Throwback Thursday: 5 Years Of Blogging

In honor of this throwback Thursday, I was just thinking how, this month in, October...I started my "peek in our kandee life" blog, FIVE, yes FIVE years ago!
You may not know this but, i actually started this blog a month before I even started my "Beauty Style Blog", then I started aYoutube a few months after that! Crazy huh?!

So in honor of that, I'm posting a blog post I wrote 5 years ago..., look at my little Alani, who was only 3 years old, helping me bake a cake......


OCTOBER 2008...
My lil' chef (Alani) was on "ingredient pouring" duty. I fill, she dumps it in. And to think i used to buy those boxes of "betty crocker" mix. 



This is my trainer, Blakey, who falls fast asleep-on-the-job, as soon as we hit the dirt road. It's crazy bouncy and rocky and it puts him right to sleep. Today he tried to "train me" for some cross-country marathon - he fell asleep, and me not wanting to wake him up, kept running....and running....and running. I ran for 2 hours, up and down hills and returned with a face the shade of ripe strawberries, and it stayed that way for about an hour!
This photo was taken by my "in-house" photography team, AKA my kids, post-running-red-face, and shower, to remove dirt and salt trails from my profuse sweating.

I found this picture of Jordan on a photo shoot, and on my run, when i process all my thoughts, I thought of how i wanted to live in a big ranch house with a slow moving river wandering through it, like the river i ran by. And then I thought of this photo shoot in LA, and how great it was to have lil J-man there, he sat drawing pictures with one of the designers and enchanting them with his gentle, intelligent thoughts. As he drew them pictures, while I put make-up on models and helped "astro-turf" diving boards around the pool, and how wonderful that he got to see all these people working creatively and embracing all the uniqueness and inspiration. They tried hats on him and took this picture with his artwork dangling from his hand, everyone fell in love with him and it was rad to look over and know that all these "artists" were encouraging the artist within him as I painted up some faces. When we had to change locations that day, we rode in one of the designers Range Rovers, and Jordan said that the "roof was really tall inside" ha ha ha, I agreed. And I thought about how I miss living in the middle of the treasures, that only a city can give you, like the art museums, poetry jams where Jordan would steal the show at intermission with his break dancing, and having him along to look for treasures in the piles of vintage goods in the parking lot of Jet Rag...and him admiring all my art friends and them swelling up his inner artist, by encouraging him and praising all his creativity.


Back in the future now, I hope you enjoyed this peek from the beginning of my desire to share the little bits of love, food and mommyhood from our "Kandeeland"....huge huge from back then til now, your always friend, Kandee

*Peek into my other main blog for the throwback thursday of the day over there, CLICK HERE

"This Pumpkin Patch Looks Like A Ghost Town!"

We love to visit our favorite ranch for their pumpkin patch. They have a cream soda, sarsaparilla, and root beer wagon, ranch style-miniature golf, a corn maze, last year they had really yummy pumpkin soup, horse and pony rides and all kinds of "country style fun".

ABOVE: me and the best "scarf" in the world, my lil Ellie. Note: I put no make-up on , other than that bright red lipstick! ha ha ha That's what you call speed, lipstick and sunglasses, baby!

Ellie wanted to go on a pony ride, until about 20 seconds after she got on! Ha Ha Ha

 Ellie: I wanna get off!
Blakey: I'll go for a ride!!!

And enter Blakey riding, Sweet Pea. I asked the pony lady if he was too big, and she said no. But he looks really big on that little pony to me! ha ha ha

And this is the "ghost town" part of the pumpkin patch! See Blakey with his wagon, hunting for any pumpkins! As he pulled his wagon around hunting for any "un-moldy" pumpkin, he said: It's like pumpkin ghost town"...ha ha ha
He was the only one that found a good pumpkin, and he put it on his room.

Ellie riding her in her wagon. We sipped our Cream Soda Floats, then Ellie bounced in the bounce house, my mom and Alani went to look at the little booths of toys while I went to try not to get whacked by wildly swinging golf clubs from Ellie and Blake as we hit golf balls in the mini golf area!

Sunshine glowing through the trees as we walked back to the car, hungry. Very hungry.
We headed to our favorite Basque restaurant for some family style deliciousness! Bread, Navy Bean Soup, Salad, Corn on the Cob, Stew, giant platters full of fries, and THEN the main course! I love Basque food!

Until next year pumpkin patch....

Huge hugs and huge fairy tale pumpkins, your friend, Kandee

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Juice Box Chic: My 3 Mini Outfits Of The Day

Long before I think about getting ready, I have a small army of little outfits to lay out...

So I thought I 'd show you a peek at what getting dressed before school, in my house, is like....

We'll start with lil' Ellie....

Her "fur" coat is from Baby Gap, last year, so I guess that would now make it "vintage".

Her little mint green shirt and floral leggings, we just got at Target, "Tar-jshay", "Targetino"...

The pink boots we scored at Marshall's, they are Cynthia Rowley.

Next up Alani...Camo leggins with tribal bejeweled-ness and matching shirt with pink studs on the collar: Target (again) from the  Disney "D-signed" line. I love the whole collection!
BOOTS: these cute studded, biker boots, that have rubber soles and are super "flexible" we also got at Target. I stinkin' love Target.

And last but not least, because Jordan wouln't let me show you his outfit...my little man, Blake's kindergarden duds...
SHIRT: Yeah, fancy bow tie action: OLD NAVY
Teal skinny jeans: Target
HOODIE: Hoodie Buddy- yes, it has built in headphones so he can play his Nintendo DS and or watch an ipad movie all from the earbuds in the sweat shirt! And you can wash it! I love these!
KICKS: Vans slip-ons (they were black but we did some "sun-bleaching" and now they are awesome and faded looking.

We sang songs all the way to school....we try to do it at the top of our lungs, to get out all our "loudies" for the morning! hee hee hee

And after a long day at school...when I picked them up, Alani said she got "like 30 compliments on my outfit"!! And as we walked away a little girl came running up and asked how much her whole outfit was and where did we buy it?! She loved her outfit!

We then went to get an after school snack at Starbucks...they love the protein boxes, and Blake got a Cinnamon roll, Alani got a cookie and I got a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate...

Ellie was napping at home with my mom...but I brought everyone a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate too!

I even spilled it all over my wallet and myself walking to the car with my drink carrier, splashing out hot chocolate like I was a little fountain.

Side note: Ellie got things all over her shirt and of course, ended up in an inside out dress, that she insisted on wearing like that, and putting it on herself...we're well into the "I'm 2-years-old-and-am -learning-to-be-independent-and-try-to-do-EVERYTHING-myself" ha ha ha I love them!

Huge hugs and happy Thursday, your Kandee

*you can peek into my other blog RIGHT HERE.

*watch my latest YOUTUBE VIDEO HERE.

Leaving On A Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll be Back Again...

This is how it looked after we took off and said good bye to Las Vegas...

I had zero time to type my blogs while I was working there! If I wasn't busy working, I was busy with the kids or trying to sleep for a minute. The kids did have a fun time at the Children's museum and the movies while I was working...and my mom was the busy Kid's Entertainment Guide!

It might look like I've got a wrestling, choke hold on Ellie (insert the ha ha ha ha's HERE), but she fell asleep next to me, and her head kept falling to the side and forward...so I became the "neck pillow".

You see, she couldn't lay flat because, look how long she is now, her little feet were already against the side of the plane. And I sat like this with my sleeping bear, the whole flight....hee hee

When we landed, it was much cooler than the warm Vegas air....we needed sweaters, jackets, scarves...now it felt like fall again!

We went to get warm mugs of hot chocolates and yummy dinner, at a restaurant far from the crammed Vegas options, and in a quaint little place where we were the only ones eating! It was like VIP service! We had yummy crostini and mugs laced with chocolate syrup...
Blakey and Alani ordered "fluffernutter" (it's like marshmallow cream) and peanut butter sandwiches.

We then went to Target to buy ONE thing, and somehow came out a cart full of treasures! That happens every time we go to Target! Every time!

Typing this from my cozy and warm home, sweet home, your Kandee

If you've missed out latest "kandeeland blog video", peep it here to see Ellie's costume collection, ha ha ha:



Peek into my other blog HERE

How to Lose Your Way To Success

 We took this little guy to his big BMX Cup Race in Fresno this weekend. People were there from all over the world, and even the BMX riders who raced at the Olympics were there competing too!

The only problem with this race is, he has been racing in the 5 year old Beginner class. Well, he had a birthday and turned 6, and we took him to a race before this one, where he got 1st place, and we didn't know that was his 10th, win, which moved him up to INTERMEDIATE class. So it's like he skipped, 5 year old intermediate and expert class AND 6 year old beginner and went to 6 Intermediate.

So needless to say, he was not as fast as the guys in his class. He was peddling his little heart out, with some of the best of the best guys from all over the place! And he was just frustrated to come in last.

I saw angry parents, cussing and yelling at their kids when they didn't do well, and it broke my heart. In those moments when you lose, it's the time to remember that event the Champs like Michael Jordan, had to lose their way to the top!
We just encouraged Blakey that he peddled the fastest we'd seen him race, and that being with the more advanced guys would just make him that much better of a rider. And that even the Gold Medal Olympic winners had to lose sometimes, and that ALL EXPERTS had to start out as beginners every time they moved up!

So I encouraged Blakey, and he went and picked out a t-shirt, to commemorate his first big cup race, no matter how he placed, and a hat, and we went to dinner.
We went here, Logan's Roadhouse:

 You can throw peanuts on the floor, they bring you huge sweet rolls with honey butter, and our awesome waiter, even brought out a huge Sundae for the table to celebrate Blakey making it to the Cup Race!

This is how Ellie likes to play at the races....she was the Munchin in the group... These are the toys from McDonald's, and they are the most adorable things, the Wizard of Oz little characters, and have no fear: If you don't like to eat McDonald's, we just go through the drive through and you can buy, just he toys, no happy meal! It's awesome!

We loaded up on Shaved Ice, and that's where we found out about Logan's, the awesome people at the shaved ice truck told us to go there! So we did, both nights we were in Fresno! And I got to meet some awesome girls that watch my videos and read my blogs! To Jessica, Sylvia and Emily that came up to say hi, you guys are awesome and made my night with your kind words to me!

And Ellie insisted on pulling her Hello Kitty suitcase around the race grounds...ha ha ha

After 3 days of racing, I told Blakey, it doesn't matter if you didn't win a trophy this time, we won a bunch of fun memories in our hearts and had so much fun! We had fun wether he won 1st every day or not!

And on our drive home, after 2 hours of kids sleeping, we stopped and the kids made their own pizza's and we sipped on Strawberry and Vanilla Italian Sodas. The kids got to play in the playground at the restaurant. I kind a wished I lived near an Italian Restaurant that has a playground on their patio like this!

My blurry kids moving faster than the speed of my iPhone:

 We ate gelato, loaded back up in the car, watched Ellie's favorite Yo Gabba Gabba dvd another 5 times, then made it home!

 I told Blakey how proud I was of him. And that all the guys that move up, become better, because the guys he races are better. And that it how life is, you surround yourself with great people and you will become greater too! Don't look at what other people are doing and think, "oh I'll never be as good as them" or "I'll never be able to do what they're doing"....
Just you work on becoming the best you can be, and working harder to become better.

The first step to becoming a champion is to think like one.
And in the words of the great Michael Jordan:
"I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."

Great people aren't great because they win every time, they are great because they've learned that in great success you have to fail, lose and make huge mistakes on your way to becoming great! The most valuable lessons are learned not in the winning and perfection, but in the mistakes and the losing!

Hugs to you especially if you feel like a "loser" or like you're not a winner right now...you just wait, because all great people have incredible success stories because of all the mistakes, losses, and trouble they've been through, I love you and I know you're a champion and success story in the making, love your Kandee

Ps. Click HERE if you want to see my other blog today!

Why Motherhood is Perfect Imperfection: Starbucks to BMX

My weeks have been crazy since my Blaker started Kindergarten. I drive the kids to school, which I love. We sing songs, Blakey goes over the plans for me to come have lunch with him. Which I've done pretty much every day since he started. I like helping all the kids open their gogurts and poke straws in juice boxes, they are hilarious and make me laugh, but mostly I love being there for my Blakey, who has me kiss both his hands and cheeks before I leave. And blows me kisses from the playground as I walk to the parking lot with Ellie.
I cherish each moment, because as I know how precious these moments are. Jordan is taller than me and a teenager, and he wouldn't dare let me kiss his cheek, let alone be seen with me at lunch time. But to my Blakey, that is his only desire, that I come and eat lunch with him. Time will go to fast, and Blakey will be a teenager and not want me to come have lunch with him, so each day I treasure easch hug, kiss blown through the air, and each "mommy I love you so much".

Internet was out in my area for a few hours, so the above picture is me trying to type my KandeeJ blog with Ellie in my lap in Starbucks. I realized every mom I saw looked frazzled, was chasing after some little person, and looked tired.

No one tells you how tiring being a mom is, or maybe they try, but you don't know until you're chasing after a little one, or you have 2 chasing after each other, or in my case 4, and in other people's cases, too many kids to fit in 6 seater car.

As an example for just how hard it is to get things done, and or to make you feel like you're not alone...the only time I have to write this blog is now, it is 2:45am. I am waiting for more laundry to dry. Laundry has been going ALL day long. I filmed a tutorial that required me to take a second shower today, due to the hair color and spirit gum on my face...I just got out of said shower.
And because I hadn't washed my bathroom towels yet, I had to try with one of Ellie's baby towels, which is like a glorified hand towel, but it did the job.

Tomorrow, I mean in a few hours, I have to get up so we can drive to Blake's big BMX cup race this weekend. There's lil Blake with Ellie...
The car is all packed with everyone's suitcases except mine...
Snacks, blankets, and I'm hoping I remember to put my bag in the car as soon as my clothes are done drying...

No matter how much being a mom feels like "frazzle hood", I would trade any of these frazzled moments...All the noisiness, the "mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" I hear, it is the sounds from  the most priceless, precious people that I  love more than anything. No matter how "frazzled" my day may be, I'm honored to be the tired mama that loves these babies so much!

One day, which I'm sure will come too soon, when my house is too quiet, and they are all off doing their own things, and I could have a totally quiet dinner...I will miss their little voices so much, and I'd trade anything to hear their tiny voices echoing off of all the walls...

If you are a mama that is frazzled today, or you know you'll be a mama one day, learn to treasure each crazy moment, each loud moment, each song they sing, no matter how loud...because one day, you'd give anything to hear those little voices that will be all grown up sounding.

Huge hugs to every tired mama- know you are strong, you are the heart, the world, the everything to those little people that call you Mama...

Huge Mama Hugs from this tired Mama to you...your Kandee

*Peek into my other blog HERE.

Happy Birthday!

This might feel like a throwback Thursday post, but really it's just showing some of my favorite pictures with the first blessing of my life....being born to this wonderful mama! 

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I am so glad you were born on this day, and I'm so glad I was born to you!

 My mom, me, and my Pound Puppy that I got for Christmas...I was so excited to get that "puppy"!

My mom's smile is the most loving, comforting, "everything is gonna be ok" smile to me in the whole world! My mom has sacrificed so many things to be the most amazing mama in the world, including her love of fashion design, she gave it all up to be the best mom that me and my sister could ever have!
She would do anything for me and my sister, I knew that from the time I was small and I wish I had the world to give her on each of her birthdays to thank her for being so selfless, nurturing, supportive, encouraging and loving moms ever.

Thank you mom for always encouraging me, my dreams, my creativity. For teaching us that love is the greatest things of all, that forgiving someone is the greatest gift we can give to the other person, and the greatest gift of peace to give to ourselves. For teaching me that, it's always better to let your anger go, and choose to love more than hate or be angry at someone. For letting me dress in whatever crazy ways my lil' mind came up with and that you never made fun of me, but encouraged my own unique-ness...well except for when I'd roll my socks like donuts around my ankles...I know that drove you and dad crazy! ha ha ha ha

I wish my mom could be the mom for everyone that needs a mom....because she will love anyone, hug anyone, offer a listening ear and encourage everyone. If you ever see her, she will just hug you and make your heart feel loved.

So Happy Birthday Mama....

you are blessing to me, that you are MY mom. You are my best friend (well, and Tiffany too) and I love you more than I could ever write here. 

Thank you for being my mom and I hope I can make your birthday extra-fun today, somehow!

To anyone reading this, and it might be your birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

And to anyone reading this that needs a mom or an "extra mom"...you can follow my mom on twitter @myextramom and I will always send you extra mom hugs!

You have bonus mama love from me and my mom!

PS. I'm gonna be uploading a NEW video on my Main YOUTUBE CHANNEL TODAY!!! Click here to see if it's up yet!!!