Tutu Cute!

A friend of mine recently offered an opportunity I couldn't refuse: she would make tutu outfits for the girlz if I would take quality pictures for her to post on her Facebook business page.

I thought about it for at least 2 or 3 seconds before I said "sign me up!".  Check out the adorable outfits below.  Make sure to pay special attention to the precious children wearing said outfits.

I'm so deeply thankful we were blessed with two girlz.  This kind of thing is so fun!

We Have Another Shoe Girl!

I  dressed the girlz in matching dresses for church this morning because I can.  I won't be allowed to do this much longer, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.  Humor me.

Check out Campbell's big girl shoes!!  She's turning into a Shoe Girl just like her sister (and her Mommy and her Mama).  Yes, they are heels.  And yes, I'm aware she's only two years and three months old.  I think she looks cute.  Don't you judge me!

Happy Birthday, Katie Bug!

Today was somewhat of a normal Staurday with one big exception - we celebrated Katie Bug's birthday!  Katie Bug's Mom is one of the coolest people we know, so it was no surprise that this birthday party was nothing but F-U-N.  The party was a cookout a local park, so there was a gigantic playground only steps away.  It doesn't get much better than that!

But that wasn't all that was in store.  There were obstacle courses, potato sack races, and even a princess pinata!

Cassidy taking her turn at the pinata.

Racing to get to the candy!!

After lunch and the games, we sang Happy Birthday to Katie and shared her birthday cake.  Yum, yum, yum!

Our feet were so dirty when we got home, we had to wash them off.  That's a sure sign you've had a GREAT day!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Today was Cassidy's first day of Kindergarten.  She got up way too early and bounced off the walls until everybody else in the house was awake.  She couldn't wait to see her friends on the bus!  She had a GREAT day and hopped off the bus this afternoon with a giant grin on her face.

We're now officially parents of a Kindergartener!

Hooray for Sissy!!!

Waiting at the bus stop

Our Kindergartener!!

The bus... oh, how I've missed thee!

Cassidy and Mommy Day, Part Two

Today was Part Two of Cassidy and Mommy Day.  We decided to play it safe after yesterday's drama and go to the mall.  The original plan was to go to the local waterpark, but the skies were grey and the forecast called for rain.  It drizzled all morning, but no thunder or lightening.  Even still, I couldn't stand the thought of getting Cassidy all excited only to be turned away again so we went to the mall.

We shopped at the Circle Store, played Lunar Golf, ate lunch, and she rode the kid rides.  It was fun, even if it wasn't what we really wanted to be doing.

The tricky part will be using the tickets I already bought before the end of the season.  I had purchased 6 at the beginning of the summer and gave 4 away when Sergeant Sexy started having health issues.  I'm determined to use my last 2 tickets before they expire!!

She LOVES Lunar Golf!

A Good End To A Crummy Situation

You may have sensed my frustration with Young Chefs Academy yesterday.  Well, I have good news to report!  The owner of the franchise just called to personally apologize for yesterday's mix-up.  She not only aplogized, she offered us a complimentary Halloween or Christmas Family Workshop!

So I stand corrected.  We WILL be going back there.  And next time, we all get to go!

Third Annual Mommy and Cassidy Day Plus Kindergarten Orientation

It has become tradition for me to take a few days off work at the end of August to spend one-on-one time with Cassidy.  I had big plans for today and tomorrow - fun things I'd been planning all summer.

It didn't quite work out the way I'd planned but it was still fun.  I've become a big fan of Groupons and had purchased a few over the last few months with these two days specifically in mind.

Our first stop was for cupcakes.  I was about to take a picture of Cassidy when one of the sales associates stopped me to request I not to take pictures with their display case in view.  Evidently, other people have taken pictures of the case and posted hateful comments on business review sites about the shop.  I hate to be the one to point this out, but I can post negative comments on the interwebz with or without a picture of your stupid display case.  And why would I ever post a picture of my child with a nasty, hateful business review?!?  It didn't add up, but I didn't argue... we just paid for our overpriced cupcakes and left.  Out of curiousity, I looked at their blog when we got home.  Funny enough, there was a picture of an adorable little girl taken by a customer less than a month ago with the display case clearly in the background.  Needless to say, we won't be going back there.  And the most ironical part is I had nothing but nice things to say about that shop until they pulled that snotty crap.

Cassidy standing outside the cupcake store with the display window safely out of view.

The next activity was supposed to be a cooking class at Young Chef's Academy.  I reserved Cassidy's spot last week and was disappointed to learn (after an hour's drive in morning traffic) that the class had been cancelled. I'd left my cell phone number when I made the reservation, but nobody saw fit to contact me. Thanks, Young Chef's Academy! Your respect for my time (VACATION time, no less!!) and my child's feelings are underwhelming, to say the least.  We won't be going back there, either.

By that point, I was beyond irritated, but didn't want to ruin Cassidy's special time.  We made the best of it and spent our money at Build-a-Bear instead. I'd gotten an email a few days ago introducing their new line, and I knew Cassidy would love it... it's a Hello Kitty line!

Cassidy picked My Melody!

Making a wish on My Melody's heart

Cleaning My Melody

My Melody is dressed and ready to come live at our house!

After Build-a-Bear, we ate lunch and walked around the mall.  It was fun to be back at a mall I literally grew up in!

She picked pizza for lunch.

With frozen yogurt for dessert!

Tonight was Orientation Night at Big Girl School.  We got to meet Cassidy's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. H, and get lots of information on what the kids will be doing this year.  We were excited to see about 75% of the kids in Mrs. H's class were also in Mrs. M's class last year.  Mama and Papa watched Campbell so Cassidy could take all the time she needed to get aquainted with her new classroom without feeling rushed or getting distracted.

Cassidy was excited to get a "Welcome to Kindergarten" goody bag from Mrs. H!

When we finally got to Mama and Papa's house, Campbell was fed and bathed and ready for bed.  What a HUGE help.  Thanks, Mama and Papa!!!

Thanks, Village!

I'm a firm believer in the old adage "It takes a village to raise a child".  We're more thankful for our village than we could ever express. 

Village, you know who you are.

An Almost Normal Weekend

We're almost back to normal.  Almost.

Sergeant Sexy went to the doctor for his post-op Friday morning.  The doctor reiterated what a difficult time he had with the surgery and removed the drain.  I was shocked at how long the drain was - I thought it was probably about 6 inches below the skin, but I was way off.  It was at least 2 feet long.  Crazy!

Sergeant Sexy can't lift anything more than 15 pounds for the next few weeks because of the hernia repair, so he can't lift either of the girlz.  It'll be a little while before we clear the last hurdle into true normalcy but we've gotten just about as close as we can get for now.  I'll take it!

I took Campbell to Gymboree Saturday morning and Sergeant Sexy took Cassidy to dance.  We played in the backyard in the afternoon.

I took the girlz to church Sunday morning so Sergeant Sexy could rest.  We came back by the house to pick him up for lunch and then stopped by the grocery store.

It's so nice to be back to almost normal!

Cassidy likes balancing on the landscape timbers...

Which means Campbell likes balancing on the landscape timbers, too!

Sand and water table time turned into a Splashfest!

What I Learned During Summer Vacation

During my summer vacation, I learned... wait a second.  Did I just use the word "vacation"?  That doesn't sound quite right.

Hmmm... what's the word I'm looking for?  Workload!  That's it!!

During this year's summer months, I didn't have a vacation.  I had a summer workload to balance on top of my normal workload.  I'm proud to say I managed the hell out of that workload and did it with plenty of flair and Spirit Fingers.  And best of all, the girlz had a ball.

Here are the highlights:

1. Added at least 7500 miles since Memorial Day to the Silver Bullet's odometer driving people all over the place.  I'm not even going to think about how that translates into gas money.

2. Re-joined the YMCA and figured out how to fit a workout into our already insane daily routine.

3. Learned that even within the most jam-packed schedule, there's always room to cram in one more thing if you really want to.

4. Realized Campbell's tear ducts really were fixable.  It just took three tries, that's all.

5. Practiced the Little Miss Local County Fair opening number dance more times than I could count.

6. Cheered at a fun basketball game!  Go Rockets!  Go Comets!

7. Packed as many fun kid activities into the evenings and weekends as time would allow... Busch Gardens, Water Country, Kings Dominion, Gymboree, Dance, Pool time, Cheer Camp, Swimming Lessons, Dance Recital, Creative Movements class, Local County Fair Pageant, Mini Golf, Gymanstics, Shopping, cookouts, fireworks, church, play dates, birthday parties... I could keep going but I'll stop.

8. Helped Sergeant Sexy lose a useless organ, hopefully never to be found again.

9. Learned there is little risk of me leaving the information technology field for a career in the health care industry.  Hospitals smell weird to me.  I'm not a very good nurse.  I'm easily overwhelmed around sick people.  I prefer to read code, create spreadsheets, and do other ultra-nerdy things.

10. And through it all I worked a full-time job and didn't even take one day off.  I'm not saying that to be a martyr... I'm saying it because I'm uber-protective of my time off during the winter holidays.  The Evil Empire doesn't bank vacation days - you get what you get at the beginning of the year and you take it or you lose it.  We take our big vacation in May, so I typically don't use much (any) vacation time during the actual summer.  But there were times this summer when I just knew I'd have to use days I'd been saving for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I'm grateful I was able to hang on to them, thanks to a fantastic manager and some very late nights.

And there you have it.  My summer "vacation" boiled down to 10 bullets, in true Nerdery form.

You Can Do It!

Hi!  My name is Cassidy CensoredLastName and I look at least 200 pounds lighter than I did yesterday.  You can too, using the "These Weren't My Pants To Start With" Program!


Getting started is easy!  All you need is a pair of pants that are at least 15 sizes too big.  I'm a 40 pound munchkin, so my Daddy's pants are perfect for this.


Next, you step into the pants and make a cute face while somebody points a camera at you.


Ta da!  Instant success!  Don't you agree?!?  I look like I've lost at least 200 pounds!!

Check out my Before and After pictures!  The results are AMAZING!

Before: Look how much tighter my clothes were!

After: These pants are so big!!

I did it, and you can too.  Just follow the simple "These Weren't My Pants To Start With" Program steps above!

A Sweet Surprise

I was running around the kitchen throwing lunch together for Sergeant Sexy today when I noticed him stand up and walk to the front door.  I quickly peeked out the window and caught a glimpse of a white truck at our driveway.  I figured the 5-0 had sent Sergeant Sexy some kind of get well gift, and turned my attention back to the grilled cheese sandwich on the stovetop.

He came back into the kitchen carrying a beautiful fruit arrangement from Edible Arrangements.  I love fruit and have always wanted to get one of these.  How cool that someone had sent one to Sergeant Sexy!  Hooray!

He pointed at the card, and that's when I noticed it had my name on it - not his.  Huh?  Weird.  Well... I did email his co-workers with updates on his condition, so maybe they just addressed it to me.

Sergeant Sexy opened the card, and it read "Thank you for taking care of me.  I love you.  Sergeant Sexy"

I was speechless - HE sent the fruit to ME.

I'm blessed beyond measure.

Pictures from the Weekend

It occured to me that I took a bunch of cute pictures this past weekend that I didn't include with my posts.  I have to admit, even though Sergeant Sexy was down for the count, the girls still had a fun weekend.  I even took them both to the pool BY MYSELF last night.  I was prepared for the worst, but they actually did quite well.  I didn't take the camera because I knew I already had my hands full, but rest assured the girlz were the cutest kids at the pool.  Obviously!

Cassidy poses while maintaining a safe distance from Sergeant Sexy.

Sweet Campbell

Ready for church!

Campbell wore the dress Ms. Audrey sent her.  Precious!!

Campbell has developed a deep love for the sand and water table, just like her sister.

We filled it with super-fun purple sand this year!