Manchester United Boys

Daddy enjoys watching professional European soccer. He routes for the Manchester United team. He recently got Stryker his own uniform to wear on game days! How cute is this guy and his Daddy!

His uniform even came with awesome Nike soccer socks!

What a handsome Father & Son duo!

I LOVE these boys!

And after snapping some pictures of their soccer garb, it was time to switch over to route for the Clemson Tigers... complete with TIGER TAIL! And they pulled out a 35-30 W against FSU! HOORAY!

Such a cute Tiger!

Throw Back Tuesday

As apparent in the last few posts, our family really loves our College Football. And although we're a House Divided, we support each other's teams when they're not playing each other.

It's hard to believe that just a year ago, our babies were so little! Good friends + Good football = Great Times!

Sunday Morning Fun

The weather is BEAUTIFUL so Stryker & I headed to the park for a little Sunday morning fun. He loves nothing better than running hard & playing hard. He's getting bigger and smarter everyday and before I know it, my little boy will be headed to the park with friends. Until then, I'll chase him around with my camera and snap away!

After playing for awhile, we decided to take a walk on the trails. Stryker loved to stop and listen to the birds, throw some pine cones and run ahead to discover what was around the corner. I, of course, had to get him to pose for a few shots.

It seems apparent by these last couple pictures he was tired of Mommy and her camera. Sorry Buddy! Practice makes perfect and I want to get great shots of you!

Clemson & Carolina Football

Another College Football Saturday at our house means several outfit changes!

Clemson played Auburn at noon so we all dressed in orange for the game.

One of my favorite pictures of the day:

Future Quarterback, Clemson Tigers

We got a huge W today with the win over the "other" Tigers! Mommy was very happy!

The afternoon brought a change of clothes & colors. Ready to cheer on the Gamecocks with Daddy and his friends.

These boys are super serious about Gamecock football. They've made their own shrine that HAS to be included in Saturday Football watching:

Stryker likes to be included in all the action with the big boys. He loves watching football with them!



Lastly, my other favorite picture of the day: 



So sweet!

Gamecocks pull out a thrilling win against Navy so this House Divided was Happy!



SuperHero 5K

Dan & I signed up to run the Super Hero 5K today in West Ashley to benefit Yoga for Kids. We were all encouraged to dress up as super heros for this run. We knew Stryker would love this since his current obsession includes anything to do with Spiderman, Batman & Superman.

Dan dressed up like Batman complete with his black cape.

Dan went out Thursday and bought me this get up. Can't beat the Superman underoos!

Stryker & Grandma cheered us on at the start line and finish line. He wore his Spiderman hat and his new Spiderman shirt Daddy bought him. He enjoyed seeing all the runners dressed up in some original outfits!

My two favorite men headed back to the car after the race. They are my Dynamic Duo!

Go Gamecocks!

Saturdays are all about college football! This past Saturday, we had friends over to watch the USC / Georgia game.

Uncle Dan got some love from Kendall (in her cute little Gamecock cheerleader outfit!)

The kids played outside since the weather was perfect while the big boys watched the game. How cute is this outfit!

Mommy's boys (even if Stryker has on the garnet & black! ;) )

Birthday Party Fun!

Today we got to celebrate our friend Madelynn's 3rd birthday at Rollie Pollies. What a fun place! The kiddos had such a wonderful time running, jumping and climbing.

Our little guy had such a good time! He is an explorer, and explore he did! He checked out everything and played hard!

After all that excitement, it was time for snacks and cake! And that, of course, is every 3 year old's favorite part!

These three friends have known each other since birth. Hard to believe they'll all be 3 years old soon.

It's exciting to know they've celebrated the last three years together and I'm looking forward to the everlasting friendships in the future!

Traditions

My Mom & I have a birthday tradition. On her birthday I send her flowers and on my birthday she sends me flowers. It's so nice to get flowers at least once a year :) Although it's not a surprise, it's always exciting to get them.

Today is my 32nd birthday! I got these beautiful flowers delivered today:

Dan & Stryker treated me to a dinner at Outback with our friends. It was a fun time and a very delicious dinner!

After dinner we walked around the Halloween Express store looking for ideas for this year. We then headed to Barnes and Noble for a Starbucks coffee and to play trains. It was a very enjoyable family fun night! I am very blessed to have such an amazing family on my birthday!

Throw Back Tuesday

On this day (or at least very close) last year.....

Dan threw me a cookout/birthday party. We had lots of fun! My, we've all done some changing in the last year!

Mommy's Birthday Weekend!

We have had a very busy & enjoyable Labor Day weekend!

Friday night, Daddy treated us to a Chinese TakeOut dinner and we had some friends over for some cornhole fun & beer pong. I just love how Stryker always wants to be right under Daddy learning whatever game he has come up with next. He loves to be right in the mix and doesn't want to miss out on anything!

Saturday morning Stryker woke up and helped Daddy make me some pancakes & bacon for breakfast. It was delicious! We had breakfast & went out to the park for a little camera lesson. Stryker, Uncle Bubba & Peyton played on the swings while Aunt Lorie & I took a quick lesson on our new cameras. We got to capture some really cute pics!

This is my favorite from the morning!



Aunt Lorie & Uncle Bubba took Stryker back to Granny's with them so I could get some grocery shopping done and the food made for our birthday dinner. Daddy & I headed over later that afternoon. The whole family was there to help Lorie & I celebrate our birthdays. Jimmy cooked us some amazing mexican food and we enjoyed cake & ice cream and watching the kids run around togehter. There are currently 6 great grandkids right now with one more on the way! It tends to be a circus at Granny's  house, but that's what family is about. Nana & Poppa kept Stryker that night so Daddy could take Mommy out for her birthday.

Sunday, we all headed out to Edisto Beach so we could spend time & celebrate more birthday fun with the other side of the family. Aunt Kathy, Uncle Tony & Mammy always rent a beach house at Edisto each year. This year they threw us a birthday cook out. We got to see everyone, play with our cousins at the beach and eat more delicious food. It started off a cloudy day, but ended up being very sunny after lunch. We had a great time!

These three little monkey cousins refused to pose for a picture. But they had lots of fun catching up!

Stryker & Peyton have surely enjoyed their time with each other the last couple weeks!

Today (Monday), had been a pretty lazy day. We're always on the Go and Mommy was excited to have some time to rest. No housework, laundry or anything productive as been today :) Just playing with our Buggy & cuddling.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Tough Decisions

Today is College Football Colors Day! We always support our favorite team with shirts & hats to show our devotion! The Gehlken Family is a "house divided" where in I am a Clemson fan & Dan is a USC fan. This always makes for an interesting 3 months of football season! And our poor boy. He pulls for both right now. One day, he'll make a decision for who to route for, but in the mean time, it's a black/garnet & orange/purple rainbow for him!

We hit up Palmetto Moon last night for some pre-season shopping. We were sure to stock up on both team's gear. Stryker loved the gigantic Cocky & Tiger in the window.

Stryker sported BOTH of his team colors to school today. And even took in his little Cocky to show his classmates.



The Sweetest Voice

After dressing this morning, I left our bedroom to find Stryker. As I made my way through the living room, I heard his sweet little voice talking to G-Ma. It was extra special this morning for some reason. It had a bit of the "just-woke-up" rasp to it. He was sweetly singing his ABC's to his Grandma. I almost cried.

I peaked my head in the door and they were cuddled up on her bed together enjoying the first light of day and each other. It's so special that he can see his G-Ma so much and they have the relationship they do. It's been a great week with her here & I know he's going to be very sad when we get home from school today and she's not there to greet us. She'll be back though! And there'll be more times like this soon!

On another note, Stryker picked out his outfit today (he had to wear BROWN b/c that's the color they're learning in class) complete with hat. I think camoflauge is his favorite color :)

He was in a SUPER delightful mood this morning and that makes me long to spend the day with him.But alas, I dropped him off in his classroom, gave him a hug & a kiss and turned to leave. I once again heard his sweet, raspy voice say "Bye Mommy! I love you! Go make me that money!"

I cracked up laughing! Where does this child get this stuff?