Harrison Turns One!

Deuce's buddy Harrison turned 1 last Friday so we stopped by Harrison's house after work to drop off a little gift Deuce had picked out.  Well technically, he "picked out" the entire store but we finally settled on one gift, this thing you pound balls into with a mallet.  I'm sure Harrison's mom, Val, loves that.  Sorry Val!

It didn't take Harrison long to put the mallet in his mouth...

Harrison's daddy is a soccer coach so he is quite familiar with the soccer ball, much like Deuce is with a basketball.  {see toy thingy to the left? you pound those balls in the holes with the mallet and they roll down and come out the bottom.}

 Deuce liked the balls and just wanted to throw them all over Harrison's house and then put them back in their holes.  Here we were telling him "YEA" because he actually matched up the green colors.  The others, not so much.

 And Harrison loved the mallet. 
{Oh and that's a half-way shot of Felton, Harrison's sweet, sweet dog that Deuce loved!  Felton licked Deuce over and over again and Deuce loved it.  At one point, Davis put Felton on the back porch and Deuce went over to the window and did his "WOOF" and Felton barked back at him.  HI-LAR-IOUS!}

 Happy 1st Birthday to Harrison and here's to many more years of the boys hanging out!

Revisiting the Pencil Bouquet

I thought I would share some photos that a coworker recently sent me of her version of the pencil bouquet that I made for TJ's teacher during Teacher Appreciation week.  Jodi is one of my favorite people here at work.  We discovered that we both enjoy blogging, crafting and being a mom.  You can check out Jodi's blog, Sydney's Sweet Life, HERE. 

Jodi has two adorable little ones Bryce and Sydney.  Sydney was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at only 11 months old so Jodi blogs about their life of 24 hour finger pricks (yes, that means getting up during the night, EVERY night) and watching every thing that little Sydney eats.  She is also a super crafty sewer and has created a line of pump pouches with really cute fabrics so that kids don't have to be so concerned about exposing their insulin pumps for the entire world to see.  You can check out her etsy shop HERE. 

Jodi's oldest, Bryce, is getting ready to start kindergarten next week (modified year round school) so she wanted to give a gift to his current teachers at preschool to show their thanks.  After seeing the pencil bouquet on my blog she rallied up Bryce and got him involved.  Here is her version:

She made these 3 bouquets for about $10 total.  You can't beat that!  I love how she added the circles to the ribbon across the front and had Bryce write his own name.  Children's handwriting always makes me smile.

Stop by and visit Jodi and if you know of anyone with diabetes - direct them to Jodi's site!  It's amazing the comfort we can find simply by meeting someone else going through the same things as us.  Happy Weekend!

Hair Cut?

There is a debate going on in my house right now.  Over hair.  Yes, hair.  Ed is ready to cut Deuce's hair off. ARGH!  Maybe "cut it off" is a bit extreme, but he wants to at least trim it.  Me not so much...  I don't quite know why though.  Maybe it's because it's another step towards him being a toddler and not my little baby.  Maybe it's because he will now have to start going to get a hair cut bi-monthly (ugh $$$) or maybe it's because it doesn't seem like it's grown in enough to warrant a cut.  It's still kind of mohawk-ish so what if he looks like he has a receding hair line at 15 months?  Granted, his hair does often look like this.....

and this... {see thin spots?}

...but still.  I think it's cute.  And I am well aware that my baby is half black and half white so he is prone to nappiness when it comes to hair.  He already has a nappy patch in the back.  Yeah, I said nappy patch.  I just think Ed is ready to see how his hair grows back.... soft & curly or bristly.  Ed says he is the dad & Deuce is a boy so ultimately it's his decision...  we'll see if that happens, but I'm thinking: nuh-uh.

Friday's on the Front Porch

This past Friday I took Deuce over to the Carolina Inn to listen to the bluegrass sounds of Big Fat Gap for Friday's on the Front Porch.  We met up with some good friends and had a great time.  The weather was perfect and both Deuce and I got to catch up with some old (and not so old, literally) friends.

This is Harrison.  Harrison will be 1 on Friday.  He belongs to Davis and Val.  My mom was Davis' 5th grade teacher and he and I later became good friends in high school.

This is Cal.  Cal will be 2 in September.  He belongs to Carrie & Eddie.  I met Carrie at church in middle school and we became good friends while cheerleading together in high school.  I met Eddie in middle school. (Holla, Culbreth Cougars! Ed and I have this debate almost weekly, he was a Phillips Falcon, with Davis & Carrie).

The guy on bass and lead vocals for Big Fat Gap is Miles Andrews.  He just so happens to be one of my cousin Brian's childhood best friends.  And it just so happens that Miles' younger sister, Natalie, is one of my childhood best friends.  How excited do you think I was when I found out Natalie was in town from NYC for the weekend??  Here is Deuce waving to Miles' back...with his other hand chillin' in his pocket.

Not sure who this kid is but he was a friend of Cal's so Deuce thought he was pretty cool.  They stood next to the band and danced for a bit...

Can y'all tell that Harrison has a dog?  He sure knows what to do with that leash!  It's a good thing that Carrie's brother's dog was so used to kids because they were flocking to him like a pack of fleas!

And Deuce decided to eat some sticks.  For a minute anyway, until he discovered that he doesn't really enjoy the taste of bark so he threw them down and then decided to lay it on down like a hippie under the stars.

We had such a good time!  I saw several other classmates from high school and it was so nice to catch up!  I think we will be making this part of our weekly music routine...

Birth Print Styles

I've had quite a few requests for birth prints lately.  Yea for babies! 

They make such an awesome gift or add a special touch to the babe's nursery.

I thought that I would share a few of the one's I have created lately in case you were pondering an order!

If you are interested in ordering one, drop me an email HERE!

Colors, images and information are all customizable.

$15 includes high quality printing on matte photo paper & shipping!

Air Deuce & Daddy

This is how we have been spending our Saturday's.  Usually, I go to Zumba during TJ's swim lesson and when I come back to pick them up, I find them all in the gym.  And just in case any of you were wondering...Ed is preparing to make an appearance in the NBA this season as a free agent. 
Can't you tell?

{Keep in mind that the goal is at about 8 feet.}

I just love the way Deuce kicks his little legs like he is pushing off and trying to climb the air to the goal...

Farmer Deuce

So my parents decided to start their own garden this year in a section of land to the side of their house.  They are making an attempt to grow all things yummy like corn, cabbage, lettuce, beans, carrots, cucumbers and squash {plus some others I'm sure}.  It's been a learning process for them but it is developing quite nicely.  Since Deuce is staying with my mom quite a bit this summer while she's out of school, he has had a chance to spend a good amount of time in the garden. 

Nana bought him a pair of garden boots that he wasn't too fond of at first.  Once he saw everyone else putting them on though, problem was solved.  They are about 2 sizes too big for him but that was all they had so she got them anyway.  He was having a hard time walking at first but then he got the hang of it.  I love them.

He watches very carefully to see what Grandpa is doing.  He squats down and intensely stares back and forth between his face and his hands.  And Grandpa is too cute because he explains in great detail what he is doing as though Deuce understands every thing he is saying.

The squash has really taken off and they have it coming out of their ears.  It's a good thing that my family loves squash because I think I have gotten a bundle every time I have seen my mom {which is almost every day!}  I have given a bunch to Ed's parents and to the neighbors.  Here, Deuce was inspecting it and letting Grandpa know which ones were ready to be picked.  Then he let us know where we should move to next.

 squash & corn

There are some areas that still need to be addressed.  The first issue is the intense deer population that they have out there.  I think they were going to get some of that stuff you spray to keep the deer away and see how that works.  The other issue is the enormous about of weeds that have taken over some of the garden.  I know my mom has these great intentions of weed eating the garden but a busy toddler doesn't allow for much of that.  At least he tries to help though {for all of 5 seconds before he finds a clump of dirt he thinks is a ball and he wants you to play catch with it.....}.

 It makes me smile to drive up and see my parents in the garden with the little guy!

Saturday Morning Swim Lessons

We finally got TJ signed up for swim lessons!  Yea!  However, Deuce's classes were all full by the time we signed up. Boo!  It was more important for TJ to take swim lessons anyway.  He is 9 years old and it wasn't until the end of last summer that he would get off of the stairs in a pool.  Even if someone was holding him, he feared for his life!  In 3 feet of water!  Nuh uh... I'm not having that.  I was in swim lessons before I could walk and by 12, I was certified in water safety and rescue and my sister was a life guard all through high school.  I love the water {may be where he gets it from?} and I couldn't stand the thought of TJ going to some kids pool party and having to sit on the side being taunted because he was too scared.  So I have been pushing for Ed to sign him up.  However, our super busy weekend schedule always gets in the way.  With football & basketball, there wasn't any time for him to take lessons during the fall or winter.  And he has to take the Saturday lessons because the weekday lessons are at like 3pm and seriously, some of us work until at least 5...  So he's been in swim lessons for a few weeks now and has progressed to being able to tread water for at least a minute and swimming the breast stroke for at least 25 yards. 

He has also been able to go down the big slide at the Y into 7 feet and then swim over to his instructor at the wall.  This was a HUGE deal for him!  With his progressions and success he has quickly developed a love for the water and is very excited for our trip to Knoxville in a few weeks to jump off the diving board with his cousins at my Aunt Rita's house...we'll see!  Oh, and he loves his goggles.  I always felt like a goober with them on but he loves to wear them and see everything down below.

The next session starts in a few weeks and we will be out of town for 2 of the 6 Saturday's {yeah, not wasting my $ for that} so I think we will have to wait for the September session to get Deuce enrolled.  While TJ is in his lessons, we have to keep Deuce out of the pool area because he will try to run into the pool after his brother so we take him into a nearby room.  The room has windows overlooking the pool so we can still see TJ but Deuce can run around with his basketball.

Check out my baby's form!  Is that proper hand placement or what??? :)