Time for a change

I've resigned. My last day is Dec 12. Danny has resigned. Today was his last day at his old job. He starts what will soon be my old job on Monday. Whee!
Mika found the idea somewhat amusing for about 20 seconds then wanted to go back to reading her Chirp magazine.

More as it happens...

Finally...

Mika had her first haircut tonight. It only took about 12 months of convincing. She just had a couple of inches trimmed all the way around - nothing radical. Mika is very much into being a grown-up (as she calls it) and when I told her that she still had her baby hair, she was all good to go for a haircut to get rid of it. As usual, she conducted herself very well. She's more mature than most people I know. :)
Declan has hit the vocab explosion stage - although he still only calls Mika 'Dora', he learns what seems like 20 new words a day. Both kids must have just had growth spurts as we noticed this morning that shoes are not fitting, pants are too short, etc.

First Dentist Visit

Mika had her first dentist/hygienist appointment this evening. She did so well that we almost did not believe it! We go to an office in the mall and they're pretty good with kids without being a specialized children's dentist. Mika let the hygienist brush her teeth with the motorized toothbrush without a problem and let the dentist poke at her teeth without issue as well. Mika's teeth are in fantastic shape - no cavities! In addition to getting s disney princess toothbrush and floss sticks, she was allowed to pick two toys from the treasure chest for doing such a good job and doesn't have to return until next year. w00t! Mika was *very* proud of herself as are we.

Boo

We had such a great halloween this year!

In September @ Winners, Mika saw a mini-muffin pan bundled with halloween cake decorations. We bought it as I wanted a mini-muffin pan anyway. This past Wednesday, Mika baked the cupcakes and helped Daddy carve a kitty cat pumpkin. On Thursday, she decorated the cupcakes and we made treat bags for her friends. On Friday, Daddy and I managed to pick up the kids from the dayhome a bit early. (Sheena has been doing halloween fun and crafts with them for the past couple of weeks too. Bat-mobile rocks!)
We came home and finished another 3 pumpkins for the front stoop, fed the kids, let Mika convince me to wear a costume after all, painted a face or two and hit the streets. Oh, and left a bowl of treats on the steps for the local treaters. The kids hit their favorite haunts on our block before the sun went down. We were the first ones out. Both kids braved the spooky yards like champs. I think Mika will be a cheesy horror movie fan in the future. She seems to enjoy having the wits scared out of her. After we visited the neighbors, we headed down to the west end boys & girls club. Sammi's Mom was hosting a haunted house. It was awesome, but not really meant for the 2-4 yr old set. There were a number of older kids and adults that refused to go through. It started with a witch and her cauldron, moved to a table of horrors with a live head on a platter, on to the oracle, and ending with a leatherface guy that chased you out with a chainsaw. I have never seen Mika so scared before as when that guy jumped out and chased them with the chainsaw. Sammi's Mom felt bad about not telling chainsaw guy to lay low while the wee ones went through. Nonetheless, Mika got over it and we were off and running. Kristeen and the girls live not far from where we were and stopped by the haunted house on their rounds. Saoirse wasn't into the haunted house, but we had a great time trick-or-treating through their neighborhood. Mika had much more fun running from house to house with Saoirse than she did with her family earlier. Go figure! The girls were SO cute. They chimed trick-or-treat LOUDLY in unison and always remembered to say thank you after receiving a treat. We arrived home around 8PM - in time for Mika to have a blast handing out candy to the few latecomers that we had. It's always nice to see your kids be more into giving than receiving.

One family in our 'hood were putting up their christmas lights instead of handing out candy. WAY more scary was seeing a fully lit christmas tree in someone's living room last night. Jakers!