Labor Day

Yesterday, we went to Black Mountain, NC to celebrate my grandpa's 77th birthday! The girls had a blast playing with their cousins. I fell back in love with my 50mm lens. Now if only I could get the f 1.4 instead of the f 1.8....

The Park

The girls and I woke bright and early (thanks, Audrey) yesterday morning. Audrey came and snuggled in bed with me for another hour while I attempted to sleep. I finally got up, straightened my hair, fed them breakfast, dressed them, watched Elmo in Grouchland (hate this movie) and we headed off to church. Drop off was hard, since they've become more clingy to me now that I'm back at work. But when I went to pick them up after service and Sunday school, they were fine. Plus, the church has beepers to call me if the girls have any problems.

We were scheduled to go to the Upper SC State Fair this afternoon, but plans fell through. I think I'll attempt to take them next weekend. We had a busy weekend already with going down to Clemson on Friday, lunch & the book store Saturday, and going to North Carolina today. So instead, Grandpa and I took the girls to our local park.

Most of these pictures stink because 1.) I was using my point & shoot camera and 2.) someone's tiny, grubby finger got onto the lens and left smudges.

Mom mom mommy momma mom mommy mom - UP!

What do you mean I have to give sissy a turn?

Get me away from this mulch! I don't like it!

Holy crap - someone took a picture of me!

Look what I can do

WTF is my sister doing?

This is delicious

Oh hoh hoh, oui oui!

Note to self - push pops + toddlers + hot weather + cute outfits = disaster! Thank goodness for pre-treating laundry.

Party Planning

The party planning for the girls' 2nd birthday is in full swing. Actually, I'm almost completely done with it. They have outfits, a venue (that takes care of basically everything - including the cake), and I finalized invitation and goody bag favors.

Each little kid will get a mini tote (they were $3.99 for a dozen on Amazon). If I feel froggy, I'll iron on either the kids' names or a Yo Gabba character.

The totes have all these little toys inside. Most of the YGG things I ordered from Birthday Express, and some of it was from Wal-Mart. I'd say I might have spent $20 total on all the treat bags - which is a little over $1 per kid, including my own.






Here are the invitations I had made. The Little Gym provides invites, but when I went to pick them up today they were closed for the holiday weekend. Plus, I need to get these out this week, and don't see myself having time to drive back out there. These were $0.89/each and were printed off at my local Wal-Mart.


Here are a few ideas I have for the cake. I've never heard of the bakery that is making our cakes (they have a contract with TLG), so fingers crossed it looks decent. Or at least is yummy.

First Friday Parade

We had such a wonderful time at the First Friday Parade in Clemson! I don't get home from work until 3:45, and we were out the door by 4:00. In my rush, I remembered everything but the girls' cute Clemson dresses. I guess we'll just have to go back down another time this Fall.

The start of the parade (though where we sat, we were at the very end of it)




President & Mrs. Barker

Future Clemson Tigers




The neat automobiles




The sororities & floats


The girls' favorite thing - Chick-Fil-A cows!

My Little Tigers

Here are my little Tigers from last year...










We're headed down to Clemson today for the girls first look at my Alma Mater, and hopefully their future school. It's close enough to home for my liking. Unless they get full rides to Ivy League. Or into a coastal school - in which case, I'll pack up and move there!

Which school are you pulling for this football season?