There's a new girls' clothing store in town that my girls were dying to check out. An "incident" at the PetSmart (an effort to help our beleaguered fish) delayed our trip for a week, (Here's a tip: Fighting in the aisles with your sister won't get you a shopping trip) but finally, the day came.  

The girls had birthday money from my Dad -- he gave them a thick wad of one dollar bills -- so cute, they thought they were millionaires! so anyway their birthdays are in November and I figured since I haven't gotten around to buying them a savings bond with the money by now, I never will, so I told them they could use it in the store.

Sadly, the clothes start in size 6, so Ava, while a bit on the tall side, isn't THAT tall, so we decided hair bands was the way to go for her. (I'm not talking Whitesnake or Motley Crue -- I mean the little curved, fabric-covered pieces of plastic little girls wear to hold their hair back. ) Hair bands and a flashlight. And cherry lip gloss.

Claire had a bit harder time deciding. After proclaiming she wanted the first outfit she saw in the window, then the first one she saw in the store, I advised her to check out the whole store and then decide. That's what she was doing when she found the iCarly CD. That was it. Why the child would decide to buy a CD when she had all those clothes to choose from is beyond me, but that's what she wanted. I will take fashion over music every time, but hey, I want her to be her own little person, right?

She even tried one dress on that was so cute I would've bought it for myself if they had a matching Mother section. I resisted my impulse to try to sway her, and so now we're dancing to iCarly music all day. I guess that's more fun anyway.

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A few updates... the quartet of fish is still hanging in there, but according to the ammonia gauge I bought at PetSmart, the poor guys are swimming in toxic water. This "new tank syndrome" is supposed to take 4-6 weeks to resolve itself, so we're almost there. I hope!

We are indeed, as Jessica relayed in her Chili blog, watching her beloved Ginger while she (Jessica) gallivants up onto the mountain this weekend. So far, so good! We did lose the leash for a while, and Ava's face was covered in hives from Ginger "kissing" her, but other than that we all seem to be settling right in.

Bennett's birthday was two weeks ago. I tried and tried to find the words to express how I feel about my baby boy turning 1. But I either a) get too sappy and my crying makes it difficult to type or b) come nowhere close to hitting the mark. So I give up.

Happy Birthday Boy!