slideshow {palmetto thunder}

Spencer's travel ball team, which is brand new this year, were "co-champions" of BAT WARS. This was only their third tournament, so it was pretty big deal for them. The same tournament also marked an awesome turning point in his new *career* as a travel ball player. He progressed from being stuck in the outfield (and completely frustrated by it), to being a relief pitcher helping his team bring home some championship rings! We are so proud of him. I put together this little slideshow as a tribute to our super ball player.

Create a picture slideshow

coleman {15 months old}

on monday, coleman turned 15 months old. one fourth of the way through his second year of life. the first year was pretty cool, but NOW...now is awesome. when i was pregnant, a friend told me that every new age was always her favorite. that they are always doing something amazing. i get it now.

today, coleman had his 15 month old check-up with dr. cook and got his mmr and chicken pox vaccines. he didn't like the shots, but as always - he was a trooper and the tears didn't last long. while we were waiting to see the doctor, coleman ran around playing with his baseball. (yes, i let my child run around a germ-infested doctor's office naked. he was happy. i was happy. it was early - how many germs could there really be???).

our "baby boy" weighed in at 24 pounds and 7 ounces (about average) and measured 32" long (above average). he got a clean bill of health from the good doctor and is on target with all of the important things. music to a mama's ears. even though the doctor said "he looks good", i'm pretty sure he meant to say "he's the most perfect fifteen-month-old child i've seen in all my years of practice"!

at fifteen months, coleman is all boy...

he is obsessed with mulch...

and sticks...

and shoes...

he loves going to aj's house and hanging out with his buddies...

he loves, loves, loves country music and is still hooked on his pacifier (we're working on that)...

he loves balls (of all sizes) and can throw really well (he has a good teacher)

he's a jabbermouth (i have no idea where he got THAT from). he talks constantly.

a few of the things he says that you can actually understand:

thank you

set, go

dog

sit

cheese

uh oh

something that sounds like "this" that he says A LOT ... we have no idea what it actually is.

when he says "sit" and "set", it sounds like a bad word...

at fifteen months...this kid is AWESOME...period.

loctite {brand re-launch}

this is a post rare in nature. i don't often blog about my day job. but i have to confess that i'm pretty pumped about this major brand re-launch that we are doing! if you haven't heard of loctite, you aren't alone. but, chances are...you've probably used our products! and if you drive a car, you benefit daily from the strength of our industrial adhesives (though i work for the consumer division of our company).

the re-launch includes updated packaging and a new ad campaign. you can catch an article HERE about it. as you are watching tv, keep an eye out for one of our two commercials - one features a boat, one a race car; same concept of a son and dad using our adhesive, combined with the professional usage of it. our print ads are super cool, as well!

it's a good feeling when you work for a company whose products you love, trust and respect. henkel is an awesome company. loctite is an awesome brand.

sidenote: i used our ultra gel super glue twice this weekend. kicks butt. go getcha some!

this week {5.17 to 5.23}

~ i opened a whole lot of super glue boxes at work ~

~ i took a bubble bath ~

~ i finished reading stuart woods' dark harbor and started reading his short straw ~

~ i got a great deal on diapers at rite aid ($32 for 5 packs of diapers, one pack of little swimmers and two tubs of wipes) ~

~ i had my "annual appointment" - you know the one ~

~ coleman and i had swimming lessons on tuesday; we played hookey on thursday ~

~ i only worked from home one day (tuesday) ~

~ i worked very hard (physically) at work for lowe's employee appreciation day ~

~ matt work nights (tuesday through thursday) and was off over the weekend ~

~ our dishwasher broke ~

~ spencer's travel team had a little celebration and received their championship rings ~

~ coleman had a party at daycare ~

~ i went to bed at 8:00 on friday night (i told you i worked hard) ~

~ spencer went to a birthday party ~

~ spencer cleaned up his room; matt and i cleaned up the rest of the house ~

~ we watched the usc vs florida baseball game ~

~ we visited matt's parents ~

~ i grocery shopped (harris teeter super double coupons) while matt, coleman and spencer went to spencer's baseball practice ~

~ i made some progress in cleaning up my scrapbook room and reorganizing a few things ~

~ i put some junk in the attic (had to buy a new, larger container for my patriotic decorations) ~

~ coleman and i went to giada's first birthday party ~

~ matt and i sat on the front porch and talked to the neighbors ~

~ i barely took any photos ALL week ~

{savings tracker}

spent = $231; saved = $196 (46%)

annual savings = $1,970 (41%)

average spent weekly for family of 3.5 = $139

photos {random catch-up}

wow, i've been scarce lately. many apologies. work has been crazy and once i'm home, i'm exhausted and lazy. not doing much past the necessities.

this is a totally random picture post, so bear with me. one of the things i LOVE about digital cameras is that if you have your laptop handy, you can swipe someone's memory card and get their photographic goodies right away. when i was visiting my mom and sister a few weekends ago, that's what i did. i got both of their memory cards and stole anything i wanted! here are some shots that i thought were good and i didn't capture myself.

the first couple are old ones from back in february - taken at coleman's daycare birthday party.

i like this first one because i think it captures the overall feel and environment of the little party.

i like this one because it actually has all four of us in it!

this is a cute one of spencer taken the night before coleman's party

the rest are a bit more recent...from about a month ago, when my nephew (bo) got his eagle scout.

my niece maggie

my nephew teddy

i love this picture of coleman (in the yard at my sister's house)

my nephews teddy (left) and bo (right) and their dad, chip (middle).

teddy is 4 years younger than bo, and quite a bit taller (he's grown even more in the past month!)

this week {5.10 to 5.16}

~ i clipped coupons ~

~ aj's mom gave me some saint patrick's day decor items as a gift. so sweet. ~

~ my social committee had some ridiculous drama (leading to one lady dropping out) ~

~ i unpacked from our weekend and shopping ~

~ i grocery shopped at harris teeter (with coleman) ~

~ coleman went to bed without supper. then he woke up around 11:30 needing a bottle (he never takes a bottle now) ~

~ coleman and i had swimming lessons on tuesday and thursday (matt came to watch thursday's lesson) ~

~ i picked up take-out chinese ~

~ i went shopping at kohl's...earned $20 in kohl's cash ~

~ coleman figured out how to take off his diaper ~

~ i worked at home on monday and thursday ~

~ i sent a detailed e-mail to the social committee ~

~ scott came over ~

~ spencer had a great baseball game and his team won ~

~ coleman played in the yard while i drank coffee on the patio ~

~ coleman and i went to check out the new shoe show (didn't buy anything) and then to tc's shaved ice ~

~ matt and i went to a wedding while sherry watched coleman ~

~ coleman and i had a tough sunday - he was not a happy camper ~

~ spencer's travel ball team were "co-champions" of their tournament (some games were rained out which is why there was more than one winner). this was their team's first tournament win. ~

~ i finished reading the book of 1 kings ~

{savings tracker}

spent = $108; saved = $57 (35%)

annual savings = $1,774 (41%)

average spent weekly for family of 3.5 = $134

accessory obsession {scarves}

notice anything that these photos have in common?

{of course, if you read the name of this post, it's pretty obvious}

yup...you're right. scarves.

let's back up for a brief history. for quite a while i have had an accessory fetish. i would be happy and content wearing jeans and a solid colored tee/tank if i had an unlimited accessories budget. shoes, bags, hats, etc. love 'em. so a few years ago when scarves started to become popular, i was all over that! it actually started more with long headbands for me. i gradually shifted to "decorative" scarves.

so, i wanted to do a tribute post to my scarf collection.

this first photo is of my *functional* scarf collection (in other words - winter scarves whose purpose is to keep me warm). i've collected winter hats/scarves/gloves for a while and every time i get a new coat (another serious obsession) i made sure to get a matching set of accessories. i usually keep my gloves in the actual coat pocket, so this drawer contains my warm scarves and hats. i have 14 winter scarves.

And here are my *decorative* scarves. There is a wide variety - sheer, thin, thick, fringe, fancy, casual, soft, silky, long, short, basic, elaborate...you get the point. despite already having a ton of them, i think i've already bought at least four more since taking this photo. my current total is 25.

note: the hanger pictured is from ikea and is AWESOME

my goal is to do additional posts about my other accessory collections :)

this week {5.3 to 5.9}

~ i worked from home monday and tuesday ~

~ i shopped at cvs, wal-mart and the dollar tree ~

~ matt chaperoned spencer's field trip to camp thunderbird ~

~ we hosted a meet and greet for britt's campaign ~

~ i baked red and blue star-shaped cookies ~

~ spencer's baseball game got rained out ~

~ i finished reading the book of 2 samuel ~

~ i worked on the hoa newsletter, the social committee meeting agenda, and a power point presentation ~

~ i introduced coleman to drawing on my iphone ~

~ i planted two hanging baskets of flowers and a few pots ~

~ i had a dentist appointment ~

~ coleman and i had our first swimming lesson ~

~ spencer had a baseball game and did really well, though his team lost ~

~ spencer brought home a cool abstract pottery bowl he'd made at school ~

~ matt had to work an extra shift on thursday night ~

~ i took a vacation day on friday ~

~ aj had a mother's day breakfast friday morning at daycare ~

~ i spent friday morning doing laundry and packing for our weekend ~

~ coleman and i drove down to conway for the weekend ~

~ coleman and i stopped at mcdonald's for lunch and later stopped for a break at the myrtle beach visitor's center to play on the playground ~

~ we hung out at michelle's on friday night with her family and mom ~

~ me, coleman, mom, michelle and maggie spent all day saturday shopping ~

~ teddy placed 1st in the state shoot; bo's team placed 2nd ~

~ me, coleman, mom, sherry, chip, bo and teddy went out to breakfast on sunday at shoney's ~

~ i got photos off of mom and michelle's cameras ~

~ coleman and i drove home from conway (easier trip this time) ~

~ i threw away six bottles of tylenol, motrin, and benadryl; and submitted an online rebate ~

~ coleman and i hung out with tara outside for a few minutes ~

~ tara gave me some cute scrapbooking-themed stationary items ~

~ i got pink roses from matt for mother's day ~

{savings tracker}

spent = $36; saved $16 (31%)

annual savings = $1,717 (41%)

weekly average for family of 3.5 = $136