Just Some Recent Pictures

Griffin's new snow boots and winter coat!

Griffin's new thing is to climb into his toy chest everyday and play!

Matt's company Christmas Party was held at the City Museum and we found some Griffin's!

Silly at Thanksgiving

Me and Rachael

Griffin's New Cuzzie

My super talented mother made Griffin an awesome and beautiful hat and mitten set over the weekend! I put the hat on him and he didn't even try to take it off!

Winter here we come!

(via slangon.com)

"Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!"

(Anyone know the author of this poem?)

Matt and I have a tradition of watching "V for Vendetta" on November 5th and making

"Eggies in a Basket" for dinner, in honor of Guy Fawkes Night.

A little history lesson regarding Guy Fawkes.

On the 5th of November, 1605, Robert Catesby and his group of conspirators planned to discard the current Protestant Rule. How did they plan on doing this? Blowing up the House of Parliament, of course! To make a long story short, an anonymous letter was sent and Guy Fawkes, the man in charge of the execution of the explosion, was caught almost in the act.

For his crime, he was hung, drawn, and quartered.

Ick.

Today, Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated around the world. The term "guy" meaning "man" or "person" is derived from Fawkes.

Happy Guy Fawkes Night!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So happy and relaxed!

Griffin also enjoyed Dada's raspberry pancakes!

My best friend

Eeeeeeeee!

The Allen's on a walk

Yesterday was my 31st birthday! For those of you who don't know, I have a bit of a standard for my birthday. One day a year, I don't want to make any decisions. I don't want to do housework. I want to be indulged. I want to be taken care of. Well, Matt really outdid himself this year. I had the best day I've had in so very long. I was literally stress free and relaxed for 24 hours!
I haven't been able to say that in years!

My day started out with Matt getting up with Griffin so I could sleep in. My wake up call was Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream! Yum! After SLOWLY getting up and out of bed (which was delicious, as every other day I have to rocket out of bed, shower, hair, makeup, clothes, work work work!) Matt made killer raspberry pancakes for breakfast! While eating breakfast, Matt took care of feeding and playing with Griffin. Soon after, Griffin went down for his morning nap and Matt and I lazed on the couch, watching one of my all time favorite movies "The Love Letter", with Kate Capshaw (not the one with Ryan Gossling). After Griffin was up from his nap and was fed (which Matt took care of everything in that department while I stayed on the couch!), we went for a walk! It was the most perfect, crisp Fall day. The sun was warm on our skin and the air was so crisp that when you breathed in, you could only smell air.

Ahhhh...

Matt and I then got gussied up for my surprise! I had an idea on where we were going and if I was right, it was going to be amazing! After dropping Griffin off at my mother's I found out....I was right! Wa hoo! Matt took me to The Melting Pot on Delmar! I've always wanted to go there and the atmosphere, music, service, and (most importantly) food was all better than either Matt or I could ever have dreamed of! We had good wine, great conversations, awesome belly laughs, and even a few "I'm so happy, I'm spilling over!" tears (by me).

So, thank you a million times, babe.

You made my birthday completely unforgettable and amazing.

I love you so much!

Happy Halloween!

Movie Time!

Trick or Treat!

Big Man and his Sissy


Some yummy Halloween cupcakes I made!

This year was Griffin's first Trick or Treat experience!

We stuck to our street for a block or two and he seemed to get the hang of things! Big Man was a skeleton this year (which was really just a glow in the dark PJ set that I found at Baby Gap - perfect for getting him right to bed!). He was very excited to spend Halloween with Rachael...So much, in fact, that when he saw her for the first time on Saturday, he screamed and giggled and shook so much that he threw up!
After Griffin went down for the night, Matt, Rachael, and I watched "The Skeleton Key" and had popcorn, cupcakes, soda, and some wine for the adults!

Aside from my being stressed that Griffin only got an hour's nap the whole day, Halloween this year was a great success!

Pickles!

Yesterday on Facebook, a grade school teacher of mine, Mrs. Staude, mentioned how her eldest daughter used to eat pickles by the jar full. I thought I'd give Griffin a hamburger pickle chip and see if he liked it. HE LOVED IT! He didn't eat it but ran around the house sucking the life out of the little chip!

Happy Birthday, Rachael!

At Grant's Farm

Big Sis is turning 14 today! The day I met Rachael was at the end of year recital for a studio I taught at in Ozark 6 years ago and after the performance, she jumped on stage with a "hey Cassie watch this!" and proceeded to stand on her toes and give a twirl!

She is a huge light in our lives and I have loved to watch her grow into the beautiful young woman she is.

Happy Birthday, Sissy! We love you!

My New Favorite Picture!

I took this picture yesterday of Griffin and I think it's my new favorite! It captures his sweet yet mischievous personality just perfectly!

My Island

I just wanted to post about my "island" for the day (you know, when you're having a really bad day and suddenly there's this thing that happens that allows you to suspend above all the ugliness and be happy for a time?).

For those of you who don't know, my son is NOT a snuggler. He has way more important things to do, like figuring how to get screws loose, throwing his food on the floor, pulling DVDs off the shelves, putting anything and everything into his mouth, etc. Don't get me wrong! He's super affectionate, he's just a busy little man!

Anyway, when I got home from work this morning, I went upstairs to put him down for a nap. I was sitting on the floor and he came over and sat in my lap (amazing feeling #1) and patted his head - he was telling me that he wanted me to rub his scalp like I do to calm him down sometimes (amazing feeling #2)! After a few minutes (not seconds) of that, he got up and lied (laid?) down on the floor on the other side of the room. I scooted over and lied (laid?) down next to him. Little man just snuggled right into me and let me spoon him (amazing feeling #3)! He hasn't been content to be in anyone's arms since he was a newborn!

This was my island. It allowed me to rise above all the yuckiness of the day and float on this perfect cloud of happiness for a time.

Hector St. Charles

Just a cute picture of one of our furry boys. This is Hector St. Charles, the baby of the three. He is relentlessly chasing after his brothers and walks around with a bit of a swagger (cat lovers, you know what I mean). He cannot go near his water bowl without doing a little "Singin' in the Rain" bit (when he does this, we call him "Senior Wet Paws"). He does the best "pet me" dance when he wants attention and if he doesn't get the attention he wants, he will find your hand and shove his face in it. :)

Little Fishy

My brave little guy!

Lovins from Sissy

Love those fountains!

Sunscreen fun!

We recently took Griffin to the pool for the first time. It was so much fun! Our community pool has an awesome kiddie area with fountains, which Griffin LOVED! After just sort of standing there for a few minutes and shaking, he really began to have fun!

It was such a great feeling to watch this little guy go!

The Big 4-0!!

Proud Daddy

My family!
(We have ants, hence the baby powder on the floor.)

My boys


Rachael did an awesome job decorating the back walk way!

Today is Matt's birthday!
It's been a wonderfully fun and relaxing day.

There was a homemade Reeses Pieces ice cream cake, homemade "ice cream" cupcakes, sidewalk chalk fun, a trip to the pool, shoe shopping, and awesome family time!

Happy Birthday, Matt! We love you!

A Griffin Update

Watching his favorite show, Higglytown Heros, while chilling out on Maboo's chair.


He loves all his new birthday toys!

What a big boy!

Playing with the Mickey plane!

Since his Birthday, Griffin has grown (literally and figuratively) by leaps and bounds! He is babbling all the time now, RUNNING from one end of the house to the other, has become addicted to blueberries, grapes, grape juice, and cheese, is wearing 24 month clothes, and can find things when you ask him where they are (where's the banister? where are the baskets? where is the cat?). He's still the best "work baby". He still sleeps for several hours in the morning and allows me to finish my work day once he's awake. We are so proud of our Toddler!

The Fall of it All

It's Fall in New Town!

Well, not really, but it sort of seems that way. The other day Griffin and I took a walk and much to our (well, my) surprise, piles of leaves were crunching under my feet!
That instantly brought feelings of warm, cuzzie (my mother has always said "cuzzie", not cozie) sweaters, brisk wind licking my cheeks, and hot chocolate waiting for me at home.

But it's July!

It couldn't be from too little rain...The concrete geese on my front porch

(Ma'am Goose and Baby Lucy, courtesy of my Grandmother)

have worn nothing but their rain slickers for months now!

So what's up with the dried up trees?

The picture is of the tree and bushes in the front of our house.

Darn These Birthin' Hips!

It's been 1 year since having my son and I'm daily discouraged that I weigh the same as I did when I was 8 months pregnant. It's been a difficult "body" year for me. I found this quote the other day when I was just about to give in to the thought, "Well, this is just the way it's going to have to be. You can appreciate your body for what it has been able to do and look back fondly on what it was. *sigh*". It couldn't have come to me in a better time.

"Your body is an amazingly adaptive machine. Ask it to be stronger and stronger you will be. Challenge it to go further and further you will go. Coax it to be more limber and more limber it will be. Allow it to mold into the seat of a recliner and, you got it, a recliner seat it will become. Stretch it, push it, pull it; your body is like cellular Play-Doh

waiting for you to be the sculptor."

- Shawn Phillips, American Author of Strength For Life

So, I'll keep on truckin' with no particular goal in mind but to be a super strong mom that will be able to run and play and swing and dance with my son.

Birthday Boy

July 12 was Griffin's first birthday. My son is 1. He is walking (toddering, really), eating solid food, he tells me what he needs and when he needs it, and he has a very strong yet gracious personality. No one is a stranger to him and smiles are always on hand. He plays hard yet gently pats me on the back when I hold him. He is the funniest person I've ever known and he gives the best kisses.

For me, personally, I've never felt more empowered. Look what I created! And there he is, turning that toy over and over in his hands, studying. I am proud of what Matt and I continue to create everyday...An environment of love. If our children learn just one thing from us, let it be love.

I am grateful that God has blessed me with such an amazing little man. I never feel lost as a parent because when he looks at me it's like he's telling me "Don't worry, Mama, you're doing just fine. I love you and I can't wait to tell you that when I find my voice."

So, no 1st birthday blog about the 2 1/2 hours of pushing, laughing my way through it. No entry about how it felt to hold him in my arms for the first time and how "it seems like just yesterday...". This blog is how I feel today, in this moment. And in this moment, there is happiness and love love love. That is one thing that will always be in abundance here.

The Allen Family

I love his little wispy hairs!

This is just the perfect picture of Griffin's happiness and excitement!

My family

Sissy and Griffin

So happy!

We recently had our first official family pictures taken with Donna Harris. She's been my hair stylist for a few years now and has launched a photography business as well! Her talents continue to amaze me. Our pictures turned out better than I could have imagined!

It was a HOT day (over 95 degrees!!) but we had a blast!

Check her out!

http://www.donnaharrisonline.com/

Popcorn Cupcakes!

Griffin's 1st birthday is coming up and I have been experimenting with different cupcake ideas for his party. Here's my first attempt. How'd I do?