Weekends are Wonderful!

Now that I've had a number of weeks of full time work under my belt, I've realized how very precious my weekends are to me! It's not all the big planned ones that I look forward to the most, (in fact sometimes those can be the ones that induce stress ... but that's a whole other story!) ... it's the everyday simple pleasures in life that I've been waiting for ...
Like making pancakes with my daughter:


And practising for Halloween:

Or reading stories and giggling over a cute kid's show. Maybe it's watching Cadence strut around in a pair of my shoes (or her dad's!). Sometimes it's heading to the grocery store and getting that cookie from the bakery. There are a million and one simple pleasures in life that I now get to experience as a mom ... I couldn't be happier!

Also this weekend, while I was on the phone with a friend and multi tasking, as usual ... I got down on my hands and knees to empty the skimmer. I'm sure the neighbours heard my 'cry' as I discovered two bulging eyes staring back at me! Here's who's been enjoying the pool lately:

And finally, to end our lovely weekend, Sean, Cadence and I enjoyed our final swim of the season ... the weather was cool but the pool was toasty. Until May ...:

A Perfect 10 ...

... according to mommy anyway!
Seriously, Cadence was almost a model student gymnast yesterday! She was totally excited to be there the entire time. It was a joy to watch ... and a perfect day for daddy to hang out with the other spectators.
Here's Cadence following her teacher. I don't know if you can tell, but both her feet are off the ground. She was literally bouncing through the place:

Ring around the Rosie:
Check out the height of her bounce!

And for a groundbreaking shot ... this is Cadence's first time jumping into the pit ... you go girl!

The infamous pencil jump ...

And now for some stretches ...

AND then ... the camera battery died!!!! No shots of the beams or bars or bubbles. Daddy insists he will come back again to take more pictures another day. This smart guy of ours plans to bring the video camera too ... now why didn't I think of that?

Psst ... Just between you and me ... I'm looking forward to daddy doing the circuit and mommy taking the pictures ... shhh!!!

Little Miss Independent!

Cadence is continuing to exert her independence in every way imaginable! She says, 'NO, nope, uh uh' to anything I suggest or ask her to do. Example: In the mornings I ask her, as I've always done, if she wants a diaper change. She's always been up for it ... without argument. Well, not so, lately. Now when I ask her, repeatedly, she says, 'No diaper change!'. Once I've relented she waits about 3 minutes, climbs off the bed, heads to the door and says, 'Diaper change mom!' Everything on HER terms!!! Pat says she's just like her mother ... really????? I don't think so!
Here is a photo example of one of our mornings this past week.
These are the shoes Cadence was supposed to wear ... the ones I picked out ... the ones that match her dress:

Here are the shoes Cadence put on:

She also put her own jacket on ... 'My do it!":


So off to daycare we went ... really ... the shoes weren't that bad!

In the 'Jeans'...

This weekend I began the dreaded wardrobe changeover with the intention of really purging! The OCD side of me packed the fall/winter stuff away last year in tubs ... 2 of those tubs had notes inside: "If these don't fit in the fall of '08 ... TOSS!" Well ...
I did it! I tossed 2 full yard waste bags worth of clothing! It was definitely time to let go: let go of old stuff and, more importantly, stuff that I wasn't going to squeeze into! Heck, if I manage to shed a few pounds this season I'll celebrate with a shopping spree! Most noticeably in my closet was a very high, very heavy pile of jeans. I LOVE jeans!! I love plain jeans, embellished jeans, worn out looking jeans, dark jeans, light jeans, flared jeans ... they are my wardrobe staple. I managed to pare down my pile of 16 pairs to SIX!!! I'd say 1/3 just plain didn't even come close to fitting, another 1/6th are CLOSE (so they are in a bin with another of my 'notes') and the rest still need to be hemmed...have I ever mentioned I'm also a procrastinator?!
It is no wonder then that as I was putting Cadence's clothes away I happened to 'discover' she too has many, many pairs of jeans ... 15 to be exact! And I am not counting the ones that I've got packed away in the size 2 Fall/Winter box. A casual wardrobe, an obsession, a shopaholic disease ... whatever the root of the issue, us girls will never be without our denim!
BEFORE:

AFTER:



"Ba bye clothes!"

'Nastics Practise at Home

This was Cadence doing her 3rd set of nastic warm ups. The
SECOND I grab the camera ... she's done ... figures! This was the best I could do with my 'hidden' camera!

Venting ... Unrelated!

I am sooooooo bloody frustrated right at this very moment and I need to vent! I have been trying to acquire a specific gift for a friend. The chain said they had ONE ... yipee! Well, turns out they can't find it! So I go to their website to order it ... no problem ... it's in stock. I place the order, go through the check out and attempt to use some funds from a gift card. Well, instead of my purchase total being $10 less, it is $10 more ... WTF???? So I go back and try to redo things .... Long and short of it: my account balance is now the cost of the item, PLUS the $10, my gift card is now empty AND ... get ready for this ... my order status is ... I haven't ordered ANYTHING!!!! That's right, I'm out almost $40 for buying NOTHING!!! And of course there is no phone number to call to try to straighten things out!!!! Yes, I've emailed the help desk ... twice. What do you think the chances are of them getting back to me ASAP? Do I take the risk and reorder the item? It was a great little gift for a certain someone and now I have nothing ... not even a back up idea. Any suggestions out there ...............................????? I've already poured a glass of the red stuff ... any thing else?????????

Words, Words, Words

Cadence's vocabulary has been exploding to a point where I just can't keep track of the number of words she has in her bank. Her longest word to date is probably pepperoni ... not bad for under 2! On top of that she is stringing words together and using phrases all the time ... best one to date ... "Dadda pick up poopoo". Yes, it is an appropriate sentence to relate to what Sean's role is during their walks with Winston (and in regards to what has been 'discovered' in the backyard!). Mostly Cadence's phrases are commands: "Mamma, open it", "Sit here", "Move please", "Turn it up" or assertive types of statements: "My _____________", or "My do it". I believe I heard her tell me to 'Go away' today ... the kid has some nerve! It is amazing to be able to have a little conversation with my daughter at this stage. Not all parents get that opportunity ... ever ... I feel for those parents ... it must be heartwrenching!