week ending sept 2, 2007

Week ending September 2, 2007: This week the kids had two great visits, one with each of the Grammies. Grammy Carole brought art projects from the craft store and each twin got to make their own soft foam castle. They followed directions pretty well and the projects kept their attention through the construction and decoration. Grammy Barb brought ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. Each twin stood on a chair at the kitchen counter and Grammy Barb would measure out the ingredients and the twins would dump the ingredients out of the cups or spoons, and then they helped with stirring and dropping the cookies onto the cookie sheets. The cookies turned out great and we’ve been eating them all week. Also this week we took our first stroller-free trip to the mall. The kids made it through nearly 3 hours of walking the mall without too much complaining. Toward the end of the trip they wanted to stop and sit down at every chair or bench that we passed, but I think that is understandable.


When we were at the grocery store this week Chloe got chatty with the bagger, so the bagger decided to try to draw Alex into the conversation by asking him his name. Alex told her his name and then he turned to me and exclaimed “Mommy, I wasn’t shy this time!”. It happens quite often that Chloe chats with strangers and Alex doesn’t want to join in so Chloe or I will tell people that Alex is shy. Alex was so proud of himself for not being shy this time and I wish I had thought quickly enough to tell him that *I* was proud of him, but I guess as they go off to school and spend less and less time with me, it is more important for them to be proud of themselves than for them to do things to try to make me proud.

On Sunday we took the kids for their second ever fishing trip. I can’t believe it has been since mid-June since we took the kids out on the boat. The summer just seemed to fly by. The trip went great. The weather was perfect and we caught 16 fish in 2 and a half hours which was plenty to keep the kids amused the whole time we were on the water. We were using blood worms for bait and bottom fishing so 15 of the fish were very small spot and white perch, but our last fish was a 12 inch croaker that we got to bring home and eat for dinner. Grammy Barb had told the kids how fun it is to catch croaker and listen to the funny noise they made. The kids kept asking when we were going to catch a croaker, so I’m glad we got one at the end. The kids giggled and squealed and hopped up and down every time we had a fish on. Casey held the fish so Alex and Chloe could touch them. We used the kids-sized Sponge Bob and Barbie fishing rods that we’d given the kids for their 3rd birthday, so they could do everything from put the lines out to setting hooks and reeling the fish in. When we got the 12 inch croaker on the line I reeled it in and on those little tiny rods it was like fighting Moby Dick! The picture of Alex and Chloe in thier life vests is the first frame of a video of Alex reeling in a fish. Click on the triangle in the lower left corner of the picture to make it play. This is the life Casey's been dreaming of!