The Photo Shoot

Before anybody gets too excited, no pictures yet. I didn't ask how soon the CD of pictures would get to me, but I did match dates and it might be a few weeks. I am hopeful they'll put a "preview" (just a few pictures) up on facebook soon so I have a few to share. :-)

The entire experience was much easier than going to a portrait studio. Megan and Cadence cracked me up. The two photographers came and shook our hands to introduce themselves, and Megan shoved her way through and held out her hand and said "Hi, I'm Megan" and insisted on shaking their hands. Cadence then did the same. Too cute.

We spent about an hour and a half taking pictures. They allotted us two hours, but the girls got restless and uncooperative early on and the last series of shots was James wrangling the girls into the scene (seriously, the last set was them over his shoulder and upside down).

Megan will undoubtedly have a dozen cute pictures to share. She was super-cute, all smiles and tilted heads and blond curls. Cadence... well, hopefully of the 100+ shots they have at least a few that turned out. They tried their darnedest, at least, so I'm optimistic. She refused to pose, so they just followed her around hoping to capture a single moment worth printing.

Family pictures depended on the two girls, but, just like with Cadence, they just kept snapping pictures while James and I wrangled and posed, so there should be a few.

The couple pictures were a blast, mostly because James refused to behave. There'll most likely be tons of us laughing together. I think my favorite had to be when we were "dancing", so we'll see what happens. The photographer asked James to dip me and I nearly fell over with how far he dipped me, so I doubt that worked out as she intended, lol.

In the end, despite the girls being frustrating, it was far more enjoyable of an experience. Photographers that listened to us, realized you just can't put the camera down when photographing preschoolers, and went with the flow. The girls walked away from the photo shoot with sand in their hair and dirt-smudged cheeks, so I guess it was a success?

Until the new pictures come out, you're left with this one:

April

It's been a very quiet April for us around here, thus the lack of any posts since Easter.

We've been dealing with allergies, a small stomach virus, everyday errands and messes, thunderstorms with hail, and lots of other stuff that makes daily life busy, but not bloggable. The whole "no news is good news" saying pretty much applies here. We're getting pictures done by ShutterMemories Photography this weekend, so expect pictures as soon as I have the CD in my hands.

And, tomorrow, I go pick up the 1920's "vintage" picture the girls took a few weeks ago. For some bizarre reason, I do not own a scanner, but you guys will get a digital picture of the picture. Promise.

Currently, we're singing the Mother's Day song all the time so Cadence knows it well enough to sing in church in 2 1/2 weeks. We had her first Sacrament singing during Easter. She hesitated only a little in going up to the front of the Chapel, but nobody pulled her to the front of the group so she just kind of stood to the side and when they started singing, looked straight at me and began crying. Luckily, I recognized the signs that she was about to start, so I was halfway up the aisle before she even started. I'm certain she amused most of the congregation, but I would like to see her up there singing (or at least smiling) for Mother's Day. I'm already planning to squeeze into one of the front rows (the ones the deacons sit at) for the song so I'm not too far away.

Megan's getting smarter day by day. Yesterday, as we read an alphabet book, she recognized about half of them. Leap Frog does it again! LoL. We're still working on her colors. It's hard to practice with her, since Cadence wants to jump in and give me the answers first. She does know blue and pink, though. Those ones I'm sure of.

Cadence has learned her numbers, as well. She can recognize most of the ones 1-10, though 6 & 9 are confusing for her. She is getting better at drawing, though her cats have anywhere between 6 and 12 legs by the time she finishes, and cats are what she draws the most.

In Sunbeams, she colored a picture that had two girls standing outside the church building and informed me (and her teacher) that the two girls were her and her friend Sammy (the other little girl in her class). She also informed me she doesn't like the boys in her class. Also, the other day, I got caught in the hall when she was walking to her class and was standing right next to the door to her classroom. She held up her hand and firmly told me "Mommy, you stay here, I go to class, you stay here" and then walked (reverently, I must add) into her classroom.

We found a new library to go to and I'm excited. The one closest to us is much smaller and their librarian was tickled pink when we actually showed up for storytime a few months ago, apparently the only ones to come in some time. However, I went to the library a little further (only 5 minutes by car) away. I only peeked into their preschool story-time, but it had at least half a dozen kids, which gives me high hopes for the toddler time, which I hope to attend until Megan's 3 and old enough to handle the older group. Let them practice with the rambunctious group, then move into the older group. We'll be going to it, for the first time, next week. Should be fun!

And, we're all super-excited about our trip in less than two months! The countdown continues, and we'll be in California soon. I can't wait!

Easter 2012

Now that the girls are finally getting old enough to appreciate the holidays, I find myself getting more into them. The Easter bunny's visit last year was enjoyed, but this year, all of us enjoyed it. Anyway, first, we start off the post with the Easter Bunny's bounty this year. The middle basket was for James and myself. Sadly, we did not get a Disney Princess doll. :-(

The girls immediately dove into the chocolate and were quickly cut off, though they still snuck a few pieces. Cadence is head over heels for her new Belle doll and Megan's just as possessive over her new Mulan doll.
After eating chocolate for pre-breakfast, the girls helped us gather up the eggs from the backyard. Cadence took a minute to figure out what we were even asking of her, but Megan figured it out in no time and the girls raced each other to gather their eggs. Next year, we'll definitely have to do more! Or ask the Easter Bunny to hide them a bit better...
Right back inside to put the eggs back in their places and pick up a few more pieces of chocolate, then cinnamon rolls for breakfast, yummy.
After breakfast, the girls had a little extra time to play with their new dolls and run around. Belle went through about a dozen dresses in that hour, since Cadence loves dressing her dolls up and now has several dresses to choose from. Then, it was Cadence and Megan's turn to dress up in their new Easter dresses.
I have the cutest, silliest girls:
Happy Easter, everyone!

Let's go fly a kite!

Another unexpected, and much enjoyed, Saturday with James. :-) We had to take advantage of the warmer weather and the free day, so we went to Tom Bass park. It's a huge area with a dozen small playgrounds and lots of options of where to sit. Do you want long grass and shade? Trimmed lawns and lots of sun? Open space to play a soccer game? Covered seating for a large gathering?

Has it all.

Today was no different than most of the other days. A picnic at the park is a regular fallback for us, but for good reason. The girls go nuts over getting to play on the playground, so much, they immediately ignore the food placed in front of them to go climb to the highest slide. They also enjoyed digging in the pebbles used for ground cover at the playground we selected today.

Before we left, we brought out the kites we bought from Walmart on a whim about a month ago. They'd been unopened and ignored in our linen closet until this morning. Megan lost interest quickly, but Cadence loved it. She ran everywhere trailing her little Disney princess kite and giggling as it flew behind her. Even more impressive, more than once she'd stop and expertly move the string back and forth to keep it elevated even when she wasn't moving.

Unfortunately, it wasn't windy enough for a decent kite flying experience. Even I was only able to get Megan's Cars kite to stay up for about two minutes before it took a dive. Now that we know Cadence loves it, though, we'll have to give it a try the next time we have some decent wind. We could probably even do some light kite flying in our own backyard.

Fingers and Thumbs and Easter Eggs

The girls each have a bad habit. Cadence sucks her thumb and Megan spends more time with her middle two fingers in her mouth than not. Cadence's thumb-sucking isn't terrible anymore, she used to be as bad as Megan in that regard, but she still does it and it's already damaged her pretty smile.

After bribing, reminding, and coaxing them to keep their fingers out of their mouths, it eventually ended with them just grinning and laughing whenever we would try. Even moving their hands away from their mouths became a game.

So, I invested in a nail polish intended to stop nail biting. After one morning, we already have marked improvement. Before I submitted my girls to this torture, I painted my own thumb nail, which I do tend to chew on whenever I'm distracted or thinking or whatever and tasted it first. It is absolutely disgusting and poor Megan... since her nail does not immediately touch her tongue when she sucks on her fingers, as it does with thumb-sucking, means she sucks off quite a bit of the nasty tasting stuff, which only becomes tasteable when she removed her fingers and her tongue touches the roof of her mouth where the stuff has collected. Yes, I experimented with this as well, so I have nothing but sympathy for her. And, as I have yet to remove the nail polish from my own thumb nail, I've been getting random tastes of it throughout the day as well.

Of course, naptime is coming and the girls are growing a little more desperate about not being able to suck on their digits of choice as they grow tired.

*

Last night for FHE we dyed our Easter Eggs. I didn't take pictures, since two preschool aged girls and cups of colored dye over a carpeted dining room.... yes, it took both parents' full concentration to keep our rented carpet from becoming tie-dyed. The girls had a blast and they loved the shapes appearing on the eggs (I took a white crayon to them before we started). We used the wire whisk suggestion to give the girls full control of the situation, letting them "stir" the eggs gently to keep the occupied while we waited for the color to take. Can't wait for the Easter Bunny to scatter them around our backyard for the girls to go find. :-)

Speaking of the Easter Bunny, he's gotten more things than I wanted him to get for the girls, but I'm unable to say no every time a new idea pops into his (or is it a her?) head. They're not horribly spoiled, but they're definitely getting more than what was on the initial agreed-upon list.

They also have new dresses, which I bought a month ago. Early, I know, but I didn't want to wait until last minute again and have limited choices like I did at Christmas. I love the dresses the girls chose and, bonus, they've already forgotten they exist, so they'll be extra excited to see new dresses Sunday morning. There will be pictures of that, I promise.

*

We enjoyed General Conference this past weekend. Admittedly, I missed a lot of it. Watched most of it, but missed a lot of what was said. The girls sat through most of Sunday morning sessions. They weren't listening, but they were sitting quietly and coloring while it played on the TV, which was my goal, so success. :-) Cadence recognized the prophet when he spoke.Eager for the text of the talks to be posted so I can see what I missed.

Sunday Stories

Just a few anecdotes from the past hour or so:

-The girls attempted to carry blankets out the back door, which is against the rules. No blankets outside. As I reminded Megan of this, she scowled at me, a very deep, menacing scowl from beneath the blanket and frankly informed me: "No, it's a jacket" and then stubbornly set a foot outside. I managed to stifle most of my giggles as I walked over to take the blanket away. She has the worlds cutest scowl. She'll tilt her head down and her eyebrows practically touch her nose while she glares at you, complete with fully, pouty mouth.

-Some lawn equipment started up a few houses away while the girls played outside. The unusual noise scared them and they both came running for the back door to get inside, but just before stepping inside, Cadence decided the noise was only a goat. When questioned further, she informed me it was a goat getting a shower and stuck to that story every time the noise started up again. Who am I to argue against such a persuasive argument?

-The primary chorister gave us a CD with all the songs for the primary program in the fall. I put it in to play the songs. Currently, the hymn "Choose the Right" is one of Cadence's favorite songs. She knows the first two verses, only in part because we sing the song frequently throughout the week. Unexpectedly, Cadence began singing along with the CD, even when I did not. Of the seven songs on the CD, she knows three of them almost perfectly and can sing them with only a little encouragement from me. Now to work on the other four. :-)

This is not from today, but I'll share the story anyway:

-Last Sunday was Cadence's first talk in primary. I was a little upset to realize I would miss it, since they moved me to senior primary last week as a teacher. James coached her through it and I'm told she did marvelously, at least as well as a 3 year old with a microphone can be expected to do. She gave a talk on prophets and apostles.

I am really enjoying my new primary class. I was teaching the 4-year-olds, which was enjoyable, but I really, truly enjoy the 7 year olds I am now working with. They're the ones that are going to be baptized this year. We even had our lesson on baptism this week and I loved it. They're a great group of kids and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy being their teacher. Only two weeks in and I think they're amazing and one of the funnest ages I've been able to teach (and that's saying something, because I think I've taught pretty much every age primary has to offer at this point!)

Playing Pretend

Listened to Cadence playing pretend with two stuffed bears. The bears were having an argument similar to the one Cadence, Megan and I often have. Ever since I told Cadence she was a girl, we've often had moments where we argue over whether she's a girl or a dog or a chair or a balloon. She insists she's a girl and I'll offer other suggestions, which she'll giggle at and protest. So, the bears were arguing over this, then made up with a kiss and a hug and wandered off for another adventure.

Whenever she's on a slide, it's not uncommon for her to lay at the bottom, reaching for the top and crying "help, Megan, help me!"

And then earlier this morning, I watched them play pretend together. Megan pretended to cry, Cadence ran over to her and said "I found you! It's okay!" and then Megan stood up and hugged her and said "I missed you". Cadence said it back. Then Megan walked away, crouched and pretended to cry all over again.

Very cute. They tend to reenact/pretend to be familiar characters. Sometimes they pretend to be me. Sometimes they pretend to be characters from their favorite shows (currently "Phineas & Ferb"). Other times, I don't have a clue what they're pretending to be, but it's still cute.

Coloring (Mommy Brag)

Cadence's artistic skills continue to advance. While not perfect, she does an outstanding job at coloring within the lines for someone that's only 3. Well, 3 years and 3 months old. I know some suggest that "free thinking coloring", with a plain white page, is "better". Cadence enjoys both equally. It's fun to watch her color. She gets so focused on the page in front of her and you can see the concentration.

So, there it is. I know it's not CRAZY advanced for a 3 year old, but I know it is above average, and I do love to brag about my kids. Of course, after i took pictures of Cadence, Megan wanted hers done. Cadence helped color Megan's, since she can't keep her crayons to herself.
I told Megan to smile while I took her picture. She refused to do so when the picture was facing me, but I got a cute one anyway.
And then she came in for a close-up.
Let's just face it, I have the cutest girls in the world. There's no competition. Though, I will admit some of you have some contenders for second place. First place, however, is taken.

Day at the Zoo, Take 2

James's mother bought us a family pass to the zoo. It means the girls and I can go whenever we want and James can join us (should he ever get a day off again in this lifetime). Admittedly, it felt strange to go do something like the zoo without James. We always try to make such adventures a family thing, but I wasn't going to let the zoo passes go to waste. Besides, James had already gone with us, so it wasn't a newexperience, though we did do a few things we didn't do last time.

For example, we completely missed the primates exhibit last time we went, so the girls were ecstatic to discover cage after cage filled with monkeys. And then I got these pictures of their innerselves shining through.

The orangutan with the baby was so precious, I couldn't help but snap a quick picture of it. The baby kept looking at the girls and I, probably because we were making so much noise.
Shortly after leaving the primate exhibit, Cadence began begging to see a dragon. Lo and behold, minutes later, we were passing by the komodo dragon exhibit. I am not sure if she remembered it from last time or what, since it was in sight when she began asking for it. I'm not sure I convinced them this dragon isn't the same as the one on our video games...
Since members get carousel tickets half-price, I figured I'd treat the girls to a ride. They wanted to ride all of the animals and had a hard time deciding, but in the end they ended up on the lioness and the leopard, though Cadence referred to hers as a tiger for the entire ride.

The most exciting part of the day was getting to feed the giraffes. Armed with extremely overpriced leaves of lettuce, the girls got to get up close and personal and watch the giraffe snatch the leaves from their hands with its long tongue. Cadence giggled the entire time (can you see how hard she's grinning in the picture from her cheeks?)
After that, it was a quiet lunch in the children's zoo and then on to the petting zoo, where the girls, once again, enjoyed brushing the goats before racing around the many playplaces the children's zoo offered. Cadence stubbornly navigated a rope playplace intended for older children and Megan and I went up and down a ramp a dozen times to let her go down the slide.
Before we left, we stopped off at the aquarium. The girls went nuts over the displays. Starting with a huge aquarium filled with fish as large as them (no picture, though, because the little boy in the corner of this picture posed with them and I'm not putting the face of some stranger's kid up on the internet). They were especially fascinated with the reef fish, where they happily pointed out every Nemo and Dory they found. Nor were they the only ones referring to the fish by those names. I think scientists should just give in and rename the suckers.
And... the aftermath:

First and foremost, we must remember to wish happy birthday to our number one man! James is 27 today. Unfortunately, no special plans for his birthday. There'll be carrot cake and a special meal at his request tomorrow night. And the girls and I are going shopping for presents today, not that he's expecting any. He just got a new, expensive toy a few weeks ago. But, the girls and I don't have many excuses to spoil our favorite guy, so I'm taking full advantage!

Anyway, on to the girls (since that's the reason everyone reads this blog anyway).
Can I just say... I love their curls! They're not always quite so curly, but right after naps they've both got those run away curls that no amount of combing seems to tame. Cadence's hair is starting to straighten out, especially after it's washed and combed, but when it's been awhile since we shampooed their hair, they've both got crazy curls.

Cadence has started playing pretend lately and I find it fascinating. She's always trying to rope Megan into her make-believe, but Megan is completely clueless and just grins and runs in circles. The other day, Cadence insisted "I'm Angelina Ballerina, Megan, and you are Alice". Then before that, Cadence told her sister "I'm Mommy and you're James, Megan" (since Cadence still refers to James by "Daddy" and by his given name. She's outgrown the fascination with my given name). She then proceeded to roll her eyes and say "James" in a rather exasperated manner. I snorted. Seriously.

Megan's speech has improved by leaps and bounds (and Cadence's has gotten back to normal the more Megan speaks properly). She's forming complete sentences, with proper pronouns I might add. At the drop-in daycare they go to sporadically, the teachers have all thought she was older. When I told them she was 2, they assumed 2 almost 3, until I corrected them. She seems to be flourishing in nursery without her big sister and I'm quite pleased. It never even occurred to me that she might have a problem without Cadence in nursery with her, seeing as they've rarely been apart, until someone else asked how she was handling the situation.

Cadence is doing much better with primary. I still don't dare go into sharing time to be with my primary class, and am so grateful to the other parents who have substituted for that hour since my co-teacher is taking temple classes during that same hour. However, I do peek into the primary room while waiting the last few minutes before picking up my class and I am pleased to see Cadence smiling, laughing, and getting into singing time (Her new favorite song EVER is "Once There Was a Snowman"). She's fully adjusted and blossomed back into the sweet, slightly hyper girl everyone loves. I was even pleased when I caught her getting in trouble for being a little too eager and talking to her neighbor. Seriously, I bragged about it the rest of the day whenever anyone asked how she was doing.

I don't know what to say about Megan. Living in her sister's shadow, her "new things" often go unnoticed because I'm already used to such things from Cadence. But she is getting bigger. Just the other day I finally went through the girls' clothes, moved some of Cadence's clothes over to Megan's drawers and some of Megan's clothes into a box. Just another reminder of how big my littlest girl is getting. At the playground a week ago, she managed to even climb up the ladder to get on the platform instead of using the steps. My heart was in my throat and I was poised to spring forward at the first sign of distress, but she got it down and used it many more times after that.

Time to get ready to go run errands. Finish this episode of "Diego", then we'll get the girls dressed and head out.