Blickenstaff's Winner

As promised, the Blickenstaff's winner is #18:

Bernie & Doll

Congratulations!!!

 

You're going to love it!

Make sure to tell them who sent you when you use your gift card :)

(you need to contact me within 24 hours to claim your prize, or a new winner will be chosen)

Spreading Kindness

The other day, I had a really bad day.  
One of those "what else can go wrong?" kind of days.

I left the house in the morning, with all of my kids, and a list of errands.
Taking 3 small kids out and about requires a lot of accessories:
stroller, diaper bag, snacks, sippy, shoes on, hair done, everyone go potty before we leave, etc.

I had an order to mail and several to deliver, and I wanted to let the boys run around the Tulip Festival for a while.
So, I delivered the first package, and we went to the tulip festival.  I figured we would stop by the post office after I let the boys play for a while.

On our way home, I couldn't find the package I was supposed to mail.
I thought to myself, "Seriously?  I left it on the counter and now I don't have time to go get it and make it to the post office before it closes.  That figures."

When we got home, I hauled everyone, and all of our accessories, inside and expected to see my package.

No package.

Now I'm a little worried.  

I'm sure I put it in the car with me earlier, which means...I must have left it on the roof of the car...which means...it is now on the side of the freeway somewhere.

Just great.  I wanted to cry.  I was tired, and had an appointment that night and had to re-make my order.

So I stayed up late re-making and packaging my order and cursing my own carelessness.  I have been leaving things on the roof of the car a lot lately.  

The next morning I got the kids up and ready to take Saxon to school, and the doorbell rang.
Weird.
Who stops by at 8:30 in the morning?

I answered the door and saw a man standing there.
"Are you cait + create?"

"Yes..."

He handed me a package.
"I saw this on the freeway and stopped and grabbed it.  Since it had an address, I thought I'd bring it back to you.  I hope it's not damaged."

I wasn't sure if I should cry with gratitude or hug him, so instead I thanked him profusely and told him how he had just made my whole day!  What a wonderful act of kindness!

I then took Saxon to school and told the boys about this kind man and how we should try to always be kind to others.

When I picked him up, his teacher told me that Saxon had done a "good deed" in school that day.  The kids went outside to have snack and play and Saxon found a cell phone.  He showed his teacher and she took him to the lost and found to turn it in and told him how the owner of that phone is going to be so grateful for Saxon's good deed. :)

I have been looking for opportunities to show kindness to others.  It's a win-win situation.  It feels wonderful if someone is kind to you, and it feels wonderful to go out of your way to be kind to someone else.  I hope this is something that I can continually teach my children.

Keep Calm and DREAM On

Do you ever go through times in your life when it seems that the pieces just don't fit together?

When no matter how hard you try, it just isn't working?

When every door you try seems locked and every turn is a dead end?

Times like that inspired this:

I was talking to my friend Andi and we were tossing around ideas for my shop.

I said, "Well obviously I can't do 'Keep Calm and Dream On'".

Andi laughed and said "you have to do it!  Paint it for me, it's my theme.  Every time I think something is really going to work out...Dream on!  I will laugh every time I look at it."

So I painted it for Andi and it's become our favorite joke lately:

I thought my kids were going to go to bed on time tonight...Dream on...

I thought my husband would get a raise this year...Dream on...

I thought if I deep cleaned my house today it would stay clean for a while...Dream on...

I hoped we would have been able to save enough for a bigger car by now...Dream on...

I wish I had a house and a big backyard...Dream on...

I could go on, and on, and on...

And yet, despite everything going on, I can't help but dream...

And neither can she.

So one day, it's just got to work out.

And I'll be glad I kept on dreaming big...

Motherhood

For Mother's Day, I wanted to post some thoughts on motherhood:

I LOVE being a mother.

I love it.

I feel like I've done a lot of really cool things in my life so far.

Things that I loved.

Things that I am proud of.

I feel like I got to really live before I settled down (one of these times I'll tell you about it).

So being someone who can compare, I can tell you, that this is better.

This is the most amazing, and fulfilling thing I have ever done.

I love being pregnant.  Having the ability to create life is something that I treasure.  I ache for people who long to and haven't been able to yet.  This is precious.

I remember the moment that we decided to start a family.

I remember each moment when we decided to expand our family.

I distinctly remember the feeling, each time, that it was time for a baby.

Before I had children, I was sure of what kind of mother I would be.

Now that I have children, my views have changed, and it takes constant effort to try to be the kind of mother that I want to be.
More often than not, I don't know what I'm doing.
I just try to stay pointed in the right direction.

Loving my children unconditionally is easy.

It's natural.

Making sure that they always know that, takes work.

It takes balance.

(Pictures by Brittany Davis photography.  August 2010.  38 weeks pregnant with Dalton)

In moments like this, I feel connected to heaven.
My precious baby.
The first time I get to look into their little faces is something indescribable.
This is the moment I became a mom.

(The moment they laid Saxon in my arms - August 2006)

I love this quote from Marjorie Hinckley:

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

(Holding Bridger at 3 days old-2008)

My life is constantly filled with joy and fear.

I love the little moments with them.

I love looking into their little faces and absorbing every detail.

They grow too fast and I don't want to miss a moment. 

Some days I can't wait for them to fall asleep, but usually I miss them once they do.

Dalton loves it when I rock him to sleep in the rocking chair.

I could hold him and rock him and stare at him forever.

(Saxon and I watching a Cubs game at Wrigley Field)

I am also constantly afraid.

What if they get hurt?

What if they are sad?

What if I mess it all up?

Am I feeding them right?

Am I teaching them enough?

Do they know how much I love them?

(Me and Saxon boating on Lake Holiday, Chicago, Illinois)

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me.  They have clung to me all my life."  ~Abraham Lincoln

I pray for my children everyday.

(Me and Bridger - Refugio Beach, CA.)

 "Motherhood is more than bearing children. … It is the essence of who we are as women." - Sheri Dew

Five weeks after Saxon was born, I had to go back to work.

I cried the whole way there.

I felt like I had left my heart behind.

I don't know what I would have done without the people in my life who were willing to be a "mother" to him while I had to be away.  Brittany watched him while I worked and she loved him like her own.  That is the essence of motherhood.

"There is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child - and an instinct to make any child who needs her love, her own."  ~Robert Brault,

Happy Mother's Day!

Very Jane Deal

Today is my deal on VERY JANE!!!

If you head over to Very Jane today you can get my signs for only $15.  That's $10 off the original price.

GIVEAWAY!

Yep, that's right...Blickenstaff's has given us a 

$20 gift card

to their store for one lucky winner!

Like I mentioned before, my cousin took me and my kids there and we each picked some of our favorites and ended up spending $100!

That's how many favorites we found :)

They have vintage candy and soda that I've never seen anywhere else.

It's magical and fun and whoever wins this is going to L.O.V.E. it!

Here's how you enter:

1.  Mandatory: check out Blickenstaff's website and tell me what your favorite candy is.

For additional entries:

2.  Become a public blog follower of cait + create

3.  "Like" cait + create on facebook

4.  "Like" Blickenstaff's on facebook

*Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry

And...if you want to win a Keep Calm and Carry On sign from cait + create...

check out these two facebook giveaways:

My Belle Boutique 3000 fan giveaway

and 

Little Love's Design's 1000 fan giveaway

Good luck!!!

(Blickenstaff's giveaway ends Monday May 9th at midnight.  Winner will be announced Tuesday May 10th.)

Brand to Blogger Event

So...here's the story...

My cousin Brittany from Love Stitched was signed up to attend the Brand to Blogger Event at the Riverwoods with her friend Leslie from Little Mookie.  Brittany ended up having to go out of town at the last minute and asked me to take her place as her "assistant."  Ha ha.  Ok.  So, I did. 

I wore a name tag that said "Brittany from Love Stitched" and had to explain to people that while I am representing Love Stitched, I also have my own blog (cait + create) but also work with a FABULOUS new company called Very Jane.  It was quite the introduction!

Let me take you on a tour of what we did:

Blickenstaff's:

I have been to Blickenstaff's before.  Back in November I threw a Harry Potter 7 part 1 movie party/birthday party for my cousin Mike.  We wanted to serve only food mentioned in the book, and of course, we needed the candy.  It turns out that not many places sell Harry Potter candy.  Some friends of our recommended that we check out Blickenstaff's because they have all kinds of unique and vintage candy and toys.  Our friends always go to get vintage soda that they've never found anywhere else.  Lucky for us, they do in fact carry Harry Potter candy!  And while we were there, my cousin Mike loaded up on $100 worth of candy!  It was that cool!  Think Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium...

I'm kind of a sucker for vintage toys too.  They carry some of the favorites that we already have (Melissa & Doug wooden toys, Hopping Rody Pony, wiggle car) and some that I really want but don't have yet (rocking horse, trike, vintage games, etc).

This is how excited we were:

Funny side note:  Leslie and I wore the same thing...ha ha...skinny jeans, purple cardigan, black boots...it was great :)

They have a huge section of vintage "candy by decade" including abba zabba.  Are those vintage?  I still eat those...

I loved the wax mustache!  I can totally see it on Saxon!

Leslie and I doing our own picture inside the photo booth.

Yep, they have a photo booth!

Called to Surf

This is a super-fun shop specializing in modest swimwear for women.

Have you ever tried to find a cute and modest swimsuit?

It is not easy!

My sister Brooke just got accepted to BYU Hawaii (Yay Brooke!)

We have been searching high and low for a 1 piece suit that was not speedo.

Now I know where to send her :)  How cute are these retro-suits!

And a bonus for moms like me who spend all summer outside...

mini-rash guards.

I call my Dad in California every year to send rash guards to my boys for the summer.  We spend SO MUCH time in the sun that I have to protect their skin.  For how much we use them, the kind you can buy at wal-mart and target just don't work.  A real rash guard is long and skinny, dries quickly, and has a tie down at the bottom to attach to their board shorts and keep it from rolling up.  The fake kind don't do the trick for us.  At "Called to Surf" I even found a little bitty rash guard in size 2T.  Fabulous!

Provo Beach Resort

 Now this is somewhere that my kids would go CRAZY over!  A carousel, mini crochet, arcade games, a MASSIVE ropes course, indoor surfing and more!  They managed to give it that "Santa Monica Peer" type of feel in an indoor place in Provo Utah.  Wanna know the coolest part...they have a Spa.  So, Dad can play games with the kids and mom can get a massage.  Mmm...I can see it already...ha ha.  My sister-in-law once told me that it is the benefit of having all boys.  Send the boys away to do "boy things" and have yourself a spa day.

I am dying to try this!  (Although I wish I could have my first try without an audience, ha ha).  The Flowrider indoor surfing.

Malawi's Pizza

Oh WOW, this place was AMAZING!  I've actually seen it several times and always wanted to try it but have never had the chance.  I LOVED everything I tasted!  It has a laid back feel inside (so I wouldn't be afraid to take my kids) and they bring you your food within minutes...literally.

The best part...for every meal bought, they donate a meal to a child in Malawi.  They have all of their overhead costs taken care of privately, so it is actually a 1:1 exchange.  1 meal bought = 1 meal for a child in Malawi.

Salads, pizza, pasta, dessert...I loved everything I tasted, and believe me, I tasted everything.  I can't wait to go back!

After having a fun afternoon out with the girls, I was ready to come home to my munchkins.  And...I came home with gifts!  They got a bag of vintage candy from Blickenstaff's and some dessert pizza from Malawi's.

The favorite by far:  Razzles.

Oil and Vinegar

Do you remember around Christmas time, when Groupon offered a gift certificate to Mountain Town Olive Oil?  Well, I bought two.  I gave them to Nate for Christmas and envisioned us going on a date to Park City, going out to dinner, and sampling all of the gourmet olive oils and balsamic vinegars at Mountain Town Olive Oil.

This is how it actually went...

I bought the gift certificates in October, gave them to Nate in December, they expire May 1.  So, on April 30, we rushed over to Park City, kids in tow, to redeem our gift certificates before we lost them.  We made it there an hour before they closed.

The minute I walked in, I was in love.  I sampled just about everything and LOVED all of it.  Even the ones that sounded strange (coconut balsamic?).  I was envisioning all of the yummy recipes that I would make if I had all of them.  

It didn't take long for my kids to become too rowdy for the small store, so we had to make a quick decision and hit the road.  The girl that runs it was amazingly helpful.  She could tell us about each and every oil and vinegar, where they came from, how long ago they were pressed, what pairs well with what, and recipe ideas.

We settled on Persian Lime Olive Oil with Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar, and Tuscan Herb Olive Oil with Fig Balsamic Vinegar.

For dinner we made whole wheat rotini pasta with sliced olives and fresh mozzarella.  We drizzled it in Tuscan Herb Olive Oil and Fig Balsamic Vinegar.

Be prepared for lots of recipes with my new oils and vinegars!

I can't wait to get started!