31 days: happy halloween

happy halloween

today marks the end of "31 days"...again, my apologies for not being able to keep up. i hope you will forgive me. look at the adorable face above...how can you not be in a forgiving mood???

story: the photo above is my sister's attempt to rectify our lack of pumpkin patch photos this year. we have tried FIVE times to get to a pumpkin patch (an annual tradition in our family). each one has failed. i'm not sure what happened, but apparently it wasn't meant to be! so, coleman picked a pumpkin at aunt sherry's house.

31 days: daycare life

one of the things that i love about the lady that watches coleman is that she sends me photos on my phone. it's always a welcome bright spot in my day. these are all photos sent back in june...

learning with your baby can read

best buddies

 

doing puzzles

 

painting

bless this food...

31 days: coleman's summer portrait

one of the things i love about the in-home daycare that coleman attends is that she goes above and beyond. sometimes it's the little things, ya know? and one of those little things is the fact that she tries to get someone to take the kids' portraits once or twice a year. love that.

this is coleman's portrait from early summer (pre-haircut). he has such a sweet look on his face, dontcha think??? love that he is wearing a hat (a current obsession). love that he is wearing a nautica polo shirt just like his daddy. and of course, love that he has the ball and bat. (fyi - i did not know the ball/bat were going to be in the photo so no one can accuse me of intentionally matching his outfit to them!!!)

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

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31 days: current road trip

this morning, coleman and i hit the road...headed to conway to visit family. despite how much i love and adore coleman, i have to be honest...he has been a handful lately. he is the epitome of "terrible twos" and is testing us on a regular basis.

matt had a seriously tough day with coleman yesterday. particularly in the car. though we've made this trip many times, i was quite worried...

but it was unwarranted. he was a perfect angel for the entire drive. he slept for over half of it and then we spent the rest of the time singing and dancing to some fun music. 

and our first few hours in conway were easy peasy as well. and then it was time to leave. coleman has given me some trouble getting into his carseat...but only on occasion. and we can usually work our way through it. not so much this time. he fought me so hard, i could not physically restrain him long enough to get him buckled. what a nightmare. i don't know how long it actually took. it felt like an hour. i'm sure it was much less...but we eventually made it. 


and then he was fine. here he is enjoying a yummy snack. waiting for the parade to start. wearing my sunglasses. of course. 

back at the house. dirty boy all cleaned up. chilling with aunt michelle's ipad. we sent this picture to daddy as a christmas hint... (love that michelle has one of the old toy phones that was a small character in toy story three. coleman also loves it). 

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

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31 days: my birthday

the other day i had to stop and do the math to figure out how old i was. seriously. i'm pretty sure that's a sign that you are getting old. when you can't remember how old you are. ouch.

anyway, i turned 33 (i think) back in july. i documented the day via instagram photos...my favorite cheater's way of memory keeping.

every birthday has to start off with a coffee treat (well, at least my birthdays do). i went big - venti chai latte. this is my newest froo-froo drink of choice when the pumpkin spice latte is not in season.

 

lunch. time for another treat. my favorite is mexican but since i knew we'd be doing that for supper, i went with some tasty chinese take out. i needed something quick.

 

and my birthday outfit. new cardigan - love the bright color and fun ruffle. the pretty scarf was a birthday gift from my mom -- seemed appropriate to wear on my actual birthday, right?

 

unfortunately, work doesn't wait for birthday celebrations, so the bulk of my day was pretty typical.

 

a little inside joke here. coleman went through a phase where he started calling me "maw maw". we have no idea why, but luckily it was short-lived. spencer & matt thought it was hilarious. these signs greeted me when i got home. (maybe i should have this photo as the wallpaper on my phone so i will remember how old i am!)

 spencer made me this special birthday "card" which is actually a full 12"x12" size. he raided my scrapbook supplies. i told him the most impressive thing was the fact that he got in and out of that room alive and  managed to find enough supplies to create something!

holly + birthday = mexican food. yay! i could eat this everyday. almost. no, definitely.

when we got home from eating, matt surprised me with a birthday cake! (i forgot to snap a photo before the candles were blown out and removed).

and no celebration is complete without fireworks, right? no? that's not normal? well, when your birthday is the week after the fourth of july, sometimes you get lucky and have leftovers!

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

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31 days: pinterest

since i haven't made posting a priority (well, it's a priority in my head, but the execution...not so great). anyway... i thought i would share what i have been doing with my time. with some help from pinterest. which is rocking my world right now.

flooring: once again, matt and i are trying to tackle the decision for new flooring in our main living area. we tried this once already and never pulled the trigger. because i suck at making big irreversible decisions. (and i suck at not using the word "suck").

we have dark cabinets. i want white. but i can't have them, so we are trying to find the best solution. wish us luck. we need it. this is a time sucker. numerous trips to lowe's and home depot + too much time online looking for inspiration. not to mention i'm getting a crick in my neck from staring down at our floor for long periods of time.

 studio: an ongoing struggle is the room in our house that was a scrapbook studio in a previous life. now it's a disaster begging for some serious TLC. my birthday present was for matt to help me get it in order with some new shelving, etc. my birthday was in july. i've struggled with decision making here too (see a common theme?). the good news is that i think i finally know what i want. i feel a trip to ikea coming...

organization: i have been in a serious purging mood the last few months. and that is awesome!!! it is such a good feeling to drop off a car full of crap to goodwill. and i'm not done. i've been tackling small organization/purging projects and it's paying off...slowly but surely.

fashion: not all of my attention has been on our house. i've also been kind of obsessed with fashion lately, though i have no idea why. stripes and cardigans and plaid button downs and tall brown boots and splashes of color. happiness. i have a (childless) shopping excursion planned for this weekend. kind of excited.

come follow me on pinterest. it's fun!

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

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31 days: i suck

so, i tried to tackle this 31 days of  chronicles posting thing. but i suck. (that's a word i use a lot. and i shouldn't. because it sucks. see...there i go, again. seriously, it's obnoxious. i need to stop saying it. i think i remember my dad used to fuss at me for using it. i guess some habits die hard.)

today i should be posting the 18th post of the month. but i'm not, because i suck stink. this is actually only my 12th post. and the ones i did do...most were backdated.

and i'm not any more caught up on photo editing from june, july, august or september. that's right. i'm over four months behind in my "photo process". ugh.

hopefully you will forgive me. i will try to do better over the next two weeks. but seriously - i'm not making any promises.

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

*****************************************************************

31 days: the plan

you know how it's said that God laughs when we make plans. that's kind of the world we live in right now.

we had planned to take the boys down to a cool corn maze next friday. then we found out he already had plans at his mother's house.

then we planned to get him out of school early today in order to do this. then we found out he was sick.

we had planned to spend our weekend at a baseball field this weekend...but again, he is sick.

i had planned to make good use of a day off today. but i woke up with a migraine, had a long wait at the dr's office and spent much more time working than you should on your "day off."

i had planned to be in orlando next week for a business trip. but today it was cancelled.

we had planned for coleman to take a mid-day nap, but he's asleep in matt's recliner right now (late afternoon). 

none of these things are earth shattering. but they sure do show you that planning is almost pointless. at least to a degree.

no worries. this type-a, calendar-loving chick will never stop trying to plan. but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

happy weekend everyone.

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

*****************************************************************

31 days: vacation in instagram

prior to our beach vacation in late june, i became smitten with the instagram app on my iphone. i love it's simplicity, ease and just super level of coolness. 


but ultimately...i love the freedom. when i make the decision to document something with my iphone and/or instagram, the level of guilt and responsibility gently slips away...


and so, i present...our beach vacation via instagram photos (a few of the many i took):

no beach vacation is complete without a preliminary pedicure...

and in my house, vacation is synonymous with overplanning and overpacking...

 

the drive down -- plenty of techie entertainment for the whole family...

  

the view from our hotel (two night stay, baseball tournament)

 

the best view of the week. ahhhh, relaxation....

 

signs of summer. and the beach. and a  little toddler exploring the sand. 

 

big boys finding water entertainment....

 

a week full of college world series games...couldn't ask for better vacation entertainment....

 

goofiness at a new favorite restaurant...

(thanks for the recommendation michelle!)

 

the boys exploring the ocean...

the tastiest southern treat around (at this point, i didn't know this would come close to ruining my house!)

surviving the drive home with a little dance party....

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

*****************************************************************

31 days: splish splash

coleman did not have much exposure to the beach or pool prior to our beach trip this year (i mean, other than the prior year's beach trip). the vacation began with a natural level of tentativeness. he liked the idea of the water, but just wasn't quite comfortable with all that water (and that it comes towards him). it didn't take him long (less than two days, actually) to completely change his tune.

we went from a tepid water watcher to an aggressive wave jumper! as a result, he loved any opportunity to swim after that. these two videos were taken at matt's brother's house on the fourth of july...just a few days after returning from our vacation.

you will notice the "thing" he's wearing (i have NO idea what it's called). this was recommended by one of matt's coworkers. i bought it but was 100% convinced that coleman would pitch a fit the first time we tried to put it on him. BOY, was i wrong. it was perfect. though it looks incredibly uncomfortable, it allows a great level of freedom (aka - flotation) and movement in the water. much better than the old school swimmies. 

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

*****************************************************************

31 days: a shared first

our summer vacations to the beach are pretty routine. we stay at the same beach house (my brother-in-law's). we sleep in the same bedrooms. we spend our days doing the same things (pool and beach). we even tend to eat at the same restaurants (hello, japanese steakhouse!). and in most cases we don't fall victim to the tourist traps.

but, this year was different. it seemed everywhere we went, we passed signs for "cheap" helicopter rides. i'm not stupid, i knew there was a catch. but it was obvious that it had caught spencer's attention.

and he had never done it. and i had never done it. (and matt is scared of heights, which is cool because someone has to watch the tot, right???)

and so we did it. and we fell victim to the "upgrade". and spencer loved it. and i loved it. and together, we shared a first.

seeing the myrtle beach coastline from the air is not an everyday opportunity. and neither is bonding with a twelve-year-old boy. it was money well-spent and i'm so glad that spencer and i were able to share our first whirly-bird experience together.

sidenote: it totally freaked coleman out to watch spencer and i get up on the helicopter and fly off.

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

*****************************************************************

31 days: hot now

our family has a weak spot for krispy kreme doughnuts. 

 

we don't have any locally, so when we are on trips it's impossible to resist the hot now sign. healthy...not so much. delicious? oh heck yeah!

 

april 2008 -- charleston, sc

it's such a nice treat, not something you get everyday. and nothing beats getting a hot doughnut straight off the conveyer belt!

june 2011 - myrtle beach, sc

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

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