11.14.2013

You can't make old friends

 Oh no!  I've done it again…I've let the blog slide so I'm jumping right in!

The last weekend in September, Lee and I headed north to Clemson University for Homecoming.  We met and fell in love {just a few years ago} in this beautiful place so it holds a special place in my heart…and only my heart because any one who knows my husband well knows he is not a tiger fan.    

It's always funny to me to go back to my "old" places. 
 They always seem so small.  What I have come to know is that the 
lens that I am looking through now is just larger. 
We walked to my freshman dorm and past Tillman Hall {where most of my education classes were held}, and then back to main street to meet up with our friends.  


\





Gena and Nathan hosted all of us in their beautiful new lake home on Keowee.  I know that we will make more wonderful memories together in that perfect slice of heaven. 

The details of the weekend are really not what's important.  
What is important is that since we left that campus we have all married and stayed married.
We've had 11 children.
We've all moved on from our first homes, our first jobs, and our "plans" of how our lives would go. 
We have lost friends and loved ones, kept secrets, and we are changed.

What's important is that we are still us, even though everything is different.  

You can't make old friends, but you can keep them. 

Love my "Golden Girls" 










9.20.2013

It's Friday and I am actually linking up on the right day!  
 Decided to do a little something different with my 5 on Friday...hope you enjoy!


{one thing I am reading}
I was gifted a copy of this last Christmas, but was reading another book at the time so this found it's way to our bookshelf and I am just now reading it.  Lee and I recently started a study at church on the Bible from beginning to end and I am using this, along with my trusty NIV,  to help me study.  In The Story, "the stories, poems, and teachings of the Bible...read like a novel." 
You can get one for yourself here



{two things that stopped me in my tracks this week}

READ this.  

And this.  The line that got me was...



{three pictures I found on my phone, thanks to Hampton}



This is the toilet in my bathroom....lucky the phone didn't end up in the bowl.

Me making my bed.  Didn't even know he did this...


Selfies in the Target. 



{four things that I hope will make my life easier}
To say the laundry at my house is overwhelming some days would be a gross understatement. My least favorite step in the process is putting it all away!  The big boys are old enough now to put away their own laundry so I am hoping this helps to get the laundry upstairs and actually put away.  



{how we will spend at least five hours this weekend}
Several friends have RAVED about this show so we are having a marathon tonight to catch up!  Lee and I never started watching and have never seen one episode!   The boys will be with grandparents so our date night will be take out, cocktails, and HOMELAND!   




9.16.2013

Weekend Recap

{friday}
boosterthon & pizza night


 {saturday}
krispy kremes & tailgates





 {sunday}
worship. blog reading. porch 


how was your weekend?

9.14.2013

Five on Friday...or Saturday Morning

I am linking up with my girl April for her fun series Five on Friday! 
 (I realize it's Saturday, but let's just go with it)


{one}

Holiday Market 2013 is in full swing!  My best girl Claudia and I are beyond excited...we have the BEST committee of dedicated women working with us.  Less than 3 months away and it will be here before we know it!  



{two} 
I was super late to the iPhone world.  Like embarassingly late.  
I try to limit the amount of time the boys play on my phone because 1 phone, 3 boys...you can see the problem here.   Recently I purchased one app for Hampton that has saved me so many times when I need him occupied.  
It's called Endless Alphabet and it's a lifesaver.  
Kids are given big words, like gargantuan {pun totally intended} to "spell".  Cute little monsters run through the word to scrabble the letters leaving a shadow of the word behind.  The child then moves the scrabbled letters to the shadow to respell the word.  
GENIUS!  Check it out!   

{three}
Most of you tech savvy mom's probably already know this little trick I am about to share, but even if I help one person I will be so happy.  Hampton is forever wanting to "play phone mama" and I really don't mind it.  The catch is that kid knows his way around an iPhone and can click and swipe his way around like nobody's business!  He has texted almost everyone we know at some point.  Parents can set up Guided Access so that once in an app, 
YOUR KIDS CAN'T GET OUT!  
I found this picture online to get you started.   
"To enter Guided Access mode on your iPhone or iPad, just enter the app you'd like someone to be locked into and triple click the Home button. If you have multiple shortcuts set up for triple clicking the Home button, you'll be given the option to choose between them. Just tap on Guided Access. You'll now be launched into Guided Access mode and you can begin setting it up.
Go here for more info.

{four}


Yesterday I was feeling super productive and decided to clean the outside of the windows of our house.  Most of our windows are not covered {and I like it this way!} so you really notice the yuck on the windows.  I saw a commercial for this stuff about birds flying into windows or something like that and decided to give it a try.  I don't want birds flying into my windows.  But it has to be said... if one did because my windows were SO CLEAN I would be smiling inside while I helped the little bird back to his feet.  This stuff worked like a charm and it only took me an hour or so!  I love looking out of freshly cleaned windows!!  


{five}
Never shared a picture of my big second graders on the first day of school!  


8.22.2013

You Paid More Than Me

Any one who knows me well knows that I am a bargain shopper....I love a TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and my personal favorite, the Ross Dress for Less.  Last week while traveling in Chicago for work I spotted a Marshalls, TJ, and ROSS in the same giant shopping center.....the TRIFECTA.   After pulling over in a hotel parking lot, I had to talk myself {out loud, people} into continuing on my route to the airport so I wouldn't miss my flight.  Plus I would have had to buy another bag just to get stuff home if I were to buy anything.  Not that that has ever stopped me....

I have been known to walk these stores and not buy one single thing, but that is certainly the exception...NOT the rule, although Lee wishes it were.  Many times I find great stuff that I have no intention of buying, but have to snap a picture of to show some body {usually my super talented interior designer friend Ashley} just because I need someone else to see THIS WAS AT TJ MAXX!!!

Here are a few things I have found recently...

  Found and purchased at Stein Mart...usually not a fan of mass produced art, but I just couldn't leave this in the store.  When I got home Jackson said, "MOM!  That's me and Tradd and Hampton!"  I hung this upstairs near their rooms.

    Found and purchased these side tables at Ross.  The big one was $39.99 and the smaller $29.99.  They are really sturdy and I know that I can spray paint them later if I end up tiring of the gold bases.  

 Found at TJ Maxx.  This was one of those things that I loved, but really had no where to put it in our home.  It's really modern to me with that stainless steel base.  I thought it would make a great console or side-board in a dining room!  Love it!  


And this is me cheesing it up at the Marshalls off Michigan Avenue in Chicago!  
 Certainly the biggest Marshall's I've ever been in, but didn't buy one thing! 


 I found a blog a few months back that I have loved reading called You Paid More Than Me.  I just know Stephanie and I would be friends if we knew each other in real life.

8.20.2013

Southern Baby: 2 years

Dear Hampton, 

I've never told you this story, but it's one you need to know.  On the morning you were born your Daddy and I left home when it was still dark outside to meet you.  With sleepy eyes, we checked into the hospital and were placed in a room to wait.  Your Daddy made jokes and we laughed and talked about who we thought you would look like.  Just before we went back for the C-section, Mommy's doctor came in and asked what kind of music I liked.  Surprised by the question, I told him I liked all kinds of music, but he could choose.   Just something good to have a baby to.  

  The moment before you took your very first breath and cried for the very first time 
a hush fell over the operating room.........and then this song spilled from the iPod...


I'm finding myself at a loss for words 

And the funny thing is it's okay 
The last thing I need is to be heard 
But to hear what You would say







Word of God speak 

Would You pour down like rain 
Washing my eyes to see 
Your majesty



 

To be still and know 

That You're in this place 
Please let me stay and rest 
In Your holiness 
Word of God speak





I'm finding myself in the midst of You 

Beyond the music, beyond the noise 
All that I need is to be with You 
And in the quiet hear Your voice







I'm finding myself at a loss for words 

And the funny thing is it's okay
{mercyme}

This is your song.  I hear it now and can close my eyes and 
see you again for the very first time.  It was a holy experience.  
The holiest of my life thus far.     
__________________________________________

You are two.  
Your favorite book is Knuffle Bunny
Your favorite drink, chocolate milk.
You like jumping off beds and chairs and curbs of sidewalks.
You love bubbles and "Mick Mouse."
The funniest thing you say is "noodle" because you stick your tongue out every time.  
We make you say "noodle bubble" because those two words together...too funny.

Just like every mother, I wish I could bottle you up right now just to remember who you are as a two year old. 

 Instead I will be still.  I will be present in every moment with you.  I will be okay when you are throwing a fit and I have to grit my teeth 
because I know that you won't be two forever. 

You are loved, precious one.  
Happy Birthday! 

Love, 
Mama 

  

8.17.2013

well hello.

So I have been pretty absent from this blog and with good reason.  I was working with a dying laptop that would shut down every 15 minutes.  The number of posts in the "draft" section of this blog would make your head spin.  I would sit down to write or upload pictures and....black screen and shut down.  

Well.  I broke down and bought a new computer.  A MAC.  I am in love.  L.  O.  V.  E.  

I am hoping that with my fancy smancy new computer {and a little more quiet time around here once school commences}  that I will be able to blog more often!  WE shall SEE!!

Thought I'd catch up on May and June first...  


{End of 1st Grade}


The boys had a GREAT year in first grade!  Tradd had Miss Honeywell and Jackson had Mrs. Norton.  They loved going to school every day and learned so much.  I especially loved reading through their Writer's Notebooks at the end of the year!!   

{Last Day of 1st Grade}

T and J grew at least two inches over the course of the school year and lost a combined total of 14 teeth!  
We kept the tooth fairy hoppin'! 

{Bryson City}



We spent Memorial Day in Bryson City with my family...Bryson's girlfriend Lauren's first trip with our family!

{Baseball}





The boys played coaches pitch in the spring for Team Comporium! 
 We had a great group of players and parents which is important when you spend so much time at the ball park!  Our little team went further than we ever imagained in the playoffs....we came in 2nd in our division!  Hampton was quite a handful at the ball park this season...I wanted to watch the game and he wanted to play chase and dig in the dirt sooooo I may or may not have bribed him with Blow Pops.