Oops...And A Lesson Learned

So you may remember this post from many months ago.  Unfortunately, it was so long ago that Todd had forgotten how bad it was and decided we should try our hands at it again in an effort to be frugal.  I decided to humor him but I was not optimistic.  We went out to the porch armed with scissors and nail clippers and 2 hours later (2 HOURS!) we had this...

Yes, that's a bandage on his little foot.  After an hour and a half of hair cutting, we accidentally clipped one of his little nails too short.  We felt sooooooooo bad.  We then did the math and decided we will definitely spring for the groomer from now on.  I have always taken him to the groomer about once every 4 or 5 months.  It usually costs around $50 including tip.  The two of us worked for 2 hours plus about 1 hour of clean up and doctoring.  50/2 people=25$/3 hours= around 8.00 an hour.  Subtract the cost of gauze, tape, and neosporin (around 6$) and you're left with 6.00 an hour.  So not worth it.  We will be leaving it up to the professionals from now on.

Sorry charles!!

The Doghouse

Last weekend Todd and I were invited to Lake Hartwell in Clemson, SC by our friends Matt and Jill.  They have a great house down there that is right on the lake...they call it "the Doghouse" (Matt and his dad are vets) and there is awesome Tiger decor everywhere.  It is a big house and they finished the basement when they bought it so it is 3 levels with 7 bedrooms total.  We had almost a full house with us, Mary (Matt and Jill's 1 yr old daughter), Jamie and Damon, Ashley, and Jill's brother (who is also named Matt).

This is the logo they designed for the house.  They had it on the wall, signs outside, and they even had coozies made!

We left Friday afternoon when Todd got off of work and we got there just in time for dinner.  Matt and Jill are awesome hosts and they cooked some great meals for everyone.  Friday night we had this amazing mac&cheese (by the Lee brothers) that I am definitely going to have to try out. 

Jill, Ashley, Todd, Jamie, Damon, and Matt O. ready for dinner.

Matt cooking the veggies and Grace waiting for him to drop something...

Jill taking orders.

On Saturday we got up and took the boat around the corner to a rope swing where the boys had fun playing Tarzan.  Ha. 

Then we came back to the house and made lunch while we waited for Mary to wake up for her nap.  We headed across the lake to a cove that had a little beach.  The guys played Bocce while we took the baby to play in the water.

This picture was taken right before I was attacked by a fish that we nicknamed "mole monster" because they were coming up and biting everyone's moles!  It was actually kind of painful... I never realized fish had teeth like that.  Shortly afterwards we packed up and moved the boat somewhere else where the fish were a little nicer!

Damon, Todd and Matt

Jill and Mary

That night when we got back to the house they made another awesome meal (Lowcountry Boil) and we played a bunch of card games and ping pong.  It was a great weekend!

Jill, me, Ashley

Damon and Todd

I had to share this too because I thought it was so neat.  There are 4 boys in the family and apparently they have been collecting Pez dispensers ever since they were little.  They had them on display on a wall in the game room and apparently this is not even all of the collection!  Such a fun idea!

Ode To Summer

As it is now mid July, we are officially past the one month countdown until school starts again.  I am dying for a pause button.  Summer is going by SO fast!  In an effort to slow down and enjoy it (and also give me some inspiration when I am dying in September March) here are some of summer's guilty pleasures that I can't get enough of.

1. KLG & Hoda (and The Today Show in general).

Do you have any idea what a luxury it is to be able to sit on my couch with a cup of coffee and watch the today show?  As opposed to blearily chugging coffee as I drive across the bridge in the dark, and then trying to have 2 sips of another cup before it gets cold while I am getting 20 kids unpacked and ready to start the day...all before The Today Show even starts!  It really is indescribable how much better it is.




2. Marshall's on Tuesdays...

Now that we moved to Mt. Pleasant and my wonderful husband showed me a shortcut to Marshalls HomeGoods, going there on Tuesdays is definitely one of my guilty pleasures. (In case you're not in the know, Tuesdays is when they put out all of the new stuff). I show up right along with all of the stay-at-home moms with their Venti Starbucks and Lexus SUVs and fight over the last Polo towel on clearance...it's fabulous.  I have found a ton of great stuff for the house there so far, and they really do have something new every time you go.  One lesson I learned though is if you see something and you think you might possibly want it, you better grab it!  You can always return it if it doesn't work out but everytime I go back for something it is long gone.

3. the 11 o'clock hour...
Yep...I actually get to stay up past 10:00.  It is such a nice feeling not to panic about getting enough sleep every night that I have been staying up to watch Chelsea Lately some nights just because I can.

4. Bachelorette on Monday nights...
A group of us have been getting together on Monday nights and going to a wine & cheese bar for happy hour.  Then we make dinner at someone's house and watch the show.  It is really fun to be able to hang out with people on a weeknight for once!  Has anyone else been watching?  My money is on J.P...

5. Beach/Pool...
This one kind of goes without saying.

6. Extra Income...
I am working part time again this summer for the same family as last year.  The kids are great and it is really nice to have a little extra cash in my wallet for all those trips to Marshalls ;)

These are just a few of the things I am going to miss about summer.  I still have alot of fun to look forward to though (including our honeymoon!) so I am going to try and focus on that instead of the looming deadline.  It is also my goal at some point before August 10th to post 5 things I am looking forward to for next school year.  I just have to come up with some first...maybe that will help me get motivated!

How about you guys?  What do you love about summer?

Baby Fever Pt. 2...

Last week I flew to Baltimore for my bf Sarah's baby shower.  Her friend Sarah was throwing the shower and everything was so pretty and thoughtful.

Sarah, Sarah and her beautiful daughter Ella who is almost 1.

She had gorgeous centerpieces and decorations and amazing food and drinks!  Here are some photos I took...

Pretty decorations personalized with Sarah's name and some great sangria

The gorgeous centerpieces with hydrangeas and these cute letters spelling out the baby's name.  I loved this idea!

They had yummy desserts and choc. covered pretzel party favors.

Here is a picture I snapped of the parents to be before the guys left to do guy things ;)  Sarah is due August 22nd...is she not the cutest pregnant person ever?

Tyler and Sarah

I also got this great pic of Sarah, her sister Rachel, and her mom.  They all look so much alike!

She got some really cute gifts too that I thought I would share in case anyone is looking for fun baby shower ideas.  

Her sister got her these adorable monogrammed booties.

Tyler's mom got her this little cap which I thought was a neat idea.  It comes with a letter explaining that if you have a girl you keep this cap and take a little stitch out for her wedding day and it becomes a hankie for her "something old".  If it's a boy then you can give it to his bride.  Such a cute idea!

One of Tyler's aunts got the baby a set of different bibs for each month of the year.  It was such a cute theme idea and she had a bunch of really creative ones.  I snapped a pic of this "November" one...so funny!

Someone also got her a copy of the movie "Raising Helen". 

Another really cute idea that I didn't get a picture of was a gift for Tyler.  It had a book in it about how to be a father to a little girl and 2 soccer balls that were pink and sparkly with princesses all over them.  It was adorable!

We only played one baby game which (thankfully) was not sniffing things mashed up in diapers.  Sorry if that offends anyone.  Ha.  It was really cute though they played 12 or so songs that all had "baby" in the title and you had to write down the name of the song and the artist.  It was a really fun and painless game...I loved it!

It was a great shower...now I just can't wait to meet my new "niece" in a few more weeks!  Hmm I just realized that I probably used the word "cute" about 800 times in this post, but it was a baby shower so I'm giving myself a free pass.  :)

Baby Fever!

No, don't worry, I don't have it (yet!) but it seems like everyone else around me does :)  (sorry g-parents!) We have had lots of fun baby-related things going on this summer and it is so exciting!  Todd's friend Nathan and his wife Kim brought their 5 week old son Ben down for a beach trip in early June.  He was the best baby ever!  They are definitely lucky parents.

How precious is he?  He sat pretty quietly in his little seat and slept for almost the whole time.  We also went out to dinner with them one night and he didn't make a peep!

He also played cards with us for awhile...

It was a fun visit!