Cassidy's Bad Day: Three going on Thirteen

Yesterday when I picked Cassidy up from school, our conversation went like this...

Mama:     How was your day today?
Cassidy:  Not good.  I had a bad day.
Mama:     Why?  What happened?
Cassidy:  Caleb knocked over my block tower and Becca and Emmy aren't my best friends anymore.
Mama:     What?!  Why did Caleb knock over your tower?
Cassidy:  I don't know.  I was building a castle, but he knocked down my tower so I couldn't.
Mama:    What happened with Becca and Emmy?
Cassidy:  I messed up their bird cake and now they aren't my friends anymore.
Mama:    Well, did you mess up their bird cake on purpose, or was it an accident?
Cassidy:  On purpose.
Mama:    Hmmm.. Do you think that was nice?
Cassidy:  No.
Mama:    Well, I'll bet if you tell them you are sorry, they'll forgive you and still be your friends.
Cassidy:  Okay.

This morning, Cassidy declared that she was going to forgive Becca and Emmy and be friends again.

Christmas Festivities in Mississippi

Mama and Cassidy spent the weekend up at Nana and Papas.  We drove to a "Story of Jesus" display by a local church where along a 1/2 mile stretch of road, various scenes are depicted showing various parts of the timeline leading to Jesus' birth.  It was neat, but Cassidy was kind of done being in a car after the drive up to Mccomb.

The next day we went to see Santa Claus who was in a parade in a nearby town.  Naptime prevented us from making it to the parade (wouldn't you know that'd be the day Cassidy slept for 2 hours) but we met Santa afterwards at the post-parade celebration.

Waiting in line to see Santa.

Getting her face painted.

Dora and Diego's appearance was a nice surprise for Cassidy!

St. Nick's

Although I published this on December 6th, we actually overslept that morning, so Cassidy didn't get her loot until the 7th.  Gifts from St. Nick included a baby doll to take in the bath, a Dora craft kit for making a necklace or bracelet, a Froggie sponge, The Velveteen Rabbit, a Dora book and Diego Book, a small Etch-a-sketch, and some candy. 

 St. Nick loves the Dollar General Store!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Playtime and Photos at City Park

Feeding the ducks.

Making funny faces while I try to take pictures.

She's discovered the art of cheesing for the camera.

We were also super productive over the weekend. 

With Nana entertaining Cassidy, Jeff and I got to work.  We installed our first window by ourselves! 

It was uneventful and successful, with no fighting or bickering at all!  It took us nearly 6 hours, but we did stop for a yummy lunch at Jaegers!

We also reinforced the neighbor's back yard fence. 

About a week ago, after Jeff and Cassidy had left in the morning, when I went to let the dogs in only Sake turned up ... and I swear she was grinning.  I heard Baxter in the distance, yelping for help. 

I went outside to find him in the neighbors yard, unable to fit back through the fence where he had managed to squeeze through the space where a board had falled down.  I tried coaxing.  I tried bribing. I tried pulling.  The dog actually defied physics when he fit his pudgy body through that space.  

I got in the car, drove around the block, and knocked on the neighbors door.  No answer.  Luckily their side gate was unlocked, so I opened it and Baxter came running.  He thought it great fun that he got to ride in the front seat on the way home, and I swear Sake was laughing at him when we went back inside.   

So now we have a two layer fence reinforced with screws rather than nails, which the dogs seem to be able to pull (or push) out.

We also put up our Christmas decorations!

Weekend at Nana and Papa's

We spent the weekend up at Nana and Papa's in McComb and went out on the boat for the first time.  Cassidy liked it for but was not too fond of the noisy motor or going fast.  It was a bit chilly this time, but I can't wait to go out when it's warm and do some fishing! 

We also tried fishing out in front of Nana and Papa's house, but there are apparently no fish in that lake ... so Cassidy enjoyed that for about 2 minutes. 

 I didn't mind the lack of fish, and spent a good hour casting and catching nothing while enjoying the sunshine!

Trick-Or-Treat 2011

Cassidy had a halloween party at school.  She wanted to wear her Tigger costume but I told her she couldn't because it was too difficult to take it off to use the potty.  So I tried to convince her to wear her fairy princess costume we had bought her for this halloween. 

 But...

when we tried it on after we bought it a few weeks ago, one of the plastic tag connectors from the store scratched her shoulder.  This lead to non-stop crying and screaming until she peeled the costume off despite my protests. 

So needless to say...

all the convincing in the world couldn't get the girl back into that costume. 

She insisted on wearing her Tinkerbell costume from last year which I also vetoed because of the leotard which would require full stripping for potty use.  So with one FRUSTRATED mommy still talking up the fairy princess outfit, Cassidy put together a costume consisting of her pink leggings, white shirt (which we were going to wear under the fairy costume to "make sure it didn't scratch her again"), a pink tutu, and a furry pink shawl. 

Well, after I realized I was the one being difficult and immature by insisting she wear the costume I picked out, I pulled out the scissors and snipped the leotard part of the Tinkerbell costume off so she could wear it like a shirt.... and wow, was my girl happy.

For Trick-Or-Treating, she wore her Tigger costume and Jeff went as Winnie the Pooh, which Cassidy thought was great fun! 



Now how many dads do you know who would dress up as Winnie the Pooh for their girl?!?

We took to the streets in search of candy and our little girl walked over 1/2 mile going from house to house before she started to fizzle out.

Cassidy and Dominick, our neighbor's grandson.

As we approached her limit, she alternated saying "Let's go home..." and "Just one more house" until finally she said "Pick me up please" and home we went.

Grandma and Grandpa K. Visit!

Jeff's parents came to visit at the end of October!  We once again put Fred to work, teaching us how to install new windows.  The boys worked really hard and replaced all the bedroom windows while Fred was here!  I stayed home from work one morning to watch and learn so we can do the next windows ourselves.

Thank you so much Fred ... we definitely couldn't have done this without you. 

They took a day off for a trip the aquarium to have some fun though.

And we checked out a church festival in Lakeview.  We love the church festivals, with all the kiddie rides for Cassidy to enjoy and the fair food for us to enjoy!

Another great visit!  Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa K!