Thank you for stopping by! As I rarely have time to update this blog anymore, please come visit me at my new photoblog, Cari Berry Photography where I'll blog the occassional Beauty and the little Beast story, as well as post sneak peeks and stories from all my photo sessions. I try to give return blog love to all visitors over there, and hope to start giveaways there in the very near future!

For visitors to this blog, please accept my apologies, but I've had to turn on captcha because of the insane amount of spam comments I've been getting. Dontcha hate it when one bad apple ruins it for everyone else??!! ;)

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Hawk

The other day while walking through the grocery store parking lot, the little Beast pointed out a bird sitting on top of a light post. The conversation went like this:

TLB: Look, Mom! A bird. It's a hawk!

Me (looking closer): No buddy, that's not a hawk, it's a crow.

TLB: Noooooo. It's a hawk.

Me: Buddy, it's a crow.

TLB: Mom, no it's not. It's a hawk. Listen. It says, "haawk, haaawk".


Gotta love this kid!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

An Apology Limerick

There once was a blogger named Carebear,

Who at first blogged much more than her fair share,

What fun it once was,

But not now because,

New posts are really quite rare there.


Please forgive our mommy for being so neglectful of our blog. We really miss interacting with all of you and catching up on your kiddos. We pray that as the weather cools, things will slow down and allow more time for blogsurfing. We hope all of you are doing well - We will stop by to visit you soon.

Love, Beauty and the little Beast

Saturday, October 17, 2009

What I'm Doing Instead of Blogging...



Introducing my new small business venture!




OR: Wish me luck, I'll need it! ;-)



Wednesday, September 23, 2009

What the %@*#?! Wednesday, Beauty's Debut

I thought I had a lot more time before Beauty would start to give the little Beast a run for his money in the What the %@*#?! moment race. I was wrong. She is into Ev. Ry. Thing. But nothing makes me say What the %@*#?! more than this particular mess.

The little Beast was recently potty trained and sometimes forgets to put the toilet lid down.



He also sometimes forgets to flush.



Ewwwww.... Say it with me: What the %@*#?!



Sunday, September 20, 2009

I'm Baaaaaack! And I Brought A Friend!

I really enjoyed my summer blogcation, but I really missed you, my pretend Internet friends. That's just part of the reason I'm so happy to come back in time to welcome a special bloggy-friend guest! The fabulous women of Moxie Media, a new network of women bloggers, sent their mascot on a virtual tour of the United States recently, and I'm representing Washington State (insert shoutout to the 206 area code here).

I took Moxie Mona on a tour of the most spectacular places in Western Washington this week, and I'd like to share Mona's vacation album with you. When you're done enjoying it, head over to visit any of these ladies from Moxie Media for links to Mona's visits to other states!

Lolli from Better in Bulk
Angie at Seven Clown Circus
Kat at Mama's Losin' It
Jill at Scary Mommy

First, Mona took in the gorgeous view of Mt. Rainier that I enjoy from my hometown everyday.


Then, she visited Seattle's Alki Beach at sunset.


From Alki Beach, she oohed and aahed over the beautiful Seattle skyline.


And the world famous Space Needle.


I had many other plans for Moxie Mona, but alas, it wasn't to be. While minding her own business in my living room one day, she was attacked and defeated by the Tired Teething Toddler Terror, kryptonite to supermoms everywhere.

See, first Beauty dragged Mona off to her lair:


Then, she contemplated what kind of torture to inflict upon poor Mona:


And finally, she drowned Mona in drool while biting her all over. What a terrible way to go....


Well, it was good while it lasted Mona. I hope you fare better in other states. As for the rest of you, don't forget to check out the brand new blog, Mayhem & Moxie, written by the team formerly known as 3 Bay B Chicks!

Monday, June 22, 2009

The Wiggles are Coming! {A Giveaway!}

UPDATED with winner: Congratulations Pam! Thanks to random.org, you and Laney have won 4 tickets to the Wiggles! Thanks to all who entered. If you'd still like to go to the show, it's not too late to buy tickets. And Beauty and the little Beast readers can get $5.00. Just enter the code MOM when you buy your tickets online. Now, I'm back to my blogcation, but look for me in about 6 weeks! I'll be back with new giveaways, funny stories and pictures!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We interrupt our regularly scheduled summer blogcation to talk about four of the little Beast's favorite people - those singing, dancing cuties from Down Under, the Wiggles! If you're a caregiver of toddlers or preschoolers and you've never heard of the Wiggles, then you must be living under a rock. Just kidding. Seriously, though, if you and your kids haven't gotten to know the Wiggles, you should!

Now, you all know that there are kids programs that I would rather gouge my eyes out than watch, and even some that are simply banned from our house altogether (remember my rant about a certain pint-sized, Spanish-speaking brunette who recently underwent a major growth spurt?). Fortunately, my little Beast and I can agree that the Wiggles are a great way to start our day!

The Wiggles are on very early here in Seattle so it's the first show that the little Beast watches when he wakes up at the crack of dawn. It's such a cheerful way for him to entertain himself while gulping down waffles and chocolate milk. The Wiggles program has a really fun, slightly retro feel - a good old-fashioned variety show for kids, with musical numbers, goofy skits and even a cartoon segment. With a campy cast of characters and a plethora of silly songs, the Wiggles is a delightfully upbeat and positive half hour of viewing pleasure (and they ain't hard to look at either!).

And this summer, we all have the opportunity to enjoy the Wiggles live on stage! That's right, the Wiggles are currently touring the States! Sam, Murry, Jeff and Anthony are bringing their friends Dorothy, Wag and Captain Feathersword to the Comcast Event Center in Everett, Washington, on Friday, July 17, 2009 and one lucky reader of this blog is going to win 4 tickets to the show! Here's how to enter:

Leave me a comment telling me what you love about the Wiggles. If you're not sure, you can visit their super-cool website and browse around until you find something you like!

You can earn extra entries for helping us spread the word about this giveaway and the Wiggles Go Bananas Tour. Leave a separate comment to earn an extra entry for each of the following:

1. Blog about this giveaway on your own website. Leave the url to your post in your comment.
2. Twitter this giveaway. Leave the url of your tweet in your comment below.
3. Post a link to this giveaway on Facebook. Leave your Facebook url or username in your comment.
4. Email the link and a description of this contest to your friends and family. Copy me on the email at cari_berry@hotmail.com. Leave your email address in your comment below.

Contest ends Friday, July 10, 2009 at 8 pm PDT. Winner will be randomly selected using the random.org widget. Tickets will be available for pick up at the will call window on the day of the show.

If you'd like to BUY tickets, they are available at the Comcast Arena at Everett Box Office, www.comcastarenaeverett.com or charge by phone 866.332.8499.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

An Announcement

I have put off making this announcement until the very last minute because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. But if I waited for the right words to come then I would never write this post and you all (or maybe one or two of you anyway) would be sitting in cyberspace wondering, "Whatever happened to Carebear and her crazy kids, Beauty and the little Beast?!"

I have decided to take a summer vacation from blogging. Between family commitments, teaching Bible school, working and playing with my new baby (the Nikon D90), I have not one single second of free time to dedicate to blogging. I'm disappointed that there aren't more hours in the day, or fewer obligations, but C'est La Vie, as they say in their obnoxious accents.

I do have a few pre-written posts scheduled to publish over the next few weeks, and of course, I will spend a few minutes each day visiting as many of your wonderful blogs as I can, but for the months of July and August, Not Quite A Fairytale... Beauty and the little Beast will be on hiatus.

I thank you all for understanding and hope you'll join me here again in the Fall for improved pictures, funny stories and awesome giveaways. Enjoy a fabulous summer and take care of you and yours!

Monday, June 15, 2009

I Heart {Sepia-Toned} Faces

This week's theme at i Heart Faces is sepia toned.

I had a hard time deciding between Beauty and Ms. Smartypants for my kids entry, but I was so pleased with how the conversion turned out in this photo that I had to enter it. I converted this photo to sepia in GIMP, then added film grain and burned the edges in Picnik.



My adult entry is a portrait of my good friend Colleen at seven months pregnant. I originally converted it to black and white, but tinting it sepia in GIMP only took a minute and I really like the way it turned out.


For more sepia toned images, head over to i Heart Faces and browse through the 500 or so links you'll find there...

Friday, June 12, 2009

Torture By Water


It's gonna be a long summer...


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

What the %@*#?! Wednesday, CAPTCHA

It has been too long since I posted a What the %@*#?! Wednesday story, and today, since I'm already giving away sex toys, I figured I might as well jump into the adult content with both feet. Here goes:

Over the past few months, I've observed a disturbing trend in CAPTCHA, the word verification system Blogger uses to ensure that the people leaving you comments are normal humans and not computer-generated spammers. Take this gem for instance:


Now, I know it's not an exact spelling of the feminine hygiene product or that name my husband loves to call people who drive slow in the fast lane (d-bag), but still, it's a questionable choice for word verification, dontcha think?

And what about this one? Again, I know it's "misspelled" but still - What the %@*#?!



Then there's this doozy, my favorite of this trifecta - an actual curse word spelled correctly, and worst of all, presented when I was leaving a comment on a mommy blog that focuses on Christ and makes a point of abstaining from questionable, offensive or adult content. Say it with me now - What the %@*#?!


Call me juvenile, but I laugh out loud everytime I get a CAPTCHA word that's the least bit dirty. I feel like Beavis or Butthead cracking myself up over a dirty word. Heh, heh. She said crack. Heh, heh.

Do you pay attention to your CAPTCHA words? Do they ever make you laugh? Recently, when reading comments over at Cake Wrecks, I noticed people copying their CAPTCHA words into their comments and creating their own definitions for them. Things like:

WV*: Halis. As in, “What the halis wrong with these cakes?”

or

WV: Unsoc, as in, “Excuse me while I unsoc my feet.”

Hilarious right? In fact, it's so amusing to me that I'm turning word verification back on for a few days so we can all play along. I encourage (beg) you to use your CAPTCHA word in a sentence at the end of any comments you leave on my blog this week. There might just be a prize involved for one or two lucky commenters!

WV = word verification

Monday, June 8, 2009

Fan of the Week!!!

There isn't an i Heart Faces contest this week, but contestants are encouraged to share their vacation photos with readers. Since my husband never takes us anywhere *wink wink* I've decided to share something exciting that happened to me over the weekend instead. You can checkout the full post over at i Heart Faces, or just read the excerpt I've "borrowed" below:

Congrats to our Fan of the Week!



Carebear @ Not Quite a Fairytale... Beauty and the Little Beast
(formerly - Two Under Two. Whew!)


Carebear has been one of our biggest supporters from the beginning and we want to give her a big shout out!!



Her self portrait was one of our favorites!!


We love reading her blog which is full of inspiration, wonderful photos and fun mommy stories.


Be sure to visit Carebear’s blog to say congrats and thanks for commenting on so many of your blogs and for being such a great supporter of I ♥ Faces!
We ♥ you Carebear!!


Isn't that awesome?! Thank you Angie and Amy - I'm honored and flattered and such a big fan!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

100th Post Celebration and Giveaway!

Wow, I cannot believe it! I've reached my 100th post and 300 followers in the same week! How exciting! Let's celebrate with a giveaway! But first, since it's my blog and my party, you have to take a short walk with me down memory lane...

I started this blog in January as a way to keep my hubby up-to-date on the kids while he was in Oklahoma for a few months. But really, it has ended up being so much more - in fact, I'm not sure my husband even reads it anymore! When I first started blogging, I posted every day, but recent life changes (Beauty grew up and stopped sleeping 20 hours a day; the little Beast gave up naps; I went back to work part-time;, hubby came home and actually expects me to spend time with him...) have forced me to cut back to a couple times a week. Still, I enjoy so much the friendships I've formed with other bloggers, the fun comments I get, and the way that blogging about the crazy things my toddler does helps me see the humor in them.

To celebrate my 100th post, I'm revisiting where it all started, when I had, like, 3 readers, and they were all people I knew in real life who owed me favors. So here it is for all of you who missed it the first time around, my very first post:

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

The other day as I was getting out of the shower, the little Beast came running into the bathroom covered in goo up to his elbows. He thrust his hands toward me and said with pride lighting up his face, "Look, Mommy, I got shampoo!" On closer inspection, I noticed the goo covered not only his hands and arms, but was rubbed in his hair as though he had tried to wash with it. I knew whatever the slimy substance was, it couldn't be shampoo, as all our bottles had been safe in the shower with me. I asked the little Beast to show me where he'd found this "shampoo," so he led me into my own bedroom to the far side of my unmade bed, and opened the drawer to my nightstand. Then he reached into the drawer and with a triumphant flourish handed me ... An empty bottle of KY Jelly!

"See, Mom, shampoo!" he gleefully shrieked as I fell onto the goo-covered bed laughing hysterically.


Funny, right?!

In keeping with the theme of my very first post, I'm giving away a set of KY massage oils!


And just so you don't have to feel embarrassed about entering to win KY, I'm throwing in a bunch of items relevant to my blog (but you and I will both know you're really entering for the lubricant.) ;-)

In addition to the KY six-pack, the winner will also receive all this:

1. Set of colored Sharpie pens in honor of my little home decorator.
2. Flowered Headband, Beauty's signature style piece.
3. Chocolate Covered Pretzels, a personal obsession.
4. Cheesecake-scented tealights to remind you of my very first giveaway.
5. Seattle Chocolates because they frickin' rock, and so does my hometown!
6. The green coil bracelet from A Work of Heart Jewelry, my real-life BFF!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. I will automatically give one extra entry to each of my 304 existing followers (thank you!!!). Bonus entry if you fave me on technorati or twitter about my giveaway. Leave a separate comment for each entry with the url to your tweet or username for technorati.

FIVE EXTRA ENTRIES for anyone who buys a piece of jewelry from A Work of Heart. Just leave me a comment letting me know you've done so.

Contest ends Thursday, June 11th at 9 p.m. PDT. Winner will be randomly chosen by random.org. Stay tuned next week for another giveaway featuring my brand new blog button!!! Best of luck, and thanks for being part of my celebration!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

i Heart Faces Pet Week!

This week at i Heart Faces there is a "Happy Birthday" category and a "Pets" category. I don't have a single birthday shot worthy of entering, but I do have a pet photo I absolutely love.

I snapped this on Saturday at my mom's house with the point & shoot I'm still stuck with. I was practicing macro shots of flowers when I happened to glance up and notice the little Beast chatting with his favorite playmate. I'm glad I didn't pause to correct the settings on my camera because a second later they were off and running and I would have missed capturing this adorable moment. It's definitely not a perfect shot, but it is a perfect memory!



Saturday, May 30, 2009

SWS: Speech Impediment Rhymes


I got "wocks" in my "cwocs"!!!!


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Silhouette Runner Up

As I've been making the rounds viewing the awesome i Heart Faces Silhouette entries this week, I've noticed a lot of bloggers posting their photos that didn't make the cut. Because I worked so hard to capture silhouette shots, even keeping my kids up WAY past bedtime hoping to catch the sunset (didn't happen - I swear it doesn't come until 9 pm in Seattle!!!), I'm posting the shot I would've entered for the kids category had there been one this week!



You can view my actual entry in my previous post! Thanks.

I Heart Silhouettes

It's silhouette week at i Heart Faces. I dragged the family to the beach to practice, practice, practice Susan Keller's tips for my kids entry, only to learn it was a one entry contest again this week! So my shots of Beauty and the little Beast were pushed aside in favor of my adult entry, a photo I took many weeks ago of my good friend Colleen (seven months pregnant) and her 19-month old daughter.



Thursday, May 21, 2009

6WS: Just another day at the beach...

A Little Dirt Never Hurt Anyone!




Take one guess how this happened...


Monday, May 18, 2009

Hit Me With Your Best Shot!

This week at i Heart Faces is really special. They are requesting the very best closeup face photos from both amateurs (that's me!) and professionals. The winners will be published in an i Heart Faces photobook by Blurb!

Thank you to everyone who responded to my cry for help in choosing which of my top 5 face photos to enter (prizes will be awarded soon!). Although many of you liked Ms. Smartypants in braids, and a few liked Beauty's photos, a huge majority of you voted for this photo of the little Beast:

I hope we made the right choice!




I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

Please Help Me Choose My BEST Face!

This week at i Heart Faces is HUGE. The very best faces entered this week will be published in a BOOK!!! That is a lot of pressure and I want to make the right choice, but I have looked at these pictures so many times - and I look at these faces all day in real life too - so I cannot make a clearheaded decision. That's why I need your help!

Which of the following photos do you consider the very best face photo (some of them have been previously posted here, but the contest calls for my BEST photo whether its been submitted before or not)? Which one do you think the talented photographer judges at i Heart Faces might consider worthy enough to PUBLISH in an actual book - remember I'll be competing against some much better photographers!?






I'm leaning towards the last one of the little Beast in the tunnel. Thanks in advance for your feedback. Perhaps a prize randomly awaits one of you helpful commenters???

**SEE PREVIOUS POST BELOW FOR WINNERS OF THE I HEART SEATTLE GIVEAWAY AND PICTURES OF BEAUTIFUL SEATTLE!!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

WinnerS and Pictures: I Heart Seattle

I'm super excited to announce the winner of my wicked-awesome Seattle prize pack because I really do love this place:
the Space Needle. (Taken from my car while driving in rush hour traffic, not technically legal, but who could resist that cool view?)

Mount Rainier at Sunset

A Forest Road (taken from my car while not driving)

Freight ship entering the Puget Sound

Beachfront at Dash Point State Park


What a great city, huh? The random.org selected winner of the I Heart Seattle Giveaway should have been commenter #21, none other than the funny, sweet and oh-so-generous BlogBaby. But her comment says "No need to enter me for the contest..." and when I contacted her to tell her she was technically the winner, she said that she would be thrilled if I would make someone else's day by selecting them as the recipient for all those fabulous Seattle-made goodies! And that blessed person, also selected by random.org, is:

Shonni of Nations Around Our Table. Congratulations! Please contact me via email before Friday to claim your prize or I'll have to choose another winner.

And speaking of another winner: It was so much fun reading all the things you loved about Seattle that I decided to award prizes for my 5 favorite comments about Seattle!!

I'll be mailing some yummy Seattle goodies to each of the following fabulous FIVE folks. (Dontcha love alliteration? I felt a smidge like MckMama typing that, LOL!)

Runners Up:
Heather at But I Don't Want To Be A Cowboy for her entertaining blog post about her trip to Seattle (read it here!)

DiPaola Momma of Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom for this funny and totally accurate comment:

"Where oh were should I start with the "I love"s? let's see.. I LOVE the new layout! You already know I love Beauty's big flower headband! I love that Beast owns his status. I love how you make me giggle... Now on to Seattle. I love Puget Sound (did I spell that right?). It's so serene. Then I love the fish market. I'm a fresh fish girl and it don't get no fresher than dat! I love the vibe in Seattle, sort of brainy-hippie meets angst and creativity. I don't love the weather 10 months of the year though. So sign me up.. cuz one last thing.. I LOVE THE COFFEE AND I NEED IT!!!!"

Mikki Black of Here's What Let's Do for her heartfelt nostalgia and shameless sweet-talking:

"How awesome are you?! (Aside from the re-design, I mean.) I almost never go to the contests featured on the Sunday Shout-outs, but I couldn't pass yours up. I am soooooooooooo homesick for Seattle. We went to college in Kirkland - right on the other side of Lake Washington - and used to hop the bus over the bridge ALL the time to wander about in the city. I want that basket so bad, I can smell the Sound! (hope I win and thanks for the chance!)"

Margaret of Nanny Goats in Panties because she left a fun comment listing some of my own favorite Seattle places, and well, really, the name of her blog just cracks me up!

"I came over here from SITS because you were the commenter before me and now this????? A contest? OK let's see...the thing I like about Seattle besides Starbucks? Hmmmm. Uhhhh, the weather? Yeah, that's it. The weather. And don't you have a needle in space? That's kinda cool. And there used to be a Ye Olde Curiosity Shop down by the water maybe? I don't really remember, I was a kid. And the Pacific Science Center, that was fun. Did I mention Starbucks already? Do you guys have Starbucks up there? OK, but seriously... I think I missed your previous banner, but I really like your new one! Very cool!"

Christina of Rant-Rave-Roll because her brown-nosing made me chuckle. She left this comment:

"Holy Cow! Is this Extreme Blog Makeover? It looks awesome! And Seattle... One of the things I love and make Seattle great is that you live there... OK.. ok.. I know! Total suck-up momnet. It is green... is that better?"

Winners, please contact me at cari_berry@hotmail.com with your mailing address and I will send off your prizes! Thanks to everyone who entered, especially those of you who follow my blog. This was a really fun contest for me - I wish I could give you all prizes! Fortunately, I am just a few days away from my 100th post and will be having another giveaway to celebrate, so stay tuned for a chance to win a new prize her at Not Quite A Fairytale.... Beauty and the little Beast!