ride on their own and still so weird to see them on a ride by themselves!!!! The kids had their first "real" bumper car" experience!!! This was one of the few rides we had to actually wait for, but their faces throughout the ride time was TOTALLY worth it. Although, I think I still have whiplash from it, you know you're getting old when...

Stuck on the small swings, they both REALLY wanted to go on the BIG ones!!!

Roller coaster enthusiasts like their parents...arms up and ready to go!!!

We closed the park down and headed to the riverwalk to meet my Uncle Todd for dinner. We ate dinner at our favorite place and walked the local river in search of the beloved treasures the kids had their hearts on since we began our day...lightsabers and a glow ring. (All Mr. D talked about that day was the lightsaber that he was going to get that night on the riverwalk.) Thankfully we found a place that was still up and running...we left dinner a little later than originally anticipated. Little man's selection was made a little difficult when he realized they had a double lightsaber AND a blaster!!!! (Can you tell we're a little obsessed with Star Wars over here?) He decided Daddy should get one so they could battle...a little boy's brilliant plan to ultimately end up with two treasures. Smart little man!!! Little Miss A was all over the place with her selection as well. Too tough to make such a major decision...she ended up with a super cute pair of light up fuzzy bunny ears for my little honey bunny! She LOVES them. :) Since Uncle Todd hadn't been to the Alamo yet, we walked over to check it out. :) With treasures in hand, or on head, it was time to call it a night and head home.

With a late arrival back home, we had a pretty low key morning and lounged around which was really nice, but then before we knew it, it was time to head to the airport. :( Where did the time go? Nat, thank you so much for coming!!! We love and miss you so much!

The Caswell Kids Turn 5!!!!!

Where do I even begin???? The fact that my "babies" are 5 just blows me away!!! Where does the time go?

The kids had a great day today!!! Having grown up with the birthday song first thing in the morning and loving all my family bringing in presents, I knew that was one tradition I had to keep with my little ones!!! But how do you do that when they're in 2 different rooms you ask? We sang the birthday song from the living room and each of them RAN down the stairs like it was Christmas.

We had a present pile set up for each of them in the family room and took turns opening presents. It was hard to leave for school...they just wanted to play.

Once we got to school, the kids walked into their classroom to a class full of students and teachers singing the birthday song. (You know it's going to be a great day when you've had 2 birthday songs all before 7:30.) They had their birthday broad casted to the school over the P.A. during the morning announcements. After a morning of fun festivities including a craft of party hats, I brought the birthday snack to share. Little Miss A chose butterfly ring topped cupcakes and Mr. D chose blue frosted cookies to share with their friends at school. Daddy brought lunch to school which was an extra special treat and we all ate together with their class.

After school, I picked the kids up early and headed straight home so they could play with their toys they had to leave behind for the day. With a couple hours of play time before we had to leave for dinner, A & D seriously played with EVERYTHING!!!!

Then it was on to dinner. When we started talking about a special birthday dinner a few weeks ago, Mr. D said he wanted to go to my favorite that had the "swords". (These would be chopsticks.) So I asked Little Miss A if she wanted to go to the restaurant where they cooked in front you and she replied "the place with fire? YES!!!" So it was off to Bennihanas. YUMMY!!! (Everyone wins!!!) With a later reservation so Daddy wasn't put too far behind at work, and virtually no nap to speak of, the kids were just about to fall asleep at dinner. They brought out ice cream and sang the birthday song at the end of the meal which perked them up for a bit, but poor D was so tired he didn't even take a bite. As you can probably imagine, the car ride home was the end...they both crashed out in the back seat. We got home to 2 zonked monkeys and as we were picking them up to carry them into the house, they both (independently of one another) remembered the puppy cakes. "We need to have puppy cake!!!"

Against everything that I believe in...you MUST have cake on your birthday, I figured the cupcakes, cookies and ice cream from the day would substitute since they were SOOOO tired. So, we waited until they would really enjoy/remember the beloved puppy cakes...we had them the next night. They were so much more fun...can't you just tell by these silly pics? :)

Can these teeny tiny babies really be my Allie and Drew?

Allie

Drew

My sweet little angels,

It's so hard to believe how much you've grown. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for you. You are the best "babies" any Mommy could ever ask for! I remember the day you entered our lives and have wondered every day since how we "lived" without you. You bring such joy to every day. Your laughter is contagious, your whispered secrets are so sweet, your kisses and hugs are priceless!!! I love you so much!!!! :)