A Girls Night Wine & Design

 

Tonight was a little Mommy's Night Out with some great girlfriends! We had previously (like 3 months ago!!!) each bought a Groupon for Wine & Design: "Where you bring your own bottle of wine (or beverage of choice) and enjoy an unforgettable evening filled with friends, fun
and fabulous art! You supply your cocktails, and we’ll supply the rest. At WINE AND DESIGN, all you have to do is sign up, show up, sip up! Your canvas, paints, paintbrushes, and corkscrew will be waiting as a local artist helps you create that night’s featured painting. You go home with new friends, great memories, and a newly-created masterpiece that shows off your “inner artist." No experience in painting? NO problem, our local artists will guide you step-by-step! Our paintings are suitable for the first-time painter or for more experienced artists." (how's that for a great explanation off their website :) )

 

Anyway, Toni, Christie, Karly, Lindsey & I were excited to unleash some creativity on canvases! We all agreed to do the painting "Palmetto State of Mind". We got there early for a good seat (aka...me in front of the instructor) and were ready for some fun! I'll have to admit that my ADD kicks in faster than I'd like, because after about an hour, I'm DONE. Not to mention my artistic skills are LACKING. It's always fun to be with my greatest gals though and always better when there's some wine involved.

 

Here's how my painting progressed:

 

 

There's a horizon...

 

A little ocean action...

 

Look! A Palmetto Tree trunk & some grass

 

Yeah...that's supposed to be a Palmetto Tree

 

Toni & Christie working hard

 

Lindsey's got it under control!

 

Karly is our resident Artistic Extraordinaire!

 

 

I've add some more foliage and a bird

 

A special touch from Karly to send to our special solider

 

Ta-DA! All finished!

Mine & Karly's.... She's so talented!

 

While the class ended up running a little bit later than usual, we all had a great time! Can't wait to try this again with you ladies!

 

Sunday Family Fun Day

 

Daddy surprised us with a little outing this afternoon at Frankie's Fun Park with some great putt putt fun! Stryker sure loves to play golf! I think a set of 'his size' clubs may be in his future...

 

The weather was hotter than we expected being early fall, so we were thinking we'd only get through about 9 holes versus the 18 hole course. But, Stryker LOVED it and his attention to the game didn't cease. We made it all the way!



 

Although not eager to take lessons from Mommy & Daddy, this guy was determined to do it himself, and he succeeded most of the time! He truly is our little All Star!

 

Mommy & Daddy battled it out too... Daddy ended up winning (I figured I should throw that to him since I beat him on the cruise :) )

We stopped for a rest in the cave for some shade and a quick cool down. This guy is so handsome!!

 

Thanks Daddy for treating us to a super fun time on the putt putt course! Can't wait to do it again!

Mommy & Stryker Date Day!

After Daddy cooked the boys a yummy breakfast, we dropped Daddy at the Pub for a Man U soccer match and Stryker & I had a shopping date! Post Birthday money was looking to be spent and I needed some new clothes - the mall was our destination!

 

Photography by Stryker

 

 

Our first stop at the mall landed us at Palmetto Moon. And nothing says GAME DAY better than having your picture taken with your favorite TEAM(S)! 

 

Go Cocky!

 

Tigers #1!

 

We went inside to do some shopping and Stryker found this Cocky that he liked. "He has glasses like Daddy!" he says! :) Too bad Mommy doesn't buy Gamecock merchandise, this thing WAS kind of cute.

 



 

After dragging him through a dozen stores, trying on lots of clothes and a trip or two up & down the escalator, I rewarded my little man for hanging in there so well with a trip to Halloween Express! What fun that store is! I thought it might give Stryker some inspiration for a Halloween costume. Instead, I think he's more confused! There are a lot of options and I'm not certain he's quite sure yet on what he wants. He keeps saying Captain America, so we'll see if that sticks. In the meantime, we tried on some fun stuff!

Last year, Stryker was incredibly scared of all the moving (and non-moving actually) decorations around the store. Not this year! He was a tad hesitant to approach a couple things, but all in all, he wasn't afraid!

 

 

His favorite part you ask.... ZOMBIES of course!

After perusing the Halloween store (like an hour! I couldn't drag him out!) we headed over to Old Navy. JACKPOT on keepin-kids-entertained-while-I-shop!  The store was sponsoring a Fire Safety Day and Stryker was able to participate in some fun activities!

 

 

He enjoyed looking at the Fire Trucks,

LOVED jumping in the jump castle,

 

(yeah...totally renting this for his birthday!)

 

and met some cool peeps like the First Federal Squirrel and the Stingrays mascot (not pictured).

 

We had such a great time together! I was very impressed at his lack of  meltdowns during the shopping trip. He was not happy about leaving the jump castle, but I could understand that. After we left Old Navy, we went and got Daddy and had Chick Fil A for lunch, Stryker's pick for being such a good boy. You're growing up fast Buddy!

Play Hard, Get Clean

 

We have an All Star in training... and MAN is he good! He knows to keep his eye on the ball and can whip that sucker to the fence and not touch the tee anymore. We are so proud of our little athlete in training. He's pretty good at anything he picks up!

 

And after a round of baseball, you hop on your 4-wheeler and take a trip around the backyard. Careful though, you gotta give Mommy that 'hardcore' look when she whips out the camera!

After a rousing game of baseball and a trip around the world, it's time to get fresh & clean! This child is a hoot in the bath tub and likes to show me all kinds of new 'skills' he picks up. Like the dead man floating...

He keeps me on my toes this one!

It's My Birthday!

And while I may not be super excited about turning another year older (33?!?!?!!?), I do enjoy all the fun we get to share with our friends and family. And let me tell you... I have the greatest friends and family a girl could ask for!

Thursday night, Stryker & I made some delicious treats for my co-workers to share: Cake Batter Brownies! We made TWO batches because they smelled so yummy!

This recipe is SO easy! The brownies are SO yummy (albeit VERY rich!)! And the best part is your entire house smells delicious after they're done! Thank you Pinterest for another fabulous pin!

 

 

And speaking of Pinterest... We also did our Grandparent's Day gifts Thursday night! This picture was taken on our cruise and I LOVE it! It totally shows Stryker's personality and his adorableness! We painted his hand print for the opposite side of the frame and put the date on it. He had fun painting and was even able to make more special gifts of his own paintings for his grandparents.

 



                                   

After baking & crafting, a little boy can get tired! And this Momma sure doesn't mind a good snuggle to end a pretty perfect evening!

 Friday was my actual birthday and while I DID have to go to work, it was nice to be greeted with this at my desk:

 

Don't I wish Ashley :) It was also nice to receive my Annual Birthday Bouquet from my Mommy! We have a tradition of sending each other flowers on each other's birthdays. I look forward to this each year!

 

 

Friday evening, Dan took our little Man to spend the night with Nana, Poppa & Granny in Summerville. He then treated me out to a little birthday fun with 30 of our closest friends at our favorite Pub. Again, I can't tell you how lucky I am to have such an amazing group of friends! We all had a blast!

 

Saturday morning I was up bright and early for GAME DAY! Both teams were playing at noon & I also had lots to prepare for the dinner I was cooking for the family. After a quick trip to WalMart, I set up the Game Day Bloody Mary bar and our friends started to roll in! 

 

Choose Your Team Cup!

 

The Alexander's, The Cortes' & Pat were over all afternoon to watch the Gamecocks, Tigers and Volunteers play. Around 3:30, Nana, Poppa & Granny showed up with Stryker. He was super stoked there was a house full of people and asked if this was my birthday party.... :) SURE BUDDY! We enjoyed a great dinner all together! BBQ chicken, Steaks, Mac & Cheese, Potato Casserole, Salad and of course cake and ice cream for dessert! The Grant's joined us after dinner and the kids played for another couple of hours, wearing each other OUT!

 

Stryker just LOVES his 'Miss Kinley' and takes every opportunity to make her smile! AND he loves capturing this smile via my IPHONE.

 

Photography by Stryker

 

 After a long day/evening of football, everyone called it a night early and Stryker headed off to the bath. He must have some swimmer aspirations... this is his Michael Phelps pose!

 

 Silly boy! But after being all nice and clean, he curled up on the couch to watch a movie on Daddy's computer; complete with ear buds (his newest obsession!).

 

 

I ended BIRTHDAY WEEKEND snuggled on the couch and in the bed the majority of the day Sunday. My sinuses decided to wage war against me and won :( Overall though, it was a fabulous birthday again this year! I can't thank everyone enough for how much they love me! 

A House Divided/Labor Day Weekend

 

Once again, our darling boy jetted off on another vacation without us! Stryker went with Nana, Poppa, Aunt Lorie, Peyton & Maddison to the mountains for the Labor Day weekend. They had lots of fun picking apples, seeing the Apple Festival, playing Nintendo 64, watching movies and playing in the Creek. I was glad he had fun, but was glad when he was back :)

 

 

 

Mommy & Stryker before he left us AGAIN

 

 

Thursday, August 30 marked the beginning of a season - COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON! With no little one in town, we headed out with some friends to watch the Carolina Gamecocks take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Gamecocks ended up pulling out a 'W' for the first game of the season: 17-13.

 

The Hearthstone Crew rolling out for some college football

 

Dan & I watching the game

 

 

Friday night we hung out at the Alexander's with some other friends watching some Tennessee football. It was fun to catch up with everyone as well. Saturday was an early day for Dan & I and shopping was on the agenda. We headed to Tomlinson's in Summerville to stock up on Clemson gear for Stryker & I. We spent the evening with our friends at The Grant's house watching more college football including the Clemson/Auburn game. What another nail biter! We were able to win though, 26-19! WOOT! WOOT!

 



 

Our House is Divided!



Sunday we relaxed around the house and did some house cleaning, laundy and I caught up on my DVR :) That evening Dan had a fantasy football draft to attend so I went to dinner unexpectedly with Mike & Tiffany and then met some friends for a night cap. Monday we headed to Columbia to get our boy. We were so excited to see him after his long weekend away!!