"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."

Saturday, December 31, 2011

A New Year's Eve Walk

Today the weather was beautiful so we took a long walk around the neighborhood with the children.


(Blue skies but no blooms -- don't worry, Cayce, they will be here before you know it.)


BabyCakes must have been afraid of the paparazzi when we left the house -- she couldn't leave without her shades and cell.  
You think I kid but this is really how she pranced through the neighborhood.


 Do you hear what I hear see what I see?


That's right, DEflated holiday inflatables.*

I may have mentioned a time or two that I don't care for this type of seasonal lawn ornamentation.


Now that Christmas is over they can take their place in the Christmas bin under the tangled lights. 
HoHoHo HaHaHa, enjoy your eleven-month burial, Mr. 9-feet-tall-Snowglobe!

Ok, I have to go.  BabyCakes just texted me that she has a poopy diaper.

*I should mention that my children LOVE inflatables!  Of course they do.  They are fun and whimsical. I still want to drive my mid-size vehicle through one, though.

Friday, December 30, 2011

So Fresh So Clean

It's no secret that I love Spring
The past two years (wow, I am coming up on two years blaaahging!) I have heralded its arrival with 10 choirs of angels.  Maybe not explicitly, but it was pretty clear in my posts that I was happy to see the season arrive.

There are a few things I do to keep things fresh and happy around here when the days aren't so "fresh and happy" outside.

First thing every morning I open all the blinds throughout the house.  Let in the light!

Next I try to keep surfaces cleared.  Notice I say "cleared" and not "clean."  
I hate seeing junk on counters, vanities, etc.  It needs to find it's home or get put in a pile that I will take care of later be dealt with.  I'm not always good at this one but I am actively striving to do better with organization.

Here are some examples of how I try to keep it "Springy" up in this joint:

Sheer curtains in the bedroom allowing for lots of natural light.


Tasty and pretty citrus fruit in the dining room/ middle of the house.


Plants (I can't kill) tucked away on bookshelves...


and in the kitchen.



Have friends over...


as much as possible.


Enjoy a perk of the current season.


And in between all the cleaning and organizing...

Play!




Thursday, December 29, 2011

No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree...

Yesterday we put away the Christmas decorations.  Here's where the tree used to live:


Ahhh, much better.  I feel like I lost ten pounds.
(At least something made me feel like I lost ten pounds because it certainly hasn't been that bitchy scale lately.)


I'm ready for Spring!

J informed me yesterday that it is not yet Spring like I wish to think, but instead just became Winter.
I thought that comment was totally unnecessary.
"Winter-shminter!", that's what I have to say about that.
(WHERE THE CRAP DO YOU PUT COMMAS WHEN YOU ARE DEALING WITH QUOTATION MARKS????!!!  I can never remember.  Is there a 4th grade English teacher in the house?)

Last year I told you how much I dread the gray days of this season so this year I plan to just skip over it completely.


I am going to embrace the colors I've surrounded myself with and move on to cleaning and organizing this place.


On a different note, today BabyCakes is wearing what might be my favorite pillowcase dress from Grandma yet.  I bought this dino fabric to make a curtain for BigBoy's room but decided it was a little babyish for the long run so I gave it and a ribbon to her and asked her if she could work her magic.


She made this dress for BabyCakes and adorable pajamas for BigBoy (I'll try to get a picture).


I love that it is unconventional subject matter for a girls print and the red/orange/teal/lime colors are awesome.


Ok, back to the cleaning.  I'm teaching BabyCakes and BigBoy how to clean the baseboards.  

Hehe, they're so lucky I'm their mom.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

WW Wednesday

Oookaaaay just putting this out there before bed to get it over with.

Yep, I was up at the scale this week.  I bet you were too if you stepped on it. ;)
I enjoyed every single bite (of chocolate) of that gain, too.

Moving forward-- you know the drill.

Start over.

Move more.

I am going to move past this plateau and finish the "losing" phase of this jooooourney.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A glimpse at our Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!
It was a lego/babydoll Christmas morning around here.
J gave me an awesome new 50mm lens for my camera.  It should make for better indoor and close-up photos.  I played around with it some but I have a lot to learn and I can't wait!
Here are just a few shots that represent our fun-filled day:







Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Much love to all my friends and family, today and every day!

~Cayce


Thursday, December 22, 2011

Putting the "Cake" in "BabyCakes"

Tuesday we had a family celebration for BabyCake's 2nd Birthday.  Her real party will be on New Year's Day. (Hey, you try planning a Christmas baby's party!)
We had store-bought cupcakes I lined up like a "K" for her name.  

(It was evening when I took these pics, so sorry about the quality.)


She didn't even get her new purple tricycle because it was cold and dark outside.
Poor neglected child...


She did open a present from papa and grandma and now she's lugging around a sock monkey ballerina everywhere.  :)


  I think she had a good birthday.


These quick dusk (bad lighting) pics capture who she is at 2 right now (in an adorable dress grandma made).




But I can't wait to take her  Little June photos in the dress Melissa made her!

WW Wednesday

I'm starting to notice a trend with my WW Wednesday posts... they seem to be happening on Thursdays.
Oh well, sometimes plans change but that doesn't mean they have to be abandoned alltogether (altogether? all-together? Spell check gave me three options.), am I right?

Last week my goal was to track my points.  Well, I did.  And let me tell ya, it was NOT pretty.
(Imagine wide eyes and a scrunched wrinkle-inducing forehead here.)

I went waaaHAAAAY over my daily and weekly points allowances.
Like, never-came-close-to-having-those-points-in-the-first-place-and-never-gonna-repay over my allowance.

I think I even owe points to China now.


They sure tasted good, though.  :)

Anyway, I ended up gaining half a pound last week.
Christmas miracle, indeed!

One more week of gluttony and then I'm back on the ball.

I kid, I kid.

No really, I am enjoying myself (within reason) through Christmas and then joining the masses of resolutionists who are committing to "eating right and moving more".

I'm not waiting till after New Year's, though.

Until next week, Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

TWOsday the 20th

Hey BabyCakes,


Guess what today is...


 Your Birthday!!!


You are TWO!


"Okay, so what's for breakfast?"

Monday, December 19, 2011

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

WW Wednesday & A Winner!

Hi there!

Today was my WW meeting and BabyCakes is wrapping up a nap so let's get down to business, shall we?

I had a very nice weigh-in today.
Surprisingly nice.
Like double-cheesy-grin-because-I-don't-know-how-I-deserve-it nice.  :D :D

I wasn't so sure it would go well at the scale because of my peppermint bark problem, but I guess I didn't do so bad after all.
I got a fair amount of activity in, too, so that seems to have helped.  I'm now officially back at my lowest weight since starting!  Woohoo!  It took some time to get rid of -- then gain, re-lose, gain, and re-lose -- a few pounds I picked up over the last few months.  Now that I've broken through that it feels great!
I'd secretly (or not-so-secretly since I'm writing about it here) love to hit the next "decade" of numbers by the first of the year.  That would be a Happy New Year, indeed!  

So, I committed to a friend that I would stone-cold track my points for the next few months.  Hopefully that will be enough to see me to "goal."  That is what I am committing to this week.  I'm not saying I'm going to eat all fruits and veggies but I AM going to track it all and be conscious of my choices.

And now for the Winner of the 20 in 20 Challenge...
I assigned everyone who said they were participating in the challenge & has contacted me in the last month a number.  I then used a random number generator and this was the result:


Number 3 was Casey!  Congratulations, Casey!
You will be receiving a custom family tree print like the one pictured here:



The rest of the participants will receive a little something in the mail, too.  :)

Thanks so much to everyone who participated or showed up for support!  

"You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures."

~Charles C. Noble

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Quiet

I haven't felt very creative lately.  Not for a while, actually.
I have no witty remarks on life or sentimental remembrances about my small children.
All that adds up to less blogging.

Why is that?

Is it because something is wrong with me?  Am I upset about something?  Bored with something?

No, I don't think so.  Perhaps it is because life is not a 30-minute sitcom once a week.

Things have been good/normal.  I can't complain.  It's my favorite time of the year and a runny nose, whining, and terrible-two-tantrums are pretty much the worst of it in my daily life.
That's probably better than good/normal...



I still self-medicate with chocolate on the whinier days.
Sometimes I even take it a little too far. (If you have never tried peppermint bark, do yourself a favor and DON'T!  It is highly addictive-- at least for me.)

I am here at my computer in my warm, quiet house, toddler napping and in between loads of laundry -- and it is mildly unnerving.  I thought I sought quiet more than anything.  PEACE was so important.
But now that I have two healthy boisterous children, I find that commotion is more befitting to an interesting life.
BigBoy is at school and I miss him. (Am I really saying this?)
I miss his incessant talking and slamming the gate on his door too loud and forgetting his lunch box.
I also miss his soft cheek, spontaneous sweet comments, and never-ending affection.


BabyCakes is asleep and I miss her.
I miss her screeches and increasingly-difficult-to-detangle hair and her talent for making everything messy, even when you didn't think it was possible.


I also miss her puffy-cheeked kisses, butt-naked running around the house like a crazy woman, and laying her head on my chest while sucking her thumb when she is tired.

Maybe I am just hormonal today.  I am not describing anything unique to me or my own children. Most days I look forward to and lovingly bathe myself in the rare quiet of this house.

Funny how it takes a moment of quiet to realize you miss the commotion.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

 "Screech!  Mommy! Crash! Bang! Louder screech!"

BabyCakes is up.  Where'd I put that chocolate?

Friday, December 9, 2011

WW Wednesday: 5 Minute Edition

Wednesday was the last day of the 20 in 20 Challenge.
Did I lose 20?  No.
Did I continue on my joooourney for 20 weeks? Yes.

The rest of the 20 will come off eventually.
Lesson learned: When it comes to something so personal for me, a hardcore challenge doesn't quite work.  I have to just be the tortoise in this race and keep pluggin along.


I had the BEST birthday weekend ever!  My family was super-sweet to me the whole weekend.  I was treated like a queen Friday through Sunday and enjoyed every bit of it.  :)

I had a fantastic time out with my friends on Saturday!  I would give more details but I don't want to.  :)

All in all it feels great to be 30.  Thank you to everyone who has sent birthday wishes!  It has been a crazy/great year and I look forward to the next 30!

XOXO ~ Cayce

I'm still alive

Hey, I am around and hoping for a real BabyCakes nap later so I can do a WW post and catch y'all up on things!
Off to the store...
Hope you have a great Friday!

Friday, December 2, 2011

8 Things

Upon a friend's suggestion, here are a few things about me that you may or may not know:
(There are only 8 because I'm in a bit of a hurry.)

1. My toenails are always painted and usually they are a dark pink or purple shade.



2. I don't like much fish but I do like tuna.  Only FRESH tuna steaks and not from a can or a pouch, though.  I guess I'm a tuna snob.  Sorry, Charlie.  ;)

3. My Wii controllers live in a crystal bowl wedding present.



4. I learned the word "matryoshka" (nesting dolls you see especially at Christmas) from a then 2-year-old Biz.  Yes, a toddler's vocabulary was stronger than mine.



5. I went on a 4-country tour of Europe in 10 days the summer after I graduated highschool.  It was better than I dreamed it would be, and I did a LOT of dreaming.
I have almost no decent photographs and my only souvenir is a now-broken ornament but I have no regrets about that trip.


6. When I was a little kid I laid on the couch and dropped a very fine chain necklace down my nose and nasal passages.  My mom found one tiny link exposed and managed to use tweezers to extract the entire necklace.


7. Of the many types of chocolate I enjoy, I believe the one that makes me the happiest to eat is none other than the hard-working Snickers Nutcracker, available only at Christmastime.  The chocolate-to-Snickers ratio combined with a handlebar mustache is too much to resist.  He tastes best after marinating in a Christmas stocking.


8. Toward the end of my healthy-eating BigBoy pregnancy (seriously, I was quite healthy) I took to dipping frosted strawberry poptarts in cherry koolaid... yum.   I'm lucky he doesn't have 12 toes.



So, that's it for today.  It is my 30th Birthday and I have to get moving and enjoy it before it's over!  I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I know I will!