Christmas in August?!

Well today sure felt like Christmas to me! knew that the Clemson car seats should be here sometime today. I bet I tracked them through the UPS website at least 10 times today! Finally, they arrived around 4:30 just as I was leaving from work. I hurried to pick the kids up from school, and when we pulled in the driveway, they were sitting on the front porch! I was like a child on Christmas morning! I couldn't wait to rip that box open to see them...and MacKenzie was just as excited as I was.

So, I finally figured out how to adjust them and strap them in the car. As soon as Jarrod got home, I had to take the kids for a ride just so they could sit in their new car seats. Mason kept trying to look behind him and say "Paw, Paw"...that's his word for Tiger Paw. It was great!

I know some of you think I'm crazy..and that's OK. But for those of you who are just as crazy as I am about Clemson (or some other team) and you would like to purchase one...I have a coupon for $25 off any car seat from Toddler Teams (and it doesn't have to be a Clemson one)! f you decide you would like one put in the coupon code "football08" to receive the $25 off! They also sell covers for those of you who already have the Britax car seat! :)

A Great & Simple Weekend

Have you ever had one of those weekends where you didn't do anything extraordinary or spectacular but it ended up being one of those weekends that you just love? Well, that's how my weekend was. It was simple, relaxing, and all-in-all fun.

Friday, we went to see my sister in Greenville and went to dinner with her and her boyfriend at Red Robin. When we got there we ran into Carrie, Chad, & Caleb & Carrie's parents. It was so random! Carrie and I live about 3 miles apart from each other now in Anderson yet we see each other in Greenville! After dinner we went to Mr. Knickerbockers where we bought our "pre-season" paraphernalia.

On Saturday, we got up and took the kids to "Kid Venture" at the Anderson Civic Center. It's just a giant playground, but it was great fun for the kids. They climbed, swang, ran, jumped, went down the slides, and just had a good time...and it was FREE! Then we went to Chic-fil-A for lunch. My dad and Susan (aka Mimi & Poppi) stopped by the house for a little while and just hung out with us. Then Jarrod cooked some great steaks for dinner, and we just hung out and watched the Olympics and of course, NASCAR! That was a great race for all those race fans out there! (Yes, I'm a redneck, I know...but I really do love it)!

Sunday we got up and went to church and listened to an absolutely AMAZING message! It made me cry, but it made me feel good, too. The message was all about keeping (or finding) faith and hope during bad or hard times. It was just powerful! For anyone who is going through a difficult time, or anyone who has gone through hard times, and for all of us who will at some point in our life go through bad times...it's a message for everyone! If you ever have about 45 minutes to listen to it, I highly recommend listening to it. It can be downloaded from the NewSpring website at www.newspring.cc. This message just reminds me how awesome God is...He's always in control and always there even when we're going through difficult times.

After church, MacKenzie and I went with Brooke O'Neal to Melanie Grooms' baby shower. It was so much fun to be around old Mauldin girls! Melanie is a cute little pregnant girl! We laughed so hard that we almost cried at times! And MacKenzie was loving all the attention. It was fun to watch her interact with some of my friends. She also pooped in the potty while there, and Susie Watson did the potty dance for MacKenzie which she though was hilarious!

When we got home we had some good dinner and then just had good family time. We watched the kids play with their new t-ball and bat and play soccer. They actually played pretty well with each other as they're both learning to "share". Mason still doesn't quite get it, but he's trying. Then, they just goofed off and danced to some oldies and Jimmy Buffet! It was just funny...again there were times that I was laughing so hard I cried.
Here's MacKenzie showing off her best dance moves...she gets those from her Daddy!

Then it was bedtime, and both kids were just very sweet. MacKenzie kissed me good night told me she loved me and said "you're my best friend mommmy"! WOW! If that doesn't just give a mama cold chills, I don't know what will. Then Mason started crying after he had already been put down, so I went in and rocked him for a little while. It was just an awesome mommy-son moment that I can't even describe. He just laid there and fell asleep in my arms. I told him "I love you" and he mumbled back something unrecognizable, but only I could tell he was saying "love you", too. He is definitely "all boy", but then he has moments like that when he's all "mama's boy"!

It was a simple weekend, but nonetheless, and great one for me. The older I get the more I enjoy these simple things...

Clemson Craze!

Ok, everyone knows that I'm a huge Clemson fanatic, but this time I think I've gone a little overboard! I've decided to buy my children CLEMSON CAR SEATS!! Yes, I know, I'm crazy!

But here's the deal...the other night we were driving through the mall parking lot in Anderson. I pass this car (I think it was a Toyota Avalon) and all I can see is this sea of orange in the back seat. It totally caught my eye, so I start looking even harder. I thought it may be a big orange blanket that this woman had thrown over her back seat, but the closer I got, I realized that they were ORANGE car seats...3 of them at that! Then I saw the TIGER PAW, and I thought to myself, I've got to have those. So I get home and start googling them. I finally found them through a company called Toddler Teams. I thought about it and thought about it, and I finally convinced myself that I could consider this an "investment". You see, the kids can stay in these car seats until they weigh 65 lbs, so there won't be a need for a convertible booster seat. (MacKenzie may be in one until she's 15 years old since she only weighs about 26 pounds)! With my current car seats I would have to move them to a new seat once they reached the weight limit of 35-40 pounds. So, see, this is an "investment". Whatever, it made me feel a little better about the ridiculous amount of money I spent on them!!

I know many of you reading this are thinking "she's lost her mind"...but then, there are some of you that are thinking the same way I did "I've got to have one of those"! So, in case you're interested, you can go to www.toddlerteams.com and order yours! They are Britax brand car seats, which are the "Mercedes" of car seats, so they should last forever!! I actually talked to the owner of the company and we got the last 2 Clemson ones, but they're supposed to have more next week. And for those of you who aren't Clemson fans...they have other teams, too, but I wouldn't waste your money on those "other" teams!! HEHE!

BANGS!

So, I haven't had bangs in probably about 15 years! Last weekend, I got a "wild hair" (literally) and decided to have bangs cut! Well, at first I was thinking "oh no what have I done", but almost a week later, they're growing on me! I've also had a lot of people compliment me, so I don't know if they really like them, or if they're just being nice.

The funniest thing about them was what Jarrod said. I called him after I had them done to tell him that "I got bangs". He said, "what's that...like extensions or something"!! That just made me laugh! MEN!! When I got home I think he was a little surprised but later he told me they looked "sexy"...but then again we were at home last weekend with no kids, so I think he was just saying that and hoping....!!!

Anyway, who knows what I'll do next...

Only 11 More Days Until...

FOOTBALL SEASON!! Yeah baby!! I can't wait!

I can't wait for the Tigers to run down "the hill"! I can't wait to sing the Alma Mater! I can't wait to hear the band play Tiger Rag! I can't wait to be so hoarse from screaming my head off that I can't talk the next day! I can't wait to wear my orange on Saturdays! I can't wait to walk a country mile from our parking spot to the stadium! I can't wait to sit in the hot, blazing sun in the upper deck of Death Valley sweating my butt off!! I can't wait to TAILGATE with Bonnie and Jeff! I can't wait to watch Jarrod & Jeff set up the satellite dish and try to beat their "record time" from the week before! I can't wait to hear Jeff say "Marmosas" instead of "Mimosas"! I can't wait to listen to Jarrod and Jeff pretend like they know more than any of the coaches on the field! I can't wait to yell at the refs, because I (think) I can make better calls from the upper deck then they can! I can't wait for a NIGHT GAME! I can't wait for Jarrod to give me every statistic known to man about the Clemson Tigers! I can't wait to hear Jarrod tell me all the players' names, plus the names of their mamas, daddys, and brothers & sisters!! I can't wait for some intense, down-to-the-wire games and Clemson coming out on top! I can't wait for some BLOW OUTS (of course, with the Tigers winning)! I can't wait for the phone calls between me and my mom and my dad about how great that last play just was! I can't wait to watch the away games on our HDTV (with TIVO) this year!! I can't wait to hear Pete and Will call the game on the radio (especially now that we're in Home Group with Will...he just makes me laugh)! I can't wait for the Clemson/Carolina jokes to start! I can't wait to give Jamie Ouzts heck about Carolina football...oh wait, I already started that!! I can't wait to watch the GREATEST GAME ON EARTH and the GREATEST TEAM ON EARTH! I just can't wait for Clemson football to start!!

I LOVE THIS GAME!!

MacKenzie's a BIG GIRL!!

Today, MacKenzie moved up to the 3 year old class, and I feel like she's all grown up. It was bittersweet! I know she's ready for her "Big Girl" class, but it just means she's really grown up now. They teach them to be VERY independent...no more letting mama do everything for you! They will even have HOMEWORK in her new class!! It's due every Thursday...wow...I thought I would have a few years before I'd be up late doing homework and projects!! She will also have show & tell every Friday. She even gets to go on Field Trips at least once a month. And she gets to go to dance classes!! If I want to I can sign her up for computer classes...but I think I may wait a few months for that...I don't want her knowing more than I do about computers before she's 5!!!

She loves it already! I was really worried that she may fuss and cry this morning, but she just kissed me, hugged me, and waved good-by! She was ready to go play with the hamster and guinea pigs and all her new friends! I really like her teachers, too. It's also good knowing that she'll learn the Pledge of Allegiance and the Christian Pledge. She's in a wonderful, fun, loving, and Christian learning environment, and I could't ask for any better.

And on another good note, in order for her to move up to the "Big Girl" class she had to be completely potty trained!!! AND....we ARE!! Well, minus just a few accidents here and there (and we're still wearing pull-ups to bed at night), but hey, that's a huge accomplishment! She even POOPS in the potty with no more melt downs! It only took us over 4 months...and it wasn't easy! Now I may start with Mason in another couple of months, but I need a break for a little while!

Anyway, it was a good first day of "Big Girl" school for MacKenzie and that makes a mama smile! :)

Be Careful What You Wish For!!

The weirdest thing happened today...

I filled out one of those silly forwards that asks you questions about yourself. Well, one of the questions was "Name 4 places you would love to be right now". I put down "At home with my kids, Charleston, Hilton Head & anywhere but here (meaning work)". Well about 1 hour later I got a phone call from our daycare that said that they were out of power and Duke Power wasn't expecting to get it back on until later today. So all the kids had to picked up from daycare!! I thought to myself - WHOA -that was weird. But when I really thought about it it's just one of the great ways God works. He knew my heart wanted to be home (wish I could do it everyday), so something as simple as a power outage allowed me to go home and spend the day with my kids!! God is GOOD!! Right now they're taking a little nap, but it will be nice to get to spend some time with just me and them! It will be a nice break in the week, too!

Another Potty Story

Well, you guessed it another poop story...but it's not who you think! Nope, it wasn't MacKenzie but Mason!!! HE POOPED IN THE POTTY!!

Tonight we were playing outside and he got "the look"...if you're a Mom you know exactly what I'm talking about. So I said "do you have to poop"...he said "yeah"...I said "do you want to poop in the potty"...he said "yeah". So I thought, what the heck let's just try it. So we went to the potty, and at first he was totally not interested. But then I said "PUSH"!! (I know that's more details then any of you cared to know)! Next thing I know, we have it...POOP in the potty! I could hardly control myself. I started jumping up and down, clapping, acting like a complete fool. He had no idea what had just happened. I told him he could have fruit snacks, because I didn't have anything else better to offer. So we walked to the kitchen to get his "treat"...and before I knew it he had peed all over the floor! Oh well, I didn't care...we had a huge accomplishment today!

It's sad to say that my 20 month old may be doing better than my 3 year old when it comes to potty training. I know, I know Mason has only done it once, but he's way ahead of where MacKenzie was at that age. (Of course when she was 20 months he was like 4 weeks, so potty training wasn't really a priority)!!

Anyway, once again I've managed to use the word "poop" more times than I ever imagined! Oh the joys of being a mother...I love it!!

Hilton Head Pictures

Playing with the Crab!

Vacation, Part 3: SHARK!

Yep, that's right, today we saw a shark!! Some guy (a bright one at that) decided to do some shark fishing right off the shore line. We look over to our right about a 100 feet away, and there is this fairly large crowd surrounding the area. This guy's about knee deep reeling something in. We knew it had to be something fairly big, because it was taking him a while. Then we hear everyone yelling "SHARK!" So of course, we had to run over with our camera as well. This guy had caught a good size shark...I would say it was at least 3 feet tall when he stood him up. I'm still not sure what kind...Jarrod thinks a Nurse Shark. But I'm thinking to myself, who cares...it's a flippin' SHARK...HELLO! Yeah, so I'm really never going back into the ocean! I've never seen so many sea creatures when I've been to the beach. I don't think we even saw this many when we went snorkling in Jamaica! We've seen the following:
STARFISH, JELLYFISH, SAND DOLLARS, CRABS, STING RAY, CONCHS (SP?), A SHARK, AND DOLPHINS!!

Anyway...last night we went to the Salty Dog Cafe. It was great...it's a true landmark in Hilton Head, so I'm glad we went...even with an hour and a half wait. They manage to get you to spend a lot of money during that time, too! We all got t-shirts, hats, and koozies! We also went to the Lighthouse, and that's where we saw the dolphins. They were like, right there, so close! I'm telling you we don't have to go to anymore aquariaums, we'll just come back to Hilton Head!

We're sad becase we leave to come home tomorrow. It's been so much fun and we'll hate to have to come back to reality. BUT, when I get home I'll get to post all the fun pictures of all the stuff I've been talking about!