Painting Party

I'm aiming to finish decorating the guest room this spring. Or at least this year. Friday night I enlisted Cade to help me.

 

As you can see he was a very hard worker.

Now unfortunately Lowes had a snafu around my paint color so my sample bucket and my full-size bucket were labeled the same but did not actually match. So I had to redo the wall Cade helped me with using the full-size bucket color. The end result is a shade lighter than I wanted but I'm telling myself it is for the best because it will help keep the room from looking too small.

Painting should be finished this week so we'll see.

Cutting Back

Every 2-3 years, for like the past 10-15, I find that I haven taken on too many commitments. You think after all this time, I would learn. But no. I just get so darn excited about so many things, I sign up for them all.

The high school version: Join student council? Yes! Tutor elementary school students? Yes! Work part-time? Yes! Take AP classes? Yes! Try to have a social life? Yes! Sleep? ...oh I knew I was forgetting something.

The college version: Take a full course load? Yes! (Especially since it was costing a fortune either way). Join TriDelta? Yes! Work part-time? Yes! Host parties at your awesome apartment? Yes! Sleep? ....oh I knew I was forgetting something.

Traveling and wife-ing on our Fredericksburg trip

The mom version: Raise a child? Yes! Be a good wife? Yes! Work out regularly? Yes! Have a full-time job? Yes! Travel? Yes! Generally take care of myself by going to the dentist, doctor, etc? Yes! Blog? Yes! Volunteer? Yes! Watch trashy TV and drink wine? Yes! See friends? Yes! Visit family? Yes! Make Pinterest-worthy anything? Occasionally, yes! Sleep? ...oh right, that again.

So as I have had to continually do, it was time to cut back. And a handful of these aren't up for negotiation. My boys, for example, are (thankfully) here to stay. And though we all have days we'd rather not work, I never have days when I'd rather not have the income, and truth be told, I really do like my job. Cutting out the dentist and whatnot was tempting but ultimately not an adult decision.

This go-around, I cut back on blogging, specifically for the Austin Mom's Blog. I really did enjoy doing it but I found it was a solitary activity for me. Which is what I set out for initially but as I got involved I realized how social it could be with all the fun public and private blogger events that were held. Yet unfortunately, I never ever could fit any of those in. Literally the only other time I saw my fellow bloggers in person was at our group photoshoot last year and it was truly a three ring circus to get there during rush hour on a work day.

I was, of my own doing, having a half-assed blogger experience. Doing things half-assed isn't nearly as fun, meaningful or productive as doing things all in. I mean if you are going to raise a kid, RAISE that kid. If you are going to watch trashy TV and drink wine, well then damn it, make sure you chill the bottle and have some pajama pants ready.

I'll of course continue to be an enthusiastic reader. It really is the best place to find a list of 50 splashpads, events around town, kid-friendly day trips, hilarious stories in mothering and such. (For an example, check out my swan song, Mom and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.)

I'm hoping with my new found time, I can do the other things a wee bit better. I especially want to get more active in my new volunteer group, which being based in Round Rock, is relatively easy for me to participate in. Also, as part of my new year's resolutions, I'm hopeful I can work out a smidge more and maybe I'll do a few things, like decorating the guest room, with Pinterest-worthy flair.

Thanks AMB - it was fun!

That super kid I'm raising...
by turning him into a toddler yuppie at Starbucks before school

 

Christmas Traditions

A few days ago I got very concerned with Christmas traditions. Cade is old enough to be totally in love with Santa and Rudolph now and I wanted to make sure this Christmas - and subsequent ones - was totally awesome for him. Ross' schedule throws in the monkey wrench of date inconsistency year after year and that was throwing me off. When would Santa come? How would we explain the ever-moving date? What could be consistent, even if the date moved?

I stressed sufficiently but eventually was distracted by something else. Like in the moment needs of caring for a family.

Today is Christmas Eve and what our tradition could be, should be, will be dawned on me. Since Ross is off for 48 hours, whenever it happens, our Christmas tradition is going to be just that. 48 hours of Christmas awesomeness.

It "came to me" because really, that's what we're trying to do this year. Ross is off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (jackpot!) and I really wanted to make the most of it. So we're spreading the fun out over both days. And while it is really awesome to have Christmas Eve and Day this year, I realized we can always celebrate for two full days. Every year. So that is what we'll be doing.

This year that meant Christmas music and stockings this morning. Stockings, for us we've decided, are from family. No Santa involved and they are done just the four (Mom, Dad, Cade & Lexi) of us. That's our own little private slice of holiday time. So at 8 a.m. today we busted into our stockings.

Aquarium trains for his train set, complete with water and toy fish and they light up!

Now we're laying low. Everyone is in pajamas; Cade is watching a Thomas Christmas movie, Ross is napping and I am drinking really delicious special Christmas wine. When Cade's movie is over, he and I will decorate gingerbread-man cookies for Santa and early this evening, we'll go to church with Nana and Grandpa Jack.

Tomorrow my parents will arrive, and after naptime, we'll have the big family Christmas party with tree presents and dinner.

It's all the normal things of Christmas, but I'm really enjoying stretching them out across two days instead of cramming everything into one. It also means we can do EVERYTHING: movies, stockings, tree presents, big dinner, and church. Literally all of the Christmas things.

In 20 years, when Cade is in college and everyone is talking about their Christmas traditions, I hope he'll say "we had Christmas weekend. It always lasted two days." Maybe he'll say "we did stockings just us" or "we had surf-n-turf for dinner," some of the little more traditional traditions we're slowly establishing. But if his story is we celebrated and had the best time ever for two days, I'll feel like I've done my mommy job on the Christmas front.

These Halls Are Decked!

We're still working on the outside (long story) but inside, we are festive and ready for Christmas!

The Tree


The Living Room


The Dining Room & Kitchen


My Favorites


More! More! More!

Summer Vacation is Here!

At long last, our family summer vacation!

We kicked it off Friday with Ross picking Cade up from school early and me having happy hour with Haila. Then yesterday, Cade shipped out for two days at Nana Camp. I spent the day poolside with Nichole and Brittany and then Ross, Mike and Lindsey joined us downtown for a few drinks.

Today started with activity and then turned to been lazy lazy lazy. We started with a long Lexi walk down the Brushy Creek Trail. Afterward I finally finished decorating the game room! Check out the pics.

Framed board games were the final touch

Cute cubbies and Fort Cade were earlier this summer

Then we ran a few errands in prep for the beach and then vegged out. I've watched two movies (Bridesmaids and Labor Day) and two episodes of another show. I think Ross has been playing computer games and napping.

I'm going to finish my night with an exhilarating combination of kitchen cleaning and reading. Tomorrow I pick Cade up at 9:30a and we're spending the afternoon at the waterpark.

Vacation, full of fun and relaxation, is definitely here.

A La Casa de Negra

Back at the Black Family Home (a la casa de negra)...

We are looking down the tunnel to vacation! Just two school days for Cade, two works days for me and one shift for Ross stand between us and VACATION!

We are SO ready.

Stayin' cool in the hot, hot, hot summer

And pretty unrelated but also, it is 102 here. H-O-T hot. So in addition to looking longingly down the tunnel to vacation, we're also looking for ways to cool off. I have spent more time in my swimsuit the past 2 weeks than I have in years. There have been pools and splash pads and sprinklers galore. Luckily we've had some nice nights but those hours after work and before Cade's bed time are just scorchin' hot. I figure we have 4-5 more weeks of crazy hot before it will simmer back down to just plain hot for a month and then by early October we'll waltz into warm.

Also on the homefront, Cade is super into me right now. Which is very sweet. But we firmly believe in shared equal (but different) parenting so Ross is pushing through some tears to handle bedtime. After all, they need father-son time and Mommy has dishes to wash before she can zone out to 30 minutes of trashy TV. Last night was worse, tonight was better. One of many phases in childhood I assume.

I think that covers us. Over and out.

Poor Baby

Ok, preschool, you were right. Our little boy is sick. I think it is just a good old fashioned cold. One that likes to take center stage after midnight each night. Ross did a 11:30p-2a shift on Thursday and I did a 12:30-3a shift last night. Blessedly, right now little boy Black is 2+ hours into an afternoon nap. Goodness knows he and I both need it.

I'm sure the cutest boy in Texas will be back to his usual train-loving, playground-running, chatterboxing way soon. Hopefully by tomorrow as our family has a busy Monday that really needs a healthy boy to be successful.

In other news though, we're working on a gameroom makeover! I would say we're "redecorating" but that implies we actually decorated it in the first place.

It's a mish-mash of a couch from Nancy's house that Ross loves, a table from Amazon, a Black Friday TV deal, toy cubbies, and cheapie posters. And as you can see, I didn't bother to clean up for the "before" photos below. It'll make the big makeover that much more dramatic. Kinda like how people never smile in the "before" photo but have a mega-watt grin for the "after" photo.

The Pinterest board is growing and the first round of decor has been purchased from Target.com. Full makeover to occur in July when Cade spends 2 nights with Nana (because you know, toddlers and wet paint do NOT mix). Stay tuned!

Nana Camp

Cade went to Nana Camp!

What's Nana Camp you say? Two nights with Nana and Grandpa Jack while they are on spring break, preschool is on spring break but Mommy and Daddy are not on spring break.

Wednesday afternoon we had a "Cade exchange" on our way to our house closing. That's right - house closing! We sold our first house, the one in Pflugerville, and are now down to just one mortgage. Woohoo!

So between closing in the house and two days of closed preschool, we were going to need lots of help with the little guy. Enter Nana Camp.

Like I said, Wednesday the eagle landed in Nana's car and then it was off for two nights of fun. As you can see, he had a lot of fun.

throwing rocks in the creek

feeding the birds

park playdate with Nana's friends

As for us closing on the house was pretty fun. Probably the most fun you can have doing paperwork to be honest. But then it was to work on Thursday. That night was my first night home alone since Cade was born. It was nice to just head out the door to walk Lexi or go to the store when I wanted...but otherwise, meh. I thought I would relish in the alone time but it turns out I do the same things alone at home that I do with my whole family here: go for a walk, watch some trashy TV, wash my hair and vacuum.

Anyways, Nana Camp worked out great for everyone. Cade had extra time with his grandparents, they got extra Cade time but still had most of their spring break to themselves, we knocked out work days plus the house closing. Win!

Christmas Eve!

Wowzas - we've been so busy with the holidays I haven't even shared anything from our big Christmas Eve!

Let me hit the highlights for you.

We woke up and did stockings "just us." They mostly contained the typical loot - socks, shaving cream, floss, gum. Cade's had an art theme so he got watercolors, a painting smock, and some color bath stuff. Since pile under the tree was so large, we added two of his tree presents to stocking time, including a set of three balls. They were VERY popular and provided lots of pre-party entertainment.



My parents arrived at lunch, said a quick hello and then took me out to lunch while Ross put Cade down for his nap.

At 3p or so, the party started! Appetizers and tree presents. There was a MOUNTAIN of presents by the time everyone brought all of theirs inside. Eventually Cade had to open two to everyone else's one.

We planned to save his big present for last but with so many gifts, we realized it would be dark before we finished. So a few minutes before 5, we took an outside break. Here's a video of what happened next


As you can see, his reaction full of "wow" and "yay" was absolutely perfect! He's been loving his slide castle ever since and I am SO glad we got it for him.

Back to Christmas Eve, we finished presents - highlights include earrings and boots for me, weekend on Lake Travis for Mom & Dad, coo-coo clocks for us and the Vancils from Nancy & Jack, a train set for Cade, a Chicago Bears jersey for Ross, a carseat for Jack & Nancy, FitBit for Nancy, very very good whiskey for Jack and much much more. We all had a delicious dinner of brisket, mashed potatoes and zucchini. Brownies and coffee for dessert and I'd say the whole she-bang was complete around 8p.

All and all - a great Christmas! And thankfully, several vacation days afterward to for recovery rest and relaxation.

Adventures in Saturday-land

Ross is on vacation this week! Meaning a whole weekend with the whole family home! Woohoo!

Today we started with a delicious surprise egg breakfast, then Cade and I went on a walk through the neighborhood and then home for some Saturday morning cartoons. Then the whole family loaded up into my car to run a couple errands, including swinging by the fire station in Georgetown and ending at a park in Round Rock that includes dog park and kid park.

After nap Cade and I had a sidewalk chalk happy hour in the back porch. It feels SO much bigger now since our old table and chair set is gone. We colored all over the place - porch, fence and in Cade's case, on his face.



This evening Ross is out to dinner with friends while I hold down the fort (last night I went to a Christmas party while he held down the fort so this is a quality trade).

And finally, as you can see, I am getting way too into these picture collages...

An Evening Stroll

A little mother-son walk yesterday evening while daddy cooked dinner. The cutest part - when he wasn't running ahead of me or pointing to "big cars," all he wanted to do was hold my hand!

Big D Birthday

Well it has been many moons since I blogged here but we have been busy! On Black Friday we decorated and then Nikki and Brittany came over for a slumber party. The next Friday we had another slumber party - in Dallas for Nikki's 30th birthday! This slumber party though started with champagne, included dinner at one of the fanciest schmanciest places in Dallas and ended at a bar & lounge, also on the fancy Dallas list.





In between slumber parties we've had work, a double ear-infection (Cade), a dentist appointment (me) and all kinds of other normal every day things. So really, with those few sentences, you are totally up to speed!

But because I know you love baby pictures, I'll leave you with this one of the little boy playing on his water table (a very summertime activity) despite that it is the holidays and as you can see our Christmas tree is up and decorated.

War Path

Don't let his cute smiles and sweet little "hi" fool you. When Cade Daniel wants to be destructive, he is, as his Grandpa says, on Team Destructo.

Today my cute little 20 month old was on the warpath. He climbed on two tables - dining room and the bar-height game room table. Pour at least 3 bowls of food on the floor. Played the drums with a salt shaker and had no less than three meltdowns. The third, at bedtime, was so severe, Ross came running to my aid worried I might follow with my own meltdown.

Sweet boy, I love your energy but tomorrow can we put it toward something more productive?

Happy Halloween from the Littlest Trick or Treater

Cade went trick-or-treating! Like real actual trick-or-treating to multiple houses with both parents and for part of it, his favorite pup.

Yesterday we got decked out as NFL stars and knocked on four neighbors' doors. All were very nice and Cade made out like a toddler candy bandit. Which really means we made out like candy bandits since he is not allowed to eat it yet.

 

After our formal trick-or-treating, Cade and I went on a stroller adventure to Margeaux and Ryan's. Mostly because I wanted some exercise but it was fun to show off his costume, see Ryan's big bird costume (feather boas and dyed long-johns included) and enjoy a candy corn punch cocktail with Margeaux.

Who says we don't have seasons in Texas?

Just ask my seasonal home decorating compulsion, we have seasons. They just have more candles and Pier 1 purchases than naturally changing leaves.

Also as you can see from my recent posts, I have a new photo toy. It's called canva, it's free and it is SO MUCH fun (in a I'm-more-a-blogger-than-a-scrapbooker kinda way).

Patio Project

Since we started building this house in 2012 we've been saying we were going to cover the patio. Then we spent money on something else, and then another thing, then we had a newborn, then I went the less secure self-employment route, then we bought my new car, then we had a landscaper fall through. But then, THEN, FINALLY, it happened.

After changing plans several times, we finally had our patio extended, put up sunsails and added an outdoor bar. Woohoo! Our yard is now 100% more enjoyable and liveable.

Of course like any home renovation project, we run the very high risk of this just being the start. We're already discussing replacing the table and chairs, adding a step down and may even flagstone-ing over the cement part.

But first thing's first - a party!

Cade's First Shop Class

On Saturday Cade and I went to Hobby Lobby and among other things bought him a little stepstool. It was unfinished wood so I asked Ross if he would paint it.

Monday when I got home, here's what my hubby and kids painted in at-home shop class.

   

 Best little stepstool I ever did see.

Weekend Fun

Ah, we had a nice normal weekend these past two days. Very important since over the next three weeks we have: handyman projects (Ross helping his mom), a biz trip, 4-5 days of work training, a vacation, visiting grandparents and 2 birthday parties. Plus of course full time work and preschool. So a fun, relaxing weekend was definitely needed to kick off the September insanity.

In pictures, here's what it looked like

New backpack for Boston vacation - LOVED it

Playing at Rowan's for Jon's birthday

Nana's water table lives at our house now! Fun!

Not pictured: football games, Curious George movie, pedicure, brunch, Nik visit, washer's tournament, new patio and 2 park trips

Away

"Away" is a new word/concept in Cade's world. Every night after bath, he loves to run around naked in his room while I get his bedtime diaper and jammies sorted out. One of the fav activities during this time is to take his sock basket off the shelf and dump it all over the floor.

Thankfully, the second part of this activity is to put them "away." He throws all his socks back into the basket and then tries to put the basket back on the shelf. Until yesterday though he couldn't reach the shelf so the socks would all fall out again as he tried to put them away.

But yesterday my big boy was able to put his sock basket away. We were both so proud!

 

Bye bye baby

One of our neighbor's took his toddler on a walk through our cul-de-sac a couple of nights ago. Looking out the window, Cade started talking to the kiddo. Here's what he had to say.