HAPPY DIRTY THRITY JEAN!

HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTABULOUS 30TH B'DAY!

We Love you Tons!!!

Shelby, Brad, and Henry

Yard Sale-ing!

*the one above is very similar to the one I scored

Saturday morning at 7:00am I looked out my window and my across the street neighbor was setting up for a Yard Sale. The house just sold and apparently she was in desperate need to unload some "stuff". Brad told me to grab his wallet and go over and see what all they had. I did just that and came home a very lucky WINNER! Here's what I got:

• Cedar Chest -$20 (WHAT? $20 buck-a-roos for this beaut that looks perfect in my living room)
• 3 Oberglas Cabernet Savignon Wine glasses for $1 (for all 3)
• Sterling Silver (plated i'm assuming) medium sized vase $1- it needs a little polishing, but it's real purdy underneath all that tarnish

TOTAL: $22

She just finalized her divorce and we think she is just trying to rid her life of all of "their" possessions. Otherwise, I can't understand why she would sell such nice things for so cheap. Whatever her story is, I'm thrilled I decided to go Yard Sale-ing this weekend! Think I might make it a weekly occurrence:)

Thomas and Friends at the Colonial Center

About a month ago Tricia called and offered to take us all to the Colonial Center to see Thomas (the train) and Friends Stage Show and Circus. So, of course, I jumped at the chance! We didn't tell Henry where he was going until he and I arrived in Lexington yesterday afternoon and he was excited to say the least. She had a special Thomas book and a cool wooden block choo choo train waiting for him! We met her great friend Joan and her 2 cute grandsons, Matthew and Andrew at Chick Fil A before the show for some playtime on the playground.

After they were good and full and tired of playing we headed to the SHOW! It really was so neat and Henry enjoyed himself thoroughly! He danced and clapped and sang the songs!

He love seeing Thomas, Percy, Gordon, James, and Sir Topham Hat live in person.

TT had the most fun with Henry and spoiled him rotten!

Court Court and Cam Cam had even more fun and spoiled him even more!

This was Matthew and Henry...only about 3 weeks apart in age.

The fountain outside the Colonial Center was quite a hit with all the kiddos! They all swarmed around it after the show.

Today we woke up and spent the day at the pool before we headed back to Charleston. It was such a GRAND time and I can't give you enough thank you's TT! We love you and enjoyed every minute!

HOT TOWN SUMMER IN THE CITY....

BACK OF MY NECK GETTIN' DIRTY AND GRITTY!

When the mercury rises to 100 degrees plus, where is the only place to be? FOLLY BEACH!!! And that's exactly where this family parked it for an all day sun fest. We called up some buds and all met at 10th street. Now let me set the scene...

10th street is where we all used to go back in the day. When there were no kids, no responsibility, and no mortgage. When the biggest thing on your mind was how you were going to get home in one piece and in time to get ready to out to the Blind Tiger. Well times haven't changed a bit. Well, except it's not us anymore. It's a whole other crew of 22-28 year olds GEARED UP and ready to party! I mean, this scene rivaled any full blown frat party that i've attended. People were funneling beers and throwing the football and themselves all around the beach! It was pure T madness!

And I have to say I was a wee bit jealous. I'm pretty sure I never looked like most of those gals out there, but I'm positive I had as much fun if not more.
But, alas, time goes on. Wake up you silly daydreamer! It's time to apply the 50 sunscreen to your offspring! In your tankini nonetheless!

But, I look at those 2 sweet faces (above) and realize that life is just as it should be. I love waking up at 6:30am to the sweet sounds of Mommy and wouldn't trade it for a thing. People probably thought we were crazy to bring our toddler to such a scene, but he was in pure heaven with all the activity and people to play with him. There was this great little gulley that we played in the whole day and it was perfect.

Henry and Brad found 2 sand dollars and 1 Starfish (or Sea Star as they now call them). Very cool!

If you look very close, you'll see just a few more freckles poppin' out on his face. I guess there's no escaping that with his sweet skin. No matter how much "screen" I apply.

One of the highlights of his day was playing "Alligator" on Grahams back in the gulley. He loved going up to people and scaring them.

A great day was had by all and we'll be back for more soon enough!

We all ended the afternoon at Taco Boy for some of the best guacomole and fish tacos you've ever had! Most stayed for a "few" more while we headed home for naps.
One tired little we had on our hands!

Happy Fathers Day!

Thank you for taking such good care of Henry and me!

We love you so much!!!

Fun on the Water with the Estills!

This weekend was one of the reasons I love living in this city! We're surrounded by H2O and people just love comin' to visit in the summer! Hanna and John offered to come down for the weekend and bring their boat. If you know me then you know how much I LOVE being on a boat and I gladly said COME ON DOWN! I love having them around without a boat, but that is just icing on the cake!

We were on the water by 10:00am and packin' "heat". Hanna and I had the following items in tow:

• chicken fingers
• chicken salad sandwhiches
• Capri Suns
• BEER
• Water
• Brownies
• "Dog Food" (this choc/peanut butter/chex goodness!)
• grapes
• pringles
• honey mustard pretzels
• sunscreen
• towels
• life jackets
• more sunscreen
  

My child takes after his mama and loved every minute of the day. He was such a trooper! We were planning on taking him back to land for an afternoon nap, but he was enjoying it so much we just kept him out there with us. He fell asleep in my lap and then was transferred to the floor on a towl at around 2:30 and slept like a ROCK until 4:30ish. And that is when we all began to fear for our lives. Well, not so much everyone else, but this mama was some kinda scared!

You see, we had driven about an hour and a half from where we started. We cruised out to Johns Island, Kiawah River, and finally to Folly Beach. We had been hanging out for a while on a beach which was really a bird sanctuary near Folly when DNR rolled up. We all 4 got a warning ticket for being somewhere we weren't supposed to be (Bird Sanct.). That goodness we got warnings, b/c each ticket was worth $475. Whew!

Now, that's not what had me so "spun up". It was the freakin' storm of the century that we could see in the not so distance and were driving straight towards it! We knew we'd be getting into some rain on the way back, but had no idea how bad it would get. Henry was up by this point and the bolts of lightning were coming down and the "funder" was booming. The rain was spittin' so hard it felt like needles. I had Henry in the floorboard of the boat all covered up and was trying to be cool as to not alarm him. I kept looking at Hanna going "i'm scared" and she was beginning to laugh histerically like she tends to do in crisis situations. Kinda of a problem we both have. Anyway, Hanna was by John trying to help him see and Brad was too.

They decided at this point to get to the nearest dock and just run for cover. Well, we veered off the channel and the motor started dragging. And I was near tears. Hanna's still laughing! Go figure! We dredged through and made it to about the ricketiest dock you've ever seen. We run up under the tin, yes TIN, roof and just wait it out. Did I mention that there was some sort of power voltage box on this dock? Oh yea, we're just sitting ducks at this point. We were there about 20 minutes in the downpour when we finally saw some blue skies up ahead. The rain began to taper off and we pumped the boat of all the rain water and headed back to some dry land. It was 5:30 by now. And my sweet baby boy didn't make one peep the entire day! He thought the FUNDER was cool and kept saying "we takin' a shower mama" during the downpour. Amazing!

I never let on to him that I was afraid b/c I knew he would be afraid and Brad would have beat my arse! I would have been just fine had Henry not been there! But he was and I was in "Mama Bear" mode. A BIG thank you to John for getting us all home safe and sound yesterday. You are a great Captain!

So while it's great to live in a place with so much water, you also have to be prepared for a nasty thunderboomer to pop up at any second in the summer months. I hope I never have to experience that again in all my days!

We were all "SPENT" last night! We ordered pizza and a movie and were all in bed by 10:00! Such a fun weekend with 2 of our favorite people ever! Henry is pretty much obsessed with his Aunt Hanna and Uncle John and I think they "kinda" like him too!

This is my favorite pic of the day! He literally did not move a muscle for a solid hour and a half.

Thank you Hanna and John for such a fun weekend!

Riverdogs Baseball!

The Riverdogs are at home this week so we decided to gather a little crowd and head out to the park! This was Henry's first Riverdogs game and he was in love! Last year we took him to a SOCON Tournament game, but he was still a bit young to take it all in. He was in sensory overload with all the people (it was Thirsty Thursday), jump castles, Tony the Boiled Peanut Man, hot dogs and souvenirs galore! Brad bought him a Charlie the Riverdog t-shirt and a baseball. He immediately wanted to wear the t-shirt and carried his ball around with pride the rest of the night.

It was hot and sticky out there with nary a breeze until around 8:15 and all hell broke loose. A storm came up out of nowhere over the Ashley River and there were lightening bolts as big as I've ever seen. It was pure chaos as moms were gathering up their screaming kids and guys were grabbing their gals. The wind was whipping and people were scurrying!

We made it back safely to our car and home, but our single friends stayed behind and toughed it out! They said it blew over pretty quickly! Storms like that are so intriguing to me! Maybe I should be a storm chaser when I grow up :)

I LOVE this pic and LOVE that our friends LOVE our child so much! He's a lucky little boy to have such great people in his life!

And before all the madness began Henry got to enjoy one of his very favorite things. A JUMP CASTLE!!!

He was a wet hot mess after he got out of this one!

And that folks is a happy little boy!

Lickin' the Beaters...

One of life's simple pleasures.

My Heart Could Burst

It seems that lately all I write about are the cute and funny little things Henry says and does. And I guess it's because they happen so often and I want to remember them years from now. And the chances of me doing that relying on my own brain are slim to none. This blog has become Henry's baby book and my family's life book and I hope to some day very soon make it into a coffee table book. And, besides, Henry won't sit still long enough for me and my VERY limited photography skills to get some good shots. I promise some more soon:)

So here is the latest installment:

Last week we hired a babysitter b/c I was going to take dinner to Christine at the hospital and Brad was going out with his mom and bro for sushi. Aubrey is Henry's favorite babysitter and ours too. She is a rising Senior in high school and is the sweetest girl ever. And she's drop dead gorgeous to boot and my boy just luuuuvvvvsss her! She plays with him non-stop while she's at our house and he just loves looking at her long blond hair I'm sure:)

So, as I was putting him to bed that night he was talking about Aubrey and the fun things they did.

And I said: "Aubrey's so nice and pretty isn't she?"

GET READY....

And H said: "You pwetty too Mommy."

And smiled up at me with his big brown eyes! I melted like a popsicle on a hot summer day!

I mean, he is either extremely smart and trying to butter me up OR he really thinks his mommy is pretty.

I choose to believe the latter.

It's moments like that that make all the hard work of being a parent worth every second. I love him so much I could just die!!!

Thank You

*this morning in the kitchen before work...

Henry: "You mopped the floor mommy?"

Me: "I sure did."

Henry: "Fank You"

*this morning in the yard before going to Mrs. Brenda's...

Henry: "You cut the grass daddy?"

Brad: "Yes, I did."

Henry: "Fank You"

This was all in a a very matter of fact, no nonsense kind of way. He must have heard us discussing my mopping and Brad's grass cutting yesterday b/c he was at school or asleep when it actually happened. It was as if he just noticed it and thought it was appropriate to give us a thank you. Amazing! All of our CONSTANT reminding...err..pleading him to use his manners is finally paying off.