photos {bowater park}

a few weeks ago, we went to bowater park for a little bit. with the weather having just started to turn warm (and it was warm), it was really nice to get some outdoor time. we actually left because we were too hot (and it was only early april). kind of hard to believe it's supposed to be in the 30s tonight.

spencer and matt tossing around the football

do you think he's happy?

spencer on the swings. we had a contest of who could go higher. i lost.

unfortunately, they didn't have any closed seat swings, so coleman had to settle for my lap. doesn't he look comfy??? i promise i wasn't holding him when i had the above-mentioned contest with spencer.

doesn't he look like he was born to be a football player??? he is built SO differently than spencer!

i love this picture, because if you look closely, you can see that spencer is smiling as he's talking to coleman.

spencer provides brotherly advice on handling the football.

the end

this week {4.19 to 4.25}

~ i tried my best (sort of) to participate in ali edwards' week in the life project, which is why this list may seem much more detailed than normal ~

~ i worked from home monday and thursday ~

~ matt was off monday, friday, saturday and sunday; worked nights tuesday, wednesday and thursday ~

~ spencer was with us monday, friday, saturday and sunday ~

~ coleman went to aj's for a little while on monday though that is not his normal schedule ~

~ matt and i had an appointment about spencer on monday; then ate lunch at mac's speed shop - love that place ~

~ spencer had a baseball game on monday night ~

~ we ordered chinese takeout after the game ~

~ on tv, i watched: castle, american idol, glee, criminal minds, fringe, justified, brothers & sisters, desperate housewives, the mentalist, and bones (yes, i know this is a lot of tv. i get caught up on my dvr'd stuff when matt works nights. for what it's worth, i multi-task. i rarely just sit and watch tv without doing something else).

~ matt submitted a resume to duke energy. i helped. ~

~ matt took spencer to school even though i was going right by there (long story) ~

~ followed up on 31 Party attendance and ultimately cancelled the event ~

~ our office paint was touched up (yucky smell) ~

~ i submitted a staples easy rebate online ~

~ i updated spencer's medical expenses spreadsheet ~

~ i submitted fsa reimbursement paperwork ~

~ i worked on flyers for britt's campaign for two nights and ultimately got them finished ~

~ i made mini flyers for our neighborhood yard sale, printed them, cut them, and gave them to a committee member to deliver ~

~ i looked into some butterfly birthday party ideas for cassidy and giada ~

~ i went to harris teeter and did some grocery shopping on my lunch hour ~

~ i documented a typical morning and evening routine ~

 

~ i did three lowe's store visits for work ~

~ i went to books a million and bought matt the new stone barrington novel (by stuart woods), per his request ~

~ cassidy and giada came by the house. i gave cassidy some 31 orders and she showed me some items she purchased for giada's birthday party ~

~ we ordered take-out from the white horse friday night ~

~ i went to bruster's on my lunch hour and got a strawberry sorbet ~

~ we watched the country music awards (that we had dvr'd) on friday night. love doing this ~

~ i made a donation to the march of dimes march for babies ~

~ my mom, sherry and i went to check out some apartments for mom, while coleman stayed at sherry's house and hung out with his aunt michelle and cousin maggie ~

~ coleman and i ate lunch at sherry's house ~

~ michelle, mom, coleman and i went to hobby lobby and tj maxx. i only spent $4 at hobby lobby but racked up at tj maxx!! ~

~ spencer went through his room choosing what he wanted to sell in the yard sale next weekend (and pricing it) ~

~ matt and spencer went to wal-mart and picked up coleman's little chair for the den ~

~ matt and spencer ate lunch at ebenezer cafe ~

~ our come-see-me tailgating and fireworks got cancelled because of poor weather. we all ended up hanging out at mchale's (an irish pub/restaurant). we pretty much took over the entire upstairs. ~

~ we all attended sherry's church for scout sunday ~

~ my oldest nephew, bo, received his eagle scout ~

~ my sister hosted a group of about 60 people for lunch at her house. ~

~ sherry took coleman and i on a mule ride ~

~ we ordered papa john's for supper ~

yes, if you are keeping tabs, i managed to make it through the entire weekend without cooking one single meal. not good for the budget or the belly, but good for the soul :)

{savings tracker}

spent = $60; saved = $38 (39%)

annual savings = $1,520 (42%)

weekly average for family of 3.5 = $133

{blog mash-up}

i feel like i need to provide a little update on a few topics here on the blog homefront. i'm calling it a blog "mash-up". this is a term used frequently on glee. it represents when they *mash* two songs together into one (which is usually a bit of musical heaven), but it's just a fun word (and quite southern, as well).

glee - since i already mentioned it, we'll start there. the 2nd season, or the 2nd part of season one (whatever), began last week. it was heaven. pure bliss. it's hard to believe, but i think the show actually got better. after the fantastic madonna episode this week, i went back and watched the pilot (because i have all 15 episodes dvr'd and i will not let my husband delete any of them). though the core of the show is the same, there are a few noticable differences, and apparently the budget has much improved!

spencer - you may have noticed a lot of very vague speak about this 11-year-old lately. i apologize for that, but i do feel that not everything belongs on the internet. he's a good kid. the issues we are having with him are not anything that reflects negatively on him. he's going through a tough time. matt and i are struggling along with him as we learn a lot and try to make adjustments. again - i apologize for being so vague. we do appreciate any prayers on his behalf, though.

work - again...some vague comments in this area. but here i can elaborate and my lack of doing so previously was mere laziness. i'm a business analyst (aka - numbers cruncher). i haven't been 100% pleased with some of my responsibilities since returning from maternity leave about a year ago. my boss heard my pleas and answered them. we are making some adjustments to my position that will still include plenty of number crunching, but also reintroducing lowe's into the mix (something i've missed terribly) and a bit of marketing. a lot of it has to do with our re-launch of our loctite brand. it's a bit exciting.

the journey - in some of my weekly updates, i mentioned that the gal that is heading this daily devotional had taken some breaks here and there. i was able to find some online resources to help me through those short gaps. however, she seems to have kind of refocused the project and is back on track with a new plan. i'm excited the journey is still underway, and right now i'm only about a week behind in my readings, so that's pretty impressive (for me). i've developed a nice routine that involves me getting up before coleman each morning and enjoying a cup of coffee while i read my verses, devotional and do a journal entry. it's peaceful and much needed.

a week in the life - i was really hoping to post some details about this project earlier in the week, but time just got away from me. i decided to play along with ali edwards' project and you can read a lot more detail about it here on her blog. this is one of those projects that you can make as simple or as complicated as you choose. i took the more simple approach. however, i am a little disappointed in myself for not taking more pictures than i have. i feel like i really haven't captured nearly as much as i could have. but, anything is better than nothing. originally i was going to do a larger scale album almost exactly like the one ali is planning on doing. however, after seeing that i haven't taken the volume of pictures i originally expected, i am probably only going to do a mini album.

well, i think that about covers it for now. adios. have a wonderful weekend. praying for good weather (which is not in our forecast).

photos {coleman's first birthday: decorations}

here are some much overdue photos from coleman's first birthday party. this first set is of the decorations only. details are below.

theme: monkeys

colors: lime green + chocolate brown

 we created a "wall" of brown and green streamers behind the main table. paper lanterns were hung from the ceiling. babies received a green fabric bag with a plush monkey, book, banana cookie snacks, and banana baby food. each baby got a personalized bib to wear at the party (and keep, of course). everyone at the party got a cookie which was decorated to match the "1" and "C" circle elements used throughout the party.

 a memory area contained a mini album of coleman's birth and a carousel of coleman's first year. i printed out an enlarged version of the invitation to display. i designed 4x6 cards and guests were asked to write the birthday boy a note.

the party was held at 10:00 a.m. so i went with light refreshments of the "brunch" nature. beverages were bottled water and punch (one version with champagne, one without). punch was served in plastic champagne glasses. food included monkey bread (of course), stuffed crescent rolls, jello, and mini pancake muffins. instead of a cake, we had cupcakes.

resources:

i designed all of the digital elements myself in photoshop elements 7. i purchased the monkey clip art online (after scouring the internet for many hours). the font used was "2peas gimme coffee".

many supplies were purchased from hobby lobby: patterned paper, cardstock, blank cards and envelopes (for invitations and thank you notes), paper lanterns, champagne glasses, ribbon

solid colored napkins, plates, spoons/forks, tableclothes, balloons, etc were purchased from party city and online.

green fabric goody bags were found at michael's.

cupcake liners were purchased from bake it pretty

personalized embroidered bibs were ordered from a seller on etsy.

monkey books (in goody bags) were found in the dollar spot at target.

digital elements were printed on hp presentation paper with hp ink.

All photos were taken by Lindsay Alexander Photography.

You see all of the professional photos here and non-professional here.

this week {4.12 to 4.18}

~ i played "catch up" on some photo editing ~

~ i shopped at cvs, bi-lo, harris teeter, and walgreen's ~

~ i finally got the fuelperks bi-lo bonus card. this thing is awesome! ~

~ coleman had a rash, which turned out to be a pollen skin allergy ~

~ spencer had multiple appointments (3 to be exact) ~

~ matt and i celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary ~

~ spencer had two baseball games. his team won both. ~

~ scott came over to hang out twice ~

~ we had some issues with "the ex" ~

~ coleman had a birthday party at daycare. dora themed. ~

~ i finished reading the book of judges through the journey ~

~ i worked a lot on a new project at work ~

~ matt, coleman and i went to the beach bash (part of the come-see-me festival) ~

~ cassidy and i went to the gamecock ladies football clinic ~

~ coleman spent the day with aunt sherry and her crew at a shoot ~

~ cassidy and i visited the cutest gamecocks boutique called miss cocky.  i bought a hat with bling ~

~ coleman and i went to brigitte's pampered chef party (i ordered a cookbook and a new baking stone) ~

~ i tried to catch up on laundry ~

~ i read the book of ruth through the journey ~

~ i spent a few minutes outside hanging with some neighbors ~

~ coleman and i discovered that juice makes a highly effective hair styling product ~

{savings tracker}

spent = $240; saved = $177 (42%)

annual savings = $1,482 (42%)

weekly average spent on a family of 3.5 = $138

photos {easter decor}

i only had a week's notice that i'd be hosting easter dinner for 10. with little time for menu planning and decorations, i stuck to easy and simple.

spencer and i made this a few years ago. it's one of my favorite easter decorations.

the dining room table. i chose teal because it coordinates well with the blue/silver that already in that room.

i used real glasses, plates and silverware, but purchased cute paper napkins from target. i added a teal peep in the dessert bowl. each setting had a little plastic egg decoration as well.

i bought these 5 vases at crate & barrel a long time ago and never did anything with them. i thought it'd make an easy, but springy centerpiece. i already had the glass marbles so i just picked up some white daisies at the grocery store.

photos {easter sunday}

the easter bunny left two baskets full of goodies for the boys

coleman had more interest in stealing spencer's goodies than his own...

coleman with his grandparents

spencer's "serious" look (actually this is his "fine, i'll sit still long enough for you to take my picture but i'm not going to cooperate" look).

christina and i chatting after the meal

coleman playing with a voice recorder that used to be spencer's. he's obsessed with it.

my boys. so handsome.