Mega Photo Dump!

Due to my mega blog slacking and completely random picture taking, this post will be a lovely array of random photos from the last 2 weeks! :)

Look! A picture of BOTH of my kids in the same shot!

On our way to Parker's 1st day of preschool!

Clearly thrilled to be in school

Parker, the messy artist.

Praying over his soup.

Jessie and Woody are tucked in and Parker is ready for prayer time. So sweet!

Parker is being sweet to Avery.... poor baby girl!

Lovin' this SUPER girly outfit

Their faces are priceless!

She barely ever sleeps on me anymore... cherishing the moment!

My little Clemson cheerleader!

Go Tigers!

Parker's innocence is precious. They were all "riding a pony"

Cowboy duck enjoyed some peas for dinner

Ready for the Panther's game... until... note the diaper area. BLOW OUT by 9:15am!

Happily covered in poop.

Smiley Girl!

I hope you enjoyed my 2 weeks worth of random photos! When I leave my camera on the counter top instead of putting it where it ACTUALLY goes, I end up with a plethora of random, smiley Bumbo shots. :) Each one special in its own way!

Clemson Game!!!

Saturday was a fun day. I took Parker to Clemson for his very first tailgate! We didn't venture into the game but we had a great time touring the campus, playing football on Bowman and eating lots of yummy food! We got up at 5:30 in the morning (cockadoddledoo!) and were on the road by 6:30, heading to Tigertown. Considering Parker never did nap, he was awesome. No meltdowns. YAY!
The only hiccup we had was that Parker got carsick on the way to the game and puked ALL OVER himself and the car. He manged to puke all the way into my center console which I found to be highly impressive. Bless his heart. He didn't even cry and we had to drive 2 miles to a gas station to clean up. What a tropper. Props to me as well for keeping my composure, remembering a 2nd emergency outfit and not puking myself! :)

I enjoyed showing Parker his future freshman residence, the dining hall and Bowman field. Lots of fun memories and, of course, a commemorative T-shirt was purchased at Knickerbockers. Here are some pictures of our day.

Parker and Coleman reading books and having snacks.

Parker, the ultimate tailgater. He looks like such a pro!

 Parker, me Whitney and Courtney. Go Tigers!

 Students were selling these beads for $1 to raise money for mission trips so I bought a pair. Parker insisted on wearing them. He was lovely.

 Playing football on Bowman. Many fun college memories were made here!

 How precious is he even though the Tiger paw is slanted to 11 instead of 1 oclock?!

I actually remembered to have someone take our picture together! Heaven forbid he look at the camera.

 Set. Hike!

 He can be a QB or running back. Multi talented.

 Touchdown!

 My little Payton Manning,

 Not bad self photography!

 Look at that hand position!

Man do I love that kid.... and Clemson. SOOO..... taking my kid to Clemson was a wonderful and memorial day!

October Showers bring Clemson Flowers!

Today was ugly so it was the perfect day to make pretty things indoors! I'm taking Parker to Clemson this weekend for his VERY first tailgate! If you've ever been to a Clemson game, you'd know that a "Clemson game" is WAY more than just the players on the field. It's the perfect combination of South Carolina fall weather, tailgates, food, football and fashion! Yes... fashion.

My Clemson gameday attire is now old, tired and no longer functional for my needs. My orange high heels have been unwillingly donated to goodwill and the orange strapless dresses are deep in the back of my closet. I need a new, functional enough to push a child miles around town in a stroller, up and down hills outfit.

SO it's decided..... jeans, plain white tee and accessories... lots of fun, spirited, orange accessories! I've never made jewelry before but I knew I wanted to use the ribbon and fabric I have around the house. I made lots of variations. Some I'd wear... some I wouldn't but either way, it was fun, cheap and a good way to spend my ugly weather day!

Here are some hair barrettes or pins. (keep in mind how cute they'd be in neutrals but remember we were going for Clemson gameday attire)

Small ribbon flower puffs

Orange gingham flower (8 fabric flower shapes folded)

I made this by accident when I botched another "design"

Trying to use all 3 types of fabric I had.

I frayed fabric to make this one a little edgier and glued on a button

This is purple and white polka dot ribbon sculpted into a flower.

Those were fun to make and a nice precursor to the main event. I wanted to make a bib style necklace with fabric rosettes and beads. Considering I've never done this before, I'm really happy with the outcome.

Up close of the final product

Even more up close. Note the fabric rosettes and beads I hot glued to fill all voids in between flowers.

Shot of the whole "bib" portion. The necklace will tie around my neck with orange ribbon. I think it will pop against a white tee at the game. Hopefully Parker doesn't pull it off my neck!

I'll be sure to take pictures this weekend! :)

Boogers on the Baseboards

My best Clemson girlfriends are coming in town this weekend for a wedding and I am SOOO excited to see them... BUT..... you know what their visit means? Cleaning..... like serious cleaning and guess what........ I've accomplished maybe 15% of what I wanted to get done as to avoid constant "Please excuse my house's." The thing is... they.don't.care! They're non-judgmental... I'M the one judging my house.

I guarantee they won't notice the boogers on my baseboards, the ravioli stain on the wall or the fact that my centerpiece orchid died today (I forgot about the poor thing on the patio yesterday when I was re-potting it! TEAR... I kept it alive for 2 years which is a lifetime for plants in my house). The thing is.... I will notice. I will slide my body around the room so I'm covering the stain on the wall that could be easily fixed if I would just do touch up paint on the stain, pick all the boogers off the wall and make a trip to Home Depot in the morning for a new orchid.... but I won't. I'll vacuum, sweep, mop (possibly!), clean their bathroom, put new sheets on the bed and apologize once an hour, on the hour, for everything else.

I ALWAYS find something else to do instead of clean. I LOVE a clean house and it is usually acceptably clean but I'd LOVE to be one of those moms who can open her door anytime and it look impeccable. You know who you are and I hate you! Wanna know what else I really can't stand? No... well, I'll tell you anyways.... moms who work and say "if I were a stay at home mom, my house would be clean all of the time." Lights me on fire. WRONG! If you were a stay at home mom, your kids would also be home and thus your home will look like a tornado comes through once an hour. I say this from experience with a T-5 tornado of my own.

Blogging is a nice distraction from cleaning. So is facebook, errands, neighborhood friends, re-reading Eclipse for the 3rd time, shopping, walking the dogs, playing with Parker, plucking my eyebrows..... you get it... and I've done them all now.... so I guess it's time to .... (duh duh duh......) CLEAN! One day I'll figure this whole "balancing act out" ..... won't I?